While it's still fresh in your minds let's hear your views on the way LAN VI was run. Was the game selection OK? Were there too few organised sessions? In other words ... what worked, what didn't and what should we consider next time round?
Fire away me hearties :) and please be frank and honest. Without quality feedback we cannot hope to make LAN VII the best LAN since the last best LAN. ;)
Well I enjoyed it! :P
Though a few more organised games might be more fun.
How about a last man standing free-for-all in UT2K4? :blink:
A shotguns and pistols only game?
I did find that the teams were a bit unevenly matched. Might be worth spreading the talent about a bit? :whistle:
It was bad for me, due to being sat at home while you lot were all off enjoying yourselves, hopefully I can come along to the next one & make up for it.
1. I can't make any comments about the somewhat uneven teams for the CS tourney as I was on the Wooden Spoon Squad any it would just sound like sour grapes ;) Although I will chip in with a comment that it's impossible to be able to split teams table by table, so that squads never get their voice comms compromised. Therefore it's just as fine to make teams up based on skill rather than geographic location. On the other hand it's all a good laugh so who cares. :D
2. The winning team didn't seem to get a prize this time? :huh:
3. Leeching is still mucking up some peoples ability to play during the day :angry:
4. Setting up and configuring on Friday is still a bit disorganised. I didn't get to the LAN till late. I spent most of the time up to dinner setting my own system up, so although I was supposed to be helping with games etc. I don't think I helped set anyone up bar Chimpy. Maybe the LAN admining need to be a bit more organised? Get set up early and then make sure everyone else is sorted. It worked out OK in the end but it did seem like some people were a bit at sea on Friday afternoon and could have done with a bit more help.
5. We ran some unofficial games, mainly Battlefront. As it wasn't a planned game quite a few people didn't have it on their system. I noticed a few people who were looking a bit bored while everyone else was playing. The odd bash at a new game is one thing but Battlefront was played for hours on Saturday and Sunday morning. Then again maybe the Game Admins should have spotted it before hand and made it official in place of BFV?
6. While it's hard to know who is actually going to turn up on the day, having a the CS tourney pre-planned would be an idea. The forum info was a real clever idea and maybe having tourney start times and teams planned before we leave for the LAN would be better still?
7. At least one more tourney would be an idea. maybe CS split over two sessions Sat am and Sat pm and another game (LFS, UT etc etc) on Sunday morning?
That being said these are all minor points and some are little more than personal opinion. They'd only tighten up what is already a pretty professional event :)
For my money the LAN was a success. I did learn however not to go at the beer hammer and tongs from the off! I may have missed it, but was there a survey of games to play in the forum¿ (foreign keyboard, posting from Valencia) Battlefront came from nowhere! But hey, the whole idea, for me anyway, is to get together with the guys. I mean, it´s not as if we don´t get enough gaming at home!
My 2 cents.
I thought it went really well. and compared to the other LAN I attended, it was in a another league. Loved the new venue. Loved the fact dinner took as long as you liked and didn't stop gaming. and loved that we could play as late as we wanted. had no probs setting up, but Ron and i got there (and the bar) for 11. which didn't help Ron's nasty drink habit :)
If i had to moan about anything. would be the tournament. My team was great and the fact we were all on the same table meant we had a real good laugh. but on the Saturday we had three matches in a row, which i found to much, and if it had not for smite giving me a kick. i would have stayed in the bar for the 3 match. I did enjoy the game in the end. but would have enjoyed the thought of it a bit more with an hour or twos break first.
As for more tournaments. for me they would have to be a sign up affair, as I would not be interested in an Unreal Tournament tournament. but would like battlefields one and would be a may be as far as a 2v2 cs goes
so big thumbs up and see you at the next one
it succed , ninja freak swearing away in that foreign language AGAIN, big wafts of doobie smelling odour coming from the hippy freaks in the corner, sheepy slurping his 4th pint before he even setup the bloody computer, not winning any games or money off you tight northern gitz...........AND............changing the bloody date and venue SO I COULDN'T COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVEN THO I WAS IN THE COUNTRY .
But it sounded good tho
Rad - here in 1960's New Zealand...........where sheep have more rights than racially discriminent foreign minorities?/ :-)
I counted to 47 to make this all better...
I think, there should have been a little more organising on the game front, there seemed to be random games popping up, and getting everyone into anythin in particular was difficult. Having said that, I don't enjoy huge CS fests, much prefer about 7 on 7.
Maybe a whiteboard with what games are currently running, making sure the servers are running them so people don't have to run there own?
In my humbley skint opinion the hotel was expensive and lacked the charm of the mucking in at the Griffin. The organisation and setup by the time I got there was however impressive.
Although the size of the party dictates the requirement, I think the numbers involved here made this a bit of a transition LAN. It was a little disjointed but not opresively so, I think the more relaxed nature of the Saturday night was better than it would have been if everyone had tried to go to the Chinese for example.
