Just a quick post to let everyone know exactly what we’re up to here at AI-CON Lans.

We’ve been noticing a fair amount of attendee fatigue recently and what better way to make the heart grow fonder than with absence!

Humor aside, the admin needs to take some time off and recharge his batteries and this break will also give us time to repair and revitalise our LAN server, which has started to develop a series of worrying quirks.

During this time we’re going to go over some of our event strategies and also modify the way we present and schedule games. We encourage people to email us (lan.admin@aiconlans.com) and share with us their thoughts or suggestions on how the event can be improved.

Further more to the point of improving the LAN, we are going to return to UTAS for the near future. Sadly the move to the Hobart Showgrounds has proved to be a double-edged sword. Whilst a huge venue, with ample parking and heating, attendance growth has not followed us out to our new venue, so we will for now be content once again with UTAS LAW131. This is a painful decision for all involved but given attendance numbers and accounting, we think its for the best.

So please consider all events suspended until our return in late September of 2010. We hope to see you soon!

• Event details

LAN 15 proved to be a solid and yet relaxed LAN. Attendance hovered at about 18 boxes and quite a few more general attendees, some for the DigiVisiPop meeting & still others for the TUU Anime Society screening, which was held in the LAN hall, as the rest of the Showground’s Admin Building was playing host to another event.

Definitely a very chill event with the schedule being mostly ignored. Friendly banter and spontaneous events characterised most of the day. Some didn’t love the movie play-list and by the power of majority vote some were even cut short.  

Network & power was rock solid throughout the event. Server hummed along very nicely, however we have noticed that when 5+ people are grabbing the same game, download speeds can crawl down to 2.5mb/s – fear not, a solution is in being worked out.

Evening’s movies were Idiocracy, Tokyo Gore Police & Crank. Other fan favorites were Fat Pizza & Cat Shit One. An eclectic group if there ever was one.

Lunch run came togetherperfectly & Dinner run with Domino’s also went well.   

• Game wrap-up

Quake 3 (1PM – 2PM): By and large ignored for other pursuits.  

Blur (2PM – 3.30PM): Arguably one of the more fun arcade racers we’ve played, however many attendees were otherwise occupied & some connectivity issues made life difficult for certain players. Actual game play was fast and furious.

KillingFloor (3.30PM – 5.30PM): So much win. When the players figure out a strategy they are invincible. Those who fail to organise… get raped. Massively popular. 2 servers at any one time, some player balancing required but great fun none the less.

CoD 4 (5.30PM – 7.30PM): By and large ignored for other pursuits. FK & WC3 filled most of this time slot.

WarCraft 3 (7.30PM – 9.30PM): Once again WarCraft3 just absorbed the entire hall with DoTA & CastleFight matches. No version or acquisition problems, so game play flow was aided.

TeamFortress 2 (10PM – 12PM): Never happened. All sorts of random games were played in its stead.

• Thoughts for next time

Turnout was much better than expected and the chilled out atmosphere was wonderful for the admin & attendees alike. However it must be said that attendee fatigue appears to have begun to skew attendee turnout & enthusiasm. This is a natural occurrence for an event that has effectively run non-stop every fortnight since the beginning of the year.

Regardless of how often we tweak the gameplay list & juggle strategys there is always a time and place for rest. This time has come.

Its important to stress that we are NOT disbanding, simply going on break for the next 1 or 2 cycles. We’ll likely return sometime in late September of this year.

We continue to encourage people to invite friends & family to the LAN’s to help us grow and continue to offer one of the friendliest LAN’s in Tasmania. Please remember to sign up to either our mailing list on the right, or our Facebook Group. It’s an outstanding way to keep in contact with people and inform them of new events.

Bad pun is bad. But LAN #16 wont be! This LAN will be held on Saturday, August 14. Noon start-up, though doors open at 11.30AM. Event wraps up at 1AM, so a full 13 hours of gaming & leeching.

Event will once again be @ The Hobart Showgrounds, with entry via the MAIN GATE in Howard Rd. Click here for a map specifying adjacent parking and event location. For those in the know we will be in the Administration Building, in the Patrons Room.

