Don’t thank me… Thank Pie. =)

That’s not a secret anymore.  Jeff “Vork” Lewis, Sandeep “Zaboo” Parikh, and Robin “Clara” Thorsen are coming back to Dragon*Con this year! So now we must ask ourselves…

1) Which of Jeff’s invisible war buddies will make a surprise appearance at our panels this year?

2) How many women will Sandeep propose to at our party this year?

3) Will Robin survive a second bout with “Pie”?

I guess there’s only one way to find out…

Apparently, in 2010, Sony decided to apply for a patent for:

Coordinating real-world gatherings to promote an online community, the method including: encouraging participants of the online community to participate in a real-world gathering by providing incentives for the participants; promoting familiarity among the participants by providing and introducing online community titles of the participants at the real-world gathering; and providing online benefits or rewards to the participants for participating in the real-world gathering. Keywords include socializing in the real world, community building and bridging the gap between the game world and the real world.

You can find the full text of the patent application here.  Or look for patent application #20120094763 at The US Patent and Trade Office.

(Make sure you look at patent applications and not granted patents…)

In a sane world, this application gets laughed out of the room.  There are decades of “prior art” for starters. In addition, patents exist to protect inventions or business processes, neither of which include the concept of a “fan gathering”.  Of course, in the real world, which is anything but sane, the USPTO has a tendency to grant patents and wait for them to be challenged in court.  That means that there is a chance, unless someone raises a ruckus, that this patent could actually be granted.  That would, essentially, place conventions like Dragon*Con (and PAX, and Gen Con, and Blizzcon, and CCP’s fan fest, and…) in the unenviable position of having to “lawyer up” in order to keep the legal jackals at Sony at bay.

It should be noted that our friends at Sony Online Entertainment are NOT the folks who filed this patent.  Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment are two separate beasts.  (If you’re curious, SCE is the “Mother Ship” to SOE.  SCE also develops console games and other titles that are not MMOs)  Perhaps if the folks in charge over at SCE had bothered to consult with the folks at Sony Online, they might have realized what a bad move this could be for them.

Bad move?  Here is how I see it.  Yes, Sony has a ton of money and can throw lawyers at just about anyone.  Unfortunately, they have not been the “big fish” in online gaming in many years.  Even if the stars and planets align just-so, and their patent is granted AND it stands up in court… What do they win?  They will alienate every fan who attends Blizzcon, every fan who comes to conventions like Gen Con and Dragon*Con, and every fan to does not already exclusively play Sony titles.   What is more likely?  They’ll sue a “gathering of online gamers”.  (No, they won’t start with Blizzcon… Activision has just as much money to throw at this as Sony does.)  Who would they go after first?  PAX? Dragon*Con?

Here is how I imagine that court case would go…

Judge: “Dragon*Con, you’re being sued by Sony Computer Entertainment for violating their patent on ‘Coordinating real-world gatherings to promote an online community’, which was filed in October of 2010.”

Dragon*Con:  “Your honor, this year, Dragon*Con celebrates it’s 26th anniversary, and it’s 10th year of “coordinating real-world gatherings to promote and online community”.  Sony is aware of this prior art as they participated in several of these gatherings prior to 2010.

Judge: “Case dismissed”

On a personal note, when I first saw this, I was angry enough to really make a stink out of this.  After doing a little digging, and understanding the relationships between the various groups within Sony, and understanding that the folks who come to Dragon*Con every year from SOE had nothing to do with this idiocy, I have decided to do nothing more than bring this to our community’s attention.  Am I still ticked off about this?  Absolutely.  However, the most constructive thing we, the community, can do is spread word of this far and wide and work to make sure this patent never gets granted in the first place. (Write to the USPTO… Encourage others to do the same.) If we should fail there, then it is time to make a big stink.

The MMO track is moving to the Hilton this year!

We’re going to be in Grand Salon E this year, which is basically right across the lobby from the Walk-of-Fame on the 2nd floor of the Hilton. (The same level as the walkway to the Marriott)  Now some of our bigger events (The Party, The Guild panels, etc) will still be in the Sheraton, (hey, they do have the big ballrooms, ya know) but we won’t have competing events forcing you to be in two places at once.

We have an unofficial schedule done and while I can’t give you specifics, I can give you a couple of sneak peeks.

