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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): General/Updates
[UPDATES] Those of you coming back from training, report in!
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LordKaT
Boot

Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 34

 		Re: NYC
Ugh, I had a miserable time at the NYC event. I got there around 6-ish and hung out until 9. I would say I was pretty close to the front of the line, although some fanboys beat me out.

I was hyped up for Halo 2, and now I feel like I've wasted $8 on express bus fares:

1) No DVD. I don't know if anybody else in line got them, but the few of us near the front of the line were told we would receive "something" at the end of the event. I didn't stay long enough for that.

2) Raffle tickets. Why hand them out if you're not going to raffle anything off? For those of you who were told they were being handed out to ensure that the people who came first got in first: that was an out and out lie. There were 8 year olds, with their parents, who got in ahead of me and didn't have a ticket: they just walked up and in. I wish I had thought of that.

3) Gameplay. I never got to play Sad When it was my chance, the screen went blank (some dork probably kicked out the power cable). After the 5 minutes were up, we were escorted away from the game. I even tried to explain to the guy standing right next to me - staring at my screen - that the xbox isn't on and I couldn't play. At least the headset was comfortable.

4) Waiting in line was painful. They could've at least had the spanish speaking bee guy from the Simpsons running around saying random things in Spanish. Yeah, it would've gotten old, but at least I could've kicked him in the groin a few times Wink.

As RwS said, I'm still hyped for Halo 2. I can't wait to see where Bungie takes the story next, but this event left me less than thrilled. At least I know I'll never plan a big event at that theater.

On a side note: I did leave the event early, because of the sour taste in my mouth made me feel as though waiting for the 1:30am ferry was not worth it, so I left around 11:00-11:30 (didn't remember to log the exact time Razz) to catch the x10 back to Staten Island.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed. $8 in express bus fares, I left empty handed, got pushed around by fathers and mothers with their panty-stain children, and never got a chance to play. I kind've wish I had done my Calculus homework instead.

Ah, well, we all have bad nights, I guess.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:52 pm
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skilletaudio
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Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

 		Deceptacons: If you are referring to the Red team on King of the Hill, late at night, that were getting their asses solidly kicked until the score was 50:21, then made a short comeback before losing.

That would be me.

Fun tho.Smile
I am NOT an xbox gamer. I tried to train before the event on how to use analog sticks for an FPS, which is foreign to me. Had a learning curve for the first few minutes, but I goy my game on by the end.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:54 pm
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Blicero
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Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 93

 		I wouldn't worry to much about getting pwned on xbox live:

Quote:

(from gamespot)
In fact, Bungie has devised an elaborate stat-tracking scheme that will keep tabs on just about every aspect of your performance in online games. Furthermore, your performance will contribute to a transparent experience level that you'll accumulate as you play, and you'll visibly gain levels over time that correspond to how well you play. We actually managed to hit level two on the afternoon we played the game, though we imagine higher skill levels will take much more time (and skill) to reach.

The purpose of your experience level? To match you with players of similar ability, of course. The experience system will be weighted such that the greater the differential between your level and that of your opponents, the more experience you'll gain if you win. Conversely, when you defeat players of lesser skill, you won't gain much experience at all. If you're a real stat hound, you'll be able to check out all your own performance numbers, as well as the profiles of other players, on bungie.net.


PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:56 pm
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themill
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Joined: 25 Jul 2004
Posts: 38

 		I was at the Chicago event (RED TEAM!) and I think the event went mostly good. There were some snafus with verifying who came and who had tickets and stuff like that but it wasn't a big deal... It seemed like those who really wanted to play got to and nobody seemed very disappointed. The crowd was a little on edge, especially with the little guy won the XBox set... but they were probably just jealous.
It was really cool to see the bunch of beekeepers at the top of the theatre trying to figure out the final clues...

