exilecon

[heavy wedge]

Re-opening this channel because Exilecon 2 has been announced and people may want to coordinate plans or discuss the con. If GGG opens up a new Exilecon server, we'll start redirecting people there again!

https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon

[delicate plover]

im excited, we’re probably gonna plan to go

[lilac kelp]

nice

I'm excited to be on the other side this time, also a little nervous 😄

[austere owl]

Pricing is a little rough this time

[tardy whale]

have they even thbought about playerbase in nz the pricing is shocking its on avg a weeks worth of pay for general addmision like wtf

[subtle jewel]

Well, it was full last time, so...

[rugged needle]

I hope they'll have e-tickets for it this time so people who can't take 2 weeks off can still get the event mtx + goodies

[subtle jewel]

e tickets?

Everything on stage is on twitch live anyways, right?

[austere owl]

It was last year

[tardy whale]

yeah doesnt mean they should charge a full weeks pay for a single ticket most expensive concert in nz gen addmission in last 10 years was 260nzd (approx160usd) thats no where near what they are asking

[delicate plover]

brb going to exilecon to find and thank viper for making this game more poggers

its the least he deserves for putting up with my dumb questions every time i see him

i dont personally really care about the pricing fo the tickets, its the plane that will kill my money

[rugged needle]

Yes, but i want to buy the event mtx and goodie bags, and i can't take 2 weeks off from work

The 2019 one required you to redeem the ticket on site

[subtle jewel]

goodies are in person only, it's written in the post.

[rugged needle]

And thus my comment

[subtle jewel]

Including the in game mtx.

[rugged needle]

[austere owl]

The point of MTX being linked to going is pretty self-explanatory...

[rugged needle]

Ok, good talk

[austere owl]

400$ cost delta for a dinner is a bit much

the lines weren't packed last con for priority to matter

[subtle jewel]

Well, for people in NZ that just want to attend the convention, last time there was balcony tickets at a severely reduced price later on.

For the people not in NZ, the cost of getting there is already in the thousands in the first place, this doesn't change much (sadly...)

[austere owl]

For people in NZ you're already saving 1.5-2k USD by not having to travel

[delicate plover]

ah true the VIP/super VIP tickets pretty expensive

[delicate plover]

per person

[austere owl]

I'm just not seeing an advantage to the VIP or Ultra VIP this go-around.

Seating was never a problem last con, queueing wasn't a problem, the dinner was nice but not 400 dollars nice

[subtle jewel]

isn't it the exact same as last time?

[austere owl]

Pricing, no

[subtle jewel]

it's just fluff, but the dinner with ggg staff was very nice imo.

oh, yeah.

Also, plane tickets seem more expensive rn

[subtle jewel]

maybe they'll go down a bit?

cool pic ^^

[delicate plover]

well yea you cant even buy tickets around the convention date yet, most airlines only sell out forward a little less than a year

[austere owl]

Balcony Tickets were 180 USD
Regular Tickets were 200 USD
VIP Tickets were 500 USD
Ultra VIP Tickets were 1000 USD

So we have a delta of:
Balcony - Unknown
Regular - 30 USD
VIP - 200 USD
Ultra-VIP - 1000 USD

No change in what you get for each level as far as we can see so far```

[subtle jewel]

Thanks. that's probably why.
For anyone wondering, last time I did Paris->Aukland->Paris for 960€ (~1050usd). couldn't find much under 1.5k rn, I suppose more will be available in a few months then.

[delicate plover]

yea im gonna buy the tickets to the event now and worry about plane tickets later

good for me, i just moved and dont have much spare money

[subtle jewel]

Same, just spend all my savings on a year at uni with 0 revenue...

Timming isn't great, but I'll try to see you guys there! ^^

[austere void]

I paid $1300 for round trip from PHL to AKL in 2019. It's looking like $2000-2500 this time around.

[subtle jewel]

Ugh.

[undone kernel]

Luckily I live 1 block from the convention centre! I will be attending for sure

[barren harness]

Hi guys, are there any Bulgarians around that attended the last exilecon. I have some questions regarding a possible trip to attend that googling are not solving.

[hidden ferry]

Heya, small questions regarding the previous qualifier races. Were the races completely HC, or was it like 'you cannot move for 60 seconds after death'?
Did everybody also have the same layouts, or were they random?

[heavy wedge]

Did anyone else's Exilecon hoodie fade quite a bit from the sun since 2019?

I hope we get another hoodie this Exilecon, with more fire resistance 😄

[austere owl]

Bothe of the ones I got are doing stellar still, I've lost one shirt to a cigarette adventure

[burnt light]

I don't wear mine a whole lot but it seemed fine

[rugged needle]

You should watch the race from 2019, assuming they didn't only post the video starting after the reset

[safe kindle]

Oh nice we have a channel

[celest mountain]

I would be going from PHL as well if I can attend, did you take any stops along the way or straight to AKL?

[frozen robin]

PoE 2 when

PoE Mobile when

PoE card game when

PoE 0.8.0 memories when

PoE leagues recap when

[vapid magnet]

never

[smoky bay]

2025

[prisma galleon]

card game now?
https://callmebeachy.itch.io/cardcon

[frozen robin]

no ty

[daring vessel]

Where do you buy the tickets? PoE Website?

[heavy wedge]

https://old.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/wmxrtk/exilecon_2023_event_and_ticket_details/ik6b38s/?context=10

[rare mortar]

Almost our entire guild was going to meet up at Exilecon. Everyone pulled out after the league launch.

[frigid hamlet]

they would all have choked then with or without the new league

[rare mortar]

No. We making plans on Friday. League launched and everyone has had enough. They all pulled out today.

[subtle jewel]

I almost want to, too

I feel like, maybe after 5k hours enjoying the game, the game in chris's vision isn't for me

either.

Feels like the entire game is balanced around the community playing rather than the individual, and imo it's completely wrong. I don't feel like I can progress, I feel like I can play to have a chance to be among the ones allowed to

(and no, poe2 won't fix that)

[lost mica]

Are cosplays allowed?

[subtle jewel]

Yes

[lost mica]

Are there rules on cosplaying

[subtle jewel]

(common sense rules apply ofc, don't bring a sword)

Not sure, they were lax last time

[lost mica]

I want to cosplay as the golden muscular ass of Innocence

[undone kernel]

cosplay as loot and dont show up

[random latch]

Anyone know roughly how many more hours till tickets on sale?

[heavy wedge]

Based on the last news post, it should be <t:1661461200:R> at <t:1661461200:f>

[random latch]

Thank you 🙂

[daring vessel]

They will be posted on the same forum page as the announcement right? to purchase..

[tropic schooner]

Don't tell me they ninja postponed the sales launch

[deep canyon]

ggg about to be really confused if the excon tix fly off the shelves when everyone tells them the world is burning down

[tropic schooner]

It's an ungodly hour for me

[heavy wedge]

Tickets are up for sale right now

https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon

[undone quarry]

the ultras sold out in like 5 seconds

ad the regular vip will be gone in 60 seconds

[deep canyon]

down to 9 left lol

[undone quarry]

and gone

[subtle jewel]

GONE

I got the opportunity to buy ultra and turned it down :/

hope I don't regret it ;)

[nova cobalt]

ggg doing things wrong - people still buying tix 😄

[subtle jewel]

Faith holds strong. They fucked up once, but it's not time for this.

[undone quarry]

if anything, based upon the 2019 one, it will be a really fun event with some cool stuff at it

[nova cobalt]

wish it was a bigger venue with cheaper tickets

[south spindle]

A timeout occurred Error code 524
Visit cloudflare.com for more information.
-_-

[tropic schooner]

? website not responding

[burnt light]

I wanna buy ticket reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[untold depot]

[lost mica]

Can't buy a ticket

[heavy wedge]

Well with a name like [ႧƎઘIЯઘ]Я🅰ઘઘ🅰Ⴑ-⅃UႧઘ🅰 MƎƎЯ🅰ﻼ I'm not surprised

[nova cobalt]

XD

[lost mica]

My name contains an hyphen

It's kinda weird they don't support that

[south spindle]

Also legal to have ' and numeric digits in your name - depending on country - interesting problem

[maiden valve]

Is there a reason I am having trouble it keeps saying the website is down

[south spindle]

pathofexile.com is currently down for maintenance. Please try again later.
Thanks for your patience!

[maiden valve]

Bruh

It just keeps saying error 524

[south spindle]

Same, kept getting the timeout message, then this

[tropic schooner]

They deducted money from my bank account so they better have sold me the ticket

How to buy 2 though

[maiden valve]

Yeah same here

They deducted money from my bank but I haven’t gotten anything yet

[undone kernel]

Likewise, money out, no email/ticket (or confirmation)

[south spindle]

Pah, they didn't take my money 😦

[lost mica]

I sent an e-mail

[maiden valve]

I will be sending an email cause they’ve taken the money but haven’t given anything

[lost mica]

Hopefully I can order a ticket soon

[tropic schooner]

I think it's sold out? Hopefully those money out means they've gotten the ticket?

[lost mica]

I don't think normla tickets are sold out

[burnt light]

It's not sold out

[lost mica]

But I couldn't even buy one right now 'cause I can't use my real name

[south spindle]

Ah shit, they took money out in pending transactions.... 4x times -_-

[burnt light]

The purchase is likely "pending" which doesn't mean they got the money

[burnt light]

same as above

[bright hemlock]

ultra vip were gone in 5-6sec, vip were gone in 2 mins. there were 696 regular tickets left on my screen when website went down

[burnt light]

almost always the bank will see the transaction falling through and revert the charge

[tropic schooner]

Same

[lost mica]

It's back up but you can't buy tickets anymore https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon

wait it's back up

[tropic schooner]

Ok back up

[bright hemlock]

576 tickets left now

[tropic schooner]

And I got my tickets

[burnt light]

yay

bought

[lost mica]

Still can't fucking order

[maiden valve]

Did h try again

Or

[lost mica]

I feel like I will get shafted

[bright hemlock]

just don't type the hyphen

[tropic schooner]

Skip the punctuations

[maiden valve]

Did it just take time

[warped steeple]

its ticking down ahhhh

[lost mica]

Won't match my ID

[maiden valve]

Did u try again?

