What does a producer do at SOE Live?

SOE Live (the SOE gamer gathering formerly known as Fan Faire) has come and gone for 2013 and I'm at home recovering today.  Wonderful time as always and the big "reveal" of EverQuest Next seems to have gone over hugely well with both players and media.  I still haven't caught up with all the articles but I'll post links another time.

I've been well known by players since I joined SOE in 2007 (even before, in some circles) so there were lots of hugs and welcome backs throughout the weekend. The number one question that I got asked, right after "what are you doing on EverQuest Next?" (answer: producer), was "what does a producer do?"

Despite the fact this is the second game I've been a producer on, I still don't have an easy answer. It seems to depend on the game, the team, and the circumstances.  The best answers I've heard so far include:

• anything that needs doing
• keep the team running smoothly and deal with external demands; if I'm doing my job well, everybody on the team should wonder what the heck I do all day anyway because it's going so smoothly.
• deliver a product on time and see not only what is there, but what is NOT there and needs to be.  If a game company were a car manufacturer, the producer not only needs to check all the wheels and doors are being made and on time, but also notice that nobody's remembered to make the brakes.

That doesn't even begin to cover the details though.  So for anyone who is interested, this blog is about what this particular producer did at SOE Live (and keep in mind, Terry is our Senior Producer so he was taking care of a whole other set of things including all the press interviews, as were as many other competent people too).

This is probably way more detail than most people want, but if you WERE one of those people asking for specifics, here is essentially a high level diary of what I did at SOE Live this year (and why you saw me running back and forth for a lot of it)!

 Wednesday:

• Arrived, checked in, rehearsed the Friday reveal presentation. The team discussed various changes of plan and how to overcome them.
• Spent a lot of time doing last-minute playtests of the augmented reality mobile app we'd created for SOE Live; a few bugs were found and a lot of emails went back and forth discussing whether there was time to update before Friday.
• Dinner with the Community Summit folks, a group of influential players invited for their input. Introduced as many of the EQN team as I could to as many of the players as I could; podcasters and similar will want to meet the team in particular.
• Early (relatively speaking) night as Terry said he wanted to practice again in the morning.

Community Council dinner - my table

Thursday:

• Headed down to the presentation area early, but turned out I was not immediately needed for practice. Found breakfast with some of our players, spent time chatting (though not about EQN, which was still all secret stuff!)
• Up to the check-in area to see if any help was needed with setting up, then arranged for some relevant folks to sit in on the Friday morning run-through of the reveal.
• Mid morning practice run of the reveal, and a few more changes based on feedback.
• Gave some snack packs to the AV guys who were working nonstop setting up for the presentations. I always bring emergency snacks to SOE Live; there are always people who end up working through meals and getting too busy to find anything to eat. Especially the AV team, community, and folks supervising the game room areas. They later told me my snacks were all they had to eat for the entire day.
• Spent a little time walking around getting oriented in the casino; new hotel from previous years and it's always good to know where things are.
• Players started lining up to register in the early afternoon, and the lines were very long. I always take this time to walk along the lines saying welcome and hello. It sucks to be stuck in a line, and often people are happy to talk to a dev while they wait; even if not, a welcome is friendly! Community team were doing the same. Lots of familiar faces who said hello also, and many new ones looking nervous who said it was their first time. They're always unsure if coming was a big mistake, and I always reassure them they'll have a wonderful time (and they always do).  This kept me busy for many hours. I noticed our #myEQstory winner in the line, Maergoth the paladin, and think I made his day by recognizing him in front of his guild. 
• Helped random lost press/media folks find the press room.
• Periodically checked in with our EQNext authors, who had a stall in the hallway selling their other books and were looking forward to the big reveal as well as their own panel on Sunday. Made sure they had their schedules and everything they needed. Turned out they needed a couple of day passes for their spouses/kids, so I followed up on those.
• The official welcome from Smed was Thursday night. Sat with the authors and made a few rounds of other tables welcoming people I recognized as well as newcomers.  Also helped a player who was collecting dev signatures to get a few more.
• After the welcome, another rehearsal for Friday's big EQNext reveal. This was cut a bit short by technical issues so we ended around 11:30 with admonitions to be back by 7:30 for more. So, another early night!

Jeff dancing to appropriate music after someone accidentally deleted the database... panic moment

Friday:

• Super early breakfast and practice for the noon reveal. Some issues with the sand painting and projection equipment actually meant we sat around for a while before we could start practicing but things eventually got started. We had a very short break before the actual reveal at noon, then gathered again. I sat with the team at a side corner table way out of the way, so that when Dave's presentation was drawing to an end we could slip unnoticeably behind the curtain and get to the live demo machines. 

