There was a time when Bill Clinton was president of the USA, Enemy Territory was a distant idea and the Euro was not a currency yet. In this time, people used to grab their computer, put it somewhere else and play. It didn't matter if there were five, fifty or five hundred people there. To go to a LAN meant to play against humans for a whole weekend without telecommunication companies sending you bills that cost half of Andorra's gross national product, it meant getting together to do something parents frowned upon and politicians were trying to ban.
LANs have suffered in recent years. Broadband Internet, flatrates, World of WarCraft - there are many reasons to stay at home, to not pay money to go somewhere where showers are rare and sleep is too. There are many who have quit hosting these events, but there are those who have stayed and adapted.
One of these events is the Enlarged LAN. Taking place every year in a small town called Alsfeld, it is mainly popular amongst Germans. Sure, it has had its share of disappointments, the biggest one being the significantly smaller amount of signups this year. ET players have come though, some more often, some only once, but they have showed up and played. You can win some hardware, but it's not the important part. What's important is that you meet fellow ET players, drink with them, eat with them and stare at the strippers they've booked for the LAN. There's fun competitions with bobby cars, karaoke contests, happy hours at the bar, food delivery service and almost everything you can think of that makes a weekend a good experience.
When we cross the border, there's CDC. Starting out as a small ET get-together in the middle of Rotterdam, it evolved into a large tournament involving a variety of games. The latest buzz says the fifth edition is going to be bigger and it's going to feature competition for games like Counter-Strike.
The question is - is that what's needed? The previous CDC episodes have been very competitive and memorable, but there have been downsides to the fun. Food and drinks were expensive, supermarkets far away, few things to do when you were not playing. Had I gone to CDC with the same expectations I had for Enlarged, they would not have been fulfilled although there were events like the Poker tournament. There is no reason to blame the organisation here as clearly CDC had a different focus, but I am asking myself it the ET community wouldn't be very happy if there was a tournament every once in a while they could go to even if they were not playing just because they knew it was a great way to meet ET players and enjoy your time with them. Let's face it - the prize money for the ET tournament has been refinanced by the signup fees since CDC 2, but since you were getting a free PC to play on for a whole weekend, it was a good deal. What it shows though is that ET players, unlike the CS community, are not expecting to get a good financial deal by signing up. CoD4 on the other hand is more and more evolving into a "regular" eSports game where teams only sign up if the prize money is right and sponsor exposure is sufficient.
So what if CDC was to become even more of an ET community event - a tournament where you'd go either to play or to meet people, but where there are lots of additional events to keep you entertained and where you're sure to get food and drinks at good prices. Even more - would you be willing to pay an entrance fee even as a spectator? Can Enlarged be a LAN to remember when you're thinking about upcoming CDCs?
LANs have suffered in recent years. Broadband Internet, flatrates, World of WarCraft - there are many reasons to stay at home, to not pay money to go somewhere where showers are rare and sleep is too. There are many who have quit hosting these events, but there are those who have stayed and adapted.
One of these events is the Enlarged LAN. Taking place every year in a small town called Alsfeld, it is mainly popular amongst Germans. Sure, it has had its share of disappointments, the biggest one being the significantly smaller amount of signups this year. ET players have come though, some more often, some only once, but they have showed up and played. You can win some hardware, but it's not the important part. What's important is that you meet fellow ET players, drink with them, eat with them and stare at the strippers they've booked for the LAN. There's fun competitions with bobby cars, karaoke contests, happy hours at the bar, food delivery service and almost everything you can think of that makes a weekend a good experience.
When we cross the border, there's CDC. Starting out as a small ET get-together in the middle of Rotterdam, it evolved into a large tournament involving a variety of games. The latest buzz says the fifth edition is going to be bigger and it's going to feature competition for games like Counter-Strike.
