GamesCom: Cologne, 18-22 August -- Meetup anyone?

Update: overview of the final details:

Date: Saturday 21 August
Location: GamesCom, Koelnmesse, Cologne, Germany

Schedule:
- 12:50: meet up for lunch, at Meeting Point in Hall 10 (see map)
- 13:00 (give or take): lunch, somewhere in Hall 10 (just to be clear, we go Dutch on this one -- WPC isn't getting *that* much money from donations)
- 13:45: meet up for VIP treatment, at Meeting Point in Hall 10
- 14:00: VIP treatment, report at Entertainment Area 2K, Hall 6.1, A10 (Civ5 stand itself is B40)

Confirmed attendees:
- Locutus (WePlayCiv)
- Locutus's brother-in-law (none)
- donald23 (WePlayCiv)
- The_J (CivFanatics/civforum.de)
- Jobe (Fastmoves.de)

Anyone else interested in joining in on either or both of these events (lunch + VIP treatment), please let me know publicly or privately no later than at the end of the day on Friday 20 August (i.e. this Friday).

For all attendees, it's not required but I recommend that you PM (or email) me with your telephone number and/or request for my telephone number, so that if you're running late, need to find us or we need to get in touch for whatever reason on the 21st itself, we have a way of contacting each other.



Original post below:
-----------------------

GamesCom is the biggest gaming convention in the world and is held in Cologne, Germany this year August 18-22 and is open to the general public. I will be attending this event on Saturday the 21st for most of the day (sadly not much of the evening due to travel time considerations), and while I've not yet been able to gain any official confirmation of this, there's a decent chance that Civ5 will be shown off at this event as well, as Firaxis have always had a very strong presence at this convention (I for one will be going regardless though).

Does anyone else have an interest in attending this event? If so, anyone interested in a meet-up? I'm currently trying to contact Firaxis about this, see if any special arrangements can be made to demo to a possible group of fans from WePlayCiv/Apolyton/CivFanatics or anything like that, but I'm still waiting to hear any word on this so no promises there yet (I don't even know for sure yet that they'll even be there), but I'll keep you guys posted.

Terrible, terrible promo but it gives you some idea of what to expect:


Link to video.

 

Well, I am living not that far from Cologne.

 

*argh* crap.
I don't really live near to cologne, and i haven't even thought about the GamesCom this year.
Now...i have no time there, i have lectures/practical courses in the week before and after...if Firaxis really says, that they'll come, i'll have some serious troubles .

 

Can't join you, but I hope you have a great time. That's a great idea of asking for a demo. I hope they say yes, that way we can get a fans thoughts, whose not paid. Good Luck!

 

Haven't really thuoght about it but I live near cologne. Maybe I'll go.

 

Guess not, I live in Groningen and it will take me about 4 hours to get there... I like the idea though.

 

Okay, I finally got an update from 2K. The person I originally contacted was on vacation and I was swamped myself so it took a little longer than necessary for me to follow up, but better late than never.

Civ5 will indeed be showcased at GamesCom and it will even be playable for the first time! But unfortunately the game devs and senior marketing folks will only be there on weekdays, they'll be gone by Saturday. That means there's unfortunately no chance of doing interviews or a private showing or anything like that. However, most likely I will be able to arrange VIP treatment for a group of WPC/CFC/ACS/CP fans -- which as far as I understand mostly means we get to cut the line (but perhaps 2K might be able to throw something else in there). To arrange this I do need to know fairly soon who is interested in attending, as 2K needs to know the size of the group well ahead of time.

So please let me know if you want to take part in this ASAP.

Note that this is for Saturday the 21st of August (time TBD). Obviously you will need to pay for your own admission to GamesCom, a day pass is €13.50 if you order online, €15.00 at the box office. For other options or more info on GamesCom, see the link in the OP. For the VIP group, just sign up in this thread for now, later I may need some contact info for you but we'll worry about that when the time comes.

If you intend to visit GamesCom on a weekday let me know in private, I might be able to set you up with press access (behind-closed-doors demo, maybe interviews, etc) -- especially if you're willing to report on it for WePlayCiv.

 

I love Cologne. And I stayed in a hotel near the site of the gamescom for the World Cup 2006. Very good memories.

I definitely recommend going. A really good pub just on the other side of the river is the Päffgen Kölsch. I still have dreams about the wurst!

I wish I could go to see Civ 5. I look forward to the firsthand reports

 

I live in the city of Aachen (the capital of the Holy Roman Empire ) which is nearby Cologne and I can imagine to visit the Gamescom on Thursday or Friday, well without taking part in that ASAP.

Edit: Do you know the hall?

 

Just a quick update to assure you this is still ongoing. I'm tentatively looking at a group of around 8 people from multiple fan sites (with a bunch of 'maybes' in there that I hope to clear up soon).

From CFC I'm only counting The_J in that list ATM. If anyone else wants to be added let me know, but there's not much time left so don't procrastinate. (Of course, better late than never, if someone cancels late I might be able to include you in even if you're too late initially.)

