Respawn LAN v17 Powered by Tt eSports Options

[Zardoz]

Respawn LAN v17 Powered by Tt eSports
July 3-4th 2010, La Trobe University, Bundoora

Melbourne's most successful BYO PC LAN gaming event is BACK FOR MORE and what better way to spend Melbourne's coldest winter nights than inside a hall immersing in the glow of 400 PCs?

Continuing on our tradition of delivering the best LAN experience, our 17th event announces the biggest swag we've seen in recent times! Thanks to our wonderful sponsors, Tt eSports by Thermaltake, Fractal Designs and Wild Wire for their amazing support! Check these prizes out:

Counter-Strike Source 5v5 (total prize pool over $2000!)
1st place: 5x ThermalTake eSports Challenger PRO gaming keyboard + 5x Fractal Design Define R2 PC gaming case
2nd place: 5x ThermalTake eSports Black Gaming Mice

Call Of Duty 4 (total prize pool RRP $720)
1st place: 5x ThermalTake eSports Challenger PRO gaming keyboard
2nd place: 5x ThermalTake eSports Black Gaming Mice

They'll also be kicking in an additional set of the keyboard, mouse and a Shock Gaming Headset which we will be giving away.

We'll be annoucing prizes soon for the following:
Flatout 2
Team Fortress 2
Armagetron
HAWX
Starcraft
GRID
Half-Life 2 Deatmatch
Counter-Strike: Source GunGame

We are also introducing a PRE-PAY system (via PayPal) which will not only guarantee you a spot (auto-confirm) but entitle you to have guaranteed seats, faster check-in and personalised player tags with your nick printed waiting for collection when you arrive.

Registrations open Thursday 9PM. Stay tuned for more exciting things that we'll be announcing shortly...

[_Andrew_]

Sweet As Respawn V17 cant wait

[*666*]

yeah cant fuck'en wait

[priorax]

Looking forward to it.

Question about the "guaranteed seats". Is it like other LANs where you can reserve certian seats, or will it just like you are paid reservation at the moment?
Also, can you reserve for more then one player?
And do you have to be in the top 400 in order to pre-pay?

[dead_man]

RE: Pre-Pays

We're capping the amount of pre-payees to 200 at this stage.

Prepays will auto-confirm. if you prepay, your seat is guaranteed for the entire event.

We're in the process of drawing up our floorplan - we'll be letting everyone know when we're ready to accept bookings.

We're still ironing out some parts of the procedure but rest assured, we'll be letting everyone know as soon we we're good. This is a radical change for us which we hope to benefit all.

-Dead_Man

[updated by squid]

[severely updated by zardoz]

[Shub0xx]

I like the idea of actual prizes over cash prizes. Should make the competition even more intense.

The pre-pay option is an awesome idea. A long time coming, and will definitely speed up check in times.

I do have a question about pre-pay though. I'll use myself as an example. Say I pre-pay for a seat, but then something unforeseen comes up and I need to cancel. Is there a refund option available, and if there is, what is the absolute last date that someone can cancel without losing their money.

I ask cos it would b unfair to management if 50 cancel out the night b4, or don't rock up at all. That would b 50 empty seats. Sure they're paid for, but it's a wasted space.

I'm gathering that Zardoz and his awesome management team have thought of this, and will let us know as soon as it is convienent for them.

[Zardoz]

Hi,

One of the core motivating points to introduce a pre-paid system is to ensure that we don't get hit with the financial burden of no-shows. We have seen a disturbing trend in recent events where many players would register, then confirm, then not show. This is grossly unfair to the 300 people plus who are on the waiting list and aren't sure whether they can attend, so they simply turn away, leaving empty seats that we paid for.

The problem here is this: if you cancel two days before the event (and this is the timeframe when you are likely to know that you can't attend, i.e. illness, family emergency and so on), we would have already catered for you in our planning and thusly would not only need to refund you but would lose money on the seat we have provided for you. At short notice, it's hard to reallocate this seat to another person as by then, the majority of people on the waiting list would have assumed they cannot attend and may have made other plans.

Most ticketing agencies (Ticketek, Ticketmaster) will only refund if an event is cancelled and this is our stance on the issue as well. If there are extreme circumstances, then we'll lend an ear however at this stage, I think it's safer for everyone to say that we won't be handing out refunds. The solution to this would be to make these bookings transferrable, so that you could log in and assign your pre-paid location to someone else who has not registered. We haven't implemented this as yet.

