http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/295...der975x285.jpg
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It's that time of year of again that the biggest games convention this (Europe) side of the pond will open it's doors.
Held for the third time in this wonderfull city on the banks of the Rhine.
Last year we could welcome Patience (no longer working at Turbine) who joined the Codie's team in showing us the new update Enedwaith.
This year we will see Sapience there as the Turbine spokesman and I hope he will be able to show us some new stuff from the Rise of Isengard expansion.
For us Rangers and members of the Horn & Banner allience it's also a way to meet up with some of our members in real life.
Last year I also had a nice time of meeting with a lot of players from other (European) servers at the WB LotRO booth.
Who else of you will be going this year or what are you looking forward to see there?
You can follow me on twitter as I try* to keep the people who cant make it updated of whats going on there in that mad house. (*if phone works, battery doesnt run out, etc etc).
I will be twittering through the official Rangers twitter account @TheRangersLotRO
And who knows if you catch you will be award a Stroopwafel!!! (While stocks last.)
On return home I will expand this thread with pics and stories.
Update report Monday August 15th.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/657...1081500073.jpg
And so it has begun.
I have arrived in Cologne for the second time to visit Gamescom.
I will keep trying to update this thread with news of my trip to this German city on the Rhine and of the convention it self of course.
Luckily my ancient Acer Aspire 1600 is working still, although it's not very mobile anymore as the battery has lost all of it's juice about a decade ago, so it closely hugs the power plug of my hotel.
I am staying at the same hotel as last year, Hotel Konigshof. It's located a few steps away from the prominent landmark of the area, the Kolner Dom.
Very handy as when you are lost you can navigate your way back to it from almost every place in the city.
The room this year is located at the side of the hotel instead of the one last year which had a view on the nice climate control systems of the shops behind it.
Here is the view from my window:http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/2...1081500082.jpg
Very handy to those still coming is that there are a lot of Wi-fi hot spots in area and my hotel doesnt fail one either.
Of to bed now for me, tomorrow is another to take a look at the sites of Cologne.
Day 2.
The second day of my trip in Cologne. All over the twitters come messages from game company personal that are either on their way to, or hard at work setting up their booths at Gamescom.
While these people are hard at work and are trying to survive the effects of the late arrival, jetlag, beer, I have the time to walk about the city again.
The city of Cologne is located where in the past an old Roman city/army base was so it's very old, luckily some of this can still be seen although the city center was at least for 70% destroyed in the last war.
Here is one of the old city gates supposed to be dated back to Roman times:
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/457...1081600089.jpg
As I am always interested in history I had to visit at least one or two museums this week.
Today I visited the EL-DE Haus which was the HQ of the German Secret Police during the 1930's until the end of WWII.
It's one of the buildings that by miracle survived the heavy bombings in WWII. It now houses a remembrance site for all victims of the national socialist regime and a documentation center. It also has running exhibitions about Cologne during the years of the national socialist regime.
So far for this very sad bit of history tomorrow (Wednesday) I am going to try to visit the city museum or the Roman museum.
I haven't found any LotRO posters though. And if they was well.... nvm. =p
One thing they do have here in Cologne is a lot of expensive cars. I even witnessed some guy riding his Chrysler into a Peugot. In Holland someone would go mental over this but the two sides stayed very calm and handed out information, so I left it at that. My good scout duty was helping an older lady up who tripped over the cobble stones, she was alright luckily which couldnt be said for her carton of milk.
In Cologne they also have this uber cool LEGO store. As a child from the 70's I to am one of those big Star-Wars fans. SO I had to liberate some goodies from there. http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1308/...1081600096.jpg
There is also the option to buy a cup sold in 2 sizes and fill them all up with blocks of your liking. Where was this feature when I was a kid!!!!1
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/742...1081600098.jpg
Some Game company staff is easily spotted as I spotted a couple of blokes from Wargaming.net (World of Tanks/World of Warplanes) walking with big bags of the local MediaMarkt (sells Computer related stuff amongst others). Guess they didnt have all the gear they needed for the convention.
That evening at dinner on the bank of the Rhine there where some very loud (or is that normal? =p) Americans acting very American as I could follow there conversation from 3 tables away judging from the Quakecon 2010 T-shirt and flashing of American Passports and Californian drivers licenses I guess they must be Game related.
View at the Rhine towards the Gamescom venue at the other side of the river behind the bridge.
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/2...1081600112.jpg
So far for the Tuesday update.
