Category Archives: World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – The single greatest expansion of all time?

Posted on August 21, 2009 by SynCaine

Readers might have picked up on the fact that I’m at times a bit tough on Blizzard and how they have been updating WoW. Sure I’m not the biggest fan of easymode everything, cookies for everyone, and the glacial pace … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, crafting, EQ2, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 60 Comments

Warhammer Online: After almost a year, does Mythic finally get it?

Posted on August 18, 2009 by SynCaine

I’ll fully admit I might be too close to this to see it clearly, but with that said, I’ve noticed a pattern in Mythic’s approach to patching Warhammer Online, one that might be applicable to other MMOs as well. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Mass Media, MMO design, Patch Notes, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 16 Comments

WoW: The cows not coming in from pasture, sorry

Posted on August 17, 2009 by SynCaine

Ah WoW expansion rumors, is there anything more fun than to watch people nerdrage over clearly faked leaks, both from those praying it happens and those in the “slap in the face” community? The idiot pool gets quite large when … Continue reading →

Posted in Patch Notes, World of Warcraft | 31 Comments

When the combat system in 1997 was better than what we have today, you know we have a problem.

Posted on August 5, 2009 by SynCaine

Now that his resurrection is complete, Tobold has started a multi-part series of posts talking about why we play MMOs, with today’s topic being gameplay. In most MMOs today, gameplay generally means combat, and so the type of combat system … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments

Why a hip-hop based MMO is genius

Posted on July 31, 2009 by SynCaine

At first glance one might dismiss this gem of an idea and logically conclude that the overlap between hip-hop fans and MMO players is rather slim. You might also be thinking “wtf does rap music have to do with grinding … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Random, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Why is the B-team messing with your AAA product?

Posted on July 15, 2009 by SynCaine

I’m a bit late on this one, but Eric from ElderGame has a long and detailed breakdown of why WoW is currently being run by the B-team, adding his own experience as a former dev on AC2. It’s a great … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 28 Comments

Dummies like dummy games

Posted on July 13, 2009 by SynCaine

My fiancé currently prefers WAR over DDO because DDO got hard. I prefer DDO over WAR because DDO is an enjoyable challenge rather than the insta-win that is general MMO PvE. I consider myself an MMO gamer; she is the … Continue reading →

Posted in DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 57 Comments

F2P MMOs: The land of ‘just good enough’.

Posted on July 9, 2009 by SynCaine

One of the common complaints against the subscription model is that if you only play that MMO sparingly (whatever that may be for you), you are not really getting your moneys worth compared to those who play more. The perceived … Continue reading →

Posted in Aion, Atlantica Online, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, FreeRealms, MMO design, RMT, World of Warcraft | 12 Comments

Bring back the gimps!

Posted on July 7, 2009 by SynCaine

At some point during the transition from MMORPG to just MMO, the ability to create a ‘gimped’ character was removed. In UO you could hit the skill cap and have a horrible character. In AC you could spend all your … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 30 Comments

Gamer Bob says: MMOs suck.

Posted on June 30, 2009 by SynCaine

People often credit WoW’s success because, in part, it’s a little bit of everything for everyone (in theory at least), and while that’s a great way to get into the genre, if you really want to focus on any one … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, DDO, EVE Online, FreeRealms, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 45 Comments