Are You Ready for QuakeCon?

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Messages
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QuakeCon 2011 registration is now open for the event taking place August 4-7 in Dallas. This is considered the premier gaming convention in the United States. If you are planning on attending, you are advised to register as soon as possible since the event is a yearly sellout.
 
I wish! Years ago I was 15, then I was broke, then I was always working, now I have a baby. I'll just look at pics and imagine I was there. :)
 
I dont think its the "premier gaming convention in the United States" anymore, I think that title belongs to PAX. :(
 
I dont think its the "premier gaming convention in the United States" anymore, I think that title belongs to PAX. :(

I thought PAX was more like E3 and QC was more or less a giant LAN party with some news/info and a bit of vendor stuff?
 
I have my once a year big LAN next weekend in Phoenix. Desertbash will be enough to tide me over.
 
I like to go but, I read some of those long hair basement mofos be funky
 
The byoc is still 'free', but the paid packages allow you to reserve a spot ahead of the line and you get some swag like certain shirts and mousepads and artwork and such. I signed up for the 'free' package which is basically just putting your name on the byoc waiting list. The bad thing about that is that if enough people pay the $20+ to guarantee their spot, then the 'free' package byoc signups might get screwed.
 
I presume he meant the one where quakecon shits on its roots by charging for byoc spots and numb nuts noobs actually pay for them..
 
Quakecon has become too meh to even justify the travel costs of attending.

There aren't many new games out that support LAN, you can't share anything over the network *cough* DC++ *cough*. You can barely use the network as it is, last year was a great example of that. Every year its like they take a step forward in a new direction, but two steps backward in another.

I have been attending since 2002 - 9 years under my belt and for the first time ever I have no urge to even go. All I ever play anymore is Bad Company 2 and a few other online games, add Ventrilo and why would you even want to deal with the hassle of travel costs and lugging your computer with you?

I'm not saying people should stop attending, but I just don't see a reason to go anymore.
 
I thought PAX was more like E3 and QC was more or less a giant LAN party with some news/info and a bit of vendor stuff?

PAX has tons of byoc and LAN gaming, but it's also tabletop and console. It's much more representative of gaming in general. Quakecon is pretty desktop fps oriented.
 
I see no multimonitor setups are allowed due to the One monitor/comp per person rule, but has anyone have gone with two other friends and just pooled the monitors together?
 
I think if I was in the actual gaming competition in the big room it would be fun, but as a spectator it was pretty boring. And parking was pretty expensive too.

At least with A-kon (Dallas anime fest June 10-12) they have lots of various vendors if your just going to watch.
 
QuakeCon hasn't been worth attending since 2005. It's very much CorporateWhoreCon now. The original spirit is dead. The people running the event are all very elitist and have a good ole boys club. Volunteers are treated like dirt. It's all really sad. I think everyone's better off going to PAX.
 
Story incoming... brace for impact:

I always wanted to go but I've just never been in a position to be able to attend. I did get to visit the Quake 3 Arena tour bus when it visited Las Vegas so long ago, got 2 dozen shots from the day around here someplace. Anna Kang was a real sweetheart. I stopped by Krispy Kreme before they arrived and grabbed a few dozen doughnuts for everyone, figured the sugar rush would come in handy. When the bus arrived I gave them to the people setting up the event at the bus itself (very cool bus, btw).

I walked over to a Burger King in the same parking lot to get something to eat before it all started (around 10AM was the scheduled "start" time) and then this rather short (hey, I'm 6'6" tall, most everyone is short to me) jet black haired Asian woman came in and was right behind me and I couldn't help but notice the Q3 shirt she was wearing so I had to start up a conversation. Told her I was there to see the bus, that I dropped off the doughnuts figured they'd come in handy and she thanked me for them and introduced herself as the aforementioned Anna Kang, John Carmack's significant other (at that time, this was back in oh, 2000 or so), and kick ass Q3 player in her own right.

