EQ2_Bloggers
09-14-2010, 10:01 PM
http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/fanfaire10/ff2010_banner_400.jpg
Fan Faire comes to SOE once a year, and this year it was held at Bally’s in Las Vegas on the first weekend in August.
Fan Faire started long long ago, back in the days when the original EverQuest® was SOE’s only game; I still remember hearing exciting reports from guildmates who attended the early Fan Faires back when I was playing EverQuest. *As SOE’s offering of games has grown, so has Fan Faire. It’s now a meeting for players from a wide variety of our games, not just EverQuest. *It’s quite usual these days to see Storm Troopers marching around beside elves and dwarves, and with DC Universe Online™ launching this year, no doubt we’ll soon add a whole array of spandex-clad superheroes at future Fan Faires.
During the two main days of Fan Faire, the development teams from each of SOE’s games presents a series of panels that fans can attend to learn more about upcoming features, ask questions, or just generally share opinions, depending on the panel’s format. *It’s often when we announce exciting new features, expansions, or entire games as well. *The panels are always interesting and informative, but most people will agree that the best part of Fan Faire is the people. *If you’ve played a game for any significant length of time, you’ll find yourself bumping into several players whose names you recognize: guildmates, people you’ve shared a pick-up group with, or just people you’ve got to know from posting on the game forums. *Many guilds make it a group event and organize parties and events outside the panel times. *Even if you don’t know anybody, you still find yourself surrounded by like-minded people sharing the exact same interest as you, and it’s pretty easy even for the shyest of people to strike up a conversation.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture1-girl.JPG (http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture1-girl.JPG)
I attended one Fan Faire before joining SOE, and I’ve attended four Fan Faires as a developer. One of the things I enjoy the most is seeing the same faces come back again each year. *I spend a lot of the weekend talking to attendees, and I often ask people I don’t recognize, “is this your first Fan Faire?” *Often the response is a shy, somewhat overwhelmed sounding “yes,” followed by an exclamation of how much they’re enjoying it so far. It always makes me happy to see these same faces come back again, looking more confident and saying they’ve been looking forward to it all year. *Last year, I met someone from the same server I play on; it was his first time coming to Fan Faire, and it had been a last minute impulse decision just because he happened to live fairly close. *This year he was talking about Fan Faire months in advance in the server chat channels, and showed up with a costume and a ton of enthusiasm. It was a joy to see, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing him in future years as well. *Last year one of our fan podcasters also attended for the first time.* She was deathly afraid of flying and had never been on an airplane before. It was only with the greatest effort from her friends that she’d been persuaded to attend.* This year I watched her counting down the days till Fan Faire on her twitter feed, she was looking forward to it so much.* Last year, I bumped into a sweet couple who both played EQII; they had a room in the same hall as me last year and we happened to meet while heading downstairs on the last day. *It was their first Fan Faire and they were having fun, but the wife was expressing some dissatisfaction with her wizard’s soloing ability and sounding very frustrated with the game, and I recommended she try the “battlemage” build (which I enjoy myself on my wizard). *This year they were back again and she specifically reminded me of the conversation and thanked me for the suggestion, which apparently restored her enjoyment of her wizard, and said they are still happily playing and couldn’t wait to come back to Fan Faire this year. And these are just a few examples.
In 2007, Fan Faire actually hosted a wedding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC9AJbyxwfo) between two EverQuest II players, live on stage and simultaneously in-game. This year we also had an on-stage marriage proposal (and acceptance) between two long-time EverQuest players who took part in the costume contest.* *However, the most touching story I heard this year was actually from someone who played EQII and had been living in the New Orleans area when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.* His home was destroyed and he lost almost everything.* He told me how a guildmate from EQII drove all the way from Colorado with a trailer, collected him and his remaining belongings, drove him back to Colorado, and gave him a place to live until he could get on his feet again.* He now lives permanently in Colorado and has found a new career, and told me how his entire life had been changed thanks to the kindness and generosity of that guildmate, who had never even met him in person before that day he drove across states to rescue a stranger.* It’s stories like this that remind me that Fan Faire, and our games, are truly more about the people than about any announcements, panels, or game mechanics details.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture2-panel.JPG (http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture2-panel.JPG)
One thing that particularly strikes me when I look around a Fan Faire crowd is how many women there are. *I’ve been to some game conventions in the past where it seems there’s a clear and striking majority of male players, but at Fan Faire I seem to see women everywhere. *There are probably still more men, but it’s hard to find a group of people on any occasion that doesn’t have at least one woman in it. *I don’t know if SOE’s games are just more appealing to women than other games, or if the gender balance is just changing fast everywhere, but it’s good to see. Some of these young women attending Fan Faires and listening intently to panels may end up becoming the game designers of tomorrow — just as I was once one of them also.* I love seeing familiar faces coming back to Fan Faire, but I’m even happier when I see familiar faces turning up in game design teams at SOE!
http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture3-banquet.JPG (http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture3-banquet.JPG)
- Emily “Domino” Taylor
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Fan Faire comes to SOE once a year, and this year it was held at Bally’s in Las Vegas on the first weekend in August.
