Enjoy Vegas

As I mentioned below, I'm not in Las Vegas this weekend, and that pains me quite a bit.  Sure, we'll be on the road next weekend for our competing vacation option (which I am excited about) but THIS weekend I should be out west talking about nerd things.

So, for everyone that's out there, please enjoy the event. Hang out at Holsteins as much as you can afford, and come home safely after.

For Science!

Happy New Year everyone.

While at EVE Vegas, we had a short chat with a nice Ph.D. candidate collecting data for his project on the psychology of MMO players.  He sent an update email today to say that he's close to having enough submissions to analyze the data, but needs a few more participants.

I'm posting the link to his survey with permission.  Please go help out if you have the inclination - I've done it, it doesn't take very long, and may give scientific proof as to why Jita is such a horrible place on local.*

Note:
*Probably not. Some things are best left unknown. :)  Seriously though, I'm not affiliated in any way with the research, just passing along the link to those who may be interested in helping out.

Blizzcon vs. EVE Vegas

As I sometimes do, I was reading my own blog at lunch and reminded myself that I had meant to do a follow-up to the travel we've done.  I got home tonight and had the EVE Vegas Survey to complete, and it was another poke in the ribs that I needed to get some writing time in.

So here I am.

This isn't a "X is better than Y post," but I can't help compare the two events because they were so different.

And given the relative scale of the events (At 25,000 players, Blizzcon was roughly 35x larger than EVE Vegas at 700ish), the events were a much different experience.

Venues:
EVE Vegas came first.  It was at a hotel conference center, and didn't quite use the entire area.  The event was well organized, but friendly, almost casual.  There were few lines.  Staying in the hotel a few floors above the venue was super convenient.  Food was expensive, but available (we ate at Earl of Sandwich all 3 days for lunch, hah) with an easy walk, as long as you didn't get lost in the casino.

Vegas as a venue is fantastic.  You can walk straight from Nerd Kingdom, descend an escalator, and be in a different world.  Everything you could want - from 5-star cuisine to chilidogs and beer feel like they're in arm's reach.  If you're wanting to step out to a show or do some non-EVE things in the evening, all kinds of shenanigans (from family friendly to very ... not family friendly) are there, all within easy walking distance.  Taxicabs are plentiful and will get you anywhere you're not willing to walk.  And the Strip itself is its own experience -- the beauty of the Bellagio fountain, to the shuffling masses of tourists, and the ever-present locals.  Vegas itself is a worthy destination, and the EVE content is just bonus.

Anaheim is a fine venue too, of course, but the Anaheim Convention Center (ACC) is a little more remote.  I mean, it's in the center of the LA metro area, so it's not like a ghost town, but  it's surrounded by a fairly bland mix of hotels and chain restaurants.  Our hotel was a 3/4 mile walk, and the route between was forgettable.  I couldn't get a room close to the ACC, and the time coming and going was a tax on everything we did.  The food at the ACC was okay (only marginally less expensive than Vegas) and the presence of the trendy food trucks was a real bonus.

Disney, of course, is just north of the ACC, and we certainly had fun there.  But again, it feels so spread out, even with our rental car (we didn't rent a car at Vegas), the logistics felt daunting.  Disney itself was great, but not superb.  I could visit Vegas once a year and still be finding new things to do.  Last time we were at Disney was in 2008 and it hadn't changed much, and I was bored by 1pm or so.
There were lines everywhere at Blizzcon.  Lines at Disney, lines for the store, lines for badges, lines for the men's room, lines for food, lines to get into the venue, lines to demo games.  With so many people, it's to be expected, and as I mentioned in another post Blizzard had their schiznit together with handling the crowd, but I still spent a LONG time standing in a queue.

Data point:  Tickets for the two events were roughly the same, as was airfare.  But we spent more at Blizzcon due to a) needing a car and b) more expensive hotel room.  And that's AFTER we paid for a super-cool balcony room at the Cosmo the first night in Vegas; Anaheim was still more $$.

Content:
The basic idea of both events are the same.  Open ceremonies, Keynotes, Closing Ceremonies.  Panels and pitches and briefings sandwiched in between.  After that the similarities kind of end.

