FRIDAY
The site was already bustling with excited fans when we arrived at 4:00pm. GMs Tage and Keejay quickly took care of the registration details. Spiderman (Shulzari's son) was even present at the registration desk!
After registration we got directions to the bar from Belisarius and took a short walk along the harbor and proceeded to do what drunken dwarves do best! As we watched the fans walking by in small groups it was obvious that the Vanguard community is alive and well. People were greeting each other and everyone seemed excited about meeting their fellow gamers. Personally I enjoyed finally putting faces with some of the names I've seen so frequently on the boards.
At the cocktail party, Cindy Bowens was up to her usual tricks and dropped a surprise game on us. It was a checklist that you had to have other members sign if they met the conditions for each signature block. I personally signed many of the lists... I qualified for several of the blocks and I wasn't alone in being able to sign off on the "played MMOs for more than 5 years" and the "missed work to play" blocks ;) Cindy had also arranged for great prizes... winners walked away with sweet new video and sound cards from Creative and ATI.
The cocktail party was great fun. By the time it was winding down, we had met several Affiliate Site staff members, the infamous Ultar, Ominous, and many others. We even got a chance to corner some of the developers. I had planned to wait until Saturday to try to squeeze information out of them... but I couldn't help myself and I managed to get a tidbit about Dread Knights before Talisker escaped.
After the cocktail party, several of the Affiliates grabbed a table and got to know each other over drinks and dessert. Pirotess, Lady Sirse, Niborea, and Gardomyn (all the way from Paris!) were among those present.
After dessert, Avanda and I stopped in on the Silky Venom room party and got to meet several of their staff (all of whom destroyed me at Soul Caliber 3). It was a good time and was once again nice to put faces to the names I was so familiar with. Oloh was the biggest surprise... somehow none of the lawyer jokes I had prepared seemed to fit ;)
After watching Cindy Bowens' son dominate the Soul Caliber battles, we decided to call it a night. Back in the hotel room by a respectable 3:30 am, it was time for the first brief update on the site.
SATURDAY
We somehow managed to make it to the 9:00 am affiliate breakfast with Cindy and Glip on time, and got to meet the few affiliate staffers who had eluded us on Friday.
The demo started at 10. For 4 glorious hours the developers showed off the game and answered questions. All I can say is that screen shots simply don't do the game justice. The lighting effects are outstanding and the combat animations looked very good. I found myself just sitting back and watching, completely forgetting that I was there to try to dig up information. I did manage to stop drooling over the game long enough to speak with Darrin McPherson (Talisker) again and he was kind enough to answer several of my questions. (You can read all the information HERE.) The demo room was a whirlwind of activity with several developers demonstrating adventuring gameplay, character creation, and crafting. Fans milled around, stopping to watch the demos, talk to the developers, and socialize with the other fans.
After the demo session, there was a live quest where fans made groups of 6 to 10 people and were sent off in search of several items ranging from a sea shell to ummm... whatever that is.... It was a great event and it looked like everyone had a great time participating. The winners will receive copies of the game signed by the development team.
Following the Live Quest, Jeff and Brad showed a short video and then answered questions from the audience. I was impressed with the way that they answered everything that was asked without trying to dodge anything.
Following the Q&A, the conference room was split and there were two panel discussions held at the same time. One was about breaking into the game industry and the other was about the community. I attended the community session where Cindy, Glip, and Vladmiir discussed their roles within the community and spoke about the planned official forum closure on release. They also fielded questions from the audience.
The first two panel discussions were followed by another pair. I participated in the "Meet the Affiliates" panel where representatives from all the Affiliated Fan Sites who were present discussed their sites and answered questions from the audience.
Finally it was time for the closing dinner and it seemed like it came far too soon. We enjoyed a good meal and great company as the event drew to a close.
-TheDrunkenDwarf