The meal in the hotel gave me the tom tits, but that might just be me, I'm not a big fan of a three course meal. although the Doorman/Armitage sideshow ensured our meals had some extra 'flavour' ;)
I'll mention the compo as no-one else has. I don't think I've had as much of a laugh as I did. The table-teams worked well and improved the cameraderie. BUT there was some dire cheating going on, deadmen talking? well, deadmen leaning over, advising giving tactics and generally advising of the whereabouts morelike, easily fixed with a blank screen on death. And I (and I speak for the shrinking violets) don't quite understand how rows of teams turned into circles in the middle....sour grapes? Yes Frenzy is too good. Burn him he's a witch, but as Smilo said the teams weren't fair, ours was blessed with three good players and me and Ron as well. Having said that, like I said, I spent the entire match laughing, although chastised for language (and rightly so, but I struggle to differentiate between a screen name and the enjoyment of a certain bridget video which was apparent. (off line if the admins want to PM me I'm happy to not bring the server and perhaps be less encouraging of the questionable content in future?)
All the negatives said, I did enjoy it, it wasn't the same as the previous 2, but as I said I see it as a transition from one form of 'mates round your house LAN' to a more organised event.
The planning was smooth and there were no stumbling blocks. CS ran well, everyone seemed to have a laugh, it was nice to put names to faces.
And as a final note, this is not a negative post, it is feedback, I don't expect everyone to agree or disagree, so please don't take it as a moan. I'll even insert an obligatory smiley to make sure we are all still friends <_<
No, get back the the seriously forum. Someone must have watched the power of nightmares now....SMILO, hurry up!
I agree with all that benny said .............except the teams, i had the best Laugh with our team we may not have won but we certainly laughed the loudest.
I didn't enjoy this LAN as much as any previous.
Good points:
The Venue was excellent - Nice room .. Nice Bedrooms.
The Organisation - Servers .. Switches .. Broadband Access.
Air Conditioning.
Room locking (or not) time.
Kebab/Pizza shop on the corner
Bad points:
Matches - To close together .. and only on CS
The Hotel Food (breakfast and dinner) - Not nice .. Little Choice
Remembering the average age group of people attending the LAN (35)
Same Games (yes i know i was a game admin but there are just no decent games out atm ... And everyone already knows that im bored of CS :angry: )
Expensive Beer/Alcohol.
Expensive Beer/Alcohol.
Expensive Beer/Alcohol.
I am giving the next LAN a break so i can appreciate the one after :D
I am also having abreak from any gaming atm
Here are some smileys
:devil: :dribble: :dummy: :woot2: :woot2: :woot2: :woot2: :woot2: :woot2:
Excellent feedback Chaps. Much appreciated.
It interesting seeing everyone's reply and how some find things good and bad -
The good points:[/i][/u]
Venue
We liked the hotel - not the most aesthetic I grant you but hard to beat from a practical point of view.
The room itself was fine for gaming (except for bloody DA messin' with the air con constantly :P )
The food was not half bad - ok not the most varied of menues but for £13.50 ?. We've eaten a lot worse for a lot more money. The breakfast was excellent and the £2 for room service aka breakfast in best was the best £2 I spent that w/e
The swimming pool and jacuzzi and steam room were a nice distraction and great for de-toxing.
The bar was not overly expensive - about the same as pub prices I guess.
It was also good of them to leave the bar open until 4am.
LAN
Excellently organised
lots of friendly willing people to help the noobs (i.e. me)
the games - especially fun to try out games which I would never have thought I'd like - such a Star Wars. That's on the Xmas list.
The people
The bad points:[/I][/U]
I can see how some got blindsided by Stars Wars making such a strong appearance and how other 'official' games got sidelined as a result. Wouldn't have been too much fun if you didn't fancy it.
I'm sorry that Sheepy could only sell his wine by the 12 bottle case-load. I really fancied some of that white Rioja but couldn't do the full 12-bottles.
I enjoyed the CS tourney. Perhaps we should have started earlier ergo finished earlier as some had to dash off on Sun morning.
All in all I'd give it the thumbs up :D
PEN
My Thoughts:
Venue - Much better.. Have you guys forgotten the power failures at the Griff everytime someone would plug in?
Food - Not bad.. Would prefer to have one meal outside of the hotel.
LAN Itself - Brilliant! Ability to get outside was essential for some (including me) that need the latest steam update - Easy as punch to get setup and rock and roll.
Gaming - I agree that more organisation on this is required. I like Benny's comments on CS (server limit, run more servers). On the supported games list, what I think we should have is Servers running the Supported Games. Makes it far easier to play. Also, Perhaps we should have set times when compettitions on the supported games are running. Like a BF VN compettition where winners buy the losers a beer or summit.
Liked the Forum - Let's use it for signup for tournies / compettitions next time.
Leeching - I didn't experience any problems with this. But I always have a second PC. Didnt' slow my gaming down a bit.
Liked the table teams but agree on the Black Screen idea of Benny's. Also Burn Frenzy Burn
See you at the next one.
NF
It occurs to me that the game Admins (those who finalise the game selection and get them running on test servers before the LAN) suffered badly when the Forum went down right at our busiest time . The forum was our main form of communications. I think this had an adverse effect on our readiness for the LAN with regard to getting the games selection sorted.
Add to that the fact that there aren't any decent new multiplayers out at the moment. Therefore we felt it best to be safe rather than sorry with the game selection. So we ran two older games, we knew were liked from the last LAN, rather that pick two new games like Joint Ops or Battlefront, which hadn't established themselves as quality multiplayer games.
IMHO :)