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f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  The Gaming Graveyard  |  Warhammer Online (Moderator: tazelbain)  |  Topic: Paul Barnett speaks on being "Dazed and Confused" 0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
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Author Topic: Paul Barnett speaks on being "Dazed and Confused"  (Read 164594 times)
Chockonuts
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on: March 24, 2009, 04:36:19 PM

From Gamers Daily News:
Quote
Mythic Entertainment’s Paul Barnett Shares Lessons Learned While Dazed and Confused in the MMO World

 
At the 2009 Game Developers Conference, Mythic Entertainment’s Paul Barnett, Senior Creative Director for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), will be bringing fellow games industry professionals his own special brand of insight into the world of MMO development. His presentation, entitled ‘Dazed and Confused in the MMO World,’ will focus on what Barnett has learned in his extensive time in the games industry – from making his own games, to his history at Games Workshop, to the role he played in shaping the RvR battlefields of WAR.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 25 – 4:00pm to 5:00pm

WHERE: Room 2007, West Hall

WHY: Hand waving, homemade pants, white sunglasses and offbeat insights.

In addition to Paul Barnett’s presentation, Mythic Entertainment’s CTO Matt Shaw and Art Director Greg Grimsby will be giving a presentation entitled ‘Creating a Great MMO: How Mythic Entertainment Solved Production Challenges using Autodesk Kynapse Middleware and 3ds Max on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning’ on Thursday, March 26 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm in Room 3016, West Hall. 

There's still time to get your tickets, so act fast!
Modern Angel
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Reply #1 on: March 24, 2009, 05:29:41 PM

"WHY: Hand waving, homemade pants, white sunglasses and offbeat insights."

How is it that none of these guys are seemingly acting like adults? Ever? I dig humor and not being all serious, all the time but serious... not everything is ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH WACKINESS YUK YUK YUK!
Ingmar
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Reply #2 on: March 24, 2009, 05:30:31 PM

That event sounds ripe for a pie throwing terrorist attack to me.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
pxib
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Reply #3 on: March 24, 2009, 05:30:42 PM

Quote
WHY: Hand waving, homemade pants, white sunglasses and offbeat insights.
[/quote]

if at last you do succeed, never try again
raydeen
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Posts: 1246


Reply #4 on: March 24, 2009, 05:56:55 PM

That event sounds ripe for a pie throwing terrorist attack to me.

No, shoes are the weapon of choice today. Pies are too unwieldy and anyways, it's a waste of good pie. If baked goods must be used, I'd go with a fairly heavy armor piercing fruitcake. Something that would leave a dent.

I was drinking when I wrote this, so sue me if it goes astray.
Bismallah
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Reply #5 on: March 24, 2009, 06:03:09 PM

"‘Creating a Great MMO: How Mythic Entertainment Solved Production Challenges using Autodesk Kynapse Middleware and 3ds Max on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning’"

Really?
Soln
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the opportunity for evil is just delicious


Reply #6 on: March 24, 2009, 08:43:29 PM

shouldn't Q1 sub figures be coming soon?  EA prolly reports Q1 mid April.
Chockonuts
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Reply #7 on: March 24, 2009, 09:24:47 PM

That event sounds ripe for a pie throwing terrorist attack to me.

Pie R Nerfed.  Cake is OP.

If you want pie, wait til next update so Mythic can nerf the cake for you.
Nebu
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Reply #8 on: March 24, 2009, 09:33:22 PM

This is a crash course in "How to end your career in gaming by being consistently unprofessional".

Having fun is all well and good, but there's a time to take things seriously.  Like... when the ship is sinking, it may be time to start coming up with an exit strategy.

"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."

-  Mark Twain
Ashamanchill
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Reply #9 on: March 24, 2009, 09:48:54 PM

... not everything is ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH WACKINESS YUK YUK YUK!

Lol.  Thanks for making my day.  This this thing is going to be awesome.  Like watching a seminar on how to direct a movie by Uwe Boll.

A poster signed by Richard Garriot, Brad McQuaid, Marc Jacobs and SmerricK Dart.  Of course it would arrive a couple years late, missing letters and a picture but it would be epic none the less. -Tmon
schild
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Reply #10 on: March 24, 2009, 11:43:23 PM

Gonna be a short seminar, guy hasn't learned dick.
Triforcer
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Reply #11 on: March 25, 2009, 12:29:52 AM

Gonna be a short seminar, guy hasn't learned dick.

I would contend that dick is the one thing he has learned about. 

All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu.  This is the truth!  This is my belief! At least for now...
Tannhauser
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Reply #12 on: March 25, 2009, 03:05:49 AM

Instead of hosting a seminar titled "Creating a great MMO" they should be attending one.

waylander
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Reply #13 on: March 25, 2009, 05:45:20 AM

They will get up to the mic and just stand there because in real life they will see the following message in front of the teleprompter or power point presentation....

