Epic Slant - MMO Design and Guild Leadership » MMO Interview

Dragon Con 2010 Day Two

Ferrel — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 07:11:25 +0000

At the time of writing this it is technically day three and I may or may not have consumed alcohol. It has been a long but really awesome day. We started in the streets watching the parade. This is an epic event that should not be missed! We then spent time in the vendor rooms seeking a top hat for my friend and trinkets for someone I fancy. That led us to the Guild Launch booth where we hooked up with Stephen! We met at Dragon Con 2009 and have been trying to work out a project!

Just like on day one a big portion of our time was spent chasing for perfect pictures and we got a whole lot! I’ve got more than I could ever post but I’m going to throw the best ones up I can! We were also able to catch the EverQuest II panel that was hosted by SOE. It was hosted by Brasse, Amnerys and Gnobrin and went really well. The crowd, for the most part, was very supportive and I heard one piece of information I had not previously. We knew that Velious was going to be split into two parts. I thought that meant two full paid expansions. Evidently we get both for the price of one!

I also asked the really hard questions too. The most important one being, “What are the chances we can get some animations for Billy illusions?” It was pretty tough but Brasse said they’d add it to the list. I recorded the panel and will have that ready and available in a few days. Now, why don’t we get to some pictures!

A super bike!

A super awesome draconian.

The Adam West Bat Mobile!

Feel the might of Cobra!

Speed racer!

Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!

Arrrr matey!

The dread pirate Roberts!

Murlocks!

The flying spaghetti monster!

Lord Humongous… Just walk away!

Ferrel, Stephen and Torgutz

Torgutz found a top hat and was thus transformed into Dr. Classy! He is hanging out with the beat box clone trooper!

Here we have the return of bacon!

Here is the EQ2 panel!

My friend and his delightful costume!

And I was worn out too…

Dr. Classy with Classy Spiderman! (He was confused when we told him to keep the top hat on)

I’m in good with Buddy Christ!

We randomly ran into our line buddies! It was great! We spent three plus hours in line with them and shared an experience!

The Flying Spaghetti Monster goes ground based!

DragonCon 2010 Day One

Ferrel — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 03:44:34 +0000

It has been a long day! My friend and I arrived in Atlanta around 1:00 after driving a few hours. Thankfully we were able to check in and we marched our way to the Con. Unfortunately, like in some previous years, registration was not handled in a very efficient way. Con-goers were forced to stay outside in the Georgia heat for over two hours. It took us a total of three hours to get our badges and my buddy’s was messed up. At any rate, we eventually were able to get our tickets and get into the con!

We missed Brian Green’s first panel, much to my dismay, but we did get to catch him at the “How to break into MMORPGs” panel. It was a stellar discussion and featured, in addition to Brian, Todd Harris, Kelly Barnes, Linda Carlson and a gentleman from Mythic who’s name I sadly did not catch. The audience had some pretty great questions and the information provided by the guests was really great. A major point they made was that there is a glut of game designers and producers. The best route in right now is through programming and art. To boil down all of the excellent information to just that doesn’t do it justice of course but for now that will have to suffice.

I also had the opportunity to chat a little while with Amnerys and other members of the SOE staff that are in attendance. As always they were wonderful and are in some rather dapper costumes. After that we went costume watching and managed to get a few wonderful pictures! Enjoy!

Imperials from Warhammer 40K

Ferrel and Gnobrin

Torgutz and Zap Brannigan

My friend Rhiannon (on the right) and her friends!

Harvey Birdman attorney at law… on a smoke break.

Ferrel with… um… people in great costumes. What are these things?

Dragon Con 2010

Ferrel — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:24:34 +0000

It really feels like just yesterday that I was at Dragon Con! It was there that I reestablished communications with SOE again and, because of their kind treatment, resubscribed to EQ2. That one chance encounter lead to a good portion of a guild returning. This marks Iniquity’s one year anniversary back! That just shows you how important community managers really are! This year I am going far more prepared than the last! I’ll be meeting a lot of friends and people I’ve met over the years while I’m there. It is exciting!

I am a convention fiend to say the least. I always love to have an opportunity to meet some people face to face. What better place to do it than in a convention where I am surrounded by thousands of other geeks, nerds and dorks. This year I’m fair more prepared for Dragon*Con but not nearly enough. I don’t have any Epic Slant goodies to give away and my costume situation is dismal. Perhaps next year I’ll be able to use it.

On the plus side some friends from back home are going. I’m also going to get to see the lovely community folks from SOE! I’m meeting Brian Green, seeing folks I met at DC09 and the great people from Guild Launch! My dance card is quite full to say the least. At any rate, if you’re going to be in the area, why not come out!

View from the Top guild leader panel

Ferrel — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:18:08 +0000

At Fan Faire 2010 Karen and I had the pleasure of sitting down with a panel of guild leaders. We used the time to discuss topics that are important to them and pose some questions. The room was a bit noisy but we really had a lot of fun and the recording came out quite well. As Fan Faire is a cross game convention we were also lucky enough to get a good mix of player types and games. Despite our differences we found that many of our problems were quite similar. It made for an extremely interesting show!