1. R.A. Salvatore will be on-hand to talk about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and the upcoming MMO (code named “Copernicus)
2. We’re working with Guild Launch to host the first annual “DragonSlayer” awards for great, and not-so-great, moments in MMO gaming.
3. We have a panel scheduled for “The Guild”, but I can’t tell you who’s going to be there yet. =)
4. In addition to our “Quest for the Bling Gnome” trivia contest, we will have an additional “World of Warcraft Trivia” contest immediately following the WoW Costume Contest.
5. Our “Gathering of Heroes” party will be combined with Brit Track’s “Villain’s Ball” to form what we hope will be the best combination since Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

and finally…

Grim has put together what will be, without a doubt, the best costume he has ever worn at Dragon*Con.  More to come.

PS. I would have posted this yesterday, but considering the date… This is no April Fool’s Joke.

Patience, my children.   Soon, all will be revealed.  There are some massive changes in the works, and we’re pretty sure you are going to like them.  Unfortunately, one of them involves moving the website to a new host, and that is something that doesn’t happen very quickly.

We’re still here and still cranking.

I will throw out this one bit of amusing news.  In what might pass for one of the more ridiculous, but amusing, guild names in MMO history, I have joined a guild called <Battlestation Sexywagon>.  They are one of the more pleasantly warped gangs of miscreants that I’ve had the pleasure of raiding with.  <Pravus Mortis> (my old guild) is still around, and I still lurk there from time to time, but Mass Effect 3 has done a number on their raiding roster.

If only there were a track at Dragon*Con that covered non-MMO video games!

If you’re interested, check out Pravus Mortis (See, not only do we love our sponsors… we actually use their product!  Thanks Guild Launch!)

On the D*C front, there’s not much going on right now.  First staff meeting is next weekend, but our staff is full, and this will basically be a chance for me to confirm that my staff is, in fact, still alive.

Aww, he likes it! “Mr. I Hate Muh-mor-pig-uhs” actually likes this game.

As much as I have fond memories for EQ, I should remind you all to read the “fine print”.  For example:

• Freepers only get to play one of four races (Human, Erudite, Barbarian, Gnome)
• …and one of four classes. (Warrior, Cleric, Wizard, Rogue)
• Freepers can only create 2 characters on a given server.
• Freepers are limited with respect to bags, spells, money, and the ability to use in-game mail.
• Freepers don’t get access to in-game support. (Knowledge Base Only)

and the biggie…

• Freepers are subjected to in-game pop-up advertising.

Now for 5 dollars, you can upgrade your account to “Silver” status. (Note: former subscribers are automatically upgraded to Silver)  Which doesn’t do much for you aside from raising some of the limits mentioned above.   Silver subscribers are still subjected to in-game pop-up ads.

If you want the “full” version of the game, it’s still $14.99/month. (Seriously?  For a 13 year old game?)  The good news is that you can pay the monthy fee (or the upgrade to “Silver”) using “Station Cash” that you may have accrued from playing other SOE games.  Station Cash will also be used to purchase and unlock “freemium” content for regular and Silver subscribers.

In-game ads… No thanks.  That one “feature” is pretty much a deal breaker for me with any game. (Are you listening, Blizzard?)

Apparently, Blizzard has decided to call off Christmas Blizzcon this year.  That’s a shame, since at least one other Dragon*Con director and I were planning on attending this year, sporting the very latest in Alliance t-shirt wear and seeing if any of the resident homophobes wanted to say something about it.

Oh, but wait!  There’s more!  It seems that Bobby Kotick has come up with another scheme to add money to Blizzard’s bottom line and at the same time contributing absolutely nothing to the state of the art of online games.

Are you ready for product placement in your MMO?

Just imagine World of Warcraft with in-game advertising to go along with your monthly subscription and item store purchases.  Oh, wait, Mists of Pandaria is on the way, so you’ll get an interactive trailer for Kung Fu Panda 3 as well as a custom version of Pokemon.

(Ok, so I know that Blizz did Pandaren long before those movies came out, but since when did I let the truth stand in the way of some good snark?)

Meanwhile, the 30-day trial period for SWTOR has elapsed, and while I don’t have any firm numbers on the subject, the servers seem as populated as they have always been.  Can’t say I’ve seen a great deal of cancellations, and I’m working on getting my second character to level 50. (Imperial Sniper)  I still believe that the only thing that is going to kill off WoW is Blizzard’s own asshattery, but the gap between them and the rest of the pack is getting narrower by the day.  38 Studios is set to release Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in the near future which promises to close that gap even further. (And did we mention that R.A. Salvatore, one of the minds behind that game, is coming to Dragon*Con this year?  Did we mention that? )

We’re about 6 weeks away from our first volunteer staff meeting, which means things are going to get a lot busier on the D*C front really soon.