[bright hemlock]

its ok

[maiden valve]

Or did it just take time

[burnt light]

Just buy first and email them about your name thing; they'll fix it

[tropic schooner]

It always happens to my name

[bright hemlock]

you'll sort it out with GGG support afterwards through mail

[tropic schooner]

It's fine

[bright hemlock]

just get the ticket first

[lost mica]

I am sorry I am not taking the chance that it won't match my ID on 230$ + 2500$ plane tickets

[maiden valve]

I’ve been charged but still no ticket

[burnt light]

what? it only takes days for them to fix it

[undone kernel]

me too

[burnt light]

you don't have to buy the plane ticket right now

[bright hemlock]

you don't have to buy the plane tickets now (besides many carriers don't allow booking for late july/august yet)

[warped steeple]

ditto

[tropic schooner]

You have 1 year to contact them and refund

[maiden valve]

Did you have to retry or did it just go thru from the first try

[heavy wedge]

@lost mica I went to last Exilecon. They just use the name to check your ID in person, it's a random event staff person checking it at a glance, took like 1-2 seconds.

I'd recommend buying it now to lock it in, then email ggg to fix the name after, and if they say they can't, then they will almost certainly refund you if you're still worried

[bright hemlock]

you will not get a physical ticket until the day before in auckland

you just get the confirmation of transaction as though it were just another PoE purchase on the website, through DMs

[maiden valve]

Yeah but no conformation

[burnt light]

there's almost 0 chance they won't fix the name, and if they really can't for whatever reason, 0 chance they won't refund you

[lost mica]

I once had to spend 3 weeks arguing that I was My-Name even though the order was placed to MyName for a collection pre-order, that's a big gambit there

[undone kernel]

No confirmation in email

[lost mica]

Well site is back down

[tropic schooner]

I only got email confirmation of 1 but inbox confirmation of 2

[maiden valve]

I haven’t gotten any but I have the money taken from my bank

[burnt light]

money isn't taken yet

[bright hemlock]

that's what u get. if u have that, ur good to go

[burnt light]

should be pending

[warped steeple]

dont have that 😦

[burnt light]

ha

[bright hemlock]

they also send email confirmation to your linked email

[warped steeple]

or that

[tropic schooner]

They took 3x my money though

[burnt light]

actual ticket cost $231.98, rip 3xG, scammed me irl, scum devs, etc etc

[bright hemlock]

are you sure charges ain't "pending" ?

[burnt light]

it's almost definitely pending

[daring vessel]

are they processing the tickets already bought? is it pending? because my friend was charged twice and doesn't have a ticket yet

[bright hemlock]

if they are, more than likely only one will go through, and if all 3 go through you can just contact your bank and GGG to fix it up

[daring vessel]

alright

[burnt light]

especially if you use credit cards; those pending charge can sometimes take a whole week to clear

[bright hemlock]

last exilecon i had a card problem and GGG fixed it in less than a week, only the amount that was supposed to be debited ever left my account. so don't panic guys even if you spammed the shit out of your F5 key ^^

website down again ?

[daring vessel]

its down for maintenance

[tropic schooner]

I have email confirmation of one purchase and inbox confirmation of my first and second purchase... and money deducted for 3 purchases.

[bright hemlock]

are you sure they're not the one and the same joe? coz i got both inbox and email confirmation for my one purchase

[tropic schooner]

2 different names, for partner and I

[bright hemlock]

then i guess the second one might still be pending

like

website keeps going up and down so, probably inbox messages are affected as well

[maiden valve]

I haven’t gotten any confirmation yet

[tropic schooner]

Fingers crossed and hope you people get yours

And hope they don't do Einar cringe again...

[main cosmos]

Similar situation here. Bought 1 ticket with a confirmation. Bought another for SO, was charged but no confirmation yet.

[maiden valve]

Still no confirmation

[floral plover]

Check your PoE account purchase history, hopefully it shows up there?

[maiden valve]

Cant

Website down

[tropic schooner]

tbh their ticket selling implementation can be easily botted

[floral plover]

Ah yea, too bad

[south spindle]

The only real protection they have against botting is the name verification, if enforced
Well, protection against bot networks to resell anyway
They should really make that page more scary sounding

[tropic schooner]

scalping is a serious problem in my country. Hope exilecon is too niche to warrant that

[bright hemlock]

it wasn't a problem last time (and they had a similar amount of tickets) and i doubt it'll be a problem this time

[floral plover]

The name on the ticket is supposed to match your ID when you enter, I assume that's a reasonable barrier, unless people are willing to forge IDs... Which seems way too much effort for a one small convention

[south spindle]

Just legally change your name

[lost mica]

Hopefully their name policy isn't the same as in-game name's policy

But then again I might have to enter a fake name 'cause I can't enter my real name

[maiden valve]

What’s ur name?

[tropic schooner]

[ႧƎઘIЯઘ]Я🅰ઘઘ🅰Ⴑ-⅃UႧઘ🅰 MƎƎЯ🅰ﻼ, duh

[maiden valve]

I see

Very unique

[lost mica]

Wont' tell you my real name but Composed-Name LastName

[maiden valve]

ooh like Jean-Francois type of thing?

[lost mica]

Ye

[maiden valve]

cool cool

kinda like my grandfather

[south spindle]

Apparently hyphenated names are on the rise

[floral plover]

I can't imagine they'd mind if you omitted a hyphen, assuming they reinforce checking your passport when you check in to the convention

[south spindle]

"Ellie-" names for females and "Tyler-" for males. So @lost mica is probably a Tyler

[tropic schooner]

Mine have a comma and crashed some CSV based name entry system once

[lost mica]

I mean in french hyphenated names are very common

[muted berry]

damn greatly saddened exilecon tickets went so quick - couldn't even get on the site fast enough

[warped steeple]

sites back

[floral plover]

They said they're doing a second batch later as well

[warped steeple]

and confirmation came through for me, worries went form 100 - 0

[main cosmos]

Got my 2nd confirmation. Woot.

[muted berry]

hoping to catch that in time - was hoping to get a vip package though

grats y'all lucky bastards

[heavy wedge]

https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon Back up

[warped steeple]

<300 left

[heavy wedge]

Sub 300 normal tickets left

[undone kernel]

Ticket confirmation came through for me!

[dim fossil]

Second ticket just confirmed

[tropic schooner]

284 available

[south spindle]

Nice, 2 confirmation emails came through \o/
Hmm, unclear what names were attached to the tickets though

[tropic schooner]

2nd email not here yet. First email had my name under tax invoice

[dim fossil]

It says "Hi ticket holder name" on each confirmation

[south spindle]

Oh no 😦

[warped steeple]

So hyped, went to the first and did the north island, planed to do the south island the year after but Covid happend, despite having it all paid off, was planning to go over there next year already then they annonce Exilecon2, was a no brainer to go to it then do my snow trip

[south spindle]

Pah, so I can't buy a third ticket because I already have 2, but the 2 I have are for the same name

[tropic schooner]

Hope website not letting me buy another ticket means I reached the quota and got 2 purchases in

[heavy wedge]

Same! Only saw the North island last time. Ski trip in the south sounds great

[muted berry]

aight got one normal one

[tropic schooner]

Plan to go both islands

[muted berry]

they're releasing upgrades to VIP later? or just upgrades in general thats not vip?

[tropic schooner]

Both general and VIP I think, need to secure the dev's time in advance and settle admin issues related to double name counting and all that before they get a full view of exactly how many tickets they have sold

[lost mica]

I used a fake name to order hopefully they will allow me to change it

[tropic schooner]

Fake name? Not the one without hypen?

[lost mica]

I mean I don't think anyone in the world is called my name without an hyphen, that would make it a fake name

[muted berry]

copy that - ty!

[tropic schooner]

You have 1 year to start a media company and ask for a media badge

[lost mica]

Ok so now let's rent out some big ass house on air bnb as a group

[south spindle]

Well, I'm off to bed, hope we all make it

[tropic schooner]

same here

[warped steeple]

work for me, have fun peeps

[muted berry]

lololol

[tropic schooner]

There's still 188 tickets left after an entire hour

[lost mica]

an entire hour where the site wa down for 45 minutes lul

[muted berry]

ticking down

[simple musk]

have we gotten any info if it's possible to upgrade a regular ticket to VIP when more are released?

[tropic schooner]

They did say so in that one liner here

Dang, cheapest hotel in the area already cost same price as the ticket per night

[heavy wedge]

VIP and Ultra VIP tickets have now sold out. Regular tickets are still available. There will be another wave of VIP tickets at a later date which we will announce in advance.* In this second wave, regular tickets can be upgraded to higher tiers. *
Here ya go
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3299945

[muted berry]

really hoping to catch that

[simple musk]

there are some discounts through GGG https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon/accommodation 10-20%

[tropic schooner]

Will they book the entire Wildfire restaurant or can we 'coincidentally' have dinner there same time same place

[bright hemlock]

idk but it was a blast last time

had a real nice chat with Mark_GGG all evening long

[simple musk]

that's awesome, I didn't have much money back when first exilecon happened so I couldn't go. This time around though 💸

[tropic schooner]

Will convert VIP when second batch is released. I didn't manage to even get the VIP page open to enter my name

[simple musk]

Same by the time I got the page, VIP tickets were sold out already

[tribal pendant]

Is pricing in usd or nzd for ticket, says $230

[simple musk]

$230 USD

[tribal pendant]

Ty ty

[simple musk]

which is 372 NZD

[tribal pendant]

Thankfully id o ly need the ticket if i decide to go 🙂

[simple musk]

decide quick lol only 63 left in this wave

[tribal pendant]

Might wait for next wave

[lilac kelp]

I'm making a resolution to go to as many fan meet-ups as I can this time

before I chicken out of the idea 😄

[simple musk]

anyone who went last time have a feel for "Can you sign X" etiquette? Did they have booths to get things signed by Chris? Or did ppl just ask between events?

[lilac kelp]

Chris ended up having a full signing booth

he was signing stuff until like 2am on the last night IIRC

streamers also had signing stations

[bright hemlock]

yeah Chris signing things and chatting with us until 2am (which is 4 hours past the time they booted us off the conv centre) was pretty nuts

still got them photos, videos and reddit threads about it on the old Exilecon 2019 discord

[simple musk]

same I just put my name for both tickets. I'm not 100% sure who is gonna come with me, might be a friend, might be my brother. So I just put my name.

[rapid pelican]

Grats to all making the trip. Hopefully by 2024 flights won't be such a terrifying cost to Kiwitopia.

I'm only a little bitter.

[brisk quail]

Yeah rip my life had work meetings from 9am missed ticket sales

[floral plover]

Unfortunately I expect flight costs to rise as time goes on

[safe kindle]

ah damnit i missed the sale

i was asleep

[brisk quail]

Kinda same - asleep in work meetings?

