Evo 2012 Feedback Thread

Evo Championship Series
1

Thank you everyone who came out to Evo 2012. This year we had a record number of tournament players and spectators. It was a big learning experience for us and we’re already brainstorming on ways to double-down on the things that worked well and smooth over the rough patches. Here’s how you can help.

Read me! How to post feedback!
[LIST=1]
[]We want to hear your MOST favorite and LEAST favorite things about Evo 2012
[]Pretend you have $3 to spend on investing in your MOST favorite things, and $3 to spend improving your LEAST favorite things. You can put all the money into one thing or spread it out, but if you choose to spend money on an item, you have to spend at least $1 on it. So this means you can’t list more than 3 things for most favorites and least favorites.
[/LIST]
Example
[LIST]
[]Most favorites
[LIST]
[]Staging, $1
[]Location of the hotel, $1
[]Playable betas, $1
[/LIST]
[]Least favorites
[LIST]
[]Not enough space, $2
[*]Affordable food, $1
[/LIST]
[/LIST]

2

I really can’t think of anything **bad **at all… ($3)

3

Really, Affordable food +3. Space would be nice, it seemed like a lot of the people who wanted to set up BYOC didn’t get a chance to.

4

Most Favorites
[LIST]
[]Locations of Hotels, they were right in the middle of everything. For a quick 15 minute walk towards the Luxor Hotel is where all the “cheap” stuff is at! ($1)
[]All the vendors in the ballroom ($1)
[]Presentation and organization of the event! ($1)
[/LIST]
Least Favorites
[LIST]
[]Not enough space ($2.50)
[*]Food ($.50)
[/LIST]
I picked the same things for my least favorites because those were seriously my only gripes. Found a McD’s close to Caesar’s Palace then I was all good for the weekend! Can’t wait for next year!

5

[LIST]
[]Most favorites
[LIST]
[]Location of the hotel, $1.50
[]Headphones available, $1
[]Brackets online, $0.50
[/LIST]
[]Least favorites
[LIST]
[]Not enough space, $3
[/LIST]
[/LIST]

6

this year (my 3rd evo) i was a spectator only, so my thoughts are coming from that perspective:

Most Favorites
having enough chairs for everyone/requiring a badge on finals day - $1
location of hotel - $1 (caveat: anywhere on the strip is cool, but caesers is tops as its very central on the strip)
being able to eat in the ballroom/having at least some sort of food right next door - $1

Least Favorites
not enough space for vendors/BYOC - $1

i dont have any other downsides, overall this was an amazing event, the best year so far in terms of event organization

overall, bravo for implementing SO many improvements over the last few years: being back on the strip, having easy access to food, and having enough chairs for finals day! i was hoping for only one or two of those things, not all three!

7

The Good -
[LIST]
[]Location - 2
[]Small brackets - 1
[/LIST]
The Bad
[LIST]
[*]Seats during pool play. I know but I like to watch. - $3
[/LIST]

8

I’m from Brazil and I was at EVO 2011. It was my very first EVO ever and I loved it, but this year I couldn’t go and had to watch everything from the stream, so everything will be based on my viewer perspective.

[LIST]
[]Most favorites
[LIST]
[]Multiple streams, in special the panels stream. $2
[]Full brackets available online. $1
[/LIST]
[]Least favorites
[LIST]
[]Off stream big matches, $1
[]The Playstation Battle Royale demo on the main stream, $1
[*]Late on Schedule, $1
[/LIST]
[/LIST]
Why

** - Multiple streams, in special the panels stream.**
Since, this year, EVO for me was all about watching everything online, having the option to know what’s going on with the other EVO features was great. 2011 was the first EVO with panels and I really enjoyed watching them (the Daigo Match Analysis in special). When I saw that would be impossible for me to go this year I started to wish the panels would be at least recorded so I could see them after everything was over.

- Full brackets available online.
Even though I was not the first brazilian to ever go to EVO, my country still have a low representative number, but, in 2012 many players felt compelled to travel and compete. I wanted to know everything about those players. How many they are, their names, the games they entered, their oponents, everything. I wanted to cheer for my fellow players.
On a side note, I’m also quite interested in how big EVO is in terms of players and international atandence. The online brackets helped with those infos. (btw, last year Evo numbers would be amazing!!!)

- Off Stream Big Matches.
Daigo vs Latif, LI Joe eliminating Ricky, Marlin Pie eliminated, and so on.
I know it’s impossible to stream every damn match, but I also know that stream matches are picked by finger. A lot of “meh” matches happened on stream while some hot ones got off. I want to see the top 8 of last year facing EVERYONE, I want to see just how well they’re playing compared from last year, and if they happen to be knocked out on the losers bracket by some unknown players, I WANT TO SEE THEY FALL!

