Magnum Opus

Published on 12/19/24, 10:34 PM

It has been the longest and hardest 5 years of my life, and I finally bring to you my Magnum Opus - BloodyIron

That's right Gamers, we're coming back bigger and better than you've ever seen before! We have multiple gaming events to announce, loads of gaming to be included, fabulous new capabilities and features, and on and on and on!

But BloodyIron, you might say, what kind of gaming events are these?

The three events below are primarily LAN parties, consisting of both BYO (Bring Your Own) Computer & Console gaming, and Provided (as in you use equipment we have set up) Computer & Console gaming.

While you will not be able to register and buy tickets today (that is something coming very soon, it's literally in-progress right now), I want to point out that we will have many different kinds of tickets. Some Tournaments you can purchase individual Tickets for them, some will be included in BYO-class ticketing, and loads of other options too. For example, some of the Console Tournaments will be running on Provided equipment, and you will be able to buy a Ticket per-Tournament for some of these Provided Console Tournaments. We also will have ticket bundles, so you can buy a discounted pack and assign Tickets to other Gamers, such as your Team or Clan Members.

So whether you want to haul your Computer/Console to the BYO section (even if you don't want to enter any Tournament), enter for a single Tournament (not all tournaments will support this), come just to spectate, or many other ways you want to participate, we have been building out a huge array of options that you will see soon enough.

There's plenty other related details that we will cover lower down, but now onto the Event Dates.

Event Dates

We have three event dates to announce today! Not all details are figured out, and Event Pages are not yet ready. But let's cover what we're ready to share today.

LANified! 35: Magnum Opus

Friday March 21 - Sunday March 23 2025
NON-STOP!

LANified! 36: TBA

Friday May 23 - Sunday May 25 2025
NON-STOP!

LANified! 37: TBA

Friday July 4 - Sunday July 6 2025
NON-STOP!

Games

These are some of the Games that we are aiming to have at these coming Events. Many of them will have Tournaments, but remember! We will have loads of non-Tournament Gaming too!

Counter-Strike 2

DotA 2

Rust

Starcraft 2

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Quake III Arena

Avorion

Minecraft

Satisfactory

Crab Champions

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Party Animals

Ultimate Chicken Horse

F-Zero GX

Rocket League

But BloodyIron, where's X Game?

Don't worry Gamer! If you want to play other Games at these events, that's cool too! There will be loads of other Gamers playing loads of other Games that aren't listed above, and we're not going to stop you playing whatever games you want on your BYO Computer or Console.

And if you want to suggest Games for us to include, we welcome you telling us about that. There will be a form below and other ways to do that over time! And we hope you're super duper excited just like us!

New Features & Capabilities

We have a lot of new Features & Capabilities that are ALMOST ready but aren't yet on the "production" website. Below is some initial information about them.

These new Features & Capabilities are expected to start showing up on the "production" website in early January 2025. Over 95% of the involved work is already done!
(What do you think I've been doing for the last 5 years?)

Clans

The classic concept of Clans will be a permanent fixture for our Events and Services, and will evolve over time. The intent is to create history and identity in our Gaming ecosystem. One you can take pride in and perhaps develop into fierce rivalries. Clan "Rosters" will have different capabilities from "Teams" for our Tournaments.

Storefront

It's a storefront, wow, such innovation! But for us, it really is. We will finally be able to sell many different kinds of Tickets, handle more forms of payment, do bundling, promotional pricing, it will look a lot better, and also sell Products and other Services too!

Improved Check-In

The Check-In process at Events will be tuned to be more streamlined going forward, and continually improved over time. Expect to use your LANified! Account as part of Check-In, as this will be part of how you prove identity. We will also have appropriate steps for Gamers who did not register for an Event before showing up.

