A longer LAN?

[Penfold]

There was some discussion at the previous LAN about extending the time for LAN XVIII to maximise gaming.

Currently the LAN officially runs from 10am on the Friday until Sunday (when the last person goes)

The end of the LAN is not set on the Sunday but, wildebeest like, when the first person starts to pack up on the Sunday the rest follow suit. This means that realistically the LAN finishes at about noon. Sometimes the hotel wants the room back if they have a lot of lunch orders but in the main they're happy for us to have the suite for as long as we want.

Some members arrive on the Thursday night so they have the full day's gaming on the Friday, others have to work or have other commitments so don't arrive until Friday night.

Historically we haven't organised competitions and games on the Friday as people arrive at different times and people like to catch up with friends they haven't seen for several months or more.

Would there be much interest in arranging games for the Friday or to extend games into the Sunday to encourage people to stay on?

[smilodon]

Frankly by Sunday my old bones have had enough and I can't wait to see the back of you miserable sods. However I think making more of Friday would be a nice idea. I know we discussed running some sort of large scale fun event on the Friday afternoon/evening. Rather than a knock out tournament with several teams it would a be a big Team A v Team B, or maybe a co-op game. Something fun, light weight that players could get stuck into easily.

I remember back in day we had a great laugh playing Battlefield Vietnam, with the dMw taking on a whole horde of Gook NPC's, Ooh-rah! Another game that works well, although I know we don't much like it any more is TF2. Also we could look at some of the CS:S mods like Natural Selection etc. Anything where we can have a big 20 v 20 carve up.

As has been mentioned we can get the discount room rates on Thursday night as well. However I've learnt from bitter experience that getting wasted on Thursday night really killed me for the Friday night. So if people do pitch up on Thursday it might be an idea to take it easy that night at the bar

[Penfold]

I presume the hotel will be happy to extend the 1/2 price room rate to the Thursday but would need to check.

Actually - Ninja, you've stayed at the OC before on a Thursday night as has GM and others. Did you get the reduced rate on the Thurs night as well? I'd be surprised if you didn't but it would be good to confirm.

I agree with you Smilo about Sunday being worse than Friday. With people's long travel times it's going to less popular than organising something on the Friday.

I'm happy to play something again like BF Vietnam so long as Frenzy and Liberator are not allowed to fly :ranting2: :flirty:

[Luminance]

I presume the hotel will be happy to extend the 1/2 price room rate to the Thursday but would need to check.

Yes they will happily extend it. I would have had it for 33 pounds, if albert would have joined me on thursday too. So I payed 50 pounds for a single, so thats still the reduced rate

Coming on Thursday late afternoon, certainly has his advantages, LAN seemed less hushed to me.
Maybe we could do 1 tournament at lets say 9 or 10 pm on friday, that would give us an hour (and a half) extra on saterday.

[smilodon]

I can confirm that when I stayed on Thursday night before I also got the discount room rate.

[GhostMjr]

Firstly if you have any ideas with games please jump in the games for lan's thread over in gaming development and secondly this sounds great!

We all need to think of ways to make the lan more value for money.

How do we do that?

Well theres a whole bunch of people who come to the lan some to game some mainly to drink.

I honestly think the next lan could be dry for new games thats why i have made the call for games thread.

What we can however provide is a fun friday night session of oldskool classics.

Visiting games as it were.

Providing Whitey agrees we could go for mix of cs 1.6 which we all have, dod and even some hl1 deathmatch.

We also need to think about prizes gadgets maybe or small trophies which are relatively cheap for members to joke about winning a small globe or something like that.

In all we all love the lan it doesn't have to change much we just have to better use the time with what we have.

Thursday is a great day for longer travellers a commute from work or half day off meaning a 2-3pm set off will get you there in time for a quick swim and beer before going to bed without the stress of being late for the lan and does come at the discounted rate, well when laura was there anyway.

[delanvital]

Frankly by Sunday my old bones have had enough and I can't wait to see the back of you miserable sods. However I think making more of Friday would be a nice idea.

:withstupid:

[JulzPolz]

Personally, I like the idea of an extended Sunday, given we are all already there and have paid for the saturday night; it would cost no more and we already have the room setup anyways. I could stay on a sunday until 8PM and effectively this would give me a further 8-9 hours gaming at no extra cost. Ok, i would get back home at around 10PM at night, but there would be less traffic on the roads and im happy to arrive at that time.

