Cryptic Studios was at The Official Star Trek Las Vegas Convention held August 6 – 10 this year and it was an amazing experience. We were there to promote Star Trek Online and give Trek fans in attendance a chance to see the game that would allow them to be a part of the Star Trek universe. Over the course of the convention, we met many great people who were definitely passionate about Star Trek and gaming. We also met some who had never played online games before and were able to get them interested in becoming part of the gamer community.
What follows is a re-cap of some of the highlights and events from the convention. While we did have someone present from the first day to answer questions and give out Star Trek Online gift bags, the majority of our presence started on Friday, August 8.
Day 1 – Friday, August 8
Jack Emmert and I arrived in Las Vegas Friday afternoon. After getting settled in at the hotel we met up at the Cryptic Studios area near the convention registration booths. The first thing I noticed was that almost everyone I saw that wasn’t in costume was wearing a Star Trek Online t-shirt. It was a cool moment because it was the first time I had seen anyone outside of our company wearing the team colors and that’s when it really hit me that we were making a Star Trek game!
While Jack went to check out the main convention and vendor area, I stayed at our table, meeting Trek fans and handing out t-shirts. I was able to meet some of the guys from Hailing Frequencies and Lotus Fleet and they are a good bunch. A few other members of the STO community stopped by to say hello and everyone showed anticipation for the big event on Sunday. After a bit, I wandered into the vendor area and that’s when I started seeing the actors who had portrayed some of my favorite characters from the various TV series and movies. I met Brent Spiner (Data), Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand), Chase Masterson (Leeta) and many others.
When the registration closed down for the evening, I sat down for a bit with Hailing Frequencies and Lotus Fleet before heading back to the hotel to rest up for the weekend.
Day 2 – Saturday, August 9
Day 2 started out at our table with more meeting Trek fans and answering questions about the game and the presentation on Sunday. The amount of STO t-shirts being worn was still considerable, however the number of Trek costumes had greatly increased as the costume competition was today! Klingons, Andorians, Bajorans, Vulcans, Starfleet officers from various time periods, Borg, Q, and Ferengi were all represented. The amount of work that went into some of these costumes was obvious and it was a real treat to see the enthusiasm.
Saturday was also the day we had most of our press interviews scheduled so we spent the better part of the afternoon in our press room either on speaker phone or sitting with reporters including TrekMovie.com and Hailing Frequency. After having been in games journalism, it was fun to be the one answering the questions for a change, mostly because it meant I wasn’t the one getting up after each interview.
After we wrapped up the last interview it was time to have dinner and prepare for the event that Cryptic Studios was sponsoring, The Dessert Party! It started pretty late, but after having a few desserts the sugar started kicking in about the same time the band started. Walter Koenig (Chekov) introduced the evening’s entertainment as the Tim Russ Trio. Tuvok rocked! After a bit, we called it a night to prepare for our biggest day on Sunday.
Day 3 – Sunday, August 10
Sunday was a very exciting day! It started early with a run-through of the webcast event and then a little after 10am, one of the things I was looking forward to happened. We met Leonard Nimoy! He is one of the most genuine people I have talked with and a wonderful storyteller. We had him scheduled for a few interviews before the webcast and the best part is I was one of the interviewers. Expect to see that interview published at a future date here on the Star Trek Online website! Just as we were getting ready to move up to the Gene Roddenberry Theater to start the webcast, Zachary Quinto walked in the room. That’s right; we were in the same room with the two Spocks!
Leading up to the webcast, the anticipation was staggering. We were finally getting to show the world what we had been working on! The theater filled up fairly quickly and as the webcast began, Trek fans were still filing into seats. The webcast went better than we could have hoped for and the game trailer garnered a response from the crowd in attendance that let us know we had done something special. After making sure everything was made available on the website for repeat viewing, we packed up and headed for home, tired but proud of what we were able to accomplish.
Overall it was a great experience, and I am already looking forward to next year! Special thanks should be given to Leonard Nimoy, Creation Entertainment, and all of the Trek fans from around the world who shared this event with us! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Don't forget to watch the site for the Interview with Leonard Nimoy!
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