World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Players of massively multiplayer games know that they're going to be spending untold amount of hours staring at their computer screens, and if the user interface isn't attractive they will do anything in their power to make it appealing. At BlizzCon '08, the developers of World of Warcraft went into the details of putting together a solid UI, and Ten Ton Hammer's Jay "Medeor" Johnson weighs in on the entire panel and whether or not it enjoyable to a typical player. His thoughts are entertaining and engaging, so make sure you check them out!

One impression I always get at BlizzCon (well in both of the ones I've attended) is that Blizzard has a quiet fury raging behind the scenes.  When the UI team used terms like "formed a strike team" and an "interdisciplinary group" to jump on the UI requirements for the expansion, I get the impression of a military style crew choppering in to solve the problem.  A methodical march toward creativity.  The second panel illustrated this approach as Tom led the second half of the discussion about the new Death Knight UI component.  

• To read all of Jay's UI panel editorial, click here!