iQ Goes to Taipei: Day 1 "Diary"

Sarus

Sarus

Ministry of Technology

Join Date: Feb 2005

Washington D.C.

Idiot Savants

Mo/

iQ in Taipei: Day 1


Introduction Day 1

When I first got back from Taipei I started reading through all the different forums and couldn't believe all the misinformation flying around. Rather than try to respond to all the different posts on all the different forums I thought it would be a good idea to put together a trip "diary" and provide some concrete information (at least from my own point of view).

First off I wanted to thank everyone at Anet and NCSoft for making the trip possible. I especially wanted to thank all the Anet people that treated us like royalty. I know I'll probably miss some names but I wanted to say thank you to Gaile, Tyler, Tommy, Alex, Izzy, Jeff, Mike and Mike and Pat plus the rest of the Anet staff. The trip greatly exceeded our expectations and was definitely an experience we'll remember for the rest of our lives.

iQ sent 9 guys total to Taipei with most of us flying out of different airports from across the country. Most of us met up at LAX in Los Angeles and met for the first time. Ensign and Eonwe were both on separate flights to Taipei but most of Te and iQ took the same flight from LAX to Taipei.
  • Sarus -- Washington D.C.
  • Scaphism -- Washington D.C.
  • Ensign -- San Francisco
  • Augie -- Wisconsin
  • Eonwe (Hello Apollo, pp) -- New Jersey
  • Zrave -- Brazil
  • Pally -- California
  • Ring King -- Iowa
  • Rayne -- Iowa


The Plane Ride and Airport

The plane ride was mostly uneventful with the food being horrible as expected. I have a picture here just to gross people out.



It appears to be an omelet with a piece of sausage topped with some mystery red stuff. I ate the fruit. Apparently Pally enjoyed it though. Around lunchtime the flight attendant came by and asked if we wanted fish noodles or cold rice. We sort of did a double take since neither of those sounds even edible. After a little questioning we determined she was actually saying "pork rice" and not cold rice. We assumed of course she meant pork fried rice. Unfortunately, it turned out to be "rice with mystery meat on top".

We arrived in Taipei around 6 am and proceeded to the baggage claim where we were happy to learn that only 3 out of the 7 of us had our luggage missing. After reporting the missing luggage and being assured that they would send it to the hotel we made our way to the arrivals area where we met some of the Anet staff for the first time.

Being the showboat that he is Izzy decided to dazzle us with cartwheels while we waited for the bus to take us to the hotel.




The Hotel

We got to stay at the Grand Hyatt Taipei which is apparently the nicest hotel in Taiwan (as told to us by one of our cab drivers). I definitely would not argue with him on the point as the hotel was amazing. After checking into our rooms we ate some breakfast at the hotel restaurant and headed over to the game show taking place at the Taipei Convention Center right around the corner.




The Game Show

At around 10:30 am they had the opening ceremony which started off with girls dancing around in tennis outfits as part of the publicity for "SMASH STAR!!". Smash star is a tennis game with super moves much like Dragonball Z or something along those lines. Apparently Eonwe tried the game out and got destroyed by some little Taiwanese kid. The tennis dance number was pretty cute. It was the first dance routine we saw so we weren't yet numb to them. The dance routine was followed up by a line up of the NCSoft booth girls.




The NCSoft girls and tennis girls were follow up by some Lineage II cosplay! Personally, I thought these 3 girls were the hottest ones at the show but I'm sure everyone had their favorites. I'm a big fan of the girl in the blue outfit with the wand. If anyone from Anet is reading this and has her number/email please send me a PM. In addition, I would need someone to volunteer Korean language lessons so I could talk to her.