[bright hemlock]

to be fair, many carriers won't let you book trips past 11 months away, so right now you're severely limited in your choice.
flight prices right now start at around 1.4k euros for the most common routes* from anywhere in the EU to Auckland and should stay below 1.6k until New Year's. I would expect them to easily reach 2.3k by May/June.

Most common routes from the EU to Auckland are either :
Your point of origin > Zurich > Singapore > Auckland
Your point of origin > Munich > Hong Kong > Auckland
Your point of origin > Dubai > Auckland
Count roughly 24 to 28 hours for these flights

[simple musk]

From the USA I can only see flights upto a week before exilcon via google flights, but the week before from where I'm at tickets are ~2k USD

[tropic schooner]

That Munich HK Auckland route seems like a huge detour

[lost mica]

I am planning a whole trip for this while I am at it

Gonna do Quebec -> Japan in May, then South Korean then Australia and then New Zealand

Might as well make it count

[lost mica]

There we go bois

They fixed my name on my ticket

[undone kernel]

See you there king

[simple musk]

japan and korea are absolutely amazing. I did a Taiwan > S Korea > Japan trip like 4 years ago. Best trip I ever took

[lavish glen]

I got my ticket today. Very excited

[maiden valve]

that sounds fun

[bright hemlock]

it's actually one of the fastest ones, because all other routes include very long layovers, and you can end up with as much as 37h of total trip time using other routes

[bright hemlock]

glad it all worked out for you!

[tropic schooner]

See yall there in a year or smth

[wet vortex]

just as a heads up for folks thinking of stopping in Japan on the trip, Japan is still largely closed to tourists who aren't on specific guided tours. That might change (hopefully) by the time Exilecon rolls around, but there's some risk in tying your trip to that

[fervent halo]

Will exilecon be about poe mobile?

[lilac kelp]

There will be information about it and a playable demo in addition to PoE2 news, yes

[full locust]

Poe beta wasnt it?

Poe2* beta

At exilecon

[burnt light]

announcement of poe 2 beta date at the con

I don't think the playable demo will be the full beta

most likely just an one hour demo like last time

[kind berry]

when is this beta

[frigid hamlet]

after exilcon

but dont know when

[kind berry]

oh ok cool thx for info bro

[copper raptor]

will red shrit guy be in exilecon?

[lost mica]

What are the

Cosplay rules

[undone kernel]

No pp out

[vapid bluff]

yeah I think just the usual NZ dress code applies

[lost mica]

I kinda wish they randomly play Toxic orb and lightning mirage audio cues on the speakers of hte convention

To make people twitch

[lilac kelp]

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3309758

2pm on September 22nd (PDT)

[heavy wedge]

<t:1663880400:R> at <t:1663880400>

[safe kindle]

5 am

[pulsar jacinth]

5am rip, ill be trying at least

[austere void]

With the first wave already out, I would imagine this wave won't sell out in 4 hours.

[burnt light]

also fewer tickets though

might sell out in 4 minutes

I had to refund a ticket so now I gotta rebuy one

[amber radish]

how much was the vip ticket guys?

[lilac kelp]

$700 US

[amber radish]

Thanks

also, while this sounds weird but a friend of me and I want to bring our other friend. he is not very amused about the flight cost though. We are thinking about treating him with the exilecon ticket. in case he still dismisses our plans, will we be able to re-sell it or is it bound to any of our names?

IF we get 3 tickets all of course lol

[lilac kelp]

I would recommend contacting support to ask about that ([e-mail]). you have to supply a name for the ticket holder on purchase and it will be checked against their ID, but I'm not sure whether you can change the person named after purchase sorry.

[heavy wedge]

Only <t:1663880400:R> at <t:1663880400> until the next wave!

[subtle jewel]

IIRC there's also a limit to buying 2 tickets per poe account

so if you're planning to buy 3, prepare two accounts...

you won't have time to contact support and work it out it it happens to you.

[wild hearth]

When I emailed support prior to the first wave, they said that they aren't allowing ticket resales or refunds for the most part

[amber radish]

https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon this is the place I need to f5 for tickets?

[subtle jewel]

yes

oh right, it's in 20 minutes ^^

[burnt light]

I bought 2 tickets last time, both under my name because I forgot they had to be the actual person

Had to refund 1 and try my luck again today

[subtle jewel]

refund to reTRY buying?

can't just change the name on it?

[burnt light]

nope

they said no

yeah I was expecting them to send me a purchase link but nopers

not changing the name I understand, because that enables reselling

[subtle jewel]

yeah but... I think on an individual basis it's fine

[burnt light]

just saw your question, support won't change the name on the ticket but they should always refund

[zinc sandal]

site down for anyone else

[burnt light]

ye

[wild hearth]

ye

[zinc sandal]

I was so close

[wheat silo]

Think i managed to secure a VIP ticket

[burnt light]

same

[wheat silo]

Money went out of bank account at least

[zinc sandal]

mine stalled at payment processing

[plucky plover]

Well, looks like the website was very quickly hugged to death.

[rancid kindle]

how do i buy 2 tickets at once?

[graceful crane]

same mine stalled

[simple musk]

managed to upgrade my ticket to VIP 🙂

[burnt light]

can't

[subtle jewel]

even faster than before then... :/

[amber radish]

sale is over?

site down..

[zinc sandal]

no way

[rancid kindle]

so you only get one? then buy another?

[brisk quail]

bruh

I go to pee for one minute and this happens

[burnt light]

yep

[regal jetty]

money went out of my account Prayge

[plucky plover]

Site down because of traffic. There were still plenty of tickets when I saw it go down.

[graceful crane]

i put in my details and then it hung on processing

[plain zodiac]

yo anyone want to pay $2k for my flight?

[graceful crane]

and gave me error

[torpid hawk]

is the site like... being ddosed or something

[burnt light]

You have to write the name of the person too

[vagrant knot]

https://twitter.com/pathofexile/status/1573055269525155840

Path of Exile (@pathofexile)

@NumerousWaffles There was an issue with ticket sales - we'll get it back up as soon as we can.

Twitter · Sep 22, 2022, 9:02 PM

[ripe root]

website went down in the middle of my purchase....card got charged....no confirmation email....

[torpid hawk]

my monies gone too, hope it works out

[burnt light]

reeeeeeeeeeeee

[subtle jewel]

uh oh

[cold wharf]

same

[mellow ridge]

Super put off by it being in NZ

[burnt light]

what can you do

[mellow ridge]

Tickets are $200 but flight+hotel total is like 8k

Fuck that noise

[plucky plover]

The real cost is in the flight and hotels.

[burnt light]

8k wut

[subtle jewel]

flight+hotel is 8k atm..?

[burnt light]

I spent like 3k last time

[wheat silo]

how do you get it to be 8k

[vagrant knot]

I mean flight is like 2-3k from US

[graceful crane]

same, they took the money

[subtle jewel]

last exilecon I paid 2500€ from EU

[mellow ridge]

I'm in america

[subtle jewel]

how tf could it be 8k now

[mellow ridge]

Also inflation

[wheat silo]

which should be cheaper

[burnt light]

it can't

[graceful crane]

last exilecon my ticket was like ;1.5k from the usa

[subtle jewel]

EU is furthen from NZ than america

[mellow ridge]

Covid pricing

[graceful crane]

from chicago

[plucky plover]

8k? It’s 1.4k where I am in US.

[mellow ridge]

Etc

[zinc sandal]

tickets are like 2k, ur spending 6k on hotels that's on u

[subtle jewel]

Marry me and I'll fly with you at that price please :o

[wheat silo]

Yo I need my 5* Mageblood-rated hotel

[graceful crane]

i stayed like 2 weeks in the grand millenium hotel also to explore NZ

[mellow ridge]

Its 1.7k for both ways?

[graceful crane]

and the hotel bill was like 2k for two weeks

[vagrant knot]

site back up

[ripe root]

site up

[graceful crane]

no way its 8k

[burnt light]

unavailable though

[plucky plover]

👰‍♀️

[wheat silo]

YES got the confirmation page

[wild hearth]

got a purchase confirmation for vip ticket

[wheat silo]

VIP here we go

[ripe root]

purchase went through, confirmation was in account messages

[mellow ridge]

It was about 2.7k per flight for me

And hotel is 2-3k for a week

[graceful crane]

yeah i just got a confirmation email

[graceful crane]

2-3k for a week? are you staying 5 star VIP?

[plucky plover]

Most tickets are priced round trip, bare that in mind.

[zinc sandal]

how do i buy 2nd

wtf

[graceful crane]

also remember those prices are in NZD

[simple musk]

aaaand VIP tickets out of stock

[mellow ridge]

Yes? Why would you stay at a shitty motel

[crystal lagoon]

i need 2 tickets =\

[vivid furnace]

jesus they sold out quick

[plain zodiac]

Hopefully one day they'll have a con in the US, id love to go to one but no one in hell am I paying ~3k+

[mellow ridge]

Lololol

[wild hearth]

180 balcony left

[subtle jewel]

I got a room for a full week for 600$ last time. Hostel, so shared showers (still had a private room), but it was wonderful and nowhere near 2-3k

[vivid furnace]

got me and my mate a ticket with 5 remaining

[mellow ridge]

Yeah but then you have to stay in a hostel

[subtle jewel]

🥳

[mellow ridge]

And share showers

[plucky plover]

I’m not paying premium for a hotel I’m only going to sleep in.

[mossy dust]

yay got my ticket 😄

[subtle jewel]

This.

[graceful crane]

yeah last time i stayed at the grand millenium and i paid like 2k usd for two weeks

[ripe root]

you have very little time in NZ, why are you wasting it in a shower?

[subtle jewel]

that's.. expensive. But still less than 2-3k per week.

[graceful crane]

yeah it was expensive

[austere owl]

Just air b&b was cheap and so was taxi

[graceful crane]

but the thing is

I use a wheelchair

so i needed that hotel

because its super accessible

the cheaper ones had stairs n shit

[plucky plover]

Only villains don’t shower for a game convention.

[graceful crane]

and airbnb is a crapshoot as a disabled person

[subtle jewel]

that's... something I didn't think about. Yeah, that sucks then :/

[graceful crane]

also, auckland is hilly as FUCK

[subtle jewel]

would have thought most hotels would be accessible by now, no?

