131 replies to this topic

[Sorceror Spudhead]

I remember last year was hot too. But I didn't care either time because it was so much fun.

I arrived in the line at about 8:15. I remember I was behind the Julie-su cosplayer. When I went to take a look at how long the line was I got a shout out from the boy from last years "Never Mind the Buzzbombers". He recognised me and complemented my works. Thank you sooo much!!

When I got in past nine, it was busy. But I was able to work my way to the merch booth and buy 7 comics and 2 cds. Sonic Generations? That game is going to leave Sonic Colours in Black and White. My only niggle was classic sonic's jump seemed a bit heavy. Also spoke to Mr Kevin Eva who I congratulated on all his work and being in Sonic Colours credits. Hope you had a good last year running this awesome convention.

I was lucky to meet Mr Jun Senoue again. I had a photo for him to sign. when he saw it, he laughed so hard. He remembered it being taken. After signing alot of stuff he wanted a new photo done. After that, he asked for another one. Then he asked for one with my dad! The guy was incredible, Summer of Sonic must be one of Jun's favourite days of the year.

Also Mr Tracy Yardley. What a guy. I felt so sorry for him as the day went on cause he had to do so many drawings. I felt bad that he had so many complicated fan characters to draw too. I simply asked him for Silver holding up a toaster. He liked this idea. I should have given him more than the asking price of £2, he was incredibly generous and incredibly nice.

Shout out to Doctor MK! Great to meet you after all this time and thank you for the stuff! I seem to be wearing my blue nose alot now, may wear it to next years event! Hope to see you again!

Shout out to Holly, who I befriende in the Shadow speedrun line. She won too! I was so close to her time (Everyone was in awe at my speed) but I hit something right before the end. So big congratulations to her, hope to see you next time!

Edited by Dr Spudhead, 28 June 2011 - 01:42 PM.

[sploit]

So you only really came for Yuji Naka's signature then? Alright.

Everyone would have had a main reason for wanting to be there though right?

As I earlier admitted I wanted to get photos with Naka and Iizuka.

I think for most Sonic fans getting to meet them would be a priority.

I knew about the event before and simply couldn't get to a computer with internet access on the day reservations were opened. Which is unfortunate.
Either way though, Naka and Iizuka were announced late on and more people may have turned up for them or for one of the other later announced parts of the event.

I am not knocking you guys for the amount of effort you put into it, but volumes of people may have changed due to late announcments etc. And I believe if you did hire a bigger venue or make it open air, you guys would fill the space. That said I know the year before was a smaller event but that place was packed, I think many people including myself were really wanting to see Crush 40, I had a reservation for that though.

I know the bigger an event gets the more it would cost but I think fans would happily pay to get in. I would have paid considerably for the chance to meet with Naka and Iizuka (moreso for a photo than signatures as I have been lucky enough to secure the signatures - Naka on a promotional Knuckles plush off the website Animemate) and Iizuka on Sonic Colours from the SEGA japan relief auctions).

I left gutted that I did not get to meet two heroes and knowing it was unlikely I'd even get inside. I hope you guys can secure them to come back and that every can get to see them.

Like I say I am not knocking you guys... last year and the year before I really enjoyed, and I thanked ArchAngelUK from the SEGA blogs and I think T-Bird helped me get Johnny Gioelli's signature just before I left and I thanked him.

I never met you before but knew who you were. When I arrived this year you greeted me and said sorry you didn't know me as I was stood behind a bunch of people you knew and you pointed me to the queue very politely after I said I had no reservations.


Also on a sidenote...the taunting people were asking about...two people were doing it (two cosplaying girls...kept coming out and they said to a couple of people - they may have knew them - in a gloating way how much they had missed out on but everyone could hear...then later they came back and kept going on about how cool they were waving their wristbanded arms about. It felt harsh.

Something else I remember - the dude in that proposal video (I recognise him from his avatars on Sonic Retro) actually came out and asked if anybody wanted to purchase a wristband (I don't think he was trying to annoy anyone)...but I did not as I would have needed two and also didn't know if that was breaking any rules...

Again just to note I did appreciate the free comic and T-shirt and it was kool of Jun Senoue to come outside but I left upset with how things went for me...

