Krogue
|MwGL| Founder/Co-Leader
Registered: Oct 2001
Location:
Posts: 252 |
"You don't have to put with up this shit, that is right, come to our event. Don't get pennied out for those rediculous raffles, fucked over on food, and shitty support. We will provide internet. Truefully. We will actually have an updated web site that isn't older than time." - g0dsp33d
Ok, this statement really upsets me. I don't know that everyone really understands what we make off of these events, but the answer is $0.00. In the 7 (seven) years I have been involved in setting up this League and hosting LANs, I have put out $100's of dollars from my own pocket (I remember going out and paying over $150.00 once just for extension cords so we could host the LAN at the church gym). I have never received a paycheck from the MwGL, and never have any of the other guys.
1st - The Raffles. The raffles help to cover the cost of running the event. If we raffle off a $50.00 prize and we sell 75 $1.00 tickets, we don't get to keep that extra $25.00 as profit. That money goes to paying the bills for food and location. The door prizes we give away ... those are bought by members (out of their own pocket) to give away. We do these things because we thought, 5 years ago when we started doing door prizes, that people would appreciate getting to leave with a prize, even if it was only a $10.00 action figure one of us bought to give away.
2nd - Food. What is wrong with the food? We used to have pizzas and sandwiches, but the costs of those got to the point where we were going to have to raise the entry fee a couple more dollars (and that still wasn't going to completely cover the cost -- see above note on raffles). So, we asked everyone, both on the forums and via a poll, what they would like to see as alternatives. They answered with hamburgers and hotdogs as the best choice. That sure didn't make it easier on us, but it did help keep costs down. Does no one else see the extra setup and time that goes into cooking out fresh food? We were much happier when only one of us had to go pick up pizza or sandwich trays. That meant the rest could keep playing. Now, 4 to 5 guys have to work 45 minutes to an hour to get the grills (which everyone brings from their homes) fired up, the food cooked, and everyone served.
3rd - Support and Internet. I am also a little unclear as to the problems with this one. We rent a space from UniversalLAN. Half of your entry fee immediately goes to them just to let you have a seat. It is their network and their internet connection we rely on to keep a LAN going. It is unfortunate that sometimes everything does not work exactly as planned, and when glitches happen, the members are always working with the people at UniversalLAN to make sure the problem is resolved as quickly as possible.
4th - Website. Once again. What kind of updated website do you want? Just a couple of weeks ago, I personally put forth my own money as a reward to anyone out there who could help us design a new header for the site. You know how many responses I have received ... ZERO. Brian, Josh, Toby, Chris, and everyone else try to respond to forum questions and discussions as much as possible. I try to keep relevant MwGL news posted on the front page as often as I can. The fact is many of us have other family and work obligations that keep us from being involved as fully as we used to be able to be. Additionally, 2 or 3 of our long-standing members, myself included, have moved out of state, and are having to help out long-distance.
Finally, for g0dsp33d and everyone else that has voiced their concerns on this issue, I would like to remind them that we are not a company. We are not incorporated, we don't have income/expense reports and balance sheets. We are a volunteer group of guys that have tried to offer gamers a place to play games they love with a huge-ass amount of other people. If the issues of food and prizes and all the other stuff is your biggest concern, then you should be coming to the LITE events. It's only $15.00. There are no "rediculous raffles", no "fucked over food", and since there are no official tournaments, there should be no "shitty support" issues. Instead, you can come sit down for over 30 hours, bring your own food and drink, play CS till your heart is content, and set up tournaments where you get to be the "Admin Lord" and run them the way you want.
I hope everyone involved with this group, both as members and as attendees remember that at the core, we all just want to have fun. So, try and not make this personal.
Attendees, please consider that our members do get a lot of slack from attendees for doing this job, and that is hard to take when it is a volunteer position that doesn't really sometimes feel like it is worth it. We don't host LANs to expand our personal fortunes (Ha, like any of us have those to begin with). We do it because we have always thought people appreciated what we did in offering gamers a fun location to hook up together. After the last few weeks, maybe we need to reconsider whether this is true anymore.
And, members, please try to take into consideration that attendees do sometimes see us as being a professional organization, and so therefoe maybe expect more than they should. Also try and remember that there are a lot of people that are very dedicated to their personal favorite game, and so they are going to want to see that game be the focus of any event. I hope that we can gently impart on them that the beauty of any LAN is that all it takes to focus on a game is for someone to stand up and shout "I HAVE A CS SERVER UP AND RUNNING FOR EVERYONE THAT WANTS TO PLAY".
I am being brutally honest to everyone involved when I say that the possibility seems to be rearing its head that it may come time for us to fold up our tents and close down shop. If the gaming community of Kansas City doesn't have a need for a general purpose gaming group that welcomes all gamers to play whatever they want to play, then that may mean that we shouldn't be around to offer that.
Thank you for taking the time to read this small novella, and I hope it does clarify some issues for everyone.
Krogue
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