The place where they held the event was small. There was no way they could accommodate a large amount of people. This is why they probably didn't make it a big deal like a real fan faire would be.
I seem to recall reading in at least one or two places that whatever fan event they were going to do would specifically not be a Fan Faire type event.
Surely there is a way for Daybreak to not only HAVE a Fanfaire but to also monetize it? I can't imagine that anyone expects to attend for free, or even on the cheap. Set prices to make a nominal amount on the event and then sell in game and RL EQ gear at the event to further capitalize on the crowd. Bring in the Battlemage guys for a cut of beverage sales. Sell spicy wolf sandwiches. Integrate the EQ2 crowd. All that said, I do think it is too late to achieve this during the summer months this year, as folks need several months in advance to get time off from work and make travel plans.
It is entirely possible it is the case they have run numbers and don't expect they can actually monetize a Fan Faire type event to adequately cover the costs of putting one together while also delivering an event that fans actually want.
While this is true, I'm thinking that the skillset and employee resources to plan an event on this scale might be outside of the scope of DB's usual business model. However, if they start far enough ahead of time I feel like they could pull it off.
Told we'll have an event in summer, and will get details in March, then we get details 12 days before an event in April. You can argue it and parse it however you want, the bottom line is they promised more than they gave. They never said a Fan Faire, specifically said it wouldn't be at that scale, but did say it was going to be an event for people to meet up and plan with their friends, family, guilds. Instead, they had a museum in california do a display at a place allowing a dozen or two people in at a time, and gave no one that wasn't near there a chance to go due to lack of notice. Don't expect anything else at this point. The bottom line was the entire thing was disappointing, after they raised a couple million in revenue from lifetime subs.
I respect your right to feel disappointed, but I disagree that they "promised" what you wanted. I don't think the Lifetime subs have anything to do with this, especially since they're a DBG in general thing and that promo started/ended way before the Producer's Letter? Again, if EQ fans want to meet up, I don't see why we can't just meet up at existing regional events like Comic Con. Organizing *small scale* get togethers wouldnt be that hard and is more feasible than a large convention that no one has the resources to plan right now.
Hopefully, there's another big event this summer. In the March 1st announcement, it was mentioned that, 'This is just the first IRL celebration that we have planned for this year, so don't fret if you can't make your way to the event!' Here's the link: https://www.everquest.com/news/eq-20th-anniversary-battlemage-brew-day I found out about the Museum event by seeing pictures on Twitter. With no news of a summer event, I'm starting fret just a little now.
Getting Together We are still working on planning a fan event (now probably next year to give EverQuest and EverQuest II fans and guilds time to prepare and plan). We’ll have some questions to ask the community about who might be interested in joining us for a weekend fan event, focused on the them, with Q&As, roundtables, and activities for gamers and roleplayers. Fun stuff! We’ll start rolling out some questions and surveys as we move forward! Well guess we finally have an answer!!!!!
Sweet, it's a bummer we can't do it this year, but i'm sure it is a ton of work and logistics to get something pulled together for that many people. The extra time will be good for all the people that need to schedule around family / work obligations as well.
