How about LlavaCon?
That one's in Arizona... in my back yard.
There'll be punch and pie!
Unfortunately, other considerations prevent us from attending Dragon Con.
City of Heroes <i>and</i> Jhonen Vasquez? I need to go on vacation to SanFran next week.
Woa, I didn't know there was a history with dundracon when I posted previously. I was just kinda hoping he would come and visit us.
(I have some much loved ((thus beaten upon)) Shadowrun books I would love to have him sign)
Now I find out he's going to be a few miles away while my Shadowrun books are going to be in Dublin.
<sighs heavily>
Doh! perhaps I should read the entire post before I comment. A bad habit of mine but I can quit anytime I want to <shakes>
Dragoncon dosen't = Dundracon.
<rolls her eyes at herself and quietly backs out of the forums>
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Yeah. How's about you don't screw DragonCon over this year by saying. "Oh by the way...we're not coming to that con next week!" Honestly, after doing that, that should've been the first Con visit you announced.
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They didn't screw DragonCon. It was more the other way around. There was a posting at the time that explained it in circular language to avoid stepping on people's toes. There are some players here on the boards who know the backstory better than me.
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Yeah, I heard the story. Frankly I don't believe it. They had only announced DC like 3 weeks before it was scheduled to occur, if that. By that point, DC had already closed their vendor registrations and whatnot. I imagine they got caught outside. In anycase, it's not a matter of who screwed who, it's a matter of trying harder to make sure all of your fans have the chance to get some of the pie.
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As a former programming track director for Dragon*Con, I can speak with at least some authority as to how the convention operates in terms of guest appearances.
They don't pay speaker fees. They rarely pay travel costs either. Unless you're a big star - lead role in a syndicated series, main cast member of a show like one of the Treks or Stargate, or a main character in a good-sized movie, you'll pay your own way to get there, though they'll pick you up at the airport. Hotel room is usually covered, and sometimes, a relatively small per-diem. Basically, if you can't fill a large room for a panel presentation, they're not going to pay your way to the con, nor pay for you to be there. This, I know for a fact, at least the way it worked when I was with the convention, from my efforts to secure the presence of several of the actors from the show my track was about.
Free dealer tables are almost exclusively out of the question. Autograph tables are provided, but they're not free, either. (This is to the best of my knowledge, as I wasn't very involved in this aspect).
Dragon*Con tries to not announce guests of any kind until they're sure they'll be there, but occasionally, they jump the gun. As you might imagine with a convention that entertains 20,000+ attendees, it requires a rather large volunteer staff, and sometimes, communications among them are not the best, so mistakes happen.
Choose to believe me, or not.
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Unfortunately, other considerations prevent us from attending Dragon Con.
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Glad I live near to San Jose and San Francisco. Hey, if I ever wanted to could I just come by the offices and say "hi" to Cryptic?!
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As a former programming track director for Dragon*Con, I can speak with at least some authority as to how the convention operates in terms of guest appearances.
They don't pay speaker fees. They rarely pay travel costs either. Unless you're a big star - lead role in a syndicated series, main cast member of a show like one of the Treks or Stargate, or a main character in a good-sized movie, you'll pay your own way to get there, though they'll pick you up at the airport. Hotel room is usually covered, and sometimes, a relatively small per-diem. Basically, if you can't fill a large room for a panel presentation, they're not going to pay your way to the con, nor pay for you to be there. This, I know for a fact, at least the way it worked when I was with the convention, from my efforts to secure the presence of several of the actors from the show my track was about.
Free dealer tables are almost exclusively out of the question. Autograph tables are provided, but they're not free, either. (This is to the best of my knowledge, as I wasn't very involved in this aspect).
Dragon*Con tries to not announce guests of any kind until they're sure they'll be there, but occasionally, they jump the gun. As you might imagine with a convention that entertains 20,000+ attendees, it requires a rather large volunteer staff, and sometimes, communications among them are not the best, so mistakes happen.
Choose to believe me, or not.
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Sure, understandable. Though Dragoncon didn't jump the gun. It was Cryptic that announced they would be attending. DragonCon never announced they would be there. Which is another reason that led me to believe that Cryptic failed to register in time, and that was why they canceled. Statesman had said "Yeah we'll be there", and as the time we neared, we kept saying, "Umm...guys, you aren't showing up on their lists." Eventually, like a week before the con, they come and say, "Yeah, we won't be there"
So yeah, moot point. Obviously, they aren't changing their mind. But they had a whole year to work out whatever problems they had with the Con, and that's what they should've done after canceling last second last year.
Anyways, not paying guests unless they can fill a room doesn't so much matter in this case, because....they probably could. And not giving away free booths? If Cryptic can't pay for a table at a con, then the servers should be shutting down any day now.
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Unfortunately, other considerations prevent us from attending Dragon Con.
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I was really hoping to see y'all there this year.