And oh yeah, I got to play myself. Remember Team Oddball? Remember the Red team won it? Yeah, yeah, that was me. All me. Wink The last six seconds I checked my radar and realized that there wasn't anyone near me so I was gonna win. When we won the match (I think the only one that we did pretty well on) I turned around and there were 200 people screaming at me...


It was awesome.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:20 pm
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Alderaad
Boot

Joined: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 58
Location: Boston, MA

 		I didn't mean to be all that negative about the situation in Boston.

The issues with not knowing about the DVDs purely resides with the cinema not following/reading directions.

I am thinking about stoping by there later on today to see if there are any left - to donate them to the I can't get to a place to get a DVD cause I live: too far away/another country/under a rock/etc.

-Alderaad

Try .. I said ... try...

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:26 pm
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Scumbag
Decorated


Joined: 27 Jul 2004
Posts: 214
Quote:

All the quotes complaining about Halo players being there and being neglected in favor of Halo 2 fans


Guys, not sure if people told you (oh wait, I did)...

Regardless of your feelings about ILB, it was really one thing - gain attention for Halo 2. As such, the finale of Halo 2 will bring out a lot of Halo fans.

Its not a shame. It doesn't suck. Its not horrible.

Its what was inevitable.
_________________
When I first got there and asked about I Love Bees, the attendant said I must be looking for some other theater... I said, "er....Halo 2 Preview Event?" and suddenly he understood what I meant.
fphzont jnf ynhtuvat

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:31 pm
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Avatrix
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Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 413
Location: Boston, MA

 		Went to the NYC event. Like several others, I was fairly disappointed.

My crew of five drove five hours from Boston to be there. We were excited to play Halo 2 for even a little bit, though most of all I was hoping to meet other bee keepers. Though we arrived in line about 45 minutes before we were supposed to check in, we were completely surrounded by people who knew nothing about ILB--just Halo fans who wanted to play and found out about it from Gamespot. We did enjoy watching the gameplay on the screen, but when it became clear that we weren't going to get to play (11:30), we decided to take off. I did go thank the MS rep for ILB, told him I really enjoyed it.

I was disappointed that we failed to find many beekeepers, though I know you guys were out there. At one point I noticed a woman directing a guy with a video camera, and talked to her for a bit. She worked for Loews, and was the liason for the event. She was amazed that we came all the way from Boston, and interviewed us briefly on camera. We announced our team name and where we were from. She also took our names, e-mail addresses and said she gave them to the XBox rep. He told her "they'll be taken care of", though I don't know what that was supposed to mean.

Microsoft didn't owe us anything in terms of this event. I REALLY enjoyed ILB, and the story was it's own reward. However, when they told us about the Combat Event, I expected it would be for beekeepers, not a random crowd of fans. Had I known that I would not get to play, and not really find many other ARGers, I would not have spent a ten hour round trip for the event, taken two days off of work, and spent money on gas/tolls/parking. I am just disappointed.

On the other hand, I've made some new friends here in Boston from ILB. We've already got plans to get together to play Halo 2, and I look forward to seeing the rest of you on Live. If you see Avatrix on, drop me a line and we'll throw down. ^_^

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:05 pm
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Arana
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Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 353
Location: shallow grave
Mazian wrote:
Arana wrote:
.
.
.
...They made the .wavs weekly just before release. They changed the whole plot from the one they had planned after Weephun ratted out the princess as they thought that made a better story!


I have slightly different information. Sean Stewart said that they were usually 3 weeks ahead of the stuff that was released, not 1 week. Obviously, some things had to change in the storyline to reflect the direction we players took things....

He said, for a specific example, that when we were listening to week 5, they had already recorded week 8 and were in the process of getting it approved and the post-processing done on it (adding sound effects, etc.)
...


I stand corrected. What I heard was "completed" just before. They must have been referring to the "post processing" etc. rather than the real creative process.

I had a wonderful time meeting everybody! Exceeded my expectations!
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:26 pm
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LordKaT
Boot

Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 34
Avatrix wrote:
Microsoft didn't owe us anything in terms of this event.


