The creative director of Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Paul Barnett was at the Develop Online conference where he spoke about the launch woes of their MMORPG and their struggle to avoid the influence of World of Warcraft while designing their game. To find out what he had to say, check out the full article.

It was announced on the official Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning website that the game will be featured at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con. To find out more, be sure to check out the full article

A few weeks ago, Valve's Gabe Newell, an advocate of the PC gaming platform, spoke well of Nintendo's next generation console. It was at that same time that he wished to make a game for the platform, of which an MMORPG was hinted at. Now we hear Paul Barnett from Electronic Arts who opines that Nintendo could be the company to resolve the console MMO problem - despite SOE's recent efforts with The Agency, and Funcom with Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

Fresh out of their recent presentation at the New York Comic Con 2008, EA Mythic's Senior Producer Jeff Hickman, Creative Director Paul Barnett, and Associate Producer Josh Drescher took the time to explain the different roles they had in the development team of Warhammer Onine: Age of Reckoning. You can read all about their responses by clicking on the "read more" link below.

If you wish to promote your MMORPG, one of the best ways to do so is to take your game with you on a road show. That's precisely what EA Mythic will be doing for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in the next few months. If this sounds like something you'd like to attend, turn to the full article after the jump for more road show details.

EA Mythic is sending word that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will be available for play over at the upcoming New York Comic Con. The MMORPG's devs will also be present to promote the game, and to answer the fan's questions. More details are available in the full article.

If you're sick of playing the passive support healer in the back, you might be interested in taking a look at the Disciple of Khaine character class from EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Deviating from the typical priest class in other MMORPGs, this rather offense-based support character relies on stealing the opponents energies and using it against them.

Check out the video of this character class in the full article!

Another much-awaited MMORPG is making its way to this year's GCDC 2007. GOA has just announced that they will be at the Leipzig-based games convention, and that they will be presenting several of their games, including Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) and Dark Age of Camelot.

WAR in particular will feature 36 computers on-site, which will provide visitors with a chance to try out the MMO's player vs. player and realm vs. realm combat.

Further upping the ante is the presence of WAR Senior Producer Jeff Hickmann and Creative Director Paul Barnett. The pair will be talking about several WAR-related topics at the Leipzig event, including an unveiling of the secrets of the elves.

On a more general note, GOA is also expecting to feature its other new titles at the event - keep in touch in case we pick up more info on this. The GOA booth is located at stand A20 in Hall 3. The GCDC proper is expected to take place this August 22 to 26, at the Leipzig Messe convention center in Leipzig, Germany.

One of the biggest factors in an MMORPG is questing. Most especially for a game like Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, quests are the lifeline of your journey. Spinning off from their RTS game Warhammer 40,000 on the PC, THQ and Games Workshop are now flipping forward to the MMO arena with their own quest-driven title.

Before the game gets released, you got to make sure though that you know the ins and outs of the questing system and structure of Warhammer Online. That's what the video below is for. It's nearly 20 full minutes of tutorial, as given by creative director Paul Barnett. There's going to be many forms that quests will come in the game, so get comfy. Your journey starts here:

 

GamesRadar reports that Paul Barnett, the creative director of Mythic Creative, says in this month's issue of "PC Gamer" magazine that game guides and walkthroughs corrupt the enjoyment of the game. Barnett explains:

A game guide is actually there to corrupt your enjoyment of the game. ...It tells you the most efficient, straightforward and dull way to increase your numbers, and in no way tells you the wonder and joy of the game you're playing.

For most games the wonder and joy is in getting there. In fact in most of life, the joy is in getting to something. ...We now have people obsessed with getting to the endgame, not realising that the greatness is in going on that journey.

If previous promotion of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is to be taken as something a bit more than hype, than Barnett's latest game is set to jolt folks who are walkthrough-reliant, grind-obsessed, and build-anal. We'll end this here, before this post starts sounding like a promotion for "PC Gamer" or Warhammer Online. But, before we go, we'll ask you guys a question.

How do you use your game walkthroughs? Do you make sure that a walkthrough is available before you purchase that US$ 50 dollar 40 plus hour, story-heavy game? Do you consider walkthrough users to be gaming equivalents of the physically handicapped?

Personally, I do my best to play through a game first as fast as I can, not minding secrets and other stuff, with the goal of just getting to see what happens next. If the experience satisfies, only then do I start looking for walkthroughs to get every secret and every hidden ultimate weapon.

What about you folks? What's your take on game guides?