Gen Con 2009: MMOs in the E-gaming area
Massively was at Gen Con 2009 yesterday in Indianapolis, Indiana, and while most of the (gigantic) convention was involved with more traditional types of gaming, from dice and board games to collectible card games and RPGs, MMOs made their own splash in the "e-gaming" area. Sony Online Entertainment probably had the biggest presence -- in among huge posters of Free Realms and Star Wars Galaxies, they had demos running of all of their current games (though we didn't see any previews of DCUO or The Agency running). A costumed model posed for pictures in front of a large Legends of Norrath poster, while over in the CCG area, SOE held tournaments of the game for players.
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Cryptic Studios shared a booth with a few other RPG developers, while showing off a recent build of Champions Online (though their reps told us that the demo being played at the show was a little bit behind what players will be playing in the beta soon) as well as videos of what they've done so far with Star Trek: Online. And Bioware was also at the show, but most of their demo units were taken up with the upcoming non-MMO Dragon Age -- Star Wars: The Old Republic was nowhere to be seen. MMO players were definitely outnumbered (off the floor, there were rooms and rooms full of people playing with pen and paper rather than internet-connected PCs), but massively multiplayer RPGs definitely had their share of attention in their space on the Exhibition Hall floor.
