Day three started a little late for me. Well, 9am. Despite being up far too late, I just couldn't sleep in. I stayed in my room and worked a bit, then headed down to the conference area.

I checked out the vendors and Station Store, which I hadn't had a chance to do yet. I think the vendors were much better this year, we had a role play costumer, a new MMO magazine that Brasse is involved in, a caricaturist, and a game-oriented dating service to name a few.  Oh, that picture on the right is Mrs. Grimwell!

Talk about a busy schedule around here!  Beginning at 10:00am and going all day long, excluding the evening attractions, the staff of SOE are keeping us and themselves very busy!  There are of course several gaming kiosks showing current and upcoming titles.  Also, all sorts of panels for us to attend and learn some fantastic information about our favorite titles.

I arrived in Las Vegas early, and so yesterday morning I was all ready to get going - starting with the Station Voice/Vivox panel.  This was a discussion on the in-game voice chat system currently available in EQII and SWG, and on the test server for EQ.  When I arrived, the room was fairly empty and the folks in attendance were milling about.  Apparently, the tables and equipment were still in the process of being set up.  Never to be flustered, however, Bruce Ferguson, Senior Producer on EverQuest II, promised a demonstration in interpretive dance should the equipment setup take awhile.  Not to be outdone, Monty Sharma, VP of Product Management & Marketing/Founder of Vivox, ensured us of his skill with shadow puppets!

Needless to say, I was sincerely disappointed when just a few moments later the hotel staff arrived with the necessary accoutrements for a proper panel discussion.  Next time, Bruce and Monty... next time!

LEGACY OF EVERQUEST ® FRANCHISE CONTINUES WITH ANNOUNCEMENT OF EverQuest ® AND EverQuest ® II EXPANSIONS AT FAN FAIRE

All attendees to Receive Both Expansions for Free as Part of Living Legacy Program!

LAS VEGAS , NEV. – Aug. 15, 2008 – Thousands of video game enthusiasts are in Las Vegas for the annual Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire where the upcoming expansions for the online role-playing games EverQuest® (EQ) and EverQuest® II (EQII) were just announced. EverQuest® Seeds of Destruction ™ is scheduled to be available on Oct.21, and EverQuest® II The Shadow Odyssey ™ is scheduled to be available on Nov.18. As part of SOE’s extensive Living Legacy program designed to entice new and past EQ and EQII players into the games and reward the existing loyal playerbase, all Fan Faire attendees will receive the software for both expansions for free, an unprecedented offering.

“It is such a privilege to announce the upcoming expansions for two of our most popular games, EverQuest and EverQuest II, in a venue like Fan Faire where we are joined by thousands of our loyal fans, and it seems more than appropriate to give those fans access to both of the expansions for free,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “Both of these expansions are rich in content and adventure, and will provide our players with hours of excitement as they explore the online world of Norrath.”

This morning I was privileged to have breakfast at the G.I.R.L. - Gamers in Real Life panel. With a group of about forty people, the women involved in the G.I.R.L. program discussed gaming, their personal experiences, and how the gaming industry involves and represents women.

Moderated by Dana Jongewaard, Editor-in-Chief, IGN.com, the panelists were:

• Torrie Dorrell, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, SOE-San Diego
• Laura Naviaux, Director, Global Brand Marketing, SOE-San Diego
• Lorien Gremore - Producer, The Agency(tm), SOE-San Diego
• Laralyn McWilliams - Lead Designer, Free Realms(tm), SOE-San Diego
• Julia Brasil, G.I.R.L. Game Design Competition Winner
  

Day 1.  Well, sort of.

It's 8am in Vegas, and kinda quiet, relatively. Everyone seems to be sleeping in. The kids have me too well trained, I woke at 7am.

I got here Wednesday afternoon, coordinated with my boss Draknorr and AutunmKiss from our news site. We indulged in some carboydrates and went to the Star Trek experience. If your're here, you should do this, as its closing its long run at the end of the month.

Then I came back to my room and went to bed early. I woke to text messages from several people sent last night from Quarks. I missed the party! I must be getting old, but getting up at 3am to fly half the day just takes it out of me.