What happens when over 1,500 gamers are located under the same roof? Well, chances are there is going to be some creative costumes on display and some live action roleplaying, also known as LARPing, taking place. For attendees of this year’s SOE Live gaming convention in Las Vegas, Nevada last weekend, this meant an opportunity to take part in various live quests themed after their favorite games.
Patrons of Everquest, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and Everquest II took gaming to the next level as they enjoyed mornings of fun that involved banding together to test their game knowledge and agility.
Planes of Parody
This year’s Everquest live quest, titled Planes of Parody, involved completing a series of tasks themed after memorable quested items. Players formed groups and worked together in order to progress through a series of stations to obtain some well-known items, such as the Flowing Black Silk Sash, Blessed Fishing Rod, and Journeyman’s Boots. The Everquest live action quest was enjoyable for players who knew the history because it brought their gaming experiences to life, but it was also entertaining enough for new players just looking for an adventure.
A crowd of gamers gathers for the Everquest live quest.
Employing Diplomacy in Old Targonor
This was the first year SOE has hosted a Vanguard: Saga of Heroes live quest. The quest, titled Employing Diplomacy in Old Targonor, allowed groups of players to immerse themselves in the lore-based tasks while investigating rumors and assisting costumed characters.
Some challenges involved building relics, song writing, and even developing combat moves to obtain custom made diplomacy cards. Once groups completed all challenges, the combined their diplomacy cards into a deck of cards for a final card-game challenge. In terms of representing the lore and bringing the game to life, this Vanguard live quest really nailed it!
A team works together on a Vanguard task.
Tinkering Around in Kelethin
The Everquest II live quest, titled Tinkering Around in Kelethin, took players on a journey to collect city tokens by completing a variety of fun tasks. Groups of players enjoyed harvesting scenarios, crafting custom armor, competing in aether races and more!
After completing each task, groups traded their tokens to merchants in return for additional points. Players enjoyed taking part in acting out this Everquest II live quest because it was relevant to activities currently taking place in game and helped bring their game to life.
Gamers prepare to take part in an Everquest II Aether Race.
As gamers, we often see challenges and anticipate rewards ranging from the sense of accomplishment to impressive virtual loot. What makes gaming so amazing is that in the quest for rewards, our “challenges” are usually fun tasks. SOE Live quest participants not only had fun and earned a sense of accomplishment, the winning team’s members also received $100 giftcards as loot; talk about being paid to play!
With the gaming industry growing every year, we have to wonder how many more Live Action Roleplaying events we will see during gaming conventions.
What is your stance on live quests? Have you ever or would you ever take part in a Live Action Roleplay event?
