With Catacombz 8.0 coming up in the near future, we'd like to take a moment to poll our attendees. What can we do to make Catacombz a more enjoyable event? What games do you guys want to play? What would you like to see changed or added? Is there anything that you especially like or dislike? What would make our event better for YOU?

This is your time to voice your opinion. Be respectful, but be honest.

DeZ

Just a few things my crew and i have talked about : Games, definitely need a bigger variety, even if they are older games. When maps do go up ex: cod, we should keep them goin longer than thirty minutes. We used to play that shit all night long. If you bring a new game, burn a couple copies so we can get it around the room a little quicker. By the time some people get games installed everyone else is allready done playing it. TALK MORE SHIT there is hardly any trash talk goin on lately, What's up with that? i have only been gamin with you guys a few years. It used to be a lot more fun!
Everyone should put thier two cents in here and make Combz fun as hell like it used to be!

If i think of anything else i will post it. If anyone needs me to do anything just ask i'm more than happy to help.

and for those who want to flame me FLAME ON!

I totally agree on the problem with people installing games just to have them finish the install and everyone stop playing. It can get very frustrating. Catacombz may need to consider looking at some of the free games out there as the main games to play and those everyone already has. For free games, good candidates are FEAR:Combat and Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory. Games everyone already has up and going are CoD:UO and Warcraft III.

The last few mini-Combz have been a bit stale, and it is more because there just aren't any good games that have come out in awhile.

Definitely need to ban all the MMORPG stuff from Catacombz. If you just want to play WoW, stay home and leave the spot for somebody who will LAN game.

A published schedule of events might be helpful, but if noone signs up for the games, then the point is moot.

It might be nice to actually poll participants and encourage them to vote for the games they want to play at Catacombz. Maybe just knowing what everyone has installed and ready to play might help.

And of course, if you are attending a LAN GAMING EVENT, heaven forbid you show up prepared to play.

Here is my list of games I am willing, installed and ready to play at Catacombz (in no particular order):

Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory
Age of Empires II or III
Dawn of War
FEAR Combat
CoD: UO
CoD 2
Might and Magic: Dark Messiah
Halflife II

I am also not opposed to going out and actually buying a game if I know there will be people ther playing it.

Well, iam totally against banning all the mmos, I play WoW, Eve online, and recenty started playing the LoTR Online open beta. I would rather lan some fps game than play any mmo, But when someting is up that i absolutely can't stand to play or nobody is playing a lan game i see no reaseon not to be able to log in to an mmo. If i wanted to play wow all night i would just stay home, and i think most people that play wow would.

As for playing the free games, great idea. Some people may not be able to run F.E.A.R *cough* odoyle *cough* but ET would be fine. There has definitely not been any recent game come out with a good lan style play at all. I also (as bad as it would kill me) would go buy a game if i knew it would get played more than thirty minutes that night.

The last few tournaments have also been pretty lame because nobody signs up for them. Cod/war3 is like all that will get everyone's attention. I think that unless you absolutely refuse to play it you should sign up and play, it would make the lan party better in general.

Good points guys. I agree with a lot of what was said so far. Here are my thoughts:

[b:4205e32bfb]MMORPG's[/b:4205e32bfb]
Regarding MMO's, my opinion is simple. As long as the game doesn't interfere with the LAN, it's fine to keep. In the past, we've had some internet difficulties, and when a few would jump on WoW or whatnot, our internet connectivity would crash and burn. We had a speed increase at the last event, but I cannot guarantee that we'll have the same for all future events. I need to talk to a few people to see if that's permanent, or just a one time thing. But, if the speed is there to support it without hindering others, it should be fine to allow them.

On a related note, I should also add that anyone playing MMO's at a LAN isn't exactly contributing much to the LAN. The entire idea of a LAN party is for everyone to have an opportunity to play the games they enjoy together, and if a group of people are all logged into WoW for hours on end, each doing their own thing in the game (not as a group), then it's rather silly for them to be at the LAN in the first place. However, like sockgoblin already mentioned, sometimes games get played that don't appeal to everyone. Not everyone enjoys CoD or War3 or...you get the point. In that scenario, I see no problem with MMO's being played to pass the time. I've played San Andreas at a LAN before to pass the time between games I didn't have a particular interest in, so I can't exactly condemn others for doing the same.

[b:4205e32bfb]Game Variety[/b:4205e32bfb]
It's true that there hasn't been a lot of decent games released in recent times that have a lot of appeal to LAN gamers. Are we a dying breed, or what? Sadly, I'm seeing too much attention turning to console, and not enough given to PC games, but that's neither here nor there...and is a much greater topic of debate than should be covered here. So, we must do what we can to continue our love of LAN gaming. If it means breaking out some older games to add some variety...great! There's nothing wrong with some of the games we've played in the past (*cough* except Counter-Strike *cough*). Hehe...just kidding. I'm all for playing some classics that haven't been touched in a while. Bring on the Duke3D, Delta Force, Starcraft, Unreal Tournament, and anything else that could have appeal to the majority of our group and get more people involved. Plus, perhaps many of the people out there have never played some of the classics. For example, I've always heard great things about Wolfenstein: ET, but I have personally never played it. So, I'd be perfectly open to giving it a shot.

I'm all for polling our participants to see what they want to play. However, if they don't speak up when given a chance (like here on the forums) then we'll never know. So I would like to openly encourage EVERYONE who reads this to please chime in...let us know what you want.

[b:4205e32bfb]Game Time[/b:4205e32bfb]
I also agree with this point. I believe that we should spend more time playing a particular game that just 20-30 minutes. Back in the day, we could easily spend 2-3 hours (or more) playing a single match of Unreal Tournament or Delta Force. These days, it seems like just as soon as we get a good heated match going, we're switching to something else. Granted, there are some games that do still take longer to play. When is the last time you've seen a standard War3 match take less that an hour and a half to play? But for the games that don't have a longer objective to complete (like first person shooters), we should give them a bit more time.

