RNBD Mega LAN

[[PX]Kal Bob]

Who thinks that a RNBD Mega LAN is a good Idea at this time?

Remember:

Pros:
More People.
More Cash for prizes

Cons:
No Pirated Software.
Higher Costs.
No, asses (figuratively and Lituraly)

Please also post your thought on this. Give reasons for what you say, No "This is a Stupid Idea, because I say so!!!"

Post the Pro's and Con's that you see and I will add them to the List above.

[Heidi18]

Ok i'm looking at this as an outsider of gaming. I believe this mega lan would be good. here are my reasons

Pros: more people meaning when turnys are going on other small games can happen. also with more people you can do two turnys at once.

hopefully there wouldn't be any down time, meaning when everyone is just sitting around trying to get someone else to play a game with them


Cons: the cost (which i think we could all handle any way)

keeping things orderly ( it might get a little out of hand at times)



Yep that's all i could come up with, but i do think it's a good idea.

[[Fallen]TSB]

more clans at a big lan..

[Ghost [PX]]

The pro's are obvious, more people, more games, less trying to organize people, less debate etc...

However, The cons are plentiful.

Setup and takedown time are going to be hell, management and tech support are going to be nasty, organization will be difficult, cost higher (but thats not a major issue in my mind), expectations will be higher...
Anything on a larger scale will require more planning, which wont be a problem, but it will require some people from the group to do alot of management, which means they wont neccesarily be playing many games.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

If you wanna go big, that's fine. However, I won't be fronting the money for it then. Big LAN's almost always lose money on their first endeavour. I'd wanna work on our LAN's now hitting about 40 people before I even considered going for a big one.

We can do a combo if you want. Pimp the summer one out more (ie. on lanparty.com and in the newspaper, etc.). Legit software isn't a problem as long as the cops don't show (which is rare). If ya wanna go pro, we'll have to act pro. Little bugger ups are fine when it's just us, but people who go to big LAN's want everything to be perfect.


EDIT: spelling

[[Fallen]TSB]

I think the idea of a big lan is cool but for this summer i think we should do normal RNBD.. with more people .. get more friends and what not.. fill up the barn.. but besides that i dont think we need anything big for this year.. SMackdown and RNBD will be in the summer what else do we need?? but I do think if we plan out the 2005 BIG one then it could be done right..

[Ghost [PX]]

If we all want to go for a big one, it cant be anytime soon. Like gray suggested, 2005, or 2006 to get all the planning and kinks worked out.

[[PX]Kal Bob]

I agree, with the JEW, lets fill Ghosts Barn first.

[[PX]IronFist]

No Pirated Software.

I don't see why this is a qualification. Smackdown had tons of pirated software, infact we even watched a pirated copy of LOTR on a big projector screen.


As for the vote, I voted no, the lan is best with just us and our friends - although like the rest of you I also think a number like 30 or 40 would be nice to have. It's too bad that those too things can't reconsile.
If we did go mega, how mega were you thinking?

EDIT
I just read the Mega post in Lan Parties. I tend to agree that the Logistics of the operation are more than we can prepare for in the time left, and a change of venue causes all sorts of problems.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Yeah, I'd be more considerate in 2005 or 2006. Homey B and I lost money on the last one. It was only $15 a piece, but still. Cutting off 3rd prize might be a valid option.

[[Fallen]Thumperup]

POST FROM THUMPERUP AND THANATOS

Well now,

for those of us which have attended a big lan IE smackdown you would understand that Pirated software is not an issue, there were police officers at smackdown and it wasn't about the software.

Prizes could be purchased after we get the money people come in someone takes a trip and gets the prizes, none is any wiser.

Don't even rent a hall until we know there are enough people registered. Thus we need the beatdown site working.

Takedown and setup if you don't want to do it then just go to game. I'm willing to do the admin things, and who says no time for games????. Sure you can't enter every single tourney but why do it when you have that many people, the only reason we did in winter was because of lack of people. IE knowing I have no chance winning the WAR3 tourney then I don't enter, but I would go in lets say the Q3

it will take like 1 day before hand to setup, this would include cables bla bla bla, 5 people working on this and it's done in no time.

We can also find small sponsers easy enough

if we do it right I don't see a problem with money or enough help.

Maybe not this year but for sure we have to try it

Thanatos will front the money for the hall

If each person is assigned a small task organization won't be hard

I say attend a big lan before putting cons

[Ghost [PX]]

I have no problems with trying it, but not yet.