- The Playstation Battle Royale demo on the main stream.
First of all, I don’t hate the damn game, I don’t think it should not even be on EVO at all, but I don’t agree with that demo being shown at the main stream.
Maybe the main reason why I got so pissed with that was cause the Daigo vs Latif match happened during the demo. I was mad furious that one of the most wanted matches was happening off stream while a long advertisement was being taking place.
I know EVO need to get media attention and things like exclusive demos are what bring that attention, but why set up a stream channel ESPECIALLY for panels and demos and then using the main stream to broadcast it in the MIDDLE of the brackets. Why not use the panels channel? Why not at least wait to do the demo between pools and quarter finals?

- Late on Schedule.
Nothing can be perfect, I know that it’s nearly impossible to run that many pools without running a little bit late, but 2 hours???
Again, I’m from Brazil, EVO already starts with a +4 hours delay for me. When the schedule goes on to something like 10PM or 12PM, that’s already 2~4AM here. Even if someone don’t have anything important to do in the morning that’s still quite late. When the schedule delays it gets even harder. I know of a lot of friends that couldn’t stay for the AE finals cause of the time.
The Cannon Awards are great, combo videos are tradition, I get it, but delays are too much to handle. I don’t agree with the VF5 finals being streamed, at least on the main stream, they’re not on the main line-up anyway. I’m also not a fan of low entrance games getting full top 8 matches on the finals day, if the schedule is too crowded, let only top4 rock on stream.

Anyway, I had an amazing weekend watching all the great matches and I’m really pissed that I couldn’t go, what only makes me want even more to go next year.

9

The Good
[LIST]
[]Location $2
[]organized brackets $1
[/LIST]
The Bad
[LIST]
[*]BYOC was too small of a space $3
[/LIST]
however, this was my first EVO and I didn’t expect something with so many people to run as smoothly and well organized as it did. Can’t wait for next year. Thank you to all the judges and staff for making this the most hype event ever.

10

The only item I’d request changing is having a higher screen above the tables during pools. I was able to see high level play from some players, but it was difficult trying to muscle through a bunch of guys to catch a tiny glimpse of the action.

Solving this desire isn’t easy: screen splitters, stands, double the monitors, etc.

11

Coming from a streamer for the 2nd year now.

Most Favorite :
[LIST]
[]Crystal clear streaming (1$)
[]The main stage looked incredible (.25)
[*]A great lineup of games again (2.75$)
[/LIST]

Least Favorite :
[LIST=1]
[]Lackluster commentating (more seth please!) (.25)
[]Late schedule, it was obvious the sf players were pretty tired by the time top 8 started. (.25)
[]People bumping players in pools. I was not at evo this year but its not really fair to allow spectators to be that rude, people paid decent money to fly out to vegas and compete based on skill not their x-ray vision. Please organize pools and people from each other (2.00$)
[]The badges, if it is going to be a split system at least have the folks at the entrances checking up on it. (.50)

See ya at evo2k13
[/LIST]

12

Favorite:
$1 Online brackets/guidebook app
$1 Vendors/indie games/booths
$1 More than one screen for main stage

Least Favorite:
$1 No side stream screen
$1 Delay between events on Sunday
$1 BYOC area seemed a lot smaller than last year

Other:
Next year, maybe have judges and TOs exchange/supply contact info? Might help find people to cover pools and facilitate asking questions (“Is human Cyrax allowed?” “My pool is running behind, anyone have open AE stations?” “Could you send Justin Wong to station 21 for SFxT when he’s done with his Marvel match?”)

13

Good:

Pool/Bracket sizes
Schedule
Pool/Player sectioning : I really like that the pools are separated into two sections/halves of a table. It keeps player organization nice and neat.

Bad:

Stream all games at some point
Barrier between player and spectator: You guys did this in 2004 and it worked very well.
Having judges on deck : I had to play sfxt, and KOF on Saturday, but my KOF pool judge wasn’t there on Saturday for check-in and was worried I would miss my pool while playing.

14

Good
Caesar’s Palace - $1… I really like that we’re in the middle of the strip to where I can vacation with my family while still participating at EVO
Small Brackets - $1 (Even though I had the ‘pool of death’) it’s not really a big deal, I loved the small bracket and I got to play my matches quick and efficiently. Once I was done, I can leave the venue and go with my family to eat and I wouldn’t be cutting into my pool/bracket time!
Tritton’s - $1 This deserves its own dollar. I couldn’t hear a thing and I’m a very verbal person (I respond to hearing really well) and I could not hear anything other than the game. :).