[Mollfie]

Everyone would have had a main reason for wanting to be there though right?

As I earlier admitted I wanted to get photos with Naka and Iizuka.

I think for most Sonic fans getting to meet them would be a priority.

I didn't >.> I honestly didn't know a lot of the things that were planned because I like being surprised.

[JezMM]

I've never been fussed about signatures for some reason. I'm not all that interested in the creators of things, since no one person made these games and everything I enjoyed about them. I'd rather appreciate the work by just... playing the games A LOT, lol.


Not downplaying those who do like signatures of course, but yeah. I really don't think there's any way to avoid the dissapointment of being the first person in the queue (or close) when it gets cut off though. You have to cut off somewhere, and I think people must be mentally prepared for that before they enter a queue.

[jennytablina]

In terms of tickets, I think maybe next year - slap some kinda charge on it? I know we want it to be a free event, but people will stop to think about registering if there's a charge involved. When something like this is free, people with simply register asap and there needs to be a way to stagger that so that people have more than a day to decide. For me it was always a no-brainer, though I was exceptionally lucky to have a friend who could of registered me as I was working that day.

The only other suggestion I have is maybe making SOS last more than a day? I realize thats maybe a lot to ask considering it's a community event, but most anime cons run over an entire weekend...is this in any way possible?

In terms of the events...now I've had time to rest and sort things in my head

I was there the whole day, missed out on Yardley, Kitching ect and some other stuff...but I was happy as punch because for me personally, SOS was about meeting people I knew for YEARS and getting to properly chat with them and enjoy everything. I went with the aim of getting into the Cosplay contest just for kicks this year (I was Cream lol), chatting to more peeps within the community - maaaaybe getting some merch and seeing if I would get lucky to get a signature from Naka and Iizuka. I got to do all that and more this year : )

A lot of things were improved from last year,

-the generations queue was swift and thanks to the way the demo was laid out, people were less likely to continue playing after the "Coming Late 2011" splash screen

-IMO having the wii pods used for contests was FANTASTIC - I learned from the Preparty that some multiplayer Sonic titles work REALLY well - and people seemed to be having lots of fun with the SA2:B one. Maybe next year the final battle can be held on the big screen ala Gamesmaster?

-The Cafe was a godsend in the best way - I headed that way whenever my feet and the heat were starting to get me. Still got to talk to tons of people and had some fun times there - needed less parents camping out though (as you feel a bit weird taking a table with a bored parent already there...)

-I know I already expressed I wasn't that keen on Julien-K, but for me - having something I wasn't so hot on pop up on stage, gave me great excuse to jump out and chill before the Q&A - which is something I really NEEDED after queueing for Naka and Iizuka for a good 2 hours. So I don't really have that much beef with them, other than a feeling that maybe they came to SOS with the wrong attitude

- Club Sonic was AWESOME, but maybe this needs to happen earlier in the day if done again? I think by that time of the day, fans were fraying at the edges, and people would of gotten more into it otherwise. Though it was a fantastic way to end the evening

-Merch stall lasted a LOT longer and while I sadly didnt buy anything (sadly SoS came at a bad time moneywise for me, next yeeeear) - it was great to see fans get the chance to pick up some goodies (as opposed to last year, when it seemed to be mostly snapped up within seconds). Plus the fanart stuff was awesome, I hope that can continue too...

At the end of the day, I realize the future of SoS is a little uncertain, which is why I went all out this year. If this is what it bows out on, then its a great way to go. But I honestly hope there's something next year, as I wanna see everyone again! <3 As I said Sunday, if there's anything I can do, I really want to help out next year somehow.

[Arrow]

I really don't think there's any way to avoid the dissapointment of being the first person in the queue (or close) when it gets cut off though. You have to cut off somewhere, and I think people must be mentally prepared for that before they enter a queue.

It could be done how most theme parks handle the problem, by closing the queue line at a set time and whoever is in the queue get a ri-...signature? So "close" the queue an hour (two hours, three hours, whatever is requires) or whatever before signing is due to finish. Get some barriers and have a very specific queueing section out of the way of everyone to help control it.