"you are disabled, you are disabled, you are disabled, you are disabled, you are knocked down, you are knocked back, you are disabled, you are dead".....click to respawn.


Lords of the Dead
Gaming Press - Retired
raydeen
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Reply #14 on: March 25, 2009, 05:48:34 AM

Hopefully the mob aggros him and we hear his terrified scream of "TRAIN TO ZONE!". No guards will help him though as he's pretty much KOS with every faction.

I was drinking when I wrote this, so sue me if it goes astray.
Special J
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Reply #15 on: March 25, 2009, 06:12:55 AM

 
Quote
will be bringing fellow games industry professionals his own special brand of insight into the world of MMO development.

Well that's an interesting way to put it.
WindupAtheist
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Reply #16 on: March 25, 2009, 06:26:54 AM

The layoffs and server merges have come and gone. The only thing that makes continuing to pick at this skeleton worthwhile is the team's inability to refrain from acting like fucking morons.

"You're just a dick who quotes himself in his sig."  --  Schild
"Yeah, it's pretty awesome."  --  Me
HaemishM
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Reply #17 on: March 25, 2009, 09:32:41 AM

I thought Wall Street had cornered the market on seminars for "How to be the World's Biggest Complete Fucking Douchenozzle in 6 Easy Steps."

Tannhauser
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Reply #18 on: March 25, 2009, 03:59:58 PM

Seriously, why in the world would they think they have a world-class MMO?  Everyone knows they fucked up WAR, just look at the 43 or so closed servers.  The hubris is truly stunning.

Mythic learned NOTHING from DAoC.  In my opinion, in many ways WAR is a step back.  How can you teach something if you learn nothing?
rattran
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Unreasonable


Reply #19 on: March 25, 2009, 04:04:42 PM

Mythic learned NOTHING from DAoC.  In my opinion, in many ways WAR is a step back.  How can you teach something if you learn nothing?

How to splash the remains of your dignity/career all over the intarwebs?
Nebu
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Reply #20 on: March 25, 2009, 04:43:29 PM

Mythic learned NOTHING from DAoC.  In my opinion, in many ways WAR is a step back.  How can you teach something if you learn nothing?

I think this needs to be said a million times. 

WAR still has serious balance issues, dps issues, and cc issues.  I'm not going to even comment on the shitty pve and the slow leveling if you're not in some elite guild group.

"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."

-  Mark Twain
UnSub
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Reply #21 on: March 25, 2009, 06:10:24 PM

I'd like to go to this.

Seriously.

It'll be epic.

Because "making his own game" refers to the MUDs he programmed back in his youth and apparently he "shaped" RvR in WAR to where it is today. There's gold in them thar hills.

Arthur_Parker
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Reply #22 on: March 26, 2009, 12:55:30 AM

Everyone knows they fucked up WAR, just look at the 43 or so closed servers.  The hubris is truly stunning.

63, if you include Europe.
Bismallah
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Reply #23 on: March 26, 2009, 05:25:02 AM

And of course, Paul lives up to expectations:

http://gdc.gamespot.com/story/6206800/gdc-2009-paul-barnett-rails-on-game-theory

An excerpt: "Somewhat unsurprisingly, Barnett's talk didn't have much to do with the announced session topic of "Dazed and Confused in the MMO World," which was advertised as "how the Mythic team managed to take a beloved intellectual properly--Warhammer Fantasy--and convert it into an MMO." Instead, through a barrage of seeming non sequiturs, Barnett offered tips to aspiring creative directors, before settling on the topic of how the gaming industry, by way of new technologies such as the iPhone, has begun to resemble the rebellious days of punk rock, and no one saw it coming."

schild
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Reply #24 on: March 26, 2009, 05:28:43 AM

God, he's like the Toby Young of games.
rk47
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Reply #25 on: March 26, 2009, 06:14:00 AM



lol  awesome, for real

Colonel Sanders is back in my wallet
Arthur_Parker
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Reply #26 on: March 26, 2009, 06:15:33 AM

Can somebody quote the whole thing?
Bismallah
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Reply #27 on: March 26, 2009, 06:25:54 AM

"Mythic Entertainment creative director says design should come from one's experiences, not snake-oil books on how to make fun.

Paul Barnett is a man with an opinion. And, unfortunately for show organizers of the 2009 Game Developers Conference, his opinion is that the annual game maker confab isn't all it's cracked up to be. Such is the way that Mythic Entertainment's senior creative director began his session at this year's conference, telling gathered attendees that he was only participating in the show to satisfy the demands of his corporate overlords, better known as Electronic Arts.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Barnett's talk didn't have much to do with the announced session topic of "Dazed and Confused in the MMO World," which was advertised as "how the Mythic team managed to take a beloved intellectual properly--Warhammer Fantasy--and convert it into an MMO." Instead, through a barrage of seeming non sequiturs, Barnett offered tips to aspiring creative directors, before settling on the topic of how the gaming industry, by way of new technologies such as the iPhone, has begun to resemble the rebellious days of punk rock, and no one saw it coming.

