[LAN] Sydney Gamer's League 2.0

New Article!

[p]Over the weekend a community of gamers came together for Sydney Gamer's League 2.0. Drawn by the promise of all night gaming and the sweet scent of prizes, they came from all backgrounds and all ages. It is great to see events like these popping up all over Australia, bringing gamers together to share and socialize in a common enjoyment for gaming; and that there is a support for the growing talent within the community.

Events like these allow gamers to get to meet each other in person, adding a face to people they've met online and also to meet entirely new people. With a capacity of 400 almost being reached, the crowd was extremely diverse. In one section there was a group of people discussing Call of Duty 4, and just a table away a group of people discussing hardware and overclocking.

Jackson "Casua1ty" Gray, the head organiser, had this to say about LAN events, "Here at SGL our motto is 'bringing gamers together', and that is what LANs provide. You can meet friends you made online and new people, shake your opponent's hands and have a drink with them after a good game."

The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, everyone was open to talking and mingling, encouraging gamers from all skill levels to cross genres and even platforms. It was great to see that outside of the online world, players could show genuine sportsmanship and mutual respect, casting aside the negative image of a bantering gamer. Thanks to ASUS and Logitech there were some amazing prizes on offer, such as ASUS's latest motherboards and Logitech's Combat Ready Gamers Pack valued at $999.95! Plenty of gamers that attended went home with a prize, from amateur level to some of best talent in Sydney.
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"Previously LANs had been about geek culture in general, but I think the Australian E-Sports scene is becoming mature enough to support full time teams and competitions; and SGL wants to help develop the industry by organising monthly competitions," Jackson explains.

On top of all the gaming going on there were also non-game related events people could get involved with, this was after all a social community event. In the evening there was an extremely entertaining and well organised poker tournament, and on the second day there was a 'hard-drive' toss which brought everyone together in a change of scenery.
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This event was only able to run so well thanks to the new team running Sydney Gamer's League, who mostly volunteer their time to set up and manage the event. Jackson said, "I really enjoy LANs and organising them means I barely get a game or two in. I suppose we do it for the fact that we can let others find out and enjoy the experiences which LANs gave us."

With the new management, and the great team working behind the scenes, it looks like the future for SGL and gamers in Sydney is heading in an exciting new direction. On this Jackson said, "We want to be able to help those teams who train every single night for several hours be rewarded by having monthly tournaments where they can win some cash, and maybe once a year have an epically sized LAN with demonstrations and exhibitions that shows off the entire gaming culture."
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Many thanks again to Asus, Fluidtek and Logitech, SGL will be holding another LAN on the 3rd and 4th of July, I encourage all Sydney gamers who can to attend and join the growing community! [/p]