[/roller coaster nerd]

Edited by Arrow, 28 June 2011 - 03:04 PM.

[Mollfie]

It could be done how most theme parks handle the problem, by closing the queue line at a set time and whoever is in the queue get a ri-...signature? So "close" the queue an hour (two hours, three hours, whatever is requires) or whatever before signing is due to finish. Get some barriers and have a very specific queueing section out of the way of everyone to help control it.

[/roller coaster nerd]

The difficulty with that, as said already, is that you don't always know how long someone takes to sign things. You can't time it really, it's guess work.

[DarkNoise]

Also Mr Tracy Yardley. What a guy. I felt so sorry for him as the day went on cause he had to do so many drawings. I felt bad that he had so many complicated fan characters to draw too. I simply asked him for Silver holding up a toaster. He liked this idea. I should have given him more than the asking price of £2, he was incredibly generous and incredibly nice.

That was you? I was stood behind you in the que thinking 'Why's he holding a toaster??' and at same time laughing to myself at how brilliantly funny it was! Kind of reminds me of Shadow and his swiss roll! I got to see Tracy then, go him to do Sonic and Mina jamming a performance. Kudos to the guy for an amazing pic concidering he admittedly hadn't had much experience drawing Mina.

Moving on! I agree that going Tickets only may be the way foward in controlling overcrowding and getting accurate numbers in future. A staggered ticket registration may also be something to look into, I agree. One thing I would suggest though, and there are those who may kill me for suggesting this, but concidering all the work and effort svend and all the guys put into this every year, at the cost of thier own pockets as well, to provide everyone with this fantastic event, I feel that it should be suggested that there be a small ticket fee. Even if it's just £2, it's money towards the running costs of SoS. These guys work so damn hard to bring us SoS each year, it's only fair that we all contribute to it!

As for the heat, well I'll admit, the heat was very uncomfertable for me. But the guys did what they could and thats all we can ask from them. Heck, I suffer really really badly in heat, but I didn't care. The whole atmophere of SoS was just soo frikking sweet that I just couldn't give a damn about the temp, besides, there was always the cafe to take a quick breather.

And besides, didn't Johnny promise to pay for the Air Con and not turn up, lets blaim him!! LOL j/k

All that aside though guys, I think you all did exceptionally well given the circumstances, and should be truly proud of yourselves. It was, by far, the BEST SoS I have ever been to and look forward to the next!

[Mollfie]

I've said before that I think eventually SOS will have to stop being free. I'd be more than happy to pay if it meant a bigger venue, more events, more Sonic celebrities etc. Plus it must be really expensive to do so I'd be happy to contribute something.

[Covskin]

I'll add myself to the list of people who would gladly pay to attend. I mean, this year's event was 11 hours long, it almost felt like stealing!

[Urtheart]

It's not so much that we don't want to make it a paid event, more the legal issues behind it. Again the legal side is my end, each year I've looked at the logistics, and basically we haven't had enough support from sources I can't name to be able to do this. Trust me when I say this would make our lives a lot easier, but it just wasn't possible this year.

[Sir Mihael]

I'll add myself to the list of people who would gladly pay to attend. I mean, this year's event was 11 hours long, it almost felt like stealing!

Word.

The whole day was magical. I've paid lots of money for Anime and Comic cons in the past that have been decent enough in the past, but nothing as good as SoS, which I paid absolutely nothing for (not counting travel, food etc...)

In other words, despite Urtheart's explanation as to why they couldn't charge for entry (which is understandable). I would still happily throw money at this event to make it even more awesome.

How about a donations tin, or some sort of collection for people to donate towards future awesomeness at SoS?
Just an idea.
But maybe it's because, like Covskin, I almost felt like I owe something to SoS for having such an amazing time for so little pennies.