[graceful crane]

im bringing a power assist

this time

haha

[mellow ridge]

Its new zealand bro

[ripe root]

I thought it was a requirement based on the few gaming related cons I've been to

[subtle jewel]

Oh this, holy my legs hated me after the full week

[graceful crane]

different countries have widely different requirements

also a lot get grandfathered in

etc

[burnt light]

Yeah the street of the airbnb I stayed in was like 45 degrees lul

[graceful crane]

yeah

I didnt realize it was like, seattle hilly

[brisk quail]

welcome to auckland

[graceful crane]

I got there and was like holy fuck

[mellow ridge]

Also isnt the food in NZ kinda shitty

[graceful crane]

im glad i made friends while there that helped push my ass up the hills

[mellow ridge]

Kinda wish it was in sydney

[brisk quail]

and expensive

[graceful crane]

the food was good that I had

[burnt light]

was it? I thought it was fine

[graceful crane]

there's a japanese steakhouse in the grand millenium which was very good

[subtle jewel]

I liked it. Didn't really eat anything local, but street food is very nice in aukland.

[ripe root]

heard they have decent second breakfasts

[brisk quail]

food expensive af

[graceful crane]

its like a block from the convention center

[burnt light]

I can tell you the chinese food there is good though

[zenith loom]

Wait, can you not buy more than 1 ticket at a time? Like, if I wanted to buy a ticket for a friend to go with me?

[mellow ridge]

Whats ur standard tho lol

[subtle jewel]

No like, actually really good

[mellow ridge]

Like are u talking bay area or LA or nyc level

[subtle jewel]

in aukland center there's very nice food places

[burnt light]

the entire auckland is like a chinatown

[graceful crane]

i have pretty high standards and the japanese steakhouse was very good

[subtle jewel]

oh yeah, there's also a japanese sushi restautrant a bit north of the con centre that's worth klilling for

[mellow ridge]

Cuz I remember when i was living in australia, my friends were telling me that the food in NZ was shit

[plucky plover]

I’m super excited to go. It will be my first flight, first time leaving the country, I will have graduated a computer science major just a month prior, I will be visiting my dream company, and it will be my birthday. The food could be trash and it would still be the highlight of my life.

[graceful crane]

i had no complaints about the regular nz food

it wasnt spectacular

[mellow ridge]

Well hope u enjoy lol

[graceful crane]

but not bad either

the coffee houses were nice

for the mornings

[mellow ridge]

I wish the con was in australia or usa

NZ kinda too inconvenient for me

[brisk quail]

Lot's of cafe's tbh

[graceful crane]

decent breakfast/coffee place right in the convention center square

went there a bunch

[burnt light]

I swear I saw more chinese people than kiwis

[subtle jewel]

That sounds pretty damn nice.
On my end, got a vip ticket and have no money to get my ass to NZ. To each their own ^^

[burnt light]

cafes are nice yep

[graceful crane]

I got a regular ticket this time

[brisk quail]

nice I managed to get a rooftop one

[burnt light]

I would've bought VIP but I'm going with someone else and there's no way I'm paying for 2 VIP tickets

[graceful crane]

with the prices up, i did VIP last time and I don't think it was that different

the dinner was nice

but i can skip it this time

i did regular this time

[vivid furnace]

my favourite curry place was right next door to the convention centre but its closed now

[subtle jewel]

oh yeah, bringing friends/relatives gets pricy so quickly :(

[graceful crane]

im gonna meet up with friends i made from last time

[burnt light]

well fuck I have to email support again

[subtle jewel]

don't tease me with things I won't be able to try! :o

[brisk quail]

What was the place called?

[graceful crane]

so even if poe is still shit then

i can still hang with my friends

and NZ is awesome

IMO

[subtle jewel]

Based.

[vivid furnace]

Its been ages since I was last in Auckland, cant remember at this point F

it was in the food court building right next door

[subtle jewel]

wendy's?

[burnt light]

nz has wendy's?

[subtle jewel]

there's one in front of the centre, a little down the road

So I assume yes

[vivid furnace]

its not as big as it is in the states but yeah

[subtle jewel]

haven't entered it. Maybe it's a disguised michelin star restaurant. Doubt it tho.

[lilac kelp]

having lived in both Sydney and Auckland, the food is pretty similar quality tbh. Sydney just has a lot more of it

I can potentially help with food recommendations if anyone bugs me closer to the time. I'm not super keyed into the cbd food scene but I know enough to be helpful

[mellow ridge]

He works for ggg

Get him boys

[subtle jewel]

tf are you talking about mate.

[lilac kelp]

meming

[mellow ridge]

Hope there are plans to expand out of NZ

I'm sure you guys are running into issues with hiring as well

And id be down to go to a con in au or usa

Just cant justify nz costs 😭

[vivid furnace]

its selfish but if Exilecon ever leaves NZ ill be heartbroken

Its our one thing, dont take it away from us

[subtle jewel]

just bring the country closer to everyone else :o

60 balcony tickets left btw.

[brisk quail]

Why tickets so expensive :/

[brisk quail]

Go to Armageddon

[plucky plover]

If you think the tickets are expensive, just check what a flight to New Zealand costs. Or a hotel. 💸

[subtle jewel]

🪦

[brisk quail]

💀everyone flying to nz

[plucky plover]

I’m lightning warping there. Later peasants.

[brisk quail]

I’m walking 2 mins or rolling downhill across Auckland city

[vivid furnace]

Armagedd n

[heavy wedge]

You must have 999999% increased* duration if you're starting the cast now 😄

[safe kindle]

had to say no this time (again) conversion rate is sucks right now

[subtle jewel]

Oh damn, looks like I'm already in new szealand in game! Sweet, half the way there then!

[safe kindle]

so everything is expensive for me

[brisk quail]

What currency?

[safe kindle]

MYR

[brisk quail]

Oh yeah conversion rate is 🪦

[faint widget]

Accidentally bought 2 VIP tickets.. lol

[subtle jewel]

wat

[safe kindle]

lmao

[faint widget]

I got in and clicked purchase as the website went down. it said it failed.. so when it came back up I rushed and did it again lol

then I got 2 emails with 2 different order numbers

[safe kindle]

can you get a refund? unless you're bringing your friend as well

[faint widget]

I shot them an emial

[safe kindle]

[subtle jewel]

will there be 1 ticket randomly popping up for sale then?XD

[faint widget]

hahah possibly

[gritty hound]

still not sure if i want to go

[subtle jewel]

not here to manipulate you into going, but you better think quickly.

[gritty hound]

true

[faint widget]

33 balcony tickets left lol

[subtle jewel]

mmmmph

I'm going to cosplay as ora greengate, you'll recognise delvers at the con who run screaming when they see me, I swear.

[plucky plover]

My advice is that if you’re not sure it’s worth the money/time, then it probably isn’t for you.

[gritty hound]

we love impulse purchases

[plucky plover]

Ah, well, there it is then! Hope you have a great time. See you all there!

[rapid pelican]

I'm only a little seething with jealousy.

[subtle jewel]

Really? I bought a ticket not knowing if I'd go last time, and it ended up being on of the best memories of my life

[rapid pelican]

[subtle jewel]

(I ended up going, ofc.)

[subtle jewel]

username checks out :)

[heavy wedge]

Exilecon was an amazing memory to hold onto over the last few years of Covid

[subtle jewel]

fair point, that helped too.

[faint widget]

This'll be my first. and my first game con.

[plucky plover]

It’s more about money anxiety than “will it be enjoyable.” It will be fun for sure, but you shouldn’t put yourself in the red to go.

[subtle jewel]

Oh, I didn't see it that way. Absolutely aggree with that!

[queen shuttle]

Aight i bought one of these ticket things

See u nerds at exilecon

[safe kindle]

[burnt light]

last exilecon sure had great timing

[heavy wedge]

@topaz tideThat's not allowed based on GGG TOS, so please don't ask here

[topaz tide]

Ah ok sorry

[heavy wedge]

No problem

Each ticket is uniquely associated with a name at purchase, and validated via a government ID at check-in, so it's not even really possible

[old hollow]

I'm real happy that I managed to snag a couple of tickets

the last one was fantastic

[mossy dust]

Did anyone went there alone ? How was the experience ?

[old hollow]

I went alone last time

it was alright, and I'm not particularly good at making friends

I've got someone else coming along to this one, but I'd still go even if it was alone

[austere void]

Fantastic. Best piece of advice I can give you, or anyone for that matter, is to get involved. Join whatever discord ends up being the main one and look for people doing stuff.
I went to NZ with zero plan and turned that into 2 sky tower trips, a 10 hour bar experience, great meals with some "very unimportant people" , and a trip to the zoo, hobbiton, and a canon.
All of that was just through using the meet up channel and hanging around outside the aotea Centre.

[old hollow]

the VUIP dinner was honestly one of the best parts of the whole weekend

[mossy dust]

That sounds awesome, i was ment to go there with a friend but he didnt answer me when the tickets went up and was a bit worried i will go awkwardly around alone not knowing what to do. Is there goind to be an anouncement for the discord channel ?

[mighty raven]

So sad that the flight alone would be 1.7k
Have fun guys and gals

[heavy wedge]

I'm going to Exilecon and I'll make sure that the likely GGG-created Exilecon server will be linked here. If you see other ones that should be shared here feel free to DM me and I can add them to a pin here too

[mossy dust]

Sounds great,i hipe i will find some nice peeps !

[burnt light]

Yeah ggg made a super chill discord last time and they were also just hanging out in there

[mossy dust]

I was just wondering, how does the ticket even work do we get a physical ticket mailed or what ?

[simple musk]

We pick up tickets at the Event itself with ID matching the name entered when purchased. Snippet of ticket purchase message below.

Ticket collection: Tickets can be collected at any time while the event is open, or on the Friday beforehand during specific hours. When collecting your ticket or entering the venue, you will need to present photo ID matching your ticket. Please note that ExileCon is restricted to ages 16 and above and the ExileCon party is restricted to ages 18 and above.

[mossy dust]

Oh yeah totaly forgot about that, thanks 😄

[burnt light]

If it's like last time, you show the receipt on your poe account and ID. They'll give you the badge that's basically the ticket

iirc the venue didn't really check ID for entry, just that you have your badge

For the key note presentation they pay more attention because seating depends on your ticket, but everything else is free seating so they just make sure you're wearing it

[cold stirrup]

Do you think Exilecon will manage to outperform LotR Tourism sales for New Zealand?

[desert sonnet]

can someone who does go mention the out of season april fools joke comment about state of league and lootgobrins

[chilly zenith]

is exile con an 18+ event?

ive been playing POE for 5 years give or take but ill be 16 for exile con

[heavy wedge]

Looks like some small text at the very bottom of the webpage has an answer

https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon

ExileCon is a Restricted 16 event and the party is a Restricted 18 event. You must have photo ID showing your age to enter.

