DoD LAN (Part 2)

`NG · Post by **`NG** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:42 pm

As far as a venue goes, I work for Doubletree. I get a massive discount on any rental rates for any of the hilton family hotels (doubletree, hilton, hampton, etc). For instance: A stay at the Waldorff Astoria in Boca Raton is normally $689 for a suite per night. My rate? $89. So if we were to use a doubletree ( recommended) banquet hall or conference room, we could probably do the rental for around 30% of the normal rate. These types of setups usually include some sort of beverage service and maybe some type of snack service. If we also book all the rooms through that same doubletree, we would most likely get a sweet package deal. Just sayin.

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:46 pm

`NG wrote:As far as a venue goes, I work for Doubletree. I get a massive discount on any rental rates for any of the hilton family hotels (doubletree, hilton, hampton, etc). For instance: A stay at the Waldorff Astoria in Boca Raton is normally $689 for a suite per night. My rate? $89. So if we were to use a doubletree ( recommended) banquet hall or conference room, we could probably do the rental for around 30% of the normal rate. These types of setups usually include some sort of beverage service and maybe some type of snack service. If we also book all the rooms through that same doubletree, we would most likely get a sweet package deal. Just sayin.

Whoa, you just became a member of the 1911 lan staff, congrats.

Hudson` · Post by **Hudson`** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:55 pm

I would attend any such event, anywhere in the U.S.

Is there some kind of online app where people can input their location and it plots it on a map for everyone to see? This would be a nice way of determining an optimal location.

lowcarb · Post by **lowcarb** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:59 pm

Can't we all just have fun in [SUPER]Dave's basement?

kirk · Post by **kirk** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:00 pm

Hudson` wrote:I would attend any such event, anywhere in the U.S.

Is there some kind of online app where people can input their location and it plots it on a map for everyone to see? This would be a nice way of determining an optimal location.

I've definitely seen one before. Just not sure where.

To Google!

k4b00m · Post by **k4b00m** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:04 pm

mogers wrote:
k4b00m wrote:For what it's worth, I am so down for whatever location you decide on. Went to w2z and it was fun minus playing 1 match ( f u Till )

If it's west coast I'm sure I could assemble a dpk lan team ( lol ) since most of the original guys live in cali/somewhere on the west coast.
We all know the real reason you liked w2z is because you shared a hotel room with me. Fag

That cot was ballin. That place was sketchy as hell though, guess you get what you pay for...or leech for? ;D

emcsk · Post by **emcsk** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:07 pm

+1

I am willing to spend the extra money to go to a big last dod lan, I think we all need it for some closure of this game. This is pretty exciting to say the least and I hope this goes through, I really encourage everyone to talk to every dod player they've known and let them know about the potential for a lan with a decent prize pool.

With that said, if this lan becomes much closer to a reality then I will be playing this game full time just so I can see how far I've come all these years in dod and just have fun with the team that I join. Anyways, I wish you luck sears in getting this organized and I am definitely in, so if you are looking numbers then tally me in.

As far as it being BYOC, yea this can end up being a problem but I have a solution.

We get several people to dedicate themselves to bringing their computers, these would people who are in driving distance to the area. Then we could just share computers? If I had to, I'd bring my computer and let another player use it, that's no problem if that's what it takes to get people to come. I don't think we need 100% of the players to bring a computer because let's face it, you aren't going to be playing dod 24/7. Obviously the people who bring their computer will be able to practice but most people know that in between matches there is a lot of waiting time.

For instance if we had 32 teams, I think we'd only need 8 teams worth of computers MINUS the 12 computers we get automatically. I think it's entirely possible if we can get a certain amount of people to bring their computers, we definitely don't need all 16 - 32 teams bringing their comps, but they should definitely all bring their headphones/mice/keyboards/mousepads/microphones

Then you can make a list of who is BYOC'ing and we can try and create a floor plan and map out where each computer goes so that we can get sections of 6 to where full teams can be seated. It'll take work but I think BYOC is scaring a lot of people out of it when I think a BYOC could be possible.

k4b00m · Post by **k4b00m** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:17 pm

Honestly, I really dont want to bring my computer, I have a 24" monitor, and the tower is heavy as fuck, its a huge antec and it will be a pain in the ass. Your idea sounds fun. That or I get used to playing on my laptop lol...

