Moo! Flap! Hug!
Here it is, the C4L2014 feedback thread.
First off, I'd like to start by thanking all of the attendees, and everyone who supported us. Thank you for making another year a great success!
Some things went right. Some things went wrong. Some things were contentious. Let's deal with each in turn.
What went right
(1) Sound. Thank you, Cool Matty! The sound quality of C4L2014 was about 100x the sound quality of C4L2013. I know there were some concerns about the balance and volume, but that can be adjusted if need be in future years (this is the point of a mixer board). Quite frankly, this is something we got right this year, and it's something we can build on in future years now that we have the proper equipment. I'm open to buying one more lavalier if people want to be able to have three commentators plus the gamer, all at once (especially with the two-couch setup, which may or may not happen next year).
(2) Variety. Expanding C4L from an FF marathon to an RPG marathon was a good call. I don't want to open it further. C4L has the potential to fill a niche for games that would otherwise have no marathon home. I think we should build on our success as an RPG marathon.
(3) The bigger venue. It allowed us to grow. There's no way we could have hosted this many people and this much equipment at my place in Edmonton, even if I still lived in Edmonton. Let's keep on growing.
(4) Our relationship with JDRF and the hotel. It was JDRF that put the coffee and doughnuts on the table each morning (through their relationship with Tim Hortons, who donated the yummies). JDRF arranged to have our banquet donated. The hotel would be more than happy to have us back, and encouraged us to book there again next year. We made great progress this year in solidifying ourselves as a reputable group with whom to work.
(5) Sponsorship. I know some people hoped we would raise more. But, let's be realistic -- we were cold calling companies. Yet, we still got multiple restaurants to donate meals, and companies to put up cash to cut our costs. I call that a success.
(6) The tech crew. Frick, you people were amazing! Working late into the night, fixing problems I couldn't even have foreseen. You were amazing, and I would very humbly like to thank you.
(7) The hotel tech crew, namely Nick. If you weren't on-site, you never would have seen him. He was the ghost in the back making sure the network kept running. If you were on-site, you know what I'm talking about.
(8) Setting up a broadcast in the bar downstairs. What a Poxnor thing to say
But this was a huge success. I can't believe how much money we raised and how much interest we garnered by streaming C4L2014 in the bar downstairs. Plus, there was the unforeseen benefit that players could go grab a bite to eat before their game, and see where the previous player was in their game while eating.
What went wrong
(1) Commentary. Commentary substantially degraded compared to C4L2013, and RPGs need amazing commentary to be great marathon runs. There were two factors at play: (a) a wider range of games meant that we didn't have as many people who could easily commentate any game (e.g., I don't speedrun every FF game, but I could easily drop onto the couch and commentate any FF game; put me in front of an SO or KH game, and I have no clue what's happening) and; (b) last minute changes to the schedule (quite frankly, there's nothing we could have done about this -- people dropping out with weeks to go until the event necessitated last-minute schedule changes). Next year, we need to put more emphasis on finding commentators for each game, and making sure they either learn that game, or at least know what questions to ask to make interesting commentary. Perhaps skilled commentators (e.g., Raelcun) could teach other people, who know a given game but have never commentated it, the basics of good commentary?
(2) Prizes and other workflow issues. There should have been printed instructions about what to do at every game change -- changing the Twitch game name, drawing prizes, etc. Ultimately, we were too disorganized to make things flow smoothly during game changes. And, prizes are once again a giant mess, since I drew the winners roughly a month late. My apologies, and I hope this doesn't become a C4L tradition.
(3) The practice room. For some reason, everyone wanted to hang there instead of being out in the audience and hyping the game being run. The streaming room was really empty. I don't have an answer here. Was the environment in the streaming room not welcoming?
(4) The streaming computer. The capture card freezing during the marathon is not cool. Obviously (to those of you who watched my stream last night), I still don't know WTF is happening. Hopefully, I can have this fixed by C4L2015 On one hand, I personally needed to test this rig more before C4L2014; but, I was mimicking the setup used at AGDQ 2014, where there were no problems. Yet it blew up in my face. I accept personal responsibility for this one, and I hope people will forgive me.
(5) The equipment list. It turns out we were missing many cables and adapters on the setup day. Part of this might have been mitigated with a better equipment list. On the other hand, it was hard to know exactly what we needed until we were all in the streaming room (part of the problem of me being physically removed from Edmonton). Seriously, some of our cables were literally 30cm too short. But, we should try to fix this up for next year.
(6) No French restream. We experimented with on-site French translation; let's just call that a failure and move on (though, huge kudos to Nicole for trying, and for doing an amazing job promoting JDRF while she was there) -- we knew that this was an experiment going in, and knew its chances of success were up in the air.
