Open House Discussion

[Ickibod]

Since I don't see one, I just thought I'd start a discussion thread for people who went to the Relic Open House Today.

Anyways, I had a great time at the open house. It was easily one of the funnest times I've ever spent in a 16-th floor boardroom with 59 other Relic fans. The tournament was great to watch (I'm too awful of a player to compete), and the workshops and such were great. Overall, the day met and exceeded my expectations astronomically. I'd like to thank thank the COH staff for my new framed CoH-Poster and Mousepad! They'll both be put to good use.

Oh, and another thanks to everyone who made the day fun.

[QuixotesGhost]

What sort of things were discussed?

[Skwerl]

You're the one with the framed poster?
Congrats =)

[willyweed]

me and my brother Smoke had a great time. Thank you Buggo for being a very commendable hostess. Thank you to the staff that ran the tourneys, and tours, and presentations.

Sadly nothing new was announced. NDA's need not apply... unless its a big secret that relic is actually run by aliens, im not sure...

Smoke52 took 2nd place in the COH tourney in a hard fought back and forth finals with a fellow named Andrew. Vitensby and Bridger also played in the tourney. We only got to play one side and the settings were different on each computer. So it led to some frustrating moments when stations were swapped but it was still a blast. I wish Relic held little tourneys and fan get-togethers more often. Even if it was just a few hours long i would still attend, even if there werent any prizes.

Thanks Relic, I look forward to the next time me and my Brother get to visit again.

[mbamber]

The one thing I really cared about was what new information about patches and an expansion might be announced. Since it sounds like nothing new was announced I guess I'm not too dissapointed I didn't go.

I know alot of people think Relic keeps their information kind of secretive. I tend to agree they do but I completely agree with it. It makes it a constant guessing game what kind of new innovations they will come up with. I love the game and everything they do in the future is gonna be awesome.

[Imperial Dane]

Sounds like you had a great time, perhaps we will soon see some pictures and stuff from buggo.

Concerning the info, well it is not a big problem, if they aren't ready to tell, well they aren't ready to tell, though it would be nice to hear any announcements.

[SquidDNA]

Just having an awesome time.

NDA is a steel curtain, any real announcements will be made by Allie, but there is a little bit we've been given permission to upload.

[Imperial Dane]

NDA is a steel curtain, any real announcements will be made by Allie, but there is a little bit we've been given permission to upload.

Ooohh. what is it ?

[SquidDNA]

It's nothing too much to be excited about, just something cool that Uber is supposed to scan and upload.

Soul and Deadguy are toasted by the way.

[ceejayoz]

soul and deadguy are currently drunk and urging me to post this.

"Oh, is this on the staff forums?"
"No."
"Oh shit!"

They're pretty awesome and say they're having a fucking great time. Oh, they got Relic devs drunk, to boot. We've all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

[deadguy]

ONG SHOTS TAKING HOLD. I'm really glad that I didn't drink all the booze I bought for everyone else.

[ÜberJumper]

I'll add more comments to this post (so I can save my last 4). Check back for updates. I'll probably turn this post into a news post/article on RN.

It was great to meet everyone, it's too bad we didn't get to talk with more people.

Also, to Drew I kept going "is that Andrew D from High School?" NEXT TIME CALL ME ON NOT SAYING HI SOONER.

Gold_O's fan video was out-fucking-standing.


The roundtable discussions were excellent. We got great insight into their balance procedures and just how god-damned difficult it is to balance the game... and more importantly how serious they take it.

We saw some great info... there's HW and HW2 concept art that we saw that hasn't been posted before, hopefully Allie can get it released.

Rob Cunningham is perhaps one of the coolest human beings on the planet. He is a fantastic story teller and had everyone in stiches several times.

We'll ask what more we can talk about.

I was also presented with this.

The image on the front of this postcard is from Homeworld 2.

The story on the back is recruiting that was used at GDC.

If you put two and two together you might figure out why I freaked when I saw this... I might be wrong, but it could be the first official word...

[Someguy]

Today was a blast!!! I'm so glad Relic had the opportunity to hire Buggo when they had the chance. Without her, none of this would have been really possible. <3 <3

[Weavern]

/me dances

[Vicius]

Homeworld 3 i say .

[Dark_Axel]

Sounds like you guys had a great time...
Really looking foward to see Gold_O's fan video.

On a side note;
THQ has the following job list for Relic @ thq.com.
-Outsource Manager
-Senior Network Programmer
-Senior Designer
-Project Manager
-Development Tester
-Senior Programmer
-Tools Programmer

So definitly a new game, and combined with those THQ logo on HW arts sounds very promising. Hope to hear more about it soon.

