[neon]

Awesome to see Dox/Vanzar taking responsibility and addressing the adoring public and competitors concerns so promptly and efficiently, very professional and hats off to you both!

Also don't forget to take the credit where it's due too! Big event, I had a great timejust in front of my PC watching it unfold, can only imagine being there.

I won't be able to attend Melbourne due to other holiday commitments however I shall get to one sometime, soon, can't wait.

[dippa]

I mentioned this a couple of times to some people, but I wonder if it would be possible at future events to have the production team, who go around producing vox pops and doing pre-game interviews and the like, take care of all that stuff in the background rather than doing it live.

So basically the matches would just churn out constantly like you suggest and the casters would jump into whatever games were available. Should there be any downtime, the interviews and so on could then be used as part of a B-roll to fill in for time.

I understand there wasn't the capability to do this at Sydney, but it seems like it would sync up well with the changed philosophy of having the casters/stream work around the tournament rather than emphasising the cast over the efficiency of the bracket. (This is in regards to the open bracket - obviously things are more different once group stages kick in.)

Originally Posted by Dox

I was told that you had requested your match be streamed, I did everything I could to accommodate you. I really wanted to say, "No, we can't fit it into the schedule" but I wanted to give you guys some spotlight.

I don't know who asked for the match to be streamed, but I can guarantee you the request didn't come from me. I didn't ask for Pinder to cast the match either, which added further delays since we had to wait for him to finish his match before we could play. I appreciate that you went out of your way to honour that, however (even if there appears to have been a miscommunication at some stage), considering all the shit that was going on around you.

Trust me, if I was told that the game couldn't have fit into the stream schedule it wouldn't have bothered me one iota - I wasn't feeling great after playing my second game and I've been to and helped run enough large tournaments to understand when you have to bite the bullet.

NB. Just spoke to Dox/Maynarde in chatbox and they said that the request came from either Chad or myself (what dox was told) and I feel like crap about this. I didn't ask, and I don't know if Chad did, but had I known I would have forced the game to be played earlier to save time. I feel like an arsehole now for holding back things. Sigh -_-;;

Originally Posted by Dox

2) The Open Bracket. There's no clearer way to say this: I messed up. 100% me.

I know you feel 100% responsible, but the truth of the matter was you worked your arse off, and the reality is you just didn't have enough help. You did everything you could possible with all the energy you had, and everyone is eternally grateful for that.

I've always been a firm believer in being strong and firm with players during tournaments. You're right that players will get to understand how things run over time, but the problem that I've always encountered is that players will always look to benefit themselves over the good of the tournament. If someone doesn't wander over and tell them to hurry the **** up, they're going to spend that extra 10-15 minutes ******* about just to feel a little bit more comfortable. It's in their best interests, after all, even if it's completely unreasonable.

What's needed is for a third admin to roam around and just be, forgive the phrase, a general **** (that's the c-word ladies) to players to make sure games start as fast as humanly possible. It will involve some yelling and a blunt hand, but at the end of the day everyone will learn that the instructions are to the benefit of everyone because it keeps things to schedule.

Keeping things to schedule is soooooooooooooo ******* important. It stops you guys, the organisers, from having to pay out of your own pocket to run overtime at the venue or facing even more dire scenarios (forcing players to play under sub-standard conditions to resolve games or changing formats mid-tournament to finish in time, both of which were thankfully avoided). It also frees up time so that scenarios where tiebreakers can't be resolved - like what happened with Light's group - doesn't occur, although the manner in which it was handled isn't unprecedented by any measure (IEM uses the same format AFAIK).

Production idea

The suggestion that the casters mention group stage results is pretty cool, but another thing that could also be really awesome is to have Livibee roam the playing area during matches and then cut to her (again, meshes in well with the idea if you have the stream roaming for games instead of holding back games for the casters) so she can give a quick live report of the match.

This could be expanded to other games as well and it'd give a nice little link between the different streams so that people who want to watch all of ACL have a general idea of what's going on in the other games (so they know if the main stream starts showing, say, FIFA, then they already know this player smashed his group and they have a basic idea of who's favoured etc).

