SG_01's View Into Fan Faire

SG_01 — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 08:33:26 GMT

Well, Fan Faire is over, soo, along with the gaming info at GameClubCentral.com, here is to show the fun in a generic report.

Day -1:

Well, today we flew in. We got to the airport nice and early, only to find out that the check-in was still closed. After a breakfast and a bit of a wait, we were finally ready to head to the gate, which was also still locked.

Anyhow, after two flights we finally arrived in Las Vegas. Heading Kiara's advice we took the bus to the other terminal rather than walk. Which was actually quite a bit away. At the other terminal we checked in to the hotel, and took the bus there.

After a trip across the strip, we arrived at the Rio. A very big hotel, though afterwards I do not think I will stay here again given the choice. At any rate, we took the evening to check out the hotel, and have dinner.

Day 0

After a nice brunch, we went to the strip, and checked out some of the casinos there. When we were waiting for the bus back to the hotel, I spotted Winter. We had no idea though, but I did manage to get her into a picture. When we got back, we went to our room for a while. When we went to the registration area, we met some players who were already there. Some great people from EQ2 (Antonia Bayle server). So, we decided to camp the line.

Soon, we found Winter there; after some introductions, she joined in camping the line. I walked up to the desk and found Julie there. She was busy sorting the badges, so I decided to not keep her too long. I also met Asila and Tiph before registration opened. They are both (former) guildees of mine.

When registration finally opened up, the line was already quite long. I was glad I joined the line early, so I didn't have to wait long to pickup my badge. After picking up my swag and badge holder, I met back up with Winter. She recognized some developers, and introduced me to them.

After the developers had to go on, we went back past the line to see if we found any familiar faces. This not being the case, we decided to split up. My mom went back to the room, I went to find Michael Schelling (PR), and Winter sat down, waiting for Loolee.

After finding Michael and having a little chat with him, I went back towards where Winter was waiting. She was no longer there though, so I decided to wait and see if she was coming back.

Instead of her, I saw some people hailing each other, with some very familiar names. Raijin, Loolee and Calthine. I decided to say hello. Raijin and Loolee had to jet, so I went with Calthine for a bit and talk to her. After a while I had to get back to my room, to prepare for the party. Somewhere around here I also met Laikas, one of the interns. Was quick though, as she was very busy.

After I had prepared, my mom and I went for dinner. At the table next to us I spotted some Fan Faire badges stating they where EverQuest 2 players, so what else to do than challenge them to a duel. After writing /duel on one of the many keno notes, I passed it on to the other table. After some short introductions, one of them was Corssair, a member of The League. So, we did a short duel, and I won since he evacuated.

After dinner we headed over to the Voodoo Lounge, only to discover they also had food there. Since US portions are way to big anyhow, we decided it was too bad, but no more!

Had a great evening and met with a lot of great people. Momochi, Ima (a Dutch person working for SOE), The German EQ2 Community manager, Grimwell, Ashlane, Lockeye, Niami, Brasse and a couple more.

After that I joined Winter in going to Coyote's room. There a number of aggro fish had gathered. It definitely was a great party, of which Coyote probably does not remember much.

Day 1

After not being able to sleep well at all, the next day started. Taking some Starbucks morning food with us, my mom and I headed towards the convention area. After going through a long line, we finally got to the Legends Lounge. There we found there were no tickets for the Pirates of the Burning Sea showings. After using some connections I did manage to get in on that. There is a full article about that, and the other games on GameClubCentral.com. Running into some trouble as my camera's battery was pretty low, I do not have a single film of that session.

After the session I went back to my room to charge some batteries. During this time I checked some of the pictures I made. I went to the recruiting panel afterwards, leaving my mom so the batteries where charged a bit better.

The recruiting panel was pretty straightforward, but interesting none the least. The main tip: make sure you put your hobbies; games produced and/or played; beta experience and mod experience on there as well.

After that I went to The Agency preview, which was very cool. And since my batteries where charged this time, I have a full video for that on GCC.

Now, it was about time for the EQ2 panels. Very interesting, and I am sure you will read more about then.

The community address was very cool. They showed off all the current and upcoming games, and announced and actually played Legends of Norrath.