(7) My game and runner selection process. It was overly complicated, convoluted, and confusing (multiple rounds of reviews, etc.). It was a genuine attempt on my part to be open and transparent in how games were chosen. In my attempts to my transparent, I actually just became convoluted. I'll aim for simpler but still transparent next year.
(8) No deposits. Next year, we need to set up a system of taking deposits, so that people aren't dropping out with a few weeks to go until the event, throwing the schedule into disarray at the last minute.
Points of contention
(1) Twitch chat. It was sub-only this year -- or, in other words, off. As far as I'm concerned, this was the right call, and no one (despite many protests) has said anything to convince me that it wasn't the right call. At C4L2013, the Twitch chat was one of the worst cesspools that I have ever seen. Racism, naziism, homophobia, transphobia, personal attacks, etc. We simply didn't have the manpower to moderate it (if such a thing even could have been moderated). I would very humbly and sincerely like to thank Twitch, because I have been granted sub. So, next year, the chat will again be sub-only, but people will have the option to sub. So, this won't be an issue again, and -- unless someone says something terribly profound -- warrants no further discussion.
(2) Being in a hotel. The one "noise complaint" we received was apparently an over-zealous security guard who was cranky that we were making noise at night, not aware that every single hotel room in the vicinity of the streaming room was occupied by one of us. Still, it was a worry and a constant concern for me. Do we want to try to find a convention-style location for next year, where our event is separate from where anyone sleeps? Or, do we want to build on our association with the Chateau Louis, who were pretty cool to us?
(3) Location. C4L2015 will happen in either Edmonton, where we've made connections, or Vancouver, where I have the opportunity to be in-town to do little things like arrange hotels in advance. Vancouver is a shorter drive for the Utah crew, but a longer drive for the Montana crew. But, Americans also have the option of flying into Seattle or Bellingham and driving across (it's about a 2.5 hr. drive from Seattle or a 1 hr. drive from Bellingham). I might be able to arrange cheaper accommodations in Vancouver, but I'm not sure at this point. It would mean starting over with new people, but not with a new charity. I don't relish the thought of trying to explain to a new person what speedgaming is, and I would sure as hell miss having Driscollad on the ground to help out in the lead-up to the marathon, but I also don't relish the thought of packing the streaming computer and microphones up for another plane flight and trying to plan things from afar again.
Edit: Post away; but, please refrain from personal attacks, and try to make criticism constructive (i.e., not only what we did wrong, but what we could do to make it better).
First off, I'd like to start by thanking all of the attendees, and everyone who supported us. Thank you for making another year a great success!
Some things went right. Some things went wrong. Some things were contentious. Let's deal with each in turn.
What went right
(1) Sound. Thank you, Cool Matty! The sound quality of C4L2014 was about 100x the sound quality of C4L2013. I know there were some concerns about the balance and volume, but that can be adjusted if need be in future years (this is the point of a mixer board). Quite frankly, this is something we got right this year, and it's something we can build on in future years now that we have the proper equipment. I'm open to buying one more lavalier if people want to be able to have three commentators plus the gamer, all at once (especially with the two-couch setup, which may or may not happen next year).
(2) Variety. Expanding C4L from an FF marathon to an RPG marathon was a good call. I don't want to open it further. C4L has the potential to fill a niche for games that would otherwise have no marathon home. I think we should build on our success as an RPG marathon.
(3) The bigger venue. It allowed us to grow. There's no way we could have hosted this many people and this much equipment at my place in Edmonton, even if I still lived in Edmonton. Let's keep on growing.
(4) Our relationship with JDRF and the hotel. It was JDRF that put the coffee and doughnuts on the table each morning (through their relationship with Tim Hortons, who donated the yummies). JDRF arranged to have our banquet donated. The hotel would be more than happy to have us back, and encouraged us to book there again next year. We made great progress this year in solidifying ourselves as a reputable group with whom to work.
(5) Sponsorship. I know some people hoped we would raise more. But, let's be realistic -- we were cold calling companies. Yet, we still got multiple restaurants to donate meals, and companies to put up cash to cut our costs. I call that a success.
(6) The tech crew. Frick, you people were amazing! Working late into the night, fixing problems I couldn't even have foreseen. You were amazing, and I would very humbly like to thank you.
(7) The hotel tech crew, namely Nick. If you weren't on-site, you never would have seen him. He was the ghost in the back making sure the network kept running. If you were on-site, you know what I'm talking about.