The question is - is that what's needed? The previous CDC episodes have been very competitive and memorable, but there have been downsides to the fun. Food and drinks were expensive, supermarkets far away, few things to do when you were not playing. Had I gone to CDC with the same expectations I had for Enlarged, they would not have been fulfilled although there were events like the Poker tournament. There is no reason to blame the organisation here as clearly CDC had a different focus, but I am asking myself it the ET community wouldn't be very happy if there was a tournament every once in a while they could go to even if they were not playing just because they knew it was a great way to meet ET players and enjoy your time with them. Let's face it - the prize money for the ET tournament has been refinanced by the signup fees since CDC 2, but since you were getting a free PC to play on for a whole weekend, it was a good deal. What it shows though is that ET players, unlike the CS community, are not expecting to get a good financial deal by signing up. CoD4 on the other hand is more and more evolving into a "regular" eSports game where teams only sign up if the prize money is right and sponsor exposure is sufficient.
So what if CDC was to become even more of an ET community event - a tournament where you'd go either to play or to meet people, but where there are lots of additional events to keep you entertained and where you're sure to get food and drinks at good prices. Even more - would you be willing to pay an entrance fee even as a spectator? Can Enlarged be a LAN to remember when you're thinking about upcoming CDCs?
- prize money doesn't have to be really good /care about it
- CDC is about meeting people mostly too
fair enough if it was some side thing late at night but not as like some major attraction :x
Where did I generalise any lan participants?
do you hire strippers when at a football 5 a side tournament?
it's got nothing to do about someone's sexuality and I've already said that I wouldn't mind if it was a quiet little side event, but it just makes the event look unprofessional the way it is above
quakecon doesn't even have that many booth babes, also booth babes aren't the same as strippers
I think its because you go to CDC with such an URGE to flame the event, whether its before or after the event you've tried to flame each and everyone for whatever reason.
Open your eyes, talk to ronner and maverick when you're there, you'll see what the event is about. Go to the cabins and play poker, stay for the community awards be social at the bar, come out of your shell. Bar hiring stippers, its everything you've asked it to be
This guy doens't make sense at all!
It be self-preservation by the third day - not happened back home o0
You been for night out yet up here?
I take it you going to Leeds Uni not Leeds Met?
ye leeds uni pending results
I need ABB for Cardiff
its not nice, its a hard offer :o(
You know I think CDC is great and I've been to every single one of them, but I do think FDJ has some sort of point with that. I'm not saying it should be you organizing this though, the players/spectators themselves can come up with stuff too and organize it.
hmm id do better to spend my time doing smth else
To be honest the food on the LANs that I played on was even worse than in Enschede and the tournaments were delayed even longer.
The time for the big BYOC LANs is over anyway as there is no further need to go there to share massive loads of porn and warez.
I will say one thing however, CDC is one of the only LANs I actually want to go to. For someone in my position I should be interested in the the likes of ESWC and WCG, but I'm not. My favourite LAN event was Stratlan (31?), a small 100 person LAN hosted in Stratford-upon-avon last summer.
I really need to go to more events though or at least visit more countries, even if that means Cologne in October/November?
Enlarged = fun
Defo going to do it again even if its on xmas tbh coz ill convert to muslim to miss xmas and play @ cdc, get stoned/drunk and watch tyyrd get fucking wasted and pass out on the floor.
Bulld0g is the highlight of the lan. He stands at the bar and gets drunk!
Probably not going though. Problem factor called parents.
- I think ET players just come to CDC because it's the only really BIG lan in ET thanx to crossfire ofc. And I guess that's why the prizemoney doesn't mather.
:D
that guy rocks every party
I really wish there would be more ET Teams again @ Enlarged, like back in 2004 when it had a 32 teams tournament which was such a big fun really. But even back than it was "german only" (unlike qipler.hu and cave) ... some hardware prizes are just too less to get ppl from other european countries come to Enlarged LAN, also BYOC is a kinda big problem for them most times...
I've been to both, CDC and Enlarged and i gotta say both are great fun, CDC on a more "competitive way" and Enlarged more on the "fun way" (atleast the last few years, 2004 was different)