Why are we changing Lakeside, and other community topics

The Data

We take feedback from many places, whether that's during the event, surveys after every event, Discord, end of year surveys or community forums (we also held one of these at the end of the July event for those who were there). We then merge all of these together and have to go with the best possible fit to please as many people as possible. Sometimes, quite vocal feedback in Discord does not necessarily match the consensus across all of those places and that's where we have to cut through and make decisions based on the majority, knowing we can never please everyone. 

A great example of that is around how much people want structured activities vs free time to do their own thing at the event. In Discord, we get quite vocal feedback around not having enough in the timetable, yet the survey feedback has shown a definite shift towards people wanting us to space everything out, reduce the number of fun tournaments and give people more free time. We started making that shift before Summer last year and were praised for listening in the community forum at the event, but criticised in Discord from others. 

Then of course, there's the Community Champion debate! Something that was introduced for a bit of fun (why else would we pick a wrestling belt for the prize) has generated some really strong opinions with polar opposite feedback around whether we should hide the activities completely so that it's a complete surprise through to wanting full transparency and points updates after every game. You see how we can't be over with everyone right? 

Let's take a look at some of the end of year survey numbers to share those insights with you:

• Who Attends EPIC.LAN? 
  • 37.18% - I attend to take part in esports tournaments
  • 42.31% - I attend to play casual games
  • 35.90% - I attend to take part in esports tournaments but just for fun
  • (People could give multiple answers, that's why it doesnt add up, what are percentages anyway)
• Casual Gamers - Rank the following in terms of importance to you (1 - Most Important, 8 Least Important)
  • 1 - General Atmosphere
  • 2 - General Socialising
  • 3 - Big Organised Games
  • 4 - Fun Tournaments
  • 5 - Activities away from PC (e.g. console areas)
  • 6 - Community Parties
  • 7 - Stage Content
  • 8 - Tabletop Gaming
• Do you prefer more flexible time at events or more structured activities (0 - Completely Flexible, 100 - Completely Structured)
  • 47 (Suggesting we've got the balance about right now, slightly leaning towards more flexible)
• If you have been before, but dont attend now, what would change your mind?
  • More interaction with the community between events
  • Less personal disagreements between groups and drama
  • More stuff to do at the events, but in my own time (e.g. exhibitors, stalls, consoles etc)
  • More engagement from staff at the events
  • Ensure games are tested, announced, communicated and run on time
• What is important to a casual participant?
  • Friends, Meeting People, Friendly Environment, Approachable People
  • Safe
  • Atmosphere
  • Space to play and mix with friends away from screens
  • Range of games to play
  • Bar, food and access to other facilities
  • Fun tournaments not being overly competitive
  • Mixture of some organised games, some time to let people play in smaller groups and time out away from screens
  • Free/cheap games people can easily hop in to and try
• What could we be doing better for the casual community? 
  • More challenges that can be played at any time without being fixed to desk
  • Stream more of the casual actrivities
  • More audience/community involvement in stage content
  • Games that allow you to meet new people (e.g. in person / icebreakers etc)
  • Spacing out activities better, not having too many big games and fun tournaments
  • More quiet spacess
  • Less points scoring activities for community belt, back to being fun
  • Encourage groups to interact more and break up some of the cliques, e.g. icebreaker games on day 1
  • Encourage groups to share games they're playing more in Discord and involve other participants (e.g. LFG channels)...
  • ...while also making Discord less cluttered so people can see what's going on better. 
  • More activities between events.