Pot calls out the kettle for being combative.

Never one to hold his true feelings back, Paul Barnett of EA Mythic (WAR) discussed with Rock, Paper Shotgun why he went to LIFT (a futurist tinfoil hat revival) instead of GDC. Why is this really news? Because Paul then went on to provide a little more colorful language as to why GDC is a "peacock display" and "narrow minded." When you lob those kinds of remarks at industry centerpieces, you get quoted:

"I’m not going to GDC because it’s combative, it’s a peacock display and it’s full of people who do what I do or want to do what I do or are doing what I do and don’t want me to do it anymore. It’s not open-minded. It’s very narrow-minded. We’re all talking about the same thing. We’ve all sharpened our knives for years at it, so we get into… well, not a fight, but it’s always about the same things. We talk about design, mechanics, philosophy of design. All I was going to hear about was: WoW and the Activision merger. Whether Spore is going to be any good. How do I get into the games industry? Would you like a job? You’re going to be fired. Why don’t you start a label? I can get you a lot of money? There’s no money available in the market."

There are some interesting points about the presentations at LIFT in the interview, but the thunder from the GDC comments drown out the content a bit. I'm not debating the fact that industry gatherings are more of a spirit rally than a meeting of the minds, but Paul, could you not cut GDC and paste in any other industry gathering from any industry - even LIFT? Maybe the long hours leading up to the launch of WAR are starting to break the brackish Brit.

For the rant and other fun details regarding LIFT 2008, head to Rock, Paper Shotgun.

As always, the best source of Warhammer Online information and editorials can be found on the Ten Ton Hammer WAR Community site.