It was 04:00AM and I was watching my server go down, as many of us were, the fun over free Season 2 for Priests and Warlocks had come and gone. I had planned to eventually head downtown to San Francisco to GameStop on Powell, but at 04:00AM I made the decision to pack up and just head down early, join the early birds, be part of the fun. I had no idea what I'd be getting myself into. Wrath of the Lich King was upon us, and I wasn't leaving until I had that bitch in hand.
I arrived, a boy and his chair, at 06:00AM. The event would not begin until 08:00PM that evening, and I knew little about the planned events outside of the developers visit. Time started to go by and I spent my morning getting weird looks as I sat wrapped in a grey blanket outside of GameStop. It wasn't until nearly 09:00AM that my solo adventure became a proper pick-up group, as a local couple joined me and ended my loneliness. This pair became a group, and our little roped off area would be dwarfed by a line that stretched around the entire block.
Every time I'd gone to a release like this, I'd always gone too late. I'd meet up with awesome people somewhere towards the end of the line, we'd go back and forth playing Meteos or some equally addictive Nintendo DS game, and it'd be a memorable evening, but sitting at the head of this pack, and being as obnoxious and impatient as I am, was a real trip. I imagine certain GameStop employee's were a bit tired of my constant request for news, but hey, I had to answer sixty questions a minute of the "where do I line up? ", " what is this for?" , and " your wife let you outside like that?" variety.
If you'd told me I'd be walking away with a prize for being first in line, I'd have laughed, but when 08:00PM rolled around and we went in to pay for our games, the GameStop team had a Helm of Arthas from SideShow Collectibles waiting for me. I was ecstatic, and immediately received threats of bodily harm for both my eventual collector's copy of the game and this now sold out Helm of Arthas collectible, only available from BlizzCon (or on eBay for 150 bucks!). I had brought in a few PS3 games to trade in, and only paid five dollars out of pocket to make Wrath mine thanks to a 20% bonus trade-in credit from GameStop.
The night rolled on and GameStop treated us to face painting, photos with Orcs and Blood Elves, and a literal frozen throne to take pictures on. The overall consensus that you and three thousand of your newest closest friends wanted nothing more than to get this game and get out as quickly as possible to explore the new content of Northrend, likely never to hear from each other again!
Midnight arrived, I'd been waiting patiently (mostly) for eighteen hours now, and I was first to pick up my Collector's Edition and walk through the row of developers with faces like lead Designer Alex Afrasiabi. They were nice enough to autograph not just my CE Art Book (which was for a friend and not even for me) AND the base of my new Arthas Helm. The cameras flashed, the interviews continued, and our night had come to a glorious end as I walked to my car with Wrath finally in hand.
So you might laugh me for sitting in line for Eighteen Hours for a video game, and you might laugh at some of the conversations we'd had throughout the day, but I met so many awesome gamers I'd never have had a chance to meet if not for this event, and the generous hosting by GameStop. I'm truly glad I went.
Well worth taking a day off work.
See you in Northrend!