Out.

-Grim

…and a new trailer.

If you haven’t already, stop by the Shii-Cho server and say hello. (Sith side, of course…)

Official pre-launch started yesterday, but they let in a bunch of people as early as Tuesday.  As a result, there is no lag, no server queues, no insane competition for newbie area spawns, and most importantly, no server crashes.

This is the smoothest launch I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen…

• EQ2
• LOTRO
• D&D Online
• Age of Conan
• World of Warcraft
• Black Prophecy
• Champions Online
• Star Trek Online
• Pirates of the Burning Sea
• Warhammer Online

You get the idea… BioWare is doing a spectacular job, so far.

It’s time for our holiday edition of the SnarkCast! This time around, we’re trying something a little bit different, as we have some friends guest-starring on the podcast! Please do let us know what you think about this new format, and if you like longer or shorter podcasts. We’ll let you guess what the main topic of this cast was. Hmmm..

This particular one clocks in at a meaty hour and 30 minutes, but we also won’t be publishing again until after the new year, so we figured we should add in some extra snark for your holidays.

If you have any comments, suggestions, etc. or just want to say hello, drop us an email at podcast[at]dc-mmo[dot]org

As always, you can find links, notes, and more after the break.

HOLIDAY FINDS w/ Morgan

• http://www.etsy.com/shop/CastleMcQuade
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/wakeupjuliet
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/useyourdigits
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/Fanboyglass
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/geekoutlet
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhatsEatingYin
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/Foxwise
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/DarkerImage
• http://www.etsy.com/shop/ZombiepieceTheatre

NEWS

I find it interesting that the WoW-side of this song sounds like a 14 year old “Herp Derper” while the SWTOR player sounds like a normal human being. (Naw… I am not biased, why do you ask?)

So this video is amazing for a few reasons…

1) It makes the cello cool!

2) Three words “Darth Vader” and “Accordion”

3) It has better direction and dialog than Episodes 1-3. (I loves me some Star Wars, I do… but George Lucas needs help as a director.)

However, I can tell you a few things.

1) If you don’t have this game pre-ordered already, go ahead and get it.

2) No, seriously… Go ahead and get it.  You won’t be sorry.

Some things I can comment on…

1) There seems to be a lot of “WoW-Rage” in every new game.  SW:TOR is no exception.

2) I would expect WoW to drop 4.3 very soon in order to try and steal SW:TOR’s Launch-Day Thunder.  I don’t know that it will work.  While WoW is adding “Yet Another Endgame Encounter”, SW:TOR will be shiny and new.  I have heard reports that SW:TOR has already sold over 2 million pre-orders.  If that is true, I’d be willing to wager that a new raid in WoW isn’t going to keep their attention very long, if at all. (and that’s assuming that all of the 2 million pre-orders are WoW players… Something I know is NOT true.)

3)  I said this in an Ask Massively column a long time ago, WoW ain’t going anywhere.  However, with a loss of over a million subscribers so far this year, and with new games taking bigger and bigger bites of WoW’s subscriber base.  I don’t think it is unreasonable to say that WoW is starting to move, inexorably, back to the pack.  I would not be shocked to see WoW dip below 10 million subscribers by the end of this year, and I think SW:TOR will get more than a few of those people. If SW:TOR takes off, there is no reason it couldn’t pass WoW in subscriber numbers within another couple of years.  Will it hit 12 million like WoW did?  I REALLY doubt it.  On the other hand, as franchises go, show me a bigger money maker, historically,  than Star Wars.

Here’s the real kicker.  What things does an MMO need in order to maintain success?

1) Community.  I’m not sure how well the in-game community is going to develop, but I’m sure that it’s going to.  There are a lot of hardcore Star Wars fans out there.

2) Pop-culture tie-ins.  Perhaps not mentioned much, but part of WoW’s success is tied to some of the merchandising and other multimedia tie ins.  T-shirts, novels, even rumors of a World of Warcraft movie.  Star Wars comes with all of that stuff built in.  Non-gamers might not know who Thrall is, but you can bet your ass they know names like Skywalker or Vader.

