Fanfaire Wrapup

Everyone had a great time at the Boston Fanfaire last weekend. I've got pictures for you and a wrap-up of what went on. First, I'll start with the hotel. If you are ever visiting Boston and looking for a place to stay, whatever you do don't stay at the Boston Park Plaza. No really. She was obviously once a grand and impressive hotel. Now, like an aged trollop, she smears on the makeup in an attempt to hide the pockmarks and wrinkles, puts on that tattered old party dress and stands in the street wondering why nobody looks at her with lust anymore, but instead with disgust and pity. Enough of my waxing poetic. You can check out the reviews people gave it at fodors for a better idea. Of course, most of us were not really interested in the hotel. People come to a fan faire for one reason, and one reason only -- to party with other Everquest players. That we did in spades. If you've ever wondered what the heck people do at one of these things and figured it was something you just wouldn't enjoy, you should really think about trying one out. If you enjoy drinking, socializing, boasting and joking around, all with a group of people who know the layout of East Freeport at least as well as you do, then this is something you would enjoy. Let me give you an idea of how the weekend went. The party started at 1:00 Friday afternoon with early registration. At that point a line snaked around the hotel lobby to get to the registration tables and get your identification badge. Since nothing was actually scheduled until 8:00, the hotel obviously assumed everyone would register and then head out to see Boston. Some did, but many headed to the hotel bar, got a beer, and started moving around the lobby looking for people they knew from in game. Soon we just took over the hotel and Everquest people were pretty much standing everywhere talking to anyone who wanted to join in on the conversation. The two bartenders they had on duty probably left work and collapsed from exhaustion the minute they got home. This continued until they opened up the main ballroom at 8:00 for the official cocktail party. Sony did a good job of organizing it so that the players could gather together by server and meet people they either may have played with in the past or are likely to play with in the future. The Povar contingent was especially enthusiastic. From 8:00 to 10:00 there were drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and the players were given time to meet and socialize with the players from theirs and other servers. After this, many headed back down to the hotel bars, some went out on the town and those in the know headed to the suite that Allakhazams and Casters Realm had rented together for some after hours partying. This soon became know as the "shhhh" party, since, even though they had promised to put us somewhere where we wouldn't disturb the guests, the hotel in fact put us right next to an older couple who were quite rightfully unhappy to have a large group of loud drunks talking in the room next door. Thus, in order to keep from getting shut down, every couple of minutes as the noise level started to rise, someone would go "shhhh" and, like a group of elementary schoolers, we would try to soften our conversations. We still managed to have a lot of fun. The true official events began at 1:00 on Saturday. Everyone gathered in the ballroom again as Cindy, who does a terrific job of putting these things together for Sony, welcomed everyone and introduced the GM's, Guides and members of the development team that were there, as well as those who were there from the EQ fan sites, like myself. They then kicked off the live quest. This takes place all over the hotel. Players group up in teams of 10 or so and compete against each other to solve the most puzzles and win an in game prize. Sony employees, GM's and Guides all dress up in costume and are scattered around the hotel and play the NPC's you need to hail in order to complete your quests. Quite a few people were on cell phones calling friends with access to our site to look up some of the information they needed to solve the quests. What’s nice about the live qest is that if you want to participate, you can and it is a good time. Conversely, if you don’t want to participate, you can just head back down to the bar and pick up where you left off the day before. Either way, you will have plenty of fellow EQ'ers hanging around with you. I decided to skip the quest this time since it is almost as much fun watching the players run madly around the hotel trying to solve the most riddles as it is to group up and help solve the riddles yourself. Just as precious is standing at the hotel entrance and watching the non-everquest guests enter the lobby and stand stupefied at the spectacle before them. "Honey, isn't that man wearing a sword and armor?" ... "Maybe we'd better stay somewhere else". ROFLMAO. There were some octogenarians staying at that hotel that clearly thought they had finally lost their senses. After the live quest was finished, the more serious part of the fanfaire began. Discussions were held in four different rooms on different game topics, and the Sony employees made themselves available for questions on all aspects of the game and development. This was a chance for the players to give the developers feedback on things that bothered them or ask questions about things they didn’t quite understand. It was actually quite interesting and informative to sit in on these discussions. Hopefully, Sony will give serious consideration to some of the player's suggestions. It was now coming into the evening hours, and they opened up the ballroom for everyone to gather for dinner. After dinner, there was a drawing and quite a few prizes were awarded, ranging from allakhazam premium memberships donated from yours truly, to t-shirts and other items donated by some of the other sites, to several sets of very nice Altec Lansing speakers. (Although I’m sure that the winners of the surround sound speakers were really bumming that they got that instead of an allakhazam premium membership). [:smile:] After dinner, there was a DJ and dancing for those who wanted to dance with the probably 70% male turnout, and a trivia contest. The majority of us, of course, headed back down to the bars to continue the party. We also had round two of the Allakhazam/Caster’s Realm after hours party, and this time were not forced to shush each other every 5 minutes, though they did end up moving us down to a conference room since word had gotten out to more people about the party and we ended up spilling out into the halls of the hotel. On Sunday we rested and returned home. Again, if you have never really considered going to one of these things, you should really consider giving it a try. Everyone I met was interesting and fun to hang out with. It’s a blast to be in a whole hotel full of people who know exactly what SOW is, even though nobody will agree on how it’s really pronounced. I want to congratulate Sony on the great job they did in keeping 800 people organized and entertained and providing everyone with a truly great time. I also want to thank everyone who came by and let me know how much you enjoy the site. It's great to get so much positive feedback. I hope I can make it to the next fan faire. OK. Here are the pictures: General Pictures:
  • Friday Night in the Ballroom
  • Baelish of Caster's Realm
  • Some T-Shirts for Sale
  • More Phat Loot
  • The new Everquest RPG Books
  • The Phat Loot Hall
  • The film crew from 48 hours
  • Cindy at the podium
  • The hotel lobby during the live quest
  • The gang from the test server
  • Catching t-shirts in the hotel lobby
  • The Allakhazam/Caster's Realm party
  • Players in Costume:
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • NPC Costumes:
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • Comments