The team who were backstage during the reveal

• Once Dave's presentation ended , they drew back a section of the curtains so that Terry, Darrin, and Jeff could be seen, and a group of 7 of us ran through some live play to show off the massive destruction and more of the wizard and warrior abilities. 
• Once again provided snacks to the AV team, at least once of whom once again had nothing else to eat for lunch on Friday. Those guys work like crazy at these events.
• After the presentation ended, EQN had a 3 hour break until the first EQNext panel. Most were free to wander around, but I'd been assigned to meet a small group of VIP players from a particular gaming site and ensure they felt welcome, knew where they were going, and generally make them at home. I met up with them around 2 and made sure they had my number in case of emergencies, gave them a brief introduction and welcome, and then made sure they met up with the first EQN team members they had a scheduled interview with. I also followed up with the relevant team members to ensure they knew where to go and when!
• Checked back on the guest passes for the authors' families and ensured they'd been delivered. 
• Discovered we'd omitted some details that needed arranging with the Round Table section of the website, and found the appropriate marketing person to confirm fixing this, then followed up with the social media guys to get it done.  Updated the relevant EQN team on the changes.
• Checked in a couple times on the VIPs to ensure their interviews were going well. Chatted with players in between. Everyone very excited about EQNext!
• First EQN panel was at 5pm and we were all supposed to sit in the audience (only 5 people actually up front). When I turned up, Terry asked if I could film it with a handycam. Unfortunately, there was no tripod so I flipped a chair around and tried to steady my arms on the back of it. Added complication: marketing manager was texting me during filming with questions about the VIP players dinner plans which needed answering, so apologies to anyone who subsequently watches the video; if there's a time or two when the camera drifts completely off course, I blame marketing!  My arms/hands were killing me by the end. Fortunately they found a tripod for all the subsequent panels.
• After the panel I met up with Eric our Associate Producer and we took the 5 VIP players out to dinner at Hofbrauhaus. There is a tradition for a number of staff to go there for dinner each year before the pool party, though I have never been before as I'm usually too busy. Food was good and we had time to catch up with the players and learn more about them.
• Back in time for the pool party; changed clothes appropriately and headed down, but almost as soon as I arrived I was introduced to Daniel, a player who runs a brewery and who had printed up many many cases of beer with special EQ themed labels (Blackburrow Stout, Ogre Swill, and Dwarven Ale) hoping to share them with us at the pool party. However, casino security had refused to allow him to bring the beer into the casino and he'd had to leave most of it behind, and even the 3 or so cases he did bring in a cooler he wasn't allowed to bring to the pool because they were in glass bottles. He was understandably very frustrated and had clearly gone to a lot of trouble and expense to do a nice thing for us which was being stymied. This kind of randomness is the kind of thing that becomes a producer's problem. So I found our Director of Community (Linda), explained the situation, confirmed we could bring them to the banquet tomorrow instead, and then escorted Daniel and his beer to my hotel room for overnight storage (of the beer, not the man!) as he was not staying at the same hotel.
• Returned downstairs to the pool party and made sure that Daniel was thanked and enjoying himself, then bumped into one of our authors who was frustrated at the length of the bar lines and looking around for people he knew. As it turned out I had cases of beer in my room, we retreated to my room and shared a bottle of the Dwarven Ale (into plastic cups) which we were able to safely bring back to the pool party. This was actually the only drink I managed to get during the whole party, so fortunately it was very nice beer indeed.
• I introduced the author to various other people and checked on the group of VIPs I'd had dinner with; they seemed to be doing well, so I tried to track down our legal team as the author had wanted to meet them.  Unfortunately by the time I found a legal team member I couldn't locate our author. I did bump into Ten Ton Hammer staff, and recalled Daniel (the brewer) had wanted to deliver some of his EQ themed beer to them also, so I told them I had some and arranged to stop by their hosted breakfast in the morning with a few bottles.  
• The rest of the pool party I spent chatting with a number of our podcasters, making sure they were having a good time and had managed to meet up with all the various devs they were trying to find, and generally talking with players. I never actually did get within visible distance of a pool!
• Towards the end I was handed a nice wooden "EQNext Fans" cigar box, still mostly full, which had apparently been left behind on a table. The person giving it to me thought it had been given to someone in the marketing team, so it was now clearly a producer's job to take care of it and get it back to its rightful owner.  Which I did.
• We were kicked out of the pool area at midnight and I went to a smaller room party in the suite of one of our EQ2 designers. Drinks and Cards Against Humanity were the main themes. Brought a couple of bottles of the EQ themed beer to the party and made sure Holly, the EQ2 producer, got a bottle.  
• Went down to the Heart Bar in the main casino to chat with players until about 2am. Linda introduced me to a player she knew from previous years who had offered to help film our EQN panels, and I arranged to introduce him to Terry in the morning.