3) Quality of the game.  Yeah, it still matters.   Without giving anything away, I will say that my experience was very smooth over the weekend.  Not a lot of bugs (and the ones I did find weren’t game breakers), and the game felt as if it were ready to be released very soon.  We all knew Bioware had a good track record with single player RPGs in the Star Wars universe.  While I think they have made a couple of “rookie mistakes” in the MMO space, they have learned a lot of good lessons from previous games including WoW, Rift, and others.

Assuming that this game doesn’t completely crap the bed on launch, I’d like to go ahead and invite the entire 501st to the MMO track party at Dragon*Con next year.

No, this was not the reaction I had when informed that we were ready to post another SnarkCast.  If you want to know why this horrible, horrible picture is relevant to this discussion, you’ll just have to listen to the show.

Now look.  I have been as guilty as anyone of throwing around some faux-Alliance hatred at Dragon*Con… But seriously?  You’re going to do THIS at Blizzcon and not expect to catch shit for it?  The folks at GLAAD, and GayGamer.net, and pretty much anyone else who understands that World of Warcraft is just a fucking game responded about like you would expect.  However, now there are other stories popping out about fans being assaulted at Blizzcon for wearing Alliance gear.

Seriously?

I mean… fucking-yay that Blizzard has officially apologized.  But still…

So here’s the deal.  No more “Roll Call” at Dragon*Con for the Horde and Alliance.  I’m not even willing to play into the whole Alliance vs Horde thing anymore.  For me, it was a lot of fun, but I draw the line at hearing about people being assaulted for wearing an Alliance t-shirt.  I draw the line at dealing with people who have no sense of context and who assault people for a purely manufactured reason.  It’s just a damned game, people.

There is a slightly darker corner of my psyche that wants to buy an Alliance t-shirt, show up to Blizzcon next year, and dare Corpsegrinder, Samwise, or anyone else to say something about it.

Just when I thought I got out… Looks promising. Of course it is Day 1 of Blizzcon, so OF COURSE IT LOOKS PROMISING!!! We shall see… Coming soon to an expansion near you. (And by “soon”, I mean… 2 years?)

Get ready for every hack MMO site on the ‘net to give “Sneak Previews” of features from the upcoming game.  Pay no attention to the fact that you could get 90% of this information directly from the SWTOR site.  Pay no attention to the fact that most of these articles will be written by columnists who can’t see past their own preconceptions.  Pay no attention to the hordes of angry fanbois who will scream “This game SUX” because they can’t play a “Wookiee Jedi with a quadruple-bladed lightsaber” (which, while awesome, might be just a little unreasonable…)  Most of you have already made the decision on whether or not you are going to try this game. (example: Me… I’ve already purchased my copy)

The way things are going in this industry, it is worth it to boycott or black-out all gaming “news” sites and go into a new game with your eyes and your mind open.  If you ever want to re-create the “WOW!” experience of your first MMO, then perhaps reading some blog’s “comprehensive class breakdown” columns months before the game hits the streets is a bad thing to do.  Half the fun of this genre is in exploring the game world and figuring things out for yourself.  If you walk into a game armed to the teeth with advice and tips from some “beta tester”, you may as well save your money and go rent a movie instead.  The blogger has already taken the best part of the gaming experience away from you.

The value of MMO-style beta testing is debatable, but it is definitely good for one thing.  Building Hype.

…and here it comes.

Hyatt is sold out.  (So are the Hilton and Marriott)

Expect a rush for the remaining rooms at the Westin and Sheraton.

I promise, right here and now, that I will publicly mock anyone who sends me an email in August asking about hotel rooms. (Unless you’re asking about 2013)

Oh, and for those of you who may be connected to game studios…

Dragon*Con‘s vendor and exhibitor space is 95% gone for next year.  If you want a booth next year, you better have your checkbook ready.  (Pro Tip: Most savvy companies reserve their space for next year at the current convention.  Some rumors had us 80% sold out before this year’s con even ended.)

EDIT:  According to the Twitter-sphere, Sheraton and Westin are now sold out as well.  Time to start looking for overflow hotels.  If you procrastinated… NO DC*TV FOR YOU!

Put into perspective, this is “just another week” at Blizzard, but the difference is that in this case, it wasn’t directly or indirectly the player’s fault that their accounts were hacked.  Kudos to the SOE team for getting on top of this so quickly, but if you guys are looking for a real Information Security pro, I know a guy… =) (LinkedIn)

This is why I play Kingdom of Loathing. They have a spelling and grammar test you have to take before you are allowed to chat with other players.

