SOE FanFaire Atlanta, Georgia.
April 6 – April 9, 2006
FanFaire was a blast. I’ve been to a number of them now and
have seen it grow from an unofficial picnic with subway sandwich’s in a park to
the multi-game multi day event it has become. I expected to be exhausted at
this one since I was flying solo amongst the staff and selling my own shirts as
well as Safehouse shirts to pay my way there from California.
What I didn’t expect was how much fun I had despite also “working”.
Thursday night’s only official going’s on was registration
and hanging out in the Bazaar / game demo area. This meant I was stuck at the
booth. The layout of the place was much nicer than other FanFaires though.
There were stations for the booths so we weren’t all just along the outer edge
of a huge empty ballroom floor so it made browsing easier I think. In the
middle of the room were tables and chairs so folks could just hang out. Demo
booths were also scattered through this area, you could play Legends, and The
Matrix Online for instance. At the farthest end from the entrance was the game
room for folks who signed up for game time and also for the Best of the Best
contests etc. Even with all of this plus the SOE store table and registration
tables there was still enough room that it never felt too crowded.
After the Bazaar area closed some of us hung out at
Champions, the bar / restaurant in the hotel. I had dinner with Niami of EQ
Traders, Nareena, EQ Quide and EQ and EQ2 player, Ngreth, Tradeskills Designer and Kendricke, of Caster's Realm.
Scott Hartsman, EQ2 Senior Producer also hung out.
Friday
Friday was the dev team brunch, live events, and the round
of panels capped off at night with the reception and then fun at a place called
The Tabernacle. Panel wise I’m sorry to say I did not attend a single one.
However if a rogue can not get to her victim, she must find a way to get her
victims to come to her. In that light I can at least give you some tidbits of *rogue
information* gleaned from Friday and Saturday meetings where I cornered folks
at The Safehouse booth. I did at least get to speak at length to Larry Elmore,
a great fantasy artist, who I’ve met before at the last FanFaire and also at
ComicCons through mutual friends he was selling prints and books of his work at
his own booth. As a graphic artist whose preferred medium is digital I always
admire those who use the old school ways and Larry’s work is great.
Nighttime Shenanigans
I must say the Tabernacle was a great idea! It was billed as
Karaoke but it was much more than that. First off, the venue was an old
theatre and had 3 levels to it! Top level was the top seating for the “theater”,
middle level was where the seats would’ve been but it was a big dance floor and
also had two bar areas. They had a live band playing who sounded all right
though I couldn’t make out their words. The real action though was at the
bottom level. It was Karaoke… BUT it wasn’t to pre-recorded music, it was with
a live band as the singer(s) back up!
Most folks chose “danceable” songs to sing so the crowd was kept
entertained even if the singer wasn’t that great. Mostly we had some good
performances and SOE folks even were put on stage, including Mr. Senior Producer Scott Hartsman. If the horde of gamers walking through downtown Atlanta on their
way to the Tabernacle earlier in the evening didn’t scare the locals, the horde
of very drunk gamers walking back from it did. Wandering parties occurred and
the posh Marriott Marquis probably had their hospitality put to the test.
Saturday
Saturday was the dev brunch group 2, panels, live events (something
went amiss with the EQ2 contest so they had to raffle off the prize later) and
then the Grand Banquet, Costume contest and dancing. Again, where was Fricka?
At the table. Well ok, I was at the table at 9 am
sharp… but on sneak/hide till 11 (sleeping in while also having done a CA
to Georgia time
difference jump is a BAD thing). So yes, I was at the table and did not get to
attend the panels…but I had visitors again both from the SOE side and as well as others. Caster’s
Realm had their booth across from The Safehouse booth. Gemdiver, I’d met at a
Community Summit, Kendricke, Caster’s Realm writer, was quite the hobnobber and
a great recruiter for EQ2 and was a lot of fun. I also talked to Merloc of
Graffes who I’d also seen at one of the Summits. Largely though I talked to non
fansite gamers who came by the tables -- that’s one thing I’ve always loved
about FanFaires, just talking to gamers you’ve never met before as comfortably
as if you’d known them for years. This FanFaire had a lot folks attending for
the very first time and the energy level was high. EQ Live and EQ2 players
interacted and talked about similarities and differences in the games. Heck,
there was even a guy wearing a Tanarus hat, who was happy when I recognized it.
And of course, it was great meeting Safehousers of old even those who were just
lurkers, some didn’t know we had an EQ2 forum so I hope they stop by and post
if they're reading this report. Hint hint.
The Banquet.
The Banquet was held in a large ballroom divided roughly
with EQ Live players on one side and EQ2 players on the other. In the middle
were the guild tables. If you had at least 6 guild members registered you were
able to reserve one of these tables. Food banquet tables held rolls, barbeque,
coleslaw, chicken, and salad fixings. Dessert tables had a lemon pastry and a
peach melba sort of thing. In the two front corners they had large screens
showing, game trailers… I think… I didn’t pay much attention to them I must
admit and they didn’t have sound up except for when they played a movie trailer
for an animated film. In the front and middle of the ballroom was the stage
with the DJ and the platform for the costume contest and various contests
Brenlo made up. Including one for singing “Happy Birthday” to him Marilyn
Monroe style. I think he may have regretted that one after awhile. My camera’s
batteries had died by then so I don’t have pics, but I’m sure we’ll see some
other ones. Let’s just say that Brenlo forced other April birthday guys to take
the hot seat after he got a special “serenade”. The costume contest was done a
little differently this time. Contestants didn’t get to speak on the mic until
it was down to 2 folks. This was too bad because in the past this led to funny
“skits” by costumed folks. Unfortunately this also hurt Niami’s chances because
she didn’t get to explain her tradeskill insanity costume which involved a
strait jacket over her Halfling garb. I helped her get in it. Yes, folks, I can
now add “knowing to how to strap someone in a strait jacket” as one of my
skills. The gaming world, you never know what you’ll learn next. So the final 2
was down to several time costume winner and EQ Guide, Rash (forgot the spelling
of her name -- I’m sorry!) who has won fame for her bearded dwarf costume in
particular, and a new entrant, who was a female troll and even did the troll
dance. It was close, but the troll woman won. Prizes by the way were great, and
included wireless keyboard sets, messenger bags, $100 gift certificates to Best
Buy, in game items and titles, video cards, etc. Saturday of course ended again
in the wee hours of the morning and many exchanged emails and promises of
secrecy.
Conclusion
I’m sorry I don’t have as much nitty gritty news stuff to
give you but wearing more than one “hat” at these things is a lot to juggle but
if I hadn’t worn my vendor hat than I wouldn’t have been able to attend at all
financially. There was a Community Summit this time around but officially its
events were a day earlier than the Faire, and, though I was flown out on SOE’s
dime in the past for a Summit, I
was told the policy was to try to mix them up to get different feedback. At any
rate, fellow rogues, our plight was not unheard so we shall continue the fight.
I highly recommend attending a FanFaire if you can, they are great fun, SOE
staff does make themselves available to us, and strength in numbers is an ideal
situation.
Your roguely servant,
Fricka
Links:
Full pictures from FanFaire, including camera phone shots