Awesome beers in my bathroom!

Saturday:

• I was able to get a slightly late start this morning as panels didn't start till 11. First stop was the Ten Ton Hammer breakfast with a few of Daniel's beers to make sure they got some, but it seemed Daniel did manage to find them himself and was already there chatting with them.  So I caught up a bit on twitter and facebook and got some photos and news posted before heading to the panels.
• First EQNext panel was packed and crowd was very excited. The player who'd offered to help film was not to be found but Greg had located a tripod and someone other than me filmed the panel. This left me free to sit in back and watch, as well as do some last minute preparation for the player panel I would be MC'ing at 3.
• Lunch break to allow players to get lunch between panels was at 12; I got to the room it would be in during the break and copied onto the PC their presentation (they'd shared it on Google Drive) and a preview EQN building video we'd got permission to show also. Texted them to let them know it was there and ready.
• While there I noticed the list of panels on the sign for that room was wrong (our panel wasn't listed) so followed up with the registration desk to get that fixed up.
• Checked in with our authors, our VIP players, various other players in the area, and fed AV team more snacks.
• Provided Ibuprofen to some EQ2 devs who were in serious need. (Another thing I always pack.)
• Brought the beer down out of my room (alas) and delivered it in the cooler to the info desk where Linda was going to pick it up for the banquet.
• Checked in with wikia who were doing a great job encouraging players to sign up and update information. Nice to meet the wikia team, and I was sorry I didn't have more time to chat with them.
• Panels from 1-3 (I sat in the back) and the player who offered to help film did show up, I put him in touch with Terry and he was very helpful with the remainder of the filming.
• One of the players I know from previous years stopped by to show off the cloak she'd hand-sewn last year based on a quest I made long ago. She brought it specially so I could see it. I took a photo to show to the artist who created it, in case nobody had done so last year (apparently they hadn't; he just replied "I never saw this before such an excellent rendition" which I've passed back to her). I love showing the artists what costumes players create from their work, I think it's inspiring on both sides!

Obann's "Cloak of the Gatherer"

• At 3 there was another EQN panel but I went off to do the player panel: "EQ2 Hardcore Decorating". Since it was a player panel I didn't want to take the attention away from them, but I did the introduction, a brief overview of some of the history of changes in EQ2 decorating, and then let them do their stuff. I also helped with handing out (and gathering) reference cards and sign ups to win decorating stuff.  At the very end I'd got permission to show the timelapse video of building in EQN Landmark, which is very relevant to decorator interests, and that went over very well as a little preview of what's to come.  There was some good Q&A which the panelists handled, and then it was off to the last EQN panel of the day.
• Final Saturday panel was general Q&A and all of us who weren't sitting up front lined up on the side wall in case there were questions for us also. There were also a couple of Nagafen hat giveaways which Terry had me deliver to the winners.
• During the session lady in a scooter beside our line knocked over her large soft drink, so I ran out to get paper towels and clean it up and let hotel cleaning know.
• One of the players also brought up some bugs with Station Access that we hadn't been aware of so I also followed up to get his name so we could get more details later.  Also followed up and thanked our filming assistant afterwards!
• After that, there were 2 hours till the banquet. I checked the smaller panel rooms as I'd noticed during the player panel that there were some Nagafen hats that were intended for giveaways but had been forgotten. Gathered those up and got them to appropriate people before they went walking.
• In between all the above I was tweeting as much as I could to share with the fans who were not able to come on-site, as well as checking in with marketing and Terry whenever I saw them to see if any help was needed with anything else.  
• Had been planning to get dinner, but nobody seemed to have plans (or at least, not plans that included me) and one of our new EQNext podcasters and his wife asked me if I had time for coffee.  Miraculously, I did; apart from helping to follow up on who'd ended up with our cameras (which I could do by text message), I managed to spend a half hour with them at a table at the Coffee Bean talking about the industry in general. She was curious about how people got into it and whether there might be any jobs she could look at, and he was just generally curious. They were both very positive about their experience at SOE Live, and very impressed by how accessible all the staff from Dave's level on downwards made themselves. Other conventions they'd gone to had felt very impersonal and they said this made a huge difference.  Of course, I explained how important we find our players and their opinions at SOE, especially as many of us started out as players ourselves, me included!  It was nice to sit down for half an hour and get to know these guys. I hope that, like many of our EQ2 podcasters, they'll be back again in future years.
• Followed up with Linda on the beer to ensure it had been collected for the banquet; it had.  Followed up with Daniel the brewer to let him know, and also to meet up with him before the banquest so he was able to get into the hall as his vendor pass had been incorrectly set up.  Met him outside and introduced him to one of our marketing managers also, in case they were interested to arrange some more formal agreement for EQ themed beers.
• Escorted Daniel safely into the banquet, and sat him down with some friendly players I knew would keep him company. Walked around talking to players until it was clear there was room for staff to sit down (players come first, and it was sold out). Checked on our authors, guide program volunteers, various podcasters, our VIP player group, and generally walked around chatting to random tables making sure everyone was happy. Signed various things people wanted signed, and directed them to other devs for more signatures.
• After the banquet, talked with the stragglers and bumped into the person from Massively who wrote the extraordinarily flattering and somewhat embarrassing article singing my praises when I rejoined the EQN team. She was having a great weekend and looking forward to seeing lots more of EQNext.
• Many people decamped to the Heart Bar afterwards and I joined also. Spent more time talking to our friendly brewer, plus various players and podcasters, till well past 2am (probably closer to 3).

