[MajorLag]

During the staff meeting last night, the topic of including fighting games to our lans was brought up. Adding consoles to our lans is not a new topic for discussion, but I think it’s about time we revisited it. The plan is to have a member vote of the issue at the next member meeting, which is January 26th at 9:00 PM. Before that, I think both members and non-members should voice their input on the matter, including the addition of consoles in general and what kinds of games they would (or would not) like to see at lans. There was some talk at the meeting of also reserving separate rooms or even host separate lans for console gamers, which may also be a possibility. Seeing as how it would be a major change to the club, I would highly recommend that everyone in the Lanknights community think about the issue, voice your opinion, and vote at the next member meeting.

Edit: The member meeting is actually on February 2 at 9:00 PM

This post has been edited by MajorLag: 26 January 2012 - 01:59 PM
Reason for edit: Udating dates

[TerranUp16]

Rather than answering a question, I choose to ask one:

*WHY* do we want to have even more consoles at our LANs?

[Oen386]

I like the idea of consoles being there, if LANKnights is not responsible for bringing any equipment or making arrangements for it. I believe in the past the club was stuck cleaning up and returning items that another group of people requested. I think this puts unnecessary stress on the officers, and makes them responsible for things outside of their club duties.

I have no issue if someone wants to bring their own console, and hook it up to a projector, but they need to put in the request for the projector. If someone wants to organize a tournament, I think the same should apply.

I highly suggest that you team up with other clubs. Maybe a console focused club, to have events. This will let members get to know more people, and give you something to do while waiting for the next tournament if you want to take a break.

The downside I see is, same as with equipment, is making sure LANKnights is not responsible for everything. You guys can easily get thrown under the bus if a room is trashed, and it is in your name, but another group from off campus or a club from on campus was actually responsible for the damage.

[Oen386]

TerranUp16, on 05 January 2012 - 02:09 PM, said:

Rather than answering a question, I choose to ask one:

*WHY* do we want to have even more consoles at our LANs?

More? I have normally only seen one or two, unless it was a co-hosted event with the Anime Club.

As I stated above, it gives you guys a chance to meet more people. I mean it is great to have a tight group of friends and club members, but it gives you a chance to get to know people that might be sitting next to you in class.

[Daman]

I think this would be great if we could take on an additional staff member or two who can dedicate their time to managing this portion of the club.

[Destroyer1990]

From my experience at LANs as far as consoles go, the best times we've had them was when someone brought their own system because they asked if anyone wanted to play, before the LAN. Once, Otacon brought his PS3 and a few of us played the Scott Pilgrim game, which was a lot of fun. He brought his TV (doubling as his monitor) for us to use. I think that's when consoles work best. When there is a specific game people want to play. Because, let's be honest, as much fun as having Rock Band in the same room is, it distracts people a lot, what with the loud music and such.

Unless there is a high demand for consoles at the LANs nowadays, then having consoles at the LANs is going to bring in people who are expecting to show up and be able to play COD or BF3 or something. As far as I know that is in very low demand for a PC Gaming club.

[TerranUp16]

I think having to actually watch BF3/CoD on consoles for an extended period of time would drive me insane.

[Cyragar]

I'm personally for bringing consoles in. I would also agree with Daman that there should be staff designated to deal with console gaming as a whole. I visit with Gamestop often, and both Kevin(manager) and Aston(events) have been very open to working with LANKnights. Starting with fighting games would be the best way to approach adding in consoles.

Fighting games would help increase attendance easily. For those who do not really understand the fighting scene, a general trend is that if you play one fighting game, you are probably open to playing them all. Between SSF4:AE, UMvC3, BlazBlue, Tekken, and the new StreetFighter vs Tekken game coming out in March, there are enough titles to have people constantly playing and have enough variety to keep people attending the full duration. This list of titles also promotes high tournament activity over multiple games. Community wise they have SRK (shoryuken.com) which makes it easy to target and invite the crowd-base we are looking for.

For those that are against consoles I have one question : Is there a reason why they shouldn't be allowed? Based on past events we always have extra space available. Rock Band doesn't have to be on the games list(if I had to decide I wouldn't allow it), but even then I think that a simple solution to noise would be to just not put any overlaying audio on the speakers.

[Oen386]

My real concern is spreading staff too thin, and losing focus. If there are enough people showing up to play console games then it should be a separate group with it's own focus.

There are other issues with inviting outside groups that are not UCF affiliated. While I want to believe everyone is trustworthy, it is nice knowing in a room of about 60-80 people everyone knows someone... I feel fine walking away from my setup and not having to do a check when I return at LANs. I won't lie and say if there are 100-200 people are that coming and going from the event, most of which I do not know, and no one I know knows.. I would be a little concerned about my gear. I know a lot of people go as groups to get lunch/dinner during events. Meanwhile stuff sits under guarded for the most part. I know in the past this club has had a few things disappear, so I am afraid that could happen again.

Also if the group is not UCF affiliated, LANKnights will take sole responsibility for their actions on campus at an LK event (because the room and arrangements will have to be in LK's name). I am also a little weary on the idea that they could be doing this to get a room for free, rather than pay UCF's fees or find a third party location. I mean I understand the desire to get a free large room, but it could cost LANKnights in the end.

