EVE Fanfest 2007 Recap The Fourth Annual Party
CCP sets a high standard for its party at the top of the world. This year's Fanfest was no exception. Through the sub-polar cold and by the fuselage-full, EVE fans made the sojourn to mingle amongst the glaciers. EVE Online's fans are a dedicated lot, undoubtedly ready for a good party. Amongst pumping music, and amidst the espionage surrounding a live RP event, CCP managed to fit in several awe-inspiring presentations featuring what's in store for EVE, and much more.
There simply isn't a better opportunity to meet your corp mates, opponents and the CCP developers than Fanfest. We drank, argued and ultimately tried not to fall down a flight of stairs. The party was second to none.
In between the roundtables, tournaments and drinking (we mentioned that right? OK, good.) CCP held a number of impressive presentations.
- Börkur Eiríksson, Lead Artist for CCP, gave an in-depth demonstration of how he conceptualizes and creates concept art for EVE Online. Using several stages of the same artwork, he created one of his masterworks in just over an hour. Genius and art in fast-forward. This presentation literally had jaws on the floor. Börkur’s presentation was one of many entertaining events. Other CCP demonstrations were hosted by the flamboyant (his own words from the EON DVD, we swear) Nathan “Oveur” Richardsson and CEO Hilmar “Hellmar” Pétursson.
- The Live Agent game was running in the background throughout the entirety of Fanfest. It was a light role-playing event that allowed attendees to take on the role of a Caldari capsuleer attempting to earn the respect of the agents in the station.
- Players from around the world met up in the comfortable Jita lounge section of the venue, where beer and pizza helped forge real-life friendships from what had previously been in-game alliance mates or enemies.
- What would Fanfest be without the blood-pounding excitement of a PVP tournament?
"Every year Fanfest gets bigger and better, and right alongside the PvP Tournament gets bigger and better as well. At Fanfest '07 we had 128 diehard PvPers competing for some great prizes (including signed art books, top of the line graphics cards and a year's game time), and even more players wanted to join in on the day. It was a hectic day in the "Pod Kill Plaza" with the 32 teams and onlookers cheering and shouting over the sounds of explosions and weapons-fire. The final was an awesome fight on center stage where both teams had brought near identical ships, and where the battle ended with only a single ship left standing, from the Roadkill team." - Kenny Crowe
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RöXöR “CCP and the fans have been raising the bar of the EVE Fanfest every year, and RöXöR has always felt like it has to do the same,” explained Pétur Ţórarinsson, RöXöR’s bombastic lead singer. “Our first year, we were punk-light at best, so in our second year we turned up the heat quite a bit, but this year‘s party was totally insane. Next year, nobody should plan their trip home on the day after the party." You have been warned. |
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Sisters of EVE The Sisters of EVE program was a first for this year’s Fanfest. The program allowed players to share the Fanfest experience with friends or spouses who were not EVE enthusiasts. While players gathered to discuss the future of the game with the developers, spouses on the Sisters of EVE tour were treated to the wonderful sites of Iceland, including tours of the countryside, and a soak in a hot spring. |
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Silent Auction "I really enjoyed this rare opportunity to meet so many of the devs one-on-one within the CCP office in Reykjavik. You can't get anymore ‘behind the scenes’ than this, plus helping out Child's Play only emphasized how the money was well spent. " -Brian Haines, winner of the CCP Office Tour |
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Pub Quiz Jita was filled with roaring laughter during the Pub Quiz. The developers running it had to shout to be heard over the sounds of players mocking each other’s answers! In all, dozens of players kicked back with a beer at the end of the day, and discovered just how much they knew—and more importantly, didn’t know—about EVE. |
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Special Guests Richard Bartel & Jessica Mulligan "The EVE Fanfest 2007 showed me three things: “1. EVE players make up the most passionate online game community I've personally witnessed in over 20 years in the industry and the gods alone know how many fanfests and player gatherings.” “2. Starting with the senior executives and spreading to everyone else in the company, CCP cares more about their players than online game company I've ever known and they go out of their way to demonstrate that care.” “3. Icelanders have perfected the tech blueprint named Liver of Steel and they exercise it every chance they get." - Jessica Mulligan |
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"I spoke to people all the way up CCP from the lowliest technician to the company management, and found something I did not expect: none of them had anything bad to say about the players. Normally, developers have some people on staff somewhere who regard players as irritatingannoyances to be mocked behind their backs, but everyone in CCP actually cares about the players. Incredible!"
"I also spoke to players all the way from newbies to corporation high-ups, and found only intelligent people who were passionate about the game. Where do they come from in such concentrations? This is unlike the population of any other fanfest I've ever attended. Again, incredible!" "I had respect for EVE before the fanfest, but after meeting the people there, well, all I can say is that other MMOs can only look at and envy what you have." - Richard Bartel |