Got some food, and then headed over to the bus, had a good time all day long, went back on (you had to stand in line, then 8 people would go inside and play - the computers were mounted in the walls with LCD panels and keyboards/mice in a standing position) maybe 10 times during the day, then when they were getting ready to pack up for the next stop they called for 4 of us that were still around to come on board and play some of the team members (the bus crew along with Anna). Now, we were playing the Q3 demo which had levels that weren't in the finished product that came a few months later so we - the underdogs - were unfamiliar with them but Anna and her crew knew them very well from the weeks of playing on the tour.

Needless to say we got our asses handed to us rather quickly. But, it was all in good fun. During the day, anyone that "won" their event (of the 8 people onboard at any given time) they'd get a prize like a t-shirt, mousepad, stickers, or some other Q3A paraphernalia. I came close once but was in 2nd place and didn't get anything.

That was, until I was the last person off the bus that last time. As I was just about to step off, Anna grabbed my arm and said "Hang on a second..." and she walked back to the area behind the driver's seat into a compartment then came out with a different t-shirt than anyone else had (Q3A on the front, big huge Q3A logo on the back), a corduroy Q3A hat (the others got plastic/nylon ones), a much better mousepad with the Q3A logo on it, several id Software games in retail boxes, a few bumperstickers, and a keychain or two and handed them all to me in a cool Q3A duffle bag. ;)

She said that stuff was usually saved for the bigger events where they'd actually compete inside a store on the tour (like inside a CompUSA where they were at here in Vegas but didn't set up inside) and were given to the overall winner of an informal tournament they would usually have, but since they weren't going to do that stuff in Vegas they figured it would be nice to repay me for the doughnuts. :D

Was a great day, really. Good memories, and I still have the photos to keep for posterity. Still have the t-shirt too, but the rest I gave away to friends in the Q3A community over the years.

Ah... the good old days when gaming was actually fun.
 
Story incoming... brace for impact:

I always wanted to go but I've just never been in a position to be able to attend. I did get to visit the Quake 3 Arena tour bus when it visited Las Vegas so long ago, got 2 dozen shots from the day around here someplace. Anna Kang was a real sweetheart. I stopped by Krispy Kreme before they arrived and grabbed a few dozen doughnuts for everyone, figured the sugar rush would come in handy. When the bus arrived I gave them to the people setting up the event at the bus itself (very cool bus, btw).

I walked over to a Burger King in the same parking lot to get something to eat before it all started (around 10AM was the scheduled "start" time) and then this rather short (hey, I'm 6'6" tall, most everyone is short to me) jet black haired Asian woman came in and was right behind me and I couldn't help but notice the Q3 shirt she was wearing so I had to start up a conversation. Told her I was there to see the bus, that I dropped off the doughnuts figured they'd come in handy and she thanked me for them and introduced herself as the aforementioned Anna Kang, John Carmack's significant other (at that time, this was back in oh, 2000 or so), and kick ass Q3 player in her own right.

Got some food, and then headed over to the bus, had a good time all day long, went back on (you had to stand in line, then 8 people would go inside and play - the computers were mounted in the walls with LCD panels and keyboards/mice in a standing position) maybe 10 times during the day, then when they were getting ready to pack up for the next stop they called for 4 of us that were still around to come on board and play some of the team members (the bus crew along with Anna). Now, we were playing the Q3 demo which had levels that weren't in the finished product that came a few months later so we - the underdogs - were unfamiliar with them but Anna and her crew knew them very well from the weeks of playing on the tour.

Needless to say we got our asses handed to us rather quickly. But, it was all in good fun. During the day, anyone that "won" their event (of the 8 people onboard at any given time) they'd get a prize like a t-shirt, mousepad, stickers, or some other Q3A paraphernalia. I came close once but was in 2nd place and didn't get anything.

That was, until I was the last person off the bus that last time. As I was just about to step off, Anna grabbed my arm and said "Hang on a second..." and she walked back to the area behind the driver's seat into a compartment then came out with a different t-shirt than anyone else had (Q3A on the front, big huge Q3A logo on the back), a corduroy Q3A hat (the others got plastic/nylon ones), a much better mousepad with the Q3A logo on it, several id Software games in retail boxes, a few bumperstickers, and a keychain or two and handed them all to me in a cool Q3A duffle bag. ;)

She said that stuff was usually saved for the bigger events where they'd actually compete inside a store on the tour (like inside a CompUSA where they were at here in Vegas but didn't set up inside) and were given to the overall winner of an informal tournament they would usually have, but since they weren't going to do that stuff in Vegas they figured it would be nice to repay me for the doughnuts. :D

Was a great day, really. Good memories, and I still have the photos to keep for posterity. Still have the t-shirt too, but the rest I gave away to friends in the Q3A community over the years.