I am always game for a stroopwafel :D
I may go, need to look into it. Living in the Frankfurt area, playing on Landroval :).
I go to the GamesCom and I meet with the devs for JeuxOnLine... More info from the french fansite after August 18 ;)
I'll be there (again) for 3 days :)
Looking forward to hopefully some juicy news on RoI, meeting Sapience and some fellow LOTRO players.
(and of course a lot of other games but that would be off-topic :p)
You're going to get not only me, but Producer Aaron "Rowan" Campbell as well, along with Adam Mersky. If you're a DDO fan, you'll get Tolero and Producer Glin too!Quote:
Originally Posted by BonkilEU
In addition to following BonkilEU, you can also follow @lotro on twitter as I'll try to keep people updated. If you really want to follow me, you can do so @rickheaton, but be warned I will probably have a lot of pics of food, places, and 'other stuff' from my first trip to Germany. :)
Greetings :)
I'm on the GC and i've look forward to the Lotro station in Cologne :) last year there was only a 4m² stand -> here some pictures(from the complete GC - new pic's are comming ;) ) http://wuala.com/ALEX_DPSG/GamesCom/
This will be my third year at Gamescom! I look forward to seeing you all.
Any chance you guys can keep us updated using Facebook as well? Not a Twitter user, really.
I dont have a facebook account for my kin ship and i'm not very good on using it on my mobile, but you can rest assured that after i get back there will be a lot of pics and stories on this forum from me, and i guess from others to.
So the only thing you will miss is the standing in line with a lot of sweaty people, (if the weather is as good as last year).
and don't you forget about the beer! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sapience
if you decide to book it as dwarf background research, you might even put the tab on the company :)
Sapience is going to send updates back to us here in the office and we will try to keep Facebook updated as well. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Thorandril
Thanks Clover! *hug*
100% of the Fishers of the Brandywine will be at Gamescon - hoping that we can get a glimpse of RoI this year :)
Players also sometimes copy Tweets to the discussion thread here since we know not everyone uses social media sites. The cool thing about Twitter is that you don't have to sign up to read the public tweets or see the shared photos, just bookmark someone's page and read whenever you like.Quote:
Originally Posted by Clover
Hmmmmmmmm strooooopwafels....../droolQuote:
Originally Posted by Suzhran
bitte ein radler fuer mich haben! :))
I had one on my first trip to Germany (we went all over, but I don't think we got to Koeln) and I haven't had one since. So good, especially for someone that's not exactly fond of beer (more of a wino). I've tried making my own, but I refuse to call anything I can get a hold of in the states "beer".
have fun, everybody that's going!
I´m looking forward to see you guys there - so we may pepper you with curious questions ;). We tell you all about german beer and "dirndls" und we get some secret infos about RoI...deal? :D
My first small update is up*. I made it late last night, or rather this morning.
As I thought my ###### notebook or the connection quieted on me.
I finally gave up on it and read this morning on Twitter that the Forums where down late last night.
Hope I didn't break them because of the large picture files.
Anyway, day 2 will be filled with visiting some museums and checking the town out.
I feel for those poor persons who have to work hard today at Gamescom for getting everything done before the major onslaught of tomorrows press day. Sadly I dont have a press card so have to wait till Thursday for the first real Gamescom update, but already all over town you can feel it coming with all the billboards and game-shops screaming for attention.
*Scroll to first page for the update.
Tuesday update is up.
Cool :3, really good of telling this stuff! I really cant wait until RoI
RoI is being shown to the press today so I hope that it wont be a behind closed doors and we can see more of it tomorrow when the convention opens for the general public (us).
Oh man, those are really tasty. Haven't had one in years.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonkilEU
Come and give me a poke tomorrow you still can follow me on @TheRangersLotRO on twitter. But I'll be hanging about the LotRO place a couple of times through the next 3-4 days. Tomorrow I will be recognizable with my blue white checkered blouse and light shorts and red backpack. Please gently tap me on the shoulder.
Or just send me a PM on twitter and I'll tell you where I am at that time as fast as possible. Probably will be standing in some queue's to.
End of day 3 in Cologne.
(I should have reserved more space at the start, oh well.)
It's Wednesday and that means that the Gamescom has started for the press and assorted Game business people.
So far you could already have seen some pics of RoI and of the LotRO or HdRO as it will be known as during our stay in Germany.
I don't have accreditation so will have to wait for tomorrow to check it all out myself.