Yaso · Post by **Yaso** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:19 pm

I'd love to see this event happen as I haven't had a chance to attend any of the previous LANs. I think Vegas or Austin would be ideal locations for it, or even have another KY LAN if it's a possibility/Mogers wants to help set it up.

kalle carlund · Post by **kalle carlund** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:21 pm

i think you guys should look have a look out on cheap flights, maybe some euros would come over than. would be a dream come true.

JustiN-_^ · Post by **JustiN-_^** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:26 pm

I was going to suggest something similar to what NG said. I think everyone going to the same hotel(or enough of us) and then using their facility for the lan would be a good idea. The idea of throwing together an ADHOC network to run the game is scary though.

I'm not big on BYOC though. I don't have a laptop good enough to run DOD. Integrated video card blows.

What about getting a sponsor from someone like ASUS or a laptop company? We could use their prize laptops as laptops for the tournament lol.

joeledmunds · Post by **joeledmunds** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:29 pm

lowcarb wrote:Can't we all just have fun in [SUPER]Dave's basement?

We could be as loud as we wanted, because I guarantee it's sound-proofed! (Just like the van)

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:32 pm

JustiN-_^ wrote:I was going to suggest something similar to what NG said. I think everyone going to the same hotel(or enough of us) and then using their facility for the lan would be a good idea. The idea of throwing together an ADHOC network to run the game is scary though.

I'm not big on BYOC though. I don't have a laptop good enough to run DOD. Integrated video card blows.

What about getting a sponsor from someone like ASUS or a laptop company? We could use their prize laptops as laptops for the tournament lol.

If we were to move forward with a "Big Event". All of the infrastructure would be taken care of by sponsors and/or fundraising (networking, power, internet, tournament computers).

It's an all or nothing thing.

I totally understand the downside of having a BYOC in which people have to travel by air. We won't do a BYOC without tournament computers.

lolinus · Post by **lolinus** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:33 pm

joeledmunds wrote:
lowcarb wrote:Can't we all just have fun in [SUPER]Dave's basement?
We could be as loud as we wanted, because I guarantee it's sound-proofed! (Just like the van)

Could drive around in the van stealing wireless internet and be loud~

`NG · Post by **`NG** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:40 pm

To add to that, all of the hilton family conference or banquet halls have two to three projectors included. So we could def have HLTV up on each wall, so there would be more to do if you weren't playing. I'm sure someone could bring rockband or some shit and we could set that up on another tv.

joeledmunds · Post by **joeledmunds** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:56 pm

Bring Marvel vs. Capcom 3 so I can beat up on equis.

tenks · Post by **tenks** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:29 pm

I'd down to help in anyway possible, but based on past experience...running 2 SoCAls and an officially backed "big event", WSVG'06, I seriously doubt you can get the #s desired to make this worth while...players and sponsors.

I'm not trying to be negative..just realistic..I have no idea what the state of the community is..but it can't be more active than 4-5 years ago..when fielding 20-22 teams for a WSVG was like pulling teeth..let alone the 6-7 teams that actually showed for SoCal.

TOG/Payam isn't around anymore but I'm down to help with sponsors and running the event in anyway I can.

Good luck.

your pal,
tenklet00ns

Rambizzle · Post by **Rambizzle** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:38 pm

epic beard jason!

hildebrand · Post by **hildebrand** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:40 pm

I'd fly again for a DoD lan.

BYOC would not be doable unless someone has connections and ends up bringing them all in a truck.

As far as a 16 team Lan sounds amazing, I doubt with the size of the community if it's possible.

ryanemo · Post by **ryanemo** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:57 pm

honestly think you could get pretty decent numbers for this. i know plenty of people who would come back for a 1 last hurrah of DoD.

