A City of Heroes Con!

[Redletter]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:47 PM, Lines said:

Maybe CoH is too specific. A more general theme may attract a broader audience. How about just comics?

Yes! This is a great idea! Some kind of organized gathering for comic lovers! A sort of... Comics Convention! A comic con!

 

It'll be the first of its kind!

[Living_Hellfire]

Some really great replies!

[American Valor]

It could be hosted at one of the big 3 Con ((GenCon DragonCon Origins)) as a Homecoming meet and greet held at one of the resturants or even during convention slots. The picturee is from GenCon 07.  We met at the Hard Rock (Friday) and then at a upper floor resturant and bar on Saturday Night we had a blast

[Troo]

do they still have big gaming places anywhere?

 

 

photo credit: Obsidius

Cuppa, Posi &.. Obsidius?

 

I think this was a "Meet and Greet" event in May 2006 at Howie's Game Shack.

The company's execs and developers rented out Howie's and gave away cheap gameplay, along with prizes. Richard Garriott, known as Lord British to Ultima fans, showed up.

Had my fist Monster energy drink there...

[DougGraves]

On 10/12/2022 at 11:18 PM, Dacy said:

We don't need to reinvent the wheel,

 

But we could proliferate the wheel to other AT's.  And the Tier 9 could be totally swapped out.

[MistressOhm]

I attended a meet and greet in Austin one year, it was a kickoff party for Tabula Rasa as well as a CoH get together held at a Dave and Buster's. 

 

That was when I discovered Rowr wasn't just a silly catgirl but a really cool player too (Actually knew that before, but always good to reinforce the notion.) 

 

Swag was procured, people were taking pics with Ghost Widow and Lord British (Richard Garriot), and drinking way too much while playing skee-ball. 

[srmalloy]

21 hours ago, DougGraves said:

But we could proliferate the wheel to other AT's.  And the Tier 9 could be totally swapped out.

That might take too long, depending on how many flats they bring with them.

[Herotu]

On 10/6/2022 at 12:52 PM, Snarky said:

Superhero aficionado mmorpg event.   SAME. 
 

That opens it to champions, ship of idiots, lost city of titans, w/e

 

I did my part.  I gave you a name.  Now go out and be the SAME

Sounds like an origin story...

[Snarky]

2 hours ago, Herotu said:

Sounds like an origin story...

I have used a Comic Con as part of an origin story before.   Fucking hilarious and confusing and fun

[BurtHutt]

Well, I like this idea a lot! I would be interested.

 

Until then, how about a virtual meet with the Dev team? Covid lockdown made this the norm. It might be fun having a Bringing in the New Year virtual meet. Ideally, it'd be more like a panel where we could ask the Devs stuff and so on.

[Troo]

Maybe a prominent SG taking the lead on an event.

[twozerofoxtrot]

Troo I thought you were a demon, not a necromancer. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

1 hour ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

Troo I thought you were a demon, not a necromancer. 

 

Are those mutually exclusive?

[Water]

10 out of 10 for the best necro so far of 2025. 

[Techwright]

Well, since the thread has arisen,  I'd note that the old comments often referred to having such a con being a trigger for an NCSoft shut down.  How about now, since we've now got the official stamp of approval?

 

Also, taking @Doc_Scorpion's original warning seriously, @TalynDerre's "piggy-back" comment seemingly makes a lot of sense, and any coordinated get-together might need to have a video conferencing option for those unable to attend in person.

 

On 10/6/2022 at 12:08 PM, TalynDerre said:

I'd be interested, but I think you might be overestimating how much interest there would be - especially since, with a global playerbase, there is literally no where in the world you could put this thing that wouldn't require air travel for the vast majority of potential attendees.

 

Perhaps, instead, trying to piggy-back on to an existing comics or video game convention might be more practical?  Get a booth at SDCC, or something like that, and then arrange a meet-up and play date for CoX fans who are already there or might be interested in going?

 

[Doc_Scorpion]

36 minutes ago, Techwright said:

How about now, since we've now got the official stamp of approval?

Unless the City Council says otherwise, I'd say we're good to go.  I can't imagine any reason we wouldn't be, but we're not privy to the terms of the license.

I'd say a streaming option for panels and such would be a very good idea.  Teleconferencing isn't a bad idea, it's just that the tech and the doing is a lot more complicated...  especially since we'll almost certainly be working with people (viewers/participants) who are going to have a wide variety of expectations.   Best to manage those expectations right out of the gate.

The biggest headache is going to be staffing and organization.  And I am emphatically Not It in any significant capacity beyond forum discussions.  Just too much on my plate.

[JJDrakken]

While I was suppose to go to first one on live(End up getting really sick 2 days before the event).