[HelenBaby]

Did a blog-post about the day on my Deviantart page : http://helenbaby.dev...urnal/41810128/

[Kjeldo]

This is the write-up I wrote at JunSenoue.com, so I'll just quote it here:

So this is my SOS2011 write-up:

At 5pm GMT+1 me and my dad went towards the Amstel Station in Amsterdam. We were a tad early so we had to wait for like an hout before we were able to board the bus. At 7.30pm GMT+1 the bus departed towards The Hague. It took about an hour to arrive there and the bus waited there for like 15 mins to pick up some more passengers. When those were inside, we went on towards Rotterdam and Breda to pick up some more passengers. At Breda we had a little break (after being 4 hours inside the bus already) and me and my dad went to the McDonalds which was just around the corner. I had a last check on Facebook and ate my hamburger and we then moved on at 22.30pm GMT+1. The bus drove all the way down to Antwerp (Belgium), picked up some more people over there. For some reason the bus driver decided to take a long break, but the passengers weren't allowed to go outside the bus. He turned of the bus' engine and so the air-conditioning stopped, which caused everyone to melt down. I tried to sleep but I was no able to as there was a women sitting next to me coughing every 60 seconds during the whole frigging night. After the long wait in Antwerp we moved on to Calais (France, the other side of the Street of Dover). We arrived at Calais at like 2.30am GMT+1. We all had to go through the UK Border Control which took like an hour and then we were finally allowed to move on towards the ferry at like 3.30am GMT+1. We got informed it would take like an hour and 20 minutes to get to the UK.

The ferry was immense! Really, I have not been on a bigger ship before in my life, nor did I see one! They had all kinds of shops and restaurants and lounge rooms, it really was amazing. I also spotted Angie (Crush40-Fanclub.de) on the same ferry, but since she was asleep I didn't started a conversation with her as I didn't wanted to wake her up. I tried to get some sleep as well but I was too excited to be in the UK and attend SOS for the first time, to actually do so. So at like 4am GMT we had to head back to our buses and get from Dover to London. The sun started to rise and so I got a nice view on beautiful England. It took about an hour to get to London, and another 45 minutes to get to the Victoria Coach Station. I kept looking out of the window non-stop, just to see how fantastic London was. It really was, and I took quite a lot of photos of it. So we arrived earlier than expected at the Victoria Coach Center. We were told we would be there at 6.30am GMT, but in fact we were there already at 5.45am GMT. When we arrived, we had a lot of time left before SOS started. I checked on Google Maps if there was anything to do nearby the Victoria Coach Station, and I found out that the Google HQ was just around the corner. I actually wanted to check that out, but unfortunately I couldn't find it.

So we went to the Victoria Underground Station, which is were I saw the WHSmiths. I remember reading people bought their copy of the GamesMaster Sonic 20th Edition over there, so I had a look. Unfortunately, there were only 2 copies left, both being torn open and missing the gifts. So I hoped to find it for sale at SOS or something. We found out that the Victoria line was closed, so we took the District and Northern line instead to get to Euston. At the Euston station, I saw 2 other WHSmiths-shops. Why they had 2 WHSmiths-shops at one railway station is far beyond me really. One WHSmiths store opened at 7am, the other one at 10am. It was 6.30am at the time we were at the Euston Station, so we waited for a while and got something to eat and drink to kill time. At 7am, we headed back to the WHSmiths and took a look, finding out that they had some mint copies of the GamesMaster Sonic 20th Edition left. My dad suggested to have a look for those at SOS first, and we could always get it there afterwards.

So we went outside and searched for Kings Cross. After a pretty long walk, we finally got there and we then had to find the Camden Center. Luckily we found it pretty fast and thus we joined the queue. I was trying to spot people like Kasey, iwantthatguitar, bcdcdude, Angelidia and everyone else I knew by name and face, but no success. I decided to have a look at the rest of the line behind me and my dad, and I saw that the line went all around the building! After walking towards the end of the line to see if I recognized some people, I accidentally walked into Naka-san and Iizuka-san, and Naka-san greeted me ;D This already made my day, and it barely started yet! I walked back to my dad who was waiting in the queue and proudly told him I saw Naka-san and Iizuka-san and that Yuji Naka greeted me. I then saw Benji standing so I walked towards him. It was really great to finally meet him in person and we had a nice little chat. He introduced me to a few of his friends, which also included Angelidia and Angie. I feel pretty bad about not properly introducing myself to them, but I was really tired of the long bus trip I had that night as I hadn't slept for like 24 hours. This is also the reason why my English was really bad at the day, I often used Dutch words too as I was really knackered after that sleepless night. I also chatted with Angie right there in the queue and I told her I saw her sleeping at the ferry, which made her laugh. After that little chat with Angie, Benji and Gareth started to sing various Sonic tunes. I joined them as well as well as quite a lot of other people waiting in the line.