Next year, please come to Megacon. I know it's probably too short notice this year.
as a former vendor for shows like this, i can honestly say that DragonCon sells out vendors spaces fast and usually has a huge waiting list for tables because it has such a broad customer base there... gaming, comic, TV show type stuff. I have been called in the past on a friday (most shows start on a thursday) saying someone did not show and you want a table. DragonCon also has a habit of sending out vendor reg packet about a week before they are due. So i would not surprise me that Cryptic tried to go by could not get space.
I'll be there (at Wondercon) for the first time.
Can't wait
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Yeah. How's about you don't screw DragonCon over this year by saying. "Oh by the way...we're not coming to that con next week!" Honestly, after doing that, that should've been the first Con visit you announced.
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They didn't screw DragonCon. It was more the other way around. There was a posting at the time that explained it in circular language to avoid stepping on people's toes. There are some players here on the boards who know the backstory better than me.
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Yeah, I heard the story. Frankly I don't believe it. They had only announced DC like 3 weeks before it was scheduled to occur, if that. By that point, DC had already closed their vendor registrations and whatnot. I imagine they got caught outside. In anycase, it's not a matter of who screwed who, it's a matter of trying harder to make sure all of your fans have the chance to get some of the pie.
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Actually, It doesn't surprise me one bit. I've got some friends that work for the con every year, and a lot of the time they treat potential guests like crap. Essentially, Cryptic wasn't a big enough developing house to warrent DragonCon officials pushing through their paperwork. It has happened this way before. DC comics on the other hand, is plenty big enough to push through their application. Bet they still don't get comp rooms though...
Dragoin con is traditionally rife with problems. Hell, remember the Tabletop registry fiasco last year? Totally preventable, from what I hear. *shrug* the people at the top there either don't know what they are doing, or don't care. Either way, don't blame cryptic for it. The only reason DragonCon is still in buisiness is because it's the only decently sized con in the area, and the customer service people rock.
Maybe we should think about traveling out to San Jose so we can meet up with everyone in person? This used to happen in an MMO I used to be in. It was well-received on both sides.
Ferrium - Inv/SS Tanker
Hyperforce - SS/Regen Brute
Member of V for Vengance (Exalted)
Statesman -
Please, either post here (if that is legally and ethically doable) or private message me concerning any 'issues' that are preventing cryptic/NC-Soft from attending DragonCon. I know quite a bit of the Staff (I used to be on Staff) on a personal basis, and I may be able to pull some strings. Heck, some of the staff may also play.
IF we know what the problem is, THEN we may be able to help.
DragonCon is the LARGEST convention in the SouthEastern USA, and one of the largest in the USA period. And some of us WANT you there. Shouldn't you try to work things out?
CuppaJo: **waves wand - you are mesmerized by the shiney bouncing Positron**
HypnotizerZero, Psyche-Delia, Twilight Samurai, Burning Rubber, Ignitrode & more...on Virtue.
AMD x2 4600+/7950GTKO/2Gb PC6400/Win2kPro
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Actually, It doesn't surprise me one bit. I've got some friends that work for the con every year, and a lot of the time they treat potential guests like crap.
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This simply is NOT true. However, many 'guests' are used to having smaller and less crowded venues treating them like royalty, and those get surprised by D*C. DragonCon, unlike many conventions, is HUGE. It occupies (at last count, I believe) SIX hotels. And not small ones. BIG ones, in the heart of downtown Atlanta. The number of attendees is staggering. The last five years have had over 20,000 REGISTERED attendees, and if you count using the 'bodies/day' system 2001 had over 43,000.
That makes DragonCon/ACE THE largest multi-themed convention in the USA, and also one of the larger (not the largest, though) comics based convention in the USA.
They can pick and choose WHO they invite, and just how much they want to 'offer' to those who WANT to attend.
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Essentially, Cryptic wasn't a big enough developing house to warrent DragonCon officials pushing through their paperwork. It has happened this way before. DC comics on the other hand, is plenty big enough to push through their application. Bet they still don't get comp rooms though...
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Size of the company means nothing. D*C will offer more to big names, but so will ANY convention. That's just trademark power. And I'm betting NONE of the 'advertiser' guests (ie, big companies) are getting much 'comp' from D*C. The raw advertising they get via the convention is usually enough.....
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Dragoin con is traditionally rife with problems. Hell, remember the Tabletop registry fiasco last year? Totally preventable, from what I hear. *shrug* the people at the top there either don't know what they are doing, or don't care. Either way, don't blame cryptic for it.
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Once again, you don't recognize the scale. And you must not attend many large conventions. Tabletop gaming registration is RARELY run by the staff, though they do some support for it.....it's mostly 'run' by the gamers. Even event tournament registration is usually handled by the company running the tourney. Only a few of the staffers (who manage the gamer venues) might step in where needed, unless the Gaming management at D*C has changed dramatically in the last couple of years. And the gamers are only a smaller fraction of the total attendees. The largest fanbases at the con are the Sci-Fi contingent and the comics contingent. And I haven't attended a convention yet that hasn't had SOME form of 'fiasco' EVERY year. I remember several. And many of these 'fiascos' never reach the ears of non-staffers. HOWEVER, for a convention the raw size of DragonCon, let me assure you......they have very few 'fiascos'. They know what they are doing....but when coordinating that much stuff with that many people (many of whom are volunteers)....well, they do an amazing job.
