I've always been rather awed, and not a little frightened, by the continuing tradition of the SOE Fan Faire. I've never been, you understand, and am never likely to go, but each year, the photos come back:

And many others. (Pay attention, MMO Art Directors - this is what Real People look like! Take notes.)

The idea that players of any online game can be so enthusiastic that they not only travel thousands of miles for The Gathering, but then dress up like their character when they get there disturbs me on a number of levels, and the SOE shindig is by no means the most established or bizzare - some of the things the FFX people get up to on bank holidays would make your toes curl, and the less said about 'FurryCon' the better, frankly.

Cosplay, LARPing, all that stuff, is almost universally derided, and perhaps deservedly so; grown men and women playing dressing-up and make-believe...they should be serious, and grow up, like us Normal People! Deviants! But the thing I admire, me who writes under a psuedonym, fears Teamspeak and hides behind a hundred made-up online masks, is that they don't give a damn what we think. They don't just have a hobby, they have a passion, something I'm unlikely to ever be able to claim. No-one gets more value for money from their $15 a month than they do, and in many ways, I envy that.

So I salute you, Fan Faire Nutters; I salute your home-made costumes and bizarre meet-n-greets, your self-confidence and your obsession. Don't ever change!

(Except possibly to go to work on monday...few bosses are as understanding as I am!)

"See this? This is my serious face." - Spotsworth