While it makes sense that a fan art of a Cullenite group shot would be too much work, I'm loving the picture collage idea! I probably won't send an actual photo of myself, just my BSN avatar, cause I don't know how I feel about my actual face being eaten. X)
As for print cakes being shitty, it depends on the bakery. I've seen some awful ones and some great ones, it depends on who does it. Don't want a shitty printed cake? Don't go to a shitty bakery, lol.
If they can print some fan art and use it to decorate the cake, that would be a great idea. It's not like we are having a wedding, that's true, we don't need a cake to impress the aunts. We need a cake that looks good, tastes nicely, and is big enough for everyone
I don't know if I can manage another fan art in time, it's better if we don't rely on my, because my life is very unpredictable thanks to my job.
I'm sure I can make somethng like this again:
But making a picture with all Cullenites? That would be really difficult for a lot of reasons. First of all, we all won't fit into one shot, or we will be so tiny that they won't see our faces. Second, BioWare people will have no idea who the hell are those chibi-faces, lol. And third, I don't want to be eaten
There are also matters of design, because I would have to design everyone's character, and that's a LOT of work, I don't have that much time even now, when I'm on my vacation.
I will have even less time in 2 weeks, when I return to work.
So if we want to decorate a cake with a Cullen, we should probably pick one big decent image (or make a suitable fan art) of him, and have it printed on top of our cake. The sides of the cake can be decorated with swords of mercy.
Now this kind of leads to another problem: I don't really like printed cakes
This would look great on a cake. Just sayin'.
There is another reason why I don't like the idea of sending our pictures/photos/avatars - it's like we are showing off ourselves. We shift the focus from "thank you" to "look at how awesome we are". And I don't want Cullenites who missed this or couldn't participate for various reasons to be left out. I would prefer if we represented the whole group. It would also make it look like there are more of us than it really is!
And if we send a card, it would be better to sign it as #Cullenites, IMHO.
I'm not sure we can afford 3 big cakes. We still have no info on the prices. So I think it's better to count on one for now. Plus cookies. How many people are there on the team? 100? More? Does anyone know? We could try to calculate the size of the cake based on that.
Yes, I think getting prices first is the best way to go, although I do think 2 cakes might be a good idea depending on the size of the team. Even if we get one cake maybe we could get 2 different flavors?
The figurines are 100% edible particularly if you don't value your teeth and have a high tolerance to sugar sweats.
In short you can eat them, they may kill you but you can eat them. 
Ok, so I'm going to put my vote up for a cake.
I think we should go with a large standard shape (or even heart shaped?) cake covered in a pleasing colour fondant (maybe red if we go for a heart) with Chibi versions of the companions on the top and a big message written on a chocolate sheet (see the mickey mouse cake raised happy birthday pic) that says something along the lines of
Thank-you Bioware for the characters we've fallen in love with. Yours appreciately The Cullen Thread.
PS - I just hate sugar printed cakes. I don't know why I just find them tacky. It's a personal thing though and if that's what everyone else wants, I'll support them. I would rather pay more and get something else though.
Edit - a fan art sugar printed cake is different though because of the value of someone having taken the trouble to create the image. It's not as 'cute' as little edible companions but it is entirely appropriate and probably much, much cheaper.
There is another reason why I don't like the idea of sending our pictures/photos/avatars - it's like we are showing off ourselves. We shift the focus from "thank you" to "look at how awesome we are". And I don't want Cullenites who missed this or couldn't participate for various reasons to be left out. I would prefer if we represented the whole group. It would also make it look like there are more of us than it really is!
And if we send a card, it would be better to sign it as #Cullenites, IMHO.
I'm not sure we can afford 3 big cakes. We still have no info on the prices. So I think it's better to count on one for now. Plus cookies. How many people are there on the team? 100? More? Does anyone know? We could try to calculate the size of the cake based on that.
Good points. I hadn't thought about the bolded part to be honest and I wouldn't want that anybody thinks we are attention seekers. And sure thing - we sign with "The Cullenites" or "The Cullen thread" (even if we had send pictures. I took that for granted somehow).
I believe Allan said the team is "100 + ". And the 250 cupcakes that the team got before were all eaten.
