Well, I’m officially back from E3 and in action again at work. It was a great E3 from my perspective, but this write-up may not be quite as interesting as you would hope because I lived in an isolated world this year--I probably walked around E3 outside of my booth for a total of two hours, but that’s okay because inside the SOE booth it was relatively quiet and comfortable.
It all started one cool Tuesday morning in San Diego. A gentle breeze caressed the dewy grass at the SOE headquarters. As I pulled my car deftly into a spot by the clanging flagpole, I noticed the bus had already arrived and awaited the final passengers before it would depart to LA. I hurried with my black bag trailing behind on rollers just in case I was the last to get there but, luckily, I was not. I took a mental image of my bag before it was placed into the loading compartment of our bus, only to realize that it looked exactly like a couple dozen other SOE bags. Oops.
The trip up went without any issues and surprisingly without much traffic. I started a game of Field Commander with the intent to destroy Moorgard repeatedly, but he fell asleep while doing the tutorial and I resolved to just play a few rounds myself. The back of the bus was abuzz with shouts of joy and surprise as other developers enjoyed a certain handheld game relentlessly.
We arrived at our hotel, nicknamed the Riot Hyatt for the previous behavior of Hollywood stars in the hotel (apparently famous people have even crashed their vehicles into the front lobby, which I for one think is awesome). Erik Theisz got to meet one of his idols, Vinnie Jones (the meanest defender in soccer history as well as movie star from Snatch, X-Men 3, and others). We proceeded to head to the convention center for some pre-show preparation (and I shelled out a good $50 in cab fares just on the way there), then returned to the hotel in time for dinner.
Dinner took place in a lovely saloon just next door to our hotel where I decided to order pancakes, because breakfast is always a welcome meal any time of day for me. They were excellent, as was the experience. After much cajoling, I agreed to ride the mechanical bull. I have proof in the form of a picture that I refuse to scan. I’m glad everyone convinced me to go, because it was actually quite a fun experience.
Day two, also known as day one of the convention, rolled around the following morning. Another $40+ cab fare and I was at the LA convention center. As I passed by attendee hopefuls with my shiny Exhibitor badge, I finally realized that I was there--another year at E3. Ah, the wonders, the sounds, the games. After practicing my speech for about 30 minutes, I was enlisted to go out front and lug a big box of goodies (either blinking bouncy balls or shirts, I can’t remember).
Then, they let the early access folks in. I, of course, got to be the first person to give the speech over the Echoes of Faydwer movie, because they like to use me as a test subject. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t ever mess up too terribly. At the very least, I never gave anyone incorrect information, so I can forget about any of the pauses or stumbled words (that you can see on the Allakhazam video, because I get slightly nervous in front of cameras).
I know you won’t believe it, but the night ended without any partying. We went to one of our regular E3 haunts, the Stinking Rose, which is a very good garlic restaurant. After that, I decided to be smart and I went to sleep instead of partying. What a difference a little sleep can make.
Day 1 Summary: Awesome. Everyone who came to check out Echoes of Faydwer or The Fallen Dynasty loved them. Tons of compliments all around about how great they looked as well as the direction of the game itself. Got to talk to Brian Green (Psychochild) and OnyxRaven over lunch. Mood: Happy.
The next day went similarly to the first. I gave more demos, talked to more great people, and barely dared to set foot outside of the booth. I did, however, go outside of the confines of the booth for a while and juggled those blinking bouncy balls. Lyndro and I impressed the crowds (though he was admittedly better at juggling than me) and people kept asking where to get such impressive blinking bouncing balls, to which replied, “the SOE booth, right in front of the top left doors to South Hall. Leave your tips with Lotus” (who was also with us).
That night did not, in fact, go without any partying. Grimwell and his crew invited a few of us out for drinks to a club that I believe was called Exclusives. It was just off Hollywood Blvd, and I must say that some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen were dancing around this invite-only club. We were privileged enough to hang out in the VIP section, where they served us an endless amount of pre-paid drinks. After some interesting conversations and more than just a couple drinks, we headed back to the hotel in a stretch Hummer (very cool).
Day 2 Summary: Just as awesome as the first day. Again, everyone loved Echoes of Faydwer and the Fallen Dynasty. It’s great to see others just as excited about them as I am. Didn’t get lunch, but did talk to Scott Jennings (Lum the Mad) instead of eating. Mood: Happy still!
The final day of E3 started off relatively the same as every other day, except that I was a little more tired and still recovering from the previous night. This is the way E3 is supposed to go the entire time! At least, that’s what I though until I decided that I would steer clear of too much alcohol the previous nights. Nothing too eventful happened the final day of E3, to be quite honest.
Day 3 Summary: More tired than the last days, but everyone who got to see the upcoming expansion and adventure pack loved them just as the previous days. Yay! I didn’t go anywhere for lunch, but the staff at the convention center handed me some prepackaged lunch that they weren’t going to use, so I ate it. Mood: Happy to be going home because I was tired.
The bus ride home was during rush hour, so it took us a good 4 hours to get home from the convention center (after we made a stop at the hotel for our bags). That was fine by me, because I was starting to feel a sore throat coming on and it gave me several hours to sleep. And then we returned to the SOE lot as dark descended on the surrounding lands, and I went home and got to sleep in my bed again. Hurray, I have survived yet another E3.