Opposing this, starting the LAN on the thursday evening would mean that it would cost more for a further nights stay at the hotel and would mean that some would have to leave work earlier on the thursday to really gain the extra time (and hit rush hour). In best case I could leave my house at 7PM and arrive at around 9PM. If i then set up my computer then i might get 2-3 hours more gaming.

In summary, it seems that extending to thurs would cost more and gain less hours; whereas extending to sunday would be cheaper and gain more hours of gaming. All in all, I like the sound of an extended LAN, but one which would effectively cost similar and gain more use of the weekend time. I think extending to later on Sunday is a perfect fit for this.

I already arrive at around 10AM on the friday and so I think that the friday is already extended as much as possible for me.

I am pretty sure that the 4 others that come with me and GM (Absolutehype, Chronos, Norton, Jay) would also be up for an extended Sunday and have simular feeling to me, although i will encourage them to come on here and post their views.

:taz:

[Gone_Away]

I think we struggle enough to have a full lan. I doubt the extra day would fly. I like JulzPolz idea of an extended Sunday but for the majority of us I think that would be difficult.

The reality is that most folks have "things to do" before Monday and also family commitments. It's fine for you and your crew Julz as you're reasonably close but not sure how many others would consider it.

I am one of those that arrive on the Thursday night. I wonder if it would be possible to secure the banquet room on the Thursday night and start the lan that evening. The bar takings could be increased.. Perhaps even some covers would be sold..

Just a thought!

[Tutonic]

I think we struggle enough to have a full lan. I doubt the extra day would fly. I like JulzPolz idea of an extended Sunday but for the majority of us I think that would be difficult.

The reality is that most folks have "things to do" before Monday and also family commitments. It's fine for you and your crew Julz as you're reasonably close but not sure how many others would consider it.

I am one of those that arrive on the Thursday night. I wonder if it would be possible to secure the banquet room on the Thursday night and start the lan that evening. The bar takings could be increased.. Perhaps even some covers would be sold..

Just a thought!

I'm with Ninja on this one - I think most people will need to get home at a decent hour on Sunday, which pretty much rules out staying past lunchtime for alot of us.

I think the solution is to encourage more people to show up on Thursday evening, and get the LAN room set up and rocking that night.

[Benny]

It's an interesting one this. Personally getting extra time would be a pain for me. Frankly getting away with it twice a year is difficult.

For those with families, getting back on Sunday is pretty important. Arriving on Thursday night is a possible. I'd hazard a guess that the older contingent would prefer the Thursday night option, the younger preferring the longer Sunday.

My personal preference is just as it is. Long enough to have a good time, not long enough to get bored.

[smilodon]

Do both.

Promote Thursday night and remind people that LAN rates apply for that night as well, for those who want to come early.

See if we can get a server up either that night or first thing Friday morning.

Run some kind of light, fun but organised game on Friday afternoon/evening.

Confirm with the Hotel what our end time for the LAN room is. Try to keep servers up until later on Sunday for those who want to stay.

Maybe stick around for Sunday Lunch?

[DuVeL]

I think we struggle enough to have a full lan. I doubt the extra day would fly. I like JulzPolz idea of an extended Sunday but for the majority of us I think that would be difficult.
 
The reality is that most folks have "things to do" before Monday and also family commitments. It's fine for you and your crew Julz as you're reasonably close but not sure how many others would consider it.

Things to do before Monday is usually catch the afternoon's plane on Sunday as the last plane back has given me numerous problems the last time I did. There are also other people coming from far by car so I reckon they think the same way.
 
The Friday as a total day would be a great one in my opinion and I wouldn't mind being in the UK a day earlier for it (another English breakfast :woot2:).
 
And BF:Vietnam? That was awesome, driving/flying while having music on!
Now I just need to get back my CD's from King or da_Ricci...

[Gone_Away]

Just a follow up.. Did we get anywhere with the ideas proposed on this thread? What would the possibility of a Thursday night start be?

NF

[Blunt]

IMHO a Thursday night start would be good for some folks.
They would be a little less excitable on Friday when most normal people arrive