SOE Live 2013 @ Planet Hollywood August 1-4

Written by Feldon on . Posted in Daybreak Live (SOE Live/Fan Faire)

So after we posted Brasse’s tweets about SOE Live news coming next week, some astute readers checked out the SOE Live webpage and discovered the venue and date had already been posted.

I’ve done some quick research reading reviews of Planet Hollywood online and while reviews typically trend towards the negative (most people who have a great experience don’t post about it), I saw the same type of comments enough times to warrant mentioning them.

  • Pro: Centrally located
  • Pro: Has a great view of the Strip
  • Pro: Easily accessible to Paris and Bellagio. Has decent restaurants inside.
  • Con: Rooms have not all been well maintained, specifically the linens.
  • Con: Rooms are substantially smaller than the cavernous Bally’s rooms.
  • Con: Casino is just average, and scantily-clad table dancers on the casino floor may be off-putting.
  • Con: At normal rates, WiFi is a heart-stopping $13.99 PER DAY PER DEVICE. For a laptop and phone that’s $160 $112 for 4 days.

Of course Bally’s had its problems too which led to SOE seeking greener pastures. The choice of convention dates were very limited, and it was rather uncool for some of the conference rooms to be bumped due to another event. The food at the Banquet was atrocious (ice cold hot dogs, burgers, and fried chicken). The sound quality at the venues was so bad that it led John Smedley to curse them out while on stage. The WiFi was only slightly less expensive — $11.99 per device per day. Thank Bristlebane for LTE.

We’ll have to see what the negotiated pricing is. The full price is $169 for Fri and Saturday nights.

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Comments (29)

  • Electri

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    Gulfport/Biloxi Alabama has SEVERAL nice casinos from Hard Rock to the Grand to the Beau Rivage. Plenty of live acts and shows going on all the time. Also, don’t forget some of the best seafood in the country.

    All y’all come on down and experience some southern hospitality!

    Laissez Les Bon Temp Rouler (let the good times roll)!!

    Reply

  • khayos

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    Hey feldon do you plan on staying in planet hollywood or are you going for bellagio or paris?

    Reply

  • Tarb

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    All your info is accurate, however having just been there I would reccomendations all our male friend hang out in the casino area labeled the pleasure pit 🙂
    I would also reccomendations staying at Paris and walking over since its right next door but its Vegas, how much time do you actually spend in your room 🙂

    Reply

  • Karith

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    Geez, if someone is desperate enough I could create a mobile hotspot and charge admission at half the cost and pay 1 night in a room over the course of the convention.

    Reply

  • Tazany

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    Man they should of checked with the Rio Hotel and Casino I mean if Mythic back in 2006 could use them for the Round Table events surely SoE could afford them as well and the rates weren’t bad at all.

    Reply

  • Feldon

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    Hey feldon do you plan on staying in planet hollywood or are you going for bellagio or paris?

    I’ll look at hotel rates for Paris vs. Planet Hollywood. I don’t think you can walk from one to the other indoors, and walking outdoors in 107°F in August is unappealing.

    Reply

  • badcat

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    Wow, I think they could have done better by going to Altanta or to New Orleans.

    Reply

  • Feldon

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    Wow, I think they could have done better by going to Altanta or to New Orleans.

    Approximately 150 SOE devs and staff take the bus from San Diego to Las Vegas. I’m guessing that costs $2,000.

    Now make that 150 SOE devs x $299 airfare to some other city. $44,850.

    Last year, approximately 1,400 people attended SOE Live for $139 each. If we are all willing to pay $169 ($30 more), then it could be in another city.

    Reply

  • Gina

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    I’d be willing to pay $30 more if it was an affordable car or plane trip. Right now I’m priced out of the whole thing, and I’m sure there are many others here on the East Coast like me.

    Reply

    • Feldon

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      July 31 — Charlotte -> Houston -> Vegas (arr 5pm)
      Aug 4 — Vegas (leave 2pm)-> Charlotte
      $550 right now on United.

      Reply

  • Tulvarus

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    SOE Live is the same weekend as Defcon so the Rio is booked.

