[Intoccabile19]

First off I would like to say that this is not an attack on any of the players or organisers for the WCG Finals. I was reading the ongoing issues in the live chat on sc2sea. If anything I would like to say thank you to all of the players and organisers who worked through the 'crap' to put in a wonderful effort and catch the early flights without even knowing if they had somewhere to sleep.

Secondly, this is just the opinion of myself and my brother. We only went to the twighlight session because we were lead to believe that this is when the WCG Finals were to be played. I have seen some of the photos form the Sunday session and it seems that the setup was much better and more organised. Unfortunately we were unable to get tickets while we were at the venue to the Sunday session.

Once again, I do not mean to attack any of the players with this as I understand that they were sleep deprived and no one wants to play in a tournament if they are not at their best. I actually had a chat with PiG on the night and could clearly see the fatigue from the days events on his face and hold no bad feelings toward him or any of the other players.

I am simply writing this so that someone knows about my poor experience at EB Expo 2011. I feel there was a lack of organisation and I feel that EB Games missed the whole point of the experience, Gaming. I wanted there to big announcements, the ability to play games before release and the experience to see how Australia competed with the E3s or TGS of the world.

EB Expo failed to deliever on all accounts. I attended the twighlight session as I was keen to see the SC2 World Cyber Games Finals. I am trying hard to get involved with the AU sc2 community and thought that this would be the perfect time to meet alot of the players and people involved (also my coach/favourite AU player PiG!). The poor organisation meant that people were crowding around player screens rather than big screens and there was no commentation of the event at all. It was a little LAN of 10 computers where Australia's Pro Gamers got to play on a 19" screen. I was there at 4.30pm and due to poor flight times and schedules the WCG was finished at 7pm because, understandably all the gamers were tired. There was to be no finals that night and they noted that there wasn't even internet in the Arena to make this happen. As previously stated I believe that most of these issues were addressed for the Sunday session with a big screen and a casted stream setup. I would like to congratulate the people who noticed these deficiencies and made the changes for the Sunday session. However I was unable to enjoy these changes.

I moved on from this to find some of the games I wanted to play. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) was first on the list. I was told at the beginning of the line that I would not be playing, only watching, and that there would be a 45 minute wait to do so. I reluntantly accepted. What I found was that in the 10 minute session I was in the room for 8 minutes was being advertised to about MW3 intergration about Elite, a pay per month service that I had no interest in. I watched menu systems for 8 minutes and then finally the game. Again this was a disappointment. One minute of a inexperienced player stuffing around on a console. He couldn't aim, he couldn't really move or take cover. It showed me nothing of the game. We were asked to leave after this. My friends and I couldn't be less excited about the expo at this point.

Trying to make the most I checked the Skyrim booth. It had a line that ran around the four sides of it so I checked with the attendant if we got to play the game. No was the answer again. Didn't even bother lining up for this.

I moved on to Saints Row 3. The line up was again about 30 minutes but it was playable. You watched and then played for about 5 minutes. They did really well with their booth. They had the promo girls keeping people entertained our front. A questionaire girl keeping people occupied and signing people up for more information in the line and the person letting people in was actually knowledgable about the game. It was the best thing the Expo had to offer so far.

After this we could have lined up for a few more hours to play/watch 5 minutes of menu systems and already seen trailers but we decided that the EB Arena Spectacular would be cool. This was the last straw for me. I was expecting to see new trailers or demos of the new games or hardware we should be expecting. Unfortunately it did not live up to it's title. This was 5 minutes of uncordinated dancers (which we had already seen in the standard hall) followed by 30 minutes of BMX stunts. Little to nothing to do with gaming. No announcements, no live demos of publishers showing why their game was the best on the big screen. Just lots of bikes going over the same jump. I didn't even understand the relevance.

After this my friends and I decided to leave. We gave up on that and we all had a sour taste from what we considered should have been an exciting expo to attend. We were so thrilled as we travelled from the Sunshine Coast with a 3 hour trip down, a expensive hotel room for the night and another 3 hour trip back up on Sunday.

How can you fix it for next year you ask? Simple, start with shorter lines, LAN area for large amount of people to play the games, show bags (paid for) and entertainers in the expo area. I also believe that the main stage could be used for alot of the shows that were being hidden behind closed doors. This would eliviate alot of the problems with lines and waiting times and also ensure that the EB 'Games' expo is all about what it should be all about......