After the cosplay girls left the stage the president (or I think he was the president) of NCSoft gave a short talk in Korean which was translated into Chinese which was not translated into anything I could understand. My best guess is that his speech had something to do with how hot the cosplay girls were. The president of NCSoft was followed up by ... more cosplay!! This time it was Guildwars based cosplay with our favorite the ele and necro. The ele and necro were followed by a short speech by Jeff and Mike who are 2 of the 3 founders of Arena Net. It was pretty funny because they were handed these swords and weren't quite sure what to do with them so they started to duel on stage. The MC had to run over and tell them they were just supposed to just hold them in the air and look silly. Mike and Pat got back at us by making us pose and do a battle cry on stage while a film crew recorded it for future embarassment.



My second favorite girl at the show was definitely the MC ... well maybe the bunny girls were number two. I'll let you pick your own favorite. The bunny girls were part of another company's booth. The company actually had computer stations with red leather love seats. At each love seat there was a booth babe who would sit there and teach one lucky guy how to play the game. The bunny girls were there to escort the guys to their respective love seat. It sort of reminded me of a strip club except instead of lap dances you got video game instruction. What you can't see in the picture are about the 300 other guys standing behind me trying to get a picture of the bunny girls as well. Luckily I'm a big obnoxious American so I was able to get their attention and sneak in a good picture.



We spent most of the day at the game show and hotel eating food and eating more food. It pretty much seemed like every time we had nothing to do we were being offered to be fed. Later in the afternoon they had a performance by TANK who was supposedly a pop star but I wasn't convinced. He recorded a single for guild wars which he performed live. He then played some of the arena net staff (left to right: Gaile, Izzy, Tyler, Mike) in a 4v4 team arena match. Unfortunately, TANK seemed to be playing a tank (suprise, suprise) and got rolled.



After the match was over I noticed quite the commotion from the booth across from the NCSoft stage. When I turned around to see what the hell was going on I saw Pally up on stage yapping away into a mic with a giant crowd gathering to see what the white guy was talking about. The MC of the booth was all excited to have Pally up there drawing a crowd until Pally started yelling about Anet and pointing to the Guild Wars booth. She cut him short and kicked Pally off the stage after saying to the crowd, in English, "we must silence him". Seeing Pally get humiliated and kicked off stage prompted Scaph to of course, run up on to the stage as well. His excuse was "she looked at me."



After wandering around the NCSoft booth a bit, Scaph and I stopped in front of one of the Guild Wars stations. Almost immediately a booth girl came up and said "Hi" in English and then attempted to teach us how to play guild wars. We humored her for a bit and then Scaph attempted to explain we were actually quite good at the game already. She tried to speak in English the entire time which was really sweet. She ended up being the only booth girl that I actually said hello to each morning.



Taipei 101

After spending most of the day and afternoon at the game show we went on a tour of Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is the worlds tallest building. We headed over at night and went up to the observation deck. This is where I took some pictures with Evil. In the picture below from left to right are Bloodlight Eyes, Last of Master, Sarus and Dan Jang. I noticed some odd conspiracy threads where someone pointed out I was in a picture with both Evil and iQ *gasp*. Just to clarify I'm not in EviL. They said I wasn't Korean enough.



Dinner and Battle Planning

Following the tour of Taipei 101 we went to eat dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Wasabi. It was a high end buffet style restaurant that was actually quite good. A couple people were fooled by the "mashed potatoes" that were really potato salad. They'd come back to the table all excited that they found mashed potatoes only to take a bite and be like "Hey! these potatoes are cold!". Zrave was the first victim. By the time dinner was over we were starting to feel the effects of the jet lag and headed back to the hotel. We all went up to one of our rooms to discuss strategies for the match on Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn't come up with much since we had yet to see EviL and Val play. The brainstorming session turned into a comedy session with Zrave resorting to physical humor in the form of crazy arm gestures to refer to different skills.



Of course the first person to fall asleep during the brainstorming session was Pally. In the fine tradition of messing with people who fall asleep while you're still awake we decided to create a 3 part montage of Pally. If that doesn't turn you on then I don't know what does.



Moment of Zen

After the meeting everyone pretty much headed off to sleep. All in all the first day in Taipei was a blast. The girls were hot, the food was good, and the bed was comfy. I end this chapter with a few moments of zen.




