[ETL.snexwang]

I flew from Adelaide to play at Sydney. I had a few fun games in the OB before getting demolished in my group. Despite breaking into a coughing fit every few minutes, which I'm sure was infuriating for anyone in my vicinity (sorry iaguz!), I had a blast and met some super duper cool dudes (santilicious so delicious).

A+++ would attend again.

Seriously, thanks.

[PiG]

Part 2 of Vanzr's letter is up: http://forums.aclpro.com.au/t/acl-pr...-review/5964/4

[nGenLight]

Originally Posted by Dox

In 2012, we had support from WCS, Gamespot, ACL, Gigabyte, CityHunter and numerous other events. For the most part - our calendars were saturated. We suffered from event overlaps. This was good and bad for all the obvious reasons.

Everything looked so promising in 2012. Sad to see SC2 fall off the mainstream in Australia.

Big kudos to ACL!

[fur]

ACL so much.

Regarding Volunteering, I have a little (don't want to overstate it here) experience in volunteering and in organising volunteers. By far the biggest obstacle in recruiting volunteers is unclear expectations.

If you simply ask people to 'volunteer' you are never going to get a good response. It's too vague. People don't like signing up when they have no idea what it means. If, however, you say "We need someone to help us unpack boxes and move tables for 4 hours on Friday the 27th of X" it seems much more approachable for novices.

I'd also add that, wherever possible, it's great to have different 'levels' of volunteering. Sure, you'd love everyone to help out for the entire weekend. But if there are any smaller, singular tasks that people can pick up those are great as well.

As for the other stuff I think most of the important things have been covered. ACL so much. I'd be very wary of reducing open brackets, however, and not just for my own selfish reasons (I love attending them). As a spectator experience I feel ACL still has a way to go before it equals other 'events' that people might spend a weekend at. By far the biggest hook is community interaction, it keeps people going, it makes 'esports' something special. If ACL didn't have an open bracket I probably would only attend ACL Melbourne, and even then only very briefly. Sure I'd tune in on the stream, but showing up for 2 days to watch StarCraft (or whatever) is a big ask unless you feel part of it.

Quick Comments

SLCN.Kez:

+1, such amaze, so skill, very wow

[mGGDrGooSe]

Engagement Engagement Engagement. Whilst your priority is obviously the running of events, spec numbers only come from advertising and word of mouth of past experiences. Think outside the box for advertising. E.g. (bear with me here) It's a real disappointment being excluded from the players area. My first ACL was an ACL syd where I spent the day sitting behind PiG and tgun, then going and sitting behind Ninja while he (almost) handed it to Targa. We were all getting ready to haul Ninja up off his feet and parade him around if he managed to take the series. These are priceless experiences. So while I understand and in many ways agree about sectioning off the players, perhaps having some lucky few with access passes might be good? These could be handed out, for example, based on a community event of some kind (stream lucky door prizes?) or by raffle or whatever. Of course, if these passes were the reward for volunteering for setup and pack down, that works too.

Quick Comments

syfSoundwave:

Brisbane this year was the only one with a restricted players area IIRC.

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by fur

By far the biggest obstacle in recruiting volunteers is unclear expectations.

What ACL is primarily asking for here is just a group to help set up the computers for open bracket before the tournament and then pack em up again at the end. This would make open bracket possible as it literally shaves 4-6 hours of setup and packup time for the main crew who usually do it (on top of their regular jobs there).

Also they are asking for people interested in getting into streaming or production to put their hand up and join to get help out backstage, which I think is a SICK opportunity for anyone in this country looking to get into video production for eSports or just production in general, their guys (JB, Blair, Doble, Simon, etc) are literally the best. This job would initially be carrying in production gear and plugging it in, then testing it and also learning how to use it. Super important for entry level Spielbergs.

Originally Posted by ETL.Soundwave

Brisbane this year was the only one with a restricted players area IIRC.

This is correct, the players lounge thing was tried and didn't really work out so most likely won't be seeing it again in the near future.

Originally Posted by Tileä

Will I ever get a cuddle? T__T

Hell yeah baby I got a big cozy maynarde flavoured cuddle for you if you drop by one of these shindigs!