I agree. I just wish I could've gotten a DVD. Or play the game. Or take part in an actual raffle. Or ...

As an addition to my above post, I did notice people with their DVDs, and I managed to track down the house manager, who - after I had explained my situation - told me the DVDs were on a first come, first serve basis. I guess being at the front of the line doesn't count for anything Sad

Ah well, I did manage to answer a few Axons (a few, more like two - hiking up to Manhatten from Staten Island, while you're pulling a combined 60 hours of work + school is not easy), and I can say that I played along in my first ARG!

I've met some cool people, and some freaks of nature, and that's the real fun in all of this.

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:47 pm
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KenM
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Joined: 21 Jul 2004
Posts: 14
Location: Tulsa, OK

 		Austin combat training report
Hey guys,

I had a great time at the Austin event. I wore a t-shirt for my local rock band I was in in college, called Covenant. No one seemed to notice though.. oh well. Smile I was almost the oldest there at 34 but still an enjoyable time. The host of the event runs the Halo tourney at that local theater I believe, but also they had some guys from MS/Bungie there. The lead guy was named Josh I think. When we first came in they were showing a short film/movie based on Halo stuff that was pretty funny. I didn't see much because after driving in from out of town, I got there just 20 min. before showtime, as it were. But anyway it was pretty well organized. Just after I sat down they came by our seats passing out the DVD and lanyard to each person. They could walk down the aisles since it's a "dinner and a movie" theater where you can order food and eat at a narrow table in front of you. We were proud to say we were the only location last night able to drink a beer. Smile

They gave us raffle tickets as we arrived, and drew from the our ticket numbers to decide who would play the XBoxes. They had 4 set up in front of monitors near the front, and 2 controllers near the center of the seats hooked up to the big screen. They also raffled off the prizes as has been mentioned. DeceptaconS mentioned all of them except for XBox Live subscription cards.. they handed out 2. I remember this well because I won one of them! Then later they called my number *again* to say I won a copy of Halo 1. I told the guy I'd already won something and I was ok with them redrawing. The audience appreciated that it seemed.. they started calling me the "honest guy" hehe. And actually I'm going to do one better.. I don't own an XBox so I think I'll give away the subscription card too, as a freebie in the SWAG Lottery we're running here. It feels good to give back to an organization built around such a cool experience.

The actual game play looked pretty nice. It was cool to listen to the other player's comments while they played.. it was hilarious to hear krystyn calling out "Goddess Squad" and giving props to beekeepers. Strangely enough we couldn't hear the comments from our own players, just the other cities. The ilb interaction was short compared to almost 3 hours of gameplay, and didn't do as I'd hoped by playing new sound files (they replayed some excerpts from the 11/4 axons). But it was still cool. They did have one thing new.. like krystyn mentioned, they mixed in the sound of us singing into the phone during Durga's description of our "scratchy voices" hehe. Hopefully someone made a recording of this "remixed" version in the theater, since it doesn't seem to be available elsewhere. Anyway after that it cut to the sound of a couple of ringtones. Then Melissa picked up and said she had a special codeword for us, which was suture. Wish I had a phone with me to get in on the puzzle work after that, but it was cool to hear the start of it anyway.

I wish I could have stayed after and met more people, but I had to go since I had a 2 hour drive back and had to get up for work this morning. Between my lack of sleep and still buzzing about these events, not much work is getting done today!