[chilly zenith]

so ill be fine if i bring my license?

sick

sounds good

couldnt go to last exilecon i was too young

[lost mica]

Are there any good info on travel fares in NZ?

[undone kernel]

What would you like to know (I'm a kiwi)

[lost mica]

Is there some kind of pass or bus deal to travel across nz?

I am staying about 14 days so not sure what the plan is right now, but I definitely wanna do north/south or south/rnoth

[undone kernel]

The only reputable company I know of that does the 'big' bus trips (like Auckland - our biggest city - to Whangarei - our large city up north, or to Tauranga in the east) would be InterCity, they go all over and you can book buses individually, or go for something like their travelpass: https://www.intercity.co.nz/bus-pass/travelpass-buy-pass

For travel around Auckland/Wellington/Chch they each have their own bus systems (which is dumb and is actually being centralised late next year)

We also have rail which goes from Auckland to Wellington (the bottom of the north island) and stops at a few nice places along the way, although the train is not something that goes super frequently (couple times a day week from memory) https://www.greatjourneysnz.com/tours-and-trains/scenic-trains/northern-explorer-train/

But it is an option if you want to get down south, then take a ferry over to the south island and continue with a bus. I would suggest any who visit check out the south island if they are able. It's where the photos mostly come from and is picturesque. I live in Auckland, but would live in the south island if my field of work was available there

If you dont want to stray too far from Auckland, and you like the beach there are some stunning beaches in previously mentioned Tauranga, which is close to the Coromandel, great little scenic drive but would reccomend you rent a car for this (great food too).

If you take a bus up north to Whangarei area, there are also beautiful beaches in the bay of islands, good snorkeling and if you go further up you can see Waipoua & our (seriously massive) god of the forest, Tāne, a giant Kauri tree. Close up there is 90 mile beach (basically a big beach that spans the west coast of the north island top) and the top point of the north island cape reinga.

Thats all from memory so there will 100% be other interesting things that I've not thought about to explore!

[tardy whale]

you forget to mention stay away from naki its cold and a ses pit lol

[lost mica]

Thanks, imma read that up later

[cold stirrup]

would the LotR stuff be close enough to Auckland?

[austere void]

There are bus tours to Hobbiton. It's about an all day event, 2-3 hour drive each way. I believe the Weta workshop, if they're doing tours, is on the south island, or it's much farther south. I don't recall at the moment. It depends how long you're planning on staying really.

[plain fog]

Weta is in Wellington, which is an 8 hour drive south. I'd consider taking a flight instead

[cold breach]

@teal goblet Exilecon channel

[teal goblet]

Huh, I sure didn't see this... Damn, I even scrolled through all the channels to double check lmao

My bad

[cold breach]

[north basin]

I thought the trains were all cancelled and we did freight only now...?

[undone kernel]

https://www.greatjourneysnz.com/tours-and-trains/scenic-trains/northern-explorer-train/

[north basin]

weird, news to me

[heavy wedge]

@burnt garden There isn't a ticket resale market, all tickets are locked to the name supplied at purchase, so even a resold ticket wouldn't let you into the venue without a legit matching ID.

[burnt garden]

i know was worth a try if u ask ggg to change it

[burnt light]

I tried asking and they said no

I had to refund a ticket and try my luck at the next drop

[zenith loom]

They let you refund tickets? Do they go back on sale for people to pick up if they check?

[burnt light]

they don't go back on sale

I'm guessing if there's enough tickets they might do another wave but I doubt it

[amber radish]

guys i'm too stupid what is the difference between nz visa and NZeTA?

[hollow bloom]

You likely need to register for one or the other depending on which country’s citizenship you hold

ETA is typically an easier and cheaper process than a full visa

[naive jackal]

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/nzeta Near the bottom of this page, there's a pink "Check Criteria" button, which asks you to input your nationality as per your passport, and which country you're coming from - that will tell you if you're eligible to do the NZeTA.
Otherwise, the full list of countries eligible for NZeTA is available here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/tools-and-information/general-information/visa-waiver-countries

The NZeTA is a 'you're probably a cool dude' version, whereas the actual full visa application is 'you might be sketch but we need to check you out to make sure'

[amber radish]

thanks a bunch!

[indigo spoke]

godsent

[balmy atlas]

I do not think there is a great way to do an informal poll here, but for those of us who are trying to figure out how many extra days they might tack onto the trip pre/post-Exilecon...

What would be your personal recommendation for sights to see in and around Auckland?

💍 Hobbiton
🪱 Waitomo Glowworm Caves
♨️ Rotorua Hot Springs or similar
🏖️ Beaches (despite being winter)
🌲 Rainforest
🏙️ Local Auckland Attractions (Museums, Sky Tower, etc.)
❓ Other (please comment)

(Please respond by reaction if you think it's worth it to spend up to a day on any of the above. Or let us all know if you feel something is overblown and NOT worth it!)

[teal goblet]

The skytower was pretty cool, but that's only a one-day thing.
The glow worm caves were great, but really rug-up if you're going to those, the caves get very cold even in summer.
Honestly I think the best thing you can do in the week or two leading up to the con is going to be hanging out with other Exiles in Auckland. But I'm a massive nerd who prefer talking to people about my favourite vidya game over sightseeing

[lilac kelp]

IMO:
Local attractions:
-The Auckland War Memorial Museum is fantastic. To be clear, only the top floor is war-related, the rest covers a diverse range of topics. The Maori and Pacific Islands galleries are the highlight IMO, and also the things you'll be least likely to have seen in other countries. It's a big museum, you can easily spend 4+ hours there if you're looking at everything
-Haven't done the tower or Weta experience, but people seem to rate them highly
-The zoo is one of the nicer zoos I've been to if you like animals. They make a big effort to make the enclosures feel more like habitats than cages.
-Auckland CBD (central business district — what we call downtown) and neighbouring suburbs are packed with good food and drink. Worth exploring if you're into either. Happy to try and give recommendations if you ping me with specific criteria. My current favourite restaurant in the CBD is Hello Beasty if you are okay with somewhere on the expensive side.
-There are some really interesting islands right off Auckland, with regular ferries from the CBD. Of note: Tiritiri Matangi is a whole-island bird sanctuary, you can explore and/or go with a guide. Can even stay overnight if you're really keen and want to see kiwi. Rangitoto is a volcano, you can walk up it and there are some lava caves to explore. Waiheke is big and inhabited, it has nice walks, beaches, some wineries, and a bus service to take you around.

(This ended up being an essay, I'll keep going in separate posts soon)

[naive jackal]

• Agree with the Akl War Memorial Museum - I can spend hours there, just lookin' at everything, and they sweep through and change the special exhibit every few months. They also have some pretty good sections about Maori (NZ indigenous peoples) and NZ natural history, which is pretty swish.

• Skytower is fun for a visit - gives some really good views of the city, and it's always interesting to test how not-ok your body is with heights.

• If you've got some time and $$$, the Sugar Club is a sick af niche bar/restaurant built into the Skytower, so you can have some cocktails and lord it over the peons, but it can be pretty expensive.

• If you've got the $$$, I highly recommend MASU, which is a Japanese restaurant at the base of the Skytower. Excellent food, excellent cocktails, and an absolutely massive Tokyo Platter.

• If you don't have so much $$$, Federal Street Deli (like two doors down from MASU) does some super solid Poutine, and some really good house soda.

• Zoo is always highly rated, they're super respectful of the animals and have just finished some renovations to the (South America?) habitats (And they have a baby orangutang atm)

[lilac kelp]

Beaches/Forests/Walks
-Don't be dissuaded by winter, it doesn't get that cold in Auckland. I wouldn't recommend swimming in the ocean unless you're made of strong stuff, but beach walks and getting your feet wet will be fine, and most beaches have the views to be worth it even if you stay dry.
-Auckland has tons of beaches, they're pretty universally lovely in my experience. No way to mention them all so I'll just cover a few that I think have some extra value.
-If you start at the CBD ferry terminal and walk east along Tamaki Drive, there's a path all the way along the foreshore that can take you to Mission Bay or further if you want. It's mostly next to a road but is honestly quite a nice walk for being easily accessible from the city, great harbour views the whole time.
-Maungauika has views the other way across the harbour, a few nearby beaches, and some military history sites if you're into that.
-If you rent a car, Waitakere Ranges Regional Park is literally right outside Auckland and has tons of lovely forest walks, great views from the hilltops, waterfalls, and some very cool black sand beaches. I can give more detailed tips, it's too big to cover here. Just ask.
-The Domain in the city is a big park with a few different points of interest or just nice walking paths.
-The Botanic Gardens in South Auckland are a bit annoying to get to if you don't have a car but are really lovely and merge into a forest if you walk to extend your walk.
-See the thing about islands I said above, lots of walks on those.

Waitomo Caves
-IMO, do it if you can, the boat under the glowworms is worth it all even though it only takes 5 minutes. I would try and fit next-door Ruakuri Cave in as well if you're not on a package tour, it's bigger and quieter and an altogether different experience. The company that runs the tours even does tubing along the underground river if you're keen, we just walked but I assume it's very cool.

Rotorua
-Again, well worth it if you can. The geothermal springs are completely alien and there aren't that many places like it in the world. You can see them around the town, there's a dedicated park for them in town but also you just randomly get sewer vents belching steam and sulphur and weird stuff like that. If you can make it to the parks out of town, Wai-o-tapu is probably the coolest IMO. Waimangu is also great because it's half geothermal springs and half lovely walk through a forest. Plenty of other stuff to do in and around Rotorua as well, lots of walks/lakes and a couple of Maori village experiences that are legit, if a bit touristy.

I might not know answers to every question as I only moved here 3 years ago, but there are other locals in here that probably will, or will know someone who does.

[subtle jewel]

Imo skytower was real fun.
It's nothing super fancy, but it's right next to the con center, so it's a good place to go while you're just hanging out with a group of fellow exiles.
You can also jump from the top, if that's your thing.

[balmy atlas]

Thank you everyone for your comments. Certainly not a finished conversation, by any means, but I think this is helpful for those of us who haven't been. ^_^

[teal goblet]

One big thing to note, a lot of attendees from the previous con, plus some content creators I've talked to, plan to show up to Auckland up to like 2 weeks early

I'll be doing the same

[balmy atlas]

"Happy to try and give recommendations if you ping me with specific criteria."

What would be considered "local" specialties in New Zealand? Any restaurants you consider are representative of the island?