EVE Vegas felt like a few of the professional conferences my old office team used to host once a year.  Timing was punctual and the A/V team did a good job with microphones and projectors, but it still felt a little home baked.  There were donuts and coffee in the morning, and cookies in the afternoon, just like a professional conference.  I'm not complaining (the cinnamon twists were to die for!) but it struck me as a little odd.

Blizzcon is a spectacle that's beginning to compete with Comic-con or GenCon.  There are multiple stages with content all at the same time.  Multiple simultaneous game tournaments.  Vendor booths and booth babes.  A live TV show being broadcast (DirecTV feed).  Life size statues of your favorite characters sprinkled throughout.  Tons of fans in costume.  The Blizzcon store had something like 144 cash registers (my rough estimate based on counting banks of 12), and the line for the store nearly filled an entire convention hall.

I'll go out on a limb here and say that the EVE briefs were a little more technical and a little more detailed than the corresponding Blizzard briefs.  The Blizzcon gang is attempting to sell a "philosophy" to millions of people, as in "this is the direction we're going next."  CCP is trying to talk hard numbers and detailed/complicated mechanics with a very savvy audience.

The Script and Message:
Blizzard employees walked out on stage confidently; the content was well rehearsed and it was apparent that the corporate goons had run the script through the corporate marketing machine.  Certain phrases and language kept reappearing in the Blizzard content; it was very apparent to me that it was part of an overall strategy for a "consistent message."

Contrasting this, CCP devs, especially early in the weekend, seemed apprehensive that they'd be boo'd off the stage, and seemed happy and a little surprised that nobody trolled them.

I found myself laughing and clapping at some of the EVE content while I didn't get very excited about the Blizzard briefings.  I don't know if that's a reflection of the briefing content, or the state of both games, or just how the stuff was presented.  Maybe all of the above.

A subtle thing, but my feeling is that CCP gives the vibe that they're using the event for feedback, as in "Ok, here's what we're thinking..."  With Blizzard, everything has been decided and set in stone.  Communication was one way only.

Schedule Stress:
EVE Vegas is 3 days.  The days are fairly short - late morning start and done in time for people to get ready for a night out.  You can plan your day around the things you want to see; since there's not as many simultaneous things you can easily pick a time to step out to the demo game line, or just go hang out at a table with some friends and chat.

Blizzcon was 2 exhausting days.  In line by 8, stay until the venue closes at 9pm, and active the whole time.  At any given point, there's at least 2 things you wanted to watch, and no matter what you pick you're missing out on something cool.  As a consolation, there are flat panel screens EVERYWHERE at Blizzcon, some of them showing things going on elsewhere at the venue so you can watch from afar instead of having to recap it on youtube when you get home.

Storytelling and meeting other players (and Devs) is VERY much a part of the EVE Vegas experience.  At Anaheim we were anonymous and had short conversations with guys around us, but no lasting friendships.  There's SO MUCH going on and it's so loud that it's hard to just relax and chat (and as luck would have it, the ONE group that I tried to chat up during lunch were from Korea and that was a language/accent barrier to overcome).


Bottom Line:
We enjoyed both events, and if I had it to do over I'd still attend both.  I came home with a greater respect for, and I think a greater insight into, both game companies.

The EVE event was more personal, and I came away with friends I hope to keep in game for some time, which is far more valuable than the trinkets we got at Blizzcon.  So, if I had to pick ONLY one for next year - it's Vegas, baby.

EVE Economic Data Dev Blog

Attempting to link from my phone. Bear with me.

One of the sessions at Vegas that I personally enjoyed most was the economic report.  The corresponding dev blog is now up. A quick scan suggests this is the same data and dialog as presented in Vegas (I.e. not updated data).  But its an interesting read, and I'm sure will stoke the fires on some of our "favorite" debates.

http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/eve-economy-update-eve-vegas-2015-report/

EVE Vegas Day 3

And EVE Vegas 2015 is all done.  We'll head to the airport in an hour or so. Vegas is always such a surreal experience and it is very much Fall at home, so I'm somewhat expecting my mental soundtrack to make that skipping record sound at some point today.