So at 9.30AM we got to enter the venue. Some people in front of us were not allowed to get inside the venue as they didn't had an admission slip. This made me pretty nervous as me and a few others neither had one because T-Bird kindly put us on his guest-list (for this I am really thankful). We fortunately got inside without any issues, and we were handed some awesome freebies at the entrance. Once inside I rushed towards the merch tables. I bought the SA1 OST Re-release as well as a soft Robotnik-plushie. Throughout the day I met various people. I enjoyed every single stage performance, and I also got lots of stuff autographed. I also tried a Chili Dog, it was absolutely delicious, but it was pretty hard to eat as it was literary collapsing in my hands. I've been chatting with a lot of people, and I think it was really great to be with hundreds of people who share the same passion. I also met Jun during the first Sonic Team Q&A. I took a picture with him and he gave me a Crush 40 guitar pick! Later on the day, everyone of this forums gathered in front of the stage at like 1pm. This was when the JS.com group photo was token. We also got the opportunity to take a picture with Jun and his epic Sonic-guitar alone, and Jun even let me hold his guitar - I feel so honored!! After those pictures were taken, we headed outside to record a message for Martin. I didn't actually knew what to say so I sort of messed it up, but I hope he won't mind that!

The cosplay-contest was really cool as well, there were a lot of cosplayers - really, there must have been at least 50 of them! They looked all really awesome, and also some very original ones like Bark the Polar Bear, Scrouge, Human Sonic, Sharah, Eggman Nega and Wave the Swallow.

Nevermind The Buzzbombers was absolutely entertainment at it's best, it was way too funny to see poor T-Bird losing again from Dreadknux, and I also laughed when Dreadknux again gave the wrong answer to the question "What is Tails' Superstar move in Sega Superstars Tennis?".

The Wrecks Factor was really great as well, it was absolutely hilarious to see various talented fans sing songs like My Destiny, My Sweet Passions and E.G.G.M.A.N.

The stage showcase acts were very cool as well as everything else, I think ShadowGirl is really talented and I really enjoyed her short show. Zonic is very talented as well, her vocals to Green Hill Zone were great! Roareye's stand-up comedy show was epic, that guy has some great sense of humor.

Julien-K's performance was really fantastic! They really rocked it hard and I and Matt were lucky enough to be in front row and even get our hands on official JK guitar picks afterwards. There were some technical difficulties during their show, and they suitably closed their show with their song "Technical Difficulties".

During the second Sonic Team Q&A session, questions from the SOS site were asked. These questions included questions by Benji and me, this made me very happy as there were like 1000 questions on the SOS site, and mine was one of the few picked questions
After the Q&A was over, Naka-san, Iizuka-san and Senoue-san went off stage. Before Jun went behind the stage, he teased us all by saying "You will see me later today!", and so he did.

At 18.??, the Sonic (not so) Hour Live started. This was really entertaining and I enjoyed every single bit of it. After the Sonic not-so Hour, Club Sonic started slowly. In the first place, there were not much people singing along, but after Jun attracted everyone's attention towards the stage by playing some short jingles and went off stage quickly, everyone did sang along to the tunes played during Club Sonic. This was really great and it really gave me chills how everybody sang along to every tune. My dearest compliments to the DJ and Svend who both entertained the crowds greatly and kept them going. At 19.30pm, Mr Jun Senoue went back on stage and played a Sonic 4-medley, a GHZ-medley, the new version of City Escape and Live and Learn. Mr AAUK actually provided vocals to L&L, he seemed really surprised by this. It was great to finally see Jun performing live!