~Sarus

fiery

fiery

Banned

Join Date: Oct 2005

maryland

InYurFace Gaming [IYF]

R/

Nice, kewl beans man hope you had fun, but whats with the brushing teeth in the mirror picture?

Fred Kiwi

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

[cola]

nice

Jormund

Jormund

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2005

Michigan

Looks like you had a fun time, very nice read by the way. Also, nice work with the photos (ones with girls especially) .

Haggard

Haggard

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Urmston, Manchester, UK

Greener Pastures [DVDF]

W/Rt

must have been pretty unreal meeting the guys you spend your days pwning, or being pwned by :P

Jetdoc

Jetdoc

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Jul 2005

The Eyes of Texas [BEVO]

D/A

Note to self: Move to Taipei to meet very hot chicks.

Kago Seirei

Kago Seirei

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2005

Mo/W

I'm going to Taipei next summer to visit my family. :/ Also, that food looks pretty good, what're you talking about? Compared to what I eat. x___x

Esrever

Esrever

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2005

Looking For Guild

Pally makes me hawt. Eonwe getting beaten by children makes me laugh.

In the second airplane food picture, what is the thing in the lower left that looks like a delicious block of wood?

Sagius Truthbarron

Sagius Truthbarron

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

Animal Factory [ZoO]

A/

Ooooooooooooooooh

Very nice narative. Interesting stuff.

Elena

Elena

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2005

Belgium

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jetdoc
Note to self: Move to Taipei to meet very hot chicks.
exactly my thoughts all those girls lucky iQ :P

Starsky-sama

Starsky-sama

Forge Runner

Join Date: Apr 2005

Land of the Z Chest \o/

[NOT]-Nomads of Turmoil.

W/

/nice read.
/nice pics.

SnoopJeDi

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

Saved By My Pinchers of Peril

R/N

A restaurant named Wasabi? Did they have a sushi bar? Wasabi is a plant whose root is used very often as a side to sushi. Or something like that. I like it

Cool post, I really smiled when I read about the booth girl teaching you guys how to play

Diablo???

Diablo???

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

Seattle

SPQR

N/R

those lineage cosplay folks look funny...

Refyused

Refyused

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

That's really cool Sarus, glad you guys had fun. Must've really kicked ass being there, even if you couldn't understand half of what was said Hot girls, good food, a nice hotel, and some of the best damn GW players in the world. Who could ask for more?

Rilder

Rilder

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2006

Mystic Shadow Soldiers (MSS)

R/

Omgs you lucky panzy... did you manage to smuggle one of those chicks back?

Tortoise

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

Daunting Tempest

Mo/

Thanks for this thread. I enjoyed reading it and looking forward to more. I must admit I never did cheer for you though. But hey, someone's gotta support the poor Euro's ;-) .

And man those girls... I mean... man... man... Damn I gotta get my guild to kick-ass soon!

Ultimate_Gaara

Ultimate_Gaara

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

BC, Canada.. how aboot that eh?

Seems like you dudes are having quite a hoot, enjoy your stay, its not everyday a video game gives you a reason to visit another country.

Shadowfox1125

Shadowfox1125

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2005

PST

W/

As much as I'm glad that NC held the WWC in Taiwan (I'm Taiwanese--representing!!), I can't help but wonder why it was there. Maybe just in time for the Taipei Gaming Convention? meh. I haven't gone back to Taiwan since 2 years ago.. Sarus, I'm guessing you took China Airlines..? Eva Airlines is better XD. I've yet to see Taipei 101.. lucky people.

Hope you had fun!

-Loki-

-Loki-

Forge Runner

Join Date: Oct 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadowfox1125
As much as I'm glad that NC held the WWC in Taiwan (I'm Taiwanese--representing!!), I can't help but wonder why it was there.
Advertisement for it's release.