Remember that nobody makes a profit out of Respawn LAN events (except for our sponsors, of course!) so the money we lose directly affects the community 1:1.

I hope this clears a few things up.

-z.

[Shub0xx]

I understand if I pay and then tell u I'm not coming that the seat gets given to someone else, so that's fair enough, but if I pay but don't show, does the seat stay empty, or does it get given to someone else?

Obviously it wouldn't effect me either way, since theoretically I'm not there so I wouldn't know, but just curious.

Makes life easier for the management team too. Well, a little bit easier anyway.

[fletchdawg]

i think most teams just prefer cash over prizes they wont actually use.... for a locacl lan $100 for 1st place is a nice little prize a mouse and keyboard is pointless. Please change it back because i can tell you know you just lost the CoD competition and most of CSS

[priorax]

I think what it comes down to more then anything. Thermaltake are trying to get their new keyboards/mice known to the public, this is an easy way for them to advertise their products.

[R4N]

i think most teams just prefer cash over prizes they wont actually use.... for a locacl lan $100 for 1st place is a nice little prize a mouse and keyboard is pointless. Please change it back because i can tell you know you just lost the CoD competition and most of CSS

Not all Lans will offer cash as a prize, you will notice most BYOPC lans in Australia offer prizes that are donated from sponsors.

We also get quite a bit of feedback about our prize offerings and most responses i have received prefer physical prizes to cash.

This is not to say we will stop offering cash prizes for the future. This event Respawn has received quite a bit of sponsor attention and as such we are offering some quite high value prizes.

[Zardoz]

I understand if I pay and then tell u I'm not coming that the seat gets given to someone else, so that's fair enough, but if I pay but don't show, does the seat stay empty, or does it get given to someone else?

Obviously it wouldn't effect me either way, since theoretically I'm not there so I wouldn't know, but just curious.

Makes life easier for the management team too. Well, a little bit easier anyway.

If you pay and don't show, then the seat will still be set aside for you and will be left empty as we will need to ensure that the seat is available for you should you turn up!

Even if you told us on the day that you weren't able to make it, we don't have an easy method of finding someone else who previously missed out on the event to fill that seat.

[Redact]

i think most teams just prefer cash over prizes they wont actually use.... for a locacl lan $100 for 1st place is a nice little prize a mouse and keyboard is pointless. Please change it back because i can tell you know you just lost the CoD competition and most of CSS

Not all Lans will offer cash as a prize, you will notice most BYOPC lans in Australia offer prizes that are donated from sponsors.

We also get quite a bit of feedback about our prize offerings and most responses i have received prefer physical prizes to cash.

This is not to say we will stop offering cash prizes for the future. This event Respawn has received quite a bit of sponsor attention and as such we are offering some quite high value prizes.

have you gotten feedback from the people that actually win the major competitions, or from people who bomb out first round because they dont even play the game?

i can tell you, almost any, if not every team that will actually win one of your larger comps, will not want those prizes, and would prefer cash prizes

[Zardoz]

have you gotten feedback from the people that actually win the major competitions, or from people who bomb out first round because they dont even play the game?

i can tell you, almost any, if not every team that will actually win one of your larger comps, will not want those prizes, and would prefer cash prizes

Hi,

We typically base this on feedback we have received from gamers who have voiced their opinions to us, either during the event, after the event, through forums and so on. Furthermore, many LAN gaming events now and in the past have frequently awarded product - not cash - to the competition winners.

Our sponsors have gone all-out this event and have gathered the largest prize pool that either competition has ever seen. The prizes they have supplied are of high quality.

Unfortunately, we aren't able to suppliment these prizes with cash at this time as we've run into issues in the past where players who have registered and confirmed simply did not show. This has proven to be unprofitable in the medium term which makes Respawn LAN unviable. To be perfectly honest, we (and everyone else we spoke to) have suggested that these prizes not only kick some serious ass this time around but that winning prizes was the preferred award.

We run the event at no financial gain to any person on the team including myself. We don't see a cent of this money and we pour endless hours of effort into this event to make it what it is today.

We regret that you don't find our prize offerings acceptable for this event however I do hope that whoever wins the respective competitions is appreciative of both their awards and their own personal success.

-z.

[Sharks]

Not to sound ungreatful in any way but contest winners could just sling your prizes off to friends/ebay for money and probably make more than $100 for them both...

Just a thought, be happy respawn is listening to users feedback, even though it may not be your preference.

