WAR's Paul Barnett talks shop at Lift Conference
Filed under: Video, Business models, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Academic
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.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-11-2008 @ 5:56AM
Arabica said...
The dude is all over the place...and I love it. He is one of the reasons I am excited about Warhammer Online. I just get the sense that a lot of people working in the MMO industry simply aren't passionate about it. Things about my job that would keep me awake just don't seem to phase many of those types but Paul Barnett appears to be truly passionate and that bodes well for his product and it's future.
His personal life? Hell if I know, hell if I care. All I *do* care about is that the dude is "on it". Class balance, PVP availability, server load balancing, gear acquisition, whatever...he's "on it". God bless fanatics. They do the hyper kinetic worrying so that I don't have to. Yeah, in as much as I loved WoW I got tired of seeing the community educate CM's on game mechanics with indisputable numerical proof. Sure, that isn't the CM's job to know the mana efficiency of an Elemental Shaman, but for God's sake grab someone who does and have them address rather than proving that you work for a gaming company and you have no clue how the game works.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Paul does know how the game works and since he is the face of Warhammer Online that makes me feel like my time won't be wasted.
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2-11-2008 @ 12:30PM
Leshrac said...
I think we need to see less of this guy, I find him so irritating. I just think he loves listening/watching himself talk - I couldn't tell you what any of the Blizzard/SOE guys looked like before WoW/EQ2 came out.
Less talk, more action especially when there is talk that they will cut classes.
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