GamesCom: Cologne, 18-22 August -- Meetup anyone?

[Locutus]

GamesCom is the biggest gaming convention in the world and is held in Cologne, Germany this year August 18-22 and is open to the general public. I will be attending this event on Saturday the 21st for most of the day (sadly not much of the evening due to travel time considerations), and while I've not yet been able to gain any official confirmation of this, there's a decent chance that Civ5 will be shown off at this event as well, as Firaxis have always had a very strong presence at this convention (I for one will be going regardless though).

Does anyone else have an interest in attending this event? If so, anyone interested in a meet-up? I'm currently trying to contact Firaxis about this, see if any special arrangements can be made to demo to a possible group of fans from WePlayCiv/Apolyton/CivFanatics or anything like that, but I'm still waiting to hear any word on this so no promises there yet (I don't even know for sure yet that they'll even be there), but I'll keep you guys posted.

Terrible, terrible promo but it gives you some idea of what to expect:

[Locutus]

Okay, I finally got an update from 2K. The person I originally contacted was on vacation and I was swamped myself so it took a little longer than necessary for me to follow up, but better late than never.

Civ5 will indeed be showcased at GamesCom and it will even be playable for the first time! But unfortunately the game devs and senior marketing folks will only be there on weekdays, they'll be gone by Saturday. That means there's unfortunately no chance of doing interviews or a private showing or anything like that. However, most likely I will be able to arrange VIP treatment for a group of WPC/CFC/ACS/CP fans -- which as far as I understand mostly means we get to cut the line (but perhaps 2K might be able to throw something else in there). To arrange this I do need to know fairly soon who is interested in attending, as 2K needs to know the size of the group well ahead of time.

So please let me know if you want to take part in this ASAP.

Note that this is for Saturday the 21st of August (time TBD). Obviously you will need to pay for your own admission to GamesCom, a day pass is €13.50 if you order online, €15.00 at the box office. For other options or more info on GamesCom, see the link in the OP. For the VIP group, just sign up in this thread for now, later I may need some contact info for you but we'll worry about that when the time comes.

If you intend to visit GamesCom on a weekday let me know in private, I might be able to set you up with press access (behind-closed-doors demo, maybe interviews, etc) -- especially if you're willing to report on it for WePlayCiv.

[Snotty]

Im looking into the possibility of this.

[Locutus]

Just a quick update to assure you this is still ongoing. I'm tentatively looking at a group of around 8 people from multiple fan sites (with a bunch of 'maybes' in there that I hope to clear up soon).

From ACS I'm perhaps optimistically counting Snotty (I'd rather high-ball than low-ball the number I give to 2K) -- Snotty, let me know if you've made a decision yet and if you're going, when exactly you'll be there.

If anyone else wants to be added to the list let me know, but there's not much time left so don't procrastinate. (Of course, better late than never, if someone cancels late I might be able to include you in even if you're too late initially.)

[Snotty]

Sorry Locutus, it cant be done. I really wish that wasnt the case though

[Robert]

I'm going there. Not on saturday though, so we will not meet Locutus, I'm sorry.
I'm looking forward to it a lot to be at gamescom!

What date are you organising stuff for, Locutus?

[Locutus]

Sorry to hear that, Snotty. Better luck next time...

Overview of the final details:

Date: Saturday 21 August
Location: GamesCom, Koelnmesse, Cologne, Germany

Schedule:
- 12:50: meet up for lunch, at Meeting Point in Hall 10 (see map)
- 13:00 (give or take): lunch, somewhere in Hall 10 (just to be clear, we go Dutch on this one -- WPC isn't getting *that* much money from donations)
- 13:45: meet up for VIP treatment, at Meeting Point in Hall 10
- 14:00: VIP treatment, report at Entertainment Area 2K, Hall 6.1, A10 (Civ5 stand itself is B40)

Confirmed attendees:
- Locutus (WePlayCiv)
- Locutus's brother-in-law (none)
- donald23 (WePlayCiv)
- The_J (CivFanatics/civforum.de)
- Jobe (Fastmoves.de)
- Penny (Civ4Players/CivFR)
- Worf der Große (civforum.de)

Anyone else interested in joining in on either or both of these events (lunch + VIP treatment), please let me know publicly or privately no later than at the end of the day on Friday 20 August (i.e. this Friday).

For all attendees, it's not required but I recommend that you PM (or email) me with your telephone number and/or request for my telephone number, so that if you're running late, need to find us or we need to get in touch for whatever reason on the 21st itself, we have a way of contacting each other.

[Proteus_MST]

So, I have to be able to attend to Gamescom today with some friends (as mentioned in another thread )
don´t forget to go to hall 6 to the 2k booth to play Civ V