[Iota]

I'm for it, why not?

A note though: I feel like for a good amount of people, myself at least, when I go to a LAN and see people playing console games and whatnot, I would be more inclined to think, geez, they aren't even on a computer at a PC Gaming club event, whatever I feel better about playing some osu!, Super Meat Boy, Skyrim, whatever it may be that isn't really a LAN-oriented game" Granted, that doesn't mean I would, and definitely not a ton of the time, but I would have no qualms about playing osu! for the first hour or every once in a while to warm up mousehand, what have you. Just thought it might be worth considering.

[Destroyer1990]

At that point though, how closely do you want to monitor what everyone does at a LAN? We tried that before: having people play a certain game at a certain time (yes I know it wasn't you MUST play this now, or you can only play THAT at this time) and while it kinda worked, people don't being told to, or not to do something yet. That, too, is something to keep in mind.

[Messer]

I'm parroting what was mentioned in the meeting, but I'd be okay with consoles at lan parties if they were kept in a separate area from the lan proper (either a separate room or with the room divided to block noise), and if we had someone in a new position to manage consoles (or more likely be more focused on console fighting games).

I understand why we would want to draw in new members, as growth is always a good thing in clubs, but I'm worried that this will change the club in a manner that isn't necessarily appropriate. An incoming freshman might be looking for a club focused around fighting games, and attend the club showcase, and then not find what he's looking for because he didn't think to ask the club centered around a platform that doesn't have that strong a fighting game scene. It seems like including console fighting games would not only instigate major changes in the club's direction, but would require them, more so than SC2's release (nothing ill is meant by this). Asking if we want to include console fighting games in large numbers (I may be misunderstanding, please correct me if so) is also asking if we want to become the campus general gaming club over time, and I'm a little worried about losing our PC-centric identity, though it may not be such a bad loss.

Just a thought.

EDIT: Typos and grammar, this is why I try to use word

This post has been edited by Messer: 05 January 2012 - 06:49 PM

[doomz]

with fighting game people.. if you build it, they will come.

noise should be dealt with as we are starting to now; if you start screaming.. you get talked to.. thats that.. getting excited at an event based around video games shouldnt be punishable, but common sense lets us see where the line is


im for it, im a ssf4 guy

[Cyragar]

doomz, on 05 January 2012 - 07:29 PM, said:

im for it, im a ssf4 guy

I'm buying AE when I get back, we should play.

[Daman]

Oen386, on 05 January 2012 - 05:15 PM, said:

My real concern is spreading staff too thin, and losing focus. If there are enough people showing up to play console games then it should be a separate group with it's own focus.

There are other issues with inviting outside groups that are not UCF affiliated. While I want to believe everyone is trustworthy, it is nice knowing in a room of about 60-80 people everyone knows someone... I feel fine walking away from my setup and not having to do a check when I return at LANs. I won't lie and say if there are 100-200 people are that coming and going from the event, most of which I do not know, and no one I know knows.. I would be a little concerned about my gear. I know a lot of people go as groups to get lunch/dinner during events. Meanwhile stuff sits under guarded for the most part. I know in the past this club has had a few things disappear, so I am afraid that could happen again.

Also if the group is not UCF affiliated, LANKnights will take sole responsibility for their actions on campus at an LK event (because the room and arrangements will have to be in LK's name). I am also a little weary on the idea that they could be doing this to get a room for free, rather than pay UCF's fees or find a third party location. I mean I understand the desire to get a free large room, but it could cost LANKnights in the end.

The person who contacted us is a UCF student.

[Brain?!]

I don't really like the concept of officially integrating console games into our club activities; I feel as though it would divert attention and resources away from our current focus and ultimately dilute the purpose of LANKnights.

Several people have pointed out that supporting console games would bring in more members, and this is probably true. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily a good thing. Club resources, such as room reservations and funds, would have to be split between the console and PC gamers. I see no reason to encourage growth for the sake of growth, especially when the PC gamers will probably end up having to make sacrifices to accommodate the console gamers.

I don't have a problem if there's another, entirely separate club on campus that would focus on console games. We could even help them get organized and host events together (as we've done with Anime Club in the past). That being said, I believe that LANKnights should remain focused on PC gaming, and devote the entirety of its time and effort towards that.

[GreatDay]

Brain?!, on 05 January 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

I don't really like the concept of officially integrating console games into our club activities; I feel as though it would divert attention and resources away from our current focus and ultimately dilute the purpose of LANKnights.

Several people have pointed out that supporting console games would bring in more members, and this is probably true. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily a good thing. Club resources, such as room reservations and funds, would have to be split between the console and PC gamers. I see no reason to encourage growth for the sake of growth, especially when the PC gamers will probably end up having to make sacrifices to accommodate the console gamers.

I don't have a problem if there's another, entirely separate club on campus that would focus on console games. We could even help them get organized and host events together (as we've done with Anime Club in the past). That being said, I believe that LANKnights should remain focused on PC gaming, and devote the entirety of its time and effort towards that.