The big deal yesterday for me was the PVE roundtable session. I went in not expecting to hear a lot, and was happily surprised at the amount of content that got discussed.  CCP Infinity Affinity (thanks VoV!) promised a dev blog when she returns, so I'll not try to transcribe my notes here on the phone.  Bottom line is that I am happy with the direction CCP is going, and hope that the resources required can be applied so that we can see steady progress. 

I should be able to go through my "what I want from highsec" post from a few days back and annotate most of my wish list as "in progress."  Which is pretty cool. It looks like 2016 will be a good year for PVE content, resulting in an EVE that feels more alive than ever.

The rest of the day went too quickly. The Econ brief was good, and like most I'm looking forward to seeing the return of regular Econ updates. We were told the monthly updates would start next month and would likely be available ingame and somewhat in character, which is a nice touch even for non roleplayers.

Time to pack and find some coffee, and make the trip back to the real world.

EVE Vegas Day 2

One day of EVE Vegas remains.

Yesterday was about providing more details on Citadels and the capship overhaul, though most of what was in the respective presentations were mostly repeated from the keynote.  I didn't attend either round tables that followed the main briefs, but most of the attendees blobbed them, so any additional tidbits will make their way out.

I apparently missed the detail in the first pass that Citadels could be anchored in highsec.  I wonder who the first corp will be that's bold enough to put an XL Citadel 600km from Jita 4-4 ... and who will be the first to blow it up. ;)

We also heard that the sickle doomsday (titan laser sword) will pull cap from surrounding ships, making it impossible to set off 50 of them at once and burning a patch of sky to the ground. Tho I am sure some FCs are already plotting clever things with the mechanics. 

Ghostbuster (dont cross the streams!) and Jedi references abound around the sickle doomsday.  It's good to be a nerd.  ;)

We also heard that existing doomsdays are getting nerfed considerably.  This caused me to remark that "they may as well change the name from Doomsday to Wednesday" as suddenly they didn't sound so special.

We hung out more with Dire and VoV and swapped more stories and history.  There was a session on the First Great War that I initially though might have been about the First Great Northern War that Pukin' Dogs participated in circa 2004. Turns out I am bad at null history and was off by a couple years. The session was more around 2006 events between BoB, Goons, and the other empires of that era.  It made for a better story with the first titans getting to play.

The t20 incident came up 2 or 3 times that I saw. Is interesting to look back at that and realize what a defining moment that was for the game. It's also interesting that I still have a strong negative emotional response about it. (The sense of betrayal is still there after almost a decade, wow.)

We also hopped into the Valkyrie demo and I was blown away by the tech.  I don't really plan to buy a VR rig, but after the demo I was tempted to price check.  To quote Darth Vader, Valkyrie is impressive. Most impressive.

We didn't go to the party last night. I am still mostly on east coast time (hence why I am pecking on the phone at 5:30am) and have been collapsing early each night.  Such a party animal.

Today is the last day. I'll attend the PVE round table, and hope to get another go at Valkyrie. A couple more agenda items of personal interest, and we'll be thinking about going home.  It is 45 degrees there as I type with colder weather on the way.

Time to find the Starbucks.

EVE Vegas Day 1

Day 1 is complete.

As an overall schedule, Day 1 was the simplest.  We had 2 tasks - get badges, attend keynote.  Today will be a little more involved from that aspect. 

At its core, EVE is about People, and Day 1 is arranged to reflect that.  There was a big gap between badge pickup and the store opening; this was time for mingling and wandering.  I met many random people; most were very friendly and since we shared a common EVE vocabulary, conversations were fun once they got going.

We spent more time with Sugar, and though I am forgetting many of the names and faces we encountered, I must give a shout to a few:  VoV, Epigene, Dire, and NoizyGamer are super folks in person.  Mynxee of Signal Cartel is funny and genuine, and we chatted a bit in a group though I realized after that I didn't manage to actually introduce myself.  We likewise spoke briefly to Mike Azriah (spelling his name wrong no doubt) but he got pulled away before we got to trade names, and I found out later who he was.