[Madllama]

I am looking forward to the prepay system. It will be great to streamline the arrival process.

Only issues I worried about is that its going to make a crap load of work for you guys policing the prebooked seats (dealing with arguments etc etc) and that your servers might fall over in the rush to grab the "Best Seats".

[priorax]

We'll be annoucing prizes soon for the following:
Armagetron

Is this implying that Armagetron is running as an actual comp rather then a fun comp?

[TechL]

Can't wait to pre pay with Paypal, such a good idea.

[GerrySly]

Does paypal only open up when we are confirming or this Thursday we can prepay?

Looking forward to it

[R4N]

We'll be annoucing prizes soon for the following:
Armagetron

Is this implying that Armagetron is running as an actual comp rather then a fun comp?

Considering we get well over 100 people playing it at once..........

watch this space

[fletchdawg]

I already receive gear from razer, why would i want to pay $30 to win some second rate crap :S


cash plz ;D

[SirSquidness]

I already receive gear from razer, why would i want to pay $30 to win some second rate crap :S


cash plz ;D

We regret that you don't find our prize offerings acceptable for this event however I do hope that whoever wins the respective competitions is appreciative of both their awards and their own personal success.

-z.

List of reasons to come to Respawn:

• Hard drive throwing competition
• Baconated Pancakes
• Awesome competitions
• Regular fun comps (Now with added regularity!)
• 400 other people to socialise with, and pwn with 0 latency
• etc

Respawn is not run for the Australian / Victorian pro-gamer community. We love that you guys love coming to Respawn, however we don't have the capacity to continually offer huge cash prizes. We attempt to cater to the entire community, and as such, look at the event as a whole, as opposed to running it purely for a single part of the community.

We are, however, looking in to running a series of events in the future that will cater to pro gamers, with a pretty decent cash prize pool.

Watch this space, and please do not expect Respawn to cater to every individual need.

[Zardoz]

I already receive gear from razer, why would i want to pay $30 to win some second rate crap :S

cash plz ;D

The ThermalTake products they have just launched are not "second rate crap". There are ATMs located near the venue which can provide cash.

(See my previous post on our position with cash prizes).

Is this implying that Armagetron is running as an actual comp rather then a fun comp?

All competitions are fun. Aren't they?

[fletchdawg]

Ill donate the prizes back to you so that next time there's double prize money from last time, agree'd?

[denied]

Shouldn't cod get more prizes than css?
More cod teams participate than css teams if you haven't realized in the last 4 events.

[fletchdawg]

Shouldn't cod get more prizes than css?
More cod teams participate than css teams if you haven't realized in the last 4 events.

^^

[dead_man]

Shouldn't cod get more prizes than css?
More cod teams participate than css teams if you haven't realized in the last 4 events.

Since these are sponsor provided products, they get to choose which competition they go to.

-Dead_Man

[LolSauce]

Ill donate the prizes back to you so that next time there's double prize money from last time, agree'd?

HTFU and stop whinging, if you don't like it... dont come

[fletchdawg]

MAD

[LolSauce]

COOL STORY

[Zardoz]

Ill donate the prizes back to you so that next time there's double prize money from last time, agree'd?

What's twice $0?

(If you win, we'd be happy to hold the prizes if you so wish and let them jackpot to the winners of the competition at v18.. but we'd really like them to go out to a player).

[fletchdawg]

but ill just keep winning CoD4? r0f

[Madllama]

Well I reckon that you should ditch all of the prizes and buy more food.
Solves all of the whining and makes my stomach happy.

[Tank]

Well I reckon that you should ditch all of the prizes and buy more food.
Solves all of the whining and makes my stomach happy.

all of the fun comp / afk comp prizes involve food ^w^ nomnomnom

[Queen Gainer]

but ill just keep winning CoD4? r0f

Wow, I'd hate to be the downer on your high and mighty parade, but if you don't like the prize, then don't play. If you want cash prizes, turn super pro and move to America. God, pro-gamers bitch like a pack of starved supermodels after they've put on two hundred grams of weight onto their nose -- Chuck a tantrum when things don't go their way.

Get over it, yeah? Respawn are not there to give you bi-monthly allowance.

[mrt]

I personally like the prizes for the upcoming event, i don't mind the no cash prize issue being brought up in this thread, i go to respawn cos its fun and so on not just for a 100 dollar cash prize lol people need to chill, respawn are doing awesome for the community

[DArenberg]

but ill just keep winning CoD4? r0f

Chillout Brenton, you already claim the Respawn "COD E-sports" competition wins as a top 3 place at a live event to maintain your quota for Razor branding, at which tier do you get the logo tattooed on your forehead?

