Notícias
QuakeCon returns to continue its history
M
Matt Paprocki
When you consider where online gaming and chat rooms were in 1996, this gathering makes a lot more sense. AOL discs were still on checkout lane shelves, broadband was still a far-off dream, and rocket-blasting your buddies over dial-up prevented your mom from using the phone. It made sense then to host a LAN party away from the various hiccups that plagued online gaming in its infancy. “For those of us who didn't have high speed internet back in the day, the only way to get to play multiplayer games with your friends was to attend LAN parties. QuakeCon just happened to be the biggest LAN in North America,” said QuakeCon regular Jacob Bouvrette via email.
While the Quake dev team made a surprise appearance in 1996 (along with a yearly John Carmack-hosted panel that lasted until 2013), it wasn’t until 1999 that id took enough notice to begin sponsoring the event. (This followed a poorly planned pseudo-QuakeCon in 1998.) In 1999, sponsors like Activision, AMD, and others helped the event find a sustainable model, which propelled it forward into the new millennium. That year id also offered fans an early look at Quake 3 via a deathmatch competition.
In 2002, the event expanded again, with id taking on a deeper role beyond just sponsorship, with the developer helping to plan QuakeCon alongside an all-volunteer team. Beyond LAN gaming, the event included Mister Sinus Theater—a name that parodies the cult movie-mocking program Mystery Science Theater—which took the Britney Spears movie Crossroads to task. That became a QuakeCon staple, though its name was later changed to Mister Pancake. “The skit they do during intermission is always hysterical, and the one with Back to the Future is still the most memorable thing from QuakeCon,” said attendee Ken Konarzewski.
Switching to larger venues allowed for further expansion, including concerts and hefty prize money for tournament winners. The first year, a few people walked away with t-shirts. By 2004, the winner scored $150,000. Vendor rooms that once shilled their goods directly to the hardest of hardcore demographic ballooned into a 25,000 square foot marketplace stuffed with id merch.
The growth continued. Prior to COVID, QuakeCon found a regular home at the Gaylord Texas Convention Center, and that’s where the show—along with its legion of attendees—will be from August 10 to 13. But why? Every fan and attendee we spoke to had a different story, including some wild ones.
“The gaming group I am a part of gets a little wild and crazy by taking our shirts off and playing Quake Live in the bring-your-own-computer [BYOC] room," remembered Bouvrette. "One QuakeCon, the then-CEO of id Software, Todd Hollenshed, was walking through the BYOC and saw us playing Quake shirtless, and thus questioning what we were doing. We all yelled at him to rip his shirt off and come play Quake with us. There we were, just a bunch of friends having fun, and the CEO of id Software shirtless fragging along with us."
Reached via email, attendee Kelly Lanahan said she made lifelong friends under bizarre circumstances: “I had a couple I didn't know ask me to save their place in the BYOC line and watch their computers so they could go get married in the lawn at the Hilton Anatole. I have been friends with them ever since."
You don’t get those stories without a reason to travel in the first place; in some cases, it's entirely because of the other people in their lives. For Stephanie Presley, going on her 23rd year at QuakeCon, it was her significant other that convinced her to give the show a shot. “I knew nothing," she said via email. "Even then, with a crowd of maybe 300, it was a welcoming atmosphere. I was clueless, but I made friends and met so many people. I only see them in person once a year, but they’ve been in my life for over 20 years.”
Each person we asked to respond had individual stories, but everyone we spoke to praised the people at the event. It’s always the crowd. “You’re ecstatic to be there, to see your friends, to spend a weekend with 'peace, love, and rockets,'” said Presley. (That phrase is an unofficial motto of the event.)
Lanahan described it as “the Lollapalooza of the nerd world,” and after her first show in 2012, she always makes it back because of the friends she made there. “Some of these people have become just as important as family to me,” said Lanahan. “They have helped me in my personal life with jobs, financial troubles, and with a place to stay while traveling. The friendships I have made at QuakeCon have become some of the most important relationships in my life.”
Konarzewski belongs to a group “Always 2 Manly,” who at rip off their shirts at midnight to play Quake Live. Konarzewski quipped that Always 2 Manly is the "soul of the convention.” To that group, QuakeCon is an anomaly in the modern world, a place where friends can gather in the same place and have fun. “Have you tried wrangling up even 10 friends for a fantasy football draft? We bring in 65-75 people in our group yearly to attend the event."
Decade-long attendee Trevin Verduzco, who appears in-character as the “QuakeCon Wiener King"—that is, in a hot dog costume—said that it's a different atmosphere: “Unlike other conventions, which can feel like glorified trade shows, QuakeCon still feels like a weekend long party."
Making the final sales pitch to anyone potentially hesitant to attend, Bouvrette tried to seal the deal: “If you ever have the chance to take a vacation and want to hang out with some like-minded enthusiasts, look no further than Dallas at the end of summer for QuakeCon. The outside air will burn your lungs, but the inside air-conditioned temperatures will keep your PC running oh-so -cool!” In this way, he succinctly summed up the event's lasting appeal—because again, at QuakeCon, it’s all about the people.
Even if you can't attend this year, you can check out the QuakeCon sales in the Epic Games Store right here.