Good turn out for the decorating panel: ~70 people?

Sunday:

• Our brewer friend had been supposed to collect his cooler before leaving the hotel last night but he must have been drinking too late to remember, and it was uncollected. Fortunately I had his number so I followed up with him; he'd already left town to get back to work and told us to keep it. I let the community team know to just pack it up with the rest of our stuff. Perhaps we can get it back to him next year.
• Dev Brunch at 10, so I had to be up, dressed, packed, and checked out of the hotel before that. Left my bags at the desk and headed to the brunch, where we were asked to spread out and ensure all tables had at least one dev. I ended up sitting with Rod Haza, who works on Dragon's Prophet, with a mix of players from EQ1, Planetside 2, and Dragon's Prophet. They were all very excited about EQNext. 
• One of the PS2 guys was collecting PS2 dev signatures so I pointed out a few devs to him, and one of the EQ1 players had his original EQ1 collector's edition box with him and was collecting EQ1 dev signatures. He got a few on his own and I helped him locate some others he particularly wanted. When he found out I was Domino from EQ2, he also insisted on getting mine although I reminded him I'd never actually worked on EQ1. It felt like a very serious moment to put a pen to an original EQ1 box and sign my name on it, something I would never have expected when I first picked up the game back in 2000. But then, I would never have expected any of this!
• After the dev brunch it was time for the last EQNext panel, readings from our authors and a Q&A. I was called outside during the readings by our brand manager who needed help contacting the VIP players I'd been checking on; apparently one of them had missed his plane and they were attempting to help him make new arrangements. I gave him all the information I had, and later heard the player did successfully get home after some delays. Fortunately I'd read the authors' stories already, so I didn't miss out despite missing part of the readings, and the Q&A afterwards was interesting and surprisingly lively. I hadn't been quite sure how many people would be interested in the readings, given the hung-over state of many of them by Sunday, but it was a good turn-out.
• Finally, the last panel was over. I gave a few last lost people directions to the EQ2 Q&A panel which was still ongoing, and said goodbyes to various of the stragglers left behind. Then it was time to collect my bags and head off to the airport; another SOE Live behind me. 
• I was still wearing my SOE staff shirt at the airport and was stopped by a couple of people in the airport to tell me what a wonderful time they'd had, and thank the team for a great weekend. :)

Aliscious and Dellmon (EQ2 podcasters) with me and Dave at the pool party

Overall this year was a very positive experience, except for someone stealing one of the Silent Auction displays whose proceeds would have gone to the Child's Play charity - despicable - and a series of slightly irate tweets from a player who seemed to think I could get him for free into a sold-out event on one day's notice when even SOE staff were being told they might not be let in due to the numbers. I wish we really did have the time and powers to pull off miracles like that for everyone who wanted, but alas. I hope he'll plan in advance next year and pre-book tickets.

Players who attend SOE Live always have a great time and sometimes seem to assume that it is a holiday for SOE staff also. We almost always do have a great time as well, but it is definitely not a holiday and definitely exhausting. It's always nonstop from the time I wake up till the time I pass out; even if I do have a brief time to walk around on my own, it's always with the understanding that I could be called to drop everything at any time, or stopped by players and need to be immediately charming and sociable.  I am always happy to do both, of course, but I'm very glad to have Monday off to relax and do absolutely nothing but catch up on sleep and laundry!