In fact due to respawn as a non for profit organisation and gaming community event offering you the opportunity to commercial slut yourselfs you should pay more for entry and put up a prize. IMO.

[fletchdawg]

ROFL m@d

[Queen Gainer]

but ill just keep winning CoD4? r0f

Chillout Brenton, you already claim the Respawn "COD E-sports" competition wins as a top 3 place at a live event to maintain your quota for Razor branding, at which tier do you get the logo tattooed on your forehead?

In fact due to respawn as a non for profit organisation and gaming community event offering you the opportunity to commercial slut yourselfs you should pay more for entry and put up a prize. IMO.

I like this man.

[Alioth]

The only reason he keeps winning is because I never enter. Bitches don't know 'bout my M4D SK1LLZ.
I'm beyond all that petty clan gaming stuff ('clan' is gaelic for 'children') and have moved onto a higher plane of awesome.

[TechL]

I don't even enter competitions for anything other than fun...

[Queen Gainer]

The only reason he keeps winning is because I never enter. Bitches don't know 'bout my M4D SK1LLZ.
I'm beyond all that petty clan gaming stuff ('clan' is gaelic for 'children') and have moved onto a higher plane of awesome.

ilu <3

[GIARUS]

Ive read this whole post but i have one question why was the registry changed from 500 back to 400
im suprized no one had asked

also how come the respawn fee has increased 2 35 dollars now

[Syk0]

The entry fee is now $35, what gives?
Unfortunately, the Global Fried Chicken (GFC) demands that we take this course of action, coupled with 100 no shows at v16, coupled again with us dropping the player count down to 400 (we hope you'll be less squished up this time) we have had no choice but to do this. It sadens us deeply, and we hope that we can still be friends.

from the prepay faq

[dead_man]

and as far as dropping seating back to 400? Simple matter of OH&S, and was becoming far to cramped and was becoming a safety issue.

[rushroom]

What happens if you are the 400th person register and then some one whos out side of the 400 pays? does that auto kick the 400th person to 401?

[SirSquidness]

What happens if you are the 400th person register and then some one whos out side of the 400 pays? does that auto kick the 400th person to 401?

Prepay beats confirmed beats registered beats nothing.

If you prepay, you get bumped to the top of the list, followed by people who have confirmed, followed by non-confirms.

Order of registration is maintained within the categories.

[rushroom]

zz, so if i have no access to paypal i could very well lose my spot.

[Redact]

zz, so if i have no access to paypal i could very well lose my spot.

paypal is far from hard at all to access

have any sort of bank account, and its accessible

unless you dont have a bank account

maybe work on that one

[rushroom]

i am 12 and what is this

[Zardoz]

i am 12 and what is this

Really?

When I was 12, I had the full support of my parents with these sorts of things. Perhaps you could ask them nicely if they can help?

Make sure you confirm when confirmations open. We'll be sending you an e-mail to advise when this happens as we may be making a few changes to the process between now and then to ensure that our confirmations list is as accurate as possible.

The issue we've had in the past is that players will register, confirm and then not show up - so the person who is 401 on the list COULD have turned up however since, as far as we knew, there was no seat for them, we effectively tell them they couldn't rock up. Then comes Respawn morning and we wonder where the 120 or so people who said they'd come are.. and we go home on Sunday night with a bunch of pre-printed player tags with your names of them.

Maybe we should shame these guys, too?

We might make some changes to accommodate this however at this current point in time, pre-pay will beat everything. If you pre-pay, you're IN. You're CONFIRMED. Once we verify your payment, of course.

We have raised the price to $35 to cover us on all angles here. Nobody is making a profit out of this - we're certainly not getting paid - and remember, the more money we have, the better and bigger things we can do for the community in the future.

Trust us Amazing things are in the pipeline.

[Tak]

No BLUR comp? =(

[xbox_girl]

i am 12 and what is this

Really?

When I was 12, I had the full support of my parents with these sorts of things. Perhaps you could ask them nicely if they can help?

YADA YADA YADA YADA

Trust us Amazing things are in the pipeline.

Z,

Are you not getting sick of repeating yourself?

[rushroom]

umm, if over 400 people pay, what happens then?

btw zartos, didnt read what u had to say, xbox girl made everything quite clear.