Show Link

Pictures from SOE Fan Faire 2010

Ferrel — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:42:19 +0000

This year I took a new camera to Fan Faire so that I wouldn’t end up without any memories. We had an amazing time and took a lot of great photos! Much to my pleasure the camera worked out well I remembered to carry it. My guild mate Dev also did a stellar job of getting pictures when I wasn’t. Thank you Dev, you’re my hero! We took a ton of photos and I know there are a lot of general Fan Faire ones out there. These are more focused on our experience. I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed being idiots in them!

Here you have all of our members in attendance minus Gnomophobe. In order: Ferrel, Jaego, Ubba, Devilicus, Anarchous, Dresden, Ramaconja, and Starla.

In this picture we’re all together again with the addition of Gnomophobe but without Dresden and Jaego!

Here we have Dresden and Gnomophobe together. You can see Gnomo gave Dresden a gift and used his pet name.

Karen and I are interviewing Frizznik and Calthine on a View from the Top!

Karen and I posing. Clearly I had had twelve cups of red bull at the time.

Hanging out with Calthine! She is a sweat heart!

Billy, the People’s Champion!

Yes folks, this older gentleman almost drove right into a Casino. He also almost ran over several people. I was shocked but snapped a picture.

Brasse was kind enough to take a photo with me! Dwarves and elves CAN get along you know.

The handsome fellow in the middle there is Feldon from EQ2Wire! Karen and I look tiny by comparison (I’m 6’1″)!

I’m sad this picture did not come out clear. I hosted a dinner party at the Wynn with Karen and this is what we look like cleaned up!

This one just proves we’re not vampires. No sparkles!

We had a great time at Fan Faire and were glad to meet so many other players. I’m looking forwards to seeing everyone again next year or at Dragon*Con this year! If you’re going to attend and want to meet me please let me know! We’ll set a time and a place!

A moment with Frizznik

Ferrel — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:20:28 +0000

One of the bonuses of being at Fan Faire is that you get to talk to developers! Calthine of Zam ensured that Karen and I would have a chance to do so! She found Paul “Frizznik” Carrico and brought him right over! Frizznik is the EQ2 Lead Mechanics Designer at SOE and a pretty awesome guy to talk to. He was quite honest, not afraid to share and really listened. His sincerity and care about the game was quite clear. The interview isn’t too long as we had to get to the grand banquet but it came out great! Head on over to a View from the Top and check it out!

Episode Link

EverQuest 2 Extended Panel

Ferrel — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:22:51 +0000

EverQuest 2 Extended Panel

SOE gave a very reasonable reason as to why you cannot transfer from EQ2Ex to EQ2 Live. Due to the copy ability players could create a dupe loop. SOE felt it was better to allow the live players an opportunity to try EQ2Ex.

Both services will be advertised together. New players will be given good choices.

New items for Sentinel’s Fate bosses. New way to do hot zones in SF.

EQ2Ex is designed to get the game back in the press. It will be the best free to play MMORPG out there.

Calthine asked about incentives for Station access. SOE may look at it.

Crabbok asked about ways to get new blood getting into the live server.

Players will be able to copy from PvP servers to EQ2 Live.

What is the incentive to come to the live server once you have an established toon?

SOE is going to try to “inform the players before they make that decision.”

I don’t particularly buy that answer. Players will try the free first obviously and wont be coming over.

Fan Faire 2010 key note

Ferrel — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:45:22 +0000

EverQuest II announces the next expansion, Destiny of Velious! February 8th, flying mounts! More details tomorrow! EverQuest II Extended To get new players into the game… Beta in August 17th. “To remain comparative.” The future of EverQuest… EverQuest Next? SOE … Continue reading →

SOE Fan Faire Day 1

Ferrel — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:31:14 +0000

It is day one of the SOE 2010 Fan Faire! I’ve met up with some guildies, other bloggers and of course some staff! The doors just opened and we managed to get inside! There are a LOT of platinum pass holders!

Unfortunately the Bally’s doesn’t offer free Internet so I haven’t been compelled to purchase it for blog updates. These will all come via my phone! Forgive the less than polished nature of them. Expect more as the day continues!

Enjoy these early pictures of the goody bag!

Epic Slant Looking For More

Ferrel — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:07:56 +0000

In the years that I’ve been MMO blogging I’ve always kicked around the idea of having a steady partner and/or contributors. I haven’t pulled the trigger in the past because I’ve never been certain how it would work from a “business” perspective. I think the reality of the situation is that there isn’t one! Epic Slant isn’t a business and costs me money. I’m pretty sure nobody wants a share in that! Someone, however, might like an opportunity to write for a fairly large and growing audience. I’d like to give a talented writer that opportunity just like it was given to me!

If you’ve ever been interested in doing a consistent blog but don’t want to go to the trouble of maintaining it yourself this might be the deal for you! I’d like to find a person or two who’d enjoy doing a weekly article relating to MMORPGs, guilds or a combination of the two. Said person could also do more than that but that is the minimum I’m looking for. Spell checking and actually reading your post before you publish it is a must! If you’re so inclined I can edit work done prior to publishing.

Here are the perks:

Epic Slant branded email (oooh shiny)
Established and growing audience
Full support from a cranky old MMO player
Epic Slant paraphernalia for conventions and shows
Some monetary assistance for cons/shows and possible press status
A semi-recognizable brand

If you’re interested shoot me an email and we’ll talk about any expectations you may have!