I'm not sure if that helps in the slightest to explain what a producer does at SOE Live - every year is different and could have a completely different set of problems.  And I've certainly already forgotten some things from this list. But at least it probably illustrates the complete randomness of my job, and maybe that's what a producer does best: deal with whatever comes up and ensure as many people as possible get whatever they need to do their jobs, stay happy, and have a good time.

Halloween desserts

We're having a pot luck Halloween lunch today at work, in addition to a costume contest and department decorating contest. I spent an amazing amount of time this weekend cooking, both to bring stuff to Saturday's halloween party, and for the pot luck. Leftovers from the party also came to the pot luck so there's no shortage of goodies!

Here's some recipes:

Pumpkin pie

• Puff pastry to line a pie dish (Pepperidge Farms brand frozen sheets are an easy cheat if you don't want to make it by hand)
• 1.5 cups mashed kabocha or buttercup squash (or pumpkin). Easiest way to prepare this is cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, wrap in foil, and bake for 30-60 minutes in a medium heat oven until it's soft, then it just scoops out.
• 2 tbs (1oz) melted butter
• 1 tsp each of ginger, cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp each of mace, ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (4oz) brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (4oz) white sugar
• 2 tbs flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk

Line a pie dish with the pastry and chill in fridge till ready.

In a bowl stir together mashed squash, butter, and spices.

In another bowl beat eggs thoroughly with fork or whisk, then stir in sugar, flour, salt, and milk.

Fold the two mixtures together and pour into the pastry. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350F for another 45 minutes (until a knife comes out clean).

For the halloween version, I used some of the pastry scraps to make a pumpkin face, and baked them separately on some parchment paper for about 20 minutes, then put them back in the oven on top of the pie about 10 minutes before the pie was done.

McCall's Best Cheesecake

Crust

• 3/4 cup cookie crumbs (chocolate graham crackers for example, or digestive biscuits)
• 2 tbs melted butter
• Combine, mix well, and press onto the bottom of a spring form pan. Leave to set in fridge.

Main body

• 24oz (680g) plain cream cheese at room temperature
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup (8oz) sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Beat the cream cheese until light and smooth, then add eggs one at a time and mix until blended. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and sugar, mixing till light and smooth. Pour over crust in tin, and bake about 45 minutes until beginning to set.

Topping

• 2 cups (500g tub) sour cream
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix together in the sour cream tub. When the cheesecake is ready, remove from oven and spread this topping over it. Return to oven for another 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool in tin.

Refrigerate overnight before serving. Good with strawberries or strawberry sauce.

For the Halloween version, I made a spider web pattern on top with melted chocolate, and put a little model spider on the top.

Egg-free chocolate cupcakes

Ingredients

• 3 oz salted butter
• 2 oz cocoa powder
• 8 oz (1cup) sugar
• 7 oz all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup organic apple sauce
• 2/3 cup water
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ cup mini dark chocolate chips

Melt butter gently and allow to cool for a minute or two. Add everything else except chocolate chips and mix well using a fork or whisk until smooth. Add chocolate chips (can either mix in, or leave sprinkled on top). Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers and fill them about 2/3 full, then bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick stuck into the cupcake comes out clean. Wait until cool (refrigerate or even freeze so they don't crumble when being iced), then cover with the icing below.  (You can also use this recipe to make one big cake, just pour into a lined or greased cake pan and cook a little longer.)

Buttercream icing

Ingredients

• 4 oz (½ cup) salted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch or Bird's custard powder (can also use vanilla pudding mix)
• 1-2 shots of whisky or other strong alcohol (e.g grand marnier, brandy, rum, Bailey's) or cream
• ½ cup cocoa powder

Mix well, adding more liquid if needed to soften up. Spread on cooled cupcakes then refrigerate.

For halloween version I just sprinkled them with some little pumpkin candies.

I also made butter tarts (which were eaten so fast I didn't get a photo) and macaroni and cheese for the pot luck today.

And I made my awesome dalek costume, as seen below facing off vs Doctor Who ...

The LEDs in my headpiece do actually light up but by this time of the evening I'd turned them off.  I'll probably post more details about the costume another time!

Recent G.I.R.L. blogs

Some recent posts I've written for SOE's G.I.R.L. blog:

G.I.R.L. Talk with Lesly Irwin

Fan Faire: It's All About the People

Joe "Rystall" Shoopack also followed up with some of the previous G.I.R.L. scholarship winners in this Summer Art Internships post.

Fan Faire

SOE's Fan Faire this year was August 5-7 this year, at Bally's Las Vegas, same place as last year.

Some of the (many) highlights for me this year included meeting some folks I played the original EverQuest with, almost 10 years ago.

We three all played halflings, back in the day (some of us still do!)