Badges: the line to get badges initially looked daunting but moved reasonably well once it got started.  We showed up just after 11 and were thru in under an hour.  We figured out that we were in line behind Noizy about 25 minutes in, weird coincidence.  Behind us were a few guys from EVE-Uni, so we got to hear a few things from their point of view and some interesting details if how "personal dancers" work on the Vegas strip.

The Keynote:  I am not a null/capship player, but the Citadel brief had me smiling and cheering.  "But Aba," you say, "you're the guy that wants more PVE content, you should be angry that CCP is spending yet more dev time on other stuff. Wtf?"

Well, I am a PVE guy, sure. But I'm also realistic enough to know that ALL aspects of EVE must be singing in grand harmony. Capship play has been broken a good long time, and CCP has made no secret that there's a roadmap established to move the game forward. The end of that roadmap is player made gates and new star systems.  I'm neither surprised or upset that capships play a role in that future.  It was a good pitch and the changes look fun. EVE needs a nullsec that looks fun. (Said another way: There are plenty of people actively lobbying for null/cap changes, the role I play/represent is different but that doesn't mean I disagree with the need for change).

Oh, and there's a PVE segment today (EDIT: oops, I meant tomorrow). I plan to attend and see what gets said, so I'm reserving nerdrage until after that. ;)

(PS: posting from phone, I'm sure that the capship keynote details are out there, don't have a good way to link them.  I do know that MassivelyOP sent a delegate, so that's where I would check first for stuff.)

EVE Vegas Day Zero

Mmmmm. Coffee.

Sitting on our balcony looking over the strip as it wakes up for another day.  EVE Vegas day 1 is today, but let's start by talking about yesterday.

Other than being hurtful early, our flight went without incident. It was a direct route with no layover shenanigans.  Normally I travel for work, which means lugging around a laptop, extra clothes for work and play, and perhaps a binder of crap or two.  For this trip, all my stuff fit in a smallish carry on.  This meant no waiting for luggage at the carousel, easy security screen, and much less fuss and overall lower stress.  We didn't rent a car, so our only real pause for consternation was trying to find the taxi stand at McCarran international (which is one of my generally less favorable airports, tho O'Hare and Washington Dulles certainly suck a lot more).

I could get used to traveling light. Soooo much easier.

On the ground, we had a great day walking the strip. From Planet Hollywood we ventured north to the Wynn and back, gawking like the tourists we are. We stopped at the Venetian for a bit for a snack and drink and watched the statue lady living sculpture.  Other than dodging all the folks trying to hand us stuff and give us "free show tickets" it was a great morning.

In the afternoon we caught up with Sugar, and chatted for not nearly long enough.  My sister in-law had a break from her conference at the Bellagio, so we introduced her to Sugar.  Sis in-law is not a gamer, but took the nerd things in stride as best she could. We love her anyway. :)

Sugar took our picture to send to mom (mom thinks its super cool that we're here the same time as sis in-law, who we generally see only a few times a year).

After dinner, Mrs. Durden and I had drinks on our balcony and watched the strip change colors. I managed to stay awake until 8pm, but had been on the move since 00:30 (yes, midnight-thirty) local time.

Today is registration and the keynotes. We will disappear during the keynote to make our show time up the strip a ways. It should be another good day.

Well, the douchbags on the next balcony are smoking weed, yelling at each other, and spitting snot hockers over the rail, so my moment here is ended.  Coffee is cold anyway.  Time to find a real breakfast and go do nerd things.

Packing for Vegas

It's time.

This week has been a mad blur.  I spent the last day in my old office on Friday.  I left the office, put the last of my cubicle crap in the house and then drove 3 states away for a wedding (was a "destination wedding" at a reasonably popular tourist area).  Got in well after midnight Friday, spent the day Saturday shopping and wedding-ing.  Drove back Sunday, crashed into bed ... started new job on Monday.

New job is going fine, but I'm drinking from a firehose and I've come home each night exhausted.

We decided at the last minute to have a friend check on our cats (they're 16 and 18 years old, respectively), and that means we get the added bonus of cleaning the house a bit (not that we're slobs, but I really haven't been home much since Labor Day to care about more than the bare essentials; some might say 'who cares' ... well, I do. :)  ).

