This past weekend, capsuleers descended on the Las Vegas valley for the 2024 edition of EVE Vegas, a player-organized EVE Online player gathering where players from all walks of life in EVE eat, drink and talk about their favorite internet spaceships. It's an event with a wild history, starting as a player-organized event years past only to be taken over by CCP Games for many years, and then brought back as a player-ran gathering after the pandemic.
I've attended multiple EVE Vegas events, thanks in no small part to the fact that I live here, from the large gatherings hosted by CCP on the Las Vegas Strip to the more muted events ran by players in an off-Strip banquet hall. This year's event flew almost under the radar for me given the event has felt a bit shaky over the last few years thanks to the original organizer moving out of the city.
Yet this year's EVE Vegas, organized chiefly by a Horde pilot named Graydor, felt like a return to form, and it was phenomenal to see my favorite MMO nerds in person - some flying from as far as Europe to spend some time with their friends in meatspace.
Heading up to the Millennium FANDOM bar in Downtown Las Vegas Friday night and seeing this bar crawling with EVE players brought a huge smile to my face, despite not knowing anyone there that evening. There is something magical about meeting up with people who all play the same game, speak that game's language, and get to know each other outside of a screen that is infectious.
We're looking back at an unforgettable EVE Vegas 2024! From the Pandemic Horde & Frenemies BBQ to CCP Swift's keynote, and all the moments in between, this op was a huge success. What was your highlight of the weekend?#EVEOnline #Tweetfleet pic.twitter.com/Dg3EMHX3io
— EVE Online (@EveOnline) October 13, 2024
The next morning, I would find myself in a familiar strip mall off the iconic Las Vegas Strip, known more for its ever-changing dive bars and pool halls than a high-quality banquet hall, yet the Composer's Room felt perfectly suited for the EVE Online presentations offered by players, including an incredibly fascinating presentation about the future of AI and how it can be used in EVE Online by the game's very own Space Pope, AKA Max Singularity.
It was a weekend of festivities, from a backyard cookout at one of the organizer's house to a Brazillian steakhouse dinner, pub crawl near Fremont street, and much more. CCP Games even sent out a few developers, CCP Swift and CCP Chimichanga, to talk to players about the newly announced Revenant expansion as well as, I'm sure, gathering feedback for the MMO team back in Reykjavik.
It reminded me of why I love in-person player gatherings like this. Events such as EVE Vegas are such incredible ways to feel closer and more involved in a game, despite the fact that the majority of the time you aren't anywhere near a computer. Seeing players gather at events like BlizzCon, PAX meetups, Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, and EVE Fanfest, as a few examples, are highlights of the year for myself, and I'm sure they are up there for many other players who make the pilgrimage to them, whether they are just a 45-minute flight away in Anaheim or a jump across to a rock in the middle of the Atlantic.
When the Pandemic shut everything down in 2020 and everything switched to online events, I had a real fear that these player gatherings would be gone by the wayside, thinking executives in the C-Suites of these large companies would relish the opportunity to no longer spend gobs of money on convention space, overtime pay for developers to attend, and so on. Yet I'm happy I was wrong, and I truly feel these gatherings, whether they are small, localized events run by a few players or large conventions put on by the makers of the game, are so important to the health of a MMO's community.
Eve Vegas really took over the Millennium Fandom bar tonight. @EveOnline on all the screens, ships dotting the bar. Good shit. #tweetfleet pic.twitter.com/08YQATiRoO
— Joseph Bradford (@LotRLore) October 12, 2024
Not every game studio has the budget to put on an elaborate event, but seeing companies like ArenaNet host PAX West meetups or Standing Stone Games host a gathering during PAX East is always great. BlizzCon might not be an annual event now (it has been canceled for 2024, in case you didn't get the memo), but when it happens again you can be sure it's going to draw tons of Blizzard fans all waiting for that next big announcement.
Yet I don't think players should sleep on the smaller, player-organized events, either. This past EVE Vegas, despite the fact that I wasn't able to attend much of it due to conflicting schedules, felt like a return to form in many ways. There was excitement buzzing in a related Discord channel, while for me, it was incredibly beneficial to spend some time chatting with CCP developers without separating us by screen and a literal ocean.
What about you, though? Have you ever attended a player-gathering, whether it was a large event or a player-organized meetup? What are your thoughts overall on the value these events bring to a game and its community? Let us know in the comments below.