Console gamers will be provided space as part of the ongoing console fight game tournaments. This continues to be a crowd drawer so please come along & pick up a controller.

We will be operating a DC++ HUB. This will be the only method of leeching available. We’ll be using YnHub and we STRONGLY encourage the use of DC++ 0.762 or ApexDC++ 1.3.3. Please pre-hash your files.

Screening room will be active once again as will consoles. Weather forecast is for horrible wet stuff, so come inside and stay warm

LAN Full Access = $10.00 / Console games Access = $5.00 / Screening Room = $2 donation

• Playlist:

• MAP:

View Larger Map

Hobart Showgrounds. Admin Building – Patrons Room /// #2 Howard Rd. Glenorchy TAS 7010
To access the Patrons Room you entre the Showgrounds via the Main Gate, proceed 600m forward towards the beige Admin Building. Follow venue signage to gain entry via the glass foyer area.

Please phone 044 994 5211 if you get lost or check the FAQ.

• What to bring:

Your own personal PC / Laptop. There will be no equipment for loan.
HEADPHONES. You have been warned.
A 1.5m+ extension cable with surge protector.
Your own power board.
Your own CAT5 non-cross over cable. 3+ metres in length.
Sufficient drink & food for the duration of your stay. There will be a lunch run & an evening pizza run.

• Reminders

No Internet will be available, so Steam users please switch to offline.

Bring a surge protecting device if possible as the LAN cannot provide that equipment.

Wireless may be available but this is no excuse for not bringing a network cable.

Standard rules & common sense apply as we are on Hobart Showgrounds property so please remember to be courteous, clean and no alcohol. IF YOU MAKE A MESS CLEAN IT UP.

Also all our LAN all our events are of a MA15+ rating, so please bear this in mind.

• Refreshments & Food

We now provide refreshments during the event. $1.00 for a can Solo or Coke. 600ml water also going for $1. Rockstar will be available for $3.75 for a 500ml can. We will also be making bowls of Mi-Goreng for $2.00 .

Lunch & Dinner runs will also be carried out.

NOTE: Please join our mailing list on the right & ourFacebook Group! Please remember to RSVP on our event page as it helps us guess how many people will come.

Late evening, LAN 15

Write up & promo are pretty late this time around, sorry about that – Being sick is no fun. New write-up format to condense information. 

• Event details

After LAN 14 we were worried about turn out, however attendance gave a swift up-kick and we were back to 18 boxes and about 22 attendees & 7+tb on the DC++ hub share. Plenty of lulz were had all around, especially with Chance & Ducky supplying most of the evenings laughs with sexual innuendo abounding. 

Network & power was rock solid throughout the event. Server coughed up some interesting errors, but nothing fatal. 

Screening room was practically deserted for the entirety of the day however until we can properly alert members of the now defunct TUU Anime Society. Projector was returned to the LAN hall for a screening of Team America, Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog & Fight Club. Apparently this choice went down quite well. 

Lunch run came together okay, minus the 20+ minute cook time. Dinner run with Domino’s went well also. 

• Game wrap-up

CounterStrike: Source (1PM – 2PM): Game saw lukewarm adoption from the room, as many people were still setting up or were put off by the CS:S fame. 2 modes played; normal & knife bot armada. 

StarCraft 1 (2PM – 3.30PM): Most of the room got in on this one, with Dhark once again dominating any match he participated in. Other notables were Snark & Bobsyagod. 2 modes played; FFA & Top vs Down. 

CoD 4 (3.30PM – 5.30PM): Didn’t happen. Sporadic matches of WarCraft3 & KillingFloor erased CoD4 from the lineup. 

KillingFloor (5.30PM – 7.30PM): 2 – 3 servers were brought online, with no reported crashes. Cries of rage & frustration were heard throughout most of the play through. Most of the room was playing at one point or another. Maximum of 6 players is somewhat annoying. Still it was thoroughly enjoyed. 

