Since we always find pictures around Con of hot girls, we thought it would be nice to see some hot men for a change. Alas, no one takes pictures of hot men at DragonCon, so I couldn’t pull enough to actually do anything with. Now men, I didn’t say you weren’t there, I said no one takes pictures of you!
So instead we’ll look at some MMO costumes from last year and remind everyone that we are partying Saturday night, and we will be having contests of all sorts, costumes included! So please don your favorite MMO outfit and come party with us on Saturday at the Gathering of Heroes. (And no, it does not have to be a WOW costume! 
Aug 242010
Aug 092010
I’ve recently heard much talk of Superheroes attached to DragonCon conversation. I suppose it’s a topic that’s always a brain fizzle away with many Dcon-goers, but between chatting about costumes and City of Heroes talk, it just seems to be more popular in conversation of late. So, in keeping with the times, let’s have more Hero pics!
This picture was created by Douglas Shuler, an artist for Magic: The Gathering. It’s an image he made from his City of Heroes Supergroup. Quite impressive.
Nicely done.
This is just awesome.
And this must be what Alfred sees on The Bat’s bad nights.
Staff
Kevin “Grim” Stallard -Track Director
Kevin has been speaking on panels at Dragon*Con since 2002, when he was (literally) pulled out of the audience to speak about EverQuest. (You can blame Trevor for that.) Starting as a MUD developer in the early 90′s (Star Wars MUD, RealmsMUD), continuing as a Guide in EverQuest, taking a bit of time to do some early beta testing on World of Warcraft, and finally winding up as a columnist at Massively.com as well as somehow running the MMORPG track at Dragon*Con, Kevin has done a little bit of everything from development to testing to customer service, to high-end raiding. Currently, Kevin has cut his MMO addiction down to Age of Conan and World of Warcraft.
Trevor “Palehorse” Legg – Assistant Track Director
Trevor has been involved in gaming panels at Dragon*Con for nearly a decade. Way back when EverQuest and Ultima Online were the only games in town (at least as far as MMO’s go), Trevor was running MMO panels as part of the EFF track (which still claims to run online gaming, much to our annoyance). In 2002, as part of a panel on EverQuest, he recognized a loud-mouthed smartass in the audience as a classmate of his from high school and convinced him to participate as a panelist for the next couple of years. Who knew that he would be responsible for unleashing Grim on the rest of Dragon*Con? (ed: Yeah, Grim wrote this… consider it incentive to write your own bio. That goes for the rest of you as well!)
Mike “Critus” McGreevy – Assistant Track Director
Otherwise known as the “Sane One” in the DC*MMO braintrust, Mike has the double misfortune of having to work with many of the DC*MMO staff on both DC*MMO as well as being their “Guild Lemur” in World of Warcraft. (yeah, Mike isn’t actively playing WoW anymore, but he’ll always be our Guild Lemur.) Mike is an accomplished thespian, and as a result of many positive mentions in his stage reviews has demanded to be introduced as “The Always Magificent, Michael C. McGreevy”. How he convinced Grim to go along with this idea, nobody is quite certain.
Krystalle “Netgoth” Voecks
In addition to her fine work on Massively.com (which is how she came to be part of the DC*MMO family), Krystalle is co-host of The Snarkcast where she tries, in vain to keep her co-host on topic. Krystalle is also our co-host for the World of Warcraft Meet and Greet, and will be one of our DJ’s for the MMO Gathering of Heroes party at Dragon*Con this year. Has the distinction of being the only member of the DC*MMO team who has played more MMO’s than everyone else on staff (combined).
Rafe “SHUT UP, RAFE!” Brox
When we absolutely, positively, have to get something done. Rafe is our “go-to guy”. For all the abuse that he receives at the WoW Meet and Greet (see above nickname), he dishes it out as much as he takes it. Rafe will be co-hosting our Fun with Funcom event this year along with serving as one of our two DJ’s at the MMO Gathering of Heroes party.
Rafe maintains his bulletproof, kilt-clad physique by engaging in a ridiculous exercise regimen (folks with a morbid sense of curiosity and/or a high CON score can visit Digital Discipline if they think we’re kidding about how insane he is). Also, along with Mike and Krystalle, he writes a gamer-flavored fitness blog at ShrinkGeek.com.
Jay “Muskulls” Sturrock
Rules for operating the Muskulls 9000 at Dragon*Con:
- Point Muskulls at Target.
- Activate Muskulls with large quantities of caffeine.
- Seek shelter
Now that you mention it, that pretty much describes his play style in World of Warcraft as well.
He has also been known to pick up stray microphones and start speaking about guilds he has been in and how much fun it is to squash alliance players. Much like his in-game character, once he gets going, you would be well advised to seek shelter.
He was also responsible for the “Tauren Goal Post” and painted all the “Flying Gnomes” that you all love to toss, kick, and otherwise abuse.
Ian “Coffee Master” Wickenkamp
We love our Coffee Master. He keeps us going (and going…and going…) through the weekend with the most evilly potent caffeinated brew in the universe. Don’t plan on sleeping for a week after drinking a pot of his coffee. Ian has played many MMOs over the years, but only just recently got his first “end-game” character. If you do an image search for “Altoholic”, you will find his picture… a lot.
Jason “Jhaer” Pace
Jhaer, also called Jason, was formed out of the aether in the mid-1970s, which explains a lot. Raised on a steady diet of BASIC and ROM chips he escaped onto the Internet by modem – 300 baud, which also explains a lot – and wandered the digital wastelands. From the Solar and Barren Realms to Britannia, from Norrath to Azeroth, he survived the Trade Wars, the Global Agenda and the outbreak in the city of Malton, he has puzzled with pirates, freed realms, gone to wizard school and danced until dawn with heroes in spandex. He has seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. He watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… No, wait, that last part was Roy Batty in Blade Runner. But it could be true. Seriously. Either that or Jason is programmer who has gaming and movie geek issues. But, hey, who doesn’t? Am I right?
