[Sent1nel]

GESC Update

First off I'd like to thank everyone who has competed in the online qualifiers, I've enjoyed watching many of the games and seeing the talent SEA has to offer. The last one kicks off this weekend so if you haven't already registered be sure to sign up for a chance to compete at the Grand Final in Melbourne.

Grand Final Date

In order to best accommodate the community we have worked hard in order to shift the Grand Final date from Sunday the 8th to Saturday the 7th - we are now confirmed Saturday the 7th. I have been in contact with ACL and the final piece to the puzzle will be to ensure there is no conflict of activities on the Saturday. This will provide many players with the opportunity to compete in both events.

Hardware & Setup

In terms of logistics at the Grand Final we will be utilising 30 of our high-performance Intel and Gigabyte powered systems. Many of you will be familiar with these having played on a previous generation at the Gigabyte Esports Championship 2011 and at the Australian WCG Final on the Gold Coast last year. In order to minimise disruption each player will be assigned a PC for the duration of the event and will not be required to move until the Semi and Grand Final rounds.

Hardware Update:
CPU: Intel Core i7 3960X
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 460
Screen: BenQ XL2420T

Venue

The venue for the event is the Monash University Clayton Campus. Here the event will form part of the "Computer Games Boot Camp" (CGBC) being run by Monash University. CGBC is a yearly event that attracts around 1,000 university students from throughout the region and overseas. The focus is on showcasing video games, gaming and electronic sports along with the career and study opportunities relative to these pursuits. For reference the venue is approximately 25 minutes from ACL.

Live Stream & Coverage

The event will be live-streamed for its entirety and will be shoutcasted by Team Immunity's own coverage team and community affiliates. Confirmed so far are SEA personalities iM System, iM Zain and iM Zepph. That's right iM Zepph (http://www.sc2sea.com/showthread.php?t=4370&page=9) is now part of the strike team and we look forward to seeing her light up the action live in Melbourne.

Food & Refreshments

Currently we are finalising details in relation to catering however there will be provisions made for the players. On the refreshment front I can confirm that Red Bull and water will be provided free to all participants. Once again this is to minimise disruption and down-time of players.

Qualifier Prizes

Prizes for the online qualifiers will be presented at the Grand Final event to all of the winners. This is by design in order to minimise overhead on postage and handling. Any players unwilling or unable to attend the Grand Final will need to make alternative arrangements.

Qualified Players

All qualified players will need to confirm their attendance by Monday the 25th of June at the latest. Qualification spots will pass down based on qualification points awarded from each of the respective qualifiers.

History

I have been running PC LAN events for 20 years both locally and Internationally. Some of the notable events I have either run completely or part thereof include the World Cyber Games Australia, World Cyber Games Asia, Gigabyte Electronic Sport Championships (Black-Ops, Counter-Strike Source, Starcraft 2) and the Electronic Games Expo (4 years).

If anyone has questions feel free to post them in this thread - and be sure to give Zepph a big shout-out!

Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:	Nice!
	MezjE:	IM TRYING TO SMILE AND NOD

[Peleus]

Great work on getting it shifted. I think that's win win for everyone, much appreciated.

[AxSGRiM]

Awesome job, Australia is growing so much in the eSports scene compared to previous years

[x5_dot]

oh no PiG and i booked flights to arrive in melb on saturday arvo

Quick Comments

	iM yang:	uh oh spaghetti-O's
	Zepph:	Just call up and say WE NEED OUR FLIGHTS CHANGED. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO WERE ARE????
	Mayo:	^^^^^^^^

[syfChadMann]

anyway GESC and ACL could arrange a bus for players to travel from GESC to ACL?... help them out - even if the players chuck in to cover the costs, I'm sure alot will be interested?

(unless its really close by?) - or people want to leave early...

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

This would be awesome

[x5_dot]

Originally Posted by dot89

Just call up and say WE NEED OUR FLIGHTS CHANGED. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO WERE ARE????

hmm we arrive at 1.40pm
any chance play starts after this?!?

*sigh* book early to save money. end up potentially missing 4k tournament o.O

Quick Comments

PiG:

Yeah Please let us know if arriving at 2.30pm would be too late?

[EveTechtron]

whats the chance of me qualifying on points, if I have missed the first two qualifiers ?

[dippa]

so does this mean group stages for ACL won't be played until the sunday (as everyone who would be playing in GESC quals will also be in the pro bracket)

[Sent1nel]

Organising some transport from GESC to ACL won't be a problem - we can cover that for players that require it.

@dot89 - At this stage I believe ACL still want to run with some Pro-Pool play on the Saturday night. We're doing our best to ensure we don't conflict with this, however assuming they can meet us half way we might be able to run with a later start time - 2PM might be pushing it however.

@dippa - Someone from ACL will need to chime in here. As mentioned above my understanding is that they are aiming to run some Pro-Pool play on the Saturday night. How many players that is and what time that is I can't comment.

@EveTechtron - I'll have to defer that to the Admin's - I'll get someone to post here shortly.

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

Baller !

[syfChadMann]

Sent1nel - you sir, are a baller.. good job big boy.

I'd say ACL will run as it has - dox has stated this, there will be people at ACL in pro-pools that are not in GESC - so I'm sure there will be a bunch of games that can be played the Saturday night if players in the GESC aren't there in time.