But what I see now from one of the pics I found that the LotRO stand is smaller than last year with only 3 pc's opposed to the 6 last year, but I will see for my self tomorrow.
While the press day was going on the sun was finally beating down on the city outside, summer has arrived to the mainland Europe! At least for now.
Today I will visit another museum which actually lies on the other side of the road from the one I visited yesterday.
Today the Kolnisches StadtMuseum (city museum of Cologne).
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/996...1081700139.jpg
The museum holds a permanent exhibition of the history of Cologne through the ages, from early Roman times until now. And there was a exhibition of a more contemporary time with all kinds of consumer from the early 50's up till now.
It had some nice medieval stuff which a lot of us have a link to because most of Middle Earth Era's have a resemblance. Playing a Dwarf Hunter with a crossbow as chosen weapon I really like the ones on display there. But the knight armor was the most brilliant, and would give Theoden king a run for his money! Look at the horse! Would it be fitting a Rohan horse?
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5...1081700122.jpg
Walking upstairs to the first floor of the contemporary section I almost had the feeling that a splicer or big daddy would come screaming or blundering round the corner. There was a 50's bar in place and there was the same kind of music heard from in the game.
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9...1081700131.jpg
All in all a nice museum and not as dramatic from the one yesterday, as it mostly showed the good time's of the city's history.
After taking a little rest at the Hotel it was time to meet up with one of my kinship members, Cerdelan, from the UK and his wife, to have dinner and make plans for the following days.
I took a quick snapshot at the bridge that leads to the KoelnerMesse with all its Batman flags. People have put locks all over it to seal their love to each other, of which some are very large. I wonder how many are taken off again on a divorce. Also you would start to worry on how much of that extra weight puts a strain on the construction of the bridge with all those trains running over it. The thing really trembles when one passes.
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/435...1081700144.jpg
Okay that's it for me today, tomorrow is a long first day on the convention floors. Looking forward to meeting the Turbine crew and handing over some stuff promised.
Also looking forward to meeting other LotRO players. Give me a gentle poke or a DM @TheRangersLotRO for a free stroopwafel* and a chat.
I'm the guy with the flappy ears and checkered blue/white blouse.
Also looking forward to meeting up with some Codies guys to thank them for their brilliant support the last years on LotRO in Europe. Sadly non of the direct former community group are there but we will give Zzeno some stuff to hand over to them as thanks of all us in the European community.
*while stock lasts
....I had NO IDEA Orthanc had a hotel nearby!!! Awesome!!Quote:
BonkilEU;5584511]Update report Monday August 15th.
Here is the view from my window:http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/2...1081500082.jpg
(have fun!!)
/spamcheers
Sut
Update Gamescom day 1!!!
Wow I'm really tired of this first hectic day.
I wish to thank Sapience for all the nice goodies we got and we hope you guys will like the Stroopwafels as much as the Codies folk did/do.
On to RoI.
I didn't play to long as I had many other things to scratch of the list on this first which mostly is the less crowded of all days.
I hereby wish to stress that the NDA is NOT lifted yet for those who are in BETA (although they are not even allowed to mention that)
So here comes the fast recap I got from the first day, in the following ill try to get more indept from the dev guys.
So here is my own account on what I saw.
Lets start with the screen shots I took:
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/4...1081800149.jpg
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/595...1081800150.jpg
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/898...1081800151.jpg
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9...1081800153.jpg
I used the hunter from the PC that was free to use, so of course it wasn't as nicely equipped as my own hunter, it had the standard stuff on it from the test server tavern thingy, so I had to deal with it.
First thing I noticed was new type of Ore for new crafting levels. I couldn't look into this further as the character didn't have any trade skill at all.
Next I did was check the maps.
As this is still a Beta version (No. of client unkown atm sorry) not all maps worked as intended yet and some showed a very crude beta setup. There are more maps but i didn't take a pic of them all.
The Dunland/Gap of Rohan/Nan Curunir map was actually a map that could be zoomed into at different points. All I can is that the regions looked pretty large. Mobs I encountered where level 75 and ranging from elite to normal and arch nemesis.
There are some city's (villages) you can do your trading and crafting and training your new skills.
I wanted to see the Tower and it looks menacing from far away. The entrance to the fortress of the tower is guarded by two HUGE trolls and inside a couple roaming around and many many orc elite's. Only took one nice hit for one of trolls to do 4k+ damage which of course resulted in a nice trip to the re spawn circle.
