Rage Expo and Nag Lan report back
Update (2nd October 2007): The VC guys have been responding to the issues raised on the forums at http://forums.tidemedia.co.za/nag/showpost.php?p=21642&postcount=22. I recommend having a look since it does clear up some issues.
Yesterday was my once-a-year weekend of nothing but gaming and computers (actually, that’s a lie—I do it more than once a year, but it’s the special one 😂. For those who don’t know, it was the Nag LAN at the Rage Expo. Now, I’ve been attending this since its inception, so I classify myself as someone who has some crazy understanding of the event. Let me run through the expo to begin with.
I didn’t pay to get in—being that all the lanners get in free—so I can’t comment on the value for money. But it was definitely smaller than last year and far more commercial. A lot more stalls were just shops selling stuff, with very few people showing anything special or new. This includes the competitions at stalls, which seemed to have every second stall giving away an Xbox. The Wii was launched, and Halo 3 was at the expo, but with little fanfare. The Wii stand was tiny and had just four consoles to play on (so the queue was to forever and back), and not the really interesting Wii games—just Wii Sports. Halo 3 was equally bleak, with just two or three consoles at the Microsoft stand showing it and someone dressed as Master Chief walking around. The Project Gotham console at the Xbox stand got more attention than Halo 3 due to the chair, pedals, and steering wheel. This is all in comparison to last year, when the Xbox was launched with a massive area, plenty of consoles, amazing giveaways, and a show that night, etc.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the expo: the booth babes were the best ever (quality and quantity), and the sound was better. Let me explain that last one—previous years had more of a loud-talking atmosphere with sound effects from games in the background. This year, the games were more evident, thanks mostly to the two or three stands running Guitar Hero 2 and 3. It just made the whole event feel far better. In reality, though, if you missed the expo this year, pop round to Zaps on a Saturday and imagine more people.
Next, the LAN! It has grown to 1,500 people this year, with the extra 300 taking up the space used by the expo last year. The most popular games (based on looking at other people’s screens) seem to be Warcraft 3 and Counter-Strike. A lot of Unreal Tournament 2004 and Supreme Commander were also played. This year also showed more female attendees—which is great for gaming—and the file-sharing on DC++ peaked at a whopping 44TB (that’s terabytes) shared!
The network was once again run by the VC crew, who did an okay job. The electrical setup was perfectly done (I keep wondering if someone from VC isn’t an electrician), but the network was lagging and showing its age. The network consisted of 100Mb with a 100Mb backbone and non-managed switches. Considering the LAN was split into two distinct areas (upstairs and downstairs), the lag was occasionally very bad, to the point of losing the connection. VC definitely needs to upgrade to 1,000Mb and consider managed switches next year. Their admin was as good as always. A downside? Unless you play a game the VC plays, getting a server is impossible. We tried to set up a UT 2004 server for an informal tournament and were successful. However, it wasn’t patched (remember, the latest patch is over two years old now) and was missing files, so no one could connect—which meant the UT 2004 tournament flopped. The VC staff were unable/unwilling to help with this 🙁.
However, the biggest downside to the LAN was the venue. The dome isn’t the right place for this anymore. Remember, a large part of those 1,500 stayed for all three days and nights. The toilets were shocking by Saturday night—most were blocked, there was no toilet paper, and the floors were messy, etc. If the dome wants to keep hosting it, they need 24-hour cleaners for the entire LAN. The security was also horrible: it was far too easy to take equipment out while it was impossible to get food or snacks in. This is because the dome has its own (crappy) fast food and doesn’t want competition from Northgate next door. However, at a LAN, energy drinks and 2L Cokes from fast food don’t cut it. I had to make a trip back to my car to drop off items I’d bought the day before. Unfortunately, security (dome management) doesn’t care about the equipment—once again, there were items stolen, and no one bothered to check properly. Also, the dome has no designated relaxing area, so most people slept under their desks and the lights stayed on all night. (Thankfully, I live just a few kilometers away and drove home each night.) For a three-day LAN, chill/sleep areas are essential.
I’ll be back next year, provided I still live nearby. However, if I had to spend all my time there or live far away, I wouldn’t attend. The venue just ruins the experience of a great event too much for me.