GAMES

I would love to hear other peoples experiences!

Quick Comments

	inFeZa:	Thx for voicing your opinion - hope it's better next year.
	nirvAnA:	constuctive feedback always good, thanks for taking the time to write this up :)
	Doctor:	nice one !
	PiG:	Hey man great to meet you! Yeah I felt horribad thankgod i got to postpone my last match or yoon would have beaten me hands down

[[TA]LoSt]

Ah that's brutal man.. I can actually imagine that's what happened but I stuck around the sc2 area the whole time so I can't tell you my experiences of any of the areas/games.

[ZergGirl]

I believe pictures of said booth babes are in order.

Sounds a bit rough, but at least you get events :/

[iM tgun]

It's sad to say that most of his recount is spot on. Without a VIP pass, you really couldn't enjoy everything to the fullest, and the first day was a bit of a train wreck with fatigue (I actually repeatedly hammered Dox with questions about if I was playing / when I was, and after he finally gave me the all clear that I wouldn't be playing more games, I fell asleep on a giant beanbag).

[syfChadMann]

Originally Posted by ZergGirl

I believe pictures of said booth babes are in order.

Sounds a bit rough, but at least you get events :/

the saints row girls were amazing!..

But I got a chance to play games... best time to play was when everyone else was in the Arena... but I went to all three sessions tho.. so didn't miss much of the WCG either... worst thing was when they kicked everyone out during mOOnGLaDe v deth game 1... which was amazingly epic and back and forth... so didn't get to see the end of it.. :'-(

But yeah.. I can see how only going to one session would make it hard to have a really good time there..
The bar on top of the EB shop was amazing tho! spent plenty of time there on saturday night.. :P

[Dox]

I can see where you're coming from with regards to a lot of your concerns. I'm planning on writing a pretty lengthy blog post about the event in the near future, but for now i'll just leave a few notes:

* The set up was disappointing, but better than the alternative. (Playing at a netcafe 20 minutes away)
* As far as I know, WCG won't be piggybacking on EB Expo next year. It'll be an independent event. As cool as it was to integrate them, it wasn't ideally accommodating. So yeah, I agree that it either needs to be a large point of focus, or not included at all.
* Flying there to commentate and then discovering that we didn't have the time or infrastructure was disappointing. Finding out that we weren't able to get on the main stage was even worse though.
* I was approached by some guys with aircards who could provide us with internet access for the stage, however we were running behind schedule and the stage wasn't available by the time we reached the finals.
* I tried my hardest to get a spectator area with a plasma screen for day 2. I was so grateful Chris made this happen.
* This was a learning experience for TLS. I'll be getting more involved next year and I promise you - it'll be a much better show. You'll have commentary, stream and stage matches.

Quick Comments

	Highlander:
	iM tgun:
	Apth:	Dox saving esports
	ToRDeathsFang:	I love Dox-sports
	TAsCarLet:	Big Cocks Dox Stepping Up

[inFeZa]

Apart from the WCG stuff - the idea of having a games expo and then you Pay to get in to listen to some idiot ramble on about stuff you don't want.

An exposition is supposed to let you get a hands on feel for things.

I've been to a lot and an exhibitor for my company and of course we want you to buy stuff, but we want you to be engaged and enjoy our booth thats why we give out free samples and have plenty of them to go around for everyone who enters the venue. And you can see the difference between the booths that have samples and that don't.

I don't want to watch a demo of the game (i dont want to look at the box of your product)
i want to play the game (i want to taste the product)
THATS why you pay to get in.

It may be a bit different to gaming but the same principle applies.

[syfChadMann]

Originally Posted by inFeZa

Apart from the WCG stuff - the idea of having a games expo and then you Pay to get in to listen to some idiot ramble on about stuff you don't want.

An exposition is supposed to let you get a hands on feel for things.

I've been to a lot and an exhibitor for my company and of course we want you to buy stuff, but we want you to be engaged and enjoy our booth thats why we give out free samples and have plenty of them to go around for everyone who enters the venue. And you can see the difference between the booths that have samples and that don't.

I don't want to watch a demo of the game (i dont want to look at the box of your product)
i want to play the game (i want to taste the product)
THATS why you pay to get in.

It may be a bit different to gaming but the same principle applies.

There were plenty of games to play on display at the expo... Almost all the stands had playable demos (I didn't try Halo or MW3 so i dunno about them)... the Arena was great.. showcasing some new technology and amazing stunts by motorcross riders.