Bad
The splitters - $2 omg. The splitters. PLEASE get 4 port PS3s because those splitters added lag. Not complaining about the PS3, I do not mind, but those splitters had me FIGHTING for the direct port into the PS3 >.>
BYOC - $1 Street Fighter 4 was on Friday and there were 2 stations for SSF4. Why were there 7 stations of gundam and 2 stations of SSF4? It made no sense to me >.>

15

Good
1 - The tournament itself
1 - Headphones. Didn’t use them myself, but I’m glad we now have that option, since Asus speakers can’t make any noise in that environment.
1 - The stage. Very nice this year. The digital side panels were nice, and it was nice to see the actual score on them. Maybe next year you can put player names on there too?

Bad
2 - Have a big screen for the secondary stream. It was too crowded in that corner, especially when big matches were happening. Also, better placement for the 2nd stream. It was RIGHT next to a speaker, very distracting.
1 - Definitely need more space. I know that you have to book venues years in advance, but this year was crazy packed.

16

Favorite:
Headsets at stations ($1) - Soooo nice to actually be able to hear the game during my matches
Playing TTT2 all weekend ($1)
Floe playing IWBTG ($1)

Fix:
4 projectors all showing the same thing ($1) - Really should have had the secondary stream showing on one of those screens.
Location ($1) - Caesar’s is a nice place, but the rooms are way too damn expensive and the venue was too small for EVO. Although i live in Vegas now. i really prefer to stay at the venue for the easy access to casuals, etc.
Nightly Events ($1) - I remember my first evo in 2003, and every night there was an event to watch. Friday was the marvel EC vs WC 5v5, saturday was top 8 in VF4 and another game, sunday was the rest of top 8s. Would like to see more shit like 5v5 tournies (US vs korea TTT2 next year?), stuff like ST tournament of champions, and even stupid shit like floe playing IWBTG. That shit was classic. This year was better than last year in that regard, but i still think it could be better.

17

Good: High quality stream with good commentary. ($1.50)

Bad: Having to choose between Anime Expo and Evo! Even worse, being forced to choose Anime Expo since my friends bailed on me! ($1.50)

18

  1. Headkrones $1

  2. Showing the stream feed on the side screens and 1 extra screen $1

  3. Sooo many chairs on Finals day $1

  4. Protection from double 8am pools. Please don’t do this to me on Friday aaaand Saturday =[ $1.50

  5. Better system of handing out the badges on Thursday…dunno why it took so long $0.50

19

Good:
($1) Stage and Spectacle: For my first Evo, it is an incredible feeling to see such a big event feel for the entire weekend. Congratulations to everyone involved because they did a great job.
($1) Community Exhibitors: I can’t tell you how nice it felt to see that guys like Toodles were able to set up a booth to sell stick buttons and parts. Having a small shoppe like that really helped a ton of people who needed it.
($1) The App and Online Brakets: If it weren’t for this app, I would have missed my MvC3 pool. I thought it was at 4, but the app set an alarm, and it gave me a 30 minute reminder for my 2 PM pool. Bring this back next year.

Bad:

($1) Have a screen dedicated to the secondary stream. It wasn’t a good look when you saw so much hype coming from a huge pile of people to the side and you had no idea what it was coming from.
($2) Hotel prices: It’s been said a lot, but the FGC is poverty. They don’t deal well with high prices. So when you’re asking for $8 for some tinyass chicken fingers, or $15 for WiFi, it becomes an issue.

20

First timer at EVO here. Here’s what I thought was:

Good:

($1) Staging. There was just enough room for pools, and the stage look was very impressive. The fact that it was all in swanky Caesar’s Palace was just icing on the cake. The term “World Class” springs to mind.
($1) The badge system. The system seemed to work pretty well. I don’t know how well it worked without it in years past, and I don’t think I want to know.
($1) The app. It’s been said, but this was wonderful in terms of getting info and planning what is basically a pretty big trip for most people. Definitely bring this back!

Bad:

($1) Limited staffing. My pool for Marvel started about 15 minutes late because we didn’t have a judge. Also, it seemed like the poor girl at the Kineda booth was perpetually swamped. Not sure how fixable this is, but it was still noticable.
($1) Hotel WiFi. I really didn’t like paying $15 just to keep track of bracket results, or at least to see who was in the top 8 on Sunday.
($1) Sunday timing. Ed Boon, I love you man, but it’s hard to care about your cool new game when the finals for KOF run way late, we still have to sit through a Snoop Dogg trailer nobody cares about, a Cross Counter segment, and I’m still partially jet lagged when all I want is to see the Marvel finals.

Don’t get me wrong, all the other memorable points are all good, and I still had a blast! If you can maintain most of what you had and refine it, then I’ll be looking even more forward to it next year.