In the spirit of his rambunctious session, Barnett began the talk by answering his ringing cell phone, telling whoever was on the other line that he was busy. Referencing his opening rant, Barnett then offered a "vital lesson" to creative directors, saying that it didn't matter that he didn't want to be here, but it was the right thing for his studio.

He then went into detail about his creative mindset, noting the collage-coated green walls of his office and his early influences growing up in England. The point he seemed to be making, and which became clearer later on in the presentation, was that creativity is the product of a person's environment.

Growing up in England at the time, his environment was defined by the relative lack of things, he said. This led him, he continued, to engage in a good deal of game piracy growing up, as he and those he knew would copied cassette games for the Commodore 64, and then passed them around. He has played 7,600 games by his last count (and to be clear, he keeps a running record of the games he's played).

Barnett transitioned this point by saying that there are basically two types of people, as defined by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. There are creative people who don't know how to make any money and no one will back their efforts, he said, and there are business people who know how to make money but don't have a creative bone in their body. It's a problem, he continued, when a creative person is in charge of a company, just as it's a bad idea when the business-minded are tasked with creativity. Both situations, he said, are doomed.

This idea dovetailed into one of the key points of his session. Game design theory is very complicated, he said, because people are over-thinking the problem. "Theories in design are as timeless as the fashion of hats," he said. The theories, he continued, are a means to sell a product and are nothing more than a series of catchphrases that get traction and are then sold to people. "This is because we don't like chaos, we don't like uncertainty," he said. "So we look for earnest people with intelligent systems to sell. Prophets that can fortify our faith. It's caustic, and it's dangerous."

Drawing from his earlier point about what shaped his creative spirit, Barnett said, "Design is found from history, it has an attachment to philosophy, more than science or math. These people who think they have an equation are dark and dangerous. They make it sound like there is a formula for fun. Fun is genetic."

"We need to teach young dogs old tricks," he said. "Encourage people to think. There is no theory to fun. You will not find the fun matrix."

Luckily, he went on, game design has entered a "golden age," due to the rise of alternative forms of distribution such as the iPhone, Xbox Live, WiiWare, Flash games, and any number of other delivery mechanisms that don't necessarily rely on high-tech hardware. Instead of being built by massive developers and publishers, these games are built by small teams who can deliver solid, fun gameplay. "Big corporations are in the wrong place, making the wrong products," he said.

"Some things just matter, some things show up and are never going away ever again," he said in relation to the rise of these new forms of game distribution. "It's like punk," he concluded. "You can all do it."

Edit, the funniest part is reading the people's replies to the article. Kissing his ass like you wouldnt believe. "We need more people like him in the gaming industry. We need a "Sid Vicious" to tell EA and all the corporate prostitutes how we want our games to be. \m/" Yeah, go ahead and do that sweetheart, are you going to get paid with jelly beans and pop tarts too?
Chockonuts
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Reply #28 on: March 26, 2009, 06:42:52 AM



lol  awesome, for real


"The comedy stylings of Paul Barnett".   ACK!

Well, at least he didn't claim he invented MUDs. 

FatuousTwat
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Reply #29 on: March 26, 2009, 06:48:40 AM

I don't think I've ever read an interview or seen a video of him where I couldn't have mistaken him for a ranting drugged up bum that had in wandered off the street.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
Chockonuts
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Reply #30 on: March 26, 2009, 06:54:29 AM

I don't think I've ever read an interview or seen a video of him where I couldn't have mistaken him for a ranting drugged up bum that had in wandered off the street.


Speaking of videos....  I almost swear I saw a vid of him doing this exact same schtick while talking about Warhammer before release....

"In the spirit of his rambunctious session, Barnett began the talk by answering his ringing cell phone, telling whoever was on the other line that he was busy. Referencing his opening rant, Barnett then offered a "vital lesson" to creative directors, saying that it didn't matter that he didn't want to be here, but it was the right thing for his studio."


If he's using old material from pre-release hype vids...  it's worse than we all though.
Lantyssa
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Reply #31 on: March 26, 2009, 08:31:30 AM

My gods...  this man really doesn't need to be in the industry.  Perhaps any industry at that.

Hahahaha!  I'm really good at this!
Nebu
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Reply #32 on: March 26, 2009, 08:32:21 AM

Gaming now has its very own Carrot Top.

"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."

-  Mark Twain
schild
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Reply #33 on: March 26, 2009, 08:34:13 AM

Gaming now has its very own Carrot Top.

I don't think a guy being a giant dick really qualifies him as a prop comic. This dude is just a tool.
Nebu
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Reply #34 on: March 26, 2009, 08:35:32 AM

Aw... he used a cell phone!

"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."

-  Mark Twain
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