TenTonHammer.com - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

By Paul Barnett, Creative Director, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

To Comic-Con I go, or as the mighty Josh calls it 'The Geek Prom'. Harsh words from a Batman fanatic that drooled Kool Aid as I snuck him into a presentation of the new computer game LEGO Batman not more than a week ago. I don't see it as a geek prom; I see it as home, a cathedral to our love affairs

Paul Barnett, Creative Director for WAR

I have no idea what Comic-Con will bring. I guess it will be full of the faithful, the people who for a small period of the year gather to share views, hopes, dreams, 'what if's' and all manner of gossip and data with like minded souls. Comics are a hobby, just like W.A.R., be it collecting, keeping up with the storylines, or being fascinated on particular writers, artists or characters. Comics are also about soul, from the binding they do when you create your own personal golden age (UK Comics Circa 1982-1992 for me) to the empowerment and inspiring they do in your heart as you live the story between the panels and dream the continuing adventures as an escape from the mediocrity of real life. Comic-Con is where you meet, greet and experience people with the same drive as you but for different things. Look deep enough and the same joy that propels you about comics is found in every Trekkie, bound up in the man-doll collectors and clearly visible in the obsessives about film.

It's a long plane journey, but that's what quests are all about. It's as much about getting there, scraping together the funds, the time off work (or school), the half lies we have to tell to explain away our absence and the energy we create internally as we head off.

 Back in the day (1988 Trivia fans), I managed to find my way to Edinburgh for a comic show. I arrived at 4 in the morning, got in line behind three other people more insane than me and almost froze to death waiting for the doors to open. I said hello to anyone who entered that I knew or who wore a name badge I could read and recall. I spoke at length with others in the line and obsessed about what I would see and experience at the show. I staggered about collecting the comics that I always wanted, gawping at the things I could not afford and being stunned with the amount of people who shared my passion. It’s nineteen years later and that same nineteen year old from 1989 is about to present a computer game and give a talk at Comic-Con. I don't actually think it gets any better.

Ten Ton Hammer has, in there wisdom, decided to give me a chance to blog about how the days progress. I am not sure if the twittering of a fan boy will count for much, but I will do my best to capture what fires across my frontal lobes. Oh and every now and then talk about W.A.R. just to please 'Evil marketing'.

(Editor's Note: You can read all of Paul's Comic Con blogs by clicking here!)