    Was thinking of driving it, till I started doing the math.

    Reply

  • Tarb

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    No you can’t walk from one to the other but Paris is the closest if you wanted to stay at another hotel. It’s on the same side of the strip right next door, you basically have to walk across the street that leads into both hotels so its not really a main road, if that makes any sence. But yeah Vegas in August won’t need any jackets lol.

    Reply

  • Seliri

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    Why not just have SOE Live in San Diego…?

    Reply

    • Feldon

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      Why not just have SOE Live in San Diego…?

      Certainly an idea worth considering. I think being in Las Vegas gives them some attention that might get lost in SD.

      Reply

  • KelaRavenwood

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    Gina I have done the math every year, for all major Convention City locations, and unless you actually live with-in reasonable driving distance, it is actually cheaper for everyone, even coming from the East Coast to go to Vegas and stay there, then it would be to go to any other city.

    Heck, I moved from Sacramento to North Carolina 2 Fan Faires and my first trip from NC was CHEAPER, for the Trip Package(Air, Hotel, Car Rental), then it was for the same package, on the same number of days, and virtually with-in the same time period, then it was to travel from Sacramento the year prior.

    Reply

  • KelaRavenwood

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    BTW, anyone know where we can get a hotel map, specifically where the rooms are in relation to the conference center.

    Reply

  • Chuina

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    The website shows Ballys for me, not Planet Hollywood?

    Reply

  • Chuina

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    I take it back, it just still shows 2012 is all.

    Reply

  • Khayos

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    Yea they changed it back cuz posting Planet Hollywood early was clearly a mistake. Bet someone got chewed out for that one.

    Reply

  • Charn

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    Khayos said:

    Yea they changed it back cuz posting Planet Hollywood early was clearly a mistake. Bet someone got chewed out for that one.

    Could that be why a job was lost?

    Reply

  • Kwill

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    Half the player base probably missed the spoiler, since in my experience many people don’t read the news on any site! I state as my evidence even after the nerf of the DM stuff, people on my server were still asking for powerleveling in DM. It’s such second nature to me to read news sites about the game that I am always surprised when most folks have no idea what’s going on most of the time.

    Reply

  • Murfalad

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    Las Vegas is a good location for SOE Live since it does at least have a lot of a places to eat, lots of entertainment etc.

    Moving it to another location means that it might be better for the venue, but it would not be a good enough location to justify anyone going there for any longer. E.g. for me I like chilling out in Vegas after the event which makes the transatlantic trip worthwhile, just 😉

    As for the new location I’m not too happy here, Planet Hollywood doesn’t seem as good as Bally’s but maybe that’s just because I’m used to Bally’s. If I go this year I’ll probably stay at the North tower again, since the walk is only 5 mins and most of that is undercover.

    Although if there are no good rates then that could be a deal breaker.

    As for the Wifi I think at those prices McDonalds will be popular 😉

    Reply

  • Grundy

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    Why Vegas? Cheap to fly into, Cheap to get rooms, Cheap to get food.

    That’s why…

    Reply

  • Getsome

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    $14/day/device for a laptop and phone for 4 days is 112… for 5 days though… its 140….at no point is it 160

    Reply

  • Trueflight

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    While I will agree with you on the cheap to fly to, the rooms are about double what most hotels in the country cost per night, and most of those include free wifi these days as well. As for the food, I’m not sure where you live, but there is no place in vegas where the food is “cheap”. $4.00 for a bottle of water that costs $.69 here. $8.00 for a hotdog and a small drink at Nathan’s was about the cheapest thing we ever found to eat in Vegas. You can get 2 chilli dogs, 2 fries and two drinks for that at our local hot dog place, and people consider them overpriced.

    Reply

  • Kwill

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    I am sure there are guides to the less expensive food around the net … I know there are some inexpensive buffets in some of the casinos, but probably not as convenient.

    Still, it is a vacation, so most people expect to spend some cash. The net thig is a killer though — however, I am sure the hotels want you gambling and not sitting in your room surfing the net, thus the outrageous prices.

    Reply

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