[Pandan]

I've done my best to put my thoughts to paper here: http://thatpandan.wordpress.com/ (it's too many words for a single forum post!)

Forgive the rambling (and some of the tongue in cheek stuff), I wrote it as if I was just speaking to a group of friends.

Quick Comments

Zepph:

good read :)

[Zepph]

I don't think you understand how scary it is to watch the current ACL team pull these events off. Maynarde and I were blown away when we were up in the caster's room at Sydney watching these guys work. We're talking about just a few guys running 3 streams, setting up the entire venue, running the tournament and madly dashing around doing anything else that needs doing all at once. Everyone's running on empty, jacked up on caffeine and surviving on the occasional bite of food and a love for the event that they're running. I actually don't understand how ACL is as good as it is with that few people on that little sleep.

I understand the constructive criticisms people have been writing up and I agree with a lot of them. A huge one for me is the downtime on stream where viewers get left in the dark for an undetermined amount of time before the next match. Certainly, that could be remedied with some more filler material. However when I think about how stretched thin the staff are, it's hard to see where there would be that extra person to man a camera for a filler interview, or even just to walk around with the camera in the venue for something to look at on the screen.

It seems kind of strange to me that there is such a lack of volunteers when every week I usually get one or two messages from people that would like to know how to get more involved in the scene. These are people that want to produce content, to be writers, interviewers, youtubers, etc. There are also those that just want to make friends within the game and those that already have something going and would like to get connections with more experienced event organisers such as the gentlemen at ACL.

Volunteering is a great way to network with people in esports as much as it is a great way to support a local event.

If you can't contribute this way, ask yourself why you wouldn't attend an ACL event (this is something Pandan touched on) and speak up with your reasons! That kind of feedback can be super useful. I know there are 9784356784 more SC2 fans that could be at these ACLs but for some reason they don't come along. I'd love to see all of you SC2 nerds out in full force for 2014.

Anyway, TL;DR : Don't be shy, get involved, help out, make friends and have fun in the process. Even if you can only assist for a couple of hours on one day it's better than nothing!

[Pandan]

RE: Volunteers

In my very rough draft of an ACL Organisational Chart - you can already see 40 open positions that need to be filled; and there's no way that Organisational Chart is all encompassing. (it also doesn't even take into count people doing logistics and setup/packdown).

It takes a lot of people to get shit done - while technically one person could do it all - it would take an individual the greater part of a week (probably with little to no sleep). ACL often has a matter of hours to complete the task. The only option is man power.

[Turkle]

do what they did at blizzcon with the streams and do the First Person views!

Quick Comments

ChowMuddha:

I dont know why but i found this post hilarious

[fur]

Exactly Maynard and Zeph, but I don't think that was effectively communicated by ACL at all.

Volunteering is usually lots of fun. You learn shit, you meet people, you gain skills, references and leave with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. But it's all about how you sell it.

What sounds better; "ACL needs volunteers" or "Would you like to be involved in making Australian eSports a success? Click here to find out more".

Quick Comments

Zepph:

Good point :)

[mGGDrGooSe]

Originally Posted by Zepph

If you can't contribute this way, ask yourself why you wouldn't attend an ACL event (this is something Pandan touched on) and speak up with your reasons!

Honestly I think this part is largely player related. There is still a percieved lack of depth and very much a lack of 'story' (hey let's all jump on board with Blizz terms) to the event and the players. Whether these two factors are actually true or not is completely irrelevent. The perception is what will bring people to the seats. A story needs to be created (either by ACL or by teams, and rightly the responsibility should rest equally with both) and some uncertaintity in the results needs to exist as well. International players could certainly create the later - sustainability of such is highly questionable. Of the former, I think PiG/Dot (note PiG/Dot, not x5) is the only one currently doing this.

And yes I completely understand that all this still centres around lack of labour.


Edit: by the PiG/Dot thing I simply mean that PiG's name is still far large than x5's, not that x5 are doing a shit job.

[Baldie]

Keep it coming guys! Love it great great work and thank you to those who have given their time so far!

[ToR.Arnor]

We are looking for feedback on..

• Online Rounds
  They work fairly well, bit of awkwardness with everyone forfeiting once they get top 12, making for a lousy spectator experience, perhaps either forcing people to play it through, or having the incentive of a small monetary prize for winning (or even just free entry into the ACL event?). Alternatively make the Online round into 4 smaller brackets like you do for the live event.
  