Ah... the good old days when gaming was actually fun.
Brought a tear to my eye, sounds like good times. Thanks for sharing that story [:

I don't know how it used to be but I went in 2009 and had a blast. Tons of free stuff/raffle from vendors and a giant BYOC. I mainly went down because of some internet friends and because I hadn't really seen anything else besides MML in Kentucky (MML used to be pretty big but once the WSVG died off, only a few hundred people show up now vs the 1k-1.5k before). I loosely follow the Q3 competitive scene so it was nice to see some of the players up close and watch the finals on a giant stage with free food. I ran around and saw all of the vendors and played in a UT3 competition where the best two people from a day have to face off against each other for a prize from MSI. I'm fairly good at the UT games and won easily but the person running the booth said they were out and would mail me a GPU later. (I never got it unfortunately) I also lost my bad with all of my small goodies in it but overall I didn't mind because I was having so much damn fun.

The BYOC had roughly 2.5k people I believe but terrible internet so it was hard to get steam up or even browse the internet. I met the friends I went down to play with (all UT players from the bit of online gaming I do on my terrible internet at my house) and met a few other players from just playing. I mostly played Quakelive on the LAN server there but jumped into UT servers when I saw them and once CoD4 server. Two hilarious moments were: One UT2k4 server I got into was on FFA and I absolutely smashed everyone in it. After the map was over people asked me if I was cheating. One guy actually came over and stood behind me to make sure I wasn't. The other was in the one CoD4 server where the listen server host was dominating everyone by camping a really good spot. It was Hardcore so you die if someone pokes you with a stick and no killcam so no one could really find him. After a few deaths, I guessed roughly where he was and took a shot through a wall and ended up headshotting him through it. He said something out of surprise and then remarked that he was taking down the server to enable punkbuster (anticheat program). I ended up not rejoining because I find hardcore boring, which probably made me look even more suspicious to him.

Unfortunately most of my RL friends are going to MML this year since the date are the same for QC and it. MML used to be in June but has slowly gotten pushed back. I'll probably just end up going to it.

tl;dr I had fun.
 
More news on Rage undoubtedly, maybe Doom 4 announcement? Quake 5?

One can only dream.
 
a friend of mine summed it up like this

"
QuakeCon was awesome when it was still #quakecon. Unfortunately id software sold out the QuakeCon community with the Zenimax deal, and Zenimax has ran with it straight to corporateville. That tied with an internal management group who shuns the #quakecon community as being useless to the event planning process, have all but killed the QuakeCon that we once knew and loved.

QuakeCon started as a fan/community/idsoftware appreciation event [short description] around group of gamers in an irc channel. When id software got involved, there was always a marketing push present, but it remained a volunteer driven event. Unfortunately when Zenimax got involved, the community, #quakecon included, was removed from inclusion in nearly all stages of the event save for attendance numbers.

This year the event has not released any information other than the location and dates, and that it now costs money to reserve a BYOC seat; a disgusting departure from QuakeCon roots.

Decades of volunteer labor and love went into growing the QuakeCon brand into what it is today, and now those same volunteers have been kicked to the curb by id software and more directly, Zenimax. All of their hard work squandered. The event has been hijacked to shill Bethesda products.

Remember the QuakeCon billboards from last year with the HUGE Bethesda logo and the tiny tiny id logo? Try finding an id logo in the quakecon.org title image, oddly missing, but there is a big Bethesda banner.

If Zenimax had any morals, they would retire the QuakeCon brand gracefully, and this thread would be titled 'Are You Ready for BethesdaCon?'. I welcome Zenimax to build their own event rather than steal/purchase one.


Now, with all that said, if you attend "QuakeCon" 2011, I have no doubt that you will enjoy yourself. It just won't be the QuakeCon that the community built.