Dox, you're awesome

What really has gone understated here under all the praise, suggestion and criticisms is the fact that you, Mr Reball, still maintained the energy to uphold the integrity of the tournament by not sacrificing the format, not scrapping the open bracket or doing a million other things to save time that would have damaged the spirit of the competition.

That's not hard - that's ******* gargantuan. The amount of effort to make that kind of call under the stress and fatigue you were under is enormous. The tournament was much better for it; shame about the ZvZvZvZ, but that's the players' fault.

The truth is you know where things need to be ironed out anyway and we know that you'll crack the whip and charm the right people to ensure what needs to happen happens. That's why we all trust you; that's why everyone wants to work with you and it's why everyone believes in you even more after this weekend - not less, but more, since we know you have the mindset, intelligence and capability to make it happen.

Honestly, you're ashamed by this? I'm ******* laughing - you should have seen some of the tournaments I've had to go to. I wouldn't even call this bad - delays aren't great, but the fact of the matter is that there were so many other worse scenarios that could have occurred and all of those were avoided, despite the concerns that many had. Other people would have sacrificed the quality of the event to avoid the worst. You didn't, and still pulled everything off. *******. Baller.

You're one of the best organisers I've ever had the pleasure to witness and play under. Don't feel bad dude - we can all help out a little bit more (and I feel like a massive **** for not doing so earlier).

Bring it on, Melbourne.

Quick Comments

	neon:
	TAEdgE:
	Baldie:
	Maynarde:
	Dox:
	iM yang:
	x5_dot:
	Flamga:
	xGKingdelete:

[iM tgun]

I have complaints, but they've already been covered (some pcs having bad frame issues, dropping out -- especially in the middle of a series is super frustrating, brackets running slowly), except one.

I want to cast more ;P

Was an awesome weekend, especially to properly meet a few people that I hadn't had the chance to meet (and hug, yang!) before. I'm already 100% going to melbourne, that's for sure. Need to work on accommodation for that ^^'

Quick Comments

	Maynarde:	Great analytical caster
	Asrathiel:	More tgun casting = :D :D
	iM yang:	tgun hugs OP <3
	inFeZa:	you have amazing game knowledge and it was so intreguing to listen to you cast, definitely come to us at melb and we'll get you in!

[NvRossi]

It was so great to be part of yet another large scale event and ACL Sydney didn't disappoint regarding both the social and competitive aspects.

Competitively, this tournament showed how truly strong our scene is! As well as displaying the depth of skill that our players can showcase. I was very impressed with the overall skill level that was represented by all players and look forward to seeing how everyone continues to mature.

Socially, this event was amazing. The opportunity to interact socially regarding gaming is not something i have been able to enjoy (bein a closet nerd and all) and i relish the chances that are afforded to us through such an event as this. Prior to the event i was provided the amazing opportunity to train and participate at the ACL PRO Ausgaming House to which i initially turned down! However after finishing my exams on Tuesday(which i pumped, **** YEAH) i knew a solid 72 hours of non stop sc2 would get me back in shape and chased that offer back down. Participating at the ACL House was an amazing experience as i got to hang out with my old mate Pandan, the man himself Vanzr, the friendly pelican Moonglade, iaguz and a bunch of cool ACL dudes(inmaniac, matt, damo, brett, nuguns,) who turned out to be amazing blokes. It was a very insightful experience hanging out at the house as i really got to see how much effort these guys were putting in as well as insight into just how much groundwork these guys do prior to event, which i observed led to many sleepless nights as i know for a fact some these guys were at times running off 2 hours sleep a night. (THESE MOFO's ARE PASSIONATE AS **** ♥)

The Social aspect as the event was just as awesome and i was very happy to see so many people turn up to spectate as well as play! it was great to see so many recognizable faces and to meet so many new people! Being able to strike up a conversation with a group of sc2 peeps at any time in all corners of the venue was bloody awesome and i can't wait to experience it again. Was great meeting and chatting with you all.

Shoutouts and Notes

- On a personal note i was still very happy with how i played at the event and hope everybody enjoyed watching my games, specifically those with Targa and Mafia. You cannot be disappointed losing to players of this caliber, not to mention they are both good mates :P

- Just to repeat, big thanks to all the ACL Staff both at the house and at the event itself.