Now I just need to wait for a european Relic meet-up

[ceejayoz]

Really looking foward to see Gold_O's fan video.

Oh, god.

No offence to the other entrants, but the only thing surprising about the 78% vote in his favour was that it was so low.

[Mac_Bug]

the thoughts of being in the same city as cj scares me

[Hellraiser]

Homewooooorrrlllllldddddd! Combine that with whatever was that distorted image Buggo posted a while back and it's starting to make sense(it's either a homewolrd related project or they're trying to throw us completely off tracks ).

It looks like you had fun, what did you play on the tournament?
DC and CoH or maybe even HW2? I wish I was there I'd kick ass in CoH . I'm anxiously waiting to see the videos.

[Nurizeko]

I woulda loved to come but being foreign and poor, I would probably have arrived a month after the event.

Glad to hear it went well.

As for the homeworld thing, it could range from Homeworld 3 to an RTS set invasion of Earth, that or its just a half-amusing post-card from homeworld 2.

[MadCatChiken]

ZOMFG!!! I hope this big secret is Homeworld 3... i'd have a heart attack with happyness. Anyway, wish i could come to the open house, sucks being a 15 year old living in a country on the other side of the pond.


MCC.

[TheDividedGod]

.......

This thread is hilarious. And that "postcard" is quite suggestive.

Sounds like a fine time was had by all, at any rate.

[Imperial Dane]

Well sounds like you had a blast ! Any good stories to tell ? or any fun pictures to post ? Otherwise i don't think there is much to say about this. I think most people had hoped on some announcement of some kind i think.

[Retroboy]

[/wild_speculation]I don't get the Homeworld universe hook from the postcard, tbh. I think it was an absolutely awesome piece of HW2-sourced concept art that makes a DAMNED attractive postcard front, and it might be completely independent from the game they're developing. That description in the text could easily apply to a BattleFleet Gothic/Dawn of War 40K hybrid, particularly with the bit about earth-people being "imprinting-resistant", which seems more WH40K than HW-universe-ish. They couldn't use a BFG concept art piece for the postcard because it would violate their NDA, so they used the next best thing.

But then there's the Taiidan and Kushan emblems on and near the stamp...

----------

Nice ship, Tyler. Who assembled?

Also, glad you folks were having an excellent time.

-- Retro

[Starblade]

Don't suppose anyone sekritly took a picture of Buggo?

Glad you guys had a fun time. Oh, and Uberjumper, QUIT TOYING WITH MY HEART AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

[The Legacy]

I *Accidentally* got a crummy photo of her while I was taking pictures of the group of Relic fans. Will I release it? For the fear of my life, hell no!

As for the Homeworld 3 talk, I cannot confirm nor deny the possibility of the existance of the suggestion of speculation of the upcoming game of Homeworld 3. No, they didn't tell us. But for the sake of the NDA, I ain't telling anything that I DID see until Buggo says yes. XD

By the way, the trip was friggin awesome!

[DatonKallandor]

It's VERY suggestive of HW3. Mainly, because Sierra would go into over-drive sueing mode if they still had the license. After all, this is Homeworld with a THQ logo on it. Giant no-no if you don't have the rights to it.

[molo]

I love that buggo's identity is classified top secret eyes only.


Too bad I couldn't make it up, but maybe I'll get another chance to visit at next year's Open House.





wink wink.

[deadguy]

This soul, refreshed and sober.

We are having a fantastic fuckin time. The open house was great, but meeting up afterwards around 10pm at a local pub and buying shots for relic staffers was just badass. Allie can really drive her audi tt like, well to quote squid who is sitting next to me right now 'a mad woman'. I am pretty sure we are both dead to her for that comment.

If we didnt have cj squid and deadguy following us in the rental it would have been interesting how fast we would have got to the pub.

It is good to know that jaeger is the canadian equivalent of a hand shake and a hello, and the coh art director hooked me on a new shot, the broken down golf cart.

Its like a jello shot but pure liquid.

[Ickibod]

I must agree with Uberjumper that Rob Cunningham was great. Oh, and goldo_O's fan video was just... gah, i can't find any praise worthy of it. I hope it gets uploaded somewhere, it was spectacular.

[Gunnerside]

Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun!

Relic should do a tour-de-open house in europe too

[Moe]

That was awesome. Allie and the Relic team put on a fantastic tour. There were presentations, a tour of the offices, a CoH tourney, and a lot of chances to chat with the guys who brought us our favorite games.

