[Discussion] The next rares festival....

[DVI]

With the 9th Rares Festival on Catskills coming to a close this evening, I thought it appropriate to begin discussions for the next festival.

I would like to put in a bid to co-host the next festival along with several other former festival hosts including Gunga Din, Athelas, Demonous, Lykor.


As this will be the 10th installment of the Rares Festival I would like to celebrate it by bringing it to Japan, specifically Sakura.

The festival will feature the following - all of which are subject to change:

- A silent auction (similar to the one on Chesapeake)
- 50/50 Raffles
- Event Rare Raffles
- A Scavenger Hunt
- Several other player run games.
- Rez Killing Athelas Contest

All player run events/games will be designed so that all may participate regardless of skill level.

Also, I have already spoken with Mesanna and have her support to assist as she has done with the past festivals.

So, there it is...lets hear what everyone has to say.

 

[Lord Nabin]

I am all in as long as there is plenty of Sushi to go around!

 

[Gunga_Din]

Drafted again ? I want to be paid for providing the entertainment this time.

I'd also like to add to the events:

** Pole Dancing every night of the festival. (Perhaps we can get Mesanna to help with this one

** Tavern Crawl (I'll handle this)

** Rez Killing Athelas as many times as we can until we finish singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the wall

 

[DVI]

sorry limited sushi, but plenty of saki....hot or cold your choice

 

[WootSauce]

Sounds like a good time. I will be looking forward to this one as well!!!

 

[Slickjack]

I need a drink.....

 

[Fraggles]

if you build it.....They will come

 

[yanaki2]

id still nominate Napa Valley. but im game if thats where its decided.


this is starting to sound like the olympic hosting committe. in any event can i please propose this next one no earlier then the end of march to give everyone time to prepare and gather up enough extra goodies to have a good show.late march/early april would give us enough time.

 

[Baron_]

id still nominate Napa Valley. but im game if thats where its decided.


this is starting to sound like the olympic hosting committe. in any event can i please propose this next one no earlier then the end of march to give everyone time to prepare and gather up enough extra goodies to have a good show.late march/early april would give us enough time.

I Agree! Napa Rares Fest FTW!

 

[SupSoc]

Sweetness ; - )

 

[Snow78]

i vote for where ever as long as theres another raresfest . Im already looking forward to the next one.
Just want to say Great job lykor for a great fest ty.
if sakura is chosen isnt there a huge time difference from east coast and there? One of my friends play on a asian shard and we only get to meet at 6am really. i wake up and shes about to go to bed. dunno but im still game.

 

[Apetul]

Im ok with any shard, but for the next fest i would like to know what are the plans or ideas on several aspects like the quantity of possible vendors and how many vendors houses the fest will have.
This is of course just my opinion, but i think we need to copy the good ideas on each fest.. personally i liked the 2-3 vendor houses at chessy fest, and i liked that no one could block any vendor on the cats fest.. but, i dont liked the vendor house design (or next time ill should choose a vendor right next to the house sign). I liked the events on the chessy fest too.

ps: I liked the availability of rares fest hosters in chessy, too. On cats, when i asked for my unsold auction stuff back and for another vendor... the response i got was "im fighting pvp right now, can i talk to you after?"
ps2: if last statement looks like a complain.. then its a complain

 

[Manticore]

I would agree definetly on an Asian shard. Here are the reasons:

1. Yamato recently had a new set of EMs so the EM program is making its way there. Granted there was an EM on Formosa but that EM hasn't been too active and its not a main Asian shard.

2. Hopefully more EMs will be hired on Asian shards in the months to come so to stir up their Rares community.

3. If we go there and show our support and put on a big fest, this can only reciprocate in a positive way back to the US shards in subsequent festivals.

4. Hopefully, by having the festival there, we can also see many new Asian EM event items for sale.

5. I also agree a silent auction would be best since many players there don't speak English and yet everyone understand numbers

 

[DVI]

As of right now we don't have an exact date we would like to host but it would be in April 2011. Also I've already planned to use many of the best points of each fest which is why it will be a collaborative effort of multiple past hosts to bring it altogether.

 

[Lillu]

I vote Napa!!!

 

[Smokey of LS]

how do these get picked? cause i'd really like to see another on Lake Superior!

 

[Fraggles]

yes i would like to see one on Lake Superior as well and would love to host it and have houses,plans already in the works

 

[DVI]

When I first began the festival, the shard was selected soley by myself, but since then it has become more of a decision based on the group.

There are some factors that should be used to determine shards though. The primary one being population, as many of those visiting want to make sure that aside from the rare collectors community that there is a sizable population to purchase their items.

Also, for future festivals I believe that those shards who currently meet the communities population standards but have hosted one should wait until others have the opportunity, with the exception of ATL, which should wait even longer as it has hosted 3.