Yes, I think getting prices first is the best way to go, although I do think 2 cakes might be a good idea depending on the size of the team. Even if we get one cake maybe we could get 2 different flavors?
Yes, I think it's best to wait for the prices.
Okay, I just did a random Google search and found these website: Cakes By Kim and Cake Avenue. They were the first websites that popped up and I am only pointing them out because they have a price list. This is just Caja, doing some brainstorming to see what kind of costs could await us because I have never ordered a whole cake from a bakery before.
For instance, Kim offers small edible figurines and they start at 5 $ per character. We have 9 companions and 3 advisors = 12 characters (if we want to do a cake with all characters on it.) Would be 60 Dollar. Apparently you pay for the size of the cake as well as for the layers. Cake Avenue offers a single tiered cake (8 inch - 20 cm) for 200 Dollars. Kim offers a single cake (8 inch = 15 servings) for 120 Dollar (starting point).
If we are 27 people who want to contribute and if each of us would give 15 Dollars we had about 400 Dollars. So I guess we could decide if we want two smaller cakes or one bigger one but I don't believe that we could get three cakes out of it (and forget anything sculpted. LOL)
I am looking forward to hearing from Candace.
Good points. I hadn't thought about the bolded part to be honest and I wouldn't want that anybody thinks we are attention seekers. And sure thing - we sign with "The Cullenites" or "The Cullen thread" (even if we had send pictures. I took that for granted somehow).
I believe Allan said the team is "100 + ". And the 250 cupcakes that the team got before were all eaten.
Yes, I think it's best to wait for the prices.
Okay, I just did a random Google search and found these website: Cakes By Kim and Cake Avenue. They were the first websites that popped up and I am only pointing them out because they have a price list. This is just Caja, doing some brainstorming to see what kind of costs could await us because I have never ordered a whole cake from a bakery before.
For instance, Kim offers small edible figurines and they start at 5 $ per character. We have 9 companions and 3 advisors = 12 characters (if we want to do a cake with all characters on it.) Would be 60 Dollar. Apparently you pay for the size of the cake as well as for the layers. Cake Avenue offers a single tiered cake (8 inch - 20 cm) for 200 Dollars. Kim offers a single cake (8 inch = 15 servings) for 120 Dollar (starting point).
If we are 27 people who want to contribute and if each of us would give 15 Dollars we had about 400 Dollars. So I guess we could decide if we want two smaller cakes or one bigger one but I don't believe that we could get three cakes out of it (and forget anything sculpted. LOL)
I am looking forward to hearing from Candace.
Let's not forget additional costs besides the cakes themselves; tax, shipping, etc.
Anyway, we need to find out how big they can make a cake, and what will be cheaper - one huge cake, or two big cakes. Maybe we shouldn't aim to feed everybody with the cake, especially if we add cookies, then maybe it's better to order one 5 kg cake and cookies? Candace site says it's 7 dollars per serving for a cake, so that would be 700 for 100 people, that would be 26 dollars from each Cullenite, and we know that not everyone can afford that. Plus cookies and delivery. I don't know how much the cookies would cost, but if we want to decorate them with sword's of mercy, that would be 100 dollars for just decorations. So I guess to feed everyone we need at least 1000 dollars, right? 37 per Cullenite. Then there is a chance 350-400 dollars will be enough, that's 15 per Cullenite. Some of us can spare less, but some can chip in more, and it will probably cover that.
I'm pretty happy to go with the majority but Gala seems to have it pretty spot on with how I feel.
Hopefully Boom will hear back soon that we can get those estimates etc
^^ I think that Boom has already contacted Candace.
Hey guys, I never ended up emailing Candace because I was waiting for DragonRacer to give her a heads up about us. Now that is done I will be able to get quotes.
About to send the email now so should have everything we need some time tomorrow.
Also, Allan said that the team was "well north of 100" but we are not looking to feed then until they are full, it's more of like an afternoon treat kind of thing for them to have with their coffee/tea.
Edit: I like the idea of having all of the companions but having Cullen center stage maybe?