Mary Lou decided to attend both Comic-Con and Dragon*Con for this first time this year.  Reading a first-timer’s comparison of the two events is always interesting, but Mary Lou really captures the essence of the two conventions.

” I felt the purpose of Comic-Con was to see your favorite celebrities in action, secure autograph opportunities, and take part in a little bit of stardom.”

“Dragon*Con is really a convention run by fans for fans. The purpose of Dragon*Con seemed to be fun in all capacities, from meeting fellow geeks to taking part in interesting panels, not solely the thrill of meeting a favorite celebrity.”

Yep.  That’s pretty much it.

I don’t want to spoil the article for you, but Dragon*Con wins… again. =) (my opinion, not necessarily Mary Lou’s)

Don’t get me wrong, Comic-Con definitely has a niche.  It is a niche occupied by studios and industry pros who want to hawk their goods to a geek market.  Not saying that I wouldn’t go to such a convention if it were practical to do so, but it is important to understand what it is and what it isn’t.  Same for Dragon*Con.

We. Are. Not. An. Industry. Show.  (and. we. like. it. that. way!)

But reports from those who did manage to get a room say that the Passkey site worked much better this time around.

Let’s sum up…

• 8 Minutes
• 2200 Rooms
• Sold Out 11 months in advance.

EDIT:  As of 8:30 AM…

The Sheraton and the Westin still have rooms, but I wouldn’t count on them lasting much longer.  After that, you’ll have to hunt for overflow hotels or pray that something opens up on the D*C Rooms site.

For more of Chad and Megan, be sure to check out their website over at Lessons in Lore.

As always, if you know of a good video that you think we should post, send it in.

EDIT: Some of us are also playing on Belmont, Defiant side….

-Grim

So yeah, it’s not an MMO, but it’s still a kickass game.  If you have been living under a rock and haven’t played Portal, you really need to give it a look.

It also gave us this.

You may also want to look into booking a room as the Hilton and Sheraton have already made rooms available for next year’s convention.

If you’re looking for some folks to play with, Trevor and Grim are playing on the Alsbeth Server, Guardian side.  Just look for Grimthorn or Daoseth.

NOTE: Not all sites may be those of the original authors. For example, some authors never posted their work to YouTube but someone else did. They are linked here for convenience. Please check a machinima’s credits for contact information or web sites.

Saturday Morning Segment

• MMOvie Trailer - Full Stealth & VOIG - YouTube
• Aquaman’s Lament - Spiffworld - YouTube
• Top FPS - Lagspike - YouTube
• Gree D2 - Olibith - YouTube
• A Heroic Rescue – RP Repository Adventure - Damien Valentine - YouTube
• The Grind – Ep. 3 - Oblivious Films - YouTube, YouTube
• Transmission - Homebrewed Studios - MovieStorm
• Yesterday’s News - Slashdance - YouTube
• Cloud 9 - ZT Animation - YouTube
• Unlimited Escapism 5 Trailer - Baron Soosdon -YouTube
• I’m On A Mount - James Kaiden (Toorc) - YouTube
• Optimus from NST4 - Pinkhair - YouTube
• ROFLBear ep. 11-15 – Save Yapper series - Myndflame - Artist Site
• Don’t Make Me Get My Main - Cranius/Legs - YouTube
• Eldritch: Apocolypse One - Killian - MovieStorm
• Tom Cruise Crazy - Spiffworld - YouTube
• Out In the Cold - Legs - YouTube
• New Mario Bros. Movie Trailer - Country Club Pictures - YouTube
• Frontline - Red Eye Lobine - YouTube
• Erunno’s Christmas Story - Blind Man Studio - YouTube
• Chronicles of Humanity: Episode 1 - Coded Transmission Studios - Viddler
• Shining Dreamscape - Snoman - YouTube
• Freeman’s Mind: Episode 29 - Ross Scott - Artist Site