Also: The years at the Hampton in Mesquite with the [H]ardOCP workshops were some of the best in this volunteer/attendees opinion, and I would love to see a return to the community.

Consider this post a heartfelt vote for a [H]ardCon/[H]ardLAN, or at least a [H]ardOCP workshop at a ROGCon or similar event.

RIP QuakeCon, you are missed.
"
 
Amen.

211qnw5.jpg
 
What's QuakeCon? Isn't that the place John Carmack goes to suck Steve Jobs' cock, and where the people running the event like to promote non-PC gaming despite everyone having gone there for PC gaming?
 
I loved the old Quakecon days...Kyle had a big impact on it. The nvidia guys were always awesome, lots of fun to hang with. The year Quakecon shit on ATi was the last time I enjoyed it (ATi got back at them though...and through a sweet party in the private lounge at the Gaylord...that was definitely worth being at.) I went the next year and...it was pretty bogus, even the id guys weren't the same and the Hilton is just not the place to be. No more Quakecon hassle for me.
 
a friend of mine summed it up like this

"
QuakeCon was awesome when it was still #quakecon. Unfortunately id software sold out the QuakeCon community with the Zenimax deal, and Zenimax has ran with it straight to corporateville. That tied with an internal management group who shuns the #quakecon community as being useless to the event planning process, have all but killed the QuakeCon that we once knew and loved.

QuakeCon started as a fan/community/idsoftware appreciation event [short description] around group of gamers in an irc channel. When id software got involved, there was always a marketing push present, but it remained a volunteer driven event. Unfortunately when Zenimax got involved, the community, #quakecon included, was removed from inclusion in nearly all stages of the event save for attendance numbers.

This year the event has not released any information other than the location and dates, and that it now costs money to reserve a BYOC seat; a disgusting departure from QuakeCon roots.

Decades of volunteer labor and love went into growing the QuakeCon brand into what it is today, and now those same volunteers have been kicked to the curb by id software and more directly, Zenimax. All of their hard work squandered. The event has been hijacked to shill Bethesda products.

Remember the QuakeCon billboards from last year with the HUGE Bethesda logo and the tiny tiny id logo? Try finding an id logo in the quakecon.org title image, oddly missing, but there is a big Bethesda banner.

If Zenimax had any morals, they would retire the QuakeCon brand gracefully, and this thread would be titled 'Are You Ready for BethesdaCon?'. I welcome Zenimax to build their own event rather than steal/purchase one.


Now, with all that said, if you attend "QuakeCon" 2011, I have no doubt that you will enjoy yourself. It just won't be the QuakeCon that the community built.


Also: The years at the Hampton in Mesquite with the [H]ardOCP workshops were some of the best in this volunteer/attendees opinion, and I would love to see a return to the community.

Consider this post a heartfelt vote for a [H]ardCon/[H]ardLAN, or at least a [H]ardOCP workshop at a ROGCon or similar event.

RIP QuakeCon, you are missed.
"

100% agree.
 
Awww...what the hell.....I'll go. I'll bring my 18.4" Qosmio Gaming Laptop. Hope I won't be the only black guy there....:D
 
well I have been to many Quakecons and while it has changed one can still go, have fun, see old friend, and play quake all at no charge!

Yes the event has changed some for the better and some no so good, dead, nope.

Im not going to get in to a whats good and whats bad all im going to say is that anyone can come to Quakecon and have a blast thats what I do and will keeping doing :)

Nash Martinez
Director of Operations - QuakeCon
[email protected]
www.quakecon.org
 
Kyle... how about that [H]LAN idea that's being tossed around?? What's your thoughts? Could be big... and [H]ard.... {that's what she said}...
 
It's whatever you let it be.. a LAN party was never about who sponsored the events, how they ran it, etc for me. It's a bunch of people, computers, a network and games. If you can't have fun with 1000+ other people that's your own problem. I'll be going with my buddies and having yet another good time! I do miss the [H] workshop, but PC Perspective did the last one I believe and they did a very good job.

I'd also be all for a [H]ard LAN and I bet you could get decent attendance :) No, FPS gaming isn't in its magical infancy anymore and things are different, but you can still have a good time and that's what it's all about. The spirit lives in us, not the event.
 
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