Editing QuakeCon (section)

=== 1996–2002 ===
[[File:QuakeCon 1996 - 13.jpg|thumb|Winner Remedy (left) and runner-up Bullyboy (right) at QuakeCon 1996]]
The first event, in August 1996, was held at a conference room of a [[La Quinta Inn]] in [[Garland, Texas|Garland]], Texas. The 1,250 square foot venue hosted around 40 people.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gallagher |first=Danny |date=November 25, 2021 |title=The Story of QuakeCon |url=https://issuu.com/futurepublishing/docs/ret227.issuu |magazine=Retro Gamer |location= |publisher= |access-date= |issue=227}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quakecon.org/about.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816025343/http://www.quakecon.org/about.html|title=QuakeCon 2000 - The World's Best Multiplayer Gaming Event|archive-date=August 16, 2000|publisher=Quakecon.org|access-date=December 20, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Attendees who had brought their computers along to the event set up a small, impromptu network, in one of the hotel meeting rooms, playing mostly ''Quake I'' and ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'', testing deathmatch skills. A small tournament was held, with winners taking home T-shirts as prizes. The highlight of this first gathering came on the eve of the last day, when the entire [[id Software]] team showed up at the event in a surprise and most-welcome visit, stopping by to chat with the participants. [[John D. Carmack|John Carmack]], lead programmer for ''Doom''/''Quake'', participated in a 30–45 min. group chat with attendees on the porch of the hotel.  Some ideas discussed during that chat eventually made it into Quake's future public releases. This "Carmack's Talk" grew into a yearly keynote speech that lasted through 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=QuakeCon 2014 Schedule Has No Carmack Keynote |url=https://www.ausgamers.com/news/read/3454742/quakecon-2014-schedule-has-no-carmack-keynote |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=AusGamers.com |language=en}}</ref>

QuakeCon 1997 brought an estimated 650 attendees to the [[Holiday Inn]] in [[Plano, Texas]]. It was covered by numerous Internet and broadcast media outlets, and was sponsored in part by id Software and Activision.<ref>[https://78.media.tumblr.com/4c24ab648e9cb5fccd4253ec4791f64b/tumblr_n5sc1uFRgX1s3xc9ao1_500.jpg Spring Beans on Tumbir]</ref>

QuakeCon 1998 was held in conjunction with the [[Cyberathlete Professional League]] at [[Infomart]] in Dallas, Texas. Due to poor planning and the lack of people who had helped make the first two events a success, QuakeCon 1998 is regarded by many as being only partially a QuakeCon event. However, it was instrumental in motivating a group of people to start planning QuakeCon 1999 early.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

From 1999 to 2002, QuakeCon took place that the [[Mesquite Convention Center]] in Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quakecon.org/schedule.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991122015831/http://www.quakecon.org/schedule.html |title=QuakeCon 99|archive-date=November 22, 1999 |publisher=Quakecon.org|access-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quakecon.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010515220310/http://www.quakecon.org/|title=QuakeCon 2001 - News|archive-date=May 15, 2001|publisher=Quakecon.org|access-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quakecon.org/archive.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020601142137/http://www.quakecon.org/archive.html|title=QuakeCon 2002 - News Archive|archive-date=June 1, 2002|access-date=December 20, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quakecon.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020802074629/http://www.quakecon.org/|title=QuakeCon 2002 - The World's Premier Multiplayer Gaming Event|archive-date=August 2, 2002|publisher=Quakecon.org|access-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref> The 1999 event was the first event in which [[id Software]] played a major role in the organization. Recognizing that major sponsors were needed, David Miller a.k.a. "Wino" & Paul Horoky a.k.a. "devilseye", both original QuakeCon 1996 people, contacted [[id Software]] and convinced them to become the main sponsor, and to help out with finding more sponsors. Together with Anna Kang (then [[id Software]] employee, now [[John D. Carmack|John Carmack]]'s wife) and a team of volunteers, Mr. Miller & Mr. Horoky set out to build QuakeCon 1999, which became the template for later years.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} A change of venue allowed the convention to grow larger than it had ever been before, and, this time, just down the street from id Software headquarters in Mesquite. id Software employees, including John Carmack, participated in various tournaments with attendees on-site as well. A large number of companies sponsored the event for the first time, including [[Activision]], [[AMD]], [[Apple Computer]], [[ATI Technologies]], [[Logitech]], [[Linksys]], and [[Lucent Technologies]]. QuakeCon 1999 was also the first time Quake 3 was used in competition as the game had not yet been released to the public.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

2002 saw the retirement of John Carney, and Brian Davis assumed stewardship of the event as executive director.  2002 was also the first year id assumed a very active role in the pre-event activities, with the arrival of Marty Stratton a year earlier. Added ''[[Return to Castle Wolfenstein]]'' to the tournament lineup in a Team-based tournament. First unofficial Ms. QuakeCon event, first appearance of Doom III theater, also the first appearance of [[Mister Sinus Theater 3000]] (later known as The Sinus Show, and ultimately Master Pancake Theater), an Austin, Texas-based ''[[MST3K]]'' troupe, lambasting [[Britney Spears]]' movie ''[[Crossroads (2002 film)|Crossroads]]''.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}