The concept of there being MMOs is probably dead.

Well, then. Everyone go home, we’re done!

Oh… wait.

The concept of there being MMOs is probably dead. There are just games. There’s online games, and very soon there will just be games. They will all be online anyway. I don’t think there’s an MMO any more. I think there’s online games and there’s online revenue, and they’re sort of going to combine.

Hope you like microtransactions!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=71r5HiLa8bA

Note to Paul: “War is everywhere! AND SOON IT WILL BE IN KOREA!” may not be the best tag line this month. (Edit: Which is probably a good thing, then, that this was shot in January.)

Game design theory is very complicated, he said, because people are overthinking 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.”

Clearly, we need someone to struggle against the status quo of publishers who squelch innovation. Designers who aren’t afraid to advocate new ideas in the face of the conservative mainstream.

You know. Heretics!

But more importantly to Mythic, when people were talking about the verbal fast jabbing Carrie Gouskos, or the laid-back Josh Drescher and comparing them to the dynamic zealotry of Paul Barnett or the strong leader vibe of Jeff Hickman, they were promoting the product that all of these people were working day and night to produce. They were really talking about WAR.

World of Warcraft:

* It’s official: Wrath of the Lich King ships November 13. Well, that gives everyone else two more months!
* During a stockholder/analyst call, Blizzard disclosed some large numbers: 11 million subscribers, $500 million in profit last year, and a total of $200 million spent on WoW’s expenses to date. Possibly WoW might bail out AIG.
* Speaking of AIG, probably the most clueless comment ever on the interwebs had someone gleefully pointing out that Blizzard’s stock dropped 4% this week because Warhammer shipped. Not explained: EA’s stock also drops 4%, entire stock market also drops 4%. Note to Internet: the financial markets are a bit busy, they’ll get to your “fix my hunter” rants later.

Age of Conan:

* Hey, look, PVP!
* Hey, look, producer walks out the door and trashes his own game!

Warhammer: Age Of War’s Reckoning At War: The Final Conflict:

* LAUNCH!!!! fshhhhhhhhh Looks to be going great, if you play Order. Like Destruction? Hope you like half-hour login queues! Thus proving once again that gamers are suckers for Cockney orcs, barely dressed dark elves, and hopefully not some combination of the two.
* Newsflash: Paul Barnett is not always 100% serious, especially when trashing his own company. Note to Paul: we colonials are still working on that “humor” thing. For example, he’s probably joking when he spends half an interview talking smack about his game’s competitor:

You know, I quite like the fact that we’ve don’t have item damage, and you won’t have to keep spending money to make your sword sharp. That’s cool, that is. I like the fact that you don’t have to run miles from the graveyard to get back into the action. I like the fact that you don’t have to go to someone with a stupid celebrity name to buy a bag to put stuff in.

Well, hey, at least we know now he’s played WoW! Oh, wait:

Surprisingly, he noted that he does not play other MMOs, including the ubiquitous World of Warcraft…. “I can’t tell what is flaw and what is genius in WoW, so I don’t want to get sucked into copying things in case I get the wrong one,” the amusing Barnett continued. “‘No one’s going to play our game unless it also had elephants!’ No. Don’t be swayed. And stop playing World Of Warcraft.”

OK…. so at least he’s seen a screenshot of Haris Pilton on the web somewhere. That is progress!

I’m a WOW player, Lich King’s around the corner and I’m excited about it. Convince me to play your game instead.

I really like Blackpool, it’s marvellous. Got a tower, you know. They sell fish and chips and it’s got a golden mile, a whole mile of things to do. But you know what, I went on holiday to Blackpool 17 years in a row. Sometimes you just want to go to Vegas.

Yeeeah, metaphors like that always go over well.