I managed to run through the fortress and reached the steps of the tower but the door couldn't be opened. If that's possible when live, I don't know.
In fact I don't event know how many inside locations there are or where the raid entrance would be. But hey you want some surprises now do we.
I didn't try to move from Enedwaith into Lich bluffs yet, but if its open you would be able to get your chickens up to the tower if your daring enough and have a Raid (or 2) support with you.
Ill try to find out more if I can during the next few days, as some of your probably will to.
I also had a quick chat with @Zzeno from Codemasters and thanked him for the awesome work they did for us when they where hosting the servers in Europe.
Well I'm going to bed for now I'm bushed for now.
Tomorrow's update could come a bit late (Saturday) as I have a small ToR party to attend to.
Here a Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOdG5tOl-qE
Made it home safely, another fun filled day will update the past days tomorrow so much to do so little time!
We´ve been to the Gamescom yesterday and were really excited that we had the chance to get a first glance at RoI. We can´t wait for the release date. We also met you, Bonkil, and had a nice chat. Thanks a lot for this thread, we are looking forward for more information, our time in RoI was much to short! :)
By the way, I´m very proudly wearing my Ministrels Button and the One Ring button, which we got form Sapience. Today I regret that I was much to shy to ask him any questions. :)
I met many players, so my apologies if I don't remember exactly who you where but I think might have a incline. RoI is comming in a month so the wait is over soon. I think it's more fun to see a little so you know what your waiting for. that's why I don't mind that I'm not in the Beta so much.
Some people who where playing at the booth where in the Tavern for hours on end and than spend only 5 mins in RoI, while there where already characters set up to do that right away. Would save a lot of time to get into other games as well. Hunge hunge... notch notch.. at some :p
Gamescom Friday, almost hell day!
But first a short recap of the Thursday.
As I mentioned I had given @Zzeno some stuff for the Codies crew to thank them for their support the last few years. But because he was of course very busy in the business area (which I had no access to this year) we to really try to get out for a few mins and so he kindly managed to.
He PM'd me when I was standing in line for The Old Republic (the MMO that a lot of us will certainly try out and play besides our adventures in LotRO). But this line I jumped was already closed.
When mentioning this to him he said that if I wouldnt get back in I had to poke the ToR community manager Chris, who also worked with Codies/LotrO and say hi to him.
Luckily my kinmember was still in line and when I rushed back (after I forgot which hall it was in again), I could jump right in again. After an hour of waiting and chatting with some other LotRO players we met in line, (Hi Vicki and Thomas!) we came up to the little open windows where they played the PvP.
Having had a short description of Chris, I said Mike sends his greetings. (short chat followed and i gave him a pin of the White hand, which he wore proudly the rest of the convention).
As he was on the loosing side with his team of players and had wagered with his boss he asked us to cheerlead them on a bit. So us 4 did as the other people around us were either to tired or didn't understand English, judging from the faces the last part.
Because (mostly Vicki, (who is actually from Texas but married to Thomas who is German.) and I.) were cheering them on very good as they won eventually "For The Empire!!" Chris invited us to the Bioware Meet and Greet in the Renaissance hotel at 8pm on Friday, very exclusive for only a couple of people.
After that we played the PvP (for me second time as I already did it last year to) Got a cool poster and some stickers and went out for some dinner dodging the mayor showers.
So far for the Thursday recap...
Friday gamescom day 2.
As this is always supposed to be a far more crowded day than Thursday and I didn't had to see anything I started calmly and had breakfast and started my way to the HauptBahnhof proudly sporting my One Ring, Hunter and White hand pins on my backpack. (To get the One Ring pin you had to give Sapience or another Dev. a poke as only players got these.)
http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/5...1081900196.jpg
As Thursday was a day where I wanted to play as many games that I liked, this day I decided to just walk around all 10 HUGE halls and look at all the booths. There was literally tons of things to see and do. Of course at all "Big" games there were long lines (even heard a rumour that for Battle field some day there was a 6 hour line!!!). But also a lot of smaller developers with hardly a line and some sad exhibitor where everyone just passed by to get to their favourite game. pretty stupid of them all as I tried a couple of these and they where very nicely done.. although the games didn't stick at all.
There also was a Casemod competition going on, and the teams were hard at work producing dust and noise with that electric sawing machines and the air was filled with spray can aerosol smell.
