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


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You know you just can't please all the people. Here is a Warhammer chicken nugget. Did you know that we are hard at work on the trivia sections? These pop up between screens and give you a glimpse into the minds of the writers. Now I know for a few of you, the idea of me talking about trivia makes you roll your eyes and go 'blah!' but bear with me.

You see WAR is like a great comic, it's sort of like the Watchman. By that I mean the reason the Watchman is ace, is because there is so much more than just the apparent bits that are thrown together. It has texture, depth and uses the medium of comics in ways that most people do not and it has things for everyone. If you a fan of frame layout then Watchman gives you the 'fearful symmetry' issue. If you want background you get the blocks of text at the end of each issue. If you want depth you get the tons of things that happen in the background of each panel and so forth.

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Paul Barnett,
Creative Director for WAR

Well it's the same with a great MMO, we are not just about the hunt/kill/loot improve game style. We have gone out of our way to provide time, effort, and energy to the other types of players. The trivia notes will only really be of interest to a small part of the player base, but those players will enjoy it and love it. The casual players will skim read and every now and them may get a small gem, and the hard core fighter types will ignore it. It's the fact we go to the time and trouble to add these things that draws our game apart from the others. It's why a great comic is so much more than just words and pictures. It's the elusive look for soul.

I gave my Comic-con talk, and it really was not about Warhammer. Oh sure the things in my talk are all to be found in WAR. The concepts and ideas I bring up touch upon the spirit, but if you went to the talk or watched any of the video shot and expect to be given new WAR secrets you will be disappointed. That is unless you look a little deeper and allow yourself to think sideways. The talk was not marketing and I was not there to pimp the game. I got to speak to people who care a lot of about our game, comics, film,sci-fi and hobbies. I tried my best to speak to them as a fan, a geek, and a believer. I wanted to be someone who really loves what I do and give understanding and illumination as to why we do things and the drivers behind it.

The room was packed, we turned away 200 people. I knew the material and managed to not bump into the furniture and we finished on time. Spencer Tracy would be proud.

P.S I got to see the Watchman Xbox, and they missed the point. Sadly.

(Editor's
Note: You can read all of Paul's Comic Con blogs by href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/events/comic-con08/war">clicking
here!)