- Big thanks to Dox both as a manager as staff at the event! ( sorry for destroying your soul in street fighter too !! jokes jokes)

- Big gratz to Moonglade for taking it yet again. You are a great role model to look up to, practicing like a machine at the house, as well as just taking note of your resolve and determination to take out this event. Dam you are clutch!

- Big thanks to Maynarde for allowing me to cast with him in the finals. Was a very fun experience and i hope we made you laugh and enjoy the games as well as learn a thing or 2 from my gigantic brain.

- I became good friends with a group of COD phags that i met at the ACL house prior to the event! its awesome to note that every other gamer there including the fifa, Gears of war, COD and halo players all have significant respect for the sc2 players and many of them do play on the side as a result.

Can't think of anything else to say as its 2am, cheers peeps and gnight

Quick Comments

	Dox:	why does vega even take his claws off!?!?
	Maynarde:	Calzone filled with ZvZ analysis
	ACL Beware:	Aus Gaming House! Not ACL House! That being said, have my children you sexy man. Was great having you at the house.
	ACL VaNzR:	My favourite SC2 player! Sorry Andy ;)

[ACL Beware]

Loving the feedback and attitude from the members posting in this thread. Its amazing to see such a positive and supportive community, which unfortunately is less rare in console (my domain). Lots of you may not know who I am (besides the gamers that came to the Aus Gaming House) but I have worked closely with Vanz trying to help ACL grow since 2010. I just wanted to make a post and say how amazing it is to see such appreciation for something you put a lot of hard work and passion into, means the world to us guys here at ACL. Its unfortunate that a lot of the time the people who work the hardest to make events happen don't get the praise they deserve because they are too busy to even stop for a few minutes and chat to players, however one man I have to speak up about that deserves praise in this thread is JB. JB (http://www.twitter.com/jbhewitt) has been giving ACL support and direction from the start and is responsible for the foundation of SC2 on the ACL Pro circuit which of course Vanz and Dox have helped build upon. Its great to see Vanz and Dox get the recognition they deserve but without JB we wouldn't be able to do half the things we do at events. Same goes for his production team that a few of you may be more familiar with (Doble, Blair, Simon etc). A few of the Brisbane SC2 players may be more familiar with these guys, they get shit done like no others, and it is a pleasure working with them.

PS. This times x1000

Originally Posted by TARossi

- I became good friends with a group of COD phags that i met at the ACL house prior to the event! its awesome to note that every other gamer there including the fifa, Gears of war, COD and halo players all have significant respect for the sc2 players and many of them do play on the side as a result.

I am unsure about how PC gamers feel about attending events with console players (not that it is at all relevant) but SO many console gamers love and respect SC2 and its players. A bunch of them event stayed till 2am (when they finished at 7pm) just to watch SC2 till the end.

Once again, thanks for the support guys and we will do our best to make things better in Melbourne!

Quick Comments

	PiG:
	Asrathiel:	So much ♥ to all the ACL people ^_^
	Maynarde:	Much love to you n JB!
	Baldie:

[PiG]

Dox get some sleep and stop apologising! You did a stellar job and everyone was amazed at the prdouct that came of your hard work. I feel bad for my post cos you take it all to heart you beautiful, beautiful creature of esports. Take care of yourself and remember that as exciting as all this stuff is if you push yourself too hard you'll start being inefficient and potentially being overwhelmed.

My personal advice to you would be to take a little time to teach one or two of the other ACL staff or other volunteers how they can take a load off your shoulders. Melbourne is going to be even bigger and better and I want you alive and well at the end of it!

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

[NvJazBas]

I miss everyone.....

Quick Comments

	TAriiChard:	i miss you too =(
	iM yang:	*wave*
	|Erasmus|:	Not worth going to Sydney events any more without jaz at them... :(
	SLCN.Kez:
	Fenner:
	Dox:	awwwww
	xGKingdelete:	♥
	inFeZa:	nice to meet you ! next time i learn more korean and then i can actually talk with you n_n

[cRSenSei]

Originally Posted by xGKingJazBas

I miss everyone.....

x2

So good to meet you jaz you are such a cutie!!