 

This day & age, I highly doubt it.  It would have to come out of serious pocket, ain't no one going spend money to host that in hopes they'll make the cash back. Cuz all work they'll have to do set that up.  Even if everyone actually does pay for the tickets or whatever, they have to hope no one stops/demands refunds.

 

Factor in the climate in the U.S. (most likely where it will be).  Probably end up in some drunken political fight or shooting.  (I adore our community, but we gave wackadoos here as anywhere else)

 

Unless it's actual Company who is paying for it and putting it together or a really rich person who has money to burn.  It's probably not going ever happen.   Mini ones with folks locally, I can see that happening more.

[Ukase]

I am in the minority, but I fail to grasp why anyone would want to spend hard earned cash to travel to see people that play a game they play online. What's the draw? Where's the value in that? Curiosity as to how much Cheeto dust is on our fingers? The dulcet tones of a kitten avatar? 

Now, in certain cases, I know there are groups of folks who formed an SG back in retail, and teamed up for the most part exclusively and would chat over Ventrillo or another voice chat service. Or in today's case, Discord. Hearing folks communicate over voice can certainly allow you to feel like you know someone a little better than the chat in game. In those cases, I can see the value. But, other than that? A very easy "have fun, I'll save my funds for something else". 

[Troo]

3 minutes ago, Ukase said:

What's the draw? Where's the value in that?

 

Why go see a concert?

Why visit a foreign country?

Why go outside to watch fireworks?

Why splurge for the real Cheetos when there are generic off brand ones?

One could argue [sport] is easier to watch on TV. Yet there they are, 50-60,000 folks in person, at the game. 

As I understand it, humans simply want the experience. 

Which experiences folks value varies.

 

Pro tip: It is not cool to bring off-brand Cheetos to a party. Get the real ones.

 

[Go0gleplex]

Your best bet likely would be to talk to one of the already established video game type Cons that host games/game rooms and see about working CoH into their event schedule or venue space. 

 

Having ran a Con for two years out of pocket with just my game group as staff I can honestly say that the hours are long, the work needed to keep it all going smoothly is exhausting, and it is really easy to over-extend beyond your budgeted finances. We rented several buildings at our county fairgrounds for around 400$ for the weekend with on-site camping & RV hook-ups in '92 & '93. 1st year was a bust but second year we managed to recoup our losses from the 1st barely. Too much work so my group opted not to continue it.

 

Looked into maybe organizing a local Con here last year the available venues want a couple thousand per day plus a 1 million $ damage insurance policy for up to space only able to handle up to 350 people. And as mentioned, cost to attend is a nightmare anymore for most Cons. One I attended 18 yrs ago for 25$ plus airfare, hotel, and car rental is now at a couple hundred just to get in the event door plus extra for any games you want to register for which to me is simply robbery since it's just to make extra bank beyond costs. 

[Doc_Scorpion]

44 minutes ago, Go0gleplex said:

Your best bet likely would be to talk to one of the already established video game type Cons that host games/game rooms and see about working CoH into their event schedule or venue space. 

Most (all?) cons allow people to submit applications to host a panel...  From there, the decision is on the con staff.  It's a dice roll, but one worth trying if the moderator is ready just in case it does get accepted.

Getting more than a panel is likely to be tough.  There's only so much space, and when you're talking a Comic Con or similarly scaled con there's a lot of demand for it.

 

 

47 minutes ago, Go0gleplex said:

Having ran a Con for two years out of pocket with just my game group as staff I can honestly say that the hours are long, the work needed to keep it all going smoothly is exhausting, and it is really easy to over-extend beyond your budgeted finances.

I'm a member of a group that puts on multiple events a year, so we have processes in place and thoroughly understood roles - and it's still rougher than I think many people realize.  (And there's a metric buttload of details that aren't always obvious to the attendee.)

[Ukase]

21 hours ago, Troo said:

Pro tip: It is not cool to bring off-brand Cheetos to a party. Get the real ones.

I'm frugal, but even I can agree with this one. 

[Seed22]

22 hours ago, Ukase said:

have fun, I'll save my funds for something else". 

Im with you on this. Theres no value in a CoH con. At most maybe 100 on a really good day show but most likely itll be 50 or less.

 

Thats a lot of wasted money on the host and on the attendees just to see what is most likely just the forum population(honestly that would be my own personal hell if that happened). 
 

I would just spend the money to go see my RL friends vs wasting it to fly to a random location to see some people I talked to on the forums or teamed with once in a 20 yr old MMO. 

[Octogoat]

Boy what a great way to meet an axe murderer.

[JJDrakken]

2 hours ago, Octogoat said:

Boy what a great way to meet an axe murderer.