Here comes the eight and final glimpse into past Argent Dawn meetups!
The 2019 meetup was all about Easter fun, bringing together Argent Dawners from all over for a vibrant and chocolate-filled weekend in Helsinki. In April, the summer feels like a fool’s dream due to Finland’s deceptive springs, but indoors the cold breeze was easily forgotten.
A new, colorful venue was booked for the meetup, with plenty of seating and table space for different activities. Special thanks to the gang who came early to help decorate the place! In total we had 30 players attending this gathering.
I appreciated the message on the pub wall.
Our wonderful make-up guru, Kestonya, hosted a glitter stall to elevate the party!
My choice was obvious…
… even if 2018-2019 was my orc period, as I spent a couple of years playing more actively on Horde side. A poster for the egg painting contest featuring Manata and co-host Snooki.
Ready, steady…
Mrrgrlggrg!
Loved seeing all the ideas people came up with! To determine the victor, attendees voted for their favorite entry. In the end we had a tough tie between two contestants!
While yours truly didn’t participate in the competition, I had painted some containers that were filled with candy.
At the end of the event, I gave away each half to attendees who liked the art.
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We also had a console tournament, though I regrettably no longer remember which game it was, or who scored victory. Perhaps someone else remembers?
The meetup also featured the usual guilty pleasures.
At bedtime, some night owls headed for the One Night in Karazhan experience, drinks and raving dance moves galore. I was particularly enthused seeing our stylish Victorian gentleman, who made an appearance at this event as well, grooving to the pop and techno.
On Sunday people met up for the most unauthentic tortilla brunch, nonetheless quickly consumed by the sleep-deprived souls. I may’ve left the Sunday activities quite early myself due to exhaustion from the previous night, but judging from the photos, some others had a very equivocal insightful tour in a historical museum.
I had finally gotten over my English crush,, seen in tow with a dashing Finnish elf.
I hope the eight meetup writeups from 2007 until 2019 have offered people fun glimpses of what the past ones have been like, as well as some understanding of why this year’s meetup is happening in the first place - because they are enjoyable!
End of 2019 was marked by the onset of the corona pandemic, which was swiftly followed by the Blizzard scandals. These incidents strained many of our relationship with the company and its products, and on top of that, players were generally rather unhappy with the direction World of Warcraft was taking. In addition, I perceived a significant division among communities on Argent Dawn for an extended period of time. Everything combined, the situation didn’t inspire to organize another WoW server meetup for a good while.
But now, I feel the time is right try anew.
There’s no telling if this year’s meetup will be the last of the last in AD’s history, or if continuation shall follow sometime in the future. What I do know is that we’ll be having a blast this summer!
The forum thread might become quiet going forward, as most of the discussion shifts to Discord. The number of people signed up looks great!
See you soon! 