We have an o-dark-early flight tomorrow, but the flight is at least direct.  We'll be on the ground in Las Vegas in time for a late breakfast followed by a free day on the strip.  Will spend the evening watching the Bellagio fountain while trying desperately trying to stay awake after our early wake up and timezone changes.  Will swap hotels to the Planet Holleywood on Friday around the time that registration for the EVE event starts, and maybe have lunch with my sister-inlaw who happens to be there on business this week.

I'm only sitting here at the PC while my boarding passes and other essentials hum off the printer, then I'm going to scramble out and try to remember the 12 things I've no doubt forgotten to pack.

I am looking forward to some down-time, and sleeping in, and perhaps an adult beverage or two.  And EVE.

Cya on the other side... // Abavus

What's Playing:  TOOL, Aenima, Jimmy

How to Spot an Abavus in the Wild at EVE Vegas

I don't do social media and generally don't post my picture online.  Long story.

But, if you are reading this and you'll be at Vegas for all the EVE Glory, I'd like to talk to you.

I can't make any promises about after-hours activity.  As luck would have it, my sister in-law (who is non-nerd and mighty confused about a "video game convention" but we love her anyway) will also be in town for work, and we'll no doubt spend some time with her as our schedules permit.  I also got show tix for Mrs. Durden up at one of the other hotels and will probably vanish during the keynote.  But during the day I plan to be in and around the EVE Vegas halls as much as I can possibly stand.  

So, how to spot me: I'm a fairly normal looking white guy, fairly tall at about 6'3" and more gray hair than I'd like.

Day 1 - Friday - I will be wearing a bright blue (I dare say NEON BLUE) FOO FIGHTERS shirt.
Day 2 - Saturday - I will be wearing a dark gray FOO FIGHTERS shirt.
Day 3 - Sunday - I will be wearing a bright/lime green TwinSix shirt with a winged bicycle wheel logo on the chest.

So that's my plan - wearing bright clothes. (My genius is sometimes astounding.) Hopefully it will be enough to spot me in the sea of guys wearing a black howling triple wolves shirt or whatever that meme was.

Looking forward to chatting with many of you and putting some names with faces.

Countdowns

Tomorrow is the last day at my current office.  I've arranged a transfer down the road to a cousin organization.  It's not exactly a promotion but puts me in line for one, assuming I can perform well in the new environment.  Mentally, I swear I can hear the countdown clicking. Tick, tock.

It's been a surreal couple of weeks since I announced my intent to depart.  I've watched my team go through the 7 stages of change (anger, pain, denial, and the rest).  Which was weird for me because /I've/ known that I'm leaving the team for some time now, so it was not new to me.  Watching the news ripple through the team was an odd experience because I wasn't grappling with the same new information as them. I felt like an outside observer, even though I'd thrown the rock that started the ripples.

They are happy for me; the new gig is actually a pretty good deal.  They are sad for the team and concerned about what I may know that they don't (truth is: nothing, hah). I have known these people most of my career - 16-17 years, depending how you count, and over the past 24 hours I have said a lot of hard goodbyes.  I'll say many more tomorrow.  Although I am the deputy lead today, members of the team are my former team leads and mentors that held those kinds of positions 15-20 years ago.  I've been a part of their family and they've been a part of mine - weddings, funerals, and graduations all shared.  I'm leaving for the right reasons, but I'll still miss my friends.

Another realization as the countdown clicks down:  Today I am the center of attention, surrounded by friends.  Monday will be a new day, and I will be the new guy, and largely alone.

I type this and it perhaps sound like I'm apprehensive, sad, or scared.  In fact, I'm determined.  It's a path I started on over a year ago.  It's a contingency plan that I kept smoldering over several long months.  It's something I wanted; something I wished for.  Perhaps the reality of the situation is finally settling over me; tomorrow I will turn in my badge and walk out the door. Should I return, I will be a visitor and require an escort.  Between tomorrow morning at 7am and Monday morning at 8:45, my life is going to change and be far, far different.