I also knew the lady in the panda suit from EverQuest (she's been a regular at Fan Faire every year I've been a developer):

There was someone else from my old EverQuest guild also that I was amazed to meet too, but alas the only photo we got was on his camera, so I don't have a copy yet.  It was great to meet all these people, all but one of whom I'd never met before in person, but had known for almost a decade.

Also this year, still in the "old school" theme, I was amazed to meet Ilia and Allakhazam, the founders of websites Ilia's Beastiary and Allakhazam (now Zam.com), though both sites are now owned by others.  Back when I played EverQuest, these sites were everyday necessities for me - I still have a big essay on Shadowed Men (they used to be my dark elf's nemesis) posted on Ilia's Beastiary.  Ilia was kind enough to say he remembered it, though he was probably just being polite.  Meeting these two was like being in the presence of royalty.  Allakhazam headed off to bed fairly early but I spent a while chatting with Ilia and felt slightly starstruck the whole time!

The costumes are another highlight of Fan Faire for me.  This year they were as great as always.  This dryad was one of the costume contest winners, and Brasse on the right was the event co-host (along with Jace Hall).  Brasse was a regular also at Fan Faires until we hired her, and has a fantastic new dwarf costume almost every year.

This guy's costume was hilarious - he entered the costume contest with the shirt hidden under a big hoodie, and none of us could figure out why he was entering, until it was time for him to step forward and remove the hoodie.  And then we saw the shirt.  He explained that he had lost a bet with a guildmate, who had made the shirt for him and coerced him into entering the contest as "Antony Bayle".  He has the pose down perfectly, and won one of the costume prizes (hence the red ribbon in this picture).  The shirt was beautifully done, his guildmate is definitely a talented tradeskiller!  Below him is the "real" Queen Antonia Bayle.

 

One of the costume contest entrants proposed to his girlfriend live on stage and in costume on Saturday night, which was very sweet and touching.  (In 2007, we had a live wedding on stage at Fan Faire - I got to decorate the in-game wedding chapel for it.  The video is available on YouTube, and I must say, since then I've thought the idea of having Darth Vader at your wedding is pretty awesome.)

There are lots more photos from Fan Faire on the official website, as well as the Facebook Page and Flickr account (both are linked from the official website).

One of my favorite things about Fan Faire is seeing familiar faces return each year, people who clearly have such a great time at Fan Faire and who enjoy our games so much that they make a point to keep coming back.  I'm terrible with faces, but each year it seems there are more people I recognize.

Fan Faire is such a fun time for both developers and players, but it's a lot of hard work for those of us who are here on the work side.  My schedule this year, as far as I can remember, was approximately this:

Thursday 

2pm - arrive in Las Vegas and check in

3-6pm - greet early check in players and make self available in the main lounge area for chatting

7-10pm - get ready for, and attend, opening ceremonies.

10pm - late - karaoke (I skipped out early on this to get some sleep)

Friday

8am - breakfast (I always try to eat a good breakfast at Fan Faire, as I'll be going nonstop all day).

8:30am - checked the EQ2 panel PC to ensure it had everything needed installed on it, and updated a few patches that I discovered needed doing.

9am-6pm - chat with players in the main lounge area when not scheduled to be on a panel (I spoke on the Lore panel, attended the general Q&A session also, and also sat in on a Guide program panel).  I slipped away for a brief lunch with some players but was basically on the go all day.  

6-8pm - grabbed some dinner, and typed up notes I'd taken from today (questions to follow up on, etc.)

8pm-midnight - Pool party, spent the entire time talking to people.

Saturday

8am - breakfast

9-6pm - again, any time I was not scheduled to give a panel (today the Tradeskills panel, and another Q&A session), I was hanging around in the lounge and main areas to chat with folks.  I escaped for tea and a muffin in mid afternoon with some other players but didn't really have lunch otherwise.

7pm-8pm - assisted with random things that needed doing (like writing up queue cards for the evening's presenters).

8pm-8:30pm - pre-judging of the costume contest contestants (I was one of several judges)

8:30pm-11pm - grand banquet, sat with a table of EQ2 players and talked to them and anyone who came by.

I try to get to bed reasonably early at Fan Faire but still end up exhausted by the time it's over as they're 14-16 hour days with almost no break, plus I never sleep as deeply in a strange bed in a strange room with a strange roommate. (We're assigned roommates, often people we may never have met before - mine this year was a very nice woman from the FreeRealms team.)  Sometimes I see players in the server chat channels speculating that the devs have a wild old time relaxing in Vegas for Fan Faires, but I have to admit this makes me roll my eyes a little, remembering what my schedule is generally like!

