Fan Faire 2008, held in the Las Vegas Hilton, was a rousing success! Star Wars Galaxies players participated in a live quest, panels, social events, and more during this year's event. Read on for a recap of all the news and events at Fan Faire 2008.

Fan Faire Day One

Thursday evening started with the pre-registered attendees lined up in the hundreds.

The Star Wars Galaxies community team, including Kelly "Valara" Knox, Paul "Virrago" Williams, and Smith "Elias" Getterman warmed up and stretched behind the registration desk to get ready for the line to be unleashed. The registration desk opened for business and Fan Faire 2008 officially kicked off!

Players from around the world attended Fan Faire this year, including players from across the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Germany, and Japan.

No one could escape the pre-registration line even Darth Vader and Yoda had to sign in to get their Fan Faire badges and goodie bags.

Welcome Reception

Once the registration period ended, it was time to head over to the Barron Room for a welcome reception and dinner. Alan "Brenlo" Crosby once again played Master of Ceremonies as players dined and chatted. Star Wars Galaxies players were invited to the stage for a Wookiee roar contest.

It's not easy being a Wookiee! If you want to try this at home, attempt to gargle and roar at the same time, and you just might get the hang of it. The Wookiee roar contest winner took home a prize for his efforts.

Fan Faire Day Two

Day Two of Fan Faire started with the SOE Podcast panel. Brenlo and Aimee "Ashlanne" Rekoske were on the panel, as well as other podcasters, including Yivvits and MrBubble. The panelists talked about their challenges with podcasts and gave a little bit of behind the scenes details. Yivvits and MrBubble also chatted about their upcoming milestone -- 100 episodes! -- and the cake they're planning to buy to celebrate.

The Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game panel followed, where the SOE Denver and Austin teams chatted about the game and how to play. Attendees could stop by a kiosk at the Legends Lounge to get their hands on the TCG during the duration of Fan Faire.

The Live Quest

Next up was the Live Quest, hosted by Valara. Eighty-five players in ten squads played games and solved puzzles tied to the events of the battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back . Squads were required to complete eight tasks to complete the Battle of Echo Base "collection"; the first squad back with all eight collection items would be deemed the winner.

Participants shot at a probe droid, operated on Luke after the wampa attack, tied up the AT-AT (tying themselves up in the process), and more.

Squads also had to try their hand at four puzzles related to the battle of Echo Base, including an Imperial word scramble. Can you solve the clues?

Squad 2 was the first team to return with all eight collection items, and were awarded with Star Wars goodies and a special in-game "Live Quest Winner" badge for their efforts. Congratulations, Squad 2!

• Jordano Naritus
• Hotaro Starsider
• Motoko Starsider
• Strovem Scylla
• Cenn Scylla
• Meric Scylla
• Kilac Naritus
• Moirai Scylla
• Sumachi Scylla
• AndyG Scylla

Once the squads caught their breath, it was time to settle in for panels!

Day Two Panels

Thomas "Blixtev" Blair and Jesse "Loche" Benjamin started with the Traders and Entertainers panel. Blixtev and Loche started with a summary of the changes in 2008 and talked about one of their favorite topics, home decoration.

The next panel of the day, All About Combat, featured Blixtev, Thomas "Hanse" Eidson, and Travis "Shadowbrak" Hicks. The developers talked about how combat in the game works, with multiple tables with result comparison, including defense like Dodge / Parry, Block, Glancing Blow, and Evasion; attack with Miss, Strikethrough, Critical, and Hit; and NPC-only ability Punishing Blow. The developers then touched on the work done on combat professions in the last year, and opened the floor for more questions and answers.

Attendees learned about Adding Content to SWG in the next panel. Tony "Teesquared" Tyson, Michael "fiasco" Farone, and Niklas "Swede" Johansson showed off the tools they use to create content in game. Fan Faire players got a peek at the Quest Editor, Conversation Editor, NPC Editor, and Region Tool, as well as a summary of how content makes the transition from idea to live.

The final panel of Day Two was Storyteller, Events, and Role-playing. Christopher "Dotanuki" Field, Swede, and Fiasco talked about storyteller first, stating their desire to continue the development and improvement of storyteller tools. Next, the team talked about role-playing and events, revealed that an event is coming for Halloween, and opened the floor for questions. Swede talked briefly about Empire Day and how the landing of the Millennium Falcon was created for the event.

The Community Address

The Community Address from SOE President John Smedley drew the biggest crowd of Fan Faire later that evening. Players in game could hear the broadcast through voice chat, or watch a webcast of the address as it happened. The audience warmed up by singing "Viva Las Vegas" and John Smedley took the stage to talk about 2008 and beyond.

Dotanuki stepped up to the microphone and spoke briefly about Chapter 11 and the Battle of Echo Base, which includes AT-STs and snowspeeders that are capable of atmospheric flight within the instance. During the Community Address, other upcoming SOE titles were previewed and many in the audience got their first look at Free Realms and DC Universe Online.

Welcome to the Jungle

After the Community Address, excited Fan Faire attendees piled on to the buses waiting outside to head to the Las Vegas Sport Center . A karaoke rock and roll band allowed everyone to get up on stage and show off their singing skills, including John Smedley, who rocked the house!

Partygoers danced the night away and also had the chance to ro