Welcome back to offline TF2!
The RCADIA Fortress TF2 Community LAN is here to help you overcome the LAN withdrawals that everyone has been feeling over the last couple of years. Following on the heels of i69, the first intercontinental TF2 event since the pandemic, the RCADIA LAN will be the first major TF2 LAN in continental Europe in a long time.
Firstly, who is RCADIA? RCADIA is a self-styled “eSports Gym”; they offer training sessions for various eSports, daily community evenings, and also host competitive LAN events. Members can not only take part in these various events but also rock up and play some games whenever they’d like. With over 2000 members signed up with RCADIA, they are no small fish in the eSports space. The LAN event will take place in RCADIA’s venue, which not only functions as an event hall but also as a bootcamp location and even a hotel!
During the last couple of years, there have been some smaller TF2 events happening throughout Europe, such as the La Source LAN in France and the BundesLAN in Germany. Although small-scale, these events have found success in filling the LAN-shaped hole in many players’ hearts. And as much as we like to throw ourselves a pity party about how underappreciated TF2 is, these events have not gone unnoticed! RCADIA took the initiative and reached out to danny, one of the organisers of the BundesLAN and various other BundesCup events, to have a better connection with the TF2 community and produce a TF2 event to remember.
On to the details of the event. The LAN will take place between the 25th and 27th of November in Hamburg at RCADIA’s venue. The RCADIA LAN is noticeably cheaper than other major TF2 events happening in Europe, with a spectator ticket only running you €20. A BYOC seat will cost €50, and including a full PC and Monitor rental it comes to a total of €110! With the event being so affordable, it's set up to be one of the most accessible TF2 LANs that we’ve seen in a long while.
The event’s main format will be 6v6, with a preliminary prize pool of €1,500 (this will continue to grow as more and more players sign up), but there will also be a Highlander and 6v6 B-tournament on the Saturday of the event! This does mean if you expect to go far in the 6v6 tournament there may be some clashes with the schedules.
Still not sold? The event will also have social events such as beer pong and karaoke running throughout the weekend, so you’ll have more chances to socialise with other players rather than being stuck at an overpriced bar in Birmingham.
We reached out to danny and Chiers, RCADIA’s contact person for the event, to answer a few short questions about the LAN.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: danny, how did RCADIA come into contact with you to help with this Event? What was your role within the organisation of the event?
Chiers from RCADIA (who is basically responsible for TF2 - and some other grassroots esports) basically joined the Bundescup Discord and DM'd me, initially she just wanted to ask a few questions and have an introduction into our scene. What people were expecting from a LAN tournament, if there were any prominent figures in the scene that would be important to have at the event and what kind of special challenges came along with running a TF2 LAN. This was back in April, right before our German LAN. My role was essentially being a first contact for RCADIA, answering as many questions as I could and referring her to the parties that are now involved, such as DCS and Mia of PhoenixRed. I was also the only guy that was actually an active player within our little group that was starting to form, so I guess that helped a little with keeping everyone updated on recent happenings and spreading the word amongst some of the higher level teams.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: What was RCADIA’s reasoning for wanting a member of the German TF2 community directly involved with the organisation of the event?
My guess would be that since it's a German event, she especially valued having the German community show up to the event. She mentioned to me that she valued building up a local community as well, but she never mentioned any specific reason as to why she reached out to me, rather than someone else within the EU scene.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Were there any lessons or tips you were able to pass along to RCADIA, which you picked up from your own experience organising smaller-scale TF2 events?
For the BundesLAN, the biggest challenge was the location and the lack of rentals. Figuring out a place and time, while essentially it was just me and cooney, lead to us mostly relying on polls and asking people to see what was in everyones interest. RCADIA doesn't have this problem since their own venue already offers everything you need. A hotel, all the space you need, streaming equipment, professional staff, rentals, spectator space and more. Running the actual event itself was never an issue, it was more about having Chiers understand the ins and outs of our scene and community - that was our job. DCS and Mia of PhoenixRed did a great job with that aswell.
Shoutout to cooney aka ninja lawnmower, mid winner, rocket jumping inventor, Bundescup & BundesLAN founder for being the backbone of the germany community.
Many thanks to Chiers from RCADIA for agreeing to a short interview.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: How did you come across TF2 and decide to host an event?
I started playing tf2 in October 2020, so I'm fairly new to the community. As a former competitive Smash Bros. Melee and Splatoon player, I was automatically drawn to TF2's impressive technical aspect. Additionally, the game's design, humor and overall feel of freedom is unlike any other, and it's quickly become one of my favourite games of all time. Now, at RCADIA our main focus is to host amazing events, LANs and tournaments for all types of esports communities. We like to experiment and give every community a fair chance to prove their passion for their game. I, specifically, have a big soft spot for grassroots communities, and as a former TO myself, I know that finding a proper venue is one of the hardest problems these types of communities face. I want to give the TF2 players said venue, I want to give them a place they can return to and grow their community from.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: The RCADIA Fortress TF2 Community LAN is unlike other major TF2 events, as it’ll be run in a space that is 100% dedicated to eSports. Are there any advantages to having your own dedicated eSports space for these kind of events?
As I mentioned before, having a proper venue is a true blessing. We're working tight with our friends from Phoenix Red to make sure that the tournament itself is run by the community rules. We also have a lot to offer outside of that, but still within the same building, like our gaming area, bar or restaurant that work with us to round up the event even outside the main playing area. It allows us to get much more creative when it comes to tailoring an unforgettable weekend for our attendees.
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: Out of the eSports you generally support (Valorant, LoL, Rocket League, and Smash) TF2 is definitely the smallest. Is there really a profit to be made supporting such a small-scale eSport?
While the competitive TF2 community may seem small at first, it has a lot more important traits than other, "bigger" titles. One is the willingness to travel, one is the desire to meet your friends in person. There aren't many games that manage to motivate their players to come together like this. Competitive TF2 may be small, but the passion of every single player is huge
TEAMFORTRESS.TV: What do you think is the likelihood we see more RCADIA TF2 events in the future?
RCADIA is a business first, so of course we have to look at numbers. One of the most important numbers here is the amount of attendees. In short, the more people show up, the more likely it is that tf2 will become a regular event at RCADIA. That's why our focus is not only going to be 6s, but other side events like highlander, Ultiduo or casual server madness, everything we can fit in the schedule. So it's up to you. Feel free to make side event suggestions and tell your friends to come! Also Hamburg is really pretty and there will be a Christmas Market in town and I really want to go with yous!
With only a month to go until the LAN, its time to start booking flights and buying tickets. c u @