[teal goblet]

Last time this mostly resulted in hanging out in pubs and talking, but also dinners and sightseeing stuff

[waxen egret]

If you get a chance to go to Wellington then you can try Hiakai: https://www.hiakai.co.nz/about
You'll need to book well in advance though

[undone kernel]

Adding to this if you have a car, close to Auckland, Piha is only a 45 min drive (and a decent one at that) from the CBD - famous for its black sand, decent waves and great views.
Slightly north of Piha is Muriwai which is also a popular holiday beach with beautiful long stretches of sand and waves.
Going a bit further (and a different direction) north about an hour from the CBD you could explore Whangaparaoa Peninsula (actually where I'm from originally) and it's national park Shakespear, there are some fantastic walks that take you up some hills with views over the nearby islands and ocean.
On the same peninsula there are some very slow calm beaches. Stanmore bay and Big Manly beach are quite nice, but you'll find the popular ones are Orewa + Red Beach, with some hidden gems for lunch/dinner (Red Beach Surf Club, Orewa's Coast + many more along the waterfront).

A note, if you're planning on doing more than just hiking and want to swim (not sure who would in the winter, but there are crazies out there) New Zealand has very strong currents 'rips' at times, so take care where you swim (always between the flags if present) and do research about the waters before you swim - as with any body of water.

[naive jackal]

Ohhh if you're towards Auckland South, and it's open, stop into Captain Kai Moana in Drury - that shit's worth waiting for. Seafood food truck that recently (within the last year?) got a permanent place. Holy shit it's like a divine for your mouth

Also, if you're road tripping around and like stupid gimmicky stuff, then you can check out the following:
Katikati - Mural Town, has some amazing murals and a nice quiet river walk with haiku poems. Otherwise a blink and you miss it town. Surrounded by heaps of avocado and kiwifruit orchards
Matakana - Heaps of winery tours and a sweet af farmer's market in weekends
Raglan - Has some amazing beaches, walking tracks, and caves
Taihape - Gumboot Capital of NZ, also has some pretty sick gardens
Tirau - Has some pretty cool corrugated iron buildings and a nice place to stop for lunch
Russell/Kaitaia - More wineries, nice walks, nice food, nice beaches
Paeroa - Has a huge L&P Bottle, which is world famous since ages ago

Also, if you're going North, I swear to god someone needs to go to Sheep World, north of Auckland. I always drive past but I've never had time to check it out.

Also, at this time, the only mask mandates we have are for healthcare providers (iirc) - everywhere else you can wander to your germ-ridden heart's content.
Healthcare related - accidental injuries are at least partially covered by the public system, though you might need to contribute to costs.
Illness and non-accidental stuff isn't supported, so you might want to check out travel or health insurance for that, however iirc our system isn't super broken so afaik if you want to take the risk it's not ridiculously expensive, but not 100% because I've never been on that side of the coin.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/tools-and-information/medical-info/getting-public-health-care-in-new-zealand

However, our exchange rate is iffy at best and shit's naturally more expensive here in general because of economy of scale and everything has to be flown/shipped in.

If anyone cares, a Big Mac here is about NZD$7.50 ish

Getting around without a rental car in Auckland
We support walking, most places will have footpaths and foot traffic
Uber is most heavily supported here (for rideshare), however Ola is available (I don't use it, unsure of availability)
There are Taxis, but fares can be mildly questionable if you're going long-distance so for budgeting you might prefer Uber
For Auckland Public Transport you need a transport card, they don't accept cash, but iirc they have a kiosk in the Airport where you can by one for like $10, and top it up as necessary - they're able to be used on trains and buses, and some ferries
Electric scooter hire currently available is: Beam, Lime (may be others that I don't come across) (they also do bikes but they're rarer)

(I'll add more info when I think of it. My brain is mushy)

[ornate elm]

I’m landing into Auckland on the 25th and hoping to find a few groups who might be thinking about a hobbiton or other visits in the days leading up to Exilecon! I’m gonna have some severe jet lag after going from UK > west coast USA for a week then straight to NZ but I’m gonna make the most of it !

[lilac kelp]

this is a weirdly difficult question to answer because NZ doesn't really have an obvious national cuisine, so I'm going to give three half-answers. hope that's okay.
-foods that rate as significant or iconic to most Kiwis are things like fish and chips, steak and cheese pie, paua (abalone) or whitebait fritters, vanilla or ginger slice, pavlova...all tasty things that are worth eating, but none really restaurant fare except pavlova.
-the main Maori cooking you're likely to find on a commercial scale is hangi, but even that is not easily found in Auckland. I was also going to mention Hiakai like Scopey did because it's a restaurant I'm personally aware of that is doing innovative things with Maori cuisine, though I imagine there are more.
-moden Kiwi seems to still be developing an identity compared to the similar modern Australian, but there are definitely restaurants doing interesting things with local ingredients that you probably would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Ahi in the CBD is a good example.

[naive jackal]

Amazing answer, Viper. You defs captured the essence of it.

[lilac kelp]

I'll take that lol, I think you're more of a local food nerd than me given that you're actually a local 😛

[naive jackal]

Japanese food is my favorite. In saying that though, we have a disgusting amount of bbq and pies at home.

Like, at one point my partner had 4 different bbq's.

I think there's an iconic pic from a party where there was 8 bbq's at my house at once.

[balmy atlas]

Yup. Kudos. Much appreciate the detailed answer. I do doubt, living in Japan as I do, that the tuna will be particularly different, but good to get an idea of what is or is not considered local faire. Even if some of it is found elsewhere.

[lilac kelp]

sorry, Ahi is the name of a restaurant lol

[balmy atlas]

LOL

[naive jackal]

[burnt light]

There's also one tree hill (I think), pretty nice for a half day trip

[naive jackal]

One Tree Hill no longer has it's iconic tree, but it's a really lovely walk for a few hours. Cornwell Park is a lovely walk for a few hours too.

[burnt light]

honestly I don't even remember the tree lul

[teal goblet]

Does that mean it's now 0 tree hill?

[naive jackal]

Colloquially, it's still One Tree Hill. Realistically, it's indeed 0 Tree Hill

[floral plover]

Just booked my flights to NZ 🙂

[autumn hawk]

What is exile con

[frigid hamlet]

https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon

its like the anime convention

but about POE in new zelande

[lost mica]

Wait

Seuriac are you going?

I changed my itenary a bit

Instead of doing 2 weeks in japan, 2 weeks in SK and then 2 weeks in NZ (timed with convention), I might do a full month in NZ and go hiking in the south

[burnt light]

Where do I find my tickets on the official site again

nvm got it

[dark wraith]

+1, I get in that weekend too

[bright hemlock]

there was some korean fusion bbq place in the CBD that a few of us went to during last Exilecon, and we saw some GGG employees there, do you happen to know the name of that place? coz it was freakin yummy

[bright hemlock]

I'm getting there on the 25th as well, though I'm going from Paris to Auckland via Dubai. count me in for hobbiton and whatever else 🙂

[lilac kelp]

There are so many Korean restaurants in the CBD that I'd be guessing. Do you happen to remember who the GGGs were? I can ask them

[burnt light]

There's also plenty of Chinese holes in walls that were great

[lilac kelp]

holes in the wall in general

shoutout to Tanuki's Cave

[naive jackal]

Tanuki's Cave is 10/10

[teal goblet]

Kanit and I are arriving on the 18th, so if anyone's around that early we'll also be looking to hang out

[undone kernel]

If Korean BBQ could be daebak or faro, if asian fusion might be hello beasty

Pocha is a personal fav they do outstanding korean

[lilac kelp]

Hello Beasty is also a 10/10

[bright hemlock]

i think it was daebak, the name rings a bell

[subtle jewel]

I do remember going to a korean bbq with you, Think it was at a place called "oneshot" actually. Name rings 0 bells, but it was right next to the bar everyone went every night (that bar is now closed btw :/)
Tbh the restaurant was good but nothing special, there seems tobe plenty of places like it around ^^

[hidden ferry]

Any information regarding the Exilecon race qualifications, seeing as how Exilecon is less than 6 months away at this stage?

Also, would it be possible to have a standalone client or something like that for the reduced load times to put EU, NA and Pacific on equal footing?

[lost mica]

Hah

[naive jackal]

Maybe somoene who went to Excon1 can comment about where there was anything in place last time - If they didn't do it last time, I can't really see them doing it this time, tbh.

[bright hemlock]

yeah i remember that oneshot thingy

[bright hemlock]

wdym "would it be possible to have a standalone client"? there's been one since literally the game's inception

[naive jackal]

I think they're referring to Race tournament finals - If people are logging on from different places (eg not at Excon), then latency might be different which might have an impact on race results.

[burnt light]

I strongly doubt they'll have standalone clients for the qualifiers

[bright hemlock]

btw, anybody know what's happening on July 22nd in Auckland? coz for some reason most of the hotels are completely booked already for that date, which is forcing me to switch hotels midway through the trip

[naive jackal]

Sec- wrong year

[hidden ferry]

Yeah, they've done this as well for the Ruthless Alpha where there was a seperate standalone client

[naive jackal]

No public holidays, no significant concerts that I can see, no significant events (Matariki is before, NZ Film Fest is after), no cruise ships due in/out...

Not sure what's the happs then.

[naive jackal]

I guess we'll just have to wait for announcements.

[bright hemlock]

well, just got done booking my flights. so i'm officially good to go 🙂

[dark wraith]

Anybody planning to spend time outside of Auckland? Fishing for ideas on places to see in the area

[bright hemlock]

i'm half a mind to go skiing for a day or two, should the weather be nice

saw a couple of ski resorts that look promising a few hours from Auckland

[subtle jewel]

how much from france? I don't have 4k€ so far, afraid I won't be able to go ^^'

[lilac kelp]

how far outside Auckland are you wanting to go?

[dark wraith]

Currently thinking of stuff that's within a day's driving, or maybe more if I can figure out an itinerary that loops around

(hopefully I don't get stunlocked by the whole left side of the road thing)

[lilac kelp]

so in my experience in three years of living here and driving around when we can, it's almost hard to recommend places because there is so much that's lovely. it's probably more practical to go south than north unless you want to try for both. my knowledge is mostly nature sites so sorry if that's not your jam:
-Rotorua's geothermal parks and the Waitomo caves are definitely worth a look if you can route through them (Waitomo can be done in a day) — I answered some stuff about these two in more detail here: <#exilecon message>
-the Coromandel peninsula is lovely, rainforests and beaches
-Te Urewera national park is a beautiful place to explore if you have a bit more time. some stunning walks and lakes. my understanding is that there's plenty more lovely stuff to do around Hawke's Bay but I'm not personally that familiar.
-Lake Taupo is nice, the nearby Tongariro national park is extremely interesting if you're up for volcanoes and snow

[dark wraith]

Heck yeah, I'm very much down for nature

Guessing it'd be the wrong season for backpacking?