 

[Nine Dark Moons]

As this will be the 10th installment of the Rares Festival I would like to celebrate it by bringing it to Japan, specifically Sakura.

 

[Fraggles]

in my opionion population should have no impact on where a rares fest is there or not. i would say 98% of the people are not new people from the hosting shard and if population was indeed something that you stress for a rares festival to bring in new collectors then i would think you would spend time advertising it on the host shard. on Catskills i cant even name how many people from That shard had no idea a rares fest was on there shard let alone what it even was so i feel strongly on this issue as it has been the "reason" for not allowing it on my home shard of Lake Superior in the past. im sure that where ever the fest is held people will come...of corse some factors like events and vendor avalibility seems to be the driving force for attendece as we saw with catskills. i enjoyed catskills alot but no one can deny the attendece was way down even though it was a "populace" shard. I would love to Host a Rares fest on Lake Superior and have other Interested guilds to help with fun events and games. but im sure it will be on a Asia shard as thats where the more prominate rares collectors want it. either way i will be there and im sure it will be fun...if you can work out the time change that might be an issue

 

[yanaki2]

I think we should put this to a vote. lets start a thread where interested parties willing to assist in hosting the event for there server, provide us with a idea of what can be planned. how they plan on implementing it and such. taking into consideration certain aspects as vendor space. activities, local advertising, em support, event timing ect...


like i said before, kinda like how countries promote themselves for the olympics. with a simple majority vote once all cases have been made.

 

[Apetul]

I'm selling my vote for 25m.

 

[Nastia Cross]

My vote is for Sakura. The team that ran the Chessy Fest did an awesome job so I'll go whereever they decide to host next!

 

[Slickjack]

There has never been a perfectly run festival.

Period.

These are player run events and so much of what is "expected" of us is not possible as mere "players". I have had problems with Raresfests in the past, but I did not have the AUDACITY to critize people when they VOLUNTEERED to host something that was suppose to be a fun event for the whole community.

You say there were people on Catskills that didn't know about the Raresfest being on Cats? Fine. I posted on the Stratics Catskills page NUMEROUS times, for the 2 months leading up to the event. Did I get with the GMs of some of the top guilds on Cats and let them know my intentions and plans? Yep, sure did.

At the end of the day, there are always going to be people that DON'T read this MESS OF WHAT STRATICS IS and also those that just aren't paying attention or don't care..

"oh, wait!, what's this cool black gate??!?" ya know?

The biggest hit I've taken over the Catskills fest is over all of these people that waited til the LAST minute to try to get a vendor. My critics (mainly one person) have said, I should have allowed ANYONE AND EVERYONE a vendor if they wanted it. SO, after getting absolutely frustrated with him and a few others saying negative things, I started giving vendors to these people at the house next door.

AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

None of the stuff that was stocked was what any of us, and by the standards of this forum, would consider to be "rares"... I think I saw ONE EM item.

If you were a serious collector, or buyer, then you saw that I was hosting the function and it was nearly two months that any of these people could have signed up.

I don't have anything against Fraggles having it on Lake Sup, I think every shard should have a chance. Period.

Thank you all so much for giving me MY chance to host it on Catskills. I'm very sorry that some of you were so displeased by it. It will certainly be the only time that I spend my time and effort on one, so you don't have to worry about Catskills being on a list ever again from me.

 

[Nine Dark Moons]

*hugs lykor*
you did a fabulous job and don't let anyone tell you different! and the times i made it over, it seemed really crowded and everyone seemed to be having a great time. i spent > 250m gold and had a blast doing it! maybe by the next fest i'll have enough stuff to sell, but for this one, it was great just being a buyer.
and for anyone not knowing what was going on - the black/green gate next to luna moongate labeled "Rares Festival" should have been a huge clue!

 

[DVI]

the "reason" for not allowing it on my home shard of Lake Superior in the past.

The 2nd festival was held on Lake Superior and run by myself with the assistance of the YGV guild and a now inactive player named Lariat/Stryker.

My reason for putting a new shard to the vote as I've said in the past is that other shards should be given the opportunity to host before shards are repeated...obviously this was not always the case with Atlantic, but I've also stressed that there should not be on on Atlantic for some time.

Also, in case you are not aware I do not play on Sakura, although I do have several japanese friends of many years who do and are interested in assisting.

 

[Riply]

Asian shard would be a great way to advertise the festivals and bring a new following to the events. Perhaps run a poll and let the players vote.

 

[Ken of Napa]

Lykor:

I can only speak for myself: It was a great festival. The only thing that could have made it better, would have been for me to have had more time to participate and shop

As I don't think that was your fault (it wasn't was it?) I think you did an awsome job!