• Offline Events
  Format overall is fine, how it is implemented at time is a little shaky but this is mostly down to a lack of help marshaling the event and players not taking initiative to start games themselves, not procrastinating and asking questions when they arent sure rather than sitting on their hands and waiting to be told what to do. Location for both Melbourne and Sydney were pretty terrible. Id also recomend to even start sorting out some sort of system where you guys order lunches / dinner e.g. announce over PA "hey we're gonna order pizza / chinese place your orders, have set deals to save time even skim a $1 or 2 for yourself, people wont mind, either than or go all out an bring in a BBQ and some sausages ^_^.
  
• Tournament Format
  comments including in Online / Offline events
  
  
• Spectator Experience
  I actually really enjoyed the spectator experience for Sydney, the bar upstairs was great and really got people from other game titles interacting with each other, the one down stairs was a nice setup the venue design (natural lighting) kinda ruined it however. The Lol Setups for Melbourne are Sydney were also outstanding. Personally from a experience point of view I think you're in a good spot to start charging spectators, however from a demand point of view you arent (ill address this slightly later).
  
• Competitor Experience
  N/A
  
• Streaming Experience
  Casters are good A+ I dont know why the survey asks about sending in international casters, you got a great team already.
  
• Community Interaction
  Community interaction this year (and even the 2nd half of last year) has been dreadful, no other way to describe it, yes I understand you were busy with other projects etc but to the majority of the community this isnt an excuse to set aside 30mins a day to interact/answer questions. Nick's blog (and the short conversation I had with him at ACL Sydney) I sounds like this issue will be ressolved moving forward. Regarding volunteering I echo the words of others, make the place more accessable, interact with the community and actually lock in the people who offer help (look at what charities do, you donate once and they contact you every year asking for more). There's probably feedback I could give on suggestions etc but ill wait until after Nick publishes Part 3
  

Quick Comments

SLCN.ARze:

second A+ casters!

[mGGDrGooSe]

Originally Posted by ToR.Arnor

They work fairly well, bit of awkwardness with everyone forfeiting once they get top 12, making for a lousy spectator experience, perhaps either forcing people to play it through, or having the incentive of a small monetary prize for winning (or even just free entry into the ACL event?). Alternatively make the Online round into 4 smaller brackets like you do for the live event.

When we ran SEANA, we had a rule starting that the tourney must be completely played out. Forfeiting meant forfeiting prizes/seeds as well. You could try this, but it will probably just mean that a bunch of cheese games. The only way I can see around this is to make sure that every place means something special and worth fighting for.

[ToR.Arnor]

Originally Posted by ACL VaNzR

PART THREE OF THREE coming 14/11/2013

Just wanted to make a note when things like this happen, if you make a commitment to release something and dont (yep life gets in the way), its really important to keep people informed on delays (we dont need details, just a generic sorry its delayed). This is probably coming across more negative then im intending, just a bit of feedback on your feedback/communication.

Quick Comments

Baldie:

Valid point. The post is at a point Nick would like to expand before releasing. He can say for himself the delay length

[Dox]

probs a bit busy

[Dox]

deth asked me to post his feedback here since he's banned from SC2SEA - http://whyyourgamesucks.com/2013/12/...view-part-one/

Quick Comments

	Seffy:	That was nicely written
	Baldie:	My god this man can write well!

[ChowMuddha]

Great write up by deth, pretty much sums up my feelings about ACL Sydney which was my first ACL event i had attended .

"Without additional funding and support, the future of SC2 at ACL is probably under threat, as I imagine it isn’t currently garnering enough player, spectator or viewing interest." well said

Not sure if i will be able to make make it Melbourne or Brisbane next year
But I should be able to volunteer for Sydney.
Without open bracket i feel as though it will be just another nail in the coffin for this wonderful game
in Australia
And i do not want to see that happen.

[Dox]

Originally Posted by Dox

deth asked me to post his feedback here since he's banned from SC2SEA - http://whyyourgamesucks.com/2013/12/...view-part-one/

Here's part two from deth -
http://whyyourgamesucks.com/2013/12/...oving-forward/