Category Archives: World of Warcraft

“You gotta keep em separated”

Posted on May 1, 2009 by SynCaine

Lum has a post up today breaking down a recent Bartle presentation about game design. F13 community quotes are included in the post, and Lum’s conclusion is that we should be discussing how to merge the gamer-types playing WoW with … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

FreeRealms from a distance.

Posted on April 28, 2009 by SynCaine

While I personally have zero interest in playing FreeRealms myself (shocker I know), I am interested to see how it all plays out for SOE given some of FR’s design decisions. FR all along has been marketed as a kid-friendly … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, FreeRealms, MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

MMO games: Why are they more fun in beta?

Posted on April 24, 2009 by SynCaine

If you’ve been playing MMOs for a decent amount of time, it’s likely you have taken part in at least a few beta tests, be they open or closed. If a game really got you interested early, you might have … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 14 Comments

Paid beta: You’re playing it.

Posted on April 22, 2009 by SynCaine

DarkFall is often referred to as a paid beta, and I agree. It has some serious issues, a multitude of minor problems, and countless little nagging annoyances. Despite all that however, it’s still the most engaging and enjoyable MMO experience … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Darkfall Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 9 Comments

Blizzard table scraps, L2P DarkFall, and the 3rd WAR faction

Posted on April 16, 2009 by SynCaine

Lately I’ve found a few amusing things around the various blogs/forums I read, and now seems like a good time to go over a few things. The first is the general hope by so many that the secret MMO Blizzard … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 36 Comments

Why I game.

Posted on April 14, 2009 by SynCaine

This post is going to be a little self-analysis about why I play MMOs, how I play then, and what keeps me going. For readers who have been around for a bit, you can probably guess some of the stuff … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantica Online, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Random, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 22 Comments

The path to the mass market.

Posted on April 2, 2009 by SynCaine

It would seem that the only way to attract a mass-market audience is to go casual. A rather simple concept right? WoW is huge because it aims at casual MMO fans (whoever that is), the Wii is dominating because it … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, World of Warcraft | 22 Comments

Guess what this post is about? (hint: tourists)

Posted on March 27, 2009 by SynCaine

A day after unsuccessfully going with “Without WoW WAR would not have sold 300,000 copies” and claiming that WoW tourists are actually good for the industry, Tobold today decides to go the “WoW is just that much better” route to … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, PvP, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 62 Comments

Solo vs Group MMO design

Posted on March 20, 2009 by SynCaine

If you’ve been keeping up with DarkFall impressions you might have noticed a trend. Solo players hate it; people in active guilds love it. If you are thinking of this breakdown in terms of a MMORPG, it’s not all that … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, World of Warcraft | 13 Comments

If WoW tourists ran DarkFall

Posted on March 18, 2009 by SynCaine

I came across something rather terrifying. I saw what the world would be like if WoW tourists had full control of DarkFall. Allow me to explain. Thanks to a comment on Keen’s site, I found Ixobelle’s blog with three posts … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Rant, World of Warcraft | 60 Comments