(Uncategorized - SOE) - The Evolution of the SOE Block Party - Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:35

It’s that time of year again!* Whether you’re a comic book fan, a video gamer, or board gamer, San Diego’s Comic Con International has a little bit of something for you.* And now for the third year in a row, so does Sony Online Entertainment!
The third annual SOE Block Party is coming up on Saturday, July 26, 2008.* I was happy when I heard that we’re doing the Block Party again this year.* It has become my favorite of all the events we put together.** I love Fan Faire, but with the Block Party being directly at our office here in San Diego, it gives us a chance to interact directly with everyone.*
For years, we’ve had a presence at Comic Con but it wasn’t until 2 years ago that we really stepped it up a notch by having a Block Party at our offices here in San Diego.* We weren’t really sure how it would go over but we always get a lot of request for letting people visit here so we hoped that it would go well.
Block Party 2006
The Comic Con may have started on Wednesday and closed its doors on Sunday but the fun gaming took place at the first SOE Block Party on Saturday July 22, 2006. The announcement was posted on each of our game websites and a priority email was sent out to everyone signed up for station email list, a hint to those of you that claim to never find out about these type of events.
On the day of the party, the temperature was hot, hot, hot in San Diego. Downtime at the convention center it was listed about 95 degrees, in some areas of the county it got up to about 115, and at the SOE office, it got up to about 105; and the humidity… oh the humidity.
The heat didn’t stop the party though. The SOE staff started off the day early to set up the tables, tents, games and refreshments. Once everything was set up, the staff here at SOE took their places. We played the roles of welcome receptionists, bus chaperones, office tour guides, music djs, demonstrators and some even took the job of being sitting ducks in the dunk tank.
We weren’t able to get an exact count but we know that over 500 people rolled into the party. Some people traveled from downtime on buses provided by SOE while others from the area arrived by car. They received a bag of goodies including blinking SOE neck gear, a unique SOE Block Party T-Shirt, and other game related trinkets. Everyone ate grilled food and gulped down cool beer. Some even danced to the music.
Each of our games was represented either on a kiosk outdoors or indoors in the game room. Everyone got a chance to meet and talk to the dev team members for the games and ask the questions they always wanted to know the answers for.* There was even an Xplod gaming car that had PS2’s installed.

Block Party 2007
In 2007 the SOE Block Party took place on Saturday, July 28th.* It was a great deal of fun.* Throughout the party, developers from all the game teams made an appearance whether they were working or not. Although, since it was deep into the development time for expansions, many of them were already there working to get things done!
A constant stream of players came in on buses and cars.* There were members of the media interviewing some of the visitors and to see al the games themselves.
There were demonstrations being done of EverQuest’s Secrets of Faydwer Expansion, EverQuest II’s Rise of Kunark expansion, Vanguard, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Gods and Heroes, the Pirate TCG Online, StarChamber, a closed door demo of the Agency and more!
We weren’t able to have a dunk tank this year but there a Live Band on a stage to entertain everyone, Stormtroopers watching over the booths, kids camping the tattoo clown spawn, lots of food, drinks and goodie gifts!

And now for the 2008 SOE Block Party
This year, the SOE Block Party will be taking place on Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 4pm to 8pm Pacific Time.* Throughout the four hour period, expect to see most of the SOE community team, several members of each of the game development teams, and other members of the SOE family.*
This year even Comic Book Artist Jim Lee will be attending the SOE Block Party!* You can come meet him from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.
There will also be music, food, tours, previews of upcoming games, give-aways, raffles and much more. There will be activities for kids as well.
Come meet with dev team members and staff, socialize with employees and friends, and have a great time.
See you at the Party!
Lydia Pope
Zatozia the Torturess
Community Relations Manager, EverQuest



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