Thank you so much Allie for making this possible, I had the time of my life.

And it was nice to meet some of the other staffers and members in the flesh. And I second the comment about Rob C.

[deadguy]

soul again.

I strongly agree with moe, the amount of time and energy that they put into it clearly shows, and from what i could tell everyone had a great time. Hearing about the post mortem of hw from the people who actually created that masterpiece was outstanding, and the art staff are some of the coolest cats around.

[TheDividedGod]

if the reason there have been various delays in patch releases and other things because they were really trying to make this open house a big deal then...hell, I got no problems........and I didn't even go, hah! Hearing about hw from the designers themselves must have been......ach. I can't even imagine. I can count on one hand the number of games that just blew me away like homeworld, and homeworld is always the first to get named when i do such one-hand counts. Heh.

[Tiresias]

I hate you all ;p

[Progenitor]

the "3rd ring" is very suggestive of a HW3.

[Mnementh]

I hate you all ;p

Seconded. Sounds like it was awesome.

[Chris]

Were there any pics taking of the drinking sessions? 2000 republic credits to the man who produces photos of Relic employees embarrassing themselves while under the influence.

[NovaBurn]

this is one hell of a trip and its fraking awesome. It was great to see some of the guys at relic again, most especially to meet and hang out with Rob C and do shots and just general BS around. The open house was completely beyond my expectations. Allie did a phenomenal job putting it all together and giving us great time to show us the workings of relic. The presentations put together by the relic guys were informative, hilarious and just plain awesome. The guys/gals at relic were amazed and flattered to have as many people as they had show up. Not to mention the total support they had given us and well as the support we gave them.

Because there were so many people there not all of us got a chance to say hi to all the fellow members. Got to meet alot of great guys there; Trizz, Obtuse, Iggie (the rest of the staff), and a bunch of others as well.

As for some of the stuff we had gotten to see as far as concept art for things they were putzing with...FRAKING AWESOME AND AMAZING. DO WANT.

If anyone tries to break nda or post buggo pics, your life span will be quiet short lived.

[Thunderbolt]

I had a blast as well it was awesome meeting some of the forum members in person and all the events involving the devs. i also tried my luck in the tourney and even though i did not make it past my first match i still got a unit patch! kudos to relic for providing me with a great opportunity !

[ceejayoz]

soul again

they were not embarrassing themselves, i do not think anyone was. From what i could tell though everyone was having a blast and am glad i am here till tuesday with the rest of the rn staff.

[Mac_Bug]

Are you guys going to stalk the BSG and SG crew on their sets now?

[deadguy]

Nova, I didn't see you doing any shots - in fact, I think I bought you your only drink. :/ Also, I think I bought a lot of drinks for people last night: you, RobC, Uber, Someguy, Soul, and Mark, um... I *think* that's all.

Yes, it was fantastic.

And yes, it's still going.

Also, Nova had a Long Island Iced Tea. And it was strong. And Nova is apparently not a heavy drinker.

[Splitstar]

The unofficial announcement of HW3 could be the best news i am hearing all week.

Especially since the post card is missing the Sierra logo.

[Mac_Bug]

Keep in mind though Relic is now a huge company, hiring for a few positions with people constantly leaving is not necessarily indicative of anything

[JAL-18]

Thank you oh so very much for making my job absolutely miserable right now. Glad you bastards care about my feelings.

/me dies.

[The Legacy]

WHAT?!!! You went to a bar AFTER I left?! Liars! ()

Oh well, I don't mind...glad you guys had fun with the staffers.

As for the HW3 thing, I did point out, with a general consensus from them, that HW3 may not be likely, because Sierra owns the Homeworld license...so unless they brought it back from them, it's not likely we will see a true sequel.

...Unless they make a spiritual sequel, like TA and Supcom are.

[Retroboy]

the "3rd ring" is very suggestive of a HW3.

It is also indicative of the fact that the Earth is the 3rd planet out from the sun, and that happens to be where Relic, the attempted recruiters, currently position their office.

IIWY, I wouldn't read too much into that particular number.

-- Retro

[The Legacy]

...Or maybe Rob looked too closely at my portfolio, and......oh shit. XD

[Imperial Dane]

or perhaps we should just wait for Relic to make an announcement, and personally i would rather see a DoW 2.. but that might be because i have never played any of the homeworld games beyond a demo or two.
So to return to the event.. It was just a lot of flashy stuff you were shown and then you got out and got drunk ?