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Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)
Posted By: t6ram <conjurefaction@gmail.com>Date: 9/17/11 1:25 a.m.

In Response To: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1) (Avateur)


: Hi everyone, how's it going? This post is heavy on the text, and while I do
: have pictures, I ended up doing more chatting and hanging out with really
: awesome people than picture taking. I have managed to include some pics (I
: may reply with more pics later). This post captures all of Friday, August
: 26, and I have broken this post up into sections to make it easier to find
: areas of interest. There isn't going to be a TL;DR beyond "absolutely
: awesome" so go grab yourself some water (drink of champs), some
: snacks, and enjoy the write-up.

: The First Day - August 26, 2011

: Late To The Party

: I ended up getting into Seattle after all the festivities began. t6ram,
: Wilshire, and I made our way to HaloFest and got there around noon. We
: managed to show up at HaloFest right as the Community panel was beginning
: (featuring our very own Louis Wu, for those of you not paying attention).

: I met up with kanbo somewhere near the end of the panel and obtained my HBO
: shirt (thanks again kanbo and Levi, the shirt rocks!), chatted with my
: fellow HBOers for a bit, and then made my way to the stage to introduce
: myself to bs angel. I've played with her for years and it was really cool
: to finally meet her! I also had a gift to deliver to her from
: Antithesis721 . Pretty nice sculptures, right? I had already commissioned
: him to create a secret surprise for Wu (more on that below), and he asked
: me if I'd be willing to give angel one of his original sculptures that he
: knew she really liked. How could I turn him down?

:

: And sure enough, she absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, angel had to go to
: the Community meet-up and I had to hurry up and go find Laird a few blocks
: away. Luckily, angel gave me a VIP pass, so I'd end up seeing her later in
: the evening. Thanks again for the pass, angel!

: With bs angel's surprise gift delivered, it was time to vacate HaloFest with
: Wilshire and t6ram in search of Laird. He posted here a while back telling
: people to email him if they wanted to participate in a secret surprise for
: 343 Industries that would be named later. "Later" had finally
: arrived, and it was time to check it out.

: When we arrived, Laird let us know that we were one of the last few people
: who had yet to sign it. Signatures were all over the top and sides and
: possibly even the bottom, so the three of us elected to sign the top front
: (since the front was about the only place that had any room left):

: With our mission complete, it was time to head back to HaloFest. There were
: new maps to be played and HBOers/other long-time Xbox Live/Halo Community
: friends to meet. Wilshire, t6ram, and I made our way to the Title Update
: and H1A Reach DLC map playing areas where we met up with CrazedOne,
: Kalamari, Mr. Meyagi, Das Kalk, and ElusiveEagle (who were PAX Enforcers
: at HaloFest). It was nice to finally meet them, and I also got to see
: this:

: I got to finally play on the Timberland remake, and my first kill was a
: splatter in my Warthog. It's such a great map, and I can't wait to get it
: for real in Reach. After we were done playing some games of Halo and
: checking out the Warthog, CrazedOne, Kalamari, Meyagi, and Elusive joined
: us to eat at the NYC Deli. The sandwiches were delicious! I definitely
: recommend it to everyone here.

: Hurry! More Surprises And The Halo Universe Panel

: t6ram, Wilshire, Kalamari, and I split off from the others after eating to
: wander back to my hotel so that I could check in before the Halo Universe
: panel. We dropped off some swag and rested for a bit when suddenly Mig
: text messaged me to meet up with them somewhere at the Sheraton.
: Apparently HBO was going to be getting in before everyone else, and I was
: still a few blocks away. And then I got this message: "Hurry."

: I took that message to heart and told everyone it was time to move. We were
: literally running at some points while trying to get there on time, and
: sure enough we made it just as they were letting everyone from HBO in.
: Thanks for the heads up Mig! This was technically my first opportunity to
: introduce myself and say hi to everyone from HBO. Yeah, I had seen some
: people earlier, but not like this. After we got our seats, I implemented
: the next parts of my surprise.

: Remember those sculptures Antithesis made? I commissioned him about a month
: ago to make one of Louis Wu's spartan carrying a flag with the Bungie.org
: insignia on it as a way to give personal thanks and representative thanks
: from everyone at HBO for everything he's done for me and us over the past
: decade. Again, thank you for running HBO and being all around awesome, Wu!
: I have a pic of it and I'd post it, but I'll leave that up to Wu (if he
: wants to) since in the moment I totally forgot to even ask to take a pic
: of Wu with the figure. Oops! What do you say, Wu? :D

: From there I moved to the stage. I had one final gift to give to Frankie from
: both Anti and me. It was a bust of a Mark V Spartan whose little symbol
: was made up of the colors of Scotland's flag. Hey Frankie, if you're
: reading this (since I also sort of mentioned it but forgot to actually
: tell you), the Spartan goes by Spartan-0131 (named after Edinburgh's area
: code, and also conveniently not conflicting with any other Spartans to my
: knowledge). Just like with Wu, I totally forgot to get a picture of
: Frankie with the figure, so if you're out there reading this Frankie and
: feel like posting a pic, that would be awesome!

