Fanfest 2011 - Day One a Hit with Attendees

This is the first of two blogs bringing a quick overview of Fanfest 2011 to fans that may have missed the festivities this past weekend. The recap of days two and three can be found here.

Thursday began the first of three days of presentations and partying at the Laugardalshöll Convention Center in Reykjavik, Iceland. The fans lined up and poured in, collecting their t-shirts & badges and immediately spread throughout the venue to the various sign-up tables, Live Agents and the multiple rooms of the greatly expanded Fanfest layout this year.

Games and Entertainment

Teams formed early and the sign-up sheets filled in fast for many of the events. Four tables for the Poker Tournament and 3 full matches for Battle of the Bands were already schedules by midday. Speaking of the Poker Tournament, in just the first three matches over 125,000 ISK was raised for charity.

Over 150 people participated in the Live Agent missions which will run throughout the three days of Fanfest, ending with each faction's highest ranked players competing against each other in the Level 5 Mission finals.

The Scavenger Hunt saw a lot of new faces and many returning teams, with the 2nd and 3rd  place teams from the last Fanfest returning to vie for the title once more. Teams from Rote Kapelle, VETO, Pandemic Legion, Test and several other alliances threw their hats in the ring for this entertaining and increasingly popular diversion.

The Opening Ceremonies saw a packed house, as attendees, ISD and CCPers all piled in for the start of the weekend's events. Trailers and videos were played to kick off with some light-hearted humor, and the Mayor of Reykjavik himself stopped by to speak and present an award to the player that travelled the farthest to attend Fanfest 2011.

Roundtables and Presentations

Top brass of the development team took to the stage to discuss how the meaningful nature of one's actions and the strong social bonds within the community contribute to the power and reality of three small words "EVE is real."

The eleven roundtables were well-received, with 'standing room only' being the case for several groups including the Gamemasters and Community tables. The panels and presentations from CSM to Character Creator all saw full rooms of attendees, as well.

An Enjoyably Busy First Day

While the first day of Fanfest is often a rather relaxed day, this Thursday saw an incredibly packed venue with throngs of players in every corner of the convention center. So far it has been an excellent start to an incredible celebration of EVE Online and it's amazing community.

• CCP Loktofeit