Fan Faire – An EQ Overview
It’s the day before Fan Faire 2008? Are you ready for some fun? Soon gamers from all over will descend upon Las Vegas to join SOE employees in days of massive online gaming fun. No matter which SOE game you play, there will be something for everyone who attends even those who have yet to try our games.
Online registration has already closed, but you can still attend the Fan Faire through walk-in registration which begins August 14, 2008 at 4pm Vegas Time!
The EverQuest Team
The following members of the EQ team are scheduled to be at Fan Faire, as well as a host of folks from the other SOE teams and departments!
Lydia "Zatozia the Torturess" Pope – Community Manager
Clint "Jourdian" Worley - Producer
Ryan "Rytan" Barker – Lead Designer
Terry "Fairan" Michaels - Lead Programmer
Alan "Absor" VanCouvering – Assistant Lead Designer
Jason "Maddoc" Mash - Assistant Lead Designer
Jonathan "Prathun" Caraker - Designer
Keith "Merloc" Turkowski - Designer
Adam "Ngreth" Bell - Designer
David "Nodyin" Ford - Designer
John "Raramor" Boomershine – Designer
Steven "SKlug" Klug – Programmer
Doug “Elidroth” Cronkite - Designer
And others who are coming to hang out!
Schedule
View the full Fan Faire Schedule for additional activities and updates.
Thursday, August 14th:
Thursday is arrival day for mostly everyone.
The Early Bird Registration and Badge Pick-Up tables will be opened from 4pm to 8pm. This will ensure that everyone can grab their badge, or register and grab one right after they check in. Unfortunately, we will no way method of giving out the badges after 8pm. If you miss the cut off you will need to wait until Friday morning to get your badge.
The Legends Lounge will be open from 4pm to 8pm and then from 10pm to midnight.
Sign up for the Tournaments will be at the information desk Thursday evening.
Starting at 8:00 PM there will be a welcome reception at the in the Barron Room in the convention hall of the Hilton. SOE dev team members and more will be present to welcome everyone as they arrive and everyone will be able to chill out and chat casually about the games we love to play.
In the late evening from 10pm to 12 midnight, there will be a late night Legends of Norrath play session. Come chill out and play Legends of Norrath and receive a special gift (while supplies last). You must be an All-Access Fan Faire pass holder to attend.
Friday, August 15th:
Friday is the first full day of action at Fan Faire and there will be plenty of activities for everyone to participate in. Registration and Badge Pick-Up will open at 9:00 AM and run until 6:00 PM.
The Game Room is opening at 9:00 am and running until 8:00 pm. The Vendor Bazaar and Phat Lewt Store will be open form 9:00 am to 6 pm. And the Legends Lounge will be open from 9am to 8pm.
By visiting each of these locations you can visit a great number of vendors, jump in game and say ‘Hello from Fan Faire!” to your online buddies, and hang out with SOE employees and your friends while you enjoy refreshments in the Legends Lounge.
The EverQuest Best of the Best Tournament will be taking place from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Contestants get to battle each other for the right to call themselves the Best! Sign up for this tournament will be on Thursday evening.
The EverQuest development team will be appearing on the following panels:
- 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM - Game Mechanics – Q & A discussion on Spells, AA, Tradeskills, Items, and other game mechanics.
- 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM - Quest Workshop – Design a Quest with the EverQuest team - Learn about the EQ Quest Design process and get hands on training from Game Designers as you help design a quest that might make its way into the game. Space is limited to 50 so get a seat fast.
- 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM - General EverQuest – An open panel to discuss General EQ Topics.
- 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM - Raids and Missions - Process of creating raids and missions with Q & A discussion.
Community Address: At 6:00 pm on Friday, see what's new at SOE! To kickoff the 2008 SOE Fan Faire, SOE President John Smedley will provide opening remarks to more than 1000 video game fans at the Hilton Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The second annual "Community Address" combines a live presentation with a streaming video broadcast online. Smed will give both Fan Faire attendees and gamers worldwide the kind of inside look at SOE products usually reserved for industry insider events.
Not attending Fan Faire? Don’t worry you still have a chance to hear the address via the Live Webcast.
To close out the day, from 9:00 PM to 1pm there will be a VIP Rock N Roll Karaoke Party at an offsite location. There will be live entertainment, drinks, and concession food available for purchase at the venue.
Saturday, August 16th:
Registration, Badge Pick-Up, the Game Room, Bazaar, Phat Lewt Store, and the Legends Lounge will all be open on Saturday from 9:00 AM through 8:00 PM. This will ensure that if you have not had a chance to stop by each area on Friday, you can check them out in your free time on Saturday and share in all the action.
The EverQuest Live Quest will be taking place from 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM. Team up with several others in a real life quests. Several teams of 10 to 12 people will participate in this 2 hour fun-filled adventure and journey to help a cast of characters!
The EverQuest development team will be appearing on the following panels:
- 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM - Game Mechanics – Q & A discussion on Spells, AA, Tradeskills, Items, and other game mechanics.
- 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM - Quest Workshop – Design a Quest with the EverQuest team - Learn about the EQ Quest Design process and get hands on training from Game Designers as you help design a quest that might make its way into the game. Space is limited to 50 so get a seat fast.
- 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Expansion Highlights - Sneak Peek overview of the upcoming expansion for EverQuest. Lore, etc.
- 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM - Special Feature Addition – An overview of an innovative new game feature for EverQuest. Additional details will be revealed at Fan Faire.
The Grand Banquet will begin at 8:00 PM and will provide a full buffet dinner for attendees. At the banquet the SOE Fan Faire Costume Contest will take place and there will be a DJ and lots of dancing.
Event schedule and times are subject to change. Please check the schedule when you arrive at Fan Faire to be sure you have the most accurate information.
Fan Faire Resources
- Vegas Fan Faire Preparation - What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas! But… What you leave at home, stays at home! Here are some tips on preparing for the 2008 Vegas SOE Fan Faire to keep you from leaving something important behind.
- Flickr Group for Fan Faire! - All attending Fan Faire 2008 are welcome to share their photos with the community through the newly created Flickr group.
- Twitter – Do you Twitter? Get updates on your mobile phone and on the web! Follow us at twitter.com/soefanfaire.
- YouTube - Watch and subscribe to see the latest SOE videos and trailers on YouTube. Find us at YouTube.com/SOEVideos
- Staying Connected at Fan Faire - Once upon a time, people went on vacation and were pretty much out of reach until they got home. Can you believe it? Oh em gee.
- Nowadays you can't go out to eat, to a movie, or even into...eww...the little elves' room, without hearing someone talking on a cell phone or sending a text message. Here are some tips on staying connected while at Fan Faire.
- Fan Faire Maps - For all those attending, here are a few maps of the inside of the hotel where the events will be taking place. Feel free to use these to map out strategies for maximizing seeing as many panels as possible, or print them out so you reduce the risk of getting lost during the three day celebration
- Art Reviews at Fan Faire - Are you an aspiring artist looking for some professional guidance for your career or advice on your artwork? Then stop by and see Joe Shoopack at Fan Faire 2008 in Las Vegas!
As you can see, the 2008 SOE Fan Faire looks to be a fun-filled event with plenty to do for everyone who plays any SOE game and just likes to have fun in general. Throughout the course of Fan Faire, there will be many opportunities for EQ players to meet with the team and talk about the game.
We look forward to meeting with everyone who’s coming to Las Vegas! If you can’t make it, be sure to watch the EQPlayers.com website and make use of the resources listed above for daily updates!
See you at Fan Faire!
Lydia Pope
Zatozia the Torturess
Community Relations Manager, EverQuest