Category Archives: World of Warcraft

Age of Conan, say hello to Auto Assault, your new roommate.

Posted on May 7, 2008 by SynCaine

The current buzz in our little corner of the MMO blog world is all about the AoC beta and the game’s approaching release. Most sources are reporting major issues, both gameplay wise and on the tech side, ranging from sub-par … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, EVE Online, PvP, Vanguard, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 35 Comments

Too WoW-like, a positive or negative?

Posted on May 5, 2008 by SynCaine

Tobold has a post up today questioning the wisdom of designing an MMO with features too similar to WoW, speaking specifically about Age of Conan. His point is that why would someone play something WoW-like when they could just play … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 23 Comments

MMO gaming from the ultra-casual perspective.

Posted on May 1, 2008 by SynCaine

At the request of my bf that is swamped at work, I am writing my first blog post ever. And ironically, it is about something that a year and a half ago, I knew virtually nothing about. I am a … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Site update, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Quick thought of the day.

Posted on May 1, 2008 by SynCaine

DoTA is a better version of WoW’s Arena PvP? Set map, 5 v 5, class/skill/item balance dependent, fairly twitch based, team unity/communication being key… Seem fairly similar to me, other than the fact DoTA is 100% fair pre-game, while the … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, World of Warcraft | 1 Comment

Returning to Middle Earth.

Posted on April 30, 2008 by SynCaine

Having hit 70 in WoW, and with Kara raiding being a once a week event currently, some gaming time has opened up for the gf and I. Since we had to stop playing LoTRO due to a technical issue and … Continue reading →

Posted in Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

Understanding what makes PvP tick.

Posted on April 28, 2008 by SynCaine

Watching people react to all the new info about AoC’s PvP model has been rather entertaining, while also frustrating and somewhat surprising. PvP seems to be an idea that most people ‘think’ they love in an MMO, but when you … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Combat Systems, EVE Online, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 12 Comments

Nerd rage at it’s best/worst?

Posted on April 25, 2008 by SynCaine

Nerd on nerd crime It’s funny in a sad way I guess… But do we really need one nerd faction calling another nerd faction out? Can’t we just keep it to console vs comp, or casual vs hardcore? Do we … Continue reading →

Posted in Random, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

Camping for a beta spot… no thanks.

Posted on April 25, 2008 by SynCaine

Open beta does not mean what it use to in the MMO world. Back in the day, open beta for an MMO was not a big deal, and for the most part was quite similar to the most recent closed … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Conan, Combat Systems, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 15 Comments

PvP theorycraft, and the lessons MMOs need to learn.

Posted on April 22, 2008 by SynCaine

Playing as much DoTA as I have lately, it’s got me thinking about the general idea of PvP, and why most MMOs can’t seem to get it right. We have seen what happens when you make it too extreme in … Continue reading →

Posted in Combat Systems, MMO design, PvP, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 11 Comments

Curt Schilling on ‘The Instance’ podcast.

Posted on April 15, 2008 by SynCaine

The Instance, which is always worth listening to anyway, stepped it up a notch with this show and featured a lengthy interview with Curt Schilling. Along with a ton of WoW talk, they go into general game design, a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in MMO design, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | Tagged | 2 Comments