Sunday at 6am I got up and headed to the airport for my flight home.  After grabbing breakfast I wrote up the remainder of my Fan Faire notes and then attempted to stay awake and be productive for the rest of the day, but in mid afternoon a patch of sunshine and a purring cat proved too much for me and apparently I passed out cold for at least an hour.  So this is how my Fan Faire ended:

In about 12 months I'll be ready for next year's again!



Update: if you are curious, one of our players (hi Nick!) recorded the tradeskills panel and has put the videos up on YouTube.  http://bit.ly/ciYBLe - http://bit.ly/bXVNUt - http://bit.ly/b7VvSH

Mighty Mugg

Meet Qho Augren!  Qho is a young boy from the Village of Shin in EverQuest II.  He gives a small questline called "A Gathering Obsession", in which he explains his fascination with harvesting and his intention to be a harvester when he grows up.  However, since his parents say he's too young to go out harvesting yet, he asks your help to bring him back samples from all over Norrath so he can study them.

Lots of samples.  

From ALL over Norrath.

Did I mention lots of samples?

The quest is actually quite painless if you start it at a very low level and just slowly update it as you level up your harvesting skill.  Going back on a high level character and trying to do it all at once though is rather painful.  So poor Qho is one of Norrath's most-often-wished-dead questgivers.

What Qho has to do with a Mighty Mugg (and if you don't know what a Mighty Mugg is, wikipedia explanation here) is related to the SOE Fan Faire coming up this weekend.  Apparently the Community team got a bunch of the blank Muggs, and they asked SOE staff members if we were interested in painting one for a "silent auction" to be held at Fan Faire.  So, I offered to try one if there were any left over, and there were, so I got one.

I debated what character to paint and toyed with the idea of a Billy doll, but then I thought of everyone's favorite target of death threats Qho.  Since Qho's quest is actually my fault it seemed more appropriate than Billy (who was Ilucide's fault).

First I had to get a good screenshot of Qho.  This is a bit tricky since he spends all his time swimming around underwater in a small pond, which doesn't help get the detail.  So I also took a picture of Spark Augren, who looks very similar to Qho but with different hair.  (Yes, I could have logged in as a GM and forced Qho out of the water, but I was at home and lazy so I just grabbed what my regular play account characters could get.)

Here's the blank Mugg, lightly sprayed with primer, holding my paintbrush and awaiting its fate!

First step, skin tone:

Next, Qho's clothing, which appears to be dark blue trousers and a pink tunic.  Here he is standing on my laptop beside his own picture, for comparison.

And then the hard part, which is the face.  I had a lot of trouble with this, not being an artist in even the most remote sense!  But here is the finished Mugg, ready for shipping to Fan Faire:

I am sure it will look like the work of a 10 year old beside the marvels that our artists are creating, but it was fun to make, and perhaps someone will want it, if only to use for target practice!  =)

Edit to add: check out Greg (Rothgar's) Mighty Mugg on his blog!  Wow - puts mine to shame!

Another update to add:  Qho was won at the auction by Niami Denmother of EQ/EQ2 Traders. She has a suggestion thread up on her forums to get opinions on what his fate should be!

I also hear that Greg's Mugg, and I believe Aaron (Gnobrin's) Mugg (an awesome looking clockwork), which were definitely the two most popular Muggs, were won by the producer of the Jace Hall show (Jace was a co-host of Fan Faire for us).

For Posterity

This photo was taken in Jan 2008 ago in a bar for Luke (Feconix)'s birthday:  me attempting to strangle Ben (aka Beghn), one of my predecessors at work.  (Updated with correct info thanks to Cuppycake!)  Although I do occasionally want to strangle Ben, he actually turned out to be a really amiable guy, the kind you'd be happy to have a drink and a chat with in a pub any night.  Anyway, I had a copy of the photo at the time, but somehow managed to lose it.  Happily, Luke still had a copy and sent it to me last night, so I'm posting it here for posterity so I don't lose it again!

Fan faire 2009 pictures

Having unearthed the cable for my camera in the unpacking process, I've finally been able to download the photos I took at Fan Faire this year! Here are a few...

Domino and Kaisha:

Domino and Lera, the (not a) Frostfell Elf

One of our wonderful volunteer Guides, all the way from Germany!

Breakfast with Tosta and Spindel of the Vagabond Knights

Fyreflyte having fun with items

Domino and Dellmon of the EQ2's day podcast

Rijacki in her hand-crafted Bixie Queen (from FreeRealms) costume

A siren, whose name I unfortunately didn't note down, competing in the costume contest
Brenlo greets a ranger...