: I returned to my seat and then the real hilarity started. 4Helmut. I'm fairly
: sure pics will be posted here eventually, and I'll probably end up posting
: some myself as a reply later. And then the panel started. If you haven't
: seen it, you need to: Link

: Eating My Words

: I would like to take a moment in this section to talk about the second
: Terminal shown during the Halo Universe Panel. I got up when it was
: question time so that I could eat my words in front of everyone, but we
: were turned away before I got to the mic. I managed to tell Frankie
: everything personally, but I'll say it again here.

: So, I've been on my soap box at HBO for a while now about how these Terminals
: can't possibly be canon in relation to the Master Chief in Halo 1. I
: didn't question whether they were canon in the overall universe, and even
: hinted that they were fan service to broaden our knowledge and
: understanding of events that have occurred or will occur. This second
: Terminal essentially confirmed that the Master Chief is not actually
: seeing these Terminals, but is acting more as a portal for us to view the
: Terminals in preparation for Halo 4. That second Terminal was amazing and
: really sets us up for some interesting speculation, and I am now
: unbelievably excited to see the other Terminals. I know how to admit when
: I was wrong and when I was worrying incorrectly, and I have no problem
: admitting it in front of all of you (or in front of that giant room of
: fans if only I had had the chance).

: These Terminals are going to rock, and in terms of the larger Halo universe,
: they are going to be pretty big. I've been really looking forward to Halo
: 4 from the start, and I have it on good authority that these Terminals are
: going to make me even more excited for it. I can't wait!

: Autographs, Pictures, and Banter

: What followed the panel was just amazing. Jay Weinland had been in the
: audience and ended up moving close to the stage after the panel ended, so
: I got to meet and talk to him for a bit. Then we all followed Marty,
: Frankie, Jen Taylor, Steve Downes, and Pete Stacker outside of the theater
: in order to get autgraphs, take pictures, and chat it up. For practically
: a decade I've wondered if I'd ever get the chance to meet Marty and get my
: H1 OST autographed by him, and it finally happened!

:

: A lot of us had name badges at HaloFest identifying who we were, and Steve
: Downes was kind enough to sign mine. Jen Taylor also signed my HaloFest
: badge. Pics were taken, conversations took place, and awesome times were
: had. And then it was time for dinner.

: The Hurricane Cafe

: I might not have been able to visit the Space Needle, but it was pretty
: awesome finally getting to see it looming off in the distance as we neared
: the Hurricane Cafe.

:

: And then we made it to the Cafe! As has already been hinted at in other
: threads, I had probably one of the best burgers I've ever had at a place
: where you order a burger to eat as opposed to cooking or grilling one
: yourself. Others seemed very pleased with their food as well. We were
: given an entire section of the place to take over and be loud and chat
: about many random things. Here's a break down of the events: Totally
: independently without any input from anyone else at the table (I'm lying
: so hard right now), I began crafting an HBO post that took into account
: people who had posted very recently on the forum who were not at HaloFest.
: Some of you might remember it as the one where Hyokin and others were
: listed. Now, this post was made strictly out of love and roflcopters and
: was not intended to be hater-ly. But it was intended to be mean, with
: love. Think of it like a "Wish You Were Here!" type of postcard,
: but delivered in a much more fun way. :P

: bryan newman ended up getting an appetizer that showed up promptly and was
: eaten just as quickly, but he didn't receive his actual dinner until after
: nearly all of us had finished eating. I don't know if his meal would have
: ever come out or if someone reminded the staff, but we were all pretty
: shocked. We remembered him eating and never thought anything else of it
: until he spoke up near the end. But here's the classy part about this
: situation: bryan probably waited about 45 minutes to get his main course,
: yet he was still polite, kind, and didn't flip a table over having to wait
: for so long. I applaud you!

: We ended our meal with a very heartfelt toast from Mig followed by another
: heartfelt toast from AngelicLionheart. I felt I should at least
: acknowledge these toasts here while holding the content close to my heart,
: for I will never forget what was said. None of us will.

: VIP Party

: The night was filled with many VIPs and a lot of fun. I mean, it was a
: complete and total blast. I almost want to make a write-up out of the VIP
: party itself, but I'll just leave it to the key points and great things
: that happened.

