Category Archives: World of Warcraft

Forbes says WoW is hardcore

Posted on March 17, 2009 by SynCaine

I know poking fun at mass media is easy, but this article is just full of win. It’s a good thing someone is finally going to expand the MMO market beyond the complex world Warcraft has with all those troll … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass Media, Random, World of Warcraft | 11 Comments

Still no DarkFall for you

Posted on March 17, 2009 by SynCaine

Looks like DarkFall won’t go back on sale until the current server has had it’s queue issue resolved. That will happen ‘soon’,  like Blizzard content patch or SOE patcher ‘soon’. Good thing people avoided that ‘scam’ of pre-orders being limited … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, EQ2, Random, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Dear DarkFall, WoW called, they want their launch plan back.

Posted on March 17, 2009 by SynCaine

Tell me if this sounds familiar: Hyped game launches, servers get swarmed, queues go up, people bitch about queues and in-game lag, massive server outages which include the company compensating all accounts with additional game time, forum idiots asking how … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, Rant, World of Warcraft | 30 Comments

Rats jumping off the Blizzard ship?

Posted on March 12, 2009 by SynCaine

Spotted this while checking financials. Acti-bliz is set to announce earnings later this month. When a director and the CEO start dumping their own companies stock before earnings are set to go public… well it’s not because they know earnings … Continue reading →

Posted in Mass Media, Random, World of Warcraft | 31 Comments

Users and profit in the MMO space.

Posted on March 6, 2009 by SynCaine

Both Raph Koster and Tobold have posts up about a games user base and profitability. If this at all interests you, check both links out. The overall theme of the discussion is similar to my feelings about the iPhone app … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantica Online, iPhone, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Random, World of Warcraft | 4 Comments

Wolves and Sheep

Posted on March 3, 2009 by SynCaine

With the release of Darkfall, the terms ‘wolves’ and ‘sheep’ have been thrown around frequently on forums and blogs. I figured this might be a good time to dig a bit deeper and try to find out just who really … Continue reading →

Posted in Darkfall Online, DoTA, EVE Online, Mass Media, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 25 Comments

The highs and lows of RvR, a worthwhile tradeoff

Posted on February 23, 2009 by SynCaine

WAR RvR is one frustrating bastard, and I’m not talking about city PQs, scenarios, or why the layout of T4 zones sucks/rocks. It’s frustrating because when everything aligns and you get the right (not even) number of Destruction and Order … Continue reading →

Posted in EQ2, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, RvR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 16 Comments

The next Bliz MMO, bye bye raiding, and a WAR 1.2 observation.

Posted on February 13, 2009 by SynCaine

How much of a debate is there over what the next MMO from Blizzard will be? Originally Starcraft was a solid guess, but since StarCraft 2 will take 3+ years to be fully released, you can’t really launch an MMO … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Patch Notes, Random, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 11 Comments

Storms, tourist, and failure: The MMO market

Posted on February 6, 2009 by SynCaine

2009 is not 2004, yet after reading this post over at TAGN, it sure seems that way. Let’s define the environment WoW launched in first, because John’s recount seems to have forgotten a few minor details. 1) EQ2 launched just … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Console Gaming, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Rant, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 49 Comments

MMO growth after release in the post-WoW market

Posted on February 5, 2009 by SynCaine

Whenever you debate a topic concerning MMOs, it’s a safe bet someone is going to bring up EVE and show you a counter-example to whatever you are trying to say. Impact PvP does not work: EVE. Complex economies are impossible … Continue reading →

Posted in Dark Age of Camelot, DDO, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments