At QuakeCon 2011 several community managers were on hand to discuss just what exactly their job entails. Panelists including ex g4ian Abbie Heppe (Respawn), Adam Pyle (id Software), Matt Grandstaff (Bethesda Softworks) Nick Breckon (Bethesda Softworks), and Ryan Schneider (Insomniac) were all on hand for the Community Managers: Un-moderated panel and were able to go in in to what it's like being a community manager and how they take care of their fans. Enjoy the panel in its entirety below.

20 Years of id Software. Has it really been that long? When you remember the glory days of Doom and Quake, it does seem like it's been a long time, but it's hard to believe that it's really been two decades since this iconic company burst onto the scene. At this year's QuakeCon, our own Morgan Webb moderated the "20 Years of id" panel, welcoming John Carmack, Todd Hollenshead, Kevin Cloud, and Tim Willits to the stage to reminisce about working at the company that gave us FPS games spawned from the pits of Hell itself. You can watch the full video below, and check out the highlights beyond the break. 

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UPDATE: As you can see from the above video, the Quakecon Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim video has been taken off YouTube... sorry if you missed it.  But have faith: We'll have a ton of Skyrim content coming up for you in the coming days, so sit tight!

QuakeCon happened last week. Fans braved the Texas heat to check out the latest games from id Software and Bethesda Softworks, including the first-ever public demo of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Don't be sad about missing it though-- that footage is now online.

This is essentially the same demo that the press has been talking about since E3. It picks up at the very start of the game, right after the usual character creation and tutorial sequences. You get to see some nature, some village exploration, a pair of towering giant herding some woolly mammoth-like creatures and, of course, dragons. Plural. Just hit play. Then go read Kevin's hands-on preview.

Source: YouTube

QuakeCon started off with a brand-new Rage trailer, showing off some new details of the game. Then the pony-tailed and country music star-resembling Todd Hollenshead came out to welcome the audience and kick things off. "How's that for a welcome to QuakeCon? What do you think?" To which the crowd thundered their approval through applause.

Todd was quick to thank partner AT&T, who is bringing five times more bandwidth to the Bring Your Own Computer room. This brought some of the loudest applause of the evening, and only at QuakeCon would a crowd break into raucous clapping for a bandwidth announcement. Hollenshead then detailed the massive sales that usually accompany this four day event, which includes 50% off all id iOS games, and a massive Steam sale that culminates in a huge QuakeCon Pack that offers all released id and Bethesda games for $69.99.

Then it was time to bring out the star of the evening, id's John Carmack. Now, before you get too excited, I'm going to burst your bubble right here: he doesn't say anything about Doom 4. He sort of hints about it by saying "We cannot take eight years next time to make our next game. We need to figure out how to do these amazing things faster. Maybe we shouldn't have been quite so ambitious with Rage. Maybe we should have spent some time doing the other things that we know how to do really well." Head on for the full video of the keynote, along with the highlights.

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Todd Howard presented the first ever public preview of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Skyrim Collector's Edition to an extremely raucous crowd at QuakeCon. 

The set includes the game, a making of DVD, a cloth map of the world, an oversized coffee table art book with over 200 pages of art from the game, and a 12" statue of Alduin, the World Eater dragon from the series. "This is coolest collector's edition we've ever made," said Howard.

"We always say that we make the games we want to play. We can also say we create the collector’s editions we’d want to own,” said Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing for Bethesda Softworks. “We all want one of these!”

This extremely limited Collector's Edition will be available at launch for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows, and will retail for $149.99. Head after the break to see the full details.

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QuakeCon 2011 has begun in Dallas, Texas but if you weren't able to make the trip you'll be able to catch all of the action via the QuakeCon Live Stream! You'll be treated to world-class QuakeCon Live coverage. On hand for the tournament will be James “2gd” Harding, Alex “Jehar” Popa, and Steve “GreasedScotsman” Huff providing top quality commentary of the Quake Live tournaments.



The QuakeCon Live Stream will also feature interviews with pro gamers, tournament admins, QuakeCon staff, developers, and more. There will also be exclusive behind-the-scenes videos of the tournament, expo, and BYOC areas.

You won't want to miss the stream, or G4TV.com's coverage of QuakeCon featuring hands on with The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim for the first time, as well as spending a ton of time with Rage, Prey 2 and Dishonored.

The latest trailer for Bethesda's first person shooter RAGE, entitled "Uprising", shows the story of your character's epic journey from Ark survivor to heroic freedom fighter in the Wasteland's fight against the Authority. RAGE will feature fast action, breakneck vehicle combat, and an expansive world for you to discover.

RAGE is coming out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 4, 2011.

What's QuakeCon without a massive sale? Todd Hollenshead welcomed the cheering crowd by announcing that all of their iOS games would be at least 50% during the four day event, and if they reach 100,000 likes on the Rage Facebook page, they'll give away Rage on the iPhone and iPad for free for a week. 

But, the really juicy goods come via Steam, where id and Bethesda will be offering a different sale for the next four days, starting right now. Today, you can purchase the Doom/Quake Complete Pack for $29.99, which includes every Doom and Quake title, all the way up to Quake 4 which was just uploaded to Steam last week. There will be daily specials on everything from The Elder Scrolls to Fallout through Sunday, so check back daily to decide what you want to spend your cash on.

Or, go for the entire QuakeCon Pack which includes every id/Bethesda game for $69.99, a $494.66 dollar value. But, if you pre-order Rage or Skyrim during the show, that pack goes down to $39.99, and if you order both, it's only $29.99. That's like 20 years worth of gaming for $150 bucks. 

QuakeCon 2011 starts today, and G4 is there! Ever since Zenimax acquired id and partnered Bethesda with the iconic developer, the four day gaming celebration now houses a lot of different types of games. While in Dallas (where it's well over 100 degrees every day, yowtch!) we'll be putting our hands on The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim for the first time and telling you all about it, spending a ton of time with Rage, and checking out Prey 2 and Dishonored as well. 

There are also a lot of public panels at QuakeCon, which is free, by the way. So if you're in the Dallas area, come check it out! We'll be hitting the ones below the break, which include a panel about 20 years of id software, moderated by our very own Morgan Webb, and a community manager panel featuring former X-Play mainstay Abbie Heppe (who we miss very much).

Stay tuned to G4tv.com throughout the event and afterwards for news, videos, interviews, previews, and more! We're even planning on braving the massive Bring Your Own Computer room, so if you never hear from me again, have someone check in there.

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