The_J (and anyone else who still wants to sign up), can you give me a (rough) indication of what times you'll be at GamesCom on Saturday and do you have any preference on when you want to meet up? I want to try and set up something in the early afternoon if possible but that also depends on both 2K and the other participants, I'll try to accommodate everyone as best as possible.

 

Sorry for the late reply, I've been completely swamped at work in the last week.

If you want to set up a press tour or anything along those lines on a weekday and can report on it on behalf of WePlayCiv or CFC or some other site, send me a PM ASAP with details on exactly when you can/will be there and what kind of recording equipment (if any) you can bring along. At this late stage I'm not sure what's still possible but I can look into it.

I don't know the hall or any such details yet, I'll post that when I find out (I'm trying to fix the group size and time of appointment for the VIP group first).

 

Snort. You're English, yet you have good memories of the World Cup?

Traitor!!

 

Good news, 2K assigned me 10 slots for the VIP thing, which is already more than the the number of people I anticipate to ever show up, and they even indicated that that number can be increased further if needed. So if anyone still wants to join, they now have plenty of time to make up their mind.

Of course, we'll still need to all get together and go to the booth as a group, so you'll need to let me know let's say at the latest on Friday the 20th if you want to join us.

I'm thinking to set the time of the VIP thing at 13:30h, and meet up with everyone either for a lunch at 12:00-12:30h (I'm assuming there will be some place to get lunch somewhere within the convention area), or 13:15h for those not interested in joining in on the lunch. (I'll see if I can work out the logistics of where to meet/have lunch this weekend -- if anyone's familiar with the Koelnermesse I'd appreciate any advice.) This is not set in stone yet though, so if anyone has any other preferences please let me know.

 

I know, we've already discussed it, but i want to say it again: I'll be there.
I hope i'll enjoy that day.

But i can't give any advice, i've never been in cologne before, it will be a mess at the beginning. Fearing the traffic .
I'll also have to look around, what else will be interesting there .


And another thing at all: From civforum.de we're "sending" a real "reporter" there on wednesday, i hope we'll get some nice infos .

 

Not English - just lived here for 8+ years (and counting...) Was based in Cologne for the games I went to and the Germans did a cracking job in 2006. Great people, great transport, lots of smiles and help and no price gouging! Couldn't believe it. I think they may have actually lowered prices for some things.

Cool that 2K coughed up some VIP passes!

 

Then, sir, you have not assimilated. Take him to the obscure-country-pub correctional facility!

 

I'm deeply sorry that I can't take part in that ASAP because I'm just too young. I've got a ticket for Thursday and maybe I'll write something.

 

After talking to some of the attendees, I'm going to propose to 2K to set the VIP thing at 14:00h. If they're okay with that, we can meet at 12:50h at the meeting point in Hall 10, as indicated in this map, then around 13:00h (depending on how long it takes everyone to gather) we can go to have lunch in the same hall, and around 13:45h pack our things up to go to Hall 6 where the Civ5 booth should be (IIUC, but I'll double-check that with 2K). Anyone not interested in attending lunch can meet us at 13:45h at the same meeting point in Hall 10. I don't know how long the VIP thing will take but I image there will be plenty of time after that to either go for some drinks and/or maybe explore the rest of the convention centre together for those who are interested. All of this is pending on 2K's confirmation, I'll try to get that in the next day or two.

Right now there are 5 confirmed attendees: Locutus (WPC), Locutus's brother-in-law (not active online), donald23 (WPC), The_J (CFC) and Jobe (Fastmoves.de). One or two people I haven't heard back from yet and of course there's still room for more people to sign up!

 

ah, okay, had not seen the post before my PM, i guess i'll find the place .

 

Okay, I just had the final confirmation from 2K, everything is set as I mentioned previously. To be clear:

Date: Saturday 21 August
Location: GamesCom, Koelnmesse, Cologne, Germany

Schedule:
- 12:50: meet up for lunch, at Meeting Point in Hall 10 (see map)
- 13:00 (give or take): lunch, somewhere in Hall 10 (just to be clear, we go Dutch on this one -- WPC isn't getting *that* much money from donations)
- 13:45: meet up for VIP treatment, at Meeting Point in Hall 10
- 14:00: VIP treatment, report at Entertainment Area 2K, Hall 6.1, A10 (Civ5 stand itself is B40)

Confirmed attendees:
- Locutus (WePlayCiv)
- Locutus's brother-in-law (none)
- donald23 (WePlayCiv)
- The_J (CivFanatics/civforum.de)
- Jobe (Fastmoves.de)

Anyone else interested in joining in on either or both of these events (lunch + VIP treatment), please let me know publicly or privately no later than at the end of the day on Friday 20 August (i.e. this Friday).

For all attendees, it's not required but I recommend that you PM (or email) me with your telephone number and/or request for my telephone number, so that if you're running late, need to find us or we need to get in touch for whatever reason on the 21st itself, we have a way of contacting each other.