I like Nine Dark Moons spent a bunch of money (I only spent 70-80 mil, just didn't have time to find that special thing I couldn't live without). I too hope to have a vendor at the next festival, just depends on if I have enough time to devote to it!

Sooo ......... Just one man's opinion, but I really appreciate all the hard work you put into the event.

 

[yanaki2]

Lykor dude you ran a excellent show. no one will ever be able to run a perfect event cause everyone has there own opinions. i enjoyed the show, heck i spent almost 1 billion gold there this time, 3 times what i spent at the last fest.

i do honestly think that there is no point in trying to police vendors for what there selling.its just going to cause aggrivation.we shouldnt punish items that are on the edge of the rares community such as guantlet items,ancheint lich drops, tokens ect...some the the lower end collectors start out with these and they help them generate the funds to get that special item they have been wanting.not long ago... well ok it was a long time ago. semi rares were whips,coils of wire, daily rares like fruit baskets etc. they spawns and were considered semi rare. back when it was classified as monthly rare, daily rare,semi rare and seer items. so lets not descriminate too much.. once common now will be rare later and whats rare now can be vendor junk next month.

lets just enjoy the comraderie and let it flow.

 

[Snow78]

Like i said before i dont care where its hosted i just want to attend another. My only concern is the time issue. i cant see myself waking up at 4am to meet others and start trading. I will surely miss out then. Other then that Im game for another fest.

 

[DVI]

Like i said before i dont care where its hosted i just want to attend another. My only concern is the time issue. i cant see myself waking up at 4am to meet others and start trading. I will surely miss out then. Other then that Im game for another fest.

Those of us who are putting in the bid for the asian shard all live in EST or CST, so majority of the festival would be geared towards American time zones, but would most likely take place earlier in the day then what has been customary...to try to accomodate those of us in attendance no in America.

 

[Nastia Cross]

DVI, is there any way to have your friends on the Asian shards host events for Asian players in the opposite time zones? Having the festival on an Asian shard opens up the potential for an "around the clock" festival and it would be good to attract new players to the community by hosting things during their playtime.

 

[DVI]

DVI, is there any way to have your friends on the Asian shards host events for Asian players in the opposite time zones? Having the festival on an Asian shard opens up the potential for an "around the clock" festival and it would be good to attract new players to the community by hosting things during their playtime.

That is actually a great idea Nastia, if we wind up winning the bid for the festival I will certainly talk to them about it and see if it's something they would be interested in doing!

Thank you for the great suggestion!

 

[Nightly Spirit]

My vote goes to Great Lakes for a raresfest.

 

[Snow78]

ooo Great lakes!!! I have to vote for that. *Homeshard*

 

[DVI]

Great Lakes had one already as well, the order of past festivals is as such:

[1] Atlantic
[2] Lake Superior
[3] Europa
[4] Atlantic
[5] Atlantic
[6] Great Lakes
[7] Pacific
[8] Chesapeake
[9] Catskills

 

[Nightly Spirit]

Im not going to a shard where I can not trade or buy due to people not understanding my language. My vote still stands at Great Lakes.

 

[DVI]

Well I would like to remind you that majority of the sales done at a Rares Fest are done via vendor, not player interaction, although some do take place via that means.

In addition many japanese players do speak some english, which is generally enough to get by.

I can understand your desire to have it on your home shard though, but there is no point in voting for it, if no one has put in a bid.

 

[Nightly Spirit]

Why not throw votes out there. I would be up for any shard, not just my home shard. You asked to hear what people thought

 

[THP]

wow its like bidding to host the world cup!!!!

go europa go europago europa

 

[Riply]

Going to an asian shard will also most likely increase the sales of items that would be difficult to sell on our shards due to thier rarity factor on our shard versus rarity factor on thier shards. We may be able to also buy items from them vice versa which would be a win win situation. As far as an auction you could always have Japanese player translate from English to Japanese during the live auction, this would slow things down a bit but would make an interesting international auction.

Could be alot of fun which for me is the bottom line of playing this game.

 

[Nine Dark Moons]

i have played enough on many of the asian shards to be pleasantly surprised by how many players do speak english. just tell them you only speak english and many will switch over and be able to carry on a full conversation. always makes me feel like a slacker for only knowing one language...
and i think the idea of a 'round the clock' rares fest on an asian shard, to accomodate their time zones as well as ours, is a wonderful idea!

 

[Riply]

Going to an asian shard will also most likely increase the sales of items that would be difficult to sell on our shards due to thier rarity factor on our shard versus rarity factor on thier shards. We may be able to also buy items from them vice versa which would be a win win situation. As far as an auction you could always have Japanese player translate from English to Japanese during the live auction, this would slow things down a bit but would make an interesting international auction.