Anyway, that's it for my account.. thanks for reading. And as a final note I'd just like to say that I'm a secret admirer of the beautiful ladies invovled with this experience! Especially the Durga/SP/Melissa actress (what a sensitive voice, talented and a looker too from the SF pics!), hmrpita, krystyn and the rest of the Goddess Squad, you're beautiful and you guys rock! *grin* [/geek drool]

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:48 pm
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Clayfoot
Entrenched


Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 785
Location: Warner Robins, Georgia, USA

 		Video/stills from Chicago training, but where to host them?
I have some video and stills from the Chicago training. Anybody got an idea where I could host them? The one where we all went around the table at Denny's is 8.4MB alone. I also have a video of the last audio message from Durga at the event. I'll try to compress that down. Ideas?
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:53 pm
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LordKaT
Boot

Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 34

 		Re: Video/stills from Chicago training, but where to host th
gkrohne wrote:
I have some video and stills from the Chicago training. Anybody got an idea where I could host them? The one where we all went around the table at Denny's is 8.4MB alone. I also have a video of the last audio message from Durga at the event. I'll try to compress that down. Ideas?


I own geekstreak.com, have 75GB of traffic left for the month. You're more than welcome to use some of it. Give me an e-mail, webmaster (at) geekstreak.com

PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:54 pm
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hmrpita
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Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 629
Location: East of the Ocean, West of the Bay, Close to many faults

 		fortune has smiled upon me
I am writing this having had only 2 hours of sleep, so I hope it makes sense.

I went to the Combat Training Session with some trepidation, since I do not play Halo and have never even touched an xbox (or any console, for that matter). Once I got there and they started the lottery system, I was relieved. I gave my ticket away, brushed off my hands and was done with it.

Then the fun started. The PMs were introduced. Oh muh guh! It got far better than that. While some of the hardcore Halo 2 players played in the theatre, the rest of us (including many hardcore Halo 2 players who chose to blow off playing Halo 2 in favor of talking to the PMs) went out into the lobby and talked. And took pictures. And talked. And had various items autographed. And talked. And later went to Mel's Drive-In to continue our conversations. And had a blast the entire time.

I couldn't believe that I met Kristen (Melissa). She actually came looking for me in the theatre and we walked down the row towards each other and when we met, we just hugged. I met Jane McGonigal (Dana), Kiyash Monsef (axon scout), Elan Lee (director), and Sean Stewart (writer). It was amazing to meet them and thrilling to talk with them. They were all so gracious and kind and generous. They are lovely people and it was the best gift to visit with them into the wee hours.

They seemed as thrilled to meet us as we were to meet them. When people would introduce themselves, they'd shout their name back to them in happy recognition.

Imagine you go to a big party. Imagine your favorite writer, musician, actor, composer, artist, or any category you choose, is at that party. Now imagine that person coming up to you and recognizing you. That is how it felt.

It was an incredible night. I got to meet so many people I had only seen online. Everyone was so nice to me. The Beekeepers have to be the very best community ever. I wish everyone in Austin, Chicago, and New York could have physically been in San Francisco last night. Your names came up in stories we were all telling, so you were there in spirit.

Thank you to everyone, Beekeepers and PMs, for making the last couple of months so much fun for me. You could never imagine how deeply you have touched my life.
_________________
As is your sort of mind,
So is your sort of search;
You will find what you desire.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 3:35 pm
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Clayfoot
Entrenched


Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 785
Location: Warner Robins, Georgia, USA

 		Re: Video/stills from Chicago training, but where to host th
LordKaT wrote:
gkrohne wrote:
I have some video and stills from the Chicago training. Anybody got an idea where I could host them? The one where we all went around the table at Denny's is 8.4MB alone. I also have a video of the last audio message from Durga at the event. I'll try to compress that down. Ideas?
I own geekstreak.com, have 75GB of traffic left for the month. You're more than welcome to use some of it. Give me an e-mail, webmaster (at) geekstreak.com

Done with the first round of uploads! Thanks and props to LordKaT for providiing the hosting space.

Everything that I have uploaded can be found here:
http://www.geekstreak.com/ilb_chi/

Descriptions of each file:

Chicago_Training_roll_call.wmv
A video taken at Denny's, after the event. Everyone gives their name and rank.

Durga_last_message.wmv
A "video" of (most of) the last audio message from Durga/Melissa.