Also, we need to be more aware of those who don't have the games installed. Granted, in a perfect world, everyone would come to the events with everything installed and ready to rock, but things happen. Maybe a hard drive died? Maybe a format was required? Whatever the case, there will be times when someone doesn't have a game ready to play upon arrival. In those cases, perhaps something different should be played until everyone that wants to play, can play. Or perhaps just postpone the match long enough to give them time to prepare. Whatever the case, we need to keep the group involved and together.

So, great points made so far guys. Keep them coming!

here is my own 2 cents

alot of people fucking hate war3 and when most of the room is playin it they should be able to play wow or w/e and the fact they pay ,,,there should be no ports blocked ect. on the games issue...a wider variety would be nice...CoD, CS, alot of this would be nice...oh and John deere american farmer

Yea i was actually planning on attending this next one....

But i play WoW and thats about all i care about, i also like to hang out with my friends, thats why i would attened.

So yes there should be MMORPGs played at all lan events.


And if there wasnt i think that business would be down...alot of ppl go to the lan events to play MMORPGs and have fun with friends so i would suggest letting them be played.


KTHXBAI

K Im gonna be the first to flame someone. CHUBBZ YOU'RE AN IDIOT! People don't go to lan parties to play MMORPG's, PERIOD! The point of a LAN party is to "LAN" hints the name. If all you plan on doing is playing wow then you should probably just stay home, imho. But, there are times when playing wow shouldn't be considered a bad thing, people with common sense know when those times come and when the time comes to log back out. Like i said people with common sense so that probably doesn't pertain to you.

<3 U chubbz none the less.

Games i am willing to play:

Wolfenstein ET <------ pretty fun imo, you should definitely try it Dez.
UT GoTYE, since we have so much trouble with 2k4
definitely CoD:UO
F.E.A.R Combat <-----For those who can run it (NO OFFENSE ODOYLE)
Delta Force <---Never played but am allways willing to try it

Also there is a multiplayer server and patch for all the GTA series i blv up to San Andreas, I havent checked in a while but i know they were working on it. I have played the Vice City Online and it was pretty fun shit other than my latency was terrible. I would say that enough people in that on a lan game would be some fun stuff!

We used to spend a lot of time playing the original Delta Force game. Jester and I have tried running it a few times at the events without a lot of success. Besides the severely outdated graphics, we had a lot of trouble finding each other's games on the network and whatnot. Besides, someone ran off with my Delta Force CD at either Catacombz 6 or 7, and I haven't caught up with them yet to give them a thrashing and duct tape em to the flag pole.

However, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is a game that I used to play online constantly. It looks great, plays great, and should run just fine on most systems. Plus, it has multiple game play modes (deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, king of the hill, and maybe a couple more). I think Jman and I tried it at an event not too long ago, but I don't recall the result of that attempt.

GTAA multiplayer would be a trip....might be worth looking into just for shitz-n-grinz.

Shit im down to play anything...but Wolfenstien:ET for sure,CS,CoD,and im willing to try delta force also...and prolly not as much war3,and we also need to try and find a way to get everyone to play in the tourney's,but like a couple ppl said...if some1 doesnt wanna play the game everyone else is playing (EX: War3) then mmo's should be allowed to be played...or else ppl are prolly just gonna start getting up and leaving...any1 with common since(or common decency) should know when and when NOT to play online games

Here's my bit. I've only been to a few events, starting with Combz 7 last fall, and I have definitely seen too much War3 and CoD. Those have been the only games really played at any of the events I've been too. Don't get me wrong, those games kick ass, but when that's all we play...Come on. So, variety is something we need.

As for games, any FPS. UT GotY or 2k4, CS 1.6 or Source, HL2 DM, Red Faction, hell, Quake 3 would tickle my innards a little bit, Wolf: ET, if someone has a copy of Halo for PC, I say play it!

As for the whole MMORPG bit, I don't say ban them, but if someone is coming just to take advantage of the high speed line and veg out for 33hours, they should just stay home. Yeah, the spirit of LAN'ing is in the game and hanging out with friends, but, the point is to LAN. That is, play some of what everyone else is playing. And, unless EVERYONE at Combz is playing on the same WoW server, we're not all going to be able to play.

Anyway, I can't fargin wait! It's gonna be GREAT!

WORB

Ok here's my opinion on the hole thing, i think mmo's should be allwoed when there is time to kill and someone just honestly hates the game that is being played. If you want to just play wow the entire time u r there just stay home, we can play wow any time. At a LAN you should play the gme that is being played, is that not the point of LAN? But i definetly think they should be allowed. I do like the suggestions for variety. I would like a chance to play some of the old school games that i've never played before. I dont say much on most issues but i thought it was my time to post.

JaKe

It seems that the majority of us are in agreement. So, now let's hear what games your guys would like to see added to our current playlist.

We can really use some new games on the playlist, but I would really appreciate a list of patchlevels we need. I remember reinstalling and patching BF1942 for nearly a half hour only to find that the game was over by the time I could connect.

I'm down for UT/UT04, FEAR, HL1 DM, HL2 DM, Dawn of War, whatever anybody wants to start up. I'd play some Diablo II hardcore if anybody else is up for it!

[quote:3a0df0130e="Chameleon"]We can really use some new games on the playlist, but I would really appreciate a list of patchlevels we need. [/quote:3a0df0130e]
That's a very good idea. If everyone had a list of the games we play AND the patch version we were on, things would run much smoother I think.

We'll see if we can't work something out on that before Catacombz 8.

Good post.