WarCraft 3 (7.30PM – 9.30PM): This gaming juggernaut managed to absorb the entire room for hours on end. There were some sporadic version problems, however most people sat down and enjoyed DoTA & Castle Fight. Particularly spammy CF matches managed to draw crowds as onlookers gaped at the unit on unit carnage. 

TeamFortress 2 (10PM – 12PM): There appeared to be some disinterest in TF2, however most of the room did join with the game topping 15 players at its high point. Fast paced game play, but team balance issues appeared to frustrate players at certain points. Still W+1 & heavy spam was fun to watch. 

• Console games write-up

This lan saw a bit of new life for the consoles, with people playing Tekken 5, Street Fighter 3rd strike and Super Street Fighter 4, Blazblue and Tatsunoko vs Capcom. Even a brief round of Street Fighter Alpha 2 happened. Brawl was present too, although with less interest than usual, even though it’s been the main crowd drawer previously.

In other news we also had a few Melty Blood players here and there, which while a PC game I’m going to lump in with these fighters. Hopefully we’ll see more players develop from that.

Right now I’m looking for a lot of feedback on what people would like to see or how they would like the consoles organized as while a crowd is emerging as is I think there is a lot of room for improvement on that front.

As usual, tell your friends, if they won’t come, remember HADOUKEN!

- write up courtesy of Link6616

LAN #15 – Later evening

• Thoughts for next time

Improved turnout was GREAT, as was the atmosphere. Projector needs to come in sooner, sun permitting. People seem to really like the Pasito and Kirks Lemonade, so we’ll get more of that. Mi-goreng wasn’t available, but fear not it’ll be back  

We’ll keep on tweaking the playlist to make sure people have a good time. Also huge thankyou to everyone who stayed to make sure the venue got cleaned up. Every hand helps. 

We continue to encourage people to invite friends & family to the LAN’s to help us grow and continue to offer one of the friendliest LAN’s in Tasmania. Please remember to sign up to either our mailing list on the right, or our Facebook Group. It’s an outstanding way to keep in contact with people and inform them of new events.

Because most of us have played StarCraft religiously in some part of our life, we’re decided to co-opt the ‘Spawn more overlord.depot.pylons’ joke for this, our 15th LAN which is around about the release date for SC2.

However on with the actual important information!  This LAN will be held on Saturday, July 31. Noon start-up, though doors open at 11.30AM. Event wraps up at 1AM, so a full 13 hours of madness.

Even bigger news though! With the recent vote to merge the TUU Anime Society into the TUU Digivisipop Society (who fund and control AI-CON LAN’s), its been decided that future screenings will be held at the LAN venue! See further below for a screening schedule. We will be screening all new current material, most of which is released in high def. Don’t hesitate to email me if you want to see something added. Nothing is too obscure!

View Larger Map

Please remember that entrance is via the MAIN GATE via Howard Rd. Click here for a map specifying adjacent parking and event location. For those in the know we will be in the Administration Building, in the Patrons Room.

No Internet will be available, so Steam users please switch to offline. Boxes on the table this time, however you can place on floor at your own risk.  We also remind people to bring a surge protecting device if possible as the LAN cannot provide that equipment.

Consider the following timetable a guide rather than an absolute.

Copies will be provided for the unfortunate. Game play-list WILL NOT be subject to majority vote.  Wireless may be available but this is no excuse for not bringing a network cable.

Console gamers will be provided space as part of the ongoing console fight game tournaments. This continues to be a crowd drawer so please come along & pick up a controller. If your only attending to participate in console games its only $5dls. Venue does not have a projector so we will be relying on televisions in the console area.

Standard rules & common sense apply as we are on Hobart Showgrounds property so please remember to be courteous, clean and no alcohol. IF YOU MAKE A MESS CLEAN IT UP.

 Also all our LAN all our events are of a MA15+ rating, so please bear this in mind.

 We will be operating a DC++ HUB. This will be the only method of leeching available. We’ll be using YnHub and we STRONGLY encourage the use of DC++ 0.762 or ApexDC++ 1.3.3. Please pre-hash your files.

