Multiplay UK LANs Open for Bookings!

[Wizzo]

Multiplay UK LAN Parties - http://www.multiplay.co.uk/

Hi everyone,

Just a quick announcement to let you know that we've just opened bookings
for i7, as well as an i7 warmup LAN in January (imaginatively named
"NewbLAN" <g>).

i7 is taking place over 30th March-1st April 2001 in the Newbury
Racecourse venue, and will play host to over 600 gamers (with scope to
expand beyond that)! As that's such a way off, we're running a 250 player
LAN in the Main Concourse of the Newbury Racecourse venue (all other rooms
are booked until i7!). This warmup LAN is being held over 27-28 January.

Signups for both of these events are open at the links below:

NewbLAN (i7 warmup) - http://www.multiplay.co.uk/newblan/
i7 LAN party - http://www.multiplay.co.uk/i-series/

Coverage from the i6 LAN party event has also now been posted to the
i-series site (link above). We broke the 600 player mark at i6, with just
shy of 610 participants in attendance!!! i6 0wned... so if you missed it
check out some of the vids and piccies to see what went on.

We're also finalising details of a large Manchester LAN party to be held
hopefully in February of the New Year. More details on that one once we
have them... but you might want to pencil in 17-18 February in your diary
as those are the provisional dates.

It's already looking to be a busy LAN partying calendar for 2001! See you
at a LAN party soon!

[BoyMeetsCounterstrike]

Hrrm wasnt i6 supposed to have 1000 players?

Fact is i (personally) will probably never travel to Newbury and pay over £40 + expenses for a weekend of gaming.

Seeing as you (Wizzo) are at eduni, any chance of getting something organised up here, as i like the sound of a 100-200 person LAN party. But the games society wont do this as they either
a) want to go for broke and have a large event (i.e the 1000 player one with fell through as kingston technology pulled out in deposit week & lack of signups).
b) continue to have weekly/fortnightly 20-25 player events at kbh.

Reason they want to go for broke is the financial situation of having a 'smaller' LAN party, i.e people will not pay sweetloads of cash to come to a 'inferior' lan party, but you still need the same stuff as a large one (i.e tons of licences, medical personnel on site, power, utp blah blah blah)

Really annoying.

[Wizzo]

hehe... when they announced the 1000-player one it did seem more than a little ambitious. Jeez the step from 25 to 100 is a big enuff one to worry about, and we had problems moving from 450 to 600+ (between i5 and i6). Yes i6 was initially planned to be 1000 player, but in the end this turned out to be little optimistic. It would have cost buckets too in rolling out additional infrastructure for that many people, both in terms of expensive power distribution systems and serious network kit (monster layer 3 switches with gigabit capability aren't cheap :D). There are also lots of additional costs that set large LANs a league apart from 25 player gatherings, such as dramatically increased venue costs (the venue cost per head goes up not down as some would expect with economy of scale), serious backbone network kit, custom built power distribution, and event management and administration in handling that many people.

We did do a large LAN in Scotland (appropriately named ScotLAN :D) back in July of 1999 over in Irvine. We'd really like to get another one organised up here, but the team down south have their hands pretty full sorting out more Newbury events and also getting one going in Manchester. Basically we need a few eyes and ears to the ground to assist with venue hunting up here to enable us to go ahead. If you would be interested in this drop me a mail at wizzo@multiplay.co.uk We would be looking to do the first one for around 200 players. My hands are pretty full right now trying to stick to the management side and balancing that with 4th year medicine (which is when it starts to get real tough and time consuming)... else I'd go venue hunting myself :)

I'll be out of contact until the weekend now as I'm shipping off back to the borders (been posted to Galashiels for the past 4 weeks). The Borders General seems to be a communications blackspot, with zero mobile coverage and no phone lines I can get to for internet access. I always return a dribbling wreck after no internet access for a few days :)

Cheers,