[lilac kelp]

I'm not personally familiar with the local backpacking scene sorry, maybe someone else is

(I'll also spruik Waitakere regional park if you're down for nature, it's directly west of Auckland so relatively easy to drive to and there is a heck of a lot to see there)

[bright hemlock]

Most direct flight for me was Paris > Dubai > Auckland. Round trip is 2.5k euros right now.
2k was the cheapest option but adds 7h of flight so...

[waxen egret]

If you want to do some winter backpacking there's some great options in NZ. Probably the most popular is the Tongariro crossing

It's a 4 hour drive from Auckland

Fiordland is supposed to be amazing in the winter too (I haven't done it), but it's right down the bottom of NZ, south of Queenstown

[lilac kelp]

we did our honeymoon in Fiordland in winter, can confirm it was amazing

[old hollow]

As someone who lives in NZ, I've done a couple of the hiking tracks around Fiordland in the summer, and they were also fantastic then

[subtle jewel]

Damn. Prices have skyrocketed since 4 years ago.

[naive jackal]

Yeeep

[lost mica]

Do you get sub-zero in your winters?

[lilac kelp]

Not in Auckland, it can fall to low single digits at night but barely ever below 0 °C. There are places further south and higher up that do, but even then there aren't huge swathes of the country that spend months at -20 or anything like that.

[lost mica]

`Cause my current travel plans is like

2-4 weeks in NZ before the con

Was planning to go hiking in the mountain chains in the south, just wanted to know how many layers I should bring, if -20 is the worse, then 3 should be good enough

I kinda only wanted ot bring a backpack but I might have to bring a bigger one

[naive jackal]

Winter temperatures are much milder in New Zealand compared to other areas of similar latitude, with the exception of the Central Otago and Mackenzie Basin regions [...] Maxima are generally 10–15 °C (50–59 °F) in the North Island, decreasing as one goes further south or inland. The South Island is a bit cooler, with maximum temperatures around 7–12 °C (45–54 °F), though sometimes lower. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −25.6 °C (−14.1 °F) at Ranfurly in Otago in 1903, with a more recent temperature of −21.6 °C (−6.9 °F) recorded in 1995 in nearby Ophir.

For example, in Queenstown (one of the more touristy South Island destinations known for skiing), their average low in June/July is 0 or -1 C

Conversely, Taupo (middle of the North Island, next to the huge lake) has an average low in June/July of 2 or 3 °C

If you go all the way to the bottom of the South Island to Bluff, then you're looking June/July average low 1 or 2 °C

[lost mica]

Noice

That's like my favorite temperature range

[naive jackal]

However, as Viper said, if you go higher altitude then you gonna get more froze, so it depends where you're going to hike.

[lost mica]

How humid is your cold?

[naive jackal]

Pass, I live in Akl so I rarely get lower than 2 C, and it's not noticeably humid where I live in winter, unless it's directly been raining.

[lost mica]

Pass?

Probably the highest I plan to go is Coronet peak

[naive jackal]

Pass meaning I have no real opinion/knowledge

[lost mica]

I'll just go with underarmor + sweaters

[bright hemlock]

if you're going to hike at a decent pace, you don't want that many layers tbh

it'll only slow you down and be an inconvenience

[naive jackal]

Yeah, but might need it if they're planning on staying out the night

[delicate plover]

i'm looking at booking my tickets for flight to exilecon

more of a general international flight question - is it a gotcha to book outgoing and return flights separately, will this cause inconvenience or issues potentially?

[hexed wraith]

It really depends on what airline and the country and all that but I know most airlines here in the US are great if you book separately and far in advance

[delicate plover]

im just using google flights rn to look - havent done a ton of comparison shopping, it looks like the outgoing is united and air new zealand and the incoming is air new zealand and alaska

[hexed wraith]

I can’t speak on NZ in/out flights cause never been lol

[delicate plover]

hmmm

maybe the angle is to book directly through air new zealand

prices look pretty competitive with these random no name sites that i don't think i can trust

[lilac kelp]

I would definitely recommend not booking through random no name sites. Having done it a bunch, it's usually fine but has also caused some pretty stressful experiences

[delicate plover]

yeah, im already anxious about international flight so id prefer to know what to do and have clear support i can count on if something goes wrong

[delicate plover]

incidentally, the "visit new zealand" link on https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon/flights is broken for me:

[lilac kelp]

huh, ty will let the web people know

[wild hearth]

I ended up booking my round trip entirely through air new zealand's booking, which included an alaskan flight to get to San Franscisco from Seattle

I've reserved a room at auckland city hotel for my stay till the 3rd. Plan on Waitomo and Rotorua a day each and then 1 free day to still decide.

[delicate plover]

thats what im planning to do after checking around on fares

the minor premium is worth the peace of mind

[queen shuttle]

oh yea i still need to book tickets

im just a short hop so i can wait a bit i guess

[waxen egret]

Oops

[naive jackal]

[winged ridge]

thankfully i just have to drive there

[naive jackal]

From out of town, or just across town? :P

[winged ridge]

out of town

stuff living in auckland

[naive jackal]

Lol ain't that the truth

[burnt light]

The answer is both

Just have money

[heavy pelican]

Hi does anyone remember a post about recommended flight dates?

[heavy wedge]

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3351803/page/1#p24894517 Probably this one

Path of Exile's 3.22 Expansion
If you're coming to ExileCon and wanting to do some travel within New Zealand around that time, we are generally recommending that people travel before the convention rather than afterwards. The reason for this is that we are currently planning to reveal our 3.22 expansion at ExileCon and its launch will take place soon after, likely around two weeks afterwards.

You'll be wanting to play 3.22, so it's best to leave New Zealand a few days after ExileCon. Then you'll have enough time to make it back home and take care of your responsibilities before going full goblin-mode at launch.

[burnt light]

oh yeah 2 weeks afterwards

somehow I misremembered as the same weekend

[lilac kelp]

I think we would explode from trying to do that lol

[heavy pelican]

@lilac kelp so booked NZ trip July 25 to aug 9. Hopefully nothing will start before I leave 🙂

[heavy wedge]

I booked nearly the same schedule, I think it'll be fine

We might have the new league less than a week from return though 😄

[heavy pelican]

ya i just really hope i dont get stuck in nz while a league start goes.

[heavy wedge]

Bring a laptop that can game 😄

[heavy wedge]

For the NZ peeps - if you can only visit either Christchurch or Queenstown areas for a few days, and you want to ski + see glaciers, which would you recommend?

[plain fog]

Queenstown is much closer to the ski fields and glaciers

[naive jackal]

I don't ski, but I've heard Queenstown mentioned more often in the same sentence, then Christchurch

Cadrona ski field is near Q-town

(There's also Cadrona distillery, which does cool tours and makes gin/whiskey)

[undone kernel]

Remarks is going to be a great range of skill from beginner to experienced, all ski fields are usually quite busy but enough to move around (depending on when you go)

The Remarkables* for the non-kiwis

[hidden ferry]

When are Exilecon qualifiers gonna be? Last time they were around 5-ish months before Exilecon, right? But now, Exilecon is only less than 4 months away.

Sorry if I've been asking too much about it, just really eager to participate in those qualifiers 😄

[naive jackal]

I don't recall an announcement for it, but then again I haven't been looking for one, personally. Anyone else seen anything?

[heavy wedge]

I think the only thing I've seen is from the main page. Nothing since

https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon

Race Tournament Finals
You'll play both games, watch the best Path of Exile racers compete, attend talks given by GGG developers and...

[burnt light]

probably email support or community team, not sure if they're the same contact

[odd token]

Just a heads up to the team - Stamford Plaza, listed on https://www.pathofexile.com/exilecon/accommodation, appears to no longer exist - Link directs to https://be.synxis.com/?adult=1&arrive=2023-03-16&chain=21125&child=0&currency=NZD&depart=2023-03-17&hotel=3576&level=hotel&locale=en-GB&rooms=1

Guessing it may have gotten damaged in the floods or something along those lines? either way may want to remove it from the list/look into it.

... and if anyone previously booked that one, hopefully someone kept you in the loop and/or its still a thing 😅

[iron oar]

What are some good day trips out of Auckland the week before? I keep seeing recommendations that seem for warmer months and concerned those won't really work in July. I'm thinking a Waiheke wine tour then maybe some short walks like Te Henga?

[naive jackal]

Waiheke is always good for a visit, has some really nice beach walks as well

Unsure if this has been pointed out before, but July average daytime temp is around 14c which is 58F, and it rains about half of the time, ish. August is about the same

So it's likely to be a little miserable, but can usually be easily combated with a standard umbrella or a raincoat.

[lilac kelp]

looks like it got bought out actually, it's now a Marriott. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/akljw-jw-marriott-auckland/overview/

I'll let the web team know, thank you!

[odd token]

Ahhh fair, that'll do it

[lilac kelp]

I wrote a big thing that may be useful for this a while ago, see <#exilecon message> and my next post below it

Te Henga is lovely, it's actually where my wife and I got married. however, the walkway got completely destroyed by all the horrible weather we've had over the last couple of months. I don't know whether it will be repaired in time, worth keeping an eye on but I wouldn't count on it

[iron oar]

Thank you so much! I did a perfunctory look through the thread and obviously missed your post, apologies. I thought about the storm impact and maybe underestimated it, so that's great info and context.

[lilac kelp]

worth checking official sources for the latest storm damage and repair reports, most places will be fine but it's really anywhere on a hillside or cliff that you might have to double check. here's the Te Henga walkway page to check for example. https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/auckland/places/muriwai-and-te-henga-area/tracks/te-henga-walkway/

[heavy wedge]

I was disappointed to hear that a lot of the Waikatere Ranges park is closed indefinitely due to the storm 😞

[plain fog]

there are only a few roads into the area, and most of them had slips

[heavy pelican]

Friend and i debating to stay in Auckland for 2 weeks or not

Anything worth traveling to for non nature nerds

[teal goblet]

A lot of exiles will show up 2 weeks or so early to socialize. As well as some content creators.

The best part of last exilecon for me was hanging out with other exiles in bars and such

Hoping that this time some GGG peeps might also attend, but that's iffy due to them likely being very busy. Also not sure if GGG has a policy on not doing it.