[Shub0xx]

umm, if over 400 people pay, what happens then?

I think I read somewhere that the pre-pay cap is 200 (EDIT: dead_man stated this in his post on page 1 of this thread), so as long as you confirm within the 2nd 200, you should be ok.

[B3NN]

So 200 people who register after the first 400 can buy themselves seats if they spam paypal and people who wasted their time on thursday night might get f all? May as well get rid of register number and just have seats available to buy.. like how most events are run...?

Sorry.. all this has made me upset.. plus I missed being in top 400 because server crash..

[Zardoz]

Hi B3NN,

Unfortunately we've been subject to financial risk by our high amount of no-shows caused by people registering and not showing up to the event.

My advice to you is to either pre-pay, which will guarantee you a spot or alternatively, ensure you confirm immediately when confirmations open.

-z.

[GerrySly]

Man I'm happy I got a Paypal account otherwise this prepay business would really make me sad

[GIARUS]

and as far as dropping seating back to 400? Simple matter of OH&S, and was becoming far to cramped and was becoming a safety issue.

ahh ok thats fair enough
still disapointed on the pay rise but o well its respawn where its always awsome to be there

[I.esus]

i am 12 and what is this

Really?

When I was 12, I had the full support of my parents with these sorts of things. Perhaps you could ask them nicely if they can help?

Unless you're being sarcastic... I think you missed the internet-joke-boat.
Anyway, this thread has been a laugh... thanks 'Razer' guy.

PS: Heard of selling unwanted prizes? Perhaps on this cool thing known as Ebay?
Maybe that's too hard.

What ever was I thinking?!

[oohms]

Not being able to get a paypal account is like not being able to wipe your butt

all you need is a bank account and a home phone number

[Sando]

Actually, you don't even need a PayPal account to prepay as long as you have a credit/debit card (although I think the likelyhood of that is pretty slim) - simply select the option to not login when you're redirected to PayPal and you only need to enter in your billing details.

[fletchdawg]

or i can throw them in the bin and let nerds who cant win fight over it

[R4N]

If you don't like the prizes, don't bother competing in the comp.
Simple.

[TechL]

or i can throw them in the bin and let nerds who cant win fight over it

yeah okay tough guy.

[I.esus]

I like how he called other people nerds, when he's the one who's played enough CoD4 to last 3 lifetimes, competes in tournaments, etc, and is apparently sponsored by Razer.

GG bro.

[GIARUS]

I like how he called other people nerds, when he's the one who's played enough CoD4 to last 3 lifetimes, competes in tournaments, etc, and is apparently sponsored by Razer.

GG bro.

he no nerd he a geek

[I.esus]

Both the same thing in my books, chief.

[fletchdawg]

If you don't like the prizes, don't bother competing in the comp.
Simple.

still going to play and win just as i said before there just useless for SOME people

[GIARUS]

If you don't like the prizes, don't bother competing in the comp.
Simple.

still going to play and win just as i said before there just useless for SOME people

idk u might not any team could win

[fletchdawg]

come and see me at the @v17 and ill donate it to you if you really like

[SirSquidness]

come and see me at the @v17 and ill donate it to you if you really like

Quoted for truth.

[priorax]

come and see me at the @v17 and ill donate it to you if you really like

If your that desperate to get rid of it, I can always do with a spare keyboard and/or mouse

[GIARUS]

come and see me at the @v17 and ill donate it to you if you really like

If your that desperate to get rid of it, I can always do with a spare keyboard and/or mouse

ill have the keyboard my mum needs a new one

[priorax]

GIARUS, I'll make you a deal, you can have this glourious Microsoft PS/2 keyboard, fully compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac, this will fully meet your mum's needs, and I'll take that Thermaltake one and be confused as to why the hell it has a fan

[TechL]

There's a keyboard that has fans?

[GIARUS]

GIARUS, I'll make you a deal, you can have this glourious Microsoft PS/2 keyboard, fully compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac, this will fully meet your mum's needs, and I'll take that Thermaltake one and be confused as to why the hell it has a fan

can u show some photo's of the keyboard

[priorax]

There's a keyboard that has fans?

Look at the Thermaltake Keyboards up for prizes

GIARUS: http://www.pcrush.com/images/hi-res/112083.jpg
It's one of these

[GIARUS]

There's a keyboard that has fans?