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:06 pm

tenks wrote:I'd down to help in anyway possible, but based on past experience...running 2 SoCAls and an officially backed "big event", WSVG'06, I seriously doubt you can get the #s desired to make this worth while...players and sponsors.

I'm not trying to be negative..just realistic..I have no idea what the state of the community is..but it can't be more active than 4-5 years ago..when fielding 20-22 teams for a WSVG was like pulling teeth..let alone the 6-7 teams that actually showed for SoCal.

The difference now is that the economy and gaming industries have changed so much.

It's a lot more expensive to rent a lan center than it used to be, and there are sooo few of them to come by.

So, I guess what I'm trying to figure out, is in the event that we were able to pull off a miracle, and get sponsorship for our own stand alone host LAN, would YOU COME. That's what I'm trying to figure out. We need to find out if old players who havent played in a lonnnnnngg time would be up for come to one last big LAN. If enough people are, then I can move forward trying to make it work. If not, we go for a smaller, lan-center based event.

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:06 pm

ryanemo wrote:honestly think you could get pretty decent numbers for this. i know plenty of people who would come back for a 1 last hurrah of DoD.

This is what I'm hoping, but we'll see.

AlopeX · Post by **AlopeX** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:08 pm

would we be opposed to trying to get 1-2 DoD:S teams to register?

The non douche players that is. (do they exist?)

unpro · Post by **unpro** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:10 pm

a lot of people came back for the last one, some of those wont come back for this one i imagine.

either way, i would be impressed if we managed 10 teams. im down to go if i can actually get a team that shows up, and knows how to play the game outside of 2 people. plus, if its byoc, you wont have the issues we had at the last socal at least. that shit was depressing.

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:47 pm

So here is the advantage to Vegas (whether we are doing a "big event" or not).

I sent an email off to a travel agent with the general idea of what we would like to try and pull off. She got back to me with some legit ideas, and she highly recommended Vegas.

If we organize as a non-profit organization 501(c)(7), we can get group "convention" rates in vegas, and since we (1911) wouldn't be a for-profit business, we would pay very little taxes, and get other discounts.

Basically, it could go down like this:

Airfare from anywhere in the continental U.S. + 3 nights stay at the Riviera + free buffet vouchers + discounts at all the casino's and bar's + free tickets to shows etc...

$350 per person, if we got over 100 people, $275 per person

That's airfare + hotel room + food + entertainment + discounts... for $350

Not to mention tax-free rates on renting one of their many event rooms if we wanted to do a BYOC.

Just some food for thought in the event that we were able to round up a plethora of old dod nerds.

AlopeX · Post by **AlopeX** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:14 pm

I could easily do 350 for that...

Yaso · Post by **Yaso** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:17 pm

That sounds like a dream Sears. $350 for 3 days is one hell of a bargain. Hopefully we can get enough nerds to sign up for this so we can get the ball rolling.

Polak · Post by **Polak** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:59 pm

Man whoever said vegas is a bad idea is a retard!!!!.......

what? You know its true

tenks · Post by **tenks** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:16 pm

Sears wrote:
So, I guess what I'm trying to figure out, is in the event that we were able to pull off a miracle, and get sponsorship for our own stand alone host LAN, would YOU COME. That's what I'm trying to figure out. We need to find out if old players who havent played in a lonnnnnngg time would be up for come to one last big LAN.

Yea of course I would come.Sorry I should have been more clear in my previous post. Willing to help also means I'd probably show..

But unpro's post just go me thinking. I know it's something that we can't control but I just really wanna put this out there and see if anyone has any thoughts/comments/solutions.

One major factor in getting players to commit was having COMPLETE TEAMS. It's the wishy-washy nature of the people who play this game and the teams they play on. One minute they're on a team..then they get a "better" offer because the elite team of the time's 6th had to drop out due to some bs...so they immediately jump to the opportunity to play on a team that has a chance to win..Then the team he left has a hard time fielding a 6th at the last minute..that team dies and we lose 4 or 5 players..or we lose players who give up before the lan even starts because they think they don't have a chance at winning because of the few STACKED teams that usually win etc etc etc...Whatever the reason is, team hopping and team killing always results into at least 10-15 players not showing that were originally going to show...I think you get the point I'm trying to make.