Anraeth

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

SE america

This Is Cakeguild [cAke]

pass the word to pally that he is infact dead sexy.

castanaveras

castanaveras

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

I'm glad you guys having fun over there.
Oh, and thanks for this thread. I have a great time reading it.

geminisaga

geminisaga

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/N

gj american

Two April Mornings

Two April Mornings

No Luck No Time No Money

Join Date: Nov 2005

Amherst College, MA

Scars Meadows [SMS]

Me/

nice
w00t w00t for DC Guild Wars ppl

Diablo???

Diablo???

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

Seattle

SPQR

N/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadowfox1125
I'm Taiwanese--representing!!
w00t w00t! r3presentin my brotha!!!1

I am also glad it took place in Taiwan...

Reks

Reks

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2005

R/P

Good read. And gj for getting a pic with the bunny girl. And I liked the part when the booth girl tried to teach you and Scaph how to play Guild Wars. That IS cute.

Rhuobhe

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

Less Crying is Key [kThx]

Hot Asian showgirls at gaming events FTW!

I like the ele and necro, were there any other GW characters?

zoozoc

zoozoc

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Beaverton/OR

Disciples of Birkler [BIR]

A very informative article.

koneko

Site Contributor

Join Date: Sep 2005

38??16′ N 140??52′ E

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarus
They said I wasn't Korean enough.


Interesting to hear that the airport in Taipei is still as awful as ever about handling baggage

Auntie I

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2005

Veritas Invictus

E/Me

OK, the picture of the airplane food was completely unnecessary and gross.

The rest looked awesome. I hope you guys had a fantastic time. Thanks for the diary.

Legendary Battousai

Legendary Battousai

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2005

CA

[Ryuk]

W/A

giggity giggity goo

Esprit

Esprit

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

Dvd Forums [DVDF]

E/

Quote:
OK, the picture of the airplane food was completely unnecessary and gross.
I really don't think airplane food is that gross... sure it's not the best... but not as bad as people say it is.

Sekkira

Sekkira

Forge Runner

Join Date: Apr 2005

Canberra, AU

Depends on what airline you're travelling with.

brybry

brybry

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2005

Mo/Me

phillipine airlines ftw mother f 'ers!!!
sure airplane food is nasty....but the movies kick ass.

myword

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2005

Korea

i thought all airlines with inflight entertainment have the latest movies that are out in cinemas? :x at least the one i travel with always does

Symeon

Symeon

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2005

Nice stuff. I like the picture from the top of that building...those several-storey appartment blocks down below are like the size of peas
Must have been a great time for you guys I guess. Grats on competing and a cool narrative there.

Shinsei

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2005

Denmark

I fly to and from the states twice a year, and the inflight movies are always either movies that are just about to leave the theaters, or movies that just came out on video. I think the best movie I've seen on a plane is Dare Devil, and that says a lot.

Cirian

Cirian

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

European Union

The Amazon Basin

Wow! I'm so jealous!

Dart

Dart

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

Cantha

Prior Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance

R/Me

I really enjoyed reading that along with the great pics...I totally cracked up at your food story...u would think with the cost of the flight that they would serve edible food ha ha...As for the chicks...dude if you think that is hot I need to introduce you to some of my friends...sheesh ...unfortunately I am the only one that actually plays GW...sure wish GW would have a fricken tournament in the USA so I could possibly meet some of you awesome gamers (and then drill you for great builds )...they need to have a gw girl gamers costume contest so u guys can meet girls who love the game as much as u do :P That way u never get nagged at for playing...only if u don't play with them

Brett Kuntz

Brett Kuntz

Core Guru

Join Date: Feb 2005

Incase anyone's wondering where Day's 2 through 4 are, Sarus was way too sloshed to remember, compliments of Te's booze train! CHOO CHOOOOOOO

Accurax

Accurax

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2005

Ownington / OmgwtfpwnedsVille

Mo/Me

I'm so jealous my tummy hurts

Repeats over & over ..... Must practice for next year, Must practice for next year


Well done guys