[scythah]

Thanks for all the feedback! I was the "director" of the stream and yes, better lines of communication between myself and Dox are needed. I was told to stream the game between X and until I was told that the players were ready, there wasn't much I could put onto the stream.

More fillers will be useful, but hopefully going forward (Melb and onwards), we won't need many fillers as we'll be trying to have pretty much back-to-back games.

Quick Comments

Dox:

my hero

[SLCN.Kez]

I pretty much echo the same sentiments as everyone else, was a SICK event and was absolutely awesome! Wish I played better and especially showed better results but I think it highlights just how much you have to practice in order to beat some of the best players in aus right now. Definitely super excited to Melb as I wont have to fly down and because all of the little bugs that came up in GC and Sydney will be fixed so the now the best city in aus will also have the best competition in aus hehe
Cya all then I look forward to it so much!!

[iM yang]

Highlight of the event was when I went up to YYJ and was like 'hey i'm yang'

He had the most confused look on his face and said 'Why aren't you asian?'

Quick Comments

	NvJazBas:	LOL
	x5_dot:
	Baldie:
	Dox:	HAHAHAHAHA
	xGKingdelete:
	NOM:	<3

[iM tgun]

Originally Posted by SQL.yang

'Why aren't you asian?'

This was easily the most asked question of the tournament.

[Norksman]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to chip in my 2c and say thanks to the players for being as cooperative as they were with me. I'm not someone that most players were familiar with, but they made my life easier with my direct dealings. Echo everything that Dox and Vanz has said and I'm looking forward to making Melbourne run even better.

Thanks to Blair, Luke, Doble, JB, Maynarde, Infeza and the rest of the stream team for putting out a great product.

Was awesome meeting so many great SC2 players.

The playlist in the venue was sweet, though I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised to hear "Blubber Boy" by Regurgitator playing, seeing as how it has the c-word in it's lyrics. :P

Cheers,

Norksman

Quick Comments

	Maynarde:
	Sunset:	Lincachu, I choose you <3
	Dox:	my other hero

[Sunset]

Not much to say that hasn't already been said.

As someone watching from home, I was so impressed with everyone's clear hard work, and can't really comment further than that. I thought the rotating casters was excellent and really entertaining.

I think the problems are nothing that can't be ironed out in Melbourne with a few adjustments and whipping of people who use PCs when they shouldn't. Everyone involved in ACL does enough self-analysis, it seems - things can only get better.

Quick Comments

	Kalikah:	There should be whipping ladies ;)
	Dox:	^ thhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssss

[ACL VaNzR]

I just have to comment on the fact 2 people have talked about my playlist. I spent a proud hour making that list. I will better myself in Melbourne and do you all proud with an even better, newer, improved, longer music playlist.

PS - Music is about 0.01% of LAN organisation haha - don't think I waste my time on that. Just had to laugh that people actually enjoyed it! haha

Quick Comments

	[TA]LoSt:	DJ VaNz :P
	NvRossi:	DJ Vanzetti
	Dox:	put that shit on dropbox, i want it in and around my ears
	syfChadMann:	^^
	Kalikah:	kudos to the Shiva in Exile remix ;)

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by ACL VaNzR

I just have to comment on the fact 2 people have talked about my playlist. I spent a proud hour making that list. I will better myself in Melbourne and do you all proud with an even better, newer, improved, longer music playlist.

PS - Music is about 0.01% of LAN organisation haha - don't think I waste my time on that. Just had to laugh that people actually enjoyed it! haha

VaNz if you need mate I got some playlists that will only reach the end if ACL streams for a month! Might be a touch heavy, but oh well

Quick Comments

inFeZa:

i think some metal in the mix would be nice! :)

[TargA]

Originally Posted by ACL VaNzR

I just have to comment on the fact 2 people have talked about my playlist. I spent a proud hour making that list. I will better myself in Melbourne and do you all proud with an even better, newer, improved, longer music playlist.

