For those of you who enjoy meeting with your online friends, hanging out with the developers and community staff, and eating, drinking, and living the MMO dream, then the annual Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire is for you.

Today was for registration, followed by a Welcome Reception and then a Legends of Norrath event.  Many of us were standing in line at the doors waiting for the busy SOE staff who were frantically working to put the final touches on their SOE Store, the game kiosks, the computer tables, and of course... the swag bags!  As the crowd got larger, Alan "Brenlo" Crosby stepped outside with his bullhorn and had the players cheering for their favorite title and chanting "S.O.E!" to keep us all entertained.

Once the doors finally opened, the crowd surged forward and we all proceeded frantically towards the registration desk, where there were many Event Staff t-shirts buzzing around trying to meet everyone that was there to pick up their badges.

Finally, the crowd thinned out and moved on to the Barron Room for the Welcome Reception, where many players had their tables all set out, with tags identifying their groups. The staff and players mingled while enjoying some fabulous food and drinks, and much fun was had by all. By the time I was finally able to make my way there, the crowd was beginning to thin out, but several were still there in conversation with many of the developers... discussing everything from updates to wish lists, and everything in between.

I moved over to the Legends of Norrath event, where several people were logged in and playing while members of the staff wandered among us (yes, I sat down and played for awhile, too!) passing out t-shirts and advice, feedback, and ocassionally a cheer for a particularly clever move.

 All in all, this year's Fan Faire has kicked off rather smoothly. The next two days promise to hold many awesome secrets to be revealed, and many fantastic moments to catch the staff and players in candid moments. Be sure to keep an eye out for our coverage... we'll be sitting at panels for all of the titles throughout the days and bringing the details to you as soon as possible. 

If, however, you are already here at Fan Faire, be sure to stop one of us and say hello! We'd love to meet you!