I was really disappointed when SOS was over, it was totally a memorable day which I'll never forget. I did went home almost immediately as I was completely knackered after being awake for like 36 hours and I really needed a bed. If I would have stayed a bit longer, I would've collapsed just like my chili dog did. I am very sorry I couldn't say good-bye to a lot of you properly, I hope you will forgive me.
Me and my dad went straight towards our hotel room, I crashed down to my bed and stayed there for like 15 minutes. We then went to a great Indonesian restaurant just around the corner. That was really delicious, but I unfortunately were literary too tired to eat, so I only ate a little.

We went back to out hotel room again, and I went to sleep instantly. The morning after we had to wake up at like 6.30am because we had to be at the Victoria Coach Station again at 9am. We packed our stuff, went downstairs to have some breakfast. We walked into one of the guys managing the breakfast-hall, and he told us there were some problems and thus the breakfast got delayed. We had to wait for half an hour before we could get out breakfast. I decided to try everything they offered as I always wanted to have a full English breakfast. It was absolutely delicious, such a shame we don't eat awesomesauce like that for breakfast here in the Netherlands!

After the breakfast we went back to the Euston station, I went to the WHSmiths to get the GamesMaster Sonic 20th Edition, and we then moved on to the Victoria Underground Station. From there on we walked to the Victoria Coach Station, and boarded the bus again. I was surprised when I noticed we didn't had to go through the French Border Security and we could just move on. We crossed the Street of Dover per train this time, this went a lot faster than per ferry. After a few hours in the bus we had a 45 minute break in Lille (France), followed by another few hours in the bus and then a stop in Brussels. We stopped for like 30 minutes in Brussels, locked up in the bus with the air-conditioning turned off. After those killing 30 minutes, we went towards The Hague, Rotterdam and finally Amsterdam again.


It was great to meet everyone who was there at SOS. Sorry if I didn't mentioned you in this write-up, please don't feel offended, I really enjoyed talking to you as well! I hope everyone who was not able to go this year will be there next year, as I am sure as hell I will! Although it was definitely worth it, I am NEVER going to London with the bus again. I'd rather spend 4 times as much to have some decent sleep rather than eing awake for 36 hours non-stop.

Thanks to everyone who was there, you all made my day! Also lots of thanks and my dearest compliments for Svend, Adam, Kevin and everyone else who helped organizing SOS - you have all outdone yourself and it was the best day of my life!

Also, this is a photo of me and Senoue-san:

[Mollfie]

That photo is amazing. A-MAZ-ING!

I remember seeing you and your dad around and in the line, so I'm glad you had fun. I think your dad also accidentally sprayed me with coke? Or I might be thinking of someone else...

Edited by Mollfie, 28 June 2011 - 08:23 PM.

[Kjeldo]

That photo is amazing. A-MAZ-ING!

I remember seeing you and your dad around and in the line, so I'm glad you had fun. I think your dad also accidentally sprayed me with coke? Or I might be thinking of someone else...

Thanks - I felt really honored I got to hold Jun's guitar
I'm sorry about the coke incident, I hope you weren't all sticky for the rest of the day!

[Mollfie]

Thanks - I felt really honored I got to hold Jun's guitar
I'm sorry about the coke incident, I hope you weren't all sticky for the rest of the day!

Haha no I wasn't, it was kinda funny really.

I love seeing families, kids and parents etc at SOS it's so cute and I love that it's a day that everyone can enjoy without having to worry. I love the cross generational appeal of Sonic.

There was another family there, the mum and her son went up for the cosplay competition and I saw the mum get/win a huge Sonic plush and she was so happy! I saw them last year as well and it's just so lovely to see.

[Swiss]

There was another family there, the mum and her son went up for the cosplay competition and I saw the mum get/win a huge Sonic plush and she was so happy! I saw them last year as well and it's just so lovely to see.

Was that the Sonic and Amy? That was really nice to see.

Also, I think the Dad was Knuckles too, they were a few places in front of me in the queue. Must have been filming while the cosplay competition was on, though, would have been great to see them enter as a family.

[VEDJ-F]

I honestly thought the Amy girl was the Sonic kid's older sister!

[Mollfie]

I honestly thought the Amy girl was the Sonic kid's older sister!

There were a few Amy's, the mum didn't go on stage I don't think? But she was definitely on the steps.

Edited by Mollfie, 28 June 2011 - 10:29 PM.