PS - Music is about 0.01% of LAN organisation haha - don't think I waste my time on that. Just had to laugh that people actually enjoyed it! haha

I got a hip hop playlist ( stricly bangers) 900 songs, 2 days worth of music. lets have that at acl melbourne!

I know maynarde will love it

Quick Comments

	Maynarde:	T_________T
	Dox:	lmfao

[Cordance]

Originally Posted by Dox

2c) One of our biggest sources of delays was one that could only be identified in retrospect. Our production team was itching to deliver so much premier content on day 1 that it really had an impact on our turnaround. We had pre-game interviews, post-game interviews, we had players seated at a feature station so we could provide a quality cinematic experience. This is all great stuff, but we should not have done this on Saturday. In future, we'll just be churning out Open Bracket matches as fast as possible. We'll move players around as little as possible (you still need to take your allocated seats though) and the stream won't wait for anything. We'll bring all that great production over to Sunday and allow the Group Stages / Championship Bracket to absorb those luxuries. Anyone reading this will be thinking, "Well duh, that's common sense." But as I said, we had so many wonderful production resources available to us that it was just lost amongst the commotion. I still stand by the opinion that ACL's production is second to none. We just need better direction. I really hope to provide this at ACL Melbourne.

I dont know how this would go with your setup but it might be an idea to record interviews if there is no time to fit them into the stream live so that you can play them in later downtime. Live is better, but watching an older interview is probably more likely to keep viewers around between games also gives you a few min to organize which match is coming up next for stream information.

Originally Posted by Dox

Furthermore, we had spectators using computers again. It was actually the same people I had to repeatedly ask to get off computers at ACL Gold Coast. You cannot imagine my disappointment. These computers are here for tournament purposes only. Not for you to update Facebook or chat on SC2SEA.

Without knowing exactly the situation you are talking about it might be worth trying to organize some "shit boxes" with this in mind. With special notes on the computer and making it dedicated to SC2SEA chat box or general use. I dont know what the additional cost or change to dynamics this would cause. Pro for it is SC2SEA chat is good for grabbing attention about the event for those who somehow missed it was already running or some such or are only interested in particular matches. Of cause Cons cost in time effort energy. There is also the unknown impact on dynamics of the event.
Also dont under estimate the power of backgrounds Im sure the backgrounds where probably advertisement for the computer that was being used a small banner under it with a message about Tournament play only to remind forgetful people might help.

Might be worth removing easy access to the web browser on gaming computers if that is viable creating a small file with the map pool (I noticed a player looking it up on SC2SEA.com on the stream at one point) or a big poster at the end of each row with the map pool. I dont know if you could network the brackets onto each computer might be a bit much to go wrong with that. A single display screen with the brackets might work. As troublesome as it sounds prevention is better than cure and you know if its a single mouse click people are going to be tempted. If you cant remove the web browser a home page set to Tournament play ONLY plastered on the screen might also help.

As a side note was it possible to purchase things live a the event. It would probably be a rare sale but if you could sell one of those laptops or headsets etc live at the event Im sure it would make sponsors have an easier time justifying it next event. Even if it is show up Saturday use it, like it, buy it for pick up Sunday dont know how that would go with the legal department etc. Just an idea to throw around might be something further down the road.

[AusBox]

Originally Posted by Cordance

As a side note was it possible to purchase things live a the event. It would probably be a rare sale but if you could sell one of those laptops or headsets etc live at the event Im sure it would make sponsors have an easier time justifying it next event. Even if it is show up Saturday use it, like it, buy it for pick up Sunday dont know how that would go with the legal department etc. Just an idea to throw around might be something further down the road.

TteSports was selling equipment during the event, such as keyboards, mouse pads etc.

We also had a mini-store at the centre admin desk which sold various gear such as cables.

[Zepph]

I won't bother throwing out my recommendations to improve next ACL because I think everything's already been said.

Instead I'd like to say a huge thank you to all the people involved in ACL for making it happen. I had a blast. It was great to have the opportunity to do a couple of casts alongside the wonderful Maynarde and the experience of being on such a professional stream in front of cameras and all that good stuff.

Loved the event, loved meeting people, loved the atmosphere. Can't wait to see how ACL Melbourne turns out!