: First Wu was presented with the first annual Claude Errera award and a 360
: Duke controller. I can't say that any of us really knew what they were
: going to do when they called him up there, but we loved it. Congrats Wu!
: And then Laird's surprise from earliear was finally presented to 343
: Industries. After the awards were presented it was time to socialize with
: people!

: I finally got to meet Urk beside the Halo cake and have a very ridiculously
: brief conversation with him. I don't really have anything else to add
: here. I know this has been posted many times before, but here's that cake:

: Then I wandered off with Wilshire, t6ram, padraig, chris101b, and bryan
: newman to check out everything that was going on. We ended up wandering
: into Stephen Loftus and Mr. Vociferous, which was actually really cool and
: convenient because I had wanted to meet Vociferous and I finally got the
: opportunity to question some things that didn't quite add up (aka have not
: necessarily been revealed and might not be for tha while) in the Essential
: Visual Guide. Sorry DHalo, but I didn't bother asking about Mendicant Bias
: because I figured I wouldn't get anywhere with it. That and I was too busy
: asking about other concerns regarding H1A.

: So about those concerns! I told him how my posts at HBO about the Terminals
: weren't about whether they fit into overall canon, but about whether 343
: was trying to make these Terminals actually fit into H1 canon as if they
: were being viewed by the Master Chief right there. They aren't. Master
: Chief is just a portal for the player to view some really, really awesome
: universe-canonical stuff that appears to totally be setting us up for Halo
: 4. I am completely fine with this, especially since it's been clarified to
: me. He hinted and teased at some things, so I can't wait to find the rest
: of those Terminals!

: And then all of a sudden we were standing at the end of a huge line. Yes,
: just like that. While I had been talking with Vociferous, the line to get
: some cake had been forming and eventually extended by some hundred or so
: people to where we were standing far away. My conversation with Vociferous
: ended and we officially waited at the very end of the cake line.

: The line began moving (slowly) but a pretty cool thing happened! I ended up
: seeing Luke Timmins and shouted out to him and introduced myself. I
: mentioned that I was on the HBO Humpday team that played against Bungie
: after Reach launched and he appeared to remember me! That was pretty
: awesome finally getting to meet him, especially since my Trophy pic on my
: profile has been our Hell's Hog since the bonus game they played with us
: after the Humpday:

: Thanks for chatting with me a bit Luke! And then I finally made it to the
: cake! I got myself a slice and also broke off one of the Grunt's fingers.
: Who knew Grunts tasted so great?

: Insanely Awesome LAN Time

: And now the most awesome time of the night arrived. A lot of people cleared
: out of the VIP Party with maybe an hour left to go. Wilshire and I went to
: the FFA area of HaloFest to play on the new Prisoner remake with Mr.
: Meyagi, CrazedOne, the light show, and Kalamari. No one else was playing
: in the area, so it became a mini-LAN for all of us. We play all the time
: together over Xbox Live, but getting the chance to take over an area,
: battle it out, and talk trash in person was priceless!

: Eventually bs angel wandered up and watched me play, and I finally got the
: chance to talk to her about Anti's present, how awesome HaloFest was
: going, how great the Prisoner remake is, and a number of other things. We
: even got her to join in and play a bit! Then seemingly out of nowhere Tim
: Dabado, showed up and was kind enough to take a picture with me. We talked
: for a bit and then it came time to pressure him into playing some Halo
: with us. How could we pass up on an opportunity to play with Tim Dabado?
: The best part? We didn't have to pressure at all! He let us know that he
: hadn't played Halo in a while, but then sat down and was totally ready to
: go.

: We were informed that HaloFest was about to close in something like two
: minutes and that we couldn't play, but we begged and pleaded and the
: Enforcer people were kind enough to let us play that one final game. Then,
: just as we were about to start, Marty O'Donnell came walking by. I felt
: obligated to start shouting "HEY MARTY! COME PLAY WITH US" when
: I saw him. I thought he'd just ignore it or be like why's this guy
: shouting over at me, but sure enough he joined us and sat down to play!
: Tim Dabado, Marty O'Donnell, and a Prisoner remake. It was on, hardcore!

: We got to play for a few minutes before the contractors running HaloFest came
: over and ended the game and told us that HaloFest was closed and it was
: time to leave. Whoever was in first had 10 kills and the game was pretty
: close between all of us, so we definitely got in enough time to have a lot
: of fun! As we were being rushed out of HaloFest, Marty, Tim, and angel
: were kind enough to take a pic with all of us in front of the Weta
: Warthog. Assuming any of you took the time to read this far (or this
: section), thanks so much for playing with us and taking the time to be in
: a picture with us!

