Fippyfest was announced. $1,499 for a ticket in-person.
Darkpaw Games
www.darkpawgames.com
I mathed it out. To stay in San Diego near the event, I would have to pay $1499 + tax on the event, between $150 -> $250 for a night in a hotel, and a flight costing $200 and $400 for a round trip. That's not counting luggage or transportation costs, either! An Uber both ways from the hotel will likely cost between $40 and $60 each way, or a car rental about the same. So, in total, I'd have to pay close to
one month's rent in a 1bd apartment in San Diego, where they're headquartered just to attend the event.
Entry level Darkpaw employees could not afford to attend your own event without the help of another person working at Darkpaw Games at entry level, and even then, they would have to have advance knowledge of the event and save up 6 months.
Frankly, I find that insulting to the people employed at Darkpaw only get to attend this event because they're part of the company, and if they had worked at any other company in industry and were a fan of EverQuest (like myself), or work any job that totals 25 USD or under an hour, they would not be able to, as it is prohibitively expensive on even 5 months notice for people in that income bracket in the current economy.
The pricing on in-person is kind of an insult to anyone who is a fan of the game, personally - MMOs are played because they're approachable, cost-effective social experiences. $1,499 is, on average, not an approachable amount of money for anyone playing this game coupled with flight and ticket costs.
Yes, there's the meme about people breaking the terms of service for profit via RMT that might be able to afford a $1,499 ticket. But personally, I don't want those people representing the game.
SOE Live is the ticket price they should be aiming for. It was a decade ago, so adjust for inflation. $40 for a day pass, and $140 for an all-access pass for every day of the event. I would have paid $250 for an 'all access equivalent' in today's market. This is also what I paid for going to PAX East, which is a much bigger event.
This is one of the biggest periods of global inflation, coupled with two international geopolitical conflicts. Only the ultra rich can afford this, and I get that Darkpaw wanted it to be a smaller event, but if you were to ask anyone actually working at Darkpaw Games to attend the event, they would not be able to on their current salaries, based on current salary offerings listed on the career page. Only leadership and production would be able to.
It would have been more appropriate for Darkpaw to just allow press to the event for free, and sell $250 digital tickets. Then, later this year or next, plan on going to Vegas and opening up general admission, not 'luxury' tickets costing $1,499.
I encourage folks to not attend unless they're a member of the press. Chances are press (The EQ Show, MassivelyOP, etc) has already been invited and do not have to spend that amount. The digital tickets are whatever; the valuation of those are functionally irrelevant as they are intended to provide digital goods and a peek at the event. They're effectively glorified microtransactions. But taking advantage of your core fans isn't acceptable.
