WOW! This was my first Anime Expo and it was amazing. I finally got to meet Danny Choo! [Achievement unlocked] We had a get together with awesome players... scratch that... new real life friends who I happened to be friends online with first. [Upgrade!] I also got to meet Peter Payne (the owner of JBox/Jlist), Akidearest (super awesome YouTuber), VampyBitMe (Famous Cosplayer), and I even ran into Chairman Platinum on Hollywood Blvd! I was honored and humbled by the shocking number of people who walked up and asked, "Are you Artix!?" and then thanking our team for making so many fond memories. I am truly grateful for the experiences from this adventure.
I posted a bunch of random photos on my ArtixKrieger Facebook page for you. Please like any you find interesting.
I always imagined we have a lot in common-- you and I. Not just our obsession with video games, but with the unique fascination with all things creative and fun. Often in the "normal world" I have a bit of a hard time talking and relating to people. But conventions like Anime Expo are a temporary pocket universe filled to the brim with people like me. People who like video games, youtube, super heroes, art, fantasy, sci-fi, TV shows and books, anime/manga, and creativity. It felt like home. Surrounded by cosplayers, fans, creators, and people eager to learn how everything is made-- conventions are the one place where I actually feel like I fit in. If you have never gone to a ComicCon, DragonCon, <insert-any-name here>Con before, then I highly recommend going to one with your friends, family, or both.
I have such respect and admiration for people who follow their dreams and find great success. As many of you know, Danny Choo is on that short list of creative people I really look up to. He has an interesting story, going from a dancing Storm Trooper, to the creator of the most popular blog in the world about Japan, creating the character Mirai Suenaga (pronounced "mee-rai soo-eh-na -gah"), to making the surprising choice of switching his entire life's focus to creating Fashion Dolls. Wait, Fashion dolls!? But Artix, you are a gamer, how do you get inspiration from someone who makes dolls? For a REALLY good reason. Like Voltaire, One-Eyed Doll, Alodia Gosiengfiao... Danny is an exemplary example of someone who marches to the beat of a different drum and accomplishes what others would not think possible. It was an honor to finally meet him in person at Anime Expo.
We did not have an official AdventureQuest 3D panel at AnimeExpo, so we had one in the hall! Special thanks to Danny Choo for letting us gather in the spacious area behind his booth. OMG it was so awesome to meet you guys! It is crazy to think that I have been talking online for years with people that I finally met in real life. I hope that I get the opportunity to meet the rest of you at conventions in the future! We talked about AQ3D features and what is going on in the story for AdventureQuest World's "Throne of Darkness" saga! If you have not been keeping up, it is a good time to play through the last few stories because THIS week... is Sekt's 4th Dimensional Pyramid story. (Which the team is calling the single best story I have ever written... ever. And J6's art and design will not disappoint either.)
Conventions are an endless source of inspiration. There is an energy there that recharges your creative battery. I went to a lot of industry panels and studied the games being promoted there. I posted over one hundred photos on Facebook, but I took over a thousand photos + videos along with some diligent note taking. This week I will review them and see if I can integrate some of the interesting story telling techniques I saw into AdventureQuest 3D.
If we have not already met in real life, I really hope we get the opportunity to. Once AdventureQuest 3D is fully launched this October, and if it becomes really popular, I could go to conventions all over the world promoting it and meet you at the one near you. O_O How cool would that be!?
Photos on my ArtixKrieger Facebook
Undead Legion Ruler
Scribble Scribe
