Albert Art

Comic-Con 08 wrap up - Sony Online Entertainment Block Party 2008

Good food, lots of drinks, and video games, it's a Block Party!

Taking place on Saturday at the SOE campus in San Diego, the 3rd annual SOE Block Party was a welcome alternative to the chaos of Comic-Con. About 30 minutes away from the convention center, there was some confusion over the transportation to the party. Originally it was stated that buses would pick up convention-goers directly outside the building, but as it hit 4pm, no buses were in sight. Even the "Elite" convention staff had no idea where the buses would be. As I paced up and down the convention strip, thinking I wouldn't be able to make it to the party, I noticed an SOE employee looking totally aimless with a SOE Sign. He directed us to the Marriot where the party bus would be waiting. Success!

The bus was empty. CDNgrrl and I started to think this party was gonna be a dud, but slowly people started to enter the bus. After a 10 or 15 minute wait we were off. One of the employees, a Community Manager from the Austin Texas SOE, tried to get to know everyone on the bus by asking if we play, or have played, any SOE games. A few mentioned Everquest, and The Matrix Online, while I simply said,"when is the Agency ever coming out?"

Um Driver, SOE isn't in Mexico.

As we drove we started to get further and further away from any buildings. Only desert could be seen all around us. I made a joke that we were heading to Mexico, and started bitching about SOE's location being in the middle of nowhere. Since the SOE guy wasn't from San Diego, he didn't notice that the driver had taken us the wrong way! After driving a while, the driver realized his mistake, and turned the bus around. Flash forward 40 minutes or so, and we were at the SOE HQ. Thanks for the road trip driver.

When we got off the bus there was a table set up to give us T-shirts. Apparently they only came in Extra Large, and Double Extra Large. I think we showed up too late, unless of course those were the only sizes avilable. So I got a double XL for kicks.

View from the Beer tent, people were lining up for tours of the 3 building campus. The games tent featuring SOE titles like Vanguard, Star Wars Galaxies, and Everquest II to name a few. Good ol' hamburgers and hotdogs. I'm hungry! CDNgrrl giddy over free food, taking advantage of the opportunity, especially after such a long bus trip. The great Jim Lee was in attendance signing for DC Universe Online.

By the time we got in the tour, after waiting in line for at least an hour, the block party was pretty much over, and the buses were threatening to leave us stranded at SOE. We practically walked in and out of the buildings. Nothing exciting, just a game studio.

All in all the party was great. Thanks SOE!

For more pictures from the party checkout the SOE Facebook event page.