I don't get the hate on the EB Expo..

[nirvAnA]

Originally Posted by tgun

It's sad to say that most of his recount is spot on. Without a VIP pass, you really couldn't enjoy everything to the fullest, and the first day was a bit of a train wreck with fatigue (I actually repeatedly hammered Dox with questions about if I was playing / when I was, and after he finally gave me the all clear that I wouldn't be playing more games, I fell asleep on a giant beanbag).

YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH SIR




tgun & ray sleeping in a tree

Quick Comments

[TA]LoSt:

LOL

[NvPinder]

I also got pics of mafia and pig sleeping on day 1... XD

[inFeZa]

Originally Posted by ChadMann

There were plenty of games to play on display at the expo... Almost all the stands had playable demos (I didn't try Halo or MW3 so i dunno about them)... the Arena was great.. showcasing some new technology and amazing stunts by motorcross riders.

I don't get the hate on the EB Expo..

I wasn't there - but going from what i heard is that people didn't get the playtime they expected.
I sure as hell wouldn't want to sit in line all day

[ZergGirl]

Originally Posted by TAJPMoney

I also got pics of mafia and pig sleeping on day 1... XD

go on............

[syfMiley]

Originally Posted by TAJPMoney

I also got pics of mafia and pig sleeping on day 1... XD

Woah buddy, don't stop there.

[Intoccabile19]

hahaha Dox, I'm really glad to hear that the WCG will be trying to do their own thing next year! I believe that given the right circumstances it could be a great event. The guys with the aircards were actually my brother and I. I would have loved to have helped but unfortunately couldnt be there the next day.

Mate all i can say is keep putting in the great effort! I believe that being there on Sunday would have made a huge difference on my opinion of the event (based on the photos). I think I was just upset with the event because I was so excited and with my wife pregnant I dont get to much time to dedicate to SC2 and Games in general anymore.

[pXAero]

Unfortunately it sounds like what I was expecting from the event - poorly organised, not much to do, watching bikes do the same thing for half an hour. So I'm kinda glad they sold out of tickets and I couldn't go!

Hoping the best for them though! It could turn into a fantastic yearly event if they can polish it up a bit.

[iM tgun]

Originally Posted by Aeropunk

Unfortunately it sounds like what I was expecting from the event - poorly organised, not much to do, watching bikes do the same thing for half an hour. So I'm kinda glad they sold out of tickets and I couldn't go!

Hoping the best for them though! It could turn into a fantastic yearly event if they can polish it up a bit.

Now imagine trying to play with bikes doing basically what they do best: revving their engine and nothing constructive. Also, the ******* smell..

[Dox]

Originally Posted by Intoccabile19

The guys with the aircards were actually my brother and I.

Ahhhhh, right! Damn! Well thank you so much for the offer, it's a huge shame you couldn't be there on Sunday! I would have taken you up on it when you approached me but I just had so many things going on, I didn't have time to even begin thinking about Sunday.

There's plenty of good stuff coming in 2012 - be sure to attend one of the ACL events.

[Brotastrophe]

I didn't really enjoy the Expo. I went for the twilight session. But i spent a fair bit of time around the WCG area for SC2. Lines were too big, VIP ticket was needed to enjoy it at all. I felt it didn't really cater to gamers at all though. And everything at the expo has already been seen, there was never any new announcements. None the less, SC2 was enjoyable and was one positive of the expo.

[da zantaz]

it was pritty awsome to meet the players there, the bad part was the power getting cut off just after the lol players finished haha :P

[zeffrin]

EB Expo was a complete and utter fail, to the point that I don't trust the company anymore... seriously... announce a gaming expo the likes of comic con and blizzcon and all this, and you get there and it's nothing more than an oversized EB store where the selling happens in the middle and all the play test machines are around the outside

Also, I feel like it was false advertising... we bought tickets for day and night sessions on saturday since they didn't bother to publish when Cosplay Evolved, Just Cos and the SC2 finals were going to be on so we figured we'd have to be there a whole day

NO ONE, NOT A SINGLE PERSON PAID TO BE AT THE EVENT KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SC2 FINALS....

And then after all that, actually all of the good stuff was Sunday session... my lord... I wouldn't be so angry if they published that was going to be the case but advertising all this stuff and then completely omitting it from two of three sessions?!

Complete and utter fail.