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The only reason DragonCon is still in buisiness is because it's the only decently sized con in the area, and the customer service people rock.
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No, it is still in business because it is VERY good at what it does, and it still makes money doing it. Ask Magnum-Opus Con about that....whoops, you can't, they tried to compete directly with D*C and went bankrupt doing it. And as far as "decent sized" goes.....it is one of the largest conventions in the USA....what the heck are you comparing it to? Chattacon? AWA? D*C is 5-10 TIMES the size of either of those, easily.
NOW, HAVING SAID ALL THAT....
D*C does have problems. Most are related to just how huge of a convention it is, and how 'excitable' many of it's attendees are. And no, not all the staffers are angels. Some can be downright rude, or mean, or even just uncaring. But most are doing their best. Some are just on their 30th straight hour of working security despite protestations by the medical staff, so they are understandably surly....
I've been there, and done that.
But I cannot fathom WHAT is keeping Cryptic/NC-Soft from attending.
And if I can convince a few of the higher-ups in the management of the con to bend a few rules to get them to attend, I most certainly will try.
But I have to know some details before I can try....
CuppaJo: **waves wand - you are mesmerized by the shiney bouncing Positron**
HypnotizerZero, Psyche-Delia, Twilight Samurai, Burning Rubber, Ignitrode & more...on Virtue.
AMD x2 4600+/7950GTKO/2Gb PC6400/Win2kPro
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Origins - definitely.
Comic Con - definitely.
Wizard Worlds - definitely.
Gen Con - definitely.
Our great OCR team is going to post a convention calendar so that you can see when we'll be in your neck of the woods. Don't worry - I'll be going to cons in the Northeast, West, MidWest and Texas...
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Dragon*Con????????????????
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Dragon Con - no.
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WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
*cries in own milk*
Just back from spending the day at Wondercon, had a Blast.
Statesman (Jack Emmert) signed a screenshot of my character (it says "Nidhogg, Keep fighting! -Statesman" )
Plus me and my friend got to shoot a cool Photo with Statesman
If thats not enough, He blessed my Statesman Heroclix figure (""It now has all my energy in it")... I wont be losing any more heroclix games when I use it muahahahaha
There was also a Comic book trivia contest, people would name a superhero and Statesman would come up with a Trivia question...many good ones... a friend of mine won a Lineage game, City of Heroes game and a cool COH T-Shirt.
I also got to check out the new costume system, looke really awesome and has some great additions (Some I remember were the "Intelectual" face and the Anime Schoolgirl skirt)
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"Nidhogg, Keep fighting -Statesman"
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P.S. How's the weather down in Hvergelmir?
Anyone who attended have any interesting game news to report?
On another thread, someone said there were fliers announcing issue 4 in March. Can anyone confirm that report?
Oh no..if skirts are coming...
Dark defenders will be the new FOTM.
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Anyone who attended have any interesting game news to report?
On another thread, someone said there were fliers announcing issue 4 in March. Can anyone confirm that report?
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Oh yeah forgot about that, Actually did talk to Statesman a little and he said Issue 4 is coming within "weeks" plus the flies states a release on "March 2005". According to Statesman the PVP is currently going internal testing.
Can't wait.
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Anyone who attended have any interesting game news to report?
On another thread, someone said there were fliers announcing issue 4 in March. Can anyone confirm that report?
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Oh yeah forgot about that, Actually did talk to Statesman a little and he said Issue 4 is coming within "weeks" plus the flies states a release on "March 2005". According to Statesman the PVP is currently going internal testing.
Can't wait.
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Since PvP would require so much testing I'm kinda getting my hopes up that it'll be on the test server next week. 
Thanks for the confirm godeity.
Any other attendees get some juicy info out of States' and crew?
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Yeah. How's about you don't screw DragonCon over this year by saying. "Oh by the way...we're not coming to that con next week!" Honestly, after doing that, that should've been the first Con visit you announced.
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They didn't screw DragonCon. It was more the other way around. There was a posting at the time that explained it in circular language to avoid stepping on people's toes. There are some players here on the boards who know the backstory better than me.
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Yeah, I heard the story. Frankly I don't believe it. They had only announced DC like 3 weeks before it was scheduled to occur, if that. By that point, DC had already closed their vendor registrations and whatnot. I imagine they got caught outside. In anycase, it's not a matter of who screwed who, it's a matter of trying harder to make sure all of your fans have the chance to get some of the pie.
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Your choice not to believe it, friend. I'm not going to try to convince you because you've already made up your mind.
Ferrium - Inv/SS Tanker
Hyperforce - SS/Regen Brute
Member of V for Vengance (Exalted)