We have yet to get a LAN over 30 people to work without a hitch, or a LAN over 30 people period. Start small and work your way up.

Finding sponsors would be nice, but I doubt we could find that many, but it is an idea.

Don't even rent a hall until we know there are enough people registered. Thus we need the beatdown site working.

Halls require deposits, and power is also a concern for every LAN. The building needs to be checked in advance, and the hall has to be informed of whats going on. People may not be able to sleep there overnight, the hall may not be capable of keep that many computers running or the hall may not want that many computers there.

If we do decide to stage a large-scale LAN such as this one, then yes we would get the site working, but there would be alot of planning going on in advance and it wouldnt be for quite some time.

I'm willing to do the admin things

That would require you know linux as well as Bob and that he gives you his Root passwords and extensive knowledge of his config files. I dont see that happening.

and who says no time for games????.

There are more things required in an event of this size than there are in a small LAN. Like Jason said, when people come to a LAN of this scale, they expect flawlessness, which means people running tech support and other jobs. Managing an event of this size is a HUGE undertaking. It could be done in shifts, which would let people game, but it would still be a large commitment.

Now, Im all for a LAN of this scale, but not just yet. Expand slowly and carefully. Fill up the barn and go from there.

[Samurai]

I've never been to a LAN party, but I hope to be at RNBD this summer. After talking to several people about it, I don't think that the LAN is a good idea "at this time." The reasons are:

1) The resources don't seem to be available at the moment for say a 100 person LAN. (I could be wrong, but that's the impression I got.)

2) Also several people have mentioned the fact that the LANs still haven't passed the 30 or 40 person mark.

3) There has to be enough interest generated to get people to come, and that requires not only some form of advertizing (which can be cheap), but also a response that warrants an event on this scale.

4) Manpower is tricky as well, but managable. Some issues brought up were tech support and security. Security shouldn't be too much of a problem (watching for people who are causing trouble, or tresspassing on other's comps) and there have already been several ideas put forth about security. As for technical support, I don't know who all has servers, and the knowledge to work out any major problems, but I got the impression that there were only 2 or 3 people, and even if all 3 take overlapping 16 hour shifts, there's still one person out of the picture. And there's the issue of how much access people get to another person's server(passwords and such that were mentioned earlier).

5) I don't know what you do to take care of viruses, but they could be a problem. Does everybody's computer get scanned? Anyway with 100+ people there could be somebody with malicious intent.

6) Accomodation: The suggestions about using a hotel hall and people having to rent a room automatically bring up the cost.

7) Several people mentioned that there have been glitches in previous LANs. There will have to be a STRICT NO REFUNDS policy (mentioned well in advance, at the initial sign-up) or there will have to be NO PROBLEMS. This is mainly to cover cost of renting a facility and the fact that people will be travelling long distances to have a mega LAN done in a professional way.

There is also the general stupidity factor, which includes: Vandalism (in washrooms, on tables etc. leaving the group to put up the bill for damages), rowdyness (in excess), fighting, practical jokes, genuine stupidity, etc. If you can think of more post it, because there will have to be rules set out before hand to ensure orderly and acceptable behaviour.

Note that I said "at this time" (answering the question in the pole), but future events with proper planning should be fine. Also as I have never been at a LAN I am only going from experience with other large-scale events that I have participated in.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Believe it or not, I have thought about this before. I was thinking of using LDCSS (gym and new addition for plenty of space, I think I could get us a deal, and there's a kitchen). Being in London solves many of the problems.

Buying the prizes after the money is payed is a good idea, but it limits the prizes. We'd either have to drive to London or Toronto to get them (CEC or CC). Again, hosting it in London would solve this problem.

I agree that we need to update the Beatdown site. This will take a bit of time. Hopefully, it could be completed over the summer (though, it does work--the interface just isn't pretty).

If the money is fronted for the hall, I'd be more than willing to try it next year. Heck, then I might chip in.

I'll admit that the biggest LAN I've been to has only been about 50 people. However, I saw the logistics needed to just run that. I'm for trying this--just not now. Also, attending a large LAN and hosting one are 2 very different things.

[[Fallen]Thumperup]

all of your answers can be answered if you go to a big lan

it is not that hard to do what they do.

Smackdown had 0% tech support if someone needed it they announced it and people from the crowd helped them

Volunteers is what made it run.

As far as knowing linux I don't need to everything can be changed ingame. using commands