Category Archives: World of Warcraft

Patching like its 1999

Posted on April 1, 2011 by SynCaine

I appreciate the rapid pace of patching. It’s impressive, even by “first month of a new MMO” standards. And as we saw with 1.1, the updates are not all just bug fixes but actual content additions. Major bonus points for … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, EQ2, EVE Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rift, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

The apples taste like oranges

Posted on March 30, 2011 by SynCaine

I was in Stillmoor finishing up some quests when a raid-level quest opened up. About 30 minutes or so later, someone was advertising in zone-chat that they are putting together a raid for the quest. I sign up, and in … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Rant, Rift, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

Amateur hour

Posted on March 25, 2011 by SynCaine

The kids, they grow up so fast. Shadow’s post before the one linked above was his original (even weaker) attempt, and while it’s pretty fail at a FBW starter, it does (slightly) manage to raise one question: if you’re a … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, PvP, Rant, Rift, World of Warcraft | 22 Comments

Souls > Trinity

Posted on March 22, 2011 by SynCaine

If everyone can be a tank/healer/dps, do you still have a holy trinity? Games with skill systems, rather than class systems, don’t have the holy trinity problem. You don’t stop a fleet action in EVE because your tank is afk, … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Rift, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 21 Comments

PAX thoughts: Future of MMOs panel

Posted on March 18, 2011 by SynCaine

My favorite panel from PAX was a MMORPG.com-hosted discussion attended by a number of high-profile MMO devs (Massively has the breakdown). It was a good, open talk on various MMO topics, and while some PR-speak was uttered, overall the devs … Continue reading →

Posted in Guild Wars, Mass Media, MMO design, Rift, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 4 Comments

I sense a Rift in your guild

Posted on March 17, 2011 by SynCaine

It seems the self-sacrifice that EuroGamer made for the good of our community is being forgotten, and it’s getting embarrassing. It’s been just over two years since the infamous “5 minute MMO review”, and yet here we are today, with … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Blogroll, EQ2, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Mass Media, MMO design, Rant, Rift, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 26 Comments

PAX thoughts: Guild Wars 2

Posted on March 14, 2011 by SynCaine

Brain overloaded with stuff to write after PAX, making it difficult to write anything. Good problem and all that. Expect a little more activity here over the next few days. First, I’ll just clarify that the post below is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Guild Wars, Mass Media, MMO design, Rift, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 36 Comments

The cult of MMO; Why it’s good to be a fanboi.

Posted on March 3, 2011 by SynCaine

MMO success has been the topic of a few blogs, mostly inspired by Rift’s successful launch and predictions of what will happen next. Will it WAR or will it WoW? Readers here will know I’m leaning more toward WoW than … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Rant, Rift, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 4 Comments

Rift: MMO 3.0

Posted on February 28, 2011 by SynCaine

Let’s call UO/EQ/AC the first generation of MMOs (sorry MUDs), where both the devs and the players were total noobs, and the ‘hey this is new’ factor was off the charts. If you dialed in during the late 90s, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EQ2, MMO design, Rift, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 26 Comments

Not all themeparks are created equally

Posted on February 24, 2011 by SynCaine

Going to comment on something Tobold wrote today, related to Rift launching and how themeparks are similar. Here is the piece I want to focus on: But I do know that Rift is not completely unlike World of Warcraft. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, beta, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, Rift, World of Warcraft | 8 Comments