    « Previous 1 2
    Post Comment
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:26 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) ANY GIRLS IN THE HOUSE
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:25 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Hey are there any girls in the house
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:25 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Hey are there any girls in the house
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:23 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Hey are there any girls in the house
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:23 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Hey are there any girls in the house
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:23 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Hey are there any girls in the house
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:23 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Hey are there any girls in the house
    #Anonymous, Posted: Jan 22 2004 at 5:22 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Hey are there any girls in the house
    Anemic
    # Oct 20 2002 at 1:25 PM Rating: Default
    All i know is Planes Of Power going to be awesome
    Fanfair
    # Oct 02 2002 at 8:43 AM Rating: Decent
    Well new to EverQuest and was wondering if there where any of there here on the East Coast. I live in VA and haven't heard of one.
    elf girl...
    # Aug 11 2002 at 12:42 AM Rating: Default
    boy do i live a sheltered life...
    portland
    # Aug 08 2002 at 3:29 PM Rating: Decent
    we need to have some in portland what about the north west fans do we always have to buy a plain ticket to get to you
    RE: portland
    # Aug 09 2002 at 10:47 AM Rating: Decent
    Well, there was one in Seattle just a few months ago. Be glad, all but one of the faires were a "plain" ticket away from me. :) The one that was close was a 7 hour drive away and I was broke at the time.

    more pics
    # Aug 08 2002 at 8:07 AM Rating: Decent
    veeshan pics----> http://ciadoeq.blogspot.com
    They include pics from the shhh party.


    I thouroghly enjoyed myself. Got to meet Allakhazam, Illia and Baelish. I did not touch the green stuff.

    I want a Fan Faire in Toronto after this next one!!!! that way I can wear plate and not expire from the heat generated by 1500 of my fellow geeks.
    RE: more pics
    # Aug 08 2002 at 4:47 PM Rating: Decent
    Oh, I thought that Larry guy was from Test. :) Of course, I can't depend on my memory from that night.
    RE: more pics
    # Aug 12 2002 at 2:21 PM Rating: Decent
    Larry is from Fennin Ro. But he hung out with us cool *** Veeshanians :D
    Looks Like Fun, But...
    # Aug 08 2002 at 4:38 AM Rating: Decent
    *
    114 posts
    Are there ever (or have there ever been) any official EQ events held in the UK? After reading the review and checking out some of the pics, I'd love to go along to something like that, and I'm pretty sure my girlfriend would too.

    Problem is, that travelling halfway round the world for something like that is a little out of our price range!
    Australian Fan Fair
    # Aug 07 2002 at 5:25 PM Rating: Decent
    We need to have one of these held in Australia sometime.

    Jhaele Bareev
    56th Wizard
    Torv
    RE: Australian Fan Fair
    # Aug 08 2002 at 7:56 PM Rating: Decent
    Yeah, we got at least 60 people on Prexus who are in an Australian guild. Unsure how many undiscovered Auzzies are on other servers.

    Jiregbro Mastablasta
    Southern Armada
    Live quest NPC loot
    # Aug 06 2002 at 7:25 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    128 posts
    Did anyone bother to slay any of the NPCs in the live quest to check what kind of loot was on their corpses?

    And if so, what was the respawn time?
    RE: Live quest NPC loot
    # Aug 07 2002 at 8:06 PM Rating: Decent
    MeddIng, I'm pretty sure that around 2mins after the NPC is killed, around 4 mobs in blue armour appear on strange steeds....these guys vary from level 9 to around 50 . These guys don't really hit all that hard, but tend to aggro and swarm if one is hit or killed.
    Alot of the NPC's have clerics waiting for them in Port Zones. These clerics also travel on strange steeds and tend to work together in groups on one mob at once (due to low level).