Saturday Evening Segment

• Brothers Mario 2: Kong Country - Country Club Pictures - YouTube
• Happy Place - Cranius/Legs - YouTube
• Thy Neighbor - Overman - Vimeo
• And then the boat… - Olibith - YouTube
• The Device Has Been Modified - Baron Soosdon - YouTube
• The Lake - Oblivious Films/Stone Falcon Productions - YouTube
• Old Spice commercial – WoW Parody - Cranius/Legs - YouTube
• Clockwise Pt. 1 - Amorphous Blob - Vimeo
• Slashdance vs. Ulduar - Slashdance - YouTube
• Unlimited Escapism 5 - Baron Soosdon - Vimeo
• The Captain’s Wife’s Lament - Spiffworld - YouTube
• Trichophagia - Iain Friar - Vimeo
• Busted - Baron Soosdon & Pinkhair - Vimeo
• Hax - Lagspike - YouTube
• Chronicles of Humanity: Episode 8 - Coded Transmission Studios - Viddler
• The Tunnel - Ross Scott - Artist Site
• ROFLBear ep. 9 ROFLBear vs. Icehowl Punch-Out!! - Myndflame - Artist Site
• ROFLBear ep. 32 Virtual Cut 9000 - Myndflame - Artist Site
• Boombox - Invisusira - YouTube
• ROFLBear ep. 35 Trip to Candy Mountain - Myndflame - Artist Site
• ROFLBear ep. 41 Let Me In - Myndflame - Artist Site
• Clear Skies 3 Full Trailer - Ian Chisolm - YouTube
• Flying Fenix - Lit Fuse Films - Artist Site
• I Am Forsaken - Red Eye Lobine - YouTube
• Freeman’s Mind: Episode 31 - Ross Scott - Artist Site
• Walter on Marriage - Legs - YouTube

I’d like to thank the following folks for their extraordinary efforts over the weekend.

First, to my staff.  I am proud to call you all my friends.  I am even prouder that you did such a wonderful job of taking care of our fans, our guests, and of me, for 5 long days. (We started working on Thursday…)

Second, to our track sponsor, Guild Launch, for helping us bring in a record crowd for our track.  Granted, we’re only on our 4th year, but our attendance is significantly higher than any of our previous years.  Stephen and the gang at GL are a genuine pleasure to work with, and a very valuable resource for us.  I look forward to working with you guys for a long time.

Third, to our guests and their handlers.   Wil, Robin, Felicia, and Amy were absolutely delightful to work with, and I am very glad that you all had a good time last weekend.  I’d like to give special thanks to Mitzi for ensuring that I did not get to sleep until nearly 6:00 AM by entertaining me with her stories.  I can’t wait to see you all again.  To Oxhorn and CKKnight, I’m glad you guys came back to see us, and I hope to see you again next year.  Our fans absolutely love you guys, and so do we!

Finally, I’d like to thank all of the hard working folks at Dragon*Con.  The Senior Directors (my boss included) always seemed to be available to help out in a pinch.  Tech Ops were gods among men in doing 7 impossible things before breakfast.  Security was on the job and took good care of our people.  Registration… Volunteers… Guest Services… Con Suite… Walk of Fame… everyone we came in contact with in the course of working during the convention were competent, professional, and made our lives much easier.

There are so many more people who should be mentioned here, but I hear this strange music and have the mental image of some guy waving me off the stage.  It’s back to my day job for me today.

See you all in 359 days.

-Grim

Swag is boxed.

Cooler is… cooling.

Elvis is en route to the building.

Thankya. Thankyaverymuch.

First off, if you are looking for the MMO Track and you are not in Atlanta at Dragon*Con during the weekend of September 2nd through the 5th, the following instructions won’t matter because you are either in the wrong city or here on the wrong weekend. But assuming you are in Atlanta on the proper weekend and are looking for the MMO Track, the majority of the weekend you’ll find us at the Sheraton hotel.

The Five Host Hotels of Dragon*Con

Once you find the Sheraton, finding the MMO Track is easy. Our main room is the Savannah room. If you enter the Sheraton through the main entrance, make an immediate right and head past the shop (or stop at the shop if you want a soda or some gum). Keep going down the hall, you’ll pass several rooms on your right and eventually come to the elevators and bathrooms, make a left here and the Savannah is the first, second and third room on the left.

Additionally, we will be making use of the Piedmont room, which is one floor up from the Savannah. On the same floor is the Grand Ballroom, where several of our larger panels will be – such as The Guild Q&As.

And of course, our biggest events and parties will take place in the Capitol Ballroom, on the bottom floor, one below our regular track room. Of course, you should be familiar with the Capitol Ballroom if you’ve been to Dragon*Con in the last couple of years or even once you attend this year because the Capitol is where Registration is, where you get your badge. Don’t let the possible hours you spend in line there keep you away from our party though. We’ll also be running one event in the Atlanta Ballroom this year, which is right next door to the Capitol.

The Mighty Sheraton!

