Category Archives: World of Warcraft

Themepark goes F2P, take infinity

Posted on May 15, 2013 by SynCaine

Some quick thoughts on the Rift F2P thing, since a few people have asked. First, it’s not surprising. Scott Hartsman leaving Trion was basically the “Rift is going F2P” announcement. Second, not surprising given what Rift is. It’s an above-average … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rift, RMT, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

Blizzard: “Didn’t want those subs anyway”

Posted on May 9, 2013 by SynCaine

Oh look, the D3 scam subs are officially off the books, and Blizzard doesn’t have another game or bundle coming out to bundle players into a WoW sub. And I was so sure MoP would totally save WoW too… Of … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Mass Media, RMT, World of Warcraft | 43 Comments

The good stuffs in the middle

Posted on February 27, 2013 by SynCaine

Let’s talk a little about the history of the mid-game in the MMO genre. IMO the mid-game is the time after you have learned the basics of the game (tutorial or beginning phase), and before you stop progressing or have … Continue reading →

Posted in EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, MMO design, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 12 Comments

The difficulty of depth

Posted on February 1, 2013 by SynCaine

Jester’s excellent Fractal post is well worth reading, and it’s just one example of the deep, multilayered posts frequently made about EVE. If you read enough blogs with enough variety, I’m sure you have picked up on this as well. … Continue reading →

Posted in crafting, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, World of Warcraft | 25 Comments

Octo-moms will finally have the gear they deserve

Posted on February 1, 2013 by SynCaine

The current state of WoW raiding everyone: If you wipe in lfr 90% of the time its down to 1 of 2 things. Firstly too many people are afk, I wiped 4x on tsulong last week until we finally had … Continue reading →

Posted in Rant, World of Warcraft | 31 Comments

The Niche is Real

Posted on January 4, 2013 by SynCaine

Massively has linked to a video about 38 Studios. It’s worth watching. In the comments section, there is a link to an article about the entire thing. I’m pretty sure I’ve read it before, and perhaps even linked it here, … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Random, SW:TOR, World of Warcraft | 11 Comments

What 2012 was, and what 2013 will be

Posted on December 26, 2012 by SynCaine

The good for me in 2012 was more of the same (EVE, LoL), while the bad was highlighted by disappointment (GW2) and delay (DF:UW). The MMO genre as a whole continued to struggle with its identity, from massive failures like … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, League of Legends, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, SW:TOR, World of Warcraft | 18 Comments

Darkfall: Beta blues

Posted on December 12, 2012 by SynCaine

Darkfall Delay; part 72,343. First off, massive points for announcing the delay minutes before you are set to go live. There is trolling, and then there is AV. Just next level stuff that gets forumfall to exactly where it needs … Continue reading →

Posted in Allods Online, beta, Darkfall Online, EQ2, Guild Wars, Inquisition Clan, Lord of the Rings Online, RMT, SW:TOR, World of Warcraft | 2 Comments

Perception of the in crowd

Posted on December 4, 2012 by SynCaine

Question for raiders and non-raiders today. For raiders: Is any of your motivation around raiding being able to show off gear the average player can’t get? For non-raiders: Do you think raiders are motivated by gaining gear you can’t get? … Continue reading →

Posted in Random, World of Warcraft | 51 Comments

Occupy Endgame

Posted on November 27, 2012 by SynCaine

Yesterday’s post about repeatable content had a side conversation in the comments about the % of players who use ‘end-game’ content, be it raiding or PvP, in a themepark. That topic then begs the question: what about all those who … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 27 Comments