Category Archives: World of Warcraft

300k, has Mythic pulled a Failcom and Flagshipped WAR?

Posted on February 4, 2009 by SynCaine

Remember back in the summer of 2008 we were all making WAR subscriber predictions, and we figured they would be in the range of 1-100 million, depending on how high your fanboy rating was? Everyone reasoned that if WoW can … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 29 Comments

DarkFall anticipation +1

Posted on January 27, 2009 by SynCaine

I said I would not do it, but yet again I’m in “excited about an upcoming MMO” mode. This time around it’s Darkfall, and my interest has been raised by unexpected sources. As anyone with access to a gaming forum … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 16 Comments

Man, I’m glad I’m not playing THAT game.

Posted on January 22, 2009 by SynCaine

Dear Warhammer fans, We know the recent patch was a bit of a letdown, but please let us explain. We have a lot going on around here, and we are still new to this MMO thing. We also don’t have … Continue reading →

Posted in Patch Notes, Rant, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments

WoW tourists attack DarkFall.

Posted on January 15, 2009 by SynCaine

Let’s pretend this press release about Darkfall is being honest, and not just painting a delay in a positive light. I know, it’s a stretch, but “zomg vaporware lulz” posts have been done and bring little to the table. Thanks … Continue reading →

Posted in beta, Darkfall Online, Rant, World of Warcraft | 24 Comments

The endless sandbox vs the safe theme park.

Posted on January 14, 2009 by SynCaine

MMOs are designed without a ‘game over’ screen, and one of the major appeals of the genre is that the player, rather than the game, determines when you are done. No matter how much you loved Final Fantasy 7, at … Continue reading →

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 31 Comments

DIKU defined, the old formula for an MMO.

Posted on January 12, 2009 by SynCaine

Raph Koster has an amazing write-up of what defines a DIKU mud, and how some of the bigger MMOs (EQ, WoW) are direct descendents. My first limited experience with an MMO was Neverwinter Nights on AOL, and my first true … Continue reading →

Posted in Asheron's Call, Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 3 Comments

A few more Atlantica Online design discussion points.

Posted on January 12, 2009 by SynCaine

I want to follow up on my previous post about Atlantica Online and some of the good things it does, as there are indeed a few more systems I think are worth pointing out. I’m currently level 52 in AO, … Continue reading →

Posted in Atlantica Online, MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 18 Comments

WotLK to level 100?

Posted on January 8, 2009 by SynCaine

I might be way off base here (not the first time), but am I the only one who thinks Blizzard would be better off focusing on a leveling game rather than an end-game with WoW? Reading forums and blogs, I … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, World of Warcraft | 19 Comments

2009 Predictions

Posted on January 2, 2009 by SynCaine

I thought I did a 2008 predictions post, but I guess not, so welcome to the first annual “throw darts at the board” Official 2009 MMO predictions. WoW: All players will burn through WotLK faster than they did TBC, increasing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, RMT, Site update, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 17 Comments

Boosting XP gain, why?

Posted on December 22, 2008 by SynCaine

Mythic recently increased the overall leveling rate in WAR, and most players/blogs have openly called this a much needed change. I’m somewhat neutral about it concerning WAR in particular, as on the one hand the pace never bothered me, but … Continue reading →

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