[lilac kelp]

I'll definitely try to, assuming I have permission to

[naive jackal]

Non-nature nurds might like the Auckland Domain Museum, the Auckland Art Gallery, the Weta Workshops tour at Skycity, Auckland Zoo (or Hamilton Zoo), Motat (Museum of Transport)...

[naive jackal]

Pleez Mr Wilson and Miss Bex, may I go play with the other nurds?

[lilac kelp]

honestly yeah pretty much

[naive jackal]

#exilecon message Up here has some good suggestions

[naive jackal]

||Miss Bex? Mrs Bex?||

[heavy pelican]

Thanks

[teal goblet]

It be cool if GGG could make some kind of commitment to sending someone to hang out at specific times. So people know when to coordinate showing up.

If an announcement came out saying "GGG staff have been told to look out for gatherings with Exiles in the two weeks before Exilecon" no specific guarantee is made, but it gives people something to coordinate around

[heavy pelican]

Unfortunately im arriving on the Thursday 😦

[delicate plover]

yeah more or less same

idr offhand if its the thursday or the friday

[lusty jasper]

when is poe 2 gonna be released

[lilac kelp]

the date hasn't been announced yet. the beta release date will be announced at exilecon!

[crisp tusk]

@naive jackal should i bring my own pillow or do you provide

[naive jackal]

I have spares of regular sized ones, but if you want something special you'll need to bring your own.

[crisp tusk]

heck yea

does the couch come with a what do they call it

something i can stick my sleep apnea machine into

what are those holes in the walls called

[wise nexus]

arcanna providers

[crisp tusk]

yes those

anyone here know is the chat mod maia coming to the con ?

dont wanna ping them incase they busy

[hexed wraith]

@daring crag you going to exilecon?

[crisp tusk]

D:

they could be raiding in osrs

very busy content

[hexed wraith]

But afaik probably not. At least I haven’t heard anything

[crisp tusk]

ah okay thanks yuzu

[hexed wraith]

but let maia confirm/deny ofc

[crisp tusk]

i know how to contact them, ill log in to runescape

[naive jackal]

Lol yes there are power points available in every room in my house. NZ power is Type I, which looks like the below. Typically, each socket will have it's own independent switch. NZ runs on 230/240 Volts, which is 50Hz, so you might need an adapter, converter, or transformer, depending on the device.

[crisp tusk]

okiedokie ill get a adapter for my copium machine

[daring crag]

Sadly not :<
But NZ definitely on the top of the list to visit when I have chance to travel!

And @crisp tusk don't stress about pings lol welcome to whenever you need

You staying by Syn? :o aren't you lucky

[naive jackal]

Yee

Gonna show him my favorite rock.

[daring crag]

Pet rock?

:^)

Got very good friends in NZ, so when I do end up there I will like be crashing by them

Just really need some free time and work been hectic

[heavy wedge]

Exilecon tickets can be acquired and, if you already have one, sold/given to other players, from the upcoming Crucible boss kill event!

https://twitter.com/pathofexile/status/1641522583735775232

Path of Exile (@pathofexile)

Like we've done in the past, we're hosting a boss kill event at the start of the Crucible challenge league! It'll be held in Ruthless Hardcore Solo Self-found, and will require you to kill both the Uber Searing Exarch and the Uber Eater of Worlds.

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 30, 2023, 7:27 PM

[burnt light]

that's gonna be a from me

[heavy pelican]

My hype for exilecon has hit a new low. Sigh 😔

[odd token]

I'm still maximum hyped tbh, really cant understand the madge community atm. To each their own though at the end of the day 👍

[teal goblet]

Yeah I'm not sure I get it either... There's a shitload of buffs in the patch and people are just ignoring them lol

[odd token]

Bit of the ol' hyper fixation combined with herd mentality going on I guess. I've always seen nerfs as a positive thing anyway imo, nothing like a meta shift to keep things interesting.

[heavy pelican]

its more that this league wont be as fun personally

its been worse and worse for awhile. still going to exilecon but ya

[hardy ice]

When all the most picked masteries (in hc at least) get removed, people get worried. Probably just a huge change but I'm still worried

Plus molten shell

[balmy atlas]

It's kinda hard to understand what's going on with the subreddit at times. I saw the trailer/extras, read through the patch notes and kept thinking about all the cool new interactions that could come from redefining what used to be static numbers (e.g. now you can call >90% life Full Life, which opens up blood magic possibilities and many other things) and what may actually be overpowered in the end (wasn't instant life leech taken away for a reason?). And then I check in on the subreddit thinking I'll find other cool interactions I missed and... nope. All drowned out by wailing and gnashing of teeth. Oh, well.

[heavy wedge]

I recommend reading /r/PathOfExileBuilds to see people talking about cool interactions, I saw a lot of that this morning!

[odd token]

I can understand the hesitancy but we HC players are resilient and meta shifts are good, its what keeps poe fresh 🤌 . Also losing player power isn't necessarily a negative thing in overall gameplay experience terms.

Just gotta keep an open mind and try to stay optimistic where possible, specially before we actually get in there next weekend.

[balmy atlas]

Aye, a good suggestion. Also, as of this writing, the subreddit seems a little more balanced now... so kudos to the mods/community for enacting those new guidelines on tone talked about last league. I can dig folks expressing some initial disappointment so long as things are back on topic soon enough. I mainly want to not miss the teasers.

Speaking of back on topic, I'm currently set for 10 days in NZ starting the weekend before Exilecon, though I'm thinking I may want to spend a couple days south before settling in Auckland. Anyone else thinking the same and if so, where specifically are you considering going to and why?

[odd token]

Currently still in the early planning phase but my partner and I are wanting to check out Milford Sound around the weekend prior, looks like it should be a pretty stunning place to experience.

Was also considering a bit of snowboarding but we might not bother with trying to line it up this trip, should be a decent time for it though season wise.

[balmy atlas]

Milford Sound did seem to have good reviews from others I know who have been there.

[lilac kelp]

@balmy atlas yeah if you're doing the south island Milford Sound is wonderful. we did our honeymoon in the winter with an itinerary of Queenstown and surrounds > Te Anau/Doubtful Sound > Milford Sound. no regrets, it was all great. depends exactly how long you're going to do of course. can give more info/advice if there are specific things you're wondering about.

(same for @odd tokenbtw, happy to help!)

[balmy atlas]

Oh, that's right. You're a couple hours ahead. I keep thinking NZ is on the other side of Australia for some reason and I'm wondering why you're up so early. (It's early here in Japan.)

Only one question at the moment, which is if there were any activities in the sound you did which were not boating that you found enjoyable. Having recently visited another sound similar to Milford, I could skip anything cruise-like.

[lilac kelp]

from memory your options are basically cruises, kayaking, walking. we were there a few nights so did all of that. kayaking was faaaantastic but it will depend on your luck with the weather I suspect.

the cruise we did also had a stop at an underwater observatory, which was neat, but obviously just a bonus rather than a reason to make the trip.

[heavy pelican]

oh what is this underwater observatory?

oh i just googled Milford sound. dang thats far south

[lilac kelp]

https://www.milford-sound.co.nz/things-to-do/milford-sound-observatory/

not a very long page but this

[empty lake]

Just found this channel, a lot of great recommendations. Thanks!

[dark wraith]

I still haven't planned anything besides a hotel for the weekend of the con

[heavy pelican]

Man hotels cost so much in Auckland.

[burnt light]

airbnb is much better

[naive jackal]

Personally, travelling around NZ I've found that airbnb vs BookABach vs booking.com vs the hotels themselves? Much less difference in rates these days. it's worth having a look at more than one site, because airbnb isn't the clear winner in some cases.

[burnt light]

I have compared airbnb and hotels, and in the CBD there aren't many hotel options that are competitive on both quality and price

[burnt light]

although maybe I just got lucky with airbnb since it's more hit or miss

[bright hemlock]

yeah idk, i compared everything i could find in the CBD coz i'm getting to Auckland very early as i want to go skiing before Exilecon and there wasn't much difference in terms of the rates tbh

but then again, i blame the women's world cup for inflated rates

[burnt light]

realistically where's the furthest we can go for a day trip

[lilac kelp]

on your own or with a tour?

[burnt light]

our own

[lilac kelp]

personally I wouldn't want to go any further south than Rotorua or further north than Whangarei

[naive jackal]

Both of which are approx 3hrs away

[lilac kelp]

they're both about three hour drives so that's a heavy driving day but still gives you time to actually do something at the end

[burnt light]

Alright, thanks

[bright hemlock]

so i was looking at stuff to do around Mt Ruapehu (going to spend a few days skiing in Whakapapa before the con) and saw there were quite a few trails and falls nearby. Any of them in particular that are must-see?

[heavy wedge]

If anyone missed getting tickets:

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3378464

[hazy hamlet]

Whew got my last-chance ticket

[hexed hill]

I am also happy to get lastmin ticket

[vast abyss]

Question for you all.. I got tickets to ExileCon however I only put my first/last name not my middle name.. Will that be an issue to enter?

[teal goblet]

I would be shocked if they take issue with that

[lost mica]

Just contact them, tehy're nice about it

[vast abyss]

I sent them an email! We'll see what they say.

[lost mica]

Their website was kinda bad and I couldn't buy a ticket with my actual name (Because it contains an hyphen), contacted them and they fixed it

[vast abyss]

Nice! Did you just send them an email?

[lost mica]

Yeah

They just corrected it

[bright hemlock]

you only need the first name and last name that are on the ID you'll show to collect your ticket

if it's a passport, middle name doesn't matter

[naive jackal]

"Oh, you're Sven Olga Svensson? This ticket is for Sven Svensson only. Take a hike."
Yeah I agree with the above - if you think it's a concern, you can email them, but I highly doubt they'll kick you out based on lack of middle name - I didn't put mine in.

[bright hemlock]

wasn't a concern for Exilecon 2019, very very highly doubt it'll be one this July

as others said, if you're worried for any reason just contact GGG support, they're actually super nice people

[heavy pelican]

I don't remember it being that strict.

So I'm staying in Auckland for 12 days. Went to almost everywhere I wanted to see last time in 2019 so need other things to do. Other than zoo, museums, hobbiton, worm caves. I kinda asked this before but had more things throughout NZ but now just wanted around Auckland. Like Food, sightseeing, stores or any experiences. Apparently my friend wants to see some computer store.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 🙂

Btw can do nothing and still be fine. Auckland is a beautiful city and I don't know why locals were saying it was boring. It's a great place. The scenery and people were pretty nice

[naive jackal]

If you don't mind walking, Wynyard Quarter is a nice experience - beautiful walk, nice parks and stuff to see, and some good (but expenny) food places.