    The mobs dropped various junk. Varying from wallets (small containers) of which most had the effect "Credit - 2000" when worn to Purses (100% weight reduction bags that can fit ALOT more than anyone would believe..though most of it is junk)


    Regarding faction hits, this is what I recorded
    (nb. some of the mobs had one or more of each of these faction hits)
    (female NPC's):- Your faction standing with Boyfriend has got Worse.
    - Your faction standing with husband could not possibly get any better
    - Your faction standing with every male at the Fan Faire could not possibly get any worse

    i didn't get around to killing any male NPC's as I was trying to quad kite the blue armoured mobs (heh, i ended up training them to the nearest mall)


    (excuse me, I'm bored at work hehe)

    Jhaele Bareev
    56 Wizard
    Torv
    RE: Live quest NPC loot
    # Aug 06 2002 at 8:01 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    128 posts
    Oh, and what kind of faction hits do they give?

    (Yes, this is a joke)
    If I had been there....
    # Aug 06 2002 at 6:02 PM Rating: Decent
    Allakhazam:

    I just read how one of the best things is the feed back on your own site. As a premium member I would also have echoed the same praise for your site.

    I would have also provided this request for the searches. The ability to search with in the faction listings for various NPC's. For example to find all the factions that have been reported for Scout Malityn I would search for Scout Malityn and it would list them. Now I may have also been told that you don't do the Illia pages and then I would have also learned something more than Alcohol Tolerance.

    Too bad I was not there and you will never get this request or a chance to set me straight. I will have to make due with the great write up and pictures and just pretend I was there.

    San Francisco you say...............
    Rodcet Nife Pics
    # Aug 06 2002 at 4:50 PM Rating: Decent
    room party Union Of Power had

    http://www.gouken.net/fanfair/Room_Party.htm

    Prety much security kicked us out of hotel room
    so headed down to one of the ball rooms

    http://www.gouken.net/fanfair/After_Room_Party.htm

    random pics

    http://www.gouken.net/fanfair/Misc.htm

    Edited, Tue Aug 6 17:39:49 2002
    park lava
    # Aug 06 2002 at 1:17 PM Rating: Default
    Um, yup. Hotel sucked a--. We didn't fly out until Monday, so stayed at the Comfort Inn at the airport - 4000% better. Oh well.

    Amazingly fun. Had nearly 25 guildies there - we didn't see the light of day from the bar from Thursday night (when there was only ONE bartender) until Sunday afternoon.

    There was a Fan Faire there too? What a coincidence...
    WhatWasWrong?
    # Aug 06 2002 at 1:48 PM Rating: Decent
    I've seen a couple posts about the hotel. What sucked about it?
    RE: WhatWasWrong?
    # Aug 06 2002 at 3:29 PM Rating: Decent
    Never mind. I read the Fodors link. Hilarious! Sorry if you had to stay there.
    Had a blast =)
    # Aug 06 2002 at 8:56 AM Rating: Decent
    Scholar
    17 posts
    The film crew told us that the show will be airing "sometime in September"....keep us up to date if anyone hears....it's a EQ FF only on 48 hours...should be a hoot. =)

    Great recap & god they are fun =)

    See you in SF!
    next one
    # Aug 06 2002 at 6:30 AM Rating: Default
    Next one's in San Francisco. Already scraping my coppers together to afford to go. /sigh gonna be tough since it's so close to Christmas

    Nepeta Cataria
    54 druid
    Veeshan server
    nepeta@dragonslore.com
    fun fun fun
    # Aug 06 2002 at 2:16 AM Rating: Decent
    damn i gotta my lay *** to one of these. judging from the pics seems like a lot of you other EQ players r "big" hehehe *wink*. b33r, friends, GM's....sounds like EQ without a monitor!! AWESOME! where the hell is the next one of these fan faires?! im going!!
    #Anonymous, Posted: Aug 06 2002 at 12:57 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) RE. these pics:
    RE: Hey, alright!
    # Aug 06 2002 at 3:56 PM Rating: Good
    Wow,
    Someone has a chip on their shoulder and has never heard the proverb "it is better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

    Coming from the guy in the chainmail, First of all I own that stuff for a reason. it's how I make my living. Secondly, I at least have the courage to sign my posts. But evidentally you have nothing better in your life than to post anonymously and talk about things that you know nothing about. As far as my profession, I'm a theatrical actor/combatant and fight choreographer. And before you make another fool comment about the pay in such a field of work, I make more in one weekend than you probably take home in a week. At $150 per performance of a half hour show, 3 times a day for 2 days I make $900. So in closing let me just say that I feel kind of bad knowing that I'm depriving a village somewhere of their idiot.

    Bane Harlock
    Owner/Choreographer
    Wolfbane Productions Limited
    #Anonymous, Posted: Aug 06 2002 at 6:49 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Dearest "Bane Harlock"
    darnit
    # Aug 06 2002 at 12:39 AM Rating: Decent
    My plans to corner Allakhazam at the party when he was drinking and get free premium access failed miserably. :b hrrmm.. oh well.

    *hug*
    Daynna
    « Previous 1 2
    Post Comment

    Free account required to post

    You must log in or create an account to post messages.