Summoners Fest and Why I quit MCOC
Like many others, I started playing MCOC because a family member got me into it—in my case, my son. He was recovering from cancer, and the game gave us a critical escape from reality, something we could do and play together.
Over the years, MCOC continued to provide that vital escape. My health is poor; a rare degenerative bone disease has left me in constant pain and severely limited my mobility. Chronic pain is isolating, but MCOC has always offered me a lifeline to the outside world. It allowed me to be part of something when being present anywhere else was extremely challenging, thanks to the overwhelmingly safe and supportive community amongst summoners.
I'm a generally average player, one of the thousands who have sunk thousands of dollars into MCOC. I'm no one special. I do my part in my alliance, clear basic content, occasionally run a Gauntlet, and grind Arena for units.
Travel is incredibly challenging for me; it guarantees excessive pain for the entire duration. I have to truly commit to a trip. But when Summoners Fest 2025 was announced, I saw it as a pilgrimage. I knew the immense physical cost, but I believed it would be worth it to nerd out for a couple of days, have some polite conversations, and interact with other human beings in person.
I was thoroughly disappointed by the in-person experience at Summoners Fest 2025—and I don't mean the streaming content. The Kabam employees seemed desperate to avoid making eye contact. In eight hours, I had a grand total of two polite interactions. I saw every Kabam employee dozens of times. Not a single one even acknowledged my existence. Zero smiled and said “hey thanks for coming to summoners fest. I see this as the smallest polite interaction possible. I didn't want to know any secrets or even complain. I walked past Dave and Mike 50 times. Zero times did I get even a welcome smile from either.
Meanwhile, I watched them having large, enthusiastic interactions with other attendees: content creators and brawl contestants. The contrast was stark.
The overall experience was so unfriendly and isolating that I cut my trip short and drove home instead of attending on Sunday. Today, I quit my alliance and deleted the game.
It wasn't a huge crowd; anyone in attendance saw me dozens of times, hobbling around with a friendly smile. This trip carried an immense physical toll, endured purely for connection. A few genuine, polite interactions would have made all the difference.
