Myself (left) and Travis (right) guest casting on eFragTV at NERV LAN.
I’d like to first start off by thanking everyone who came out and made NERV LAN this past weekend so successful. You are the reason why I love doing what I do in eSports. I’d also like to apologize to all of you on the web looking for updates from NERV here and from my twitter as things did not go quite according to plan. Friday was the craziest day of the entire event as we had to check everyone into the event for the first time and deal with a plethora of technical issues at the facility. Additionally, as I tweeted on Saturday, I realized I left my BlackBerry charger at my apartment, which left me conserving battery until I could find one to borrow (thanks Kevin).
Overall the event ran very smoothly and the amount of feedback we have gotten back has been almost entirely all positive. Although there are some things I would have liked to have gone better – such as the coverage provided to those looking for updates on the web – I think people were just amazed at how quick and smooth the event ran. We ended up finishing roughly 2-3 hours ahead of schedule, which made commuting on Sunday a lot easier for everyone, especially those who had to travel far.
Now that NERV has concluded there are a lot of questions floating around about the possibility of another LAN in the near future. I can say we (the group who organized this past NERV LAN) would very much be interested in running another event in the future and have already begun discussion about forming a more structured organization. I cannot go into details at the moment because things simply have not been decided yet, but I will say there is excitement in the air around the CoD4 community.
In conclusion, I can honestly say I never expected this to happen. When I agreed to help organize NERV LAN I thought I would be taking on a small assisting role. This role turned into something more with the departure of one of our admins roughly two weeks before the event, and now this might have turned into an eSports business opportunity. I thought my major involvement in eSports was done, perhaps not so much now…stay tuned.
Sorry for the late notice, but I will be collaborating with a number of individuals from the Call of Duty eSports community to organize and run a LAN tournament the weekend of Feb 19-22. The good news is that it looks like we will be getting the event sponsored by Alienware Arena if everything works out. This will put more money in the hands of competitors which is very good considering it has been quite long since the North American CoD community had a LAN event. After working in the eSports industry for so long, I can say with complete confidence myself and the other organizers are doing our best to make this event fun and a success for all those involved.
I will be tweeting updates from the event in real time and blogging content here at night so be sure to check in regularly. Additionally, eFragTV has graciously agreed to provide live streaming coverage of the event on their site so please be sure to check them out.
This week I have a lot of organizing still to do for the event and I’ll be sure to post back here with updates for the event and a nice preview article. Stay tuned.
This past week I was in the bookstore browsing through the technology section mostly waiting on my mother who was looking for some kind of magazine related to interior design when I stumbled across a very interesting book entitled What Would Google Do? by well known blogger Jeff Jarvis. I skimmed through the description on the inside cover and thought “heck why not” and purchased it. After a week of getting settled back into classes I finally got the time to start reading this truly fantastic book, and I am shooting myself in the leg for not getting to it quicker. What Would Google Do? is simply that good.
Now I know what you are thinking, “I’ve already read a hundred books and articles about Google, how can this one be different?” What Would Google Do? is different because as Jarvis states, “… is a book that, in the end, is not about Google. It’s about you.” Jarvis dissects key elements to Google’s success and then constructs them into simple but powerful rules that you, I, or anyone else for that matter, can use in our lives. Best yet, they actually work, regardless of your background or experiences.
At the moment I’m not even halfway through the book but if what I have read thus far is excellent. I’ve been recommending it to a plethora of my fellow college students and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a genuine interest in a new way of thinking. As Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.com stated, “What Would Google Do? is an exceptional book that captures the massive changes the internet is effecting in our culture, in marketing, and in advertising.”
The first semester for most college students is over, the Holidays are almost here, college football bowl week begins this weekend, NFL playoffs are around the corner, the baseball hot stove continues to heat up, and I’m still behind on my to-do list. It’s good to see some things don’t change. As a big fan of the tv show Burn Notice on USA, which returns in January, I decided to spice things up a little, Burn Notice style. Here’s the January preview:
Philles get Doc Halladay
After three days of insane negotiations the Phillies finally got their man, Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays. Unfortunately the Phills had to give up quite a bit to get Halladay which has caused some people I have talked with to be very concerned with the deal. Let me first say this, Halladay is arguably the best pitcher in the Majors. He’s been playing in the toughest division to pitch in, the AL East with the Yankees & Red Sox, and now he’s coming to the NL East. Two other important points to note about Halladay is that he has the most complete games out of any starting pitcher in the majors and he is more of a ground ball pitcher, both of which is good in the smaller Citizens Bank Ballpark.
Now unfortunately accompanying this deal is the loss of Cliff Lee for prospects. The Phillies could have probably traded for Halladay and kept Lee for the final season on his contract, however, at the conclusion of their trade they would have given up 7 of their top 10 prospects in their farm system. No matter how good the Phillies are today or next season, there still has to be some plans for the future. The culture of the Phillies is changing, they are trying to get away from the losing Phillies of the past and reinvent themselves as a championship contender year in and year out, not just for a 2-4 year stretch. Just remember kids, “If you’re looking over your shoulder to see who’s coming after you, you can’t see where you’re going.” Read the rest of this entry »
Good news for all those paying attention, I’ve redesigned again! I’m going to be moving this blog away from its original in-depth total eSports content to encompass mostly topics concerning web design, web interfaces, marketing and other digital media topics. Additionally, I’m also in the process of formatting all my work into a more concise portfolio to make things easier to find. The good news is I think for the most part things are done in the design end and any changes will be mainly functionality upgrades with a few aesthetic altercations now and again. So without further ado I will attempt to give my take on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and no I do not own the game (and I’m not boycotting the game, my computer cannot run it). This is probably the longest eSports related post you will see here in while.
I saw a post on the forums the other day where my good friend Logan “badfish” Newell made a post basically calling out people in the CoD community who went out and bought into the MW2 craze. Interesting to say the least, but ultimately useless. Every competitive CoD player could refuse to buy MW2 and I can guarantee you IW wouldn’t blink twice, heck they probably wouldn’t even blink once. Now maybe if this was 2001 when CoD1 originally came out they would, but not today. The reasoning is simple; the current competitive community provides no return on investment (ROI) for IW. Competitive gaming is a merely a fraction of the shadow it once was, anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves. It was much better when CoD1 originally came out and CPL hosted their winter CoD event. Things were even better when WSVG hosted a CoD2 tournament at their Dallas event.
Today’s community lacks a professional structure and influx of revenue between gamers, sponsors and organizers it once had. Worse yet, IW and other game development studios know it. I saw this video on Jock Yitch’s site BASHandSlash (curtsey of catcher6250) a few days ago and there is a line Robert Bowling says that is absolutely hilarious to anyone in the competitive community.
“…and then if they have criticisms and feedback after that then we’re totally open ears and listening to them…” Jock pointed out how well Robert spins this topic and I’ll point out another: anyone remember all the CoDTV feedback back in 2001? While they might have open ears IW never promises to actually do anything. Furthermore, whenever GaretJax comes up with random news about how close IW is to CoDTV everyone gets all excited and then we don’t hear anything for months. Bottom line is CoDTV does not provide a positive ROI for IW, even if someone else like GaretJax basically hands them the code and explains specifically how to make it happen. The only way IW makes money implementing CoDTV is if CoD was a popular competitive game across multiple professional tournament events that reach the mainstream audience. Read the rest of this entry »