Ticket Self-Management

For any Tickets you purchase for an Event you will be able to self-manage how those Tickets are applied. While we will not enable/allow Ticket resale, you will be able to apply Tickets to other Gamers that have registered for the applicable Event in addition to yourself. For example, a Gamer will be able to purchase tickets on behalf of their Team Members, and apply them to those Gamers. Tickets will clearly outline what access they grant once applied, and that access is expected to work immediately.

Event Schedules

We have a new Event Schedules component that dynamically updates as new Schedule Entries are added (not just for Tournaments). This is broken down into multiple sections based on the nature of a Schedule Entry, and within each section the Schedule Entries are sorted by Date & Time. As such it reads out in-order chronologically. We've also made it very clear which Schedule Entry is for which Tournament to avoid any confusion, even when there are multiple different Tournaments for the same Game.
(eg. Counter-Strike 5v5 & 3v3 Retakes).

Tournament Self-Management

The new Tournament Self-Management capabilities enable Gamers to conveniently register and manage their participation for Tournaments, even before an Event has started! Once you have an appropriate Ticket applied to your Event Registration, you will then be able to Register for any Tournaments that Ticket applies to. Then you will be able to Create/Join/Manage Teams and/or Clan Rosters where it makes sense. Changes to Teams and Clan Rosters will be automatically locked once a Tournament starts (based on Scheduling).

Game Preference

We are improving this concept from the V2 website, but it generally works the same. When you register for an Event, you will be asked what Games you want to play, whether it is for a Tournament or not is up to you! As Gamers register for each event, this list of Game Preference will be updated to reflect what each Gamer selects. This is to help Gamers connect with other Gamers based on similar gaming interests.

LANified! Accounts

Another major new feature is the LANified! Accounts system. This system is already operational and fully validated but is not currently publicly accessible. It is based on industry leading technologies and has been built with high security practices. Over time we will be interfacing more and more of our Systems & Services with the LANified! Accounts system. But initially it will be used for our main website, such as registering for an Event and the Storefront. We are taking extra precaution every step of the way to avoid collecting unnecessary Personally Identifiable Information (PII). However consider your LANified! Account to be your identity, especially at our Events. Do not take creating an account and setting the username lightly.
I expect you to take it seriously.

Usability Improvements

Every step of the way as I have been developing all these new things and improvements I have been exahustively testing how they work on many different devices and resolutions. This includes Computers, Tablets, and Phones; in both Portrait and Landscape orientations. Generally the standard I have held to is that everything should be 100% functional on all devices, and should look good too. You will find that many things dynamically adjust based on what device you are using and the orientation. If you have any usability issues PLEASE TELL US, we want to make sure the usability doesn't suck. I have also put a lot of work into website performance, and will continue to improve on all of these aspects as we move forward.

But BloodyIron, I can't register! What should I do?

I know you can't register today, I am sorry. I have tried my best and I need to do some more work for it to meet our high standards. It won't be long before you can register for the events, buy tickets, register for tournaments, and all that fun stuff.

There are some things you can do right now that would be very helpful if you did them.

First, tell other Gamers about all this and that we're back running Events. Seriously this helps us massively and if you do help spread the word, THANK YOU.

Second, if you do want to attend any of these Events, start planning on your end. This could involve scheduling stuff with work/friends/family, or even starting to figure out your Teams and Clan Rosters.

Third, fill out the Feedback form below with whatever you have to say, and you can even fill it out multiple times. Please don't spam us, as right now it will not require being logged in to an account, and that's because I know the LANified! Accounts system is not currently an option for this. In the future Feedback and other forms on this website will require you login to a LANified! Account. So yeah, please do not spam us, but we DO want to hear what you have to say! Good, Bad, Ugly, whatever. We care about what you have to say. I will not make any promises, but I still want to hear from you!

Fourth, if all of this sounds good to you, maybe it's time to GET EXCITED. Have you considered that? I'm super duper excited, and I can't wait to see all you lovely Gamers again!

Anything Else?

Thank you for making it this far! Please check out the Feedback Form, the LANified! IT Services part, and the Newsletter Link below.