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/1...1081900200.jpg
In another part you could sit and relax to play old school games on all different sorts of platforms. Like yer'olde Atari's, NES's, Mega Drive's, Spectrum's, C= 64's etc etc. there even was one of those machines from the 50's where you only have a small round screen with a radio wave thingy.
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/6...1081900206.jpg
There are games that cater for all different kind of people. The most notable of those are the shear load of simulator games. And of all kinds. You (I) don't here a lot from these type of games but I guess there is a market for them as a lot of "Germans" seem to love them.
This years winner of the odd must be this one!
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4...1081900211.jpg
Name says it all I think. You drive your snowplough thingy over the ski slope to make them nice and flat. There is probably more to it but that's where my attention begins to cut out, looks very boring to me, but that's personal and I bet there is some of you out there will not understand me on this and love these type of games.
Friday continues in my next reply... stay tuned.
Where were we?
Oh yeah the simulator's.
Last year this developer had the tractor simulator. This year they have the Tractor simulator on 3DS!!!! Trying these out I decided that my first decision was a good one. Never Buy any of them!! The 3D is totally lost to me and I think it's just a gimmick and will pass over once again until we get holographic games perhaps. the game itself looks so dull that even James May talking endlessly about the internal combustion engine of Toyota Starlet is more entertaining.
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/9...1081900212.jpg
Guess there is a reason why Nintendo had to cut their prices for this thing. As no sane parent would give this expensive peace of plastic to his kid to have it broken or lost at school. And Ninentdo has lost the real hardcore money earning and spending gamer since the launch of the Wii.
the ones who didnt do that is Sony with the Playstation. Look what they had on their stand!
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/362...1081900215.jpg
And although you cant see it the car is actually on hydraulics so its bobbing and weaving about reacting to the GT game!
Here is the line fro Battlefield 3. And it's not even Saturday yet!! Most people are sitting on the floor by the way. Each line must have been about 30 meters long.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4038/...1081900222.jpg
Also the Skyrim lines where pretty long but they sure know how to lure them in!
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/454...1081900225.jpg
So far for the second part... onto the third.
Part three of Friday at Gamescom.
Because today I didn't have anyone with me I had lot's of time to try some stuff out in RoI.
I sat at one of the Pc's and logged in on a 75 burglar. As is obvious I play a hunter so I cant comment on any of your new skills my burgling friends. And you can find this info already on many different places over the net.
I also didn't take a very deep look into some things as other people are far better in this than I am.
All I wanted to see is how it all looked compared to the beautifully rendered Mirkwood area. And it does specially a part with lots of big tree's which will already give you a idea of what Fangorn might look like. (got no pic of that sadly).
I first had a look at the Creep's. The new PvP zone will be added pretty soon after release in a next update which should be this year but don't yell at me when I'm wrong and it comes earlier =p. (in fact everything is speculative) However there already is the new Character creation screen. Because your character will have level 75 of course. As I dont PvP at all i cant say anything about the new skills if there are any. Sorry.
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/4...1081900231.jpg
but of course you get new pods.
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5...1081900232.jpg
The client running is the live Beta so some maps aren't done yet and I saw some graphic bugs and ran into an invisible wall after running through a closed fence.
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/850...1081900235.jpg
I will not post all of the pics I made of maps here, as some are already posted by me or others as I saw some of the links coming up on the forums which I posted on the kin twitter time line.
But here you see an unfinished map of the greater surrounding of Isengard. It is partly located into a half circle of mountain sides. The line that surrounds the area around Isengard is the part where you can go, so it's border. The red area can be zoomed into once more to get a more in depht look of the surroundings of the tower of Orthanc.
The Area surrounding it is quite vast and packed with elite and normal roamers but you can easily horse up and make a wild dash for the Tower.
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/820...1081900247.jpg
next part coming up...
Part four Friday gamescom..
Here is the Virtue screen with all maxed to 12 at last. so all the effort back in the days is finally rewarded.
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6...1081900236.jpg
There also will be new pods for wounds etc, and Morale and Power pods. All these of course can be made with the new trade skill level. I couldn't use these as I didn't want to spend my precious time maxing skills out or sitting in the tavern for an hour. But the new materials are out there, I saw the new nodes and branches at least.
Some people have mentioned that "is this all!!" I find these outcry's of terror a bit dumb. as yeh when you rush to 75 and do the end content in a month than yeah there is only this much to do and go. I haven't seen any of the new instances and the tower couldn't be entered at this time, because maybe you need to do some epic quest first or its added later. And I didn't run up to every wall to try if a door would open when I click on it.