There is of course another countdown running.  A week from today, I'll be standing next to the Bellagio fountain with a big smile.  EVE Vegas is near.  We have our plane tickets, hotels, and even a show lined up.  We're heading out on Thursday and will hopefully meet up with my sister inlaw who will be there on business.  And then it's time to nerd out.  :)

EVE Vegas - More Speakers Announced

Here's one of those things that make you squint.  I haven't given more than a passing thought to EVE Vegas for the past several weeks, but after having it come up in conversation today with no less than three (3!) different people about the upcoming trip, I get home and see an email from CCP about ... EVE Vegas of all things.

Wait, what? The universe is weird sometimes.

Anyway, I'll just quote the entire email here, as it's not a bad summary of old-news and new-news:

A new round of Prize draws
The second round of EVE Vegas ticket holder prize draws has just kicked off, and with attendance at an all time high we've decided to reveal a little bit more about the events that will be happening in Sin City this year! 

More speakers and participants announced
Attendees are in for a content packed weekend in the desert this year, with many of our speakers, both player and developer, already announced here and here. 

After the opening ceremony hosted by CCP Guard and CCP Falcon, we will have two days of spaceship packed goodness, with all those speakers already confirmed, plus more!  

We're delighted to announce that CCP Quant will be joining us this year, for another data science presentation after the amazing feedback on his talk from Fanfest 2015. In addition to this, CCP Larrikin will be flying out to Vegas for a talk and roundtables on ship balancing and what we can expect coming up in the releases after EVE Vegas.
CCP Logibro will also be joining us in the desert for the EVE Vegas PvP tournament, and CCP Leeloo will be with us for a CSM roundtable and recap of the CSM X Summit which will be taking place in September. 

In addition to the above announcements, we will also have CCP t0rfifrans joining us for an IP Development roundtable, and CCP DIGGER, Executive Producer for EVE Valkyrie will be heading out to EVE Vegas to give a keynote update on progress with EVE Valkyrie. 

The EVE Store
The EVE Store will also make a return, as CCP Spitfire brings out his latest wares to Las Vegas for your scrutiny, and we'll also be hosting a silent auction for five blades from Tranquility, which were incredibly popular at Fanfest 2015.

Gunjack & EVE: Valkyrie 

We're also happy to announce that both Gunjack and EVE: Valkyrie will be with us at EVE Vegas this year, so that attendees will be able to get a taste of the action that's coming up over the course of the next 12 months. 

Instead of recreating all the links in the email, I'll take the easy way out and shove you at the EVE Vegas Facebook page.

What's Playing:  TOOL, Opiate, Sweat

New Domi Model Preview

Confession time -- I've never flown a Dominix in anger.  I have to stop and roll my eyes around the room a bit and try to figure out if I've ever even owned one.  I don't think I have.  Mrs. Durden was always the Domi pilot and Drone Queen.  I was always more Caldari/Amarr based.

Anyway, there's a new Dev Blog up showcasing the potential Domi model.  It's pretty sweet.  Also in the works are Stilletto, Probe, Thrasher, Cerberus (shown), and the Gallente T3D.

----
In other news, I finally defeated the Blood Raider Anomic Base mission on the live server.  It took me 3 attempts (thankfully with nothing lost but drones and some pride).  The setup I used is identical to what I'd posted from sisi, but I swapped a 3rd Shield Extender for the afterburner.

It did require some different tactics, and the frigates that accompany him seemed to have a lot tougher tank than I remembered.

I'd like to run him a time or two more on live and then I'll post an update and fit here.


What's Playing:  Tool, Sober

More EVE Vegas Speakers Announced

Last Friday (which somehow I missed), a little post went up to announce new speakers for EVE Vegas.

Here's the entire list:

• CCP Seagull
• CCP Scarpia
• CCP Nullarbor 
• (new) CCP karkur
• (new) CCP Punkturis
• (new) CCP Falcon
• (new) CCP Affinity
• Mark726 of EVE lore infamy
• Lychton Kondur of Brave Collective
• (new) Kira Tsukimoto on how to get involved early in the EVE Community as a rookie
• (new) Loginius Spear will be presenting a talk on hunting in wormholes
• (new) Lanctharus Onzo from Cap Stable Podcast

First Round of EVE Vegas Speakers Confirmed

In case you missed it elsewhere, confirmed today were:

• Andie Nordgren, CCP Seagull, Executive Producer 
• Pétur Örn Þórarinsson, CCP Scarpia, Game Design Director 
• Cameron Royal, CCP Nullarbor, Sr. Software Engineer 
• Mark726 of EVE lore infamy 
• Lychton Kondur of Brave Collective 

The official announcement is here.