Fan Faire started long long ago, back in the days when the original EverQuest® was SOE’s only game; I still remember hearing exciting reports from guildmates who attended the early Fan Faires back when I was playing EverQuest. *As SOE’s offering of games has grown, so has Fan Faire. It’s now a meeting for players from a wide variety of our games, not just EverQuest. *It’s quite usual these days to see Storm Troopers marching around beside elves and dwarves, and with DC Universe Online™ launching this year, no doubt we’ll soon add a whole array of spandex-clad superheroes at future Fan Faires.
During the two main days of Fan Faire, the development teams from each of SOE’s games presents a series of panels that fans can attend to learn more about upcoming features, ask questions, or just generally share opinions, depending on the panel’s format. *It’s often when we announce exciting new features, expansions, or entire games as well. *The panels are always interesting and informative, but most people will agree that the best part of Fan Faire is the people. *If you’ve played a game for any significant length of time, you’ll find yourself bumping into several players whose names you recognize: guildmates, people you’ve shared a pick-up group with, or just people you’ve got to know from posting on the game forums. *Many guilds make it a group event and organize parties and events outside the panel times. *Even if you don’t know anybody, you still find yourself surrounded by like-minded people sharing the exact same interest as you, and it’s pretty easy even for the shyest of people to strike up a conversation.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture1-girl.JPG (http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture1-girl.JPG)
I attended one Fan Faire before joining SOE, and I’ve attended four Fan Faires as a developer. One of the things I enjoy the most is seeing the same faces come back again each year. *I spend a lot of the weekend talking to attendees, and I often ask people I don’t recognize, “is this your first Fan Faire?” *Often the response is a shy, somewhat overwhelmed sounding “yes,” followed by an exclamation of how much they’re enjoying it so far. It always makes me happy to see these same faces come back again, looking more confident and saying they’ve been looking forward to it all year. *Last year, I met someone from the same server I play on; it was his first time coming to Fan Faire, and it had been a last minute impulse decision just because he happened to live fairly close. *This year he was talking about Fan Faire months in advance in the server chat channels, and showed up with a costume and a ton of enthusiasm. It was a joy to see, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing him in future years as well. *Last year one of our fan podcasters also attended for the first time.* She was deathly afraid of flying and had never been on an airplane before. It was only with the greatest effort from her friends that she’d been persuaded to attend.* This year I watched her counting down the days till Fan Faire on her twitter feed, she was looking forward to it so much.* Last year, I bumped into a sweet couple who both played EQII; they had a room in the same hall as me last year and we happened to meet while heading downstairs on the last day. *It was their first Fan Faire and they were having fun, but the wife was expressing some dissatisfaction with her wizard’s soloing ability and sounding very frustrated with the game, and I recommended she try the “battlemage” build (which I enjoy myself on my wizard). *This year they were back again and she specifically reminded me of the conversation and thanked me for the suggestion, which apparently restored her enjoyment of her wizard, and said they are still happily playing and couldn’t wait to come back to Fan Faire this year. And these are just a few examples.
In 2007, Fan Faire actually hosted a wedding (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC9AJbyxwfo) between two EverQuest II players, live on stage and simultaneously in-game. This year we also had an on-stage marriage proposal (and acceptance) between two long-time EverQuest players who took part in the costume contest.* *However, the most touching story I heard this year was actually from someone who played EQII and had been living in the New Orleans area when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.* His home was destroyed and he lost almost everything.* He told me how a guildmate from EQII drove all the way from Colorado with a trailer, collected him and his remaining belongings, drove him back to Colorado, and gave him a place to live until he could get on his feet again.* He now lives permanently in Colorado and has found a new career, and told me how his entire life had been changed thanks to the kindness and generosity of that guildmate, who had never even met him in person before that day he drove across states to rescue a stranger.* It’s stories like this that remind me that Fan Faire, and our games, are truly more about the people than about any announcements, panels, or game mechanics details.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture2-panel.JPG (http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture2-panel.JPG)
One thing that particularly strikes me when I look around a Fan Faire crowd is how many women there are. *I’ve been to some game conventions in the past where it seems there’s a clear and striking majority of male players, but at Fan Faire I seem to see women everywhere. *There are probably still more men, but it’s hard to find a group of people on any occasion that doesn’t have at least one woman in it. *I don’t know if SOE’s games are just more appealing to women than other games, or if the gender balance is just changing fast everywhere, but it’s good to see. Some of these young women attending Fan Faires and listening intently to panels may end up becoming the game designers of tomorrow — just as I was once one of them also.* I love seeing familiar faces coming back to Fan Faire, but I’m even happier when I see familiar faces turning up in game design teams at SOE!
http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture3-banquet.JPG (http://www.station.sony.com/images/community/blogs/girlfanfaire/picture3-banquet.JPG)
- Emily “Domino” Taylor
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Author:
Visit This Blog Page... (http://stationblog.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/fan-faire-2010%c2%a0it%e2%80%99s-all-about-the-people/)
Visit StationBlog (http://stationblog.wordpress.com/)