Sorry, I just want to add that the $7 per serving was for wedding cakes, not standard cakes
Ok, can't wait to see what they can offer
Ok, can't wait to see what they can offer
Yes, I like the idea of Cullen being front and center for the cake. If we can't afford each figurine I think just having Cullen being okay--the thank you is for the entire team, but it's only natural that Cullen would feature prominently on cake ordered from Cullen fans 
As long as the card/letter expresses our love for all that the entire staff Bioware does to make the game I think they will appreciate it no matter what.
My preference on the cake:
I think the whole team loves coffee, and wasn't there some sort of coffee-flavored cupcakes from the Fem Inquisitor thread? I'd love to see that for the cake flavor. If not, I happen to love chocolate, and if I were getting a cake, I'd want it to be chocolate.
My next preference is cake decoration:
We're the Cullen thread... I thought we were saying thank you for Cullen in particular? Did things get changed? If we're saying thank you for Cullen, then I'd like to see a simple artwork of Cullen in his Inquisition armor, and the cake decorated with it in icing or marzipan, whatever the cake maker uses.
If we're doing a generic thank you cake, I think the Inquisitor's helm is a great idea.
About Caja's idea:
That's a neat idea, but I don't like sticking my face on things... I'm very personal and private. What if we did our Forum avatars, instead?
I think that Allan suggested that we thank everyone for the game as well as Cullen.
If there was no game, there's no Cullen.
I would prefer a chocolate cake. With so many people working for Bioware there's bound to be one or few who don't enjoy coffee cake. But that's my bias because I dislike/hate coffee in all forms including the smell lol
@ Chanda:
I'm just dropping in to clarify something. First of all, it was Nimlowyns' neat idea with a group picture of us on the cake. I have to give credit to whom it belongs .
Secondly, the original idea was to have a cartoonish picture of us that represents us all, so your real face would not have been on the cake anyway. However, we would need an artist to do the drawing and Gala has pointed out how much work it is. I think we abandoned this idea afterwards (at least that's what I understood). Thirdly, this was the reason why I suggested to send a collage of "real" pictures of us with the thank you letter. At this point Gala explained something that I hadn't thought about before:
There is another reason why I don't like the idea of sending our pictures/photos/avatars - it's like we are showing off ourselves. We shift the focus from "thank you" to "look at how awesome we are". [...]
I think this is a vey good point and it made me change my mind. Personally, I would prefere if we don't include any pictures of us at all now.
I don't mean to be rude but English isn't my first language, so I'm kind of worried that I did not make myself clear enough before and therefore this clarification .
About the design: We haven't decided anything yet because we are still waiting for a price list to see what we can afford. Sure thing, we want to say thank you for Cullen but we want to say thank you for the game as a whole as well. As for me, I feel a bit uneasy if the focus on Cullen would be too big. It's such a big team and so many people are working on different aspects of the game. I wouldn't want that anybody feels left out.
*snip*
About the design: We haven't decided anything yet because we are still waiting for a price list to see what we can afford. Sure thing, we want to say thank you for Cullen but we want to say thank you for the game as a whole as well. As for me, I feel a bit uneasy if the focus on Cullen would be too big. It's such a big team and so many people are working on different aspects of the game. I wouldn't want that anybody feels left out.
I very much agree with this. It is okay to show appreciation for Cullen but I think we're all looking forward to the game as a whole, and a *lot* more people are involved than just those who worked on Cullen. We love not just Cullen but Dragon Age and we don't want to leave those awesome people out. I want to show my appreciation for everyone who made this game possible, even those who answer the phones and sort the mail.
@Caja, I see! No worries. I sometimes have to skim because I don't have a lot of time to read before I put in my 2 cents, but I agree with what you're saying.
Okay, so if the shift is to thank everyone for the entire game, what about the idea of making a cake that looks like the Inquisitor's Helmet? The iconic helmet. That would look pretty cool.
This one, in case I'm losing it:
With the blood spatters and everything (Well, not the hands...) The blood could be rasberry jelly!
Just dropping in to let everyone know that I haven't got an email back yet but they are closed Sunday/Monday so hoping to get one tomorrow
Thanks for the update!
Well, after the announcement today, I get the feeling that this cake is even more "important" than before to offer our moral support .
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