FITES LAN is definitely more laid back than some of the other LANs that happen. We tend to do ours in a much closer and comfortable setting than some other LANs do. We also try to do small things to get people out of their chairs and moving around.

One of the best ways people meet others is by doing pick up games of just about anything. People will want to be in a tournament, but don't have a team. No problem, head over to the intranet and you can register for a tournament as a PUG. That way we can announce your name when the tournament starts so that we can pair you up with other players. The seating chart helps out to, so you at least can get some reference names for your neighbors.

Speaking of seats, they are starting to fill up. At this point there are seats taken in every row. I know in the past you guys have all tried to sit together so if you want to get your group buy on and select seats, now is the time to do it.

--MahoneyBadger

Has anyone had any trouble making hotel reservations? We haven't had any reported problems yet, which is odd.... The silence is eerily ominous about how smooth things are so far.

We're starting to see some large group buys happen, which is great for the LAN experience overall. If there are games other than TF2 that you are looking forward to you can always find us on Facebook and we'll post something up to see if there are other players out there.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there! Let me know if you have any questions.

--MahoneyBadger

Hey everyone,

MahoneyBadger here. Dropping by to let you know that our major 250 LAN will be back again this upcoming year. It will be held the first weekend in March, March 4th through the 6th. It will be at the same venue as previous years.

I know last year there was some concern voiced about the venue, and we listened to you. Sadly, FITES as an organization doesn't have the initial capital to move to a different venue. Not yet, but maybe in the future.

Tickets are currently on sale over at http://intranet.fites.net where you can log in through Steam, buy your tickets, and then select your seat on the seating chart. We are offering group rate and multiple monitor discounts again this year, so plan out a group fast and buy in soon so you can lock down your seating arrangements.

HOTEL ROOMS ARE OPEN FOR RESERVATION
Park Inn by Radisson
5401 Carlisle PIke
Mechanicsburg PA, 17050

Call the hotel directly - (717) 697-0321 and tell them you are part of the FITES group. (Spell it out) If they say they don't have that group or discount available, message on our forums directly. We worked hard to get a discount rate and we want to be sure you get it.

The hotel has also said they WILL NOT be selling rooms over third party sites for that weekend. At least not any cheaper than our discount rate. It's always a good idea to reserve a room, and cancel 24 hours ahead if you need to. At least then you have locked in the best rate available.

I'l be sure to check back to any questions you guys have. Look forward to seeing you there!

--MahoneyBadger

Well guys, just for you I'll put summer LAN into my research pool. Who knows what 2016 holds, but I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Keep that KD ratio hot
-MahoneyBadger

We're not locked into that hotel and I've been actively looking elsewhere myself. There's a lot of options, but we're heavily dependent on available space and power. That and we are rather adamant about using a hotel as opposed to a larger warehouse venue like the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. Having your own room right at the venue has become something that is integral to the FITES brand, and we want to keep it that way.

We actually did do a summer LAN once, but it was a failure in terms of turn out. More than likely because it was done in early August. The problem we have is that Summer is a little tricky. Summer dates at hotels will drive the costs way up because "wedding season". And then there's timing. June is still game for elementary to high school kids (and our community does have kids that age ;) ), and then there's fourth of July travel that happens. And then back to school for people.

We're totally open to hearing suggestions and what people think, but for now we plan on keeping the big LAN set to the last weekend of Feb. Believe me I would love to not worry about last minute blizzards messing things up for one year, but costs and timing are everything.

Hey guys,

MahoneyBadger, of FITES, here.

Sounds like everyone had a great time at the LAN. It's always awesome to hear the feedback, and on the whole it sounds like this was one of the best LANs yet. It certainly seemed that way on the Staff side as everything was running very smoothly (even with the L4D2 update hiccup). Feel free to contact me over Steam if you want to give any feedback directly too.

We're in the post LAN process of determining what needs to be done for the next one, and we'll be sure to keep the community here posted.

Mostly, thanks to all of you for a great LAN experience. I don't think there was a moment of people being bored or not in a game together. It was a great time, and I'm always thankful to you guys, the players, that make it happen.

Until next LAN, keep that KD ratio hot.
--MahoneyBadger

Hey guys,

I wanted to drop in let you know the discount room block expires THIS FIRDAY, on Feb 6th. So if you haven't reserved a room yet, call them up and do so. Even if you are unsure of having enough roommates, you can always cancel the reservation up to 24 hours before the check in date.

I want to make sure you guys are getting the best rate possible for now, and then can figure out roomie scenarios over the next month.
Phone number: (717) 697-0321
Code: FITES

Hey guys, awesome to see so many of you are in and going. If you are looking for rides be sure to check over on our forums.

Here's where new people introduce themselves: http://www.fites.net/newbies-report!/
It's a good place to find people that are committed to going and might also be looking for rides/rooms

Here's a place to look for teams: http://www.fites.net/looking-for-group/ (Rooms and ride requests would be fine there too.)

The hotel closes our room block reservation on Feb 6. So be sure to call in to the hotel [(717) 697-0321] and use the code FITES. You will have to spell out.

Let me know is you have any other questions.

P.S. If you have looked at the tournament schedule and rules at intranet.fites.net , the times and rules are being looked at for accuracy. Yeah... we missed that one. :)

No rentals here, sorry :(. But in addition to the LAN we always have a wide variety of table top games, some console stuff, and a nice Artemis set up.

With a lot of you guys saying you are on the go list (freaking awesome to see this crowd come out again!) I wanted to drop you some info about group buys and seating. I've gotten some questions about reserve seating. Unfortunately we can't do seat reservations this year like we have previously done in the past. We found from previous years that it took so long for people to commit and purchase their tickets that we had seats looking "reserved" to other players and it turned them away from buying their own ticket. And then, some of those reservations were never filled.

There is a bit of good news however. We have made it extremely easy to transfer tickets this year. Let me give you a handful of steps to do.

1) Gather up the funds for people that are going. You can group buy and get a discount for the more people you bring. This way, only one person needs to purchase the tickets.

2) Have anybody that is remotely interested log into intranet.fites.net through the Steam login option in the upper right. They don't need to do anything else yet, that just puts them in the system to have a ticket transferred to them, if they can make it.

3) Transfer the tickets out to those that need them. This step is pretty easy to do and is rather intuitive once you see the new intranet site. If you click on your name on the login button in the upper right you will see an option for ticket manager. Use that to transfer out the tickets to the people that have logged in.

Thanks again guys, looking forward to seeing you at LAN.

--MahoneyBadger

Hey Mercs,

Some of you here may know me from previous FITES LANs or we bumped into each other while I was at GXL. I wanted to post in here real quick to let you guys know that FITES 250 LAN tickets are up for sale!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t31.0-8/10446081_10152410391021213_1239594052377904121_o.jpg

TheShoctor has done an amazing job again with getting our intranet site revamped to allow Steam logins, use the seating chart, and easily transfer tickets over to people. There are also some new deals on tickets in terms of group buy and second monitor seats.

If you sign in you can check the tournaments out and already create your team there.

Here are some other pertinent details:
March 6-8, 2015

Park Inn by Radisson
5401 Carlisle PIke
Mechanicsburg PA, 17050

Buy tickets at: http://intranet.fites.net/

Call the hotel directly to book your room using the code: FITES (Spell it out for them)
(717) 697-0321

If they tell you they don't have the code, please contact us on our facebook (facebook.com/FITESLAN) or myself (MahoneyBadger) or TheShoctor on our forums (fites.net/forums)

I'll do my best to check back here to answer any questions, but the facebook is the best way to reach me directly. Thanks everyone, and I hope to see you at LAN!