ILoveBees_001.jpg
ILoveBees_002.jpg
Sunset from the jet, just before Robogriff and I landed

ILoveBees_003.jpg
Clayfoot, your humble correspondent

ILoveBees_004.jpg
RoboGRIFF, your less-humble correspondent

ILoveBees_005.jpg
Clayfoot and RoboGRIFF in Team-Double-Barrrel-Bee-Otch shirts

ILoveBees_006.jpg
"Halo 2", in case you thought they spelled it differently or something.

ILoveBees_008.jpg
ILoveBees_009.jpg
ILoveBees_010.jpg
ILoveBees_015.jpg
Action shots from the training session... okay, they're just plain blurry shots.

ILoveBees_016.jpg
RoboGRIFF posing with Microsoft PM Chuck, after RobGRIFF won one of the prize packs: Halo 2 Collector's Edition, XBox Live Starter Kit, and a Plantronics Halo 2 headset. Remember, his gamer tag is spelled R-o-b-o-G-R-I-F-F. I think you know what to do.
(I won a lanyard with "Halo 2" printed on the band)
(...Okay, a MS employee let me buy his lanyard after the event was over).
(No, I'm not sore. Stop looking at me like that. Just you move along, now.)

ILoveBees_017.jpg
ILoveBees_018.jpg
Table-length shots of the festivities at Denny's, after the event.

ILoveBees_019.jpg
The Goddess squad posing with Angelo.
(Why did he come all the way here from Oklahoma? Austin would have been so much closer.)
ILoveBees_020.jpg
(Think, people! There must have been some reason he drove 12 hours each way.)

ILoveBees_021.jpg
ILoveBees_022.jpg
More long table shots.

ILoveBees_023.jpg
The Goddess Squad posing with Microsoft PM Chuck at Denny's, after the event.
(Mad neener-neeners to SF, NY, and Austin)

ILoveBees_024.jpg
Phaedra confirms that we met at the right location.

ILoveBees_025.jpg
ILoveBees_026.jpg
Esprit de corps

ILoveBees_027.jpg
Chicago team listens carefully, while PM Chuck explains how to find and unlock the dual swords and heat-seeking rockets in multiplayer mode.

ILoveBees_029.jpg
Artistic interpretation of group gathering.
(Okay, what we really need here is a fund-raiser to send Clayfoot to the store for a better camera).

ILoveBees_030.jpg
ILoveBees_031.jpg
Finally! Some candid shots!

ILoveBees_034.jpg
Microsoft Program Manager for Chuck.
(Yeah, we got his business card, too. Sure, it has his gamer tag on it.)
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 4:29 pm
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halcpu
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Joined: 27 Sep 2004
Posts: 70
Location: Newark, DE enroute to New York
Avatrix wrote:

Microsoft didn't owe us anything in terms of this event. I REALLY enjoyed ILB, and the story was it's own reward. However, when they told us about the Combat Event, I expected it would be for beekeepers, not a random crowd of fans. Had I known that I would not get to play, and not really find many other ARGers, I would not have spent a ten hour round trip for the event, taken two days off of work, and spent money on gas/tolls/parking. I am just disappointed.


I'd have to agree. If I knew that everyone who reads gamespot was coming and would get the same "priority admission" that we got and that none of the PMs would be there then I think I would have thought twice about going. I had fun and I met a few other beekeepers but it was disheartening to see so many people who knew nothing about ILOVEBEES at new york. It wwould have been nice to be allowed in on time too. For those of you who got there early and want to tell me things were far...well I don't want to hear it. Several of us were there at the time Melissa told us to be there and some woman who worked for the theatre (ALICE I'll never forget how much she annoyed me) told us to stay outside and that someone would come down and let us in.

So the only thing I can say that I really had a problem with (I can get over the fact that non-beekeepers were there) is the total disorganization of the event. That was sad.

If you want to read the rest of my post go to:

http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7537&start=195

It was good to meet some fellow beekeepers...talk to you guys later. I need to get some work done.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 4:29 pm
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