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WAR's Paul Barnett talks shop at Lift Conference
Did you ever wish you could sit down and pick the brain of a game designer to see what sort of world-views or models for the game industry are informing his design decisions? Truth be told, there are many designers out there, some in the MMO space, who would probably bore you to death with talk of convergence and design philosophies that would have you nodding off inside of ten minutes. Paul Barnett is not one of those designers. Whether it's his english accent, his frequent and strange metaphors, or just the fact that we know the success or failure of Warhammer Online is riding on his shoulders, Paul Barnett is a man worth listening to.So if you're at all interested in design, or even just interested in the creative philosophy that is going into Warhammer Online, Paul Barnett's speech at the Lift Conference in Switzerland is well worth listening to. Paul himself is a funny guy (though you'd never know it based on reactions of the crowd at Lift), but he's also got a good head on his shoulders. He explains the conventional American thinking that goes into design of taking an existing product and simply making it bigger, louder, taller, and crazier, simply doesn't work in the world of online games. There has to be room for new ideas, and it's the person with new ideas who is going to be walking away with the sacks of money. Considering Paul's new title is a Creative Director within EA, this is the sort of thing that's really refreshing to hear every now and again.
November Warhammer newsletter features Mounts!
The November edition of the Warhammer Online newsletter has been mailed out to all the eager WAAUGH fans out there, and it's a doozy. Building on the most recent Beta Updates, the dev team lets loose with a huge pile of goodies. Highlights include: Mounts! Aside from the handsome porcine steed above (a Greenskin favorite), they have images up for an Ale-powered Dwarven carriage, felsteeds for Chaos riders, and beautiful beasts for the Elves and Empire. A lengthy screed on the mysterious Tome of Knowledge. Their article runs down what you're like to see in the book, and what kinds of tales it will record for your own character. A Paul Barnett special presentation on the Dark Elf Sorceress ... and Sorcerer! Yes, boy and girl evil mages. As Paul puts it, "They're both emo, and they both live forever!" A first look at work on a new Warhammer cinematic trailer (you know, since you're probably tired of the first one). An in-depth look at the High Elf Archmage class. An overview of the Shadowlands zone, an elven area. A look at another Public Quest! My favorite idea from the game, as of yet. They run down the IronClad confrontation with King Byrrnoth Grundadrakk. One of the always-enjoyable animated game design presentations, this one detailing major changes to the Careers and RvR systems. The video of the month walks us deep into the Inevitable City, the capital of the followers of Chaos. A bunch of other delights, like Paul's Video Diaries, a Grab Bag update, and another Beta Journal Entry. There's a ton more stuff exclusive to the Newsletter. This is my not-so-subtle way of saying you really should be signed up to get it. Go check it out!