I've always wanted to do a DoD draft lan...I think at this point since a lot of randoms and old players are coming back..and there aren't many complete teams..Why not do a draft?

Have the community vote on X amount of captains and do it like a fantasy football style draft. Where the last capt to pick gets to be the 1st capt to pick 2nd round. So on and so forth. I think it would definitely encourage a broader appeal and help eliminate the fear of people not wanting to go because they weren't picked up or wanted by any "good" teams.

Just my two cents.

Also $350 for vegas is nice. But you gotta throw in the cost of food and shit..(Unless you already did..I skimmed over it

)

`NG · Post by **`NG** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:28 pm

damn, thats tight.

Swiss · Post by **Swiss** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:29 pm

i am definitely down for the second option if that is possible. i think looking at the second option first is really smart because then we would have plenty of planning already done for a smaller regional lan. having the pdxlan with their sponsors involved sounds awesome. i also REALLY like the idea of pursuing the help of valve, especially if this is in many senses a "sending off party" for dod (and they must have a room full of spare cash from selling tf2 hats?!?!).

i think its definitely possible that austin would work, especially since i have some contacts with dell, which is one of the "grassroots" tech companies from austin and they sponsor alot of local tech events = possible solution to the computer problems. thats something i could look into. (and like i said before, austin is COMLETELY different than dallas; its known as the live music capital of the world.) so i think it should at least be considered.

BUT i still like the las vegas idea alot, sears. that really is a great deal especially when you look at the "Airfare from anywhere in the continental U.S." working through a travel agent is going to help this process alot.

that was a good point about the HLTV for the finals match. there were ~76 in the hltv (and then you add on the two teams playing, 88 LOL). im definitely not going to say that the number of people in hltv is any realistic number of people who would come to a lan like this. its a stretch but thats AT LEAST a small indicator of the amount of people that care enough about this game to sit and watch other people play for 40 minutes. dod has changed alot in the past couple years in terms of activity despite the fact that theres still a good number of the old players who havent come back. the growth in activity the past couple of years has come from a good number of people who were new to the competitive community.

tenks, i was also thinking the same thing. i think some of the newer players/teams might be turned off to come to something like this if (1) they feel they have no chance to win (2) theyre coming to meet people theyve never known (online or IRL) (3) theres naturally going to be clicks of people.

downside of the draft would be people that naturally wanted to come because they wanted to play with old teammates or win the thing. id think bringing back old teams together is part of the nostalgia, along with just seeing old friends (correct me if im wrong). were already doing a second draft tourny online right now (dont know if you saw) so were figuring out the best way to do something like that

`NG · Post by **`NG** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:35 pm

minus the omission of alcohol. That just blows my budget all to hell.

xone · Post by **xone** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:51 pm

this would be so legit!

hildebrand · Post by **hildebrand** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:59 pm

could we get another game to tag along with dod? that would increase the amount of players tenfold. tf2? cs?

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:05 pm

hildebrand wrote:could we get another game to tag along with dod? that would increase the amount of players tenfold. tf2? cs?

I've thought about that, possibly doing a cs 1.6/dod 1.3 thing, or even a dod 1.3 and dod:source thing. Something to think about. Do people still play source?

xone · Post by **xone** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:14 pm

yes, i be-leave allot, but that would be up too whoever is setting It up

kirk · Post by **kirk** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:17 pm

DoD:S isn't doing so hot, from what I remember. Far worse than DoD 1.3 I think. But I could be wrong!

Get TF2 so I can play that as well :]

defiance · Post by **defiance** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:22 pm

i checked the source league out a few weeks ago, there were only 14 teams with 6+ people on their roster...they are doing worse than us.