Today's big event was the pool party. I promised to meet The League people there, so that was about the first thing I did. I am terrible with names though, but I remember Malfi, a friend of his that doesn't raid with us much, and Tiph was there. We talked for a while, enjoying our free drinks. After a while we decided to try and find Brenlo, which was pretty hard. We did find him though.

After that I went and found the Fishes. They were sitting in the back, around a table. I met Rijacki, her husband and Gallanite hanging around there. Not going into too much detail, but some things about Promise made for some funny moments. And I quote: "I cannot unsee this."

After the party I was so tired I decided to head to bed.

Day 2

Getting up early we decided we wanted to be the first in line for the game room reservations. Due to some trouble, that didn't go as planned, and we had to wait very long even though we were pretty much one of the first. After we finally got registered for the Legends of Norrath play event, I went to find some internet. Using the wireless I barely managed to write a post and upload a picture.

After this was done, I went to the panel about how developers got into the industry. This was pretty cool and very useful as well.

As soon as this was done, I could pretty much stay seated for the Rising into Kunark panel. Some very interesting things where revealed here, and I am definitely looking forward to this expansion.

After this I went to try out Legends of Norrath. Which I found was a pretty cool game, though they did not show the integrated version yet.

I decided to hang out in the Legends Lounge. They gave some stuff away, of which I have some very interesting pictures, one person did the Arasai Dance, I have a video of that one. After that I went and hang out with the developers. After a while Lockeye came in and told me about the Into the Future panel, which sounded really cool.

When the lounge went and closed, I went up to my room to prepare for the banquet.

When I got to the area where the banquet was to be held, it was already very busy. I somehow managed to find Malfi, and when it was time to go in, we found ourselves a table near the front. (They must have liked the Antonia Bayle server, as we had some of the best locations in the room.)

There we met up with other League people and made some pictures. After we had some food, the entertainment started. First the costume contest, then give away some stuff.

After a while the wedding started. It was not posted anywhere, but I already knew about it. First the groom came in, in some very nice armor. Then the bride, escorted by Darth Vader, 4 storm troopers, Antonia Bayle, Firiona Vie and the bride's father.

I must say, it was the coolest wedding I have ever seen. After the real wedding, the wedding went on inside EverQuest 2. The room was decorated very well, and I must say: kudos to the one who did that (I know who you are ;)) So, shortly after the wedding was over, there were already snowballs flying at the couple, in true Aggro Fish style!

After some more stuff, the banquet ended. I gave the couple my best wishes, and got the room number for the after party.

I then took some time to say goodbye to some of the people I have been hanging out with. This includes League Members, cute interns, and other SOE people. *hugs* to all of you.

The after party was really fun too, but didn't last too long, as most needed to catch a flight the next morn.

Had a great time with everyone I met at the Faire. And I definitely wish that I can go some other time as well.

Be sure to check out the Fan Faire galleries as well as this post. And check GameClubCentral.com for the game info.

- SG_01

Getting Ready For Fan Faire '07

SG_01 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:05:43 GMT

Soo, SOE Fan Faire is coming up, lots of info going round, and lots of exciting things getting ready to put into action. With pre-registration now closed, and only little more than a week left on the timer, time has come to prepare for the trip.

Having spent a lot of time over at the Fan Faire forums, I can tell you, there's some great posts there to prepare yourself for the trip. To start, go over to Travel Tips for Fan Faire Flyers, which has some very practical tips to make sure you get past security without getting a full body search. Also, be sure to pack plenty, the guys over at TenTonHammer seem to have a good idea of what to expect.

According to the official SOE podcast #20 some of the PR team will have their Magic: The Gathering stuff with them. Soo, don't forget to pack some decks yourself, if you have them. Anyone else up for challenging the PR team to a team-vs-team Magic match?

Unfortunately, it looks like there will only be free wireless internet in some parts of the Rio, after a lengthy discussion, it seems that there will be wireless internet provided by SOE in the Main Hall. There is wireless internet profided by the hotel itself, but this does not appear to be free of charge. The charge for it, however, was not discovered. If you plan to go out to try and find a free internet spot, you can try this wifi map.

It will be my first time there, and with all of the reports on the previous Fan Fairs, I'm definitly looking forward to it. Hope some of you found some useful information here. If not, you can always check out Coyote's 50 lines that won't be said at fan faire, just to waste some extra time. Anyhow, back to packing and planning for me.

See you there,

- SG