Look at the Thermaltake Keyboards up for prizes

GIARUS: http://www.pcrush.com/images/hi-res/112083.jpg
It's one of these

hmmm i rather the Thermaltake keyboard cause then i can give my mum my g15 s1

[TeamSlayer]

that keyboard...i wantee

[GIARUS]

that keyboard...i wantee

i want more

KEYBOARD FIGHT

[DArenberg]

I'll trade ya my heap of shit Razer Tranny.

[R4N]

(cleaned thread)

Sigh.

I've said it once, and i will say it again giarus
STOP THREAD CRAPPING
KEEP POSTS ON TOPIC

If you want to just have a chat, use the spam forum or MSN.

[deano]

i vote sponsored players be banned from comps.

i mean honestly, respawn and sponsors seem to be paying/donating goods to a bunch of fucking ingrates who are the minority of players that come to these events. I would rather see all of the prizes on offer given as a series of door prizes or for fun comps with the main comp winners getting some free food or something.

fletchdawg: you should be ashamed of yourself. the actual 12 year old kid in this thread has better manners than you, as far as i am concerned you can go fuck yourself with all that razer gear you so dearly love.

[Tank]

i vote sponsored players be banned from comps.

i mean honestly, respawn and sponsors seem to be paying/donating goods to a bunch of fucking ingrates who are the minority of players that come to these events. I would rather see all of the prizes on offer given as a series of door prizes or for fun comps with the main comp winners getting some free food or something.

fletchdawg: you should be ashamed of yourself. the actual 12 year old kid in this thread has better manners than you, as far as i am concerned you can go fuck yourself with all that razer gear you so dearly love.

The sponsors give us the prizes for the specific comps, we are unable to use the prizes for other things. Tt eSports have also given us some prizes for a door prize

[deano]

That's fair enough.

My main point is I would like to see less emphasis on "serious competition" and more towards players having fun in general.

I hate it how these serious competitions seem to be dominated by a select bunch of ingrates who generally leave after the competition anyway. The only contribution I see from a lot of these players are screaming matches with unwanted testosterone and anger flying around. CSS for instance is like a flame dickheads seem to be drawn to. Do i really need to point out previous incidents with that competition at respawn/shafted? (even big day in IIRC)

At least with more emphasis on some great prizes (mind you, i consider a couple of cans of drink or a free pizza a great prize. that thermaltake lanbag I won a while back was absolutely awsome ), not only would it nuture more friendly competition but it would be accessible to a greater percentage of the player base - not just the select few with twitch speeds as fast as their mood swings.

[SirSquidness]

My main point is I would like to see less emphasis on "serious competition" and more towards players having fun in general.

That's why we run both prized comps and fun comps. It gives the "serious players" a chance to scream at each other, while the people who want a fun game of something with almost nothing at stake can play in seperate competitions.

[deano]

But that is my point, I would like to see less major prizes for the serious competitions and more for the other competitions, or possibly just an even distribution of the prizes - with the emphasis on major prizes to be won that pretty much everyone has a good chance of winning in one way or another. I mean how about a keyboard for someone that wins the tron competition? Seems fair.

I understand your hands are tied as to how sponsor prizes are to be allocated but I see very little point in aggravating stupid ingrates with awesome prizes when they don't seem to contribute to the friendly and social atmosphere than lans are all about. It would be great if the sponsors could see it this way

[R4N]

But that is my point, I would like to see less major prizes for the serious competitions and more for the other competitions, or possibly just an even distribution of the prizes - with the emphasis on major prizes to be won that pretty much everyone has a good chance of winning in one way or another. I mean how about a keyboard for someone that wins the tron competition? Seems fair.

I understand your hands are tied as to how sponsor prizes are to be allocated but I see very little point in aggravating stupid ingrates with awesome prizes when they don't seem to contribute to the friendly and social atmosphere than lans are all about. It would be great if the sponsors could see it this way

Aside from CS:S and COD4 which are as you said pro competitions. The rest of the major prize draw is quite accessible.
HL2DM, UT2k4 tron and flatout 2 are examples of competitions that get massive attention during the event, but can be enjoyed by casual players as well as hardcore gamers.

AFK comps will be making a massive return this lan. Tank will be assisted by a few people to ensure that there is always plenty on for the casual gamer

I personally agree with you 100% deano, in that respawn is here for everyone, not just the gaming elite. Which is why we have funcomps, AFK comps, and many other attractions that make our events different from many other lans, who focus primarily on pro gaming.

[Jinky]

We need a DiRT 2 comp