We have to find out our self or will hear from the Beta folks when their NDA lifts.
One thing that did caught my eye was the little square I'm facing here on the map.
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/9...1081900246.jpg
It is a wooden fence leading to another zone which we don't have yet. or maybe an instance.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/822...1081900245.jpg
Note the node behind the the Dunlending Raider.
After that I ran into Isengard passing the two big fat trolls at the gates and sneaked my way up the tower steps and had a little Hobbit dance.
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5...1081900250.jpg
After that I did a free fall into one of the many mine pits. No Deed or title this time though.
On to part 5...
Part 5 gamescom Friday.
I must say that WB and Sapience had a nice position at their stand as it was located right across the door to one of the outdoor area's. This one had a big ### American truck with a Huge BBQ at its back, some cocktail and drink stands, an RC track from Revell, A bungy seat jump, a half pipe and a motor course to drive normal motor bikes and quads.
The artificial was a bit wet from the pouring rain of the other night. This storm was so bad that some people died in Belgium due to a part of a podium came down at a festival.
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/8...1081900251.jpg
All these vendors hand out folders and other kind of junk and it seems the convention owner doest bother to put up enough waste bins so everyone just drops their paper on the floor. To be cleaned up after the day closes by hundreds of cleaners I suppose. I saw this last year when I was lost after I brought some friends to their car and I had to find the South exit for the first time. (The killed Gorothul after the convention had already closed for 20 mins) there were people scraping all the stickers from the floor and escalator railings.
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/7...1081900253.jpg
This was on Friday as on Saturday you couldn't see the floor underneath all the folders and flyers.
I than sat down for the Codie's show and the F1 2011 presentation. The game looks so much better than the already good one last year. You can do a lot more things with your car like skidding through a bend and of course DRS and KERS are in to. You even can see your back spoilers and end-wings flutter from the G's. And see the rear wing flap open and close. And yes we get a safety car to!
The presentation video will be able to be watched from 2PM later today on the F1 2011 game website and facebook.
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/875...1081900256.jpg
Last thing to do now was to meet up with Vicki and Thomas to go to the Bioware party and meet up with John and Astrid on the way there.
But first I bumped into another rather odd trio.
http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6...1081900257.jpg
on to part 6...
Part 6 Gamescom.. Bioware drinking contest.
Time for the main event of the evening. 8 PM Renaissance Hotel Cologne.
We arrived 30 minutes before it started to be on the safe side that we didn't miss any drink rounds. And of course we weren't the first ones.
So hey ho another queue. We are getting good at this.
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/6...1081900259.jpg
Come 8PM they started letting us in slowely so we had another short wait just at the door, but in the mean while made some new English friends and another from Wales.
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/528...1081900260.jpg
For you to judge who is the welsh guy!
But after 5 minutes we got ushered into the main lobby/bar and the merry making started good. Like a real night at the Pony or Green Dragon.
There was about 70 to 80 people in or so but could be a hundred as maybe some also went into other corners I couldn't see.
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/1...1081900262.jpg
We chatted and drank with our new friends and some Developers and community team members of Bioware and made it a night not lightly to forget.
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9...1081900261.jpg
This must have been the last pic I took of Vicki and Thomas, hence the state we already were in at 9ísh. (free drinks what can ye say huh!)
I stumbled back to my Hotel at who knows what time after I walked the English guys and the Welshmen back to the train station and I crashed in for the night.
Saturday Gamescom, proper Armageddon!
I walked to the venue today only 30 minute walk from the city centre across the Rhine bridge to the venue.
I decided upon this to loose the odd feeling in my head, must have been something I did the other night.
I knew in advance that Saturday would be a madhouse², so I already warned some friends coming over today (who I met last year at the WB/Turbine/Codies booth) to first go stand in the Old Republic Line.
I wanted to set my toe on the stairs at the entrance and the security stopped us all with a red and white line at 11am.
I tried to bribe my way in but these German guys weren't easily corrupted.
But after 10 minutes in the already beating sun we could go in as the congestion inside was over.
Thus finally I came up to my friends standing in line at ToR.
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/188...1082000263.jpg
I must say some of the boys and girls from the stand looked rather pale somehow, must have been something they did the other night?
The crowds were so big and lines so long that Bioware decided to play the introduction phase you got to play on PvE live on the big screen with commentary from developers.
the crowd got the choice by voting on what side and what character to play.
We also got to choose what actions to take.
