Hello everyone!
This is Hellvard, one of your Quest Writers. Although I watched TaernCon from the perspective of the merchandise stall (more about it below), I was asked to share my impressions. How was the attendance? What new activities awaited the participants? Who proved to be the mightiest PvP lord and who prepared the most impressive cosplay? Read on to find out!
This year, TaernCon took place in Czasoprzestrzeń - an old tram depot that turned into a Taernian abode for one day. Its cold and spacious interior saved us from the blistering heat and proved big enough to fit the record-breaking number of participants - more than 500 people attended this year’s Taerncon, over two hundred more than the previous one. If we maintain this growth rate, in two year’s time we’ll have to rent the local stadium ;) During the event, we saw not only the faces we recognized from previous years but also many new players for whom this was the first TaernCon (and hopefully not the last).
The biggest novelty of this year’s TaernCon was the fact that it was streamed (you can watch it here but unfortunately it’s in Polish only). Szeszej and Ponton, our casters, were doing all they could to entertain the viewers during breaks by interacting with the audience and doing contests, e.g. the viewers could vote for the cosplayer who would receive the audience reward. Our boys also conducted interviews with players and members of the devteam. Among others, they managed to ask our Quest Lead, Torgerd, a couple of questions about the upcoming story updates and general worldbuilding in BR. The stream ended the moment the official part of the event was finished - at half past ten.
After the founding fathers and the master of ceremonies welcomed the participants, the draw of the adventurers who would partake in the PvP tournament commenced. Subsequent rounds were intertwined with other items on the TaernCon agenda, but the following players reached the semifinals: Khadrix, Hikone, Bocianeek, and Manjiro. After a couple of rounds of fierce battles, the finals were to be decided between Khadrix playing Archer and Majiro playing Voodoo. Their fights were nail bitingly close and at the end of the last round of each duel they were both running on fumes of hp and resources. However, Manjiro eventually won 3:1. Congratulations! The top3 of the tournament, like the finalists of the trivia, cosplay contest, and the guild tournament, were handsomely rewarded with platinum and physical prizes.
Before the first tournament fights, we had the cosplay contest where both the jury and the viewers of the stream in unison chose LeśnySsak (GMO) as the winner. The second place was awarded to Ryzerr (Fire Mage) while Enral took the third place as a druid in the Plague Doctor skin set. We had two other competitors this year: BajkowyRyc (Knight) and DychaX (Barbarian).
Like every year before, this TaernCon also included a Broken Ranks trivia contest where participants could show their knowledge of game mechanics, characters classes, and the story. Everyone present could take part in it by using an app on their phones. The finalists: Ryszard, Maantis, Katra, Lighweaver, and Shanks, were answering questions live on the stage. Katra was awarded third place while Lightweaver defeated Maantis in overtime.
Another permanent item on the agenda was also present - the Q&A session with Drygu, Torgerd, Pan Tomek, and Daro. They were truly caught in the crossfire of player questions. The viewers of the stream could also participate - the questions most liked by them were read by Dawid, our master of ceremonies.
During the event, participants could take photos in front of the photo walls, either with their friends, Morana and Biance, Taernian knight, or the members of the devteam. Those hungry or thirsty could fill their stomach thanks to numerous foodtrucks and bars.
Another novelty was the Trentis Stall - a shop selling Broken Ranks merchandise and run by me together with one of our programmers, Becken, and our producer, Marcinse. We didn’t expect so much interest and, at times, we felt like the defenders of Thalia assaulted by Utorians ;) The demand for some items, especially TaernCon t-shirts, was so big that our supplies were literally disappearing before our very eyes. The store also offered, among others, hoodies, bags, fanny packs, mouse pads, and bottle openers.
At the end of the official part, we conducted a guild tournament. Four guilds decided to participate in it. The winner was Bimbrownia, the second place was taken by C’est la vie, and BrowarOfTaern came third. Unfortunately, Aksa didn’t get to stand on the podium, but there’s always the next year, right?
After 10 PM, we moved all the chairs to the side so that the participants could use the dancefloor. Although we had to leave the premises at 1 AM (for reasons independent of us), many adventurous Taernians decided to hit the town and continue the fun. Birds from Wrocław were heard tweeting about some participants and devteam members raving as late as 6 AM ;)
As you can see, this year’s TaernCon was filled to the brim with lots of fun activities. However, neither PvP, nor the trivia and Q&A weren’t all that important. The thing we cherished the most was the opportunity to see in person those who we meet everyday in the game. This is also something that gives us, the developers, an immense satisfaction and the feeling that what we’re doing makes sense. It’s really incredible to see players who have been killing Tarul for a couple of years meet each other in the flesh for the first time, to hear someone arguing with Daro about balance, to discuss favorite characters from the main storyline with a fan of our quests.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came to TaernCon in person and those who had fun during the stream. It really warms our hearts to see our community grow so much. We hope we’ll meet each other again next year in an even larger group.
However, none of this would be possible without the work of the team charged with organizing the event. They were doing everything in their power to make this year’s TaernCon an unforgettable experience. Special praise goes to Marlena, our event manager, who oversaw all the work. Without her organizational skills and heavenly patience we would surely be done for.
May your loot always be awesome and see you at TaernCon‘25!