Personally I'm not much of a console gamer, but I don't follow this apprehension and overt caution. Surely it requires work and the onus is on those wishing to partake, but if it does indeed bring more members and not just more than a shallow wave of visitors then cost and accommodations should be well worth it. This isn't growth for the sake of growth as much as it is a logical and potentially rewarding next step if done carefully. Considering the space available at all but the two largest events, little sacrifice if any is required from the PC side of things if the PC crowd isn't utilizing consoles. This is besides the fact that one of the two largest lans, video game night, already utilizes consoles without greatly inconveniencing PC gamers. I can stand 'Du Hast' enough times to bolster the vitality and community of the club.

If an E-SPORTS enthusiast club was denied for being too similar to Lanknights, then surely a console club would have its own trouble distinguishing itself for the SGA. I'm not comfortable in drawing a line between an xbox player and a PC player when I can't draw one between SlayerS_BoxeR or Rapha and my own dungeon defender loving casual self.

This post has been edited by GreatDay: 05 January 2012 - 08:53 PM

[TerranUp16]

GreatDay, on 05 January 2012 - 08:52 PM, said:

If an E-SPORTS enthusiast club was denied for being too similar to Lanknights, then surely a console club would have its own trouble distinguishing itself for the SGA. I'm not comfortable in drawing a line between an xbox player and a PC player when I can't draw one between SlayerS_BoxeR or Rapha and my own dungeon defender loving casual self.

That's SGA's problem really, and partly an issue with SC2 being considered such a major component of eSports currently that the crossover would probably be pretty massive. And the reason that would really be problematic is hardware. For PC eSports competition, you'd need LANK-style equipment. Sure, they'd also probably have console eSports stuff and that would have its own equipment set that is different from LANK's, but the argument to me seems more to be that if half the equipment would be redundant... at least that half should be handled by LANK.

And then there's the other half. We can step in and deal with that, in the process having to deal with relevant equipment sets, population numbers, etc...

Or...

We could make the very accurate argument that our equipment, structure, and set-up is targeted at PC, thus SGA's resources would not be wasted in supporting a console club that dealt with the other half of the equation.

[Brain?!]

GreatDay, on 05 January 2012 - 08:52 PM, said:

Personally I'm not much of a console gamer, but I don't follow this apprehension and overt caution. Surely it requires work and the onus is on those wishing to partake, but if it does indeed bring more members and not just more than a shallow wave of visitors then cost and accommodations should be well worth it. This isn't growth for the sake of growth as much as it is a logical and potentially rewarding next step if done carefully. Considering the space available at all but the two largest events, little sacrifice if any is required from the PC side of things if the PC crowd isn't utilizing consoles. This is besides the fact that one of the two largest lans, video game night, already utilizes consoles without greatly inconveniencing PC gamers. I can stand 'Du Hast' enough times to bolster the vitality and community of the club.

While console games and PC games use similar means to achieve a similar goal (i.e., interactive entertainment), they cater to drastically different demographics and communities. Adding consoles to the club would not bolster the vitality of the LK community so much as it would active change it. Yes, the club would arguably become more active, but the atmosphere would be completely different.

Room reservations are not that easy to obtain, especially not on the scale we usually require. Let me provide an example: for this semester, the previous officers were able to reserve rooms for four LANs. Despite the fact that all of them were reserved for 80-person events, only one of them can feasibly hold 80 people for an event. The remaining 3 rooms can hold somewhere between 30 and 40 people with their computers. The current staff is looking into reserving rooms outside the Student Union to raise the number of events, but at this point we can't say whether or not that will happen. I don't want to think about the headaches that would be involved if we had to reserve rooms not only for PC events, but for console events as well; plus, any rooms that are reserved would have to be able to accommodate a fair amount of both PC and console gamers. The only other option would be to evenly split the small LANs between console and PC events, at which point the PC members are making a sacrifice for the console members.

TerranUp16, on 05 January 2012 - 09:31 PM, said:

We could make the very accurate argument that our equipment, structure, and set-up is targeted at PC, thus SGA's resources would not be wasted in supporting a console club that dealt with the other half of the equation.

This is the preferred route. I would not mind the formation of a separate console gaming club, and if that club required our assistance in explaining to SGA how our two clubs differed, I would be more than happy to assist.

[GreatDay]

I guess you could say that I don't see how lanknights lacks significant capability to host consoles, especially something as simple as just some venue space for lan/offline console access of which many games are perfectly suitable and of which space has been more than available at multiple events hosted by lanknights or at least hosted with lanknights. Granted you can complicate things as much as you would like with the equipment setup and organization of the venue, but that also means the complexity is controllable and manageable.

As for the community changing comment, the same can be said about the abundance of genre warriors inside the club itself. Don't tell me that the unity between the console section and PC section would be so much incredibly worse than of that between the HoN, SC2, LoL, TF2, or any game (Preferably those with 3 character abbreviations) community within the club as to completely ruin the "atmosphere" (Neglecting deodorant does that just fine).

This post has been edited by GreatDay: 05 January 2012 - 10:10 PM