The one time this weekend you’ll find an MMO Track panel not at the Sheraton will be the WoW Costume Contest, which will be located in the Marriott hotel in rooms A601-A602. It’s a large double room on the restaurant level on the opposite side of the elevators from the bar, near the “other” escalators.

The Marriott lobby is made of people!

So now you know where to find us, and knowing is half the battle (the other half is split between red lasers and blue lasers), there are no more excuses.

Enjoy the show! (and go check those guys out! They’re awesome!)

Saturday night at 10 PM in the Capitol Ballroom, the MMO Track will be hosting its annual party The Gathering of Heroes. Come as you are, or dressed as your favorite character – the awesome thing about MMOs these days is that in some corner of the Internet there is bound to be one for every interest. We’ll have a bar and music, as well as prizes and other entertainment.

Then on Sunday, we host a party of a different sort. Plucked out of the plethora of MMOs, the Kingdom of Loathing Party is a different beast altogether. Show up for the costume contest, stick around for the nerdy music, games and a chance to meet the developers. Last year we held this party in the track room, but it proved to have grown too big, so this year we’ll be in the Capitol Ballroom starting at 10 PM.

Basically, if you want to come party with us, and you should want to come party with us, just show up to the Capitol Ballroom of the Sheraton at 10 PM on Saturday or Sunday or BOTH!

A frakkin’ Emmy Award, that’s what!

…and just for comparison’s sake, this is how I felt the last time I had to stand in line at registration…

Or perhaps you are more interested in fan made videos… If machinima is your thing, at 8:30 AM on Saturday in the Savannah room, Romily will be running two and a half hours or so of Saturday Morning Cartoons to start off the day. And return to Savannah at 7 PM that night to see a whole lot more Machinima. Then come back on Sunday at 4 PM for a Q&A with Oxhorn, one of the big names in WoW Machinima.

Not every game launched is a success, and even the best successes have their missteps and bungled moments. Come and Join Krystalle and Kevin, Friday at 10 AM in the Savannah room, as they snark their way through a history of embarrassing moments in the MMO universe in Epic Fails and Flops.

Juggling your desire to game and your desire to keep your significant other around can be like tap dancing through a minefield. Kevin Stallard and SOE’s Linda Carlson are here to help you out with How to Avoid ‘Spouse Aggro’ on Friday at 2:30 PM in the Piedmont.

We’ll be hosting our annual Ask the Experts: MMO Roundtable on Friday at 4 PM in the Piedmont. Come and pick the brains of industry professionals Brian Green, Michelle Menard, Richard Garriott, and Linda Carlson with your burning questions about the MMO business. Ask thought provoking questions about design! Ask intelligent questions about business! Ask intriguing questions about the future of the market! Or just come and ask any random question that pops into your head.

We couldn’t get the guys from Rift to come this year, but we’ll be having a little Rift Fan Meetup at 8:30 PM Friday in the Savannah room. It’ll be a short Q&A on all things Rift followed by a chance to mingle with your fellow Rift players.

Our panel of experts Stephen Johnston, Andrew Patton, Adam Trzonkowski, and Mike McGreevy will illustrate, through their own painful experiences how best to avoid the drama that is all but inevitable in MMORPG guilds. Guild Management – Taming the Drama Llama will be held in the Savannah on Sunday at 10 AM.

Our own Snarkcast isn’t the only MMO-related podcast out there. Shawn Schuster and Ness Creighton will highlight some of the other hidden gems out there in MMO Podcasting at 1 PM Sunday in the Savannah.

And last but most certainly not least, don’t forget to come for out MMORPG Trivia Contest. The 4th Annual Quest For the Bling Gnome is here. If you want to be immortalized on a statue of a Gnome that poops gold coins, this is your chance. Sunday at 7 PM in the Savannah, be there.

The Dragon*Con iPhone App has hit the iTunes store and is available for download.

The app contains:

• A personalized event schedule with the ability to add your own unofficial events.
• The official Dragon*Con schedule, kept updated by the lovely folks at the Daily Dragon. (Yes, you can find out about cancellations before you show up to the panel)
• A list of guests and their bios.
• The official Dragon*Con Twitter feed
• The Daily Dragon!

No, I didn’t copypasta this from anywhere, this is just what I’ve found after playing with the app for a few minutes.  I believe the Android version is also ready, but since I don’t have an Android phone, I’ll defer to Larry on that.

And yes… it is free.

-Grim