SOE Live Webcast! - Military Comments

[feldon30]

Preserved for posterity, some deleted posts from the SOE Live 2013 Webcast! thread.

[Neurotoxin]

I had a great time at SOE Live last year. Meeting other fellow players, getting to chat with the devs of different games, conducting a player panel with two of SOE's QA veterans, PS2 panels, hitting the photo booth with Tramell Ray Isaac and the VS Light Assault soldier, the list could go on for a while.

That being said, here are my questions:

1) Will Planet Hollywood provide better quality food and drinks with better variety? (At Bally's, warm stuff was cold, cold stuff was warm, bread was dry, vegetarian solutions were extremely limited, and beer was all totally weak sauce!)

2) Will there be a recruiting mini-mixer for industry hopefuls and professionals to interact regarding potential employment opportunities?

3) Will there be more skill-based or aesthetic-based contests? Possibly a player art gallery?

4) Could we get a hint as to what SOE Live 2012 PlanetSide players should expect to receive as their in-game item, content, or feature?

5) If there is anything overtly political, can we get very clear notice of it ahead of time? - - - (I honestly would have declined to do the player panel & requested a refund last year if I realized that part of the keynote or grand banquet was going to celebrate US military participation. There were very few disappointing things at SOE Live last year, and that was the worst by leaps and bounds.)


Thanks! I'm looking forward to SOE Live this year!!

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by Neurotoxin

5) If there is anything overtly political, can we get very clear notice of it ahead of time? - - - (I honestly would have declined to do the player panel & requested a refund last year if I realized that part of the keynote or grand banquet was going to celebrate US military participation. There were very few disappointing things at SOE Live last year, and that was the worst by leaps and bounds.)

You could just do us all a favor and skip it. The soldiers don't decide where to go and there is nothing wrong with recognizing their sacrifices.

Originally Posted by Neurotoxin

2) Will there be a recruiting mini-mixer for industry hopefuls and professionals to interact regarding potential employment opportunities?

I'm not sure what opportunities there are in the gaming industry for folks who wear intolerance on their sleeve.

Originally Posted by Neurotoxin

5) If there is anything overtly political, can we get very clear notice of it ahead of time? - - - (I honestly would have declined to do the player panel & requested a refund last year if I realized that part of the keynote or grand banquet was going to celebrate US military participation. There were very few disappointing things at SOE Live last year, and that was the worst by leaps and bounds.)

As a 15 year veteran of the U.S. Navy, I confess to being a bit embarrassed when moments like that occur as I'm not one that actively seeks out recognition for things that I've done. As to the rest of what you said, I really only have one thing to say:


You're welcome.


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1. Will the kids events be just on Saturday like last years, or will there be events on both Friday and Saturday?
2. Will Elizabitty need to have her swear filter on this year around Brasse after last year's "incident"

Originally Posted by Neurotoxin

5) If there is anything overtly political, can we get very clear notice of it ahead of time? - - - (I honestly would have declined to do the player panel & requested a refund last year if I realized that part of the keynote or grand banquet was going to celebrate US military participation. There were very few disappointing things at SOE Live last year, and that was the worst by leaps and bounds.)

Let us know ahead of time if you plan on doing another player panel for this year because I will make sure to avoid it like the plague and suggest to others who support our men and women who wear/did wear the uniform to do the same.

[Dethdlr]

Originally Posted by Neurotoxin

5) If there is anything overtly political, can we get very clear notice of it ahead of time? - - - (I honestly would have declined to do the player panel & requested a refund last year if I realized that part of the keynote or grand banquet was going to celebrate US military participation. There were very few disappointing things at SOE Live last year, and that was the worst by leaps and bounds.)

Political? Perhaps we saw different things at the event. Perhaps I dozed off and missed part of it. Or perhaps you're hearing one thing and calling it something else.

Commenting on or endorsing particular actions that the US military has engaged in would be political. For instance, if SOE were to say on stage that they supported the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, that would be political.

Recognizing the individual men and women who serve in the US military is not political. You may not like the military yourself and for all I know, you may have good reasons for that. But that doesn't make it political.

The big game that was launched last year by SOE was Planetside 2, a game about three different factions of military forces fighting to take control of a planet. One of the larger player panels was called "Military Gamers - Leveraging Military Experience in Gaming". The fact that they chose to recognize members of the real life US military didn't exactly come as a shock to me. But again, it wasn't political. If that's something that offends you, I'd recommend not attending any public events in the US since you never know when someone in the US will decide to to thank the men and women serving in the US military.

[feldon30]

and here's what he said last year on the subject...

Originally Posted by Neurotoxin

Please don't get political with future SOE Live keynotes. Promotion of military is political, and to me patently offensive and unacceptable in the context of a fan festival for fictitious games.

Promoting the Military Gamers organization is one thing, but rewarding players for their length of active duty is getting into genuinely political territory.*If politics can't be avoided, then supporting LGBTQ players would be a much better subject to address, as the battle against LGBTQ oppression is something SOE actively supports. Nobody can be offended about LGBTQ rights except fascists and bigots and bullies, and with cyber-bullying on the rise, any stand against fascists / bigots / bullies is a plus for society as a whole.

Another subject that would be just as politically relevant for SOE to address is support for people with disabilities, and opposition to ableism. Bullying based on ableism is NOT tolerated by SOE, and so it would be just as important of an issue for SOE to take on at a SOE Live keynote.*