As we are paying venue hire for this event, all participants are required to pay $10.00 dollars to attend or $5 if you only play the consoles.

We now provide refreshments during the event. $1.00 for a can Solo or Coke. 600ml water also going for $1. Rockstar will be available for $3.75 for a 500ml can. We will also be making bowls of Mi-Goreng for $2.00 .

 @:

 Hobart Showgrounds. Admin Building – Patrons Room /// #2 Howard Rd. Glenorchy TAS 7010
To access the Patrons Room you entre the Showgrounds via the Main Gate, proceed 600m forward towards the beige Admin Building. Follow venue signage to gain entry via the glass foyer area.

Please phone 044 994 5211 if you get lost or check the FAQ.

What to bring:

Your own personal PC / Laptop. There will be no equipment for loan.
HEADPHONES. You have been warned.
A 1.5m+ extension cable with surge protector.
Your own power board.
Your own CAT5 non-cross over cable. 3+ metres in length.
Sufficient drink & food for the duration of your stay. There will be a lunch run & an evening pizza run.

NOTE: Please join our mailing list on the right & ourFacebook Group! Please remember to RSVP on our event page as it helps us guess how many people will come.

LAN #14 - Early evening

Sorry for the late write up – its been a trying week.

After the success of LAN #13, we were unsure if #14 could meet up to such high expectations. Sadly enough we were running week on from a TUCS lan & head to head with the WarHammer convention in the CBD. This cut our numbers significantly, down to about 14 boxes, with about 20 attendees in total.

This might have shaken the hearts of less strong groups, but we stood fast for a very entertaining day at our new venue in Hobart Showgrounds.

BattleField 2 was our first game of the day, with the action centering on ‘meat-grinder’ like events, with the room vs bots on infantry & tactics heavy game-play. Our sniper corps, consisting of Rev, MorgZ, bot_Morgz were both notorious and lethal.

From that point on the schedule was essentially gutted by rule of the room.

The Lunch run was bumped up and thanks to our decision to deal exclusively with Hungry Jacks, we suffered no real delays or misfortunes.

KillingFloor was then inserted into playlist, much to the delight of the room. Some server issues caused a certain amount of lag for the first part, however once the error was sorted massive amounts of fun were had. None of the 6+ player maps were in the line up, however thanks to player balancing most of the room got the opportunity to play with each other at some point.

WarCraft3 (1.21b) custom maps; DoTA & Castle Fight were the next game. Several hours rushed by in short order, with Scott being the clear winner in DoTA and the humans prevailing against the AI in Castle Fight.

Team Fortress 2 then exploded onto the floor which pretty much everyone joining in for some red VS blue action. Notable stars of the evening where Dhark & Snark, who utilised the double medico + uber combo to leverage extremely frustrating wins against the opposing side. Constantly. Assholes.

The dinner run was… challenging. Slower and less refined, the Pizza Hut website on its best day is cumbersome. However once everyones order was in, the web form promptly shut down. The same happened to the terminal of the customer service representative. Which was later followed up by excuses and delays from Pizza Hut local management. Wasted time; 45 minutes.

We gave up and went with Domino’s. 18 pizzas. 4 sides. 5 minute order time. 15 minutes to pick up. We know where we’re going back to next time.

LAN #14 - Late evening.

KillingFloor was then voted back in after dinner, which turned into an extended play run, with the gloves coming off and the difficulty getting cranked up. There was excitement, cries and rage in the air, right up until we wrapped up.

Despite lackluster turn out and questionable timetable interpretation, everyone who came along had a great time, with plenty of leeching. From an organiser perspective a lot was also learnt, which will hopefully make the next LAN a superior experience. Once again I thank every single person who stayed to help clean up the venue. We could not have done it without your help.

We continue to encourage people to invite friends & family to the LAN’s to help us grow and continue to offer one of the friendliest LAN’s in Tasmania.

Please remember to sign up to either our mailing list on the right, or our Facebook Group. It’s an outstanding way to keep in contact with people and inform them of new events.