The next three weeks are probably the best time of the year so far in terms of anything that remotely qualifies as “work”. If you imagine how Christmas has a buzz and pervasiveness into your everyday senses even if you aren’t someone who celebrates it, the stuff going on at SOE right now has a buzz in the air that isn’t limited to the EQII team.

So what has me listening to all the news and gossip and following emails extra closely right now? Two things: Storm Break (Game Update 47) and Fan Faire!

Usually around here our Game Updates are a lot of work for us and several other groups, but it’s not often that we get to collaborate with other teams like Star Wars Galaxies on a single feature. This update has Station Voice in it (If you haven’t heard about it, it is voice chat built into game and really easy to use). Not only is it being integrated directly into EQII this week, but also into many of the other SOE games.

Now I can’t take any credit for the work done on Station Voice since everyone else did the hard work of implementation, but I am quite happy to bask in the extra bit of company wide energy floating around. I am also getting some great insights into how other teams work, roll out new features and learning some of their lingo.

Nearly everyone is also chatting and thinking about Fan Faire. It’s no secret that EQII has some expansion plans, but Fan Faire is the first chance we’ll have to share the details. Many of us are almost about to burst with wanting to share the news of what we have planned. There are so many rumors floating around about what is or isn’t happening, and why we haven’t spilled the beans yet that the countdown to Fan Faire is, for me, a countdown to being able to shout out a really great secret you’ve been trying to keep.

Fan Faire is a big event for me for a few other reasons too. Last year we got to show the concept drawings of Guild Halls. But this year we’ll be able to show what that concept has turned into and answer some of the detailed questions about we did with them. We even have plans to show them off in-game at one of the panels. By the time Fan Faire rolls around, the guild halls won’t be a soon ™ feature, or something we can look at down the road, but a feature I’m confident will be to Test and then to Live very soon!

Lately, in our team meetings someone will often pipe up with “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if we had such and such feature” and the guild hall team responds with “That’s in Guild Halls”. It has happened so often that, if it is combined with my anticipation as any measure of success, I think a lot of players are going to be using the guild halls regularly and hopefully impressed with how they turned out (Even though we all know we can’t make everyone happy all the time , no matter how hard we try ).

Beyond that there are so many things to look forward to at Fan Faire this year. Even the very last chance to try out some drinks at Quark’s Bar. I’m not sure I’ve met anyone who doesn’t like drinks that are weird colors and giving off steam and I’m definitely not one of them.

I also have a lot of panels to look forward to which is still a fairly new experience for me. I have to admit I’m much more used to communicating via email than talking to a group. But I am looking forward to talking to people who play the game that I work on all day so much that it makes up for the nervousness that hits before and sometimes a bit after.

So more stuff that I am looking forward to at Fan Faire could go on for several pages but in a nut shell… Getting to work and not actually be at the office for a few days is a major plus. Getting to talk to people and hear what they have to say in live conversations. And one of my absolute favorites of the entire few days is the people running around in capes, robes or Storm Trooper outfits and the costume contest in the evening. That is one definite not to be missed event!

Jennifer Gerull aka Kirstie
Associate Producer for EQII