: Winning At Irony

: The night still wasn't over! Downstairs right in front of the exit, Halo
: Legends posters were sprawled out on the tables for fans to take for free.
: I decided to win at irony by asking if Tim and Marty would sign the
: posters even though they had nothing to do with Legends (especially Marty,
: since he's Bungie and all). Marty noted the irony, laughed, and was more
: than happy to sign it with Tim. Think of it this way: without Bungie and
: the success of their games, Halo Legends wouldn't have even happened. That
: and it's Marty's music (even if "enhanced") in Halo Legends. It
: all makes sense, okay?

: Hey Look, It's JonnyOThan

: We exited HaloFest and, practically right outside of the doors, was a man in
: a Bungie shirt. It was JonnyOThan, as the title of this section so
: elloquently spoiled! It was awesome finally getting to meet and talk to
: Jonny in person. We all talked a bit about what had happened throughout
: the day. Apparently Jonny hadn't even had a chance to go to HaloFest yet!
: After standing around and talking for another thirty minutes, Kermi7,
: Stephen Loftus, padraig, chris101b, Jonny, Crazed, Kalamari, Wilshire, and
: I went our separate ways. Crazed and Kalamari accompanied Wilshire and I
: before we split off to our respective hotels for some much needed sleep!

: Thanks for reading this far (if any of you actually did :P)! See the next
: post for Saturday and the HBO Sunday Breakfast!

Very articulated write-up, thanks for sharing! Initially, I didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I'm glad I joined the HBO Community. It was a pleasure to meet and converse with the HBOers who were in attendance at PAX. You folks relish the Halo universe so much (if not more!) as I do. I look forward to meeting you all again in the future!


Message Index




Replies:

Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)Avateur 9/16/11 9:12 p.m.
     Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 and 3)Avateur 9/16/11 9:12 p.m.
           Nice write up! *NM*bryan newman 9/16/11 9:16 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 ankanbo 9/16/11 9:32 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anDEEP NNN 9/16/11 9:33 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anStephen L. (SoundEffect) 9/16/11 10:04 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anrowboat 9/16/11 10:40 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anDas Kalk 9/16/11 11:35 p.m.
           I don't exist in your world... *NM*Hypertrooper 9/17/11 9:31 a.m.
                 Re: I don't exist in your world...Avateur 9/17/11 2:27 p.m.
           Writeup = better than moneypadraig08 9/17/11 4:32 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anbluerunner 9/17/11 6:35 p.m.
           A couple highlights for me...Chris101b 9/19/11 12:10 p.m.
                 Re: A couple highlights for me...kanbo 9/19/11 6:51 p.m.
                       Re: A couple highlights for me...GrimBrother One 9/19/11 7:15 p.m.
                             At least my shirt didn't come out brown...Chris101b 9/19/11 8:03 p.m.
                                   ROLL TIDE *NM*GrimBrother One 9/19/11 8:08 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anFrankie 9/20/11 1:15 p.m.
                 Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anAvateur 9/20/11 9:46 p.m.
           Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anpete_the_duck 12/12/11 8:19 p.m.
                 Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anGrimBrother One 12/12/11 10:47 p.m.
                       Maybe the greatest picture I have ever seen...ever *NM*bryan newman 12/12/11 10:52 p.m.
                       gets me everytime. *NM*padraig08 12/13/11 12:27 a.m.
                             Re: gets mes everytime. *NM*Kermit 12/13/11 12:29 p.m.
                                   ROFLpadraig08 12/13/11 1:23 p.m.
                                   Were it so easy. *NM*SonofMacPhisto 12/13/11 2:33 p.m.
                                   +1 *NM*NsU Soldier 12/13/11 3:24 p.m.
                                   Dang it, now I miss Stuntmutt again. *NM*Vandle Valsher 12/13/11 3:34 p.m.
                       Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/13/11 5:47 a.m.
                             Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Days 2 anKermit 12/13/11 3:40 p.m.
                       Hey! Kermit stole my shirt! *NM*Louis Wu 12/13/11 5:59 a.m.
     Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)INSANEdrive 9/16/11 9:50 p.m.
     Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)Crazedone1988 9/16/11 10:16 p.m.
     Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)Kalamari 9/16/11 11:37 p.m.
     Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)Kermit 9/17/11 12:11 a.m.
     Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)t6ram 9/17/11 1:25 a.m.
     This.Postmortem 9/17/11 1:57 a.m.
     You make me jealous,Jennos 9/17/11 2:15 a.m.
     This write-up!NsU Soldier 9/17/11 11:22 a.m.
     Re: Extremely Awesome HaloFest Write-up (Day 1)ElusiveEagle519 9/17/11 2:56 p.m.



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