Category Archives: World of Warcraft

The WoW hate: Why 2009 is not 2005.

Posted on September 15, 2009 by SynCaine

Taken from a comment on TAGN, #16: @Syn: So was WoW the debbil when you were spending all waking hours of your life raiding MC (ca. 2005-06) or are these merely the rantings of the repentant sinner who has since … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 51 Comments

Level one, and god-mode already?

Posted on September 11, 2009 by SynCaine

Why do we assume the first mob we fight in an MMO should be an easy kill? I’m serious, how many MMOs can you name where the first mob you face has a legitimate chance to kill you? I mentioned … Continue reading →

Posted in Console Gaming, Darkfall Online, EQ2, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 35 Comments

Day one accessibility from an unlikely source.

Posted on September 9, 2009 by SynCaine

It’s something that has been said before, but it bears repeating: an MMO without levels is just infinitely more accessible than one with, yet the majority of the AAA MMOs out today feature level-gating, and rather than deal with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, World of Warcraft | 31 Comments

Your family vacation, McDonalds, and the MMO genre

Posted on September 4, 2009 by SynCaine

Keen has a well written post about his return to WoW and what the game is all about now. Read it made me realize the difference between some people in the real world, one that also seems to apply to … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Random, Rant, World of Warcraft | 16 Comments

The fear of impact in the MMO genre.

Posted on September 4, 2009 by SynCaine

The MMO genre is a funny place. On the one hand, it promises to let you play with thousands of other players and share adventures together, while on the other it sets you up to be a hero doing some … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 26 Comments

Idea for binding another game to an MMO

Posted on September 2, 2009 by SynCaine

With CCP announcing Dusk 514, a shooter-based MMO that will interact with EVE Online, Tobold ask’s what other MMOs would work well with a secondary product attached to them. My initial thought was to have player-controlled mobs facing off against … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Random, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Maybe it’s time to return to WoW?

Posted on August 31, 2009 by SynCaine

Well this past weekend I decided to resub to WoW and check out everything new, rolled up a hunter and I’m loving it! No I’m kidding, but seriously, is EVERYONE from the blog world back in WoW right now? Failbears … Continue reading →

Posted in Blood Bowl, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Housing, PvP, World of Warcraft | 44 Comments

Eight easy steps to becoming a ‘kind of a big deal’ blog

Posted on August 26, 2009 by SynCaine

This may come as a surprise to some, but generating traffic and comments on an MMO blog is not all that difficult. It’s also not (IMO) all that fun for the writer long-term, but if your beer money or (god … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Mass Media, Random, Rant, Site update, World of Warcraft | 42 Comments

Speaking of expansions that sounds good…

Posted on August 25, 2009 by SynCaine

Not all State of the Game posts are created equal. Even in the cesspool that is ForumFall (and I mean that in a good way, its entertaining stuff) this updates was well received, and for good reason. The way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, Darkfall Online, Housing, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

WoW: Cataclysm, analysis with less snark.

Posted on August 24, 2009 by SynCaine

Leaving the fun and games behind for a minute, it’s time for some ‘serious business’ talk about WoW’s next expansion, and what it really will bring. I’m not talking about the finer details or even the bullet-point list of additions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 39 Comments