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/6...1082000265.jpg
After that we went to the LotRO/DDO booth to say hi to Sapience again. It was around 3 I think that some other friends arrived and they immediately sat down for some RoI time.
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/280...1082000278.jpg
They had a long traffic yam and a long long long queue to get in. it is even said that the train station was locked at a certain time and that first people had to get out before new could be let in. The ambulances were quite busy with treating people from heat exposure outside.
I really think that Gamescom should limit the amount of tickets they sell each year and no more ticket box at the gates, just pre-order. It's going out of control like this. That also would be more fun for everyone inside as you get a chance to play and see more games than just one or 2 if you care to queue for 4 hours (or even more so I hear).
We didn't take the train back at 8pm but just walked the bridge, not only because of the over crowded trains but also to let the blood flow again from the shuffling about all day.
We had a nice dinner that night at a bit to expansive restaurant on the banks of the Rhine. Wise to look on the menu first before you just sit down. But we were glad to be able to sit finally after so much shuffling about.
Walking back to the hotel I cam upon this nice piece of art at the Dom entrance. It looked awesome in the dark but far less impressive at day light the next morning so I'm glad I took the picture.
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/7...1082000287.jpg
Link to the a bigger version for 21inch screens:
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/775...1082000287.jpg
That night I started packing my bags as I would leave the next evening after the Gamescom would close.
EDIT!
We also had a chat with a developer and he told us that there is a lot going to happen between now and the following year. As WB has now seen the potential of the MMO brand. Also of course in relation to the upcoming movie's. Next year will probably see a much larger stand than this year. And he liked our idea of letting chickens be able to go through zones like into Moria and to Mirkwood. For those of you brave enough to walk with your chicken to the steps of Orthanc, be sure to film it all and post it on the webs, good luck! Who knows they made a nice deed by than as it isn't in at this moment so no reason to try in Beta folks.
I also asked about the area in Isengard if we could enter the Tower and the mines and of course because of NDA he couldn't say but don't be surprised we can through an instance sooner or later.
So far for my little scratch update.
That's a very nice report and an enjoyable read. Thank you. :D
My guess, the Gap of Rohan-region will be expanded upon in that direction in the future (filling in those empty boxes in the first picture, the unfinished map), leading us into Rohan later on.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonkilEU
Great recap, +rep.
Sunday the day of rest at Gamescom 2011..
Today I am going home so the first thing I had to do was pack up my stuff and pay the bill of the Hotel.
And so I was at the Gamescom by train this time just before it would open.
At around 30 mins before opening they let you in the convention Hall 10 where doors are kept closed. There are 2 doors there one leading into hall 9 and the other leading on to the boulevard. And my luck I was standing at the wrong gate as the boulevard one wouldn't open so the big crowd had to all pass through hall 9.
I think this is madness as well specially with a lot of teenage brats pushing and shoving to get through.
My plan was to meet up with Vicki and Thomas at hall 6 to give another go at ToR because there eldest son wanted to try it to.
So I started waiting in line at the 3 hour mark and suddenly they spotted me. They were a line ahead and I just scooted over, (yes sorry I'm a bad person, sometimes.)
We still had to wait rather long though until we were at the end of the line to start our second PvE session of this year.
After that I walked up to a very cute girl community manager type i met the other night but didnt dare to ask her name. (She said it but I forgot again, probably because I have so much to remember at this point to make these updates, so I'm bleeding here for you guys =p).
I thanked them for the awesome party and handed over the bribe foods. She asked how we thought the game was and we just said its awesome cant wait to try it out at home. But shame we couldn't try the PvP.
"Well no problem I think we could let you guys try!" By that time some rather noisy other Bioware staff came up to the sight of so many goodies and the big boss guy immediately said "No problem you were at the party right I remember you lot! You already got T-shirts?" And we had to be back there and report in 20 minutes time.
In that 20 minutes we scooted over to Sapience to say hi again and ask how is feet were holding out, and ran back to hall 6 again.
Did I say run, well we didnt but we could as the Sunday is allot less crowded, even less than Thursday. Only catch is it closes at 18pm.
We were very psyched up to try the PvP and the look on the faces in the line as we passed by and just trotted in was epic, sorry if you were one of those in there.
http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/5...1082100294.jpg
Here is the family with a very happy lad getting to play ToR for a second time today and already in pocesion of a rather cool red T-shirt with the Imperial logo on it. We got the Blue one with the Republic logo as they didn't have XL for the reds any more.