Two halflings: Domino and Niami of EQ2Traders. This was the last photo of Fan Faire, after the final closing banquet, so we're both looking a bit tired ... more than a bit tired!

Tata Domino at Fan Faire

Last weekend was the annual SOE Fan Faire, a big convention type event where players of SOE games congregate to meet each other and the developers, attend panels to hear what's coming up in the SOE family of games, and generally have a good time. For SOE staff it's a lot of work, although rewarding and fun.

Typically my day starts around 7-8 when I will find a good, filling breakfast -- my breakfast preferences when travelling are normally: hot black tea with honey, and eggs benedict, and/or toasted bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and as much fresh fruit as there may be available. This usually gets me started well and lasts me through a long day in which I most likely won't have time to get a proper lunch. Often I'll bump into other people from the fan faire over breakfast and spend the meal chatting with them.

Once breakfast is over, it's off to quickly check email and then to the general area in which developers are supposed to be available when not otherwise engaged (e.g. at panels). So from about 10 till 6 I will either be hanging around the EQII display machines chatting with whoever comes by, or speaking on one of the EQII panels we have scheduled. This year I was on 4 1-hour panels, although some of them I didn't actually do much more than answer a few questions. I also sat in on a couple of other panels that were peripherally related to what I do.

In the evenings, there are events to attend, depending on which day of the Fan Faire it is. An opening ceremony, John Smedley's community address, an open-bar party, the closing banquet. For all of these, we're expected to attend, chat with folks, and generally be available for questions. Most of these events carry on well into the night, and may well segue into subsequent festivities if folks decide to head out to another venue afterwards. I usually avoid this when possible and try not to stay much past midnight. Although it's always a fun time and I enjoy meeting the folks who play our games, I need my sleep and can't afford a hangover when I know I have to be up and back at work early the next day! This year I was taking particular care to get enough sleep, because I knew that as soon as I arrived back in San Diego on Sunday I would be hard at work moving house. Fan faires are very rewarding, but after 3 days of 8am - midnight work, we're always exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in our own beds.

This year Susan "Soffrina" Rumani asked if I had time to sit down for a brief interview with a French reporter who had come all the way from France for the fan faire. We found somewhere quiet and had a pleasant discussion, and at the end, she asked me if I knew that they love me in France and call me "Tata Domino". "Tata" is apparently a short, familiar form of "tante" (aunt) similar to how the English shorten "grandmother" to "Nana" or "Granny". So, among our France players I am "Auntie Domino". Rather sweet. I learned to speak French in Canada, however, and hadn't heard that slang term used before. After I got home to San Diego I looked it up and apparently it's used exclusively in France. In Quebec French, it turns out "tata" is a slang term meaning "idiot" or "fool". Since both Quebec and France players play on our French language server, I wonder which meaning of "tata" is more prevalent? Perhaps which meaning is interpreted depends on how happy (or not) they are with me at any particular time!

I have several photos from Fan Faire this year, but as I haven't even nearly finished unpacking from moving house this week, I haven't found my camera cable to download them, so they will have to wait on my camera for now. So instead, here are a couple photos stolen from other people:

Me with Linda "Brasse" Carlson of http://www.thebrasse.com/ and soon to be working for SOE in our Community department. She makes these costumes by hand, a new one almost every year, and has won our costume competition at Fan Faire so many times that she stopped competing a few years back. This year she is also holding a version of the Mystic epic weapon.




Paul "Frizznik" Carrico, me, and Paul "Cronyn" Molina, sitting on a Q&A panel. I'm tradeskilling, of course - knitting a scarf. Said scarf was later finished and photographed on a variety of people but I think it ended up coming home with me; not sure what to do with it.

Paul Molina is our main "lore guy" at the moment, and doing a great job of it. Quite a few of our EQII players who love to follow the lore of the game were thrilled to meet him this year.

Paul Carrico actually did my job, tradeskills, for a short time many years ago before he moved on to work on some other games. He's still fondly remembered by older tradeskillers that play our game and we're all happy he's back on the EQII team as of this month, although since I'm now doing tradeskills, he's going to be doing other things. I first met him at a fan faire in 2005 when I was an avid EQII player and he was the tradeskill developer. I remember being awed and starstruck to meet him back then, and I told him that this weekend (in fact, probably not long after the above photo was taken). He gave me a look and said "are you kidding me? You gave me a 10 minute lecture on everything that was wrong with tradeskills!"

I guess I wasn't quite as awestruck as I remember it in my mind. But then, I also got plenty of tradeskill feedback from EQII players myself this year, so what goes around, comes around, as they say!

More Fan Faire photos can be found here.