The SOE Fan Faire has become an international meeting ground attended by players and guilds from all over the world. The players have one thing in common and that is their passion for SOE games.
This year is no different as we expect a number of international players to attend Fan Faire 2009. Recently, we talked to players who attended last year’s Fan Faire. The players are from Austria, Belgium, England and Germany. We posed the same questions to all of them…

  • Tiberion (Austria)

-How long have you been playing EverQuest?
10 years

-What are your impressions of the last year's Fan Faire?
Loved the atmosphere, met a lot of very nice people and still remember Brenlo singing at the karaoke party - after a few beers ... :-)

-Which Fan Faire event was the most memorable to you, and why?
I attended the live quest with my guild, was absolutely the most memorable thing at the FF.

-Can you tell us an anecdote that occurred during your visit to Las Vegas?
Every time I travel to LV my luggage is lost at the airport, so in the meanwhile I carry the most important stuffs in my carry-on-bags since I am sure it will be gone again this year. :-)

-Is there a one thing that you were most surprised by at the Fan Faire?
I was surprised when I saw the dark elf necro FD'ing on the stage lol

-What was your favorite American meal at the Fan Faire?
Cheeseburgers

  • Trakus (Austria)

-How long have you been playing EverQuest?
10 years

-What are your impressions of the last year's Fan Faire?
Had a blast like always, liked the Hilton hotel and the welcome reception

-Which Fan Faire event was the most memorable to you, and why?
Had a blast at the live quest, was the best event in my opinion.

-Can you tell us an anecdote that occurred during your visit to Las Vegas?
I can't think of any at the moment, sorry

-Is there a one thing that you were most surprised by at the Fan Faire?
Not really...

-What was your favorite American meal at the Fan Faire?
Hamburgers and steaks

  • Imrahil (Germany)

-How long have you been playing EverQuest?
Started December 2000, so a bit more than 8 year.

-Which Fan Faire event was the most memorable to you, and why?
Fan Faire 2008 cause it was the first I visited and it was so nice meeting people from all over the world, not only from EQ but also from the other games.

-Can you tell us an anecdote that occurred during your visit to Las Vegas?
I was one day early and had planned to meet our mighty Troll warrior Klorch in the lobby of the hotel at mid day. So there I was in the lobby looking out for a stout Troll with a Raging Fury-T-shirt and I found a rather small, lean guy with a too big T-shirt looking out for me - RL is different from EQ certainly. But he had the typical French charm; all those waitresses in the restaurants loved him!

-Is there a one thing that you were most surprised by at the Fan Faire?
I was positively surprised about the willingness of most of the devs to talk and discuss and how friendly everyone was. Oh, and I was surprised that we actually won something on the slot machines (OK, we lost at Blackjack though).

-What was your favorite American meal at the Fan Faire?
Am I mean when I say that the best meal I had was at the Japanese restaurant in the Hilton? Well OK, second best was a steak in the Imperial Palace Casino. And of course the buffet at the Hilton was awesome, but no clue if that's typical "American".

  • Spiritbane (England)

-How long have you been playing EverQuest?
Since April 2003

-What are your impressions of the last year's Fan Faire?
Was a long way to go, and overall quite an expensive trip (book earlier next time!) so was a bit unsure what to expect really, especially as I didn't know anyone before hand other than chatting online in-game. Have to say, ended up having a blast. Pleased to say I still haven't said the likes of 'Txevu' or 'Kod'Taz' out loud to another human being (or dwarf, or elf...) but was certainly an experience meeting so many different people with shared common interests.

-Which Fan Faire event was the most memorable to you, and why?
Either the off-site party, mostly because wasn't expecting a free bar or the final banquet as the fancy dress competition and other competitions were fun.

-Can you tell us an anecdote that occurred during your visit to Las Vegas?
I learnt that playing Black Jack until 6.00am on the morning I was due to check out at 9.00am is not conducive to a pleasant car journey or a health wallet.

-Is there a one thing that you were most surprised by at the Fan Faire?
The actual numbers of people attending and the free beer!!!

-What was your favorite American meal at the Fan Faire?
The first meal I had at the 'all-u-can-eat' Buffet. Seemed to be in there for hours. Great value!

  • Kikthin (Belgium)

-How long have you been playing EverQuest?
Just over 6 years.

-What are your impressions of the last year's Fan Faire?
It was a long flight, but very much worth it. Las Vegas was an experience on its own and during the Fan Faire it was nice to see how Everquest and other games connected so many people.

-Which Fan Faire event was the most memorable to you, and why?
The off-site (karaoke) party. Was just an all around nice evening. Got in to talk with several people I had never spoken with before and everyone just got along fine and had a great time (maybe influenced by the abundance of (free) beer).

-Can you tell us an anecdote that occurred during your visit to Las Vegas?
While visiting the Hoover dam, a story was told that you had 24 hours of luck if you touched the feet of the bronze statues. Amazingly, that evening I won a fair amount at the blackjack table.. it almost had me believing. Of course before and after I lost a lot more, but no Vegas without at least having a go at it! While thinking about it, maybe I should visit the Hoover dam again this year to see if there is really more to it!

-Is there a one thing that you were most surprised by at the Fan Faire?
The fact that most devs did actually have a clue, even Prathun and Merloc? Who would have guessed?!
Seriously there was not really something that sprung out majorly, but everything was well organized.

-What was your favorite American meal at the Fan Faire?
The crusty New York steak at Bally's. And the all you can eat buffet as breakfast in the LV Hilton.