Empire Earth University

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by Angel Rasher

The date: April 18-22, 2001.
The place: Stainless Steel Studios, Cambridge, Massachusetts
The event: Empire Earth University

That's right, Empire Earth University. But rest assured, this "educational" event was different from any that you have ever seen.

To quote the words of Sierra, twelve of "The industries best and brightest" made the journey to Boston from literally all over the world, with the sole purpose of attending this unprecedented event. The purpose of Empire Earth University (EEU) was simple: to gather input and ideas about the game, to further promote EE to the public, and to give gamers a chance to play the game. As one who attended the event, I must say that SSSI and Sierra seem to have pulled off their goals perfectly. Allow me to explain, as I tell the tale of EEU...

Day 1:

Thursday was bright and clear as I arrived in Boston, the earliest of the EEU attendants to reach the city. After being greeted by Brian from SSSI at the hotel, I settled into my hotel room to wait for others to arrive. Before too long, the phone rang. I answered it, only to find Angel Park, who had just arrived, on the line. We talked for awhile before proceeding down to the lobby to meet blue_myriddn of MFO and Brian, then we all went out for some lunch. Over lunch, the topic of conversation was obviously dominated by games... I mean, how can you gather four gamers in one location and manage to discuss anything else?

After a quick walk around the Naval Yard, we proceeded back to the hotel, and settled down in one of the rooms to wait, and for some more great conversations about gaming, gaming sites, and the industry in general.

Before too long the next arrival, KaBaN, reached at the hotel, and quickly joined in the conversation. Early evening, the EEU attendants began to arrive in force, and around 8:00 Rick and Dara-Lynn from SSSI arrived at the hotel as well, and we made our way to a nice restaurant for dinner.

Once again, gaming was the main topic of conversation. While blue, Zip, and dana_ri spent a good deal of time 'discussing' the merits of AoE vs. AoK, the rest of the conversation ranged from Scenario Designing to upcoming RTS games to websites and over just about every imaginable gaming topic imaginable.

After a delightful dinner, the group made our way back to the hotel, and after hanging out with Park for a while, I decided to call it a night while it was still fairly early.

For a great picture of the entire EEU group, check out this pic over at MFO

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