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:28 pm

defiance wrote:i checked the source league out a few weeks ago, there were only 14 teams with 6+ people on their roster...they are doing worse than us.

That's pretty incredible actually. It's easy to complain about it being difficult to find 6 in 1.3, but you have to admit that it's pretty remarkable how active the remaining community still is.

rehpyc · Post by **rehpyc** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:03 pm

inb4ryanemo'sLOLTHUNDERwillWIN

Wint0 · Post by **Wint0** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:29 pm

Eric, I got your e-mail about this and decided to drop in on the thread.

Do you have a tentative date for this lan? I understand planning is still going on and that you're looking at multiple options.

Personally I would be interested in going for vegas alone, but that is just me.

warchyldd · Post by **warchyldd** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:45 pm

`NG wrote:As far as a venue goes, I work for Doubletree. I get a massive discount on any rental rates for any of the hilton family hotels (doubletree, hilton, hampton, etc). For instance: A stay at the Waldorff Astoria in Boca Raton is normally $689 for a suite per night. My rate? $89. So if we were to use a doubletree ( recommended) banquet hall or conference room, we could probably do the rental for around 30% of the normal rate. These types of setups usually include some sort of beverage service and maybe some type of snack service. If we also book all the rooms through that same doubletree, we would most likely get a sweet package deal. Just sayin.

I am in the same boat. I work for The Sheraton, owned by starwood resorts (westin, W, sheratons, etc.., and we have the same kind of banquet rooms and room rate options. HA your not the only one !

warchyldd · Post by **warchyldd** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:53 pm

and then i read the vegas deal that sounds like the tits

Hudson` · Post by **Hudson`** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:28 am

$350 sounds insane. I would have paid twice this, easily. Hell, sign me up twice over.

Sears · Post by **Sears** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:01 am

Wint0 wrote:Eric, I got your e-mail about this and decided to drop in on the thread.

Do you have a tentative date for this lan? I understand planning is still going on and that you're looking at multiple options.

Personally I would be interested in going for vegas alone, but that is just me.

We are in the very early stages of this, just incubating the idea at this point.

I'de really like to hear from some of the past-generations of players. If we could get a sizable chunk of players from the early 2000's to chime on as to if they would even be interested in resurrecting a team for one last big lan/party, then I'll move forward with trying to finance this thing. There is a ton of work that would go into trying to plan an event like this, and a ton of money that would need to be raised (which is easier if you have 501c status). But, the pie-in-the sky idea here is to get some old teams to come out of the woodwork, and I think we only accomplish that if we go for a big, well-funded event. If I won the lottery or something I'de put up $50,000 in prize money trying to get you nerds to play again. Guess I'll keep rollin that power ball every week...

Regardless of the size of the event that we end up doing, the earliest that it would take place would be towards the end of next summer.

stevehisey_ · Post by **stevehisey_** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:03 am

im in... and i call dibs on danschey

gwolf_ · Post by **gwolf_** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 1:13 am

Sears wrote:So here is the advantage to Vegas (whether we are doing a "big event" or not).

I sent an email off to a travel agent with the general idea of what we would like to try and pull off. She got back to me with some legit ideas, and she highly recommended Vegas.

If we organize as a non-profit organization 501(c)(7), we can get group "convention" rates in vegas, and since we (1911) wouldn't be a for-profit business, we would pay very little taxes, and get other discounts.

Basically, it could go down like this:

Airfare from anywhere in the continental U.S. + 3 nights stay at the Riviera + free buffet vouchers + discounts at all the casino's and bar's + free tickets to shows etc...

$350 per person, if we got over 100 people, $275 per person

That's airfare + hotel room + food + entertainment + discounts... for $350

Not to mention tax-free rates on renting one of their many event rooms if we wanted to do a BYOC.

Just some food for thought in the event that we were able to round up a plethora of old dod nerds.

FYI I've been the treasurer of a 501c7 organization and have a masters degree in accounting so I could easily help set that up and manage finances and such. There would not be any taxes at all, as long as we don't try to funnel money into political campaigns (LOL).