Nerd Fall

Item #1 - As faithful readers know, I'm going to EVE Vegas this year, and I'm pretty excited about it.

Item #2 - We're now also going to attend Blizzcon. I'm excited about that too.

Item #3 - These two events are separated by barely 10 days.  My wallet is not excited about this, but the rest of me is ok with it.


For those that don't follow WoW/Diablo/Blizzard nerd lore, Blizzcon is Blizzard's version of Fanfest.  It takes place in Anaheim CA and is attended by 25,000 folks.  It sells out almost instantly, despite annual price increases that bring a tear to your eye.

I'm not really playing any Blizzard games.  I dabble in D3 a week or two every few months.  I didn't buy the latest WoW expansion.  I'm approaching the age when I'll be slow and old to be any good at Overwatch (the new shooter / Team Fortress clone).

So here's the backstory:  Mrs. Durden expressed some interest in going to Blizzcon this year.  It was a passing thing that kept popping up, like "hey can you take out the trash, and by the way wouldn't it be cool to go to Blizzcon?"

Interest perked up after I bought tickets for EVE Vegas.  If EVE Vegas would be "my" trip, then "her" trip would be Blizzcon.    We're not doing any big trips this year, so a couple of west coast weekend trips fit our budget.

We went to Blizzcon in 2007 and 2008 and then bought virtual tickets via DirecTV the next few years.  In 2007, getting tickets was easy and we kind of blundered into it.  In 2008, there were server meltdowns and lots of drama, but somehow one of my orders managed to go through and we went to Anaheim.  After that, we were kind of "over" the fuss of getting tickets ... we tried (not very hard) to get tickets in some of the intervening years, but staying home and inviting friends over to munch popcorn and watch nerdTV from the virtual ticket was kind of fun in its own way.

Anyway, the first batch of Blizzcon tickets went on sale at 10pm last Wednesday.  We had decided that we were serious about going.  We were both woodpeckering F5 in our browsers as the clock wound down.  As 10pm struck, I managed to click through first and thought I got stomped by a laggy javascript checkout button, but somehow landed in the full legit checkout while Mrs. Durden got sent to the waiting room.

Still not believing I was "really buying" tickets, I skeptically walked through the checkout.  "Can't be happening," I kept thinking.  But it was.  A few minutes later I got the email from eventbrite to prove it.

So, in late October we'll be heading west to Vegas for EVE stuff.  We'll come home on a Monday, maybe Tuesday.  About 1.5 weeks later, we'll get back on a jet and fly to Anaheim for Blizzcon, a day at Disneyland, and maybe a road trip somewhere outside the LA basin.  I'm perhaps more excited for EVE Vegas, but Blizzcon is familiar territory and I'm excited to go there in a different kind of way.

I hope there are good shirts for sale at EVE Vegas.  In 2007, I went to Blizzcon attired in a swanky Guristas logo shirt, and drew comments from Blizzard staffers about CCP and EVE during the first day.  Good times.

EVE Vegas, Baby

October sounds so far away.

We talked about going to FanFest this year, but couldn't make it work with vacation schedules and money.  My backup plan for the past many months is to go to EVE Vegas.  A business trip in early December that had me routed through Vegas cemented the idea of going back to the area for a long weekend.

I've been watching for the EVE Vegas tickets to go up, and was actually talking to Mrs. Durden about it yesterday.  Lo and behold, there was a sneaky little dev blog released 2 days ago when I wasn't looking that announced tickets on sale.

Being slow on the uptake cost me a few bucks, as the early bird tix are all sold out already.  Grr.

But here's the reason for the post:  Eventbrite has officially notified me that WE ARE GOING TO EVE VEGAS.  (woot).

Now my compulsive planning disorder will make me figure out the hotel accommodations and the rest.