A Blast from the Past: This Game Dev’s 2009 Rant About ‘Design Memes’ Still Hits Hard Today!
Salam, fellow gamers! Ever wonder if some wisdom from the past still applies to our gaming world today? Well, buckle up, because we’re taking a trip back to 2009 when a gaming industry veteran dropped some serious truth bombs that feel eerily relevant even in 2024.
Picture this: an interview kicks off with the creative director of the then-popular MMO, Warhammer Online, Paul Barnett, declaring he’s in a “bad mood.” The reason? He’d just been handed *another* book on designing computer games. His point? You can’t learn true talent from a book; it comes from doing, from experimenting, and from breaking the mould.
Barnett, who later became the Chief Creative Officer for World of Tanks at Wargaming, was legendary for his outspoken opinions. And in that 2009 chat, he basically called out the industry for its “design memes” – those common patterns and ideas that everyone just copies because they worked for someone else. He warned that this obsession with replicating existing hits stifles creativity and leads to a boring, predictable gaming landscape.
He argued that when a particular idea gains enough traction, it becomes “consensus-driven.” This isn’t just limiting; he said it “corrupts everything” – from the players to the investors. Suddenly, if you have a genuinely fresh, out-of-the-box idea, getting funding or even a meeting becomes almost impossible. Publishers just want “Half-Life meets Peggle!” ideas, not something truly original.
Barnett wasn’t shy about criticizing the idea that game design can be reduced to a science or a formula. He dismissed the notion of a “fun matrix” or “gigglehertz” – basically, you can’t quantify pure enjoyment. For him, the best designers are like children: willing to be weird, wrong, and different. The worst? Those “trained to design games” who just follow established rules.
He broke down game development into three areas: Games as Art, Games as Design, and Games as Business. He pointed out how games like Psychonauts, while artistically brilliant, were considered business failures back then (though, thankfully, we know it got a much-loved sequel many years later!). On the flip side, he highlighted how a game like Hannah Montana, despite being looked down upon by “snobs,” was a massive business success, paying salaries and keeping people employed. For him, understanding the business aspect is crucial for long-term sustainability.
Warhammer Online itself, according to Barnett, was a “business-first” project. Their goal was to create a stable, long-running game that could employ good people and deliver a quality experience. They picked their battles, balancing artistic ambition with commercial viability to ensure they could keep making games for decades, not just years.
And what about indie games? Even back in 2009, Barnett found his joy in them, seeing them as the fastest way to get an “idea to delivery.” He believed that by constantly referencing only other computer games, designers close themselves off to inspiration from the wider world. His advice? Ambition trumps raw ability any day. A “three-star ability with five-star ambition” is what truly pushes boundaries.
It’s fascinating to look back and see how much of what Paul Barnett said rings true today. If you swap out “MMOs” for the “live service games” that dominate the market now, his critique of design memes, the struggle for innovation, and the balance between art and business feels like it could have been written yesterday. It’s a powerful reminder that true creativity often comes from challenging the status quo, not just copying it.