We got to play in a 8 vs 8 capture the turret. Both teams come from a drop-ship (bit like Battlefield 2142, only there is no invading of the enemy's ship.) You have to take control of one of the three turrets that are on the battlefield. When you captured one it will turn towards the enemy ship and starts pounding it into submission.
When the either ship is down the match is over.
There also will be a type of murder ball PvP called Huth Ball. We didn't get to play that though.
We were allowed to play for 40 minutes and did 3,5 match of which we won 2,5. normal play time for a PvE round was 15 to 20 mins which was clocked.
And we got yet another poster! Hurah!
After that we let the kid decide what he wanted to see so we found ourself's at the Sony stand to go and try the PsVita.
Standing in line there came a guy in with a deck of cards faced down, you could pull a card and on the back side was the game you were allowed to test, I pulled a fight game but Vicky had F1 2011 so we traded.
Sadly although the F1 was really good, it didn't use any of the features of the PsVita. At least that I was aware of. but it looks smart!
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/2...1082100299.jpg
Sorry was not allowed to take pics in there as all games where still a work in progress.
We strode around some more and played some Need for speed Run but neither of us won the T-shirt here.
As it was almost time for the venue to close we headed back to Sapience to say our goodbyes and happy farewells but were shortly distracted by this angry person.
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/8...1082100309.jpg
Thank you Sapience for being such a great person and I hope to see you next year!
Here is yours truly with Sapience just before we got snatched away to our homes by a big eagle.
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/149...1082100297.jpg
I hope you all enjoyed this and got a nice view of what Gamescom is about. hope to see some of you there (again) next year. And wish all our NA friends that are going to PAX a lot of fun. Please check if Rick's feet are ok and bring him a comfy stool to sit on once in a while.
Signing off for now see you at Gamescom 2012 in Cologne!
Wiedersehen!
Marc,
Thanks for your report Bonkil! We had a great day on thursday, and it's good you took the picture of us in that queue early, because after that we were too tired to look good on a picture ;) But hell, it was crowded that day.. 4 hours waiting for 15mins playing time is too long for me, but SWTOR was actually worth it. Good thing we don't have to queue to talk with Sapience :)
Looking forward to next year already, always great meeting you there!
@Sapience: Very nice to meet you finally :) Hope you had a great first trip to Germany and a safe trip back home.
After my troubles at Gamescom with my ancient laptop I bought a new who is actually will be able to run LotRO and doesnt shut down when I open a page on internet.
It cost a little more than €500,- that was my bottom mark but I got a i5 and a dedicated Radeon GPU with 1GB and 4GB of DDR3. So I'm a happy camper for now.
Still hope to receive an email that I won that Alienware laptop though :p
Ohw it's a Packard Bell Easynote LS
Danke Marc!
Great job! +rep for you!
Interesting... I wonder whether we will have to pay for this map separately or pvp map will be a part of expansion?Quote:
Originally Posted by BonkilEU
I am glad that I didn't pre-order Isengard. Too many speculation!
I guess it will be free, but hey im a Lifer so..
Very nice report Marc. Greatly enjoyed Gamescom again this year, even though we got stuck in traffic on hellday with the news reporting they shut down entry and a couple thousand people were qeueing to get in. But at least we got in, saw the things we wanted to see, had a good dinner and a safe (but very sleepy) drive back :)
I don't bite! Although in that one pic I look like I'm about to either yell or bite, not one of the better shots of me... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Astalda
It was great meeting all the EU players and especially the Rangers crew. I learned a lot about the Euro and all the images on the various coins. Even managed to escape with a rare Pope 50 cent piece! :)
When they closed the doors there were a reported 64,000 people in the convention halls. That's the max capacity. Someone told me they also closed one of the train stations briefly to reduce the number of people queuing up outside. I believe the final number of attendees was ~275,00 for the show. If you want some reference points, PAX East was about 60,000 attendees. PAX Prime is usually in that same 60-70K ball park. E3, if I recall correctly, was never over 110K in any year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smartbean
Everyone is coming back again next year, right? :cool:
Does a Hobbit not like cookies?
Actually looking at that map, that island in the Middle of the River must be the Eyot in the Fords of Isen. That wooden palisade blocking the gap between the cliffs is the gap of Rohan. Not How I Imagined it tbh.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonkilEU
I thought we would have a river with the banks unclimable, and a view into the distance like we had in south Eregion before they opened it up with Enedwaith.