Problem is.. alot of the 'fans' will be playing the Open Bracket, so the spectator pit at GESC might be small...? :S

[xpaperclip]

Originally Posted by Sent1nel

Venue

The venue for the event is the Monash University Clayton Campus. Here the event will form part of the "Computer Games Boot Camp" (CGBC) being run by Monash University. CGBC is a yearly event that attracts around 1,000 university students from throughout the region and overseas. The focus is on showcasing video games, gaming and electronic sports along with the career and study opportunities relative to these pursuits. For reference the venue is approximately 25 minutes from ACL.

I am highly sceptical that you can get from Monash Clayton to Moonee Valley in 25 minutes; Google Maps reckons 35 minutes and even that I think is an underestimate. People should be prepared to budget for much more time travelling if they are intending to play both events, especially if they make it deep in GESC and then have to play in groups at ACL in the evening.

Quick Comments

PiG:

ty for the advice :)

[Sent1nel]

You make it sound like we have some nefarious intent for saying 25 minutes instead of 35 minutes - I did say approximately. Considering it would be on a Saturday night or afternoon, I highly doubt it would be 35 minutes.

I do agree with regards to the potential of overlapping proceedings - which is why I'm hopeful ACL can meet us half way.

[syfMiley]

Originally Posted by xpaperclip

I am highly sceptical that you can get from Monash Clayton to Moonee Valley in 25 minutes; Google Maps reckons 35 minutes and even that I think is an underestimate. People should be prepared to budget for much more time travelling if they are intending to play both events, especially if they make it deep in GESC and then have to play in groups at ACL in the evening.

Monash Clayton to Moonee Valley is definitely further away than 25-35 mins, and even then that is by car/taxi.

[syfChadMann]

yah - but as I said.. there are only a few pool games usually played on Saturday.. those games can be between whom ever is available at the venue.. not everyone in the ACL Pools is going to be at GESC. if the GESC starts at 11 at is a (16 player double elim?) it should get people to ACL around 6-7...? if they start at 10 it should be all gravy baby..

But, sucks for PiG - might need to rebook your flight?..

[xpaperclip]

Originally Posted by Sent1nel

You make it sound like we have some nefarious intent for saying 25 minutes instead of 35 minutes - I did say approximately. Considering it would be on a Saturday night or afternoon, I highly doubt it would be 35 minutes.

I do agree with regards to the potential of overlapping proceedings - which is why I'm hopeful ACL can meet us half way.

Sorry, not at all, I think it's great how hard GESC and ACL are trying to make both events work. I'm just saying that it is something people (especially those from interstate) should keep in mind when planning.

[nirvAnA]

hi techtron, the simple answer to your question is theres still at least a 50% chance.

The long answer is as follows. Here is the remaining list of the players.

+ [Current Eligible Registered Players] +

1. Yojun "Nv.YoonYJ" Yoon
2. Daniel "Nv.deth" Haynes
3. Derek "Nv.Dox" Reball
4. David "Nv.Rossi" Rossi
5. Samuel "cRFourby" Tham
6. Mark 'yang' Richardson
7. Thomas "SQL.Stallion" Sturman
8. Zi Ray "xGking.Light" Wang
9. Cameron "cREdgE" Murrin
10. Vince "Mi NotoriouS" Rocca
11. Marcus "FlashRevz" Tan
12. Bryan "FlashDrake" Sum
13. Thomas "Flashblitz" Kopankiewicz
14. Ryan "Flashkyzer" Low
15. Bradley "GoSutgun" Seymour

Out of the 15, I know two can't make it. Light will be with the missus on holiday, Revenant will wanna spend time with his friends before he flies off to Korea. Yoon will probably not show again.

So theres 12 slots, three of which will qualify and win prizes. Including you, that leaves 10 people to qualify for points. Assuming games could go either way between the remaining 10 players and 5 qualify for points, that leaves about a 50% chance to qualify and depending on how you rate yourself that number may be higher or you may even win one of the top 3 spots.

[Sent1nel]

There are also a number of qualified players that haven't yet announced their intentions on whether or not they will attend. So I'd say it's definitely a higher than 50% chance.

[Dox]

Originally Posted by nirvAnA

Yoon will probably not show again.

Yoon is back home now, he'll be there! Doesn't matter though 'cos I'M GONNA SMASH THIS QUALIFIER.

As for the questions about group stages being postponed to Sunday, we have absolutely no reason to do this. There will be more than enough players at ACL who aren't participating in GESC to get games running after the open bracket starts to dwindle. Just like Gold Coast and Sydney - no changes whatsoever.

P.S. @Dot: Most airlines will allow you to reschedule to an earlier flight for a small fee. On weekends where they're not very busy, they'll often let you do it for free. I've even arrived at a terminal 4 hours early, opted to (self) check in on arrival, and then been given the option to select an earlier flight instead. This occurs on Qantas & Virgin.

Quick Comments

x5_dot:

Yeah we checked. $150 to move flights a day earlier

[Sent1nel]

So does that mean you don't run a fixed Pro-Bracket on the Saturday night? For example if player X, Y and Z are AFK they can still be playing on the Sunday morning?

[Dox]

Yeah, it's groups, so there's no strict structure. As soon enough people have been eliminated from the Open Bracket, we ask the seeded players to take a seat and started playing their Group matches. We'll work around the people who can't necessarily be there, no biggie.