Jason also maintains a blog called Aim for the Head at http://weblog.probablynot.com
Jonna “Cookie” Crane
Cookie was raised in a government laboratory until the age of two, when she was rescued along with her partner, Wonderboy, by fellow captive Oh-Bob the monkey. Since that time, she has been secretly trained by Oh-Bob in the secret arts of the Orient to fight villainy and corruption anywhere it may be found. Her super powers include binge drinking and a super no-limit credit card. She enjoys flying, coffee shops, beaches, long scary needles and Chinese food, especially Kung Pow Kitten. She and Wonderboy could lay claim to saving the universe on numerous occasions if their rampant addictions did not get in the way, as it is, Oh-Bob tends to do all the work.
Her alter ego Jonna is rather boring and nondescript.
Brandy “Bumble” Parker
Brandy is your typical sweet and innocent, blonde and blue-eyed Louisiana girl. It wasn’t till LSU that she was introduced to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy, role-playing world. What is this “Dungeons & Dragons” of which you speak? Show me more ShadowRun and Vampire! Her psyche began to form another, more masterful side. Myca was formed on a World of Warcraft, wrapping up her stronger traits in Shammy Goodness! With her fist weapons of power, she joined her fellow lemmings of rabidness, leaping from high places and dancing naked in large cities! But there was another metamorphosis to be had…after many trials and tribulations, Myca had to be abandoned in limbo until a more fortuitous time is reached. But the other psyche could not rest! After attending dragoncon a few times, the many pirates, superheroes, zombies, and druggie muffinheads raised The Bumble from the timid recesses of Brandy’s mind! Her main thought? “Butt-kicking for Goodness!”
With less than 24 hours until our little shindig at the Georgia Renaissance Festival, there are some important developments to be aware of before heading down.
Weather: It’s going to be in the low 80′s, chance of rain only 10% so bring sunscreen and dress accordingly. The pollen count will be somewhere in the range of “massive” to “obscenely massive.” Dry weather ordinarily results in a lot of dust in the air at the festival but since it’s opening weekend, there should be grass on the ground so it may not be as bad.
Traffic: The entirety of Atlanta inside the perimeter will be a parking lot so don’t plan on driving through it. The Hawks playoff game, Braves game, Dogwood Festival, and Sweetwater 420 festival are all taking place this weekend and are estimated to bring an additional 300,000 people to the city. This is all in addition to Freaknik. Freaknik alone will bring all traffic on highways and streets to a complete standstill so do not attempt to navigate through town on the way to or from the festival.
Time and Place: The festival gates open at 10:30am and plenty of us plan on being there when it happens. Destination Priority #1: The Pub! Yours truly was the very first customer (Killian’s Red) at this pub when the festival changed sites many years ago so it holds a special place in my heart 
. We’ll likely loiter at this location throughout the day so check back frequently. There’s a coffee stand “across the road” from the pub that I often visit and is highly recommended.
Fun Stuff: As mentioned before, there are kissing wenches, pubs, games, and plenty of other things to do while in attendance but we’re going to throw a little activity in there as well, a photo-hunt! Bring your camera and see how many of these items you can find! Instructions on where to email the photos will follow!
Hope to see everyone there! If you don’t know what any of us look like, I’ll be wearing a black leather jerkin, black leather boots, this sword across my back, and a horse’s tail.
Apr 072010
With ten days to go, we thought it would be a good time to remind everyone of a few things before our first official ‘Unofficial DC-MMO Gathering’ scheduled for April 17th at the Georgia Renaissance Festival.
Weather: weather in and around the Atlanta area is notoriously unpredictable. The current forecast calls for a high in the mid-to-upper 70s with a small (10%) chance of rain. This can (and probably will) change drastically before the event so it would be wise to consult the local forecast regularly. There will be pollen and likely a lot of dust so if you have allergies, plan ahead. Bring a bottle of sunscreen! This cannot be stressed enough! You’re about to spend a day in the sun so if you forget everything else, don’t forget this.
Driving and Parking The highways in Atlanta are generally well paved. As in many other areas, the police will have a strong presence so keep your speeds reasonable. If you don’t have a designated driver, get one if you plan on drinking. The festival grounds have plenty of !free! parking but if you can, carpool.
Money: Opening weekend features two-for-one admission, $19.95 for an adult ticket (see the pricing page for more details). You can expect to pay “baseball stadium” prices for food and drinks inside but the variety is good and spread fairly evenly around the grounds. You’re going to be doing a lot of walking while there so breakfast beforehand is highly recommended.
Attire: It’s the Renaissance Festival and we’re with Dragon*Con so it should go without saying but do remember the walking part mentioned above. If you don’t have a comfortable pair of walking shoes/boots/sandals, go get some and check the weather before you go. Don’t wear clothing that would ordinary get you arrested…
Weapons Policy: All weapons must be sheathed and peace-tied. No broad axes or spears (yes, this includes pole-arms, spears, etc). They typically have plastic cable ties at the gate but are usually a bright color. If you bring your own, more appropriately-colored tie, they may allow it instead but don’t quote me on that.
Other Fun Stuff: There are kissing wenches. There are several pubs. Live shows are scheduled across the festival throughout the day. Clothing, weapon, and gift shops abound. It’s going to be a fun-filled day so get plenty of sleep Friday night!
Other updates to follow so stay tuned!