Could be alot of fun which for me is the bottom line of playing this game.

Also if the Japanese players can alert the other Japanese shards of the event we could have a great turn out of players. I just hope there can be plenty of vendor spots available for the demand we might have.

 

[Nastia Cross]

DVI, is there any way to have your friends on the Asian shards host events for Asian players in the opposite time zones? Having the festival on an Asian shard opens up the potential for an "around the clock" festival and it would be good to attract new players to the community by hosting things during their playtime.

That is actually a great idea Nastia, if we wind up winning the bid for the festival I will certainly talk to them about it and see if it's something they would be interested in doing!

Thank you for the great suggestion!

Happy to help! I used to x-shard weekly from several Asian shards mainly buying items to bring back and sell on Chesapeake and I agree with Riply that many things that are normally hard to sell would do well on Sakura.

Also, having the silent auction like the one on Chesapeake would basically eliminate the language barrier because it would give non-english speaking players a chance to translate the item description and decide if they would like to bid.

As for having sufficient vendors, I agree that there should be more than the normal amount of vendors for a festival on an Asian shard just to encourage more participation and interaction. Seeing as DVI and several others with experience have stepped up to host, I believe they would ensure multiple vendor houses grouped together like we had for the Chessy fest.

DVI, if Sakura is indeed chosen, maybe ask your friends to write up a news story in Japanese to be posted on the UO Japan site. Also, do they have EMs?

 

[DVI]

As for having sufficient vendors, I agree that there should be more than the normal amount of vendors for a festival on an Asian shard just to encourage more participation and interaction. Seeing as DVI and several others with experience have stepped up to host, I believe they would ensure multiple vendor houses grouped together like we had for the Chessy fest.

DVI, if Sakura is indeed chosen, maybe ask your friends to write up a news story in Japanese to be posted on the UO Japan site. Also, do they have EMs?

According to Mesanna they do not currently have EM's but I believe she is working to rectify that.

We are looking into acquiring a minimum of 4-5 houses for vendors, 1 for the silent auction, and an additional one for vendor overflow purposes and other misc needs.

 

[Assia Penryn]

Posted also in the poll thread:

How about this folks....

How about we set a time period.. say Dec. 1st... anyone interested in hosting the next rares festival pm me the following info... who's involved, shard, month/date/length, events planned, housing locations, vendor count, rules, and anything else you think will help information wise.

Shortly after Dec 1st I'll put up a week long poll and list everyone's bid for the next festival along with all the information they have sent me... people can look at all the candidates and choose then.

 

[Gunga_Din]

I love how people just throw out shard names but when the chips are down, they do zero. There wouldn't have even been a rares fest without Lykor stepping up.

Before you make any comments, you better be very well prepared to take on this project. If you not gonna help hosting it on your shard, then zip your lip. Don't post your shard just to get its name in the running.

I think the Asian shard would be a great idea. Something different and already has some key people to help.

DVI created this concept, why don't we just follow his lead this time. I like the person who commented about how its like a bid to host the World Cup lol.

 

[Kimberly]

As of this evening, I will also be hosting an event at the aforementioned festival. Thanks, DVI! =)

 

[Fraggles]

Sakura it is then! i look forward to attending. I was also thinking maybe there could be a RaresFest comity? that travel to the diffrent shards to host the fest? i know this would be a huge undertaking but then we would always have trusted members of the comunity hosting and we would know what to expect and know that our items are in safe hands. ofcourse the comity would have to volenteer for this and it might not even be possible to do. they would be in charge of planning and implementing the raresfest after the community has voted as to where they want it. just a idea and nothing more . Congrats to Sakura shard i look forward to it

 

[lupushor]

My oppinions :

- Cats Fest was interesting. Not the best, but good enough to remember. Don't know why people complain about the house design, i think it was great. Keeping buyers safe from harbringers, clustering customers together for a sense of comunity and easy access to vendors. Entrace could have been easier but at least it was well-decorated
- This fest was for the buyers. Not many people came with cash so those that spent money got great deals, especially during the auction. Unusually, I found rares prices being lower than a year ago and this makes me wonder if uo currency is finally getting stronger.
- Thank you Assia for offering to organize the poll for the next Fest, it's the best solution.
- I think that taking the Fest to an Asian shard it's an awesome idea. We've been too long separated into two large factions with almost no interaction. So what better scenery to correct that than a Rares Fest? I too think this would benefit the Rares Comunity by attracting new customers. Plus the clash of such different cultures should not be an impediment but something to be looking forward to as a great experience.

In the end i'd like to throw in the idea to try to organize soon a Fest on Europa shard, as to complete the "Rares Fest World Tour". (and no, Europa is not my home shard, it's Cats )