(8) Setting up a broadcast in the bar downstairs. What a Poxnor thing to say
What went wrong
(1) Commentary. Commentary substantially degraded compared to C4L2013, and RPGs need amazing commentary to be great marathon runs. There were two factors at play: (a) a wider range of games meant that we didn't have as many people who could easily commentate any game (e.g., I don't speedrun every FF game, but I could easily drop onto the couch and commentate any FF game; put me in front of an SO or KH game, and I have no clue what's happening) and; (b) last minute changes to the schedule (quite frankly, there's nothing we could have done about this -- people dropping out with weeks to go until the event necessitated last-minute schedule changes). Next year, we need to put more emphasis on finding commentators for each game, and making sure they either learn that game, or at least know what questions to ask to make interesting commentary. Perhaps skilled commentators (e.g., Raelcun) could teach other people, who know a given game but have never commentated it, the basics of good commentary?
(2) Prizes and other workflow issues. There should have been printed instructions about what to do at every game change -- changing the Twitch game name, drawing prizes, etc. Ultimately, we were too disorganized to make things flow smoothly during game changes. And, prizes are once again a giant mess, since I drew the winners roughly a month late. My apologies, and I hope this doesn't become a C4L tradition.
(3) The practice room. For some reason, everyone wanted to hang there instead of being out in the audience and hyping the game being run. The streaming room was really empty. I don't have an answer here. Was the environment in the streaming room not welcoming?
(4) The streaming computer. The capture card freezing during the marathon is not cool. Obviously (to those of you who watched my stream last night), I still don't know WTF is happening. Hopefully, I can have this fixed by C4L2015
(5) The equipment list. It turns out we were missing many cables and adapters on the setup day. Part of this might have been mitigated with a better equipment list. On the other hand, it was hard to know exactly what we needed until we were all in the streaming room (part of the problem of me being physically removed from Edmonton). Seriously, some of our cables were literally 30cm too short. But, we should try to fix this up for next year.
(6) No French restream. We experimented with on-site French translation; let's just call that a failure and move on (though, huge kudos to Nicole for trying, and for doing an amazing job promoting JDRF while she was there) -- we knew that this was an experiment going in, and knew its chances of success were up in the air.
(7) My game and runner selection process. It was overly complicated, convoluted, and confusing (multiple rounds of reviews, etc.). It was a genuine attempt on my part to be open and transparent in how games were chosen. In my attempts to my transparent, I actually just became convoluted. I'll aim for simpler but still transparent next year.
(8) No deposits. Next year, we need to set up a system of taking deposits, so that people aren't dropping out with a few weeks to go until the event, throwing the schedule into disarray at the last minute.
Points of contention
(1) Twitch chat. It was sub-only this year -- or, in other words, off. As far as I'm concerned, this was the right call, and no one (despite many protests) has said anything to convince me that it wasn't the right call. At C4L2013, the Twitch chat was one of the worst cesspools that I have ever seen. Racism, naziism, homophobia, transphobia, personal attacks, etc. We simply didn't have the manpower to moderate it (if such a thing even could have been moderated). I would very humbly and sincerely like to thank Twitch, because I have been granted sub. So, next year, the chat will again be sub-only, but people will have the option to sub. So, this won't be an issue again, and -- unless someone says something terribly profound -- warrants no further discussion.
(2) Being in a hotel. The one "noise complaint" we received was apparently an over-zealous security guard who was cranky that we were making noise at night, not aware that every single hotel room in the vicinity of the streaming room was occupied by one of us. Still, it was a worry and a constant concern for me. Do we want to try to find a convention-style location for next year, where our event is separate from where anyone sleeps? Or, do we want to build on our association with the Chateau Louis, who were pretty cool to us?
(3) Location. C4L2015 will happen in either Edmonton, where we've made connections, or Vancouver, where I have the opportunity to be in-town to do little things like arrange hotels in advance. Vancouver is a shorter drive for the Utah crew, but a longer drive for the Montana crew. But, Americans also have the option of flying into Seattle or Bellingham and driving across (it's about a 2.5 hr. drive from Seattle or a 1 hr. drive from Bellingham). I might be able to arrange cheaper accommodations in Vancouver, but I'm not sure at this point. It would mean starting over with new people, but not with a new charity. I don't relish the thought of trying to explain to a new person what speedgaming is, and I would sure as hell miss having Driscollad on the ground to help out in the lead-up to the marathon, but I also don't relish the thought of packing the streaming computer and microphones up for another plane flight and trying to plan things from afar again.
Edit: Post away; but, please refrain from personal attacks, and try to make criticism constructive (i.e., not only what we did wrong, but what we could do to make it better).
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