After visiting the Spaladium Arena in Split, Croatia for CounterPit and DotaPit, I've decided to give you my personal outlook on the event, various positives and negatives of it, complimented by things that I feel the organisers should improve in future events. This was the first organised LAN event by the team at Counter/DotaPit, so please bear this in mind when taking in the piece below.
Stream Quality
In terms of the stream at the arena everything was absolutely fine, perhaps even spectacular considering this was the first organised LAN event by CounterPit/DotaPit. There were a few issues with disconnects from the server and the Twitch stream, however nothing beyond this. The only real issue that I would point out was the fact that there were some issues with the production/sound that forced the desk host and analysts to go on lengthy tangents on air. While yes, they are paid to do their job, it was a bit much listening to non-CS:GO related content for as long as we had to.
Commentators
The wonderful Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett and Henry "HenryG" Greer. They’ve been casting for a while now so there’s absolutely nothing negative to say about the talent. Their duo brought a very high standard of casting, second to none and for this we thank them. I sincerely hope they cooperate closely with the organisers so that we see them in future events that are hosted by CounterPit/DotaPit.
In terms of the analysts and desk host we saw Duncan "Thorin" Shields, Janko "YnK" Paunovi? and Pala "Mantrousse" Gilroy Sen. Much like the commentators this trio did a fantastic job handling the event despite issues that arose in the process. There was banter, there was in-depth technical analysis, all aspects of good hosting were present and I'm very happy that the organisers decided to hire competent individuals for their first event. Hopefully we will see a similarly professional line-up in upcoming offline events hosted by CounterPit/DotaPit.
Someone who a lot of people were fascinated by was the stage host, who was dishing out fresh memes like no one’s business. While it was absolutely hilarious listening to it live, it was also quite disappointing as it was clear that the man was distant from the industry and had little to no knowledge of the game/teams playing. Obviously this isn’t a requirement, however it’s always nice to know that a person is knowledgeable about what he’s presenting.
The Schedule
In terms of the schedule there were some delays. I feel these are inevitable with offline events, but it’s definitely a factor that needs to be addressed in the future and slowly perfected. This applied to both CounterPit and DotaPit and I am sure that it will be remedied in the future.
Something that needs addressing, but doesn’t necessarily apply solely to this event, is the amount of matches per day. The playoffs are a very stressful and important time for everyone – players, casters, analysts, production crew and viewers. Four best-of-three matches coupled with a few delays here and there are a recipe for a very late night. We saw this in Katowice, we saw this for both CounterPit and DotaPit as well. I feel when this is addressed the events will be a lot more pleasant to both watch and participate at.
The Food
The food was good, we were given options. If we wanted to we were able to go up to the restaurant that was located in the arena and get some food there, if we felt like eating something else there was a restaurant serving pizza, grilled meat, burgers etc. about a five minutes’ walk away from the venue. If you wanted to get some snacks from the shop you had two large supermarkets that were a stone’s throw away. The location in terms of food connections was great and we had no issue finding something to eat. The only thing the organisers could add are mini-fridges with refreshments dotted around the venue for staff/players/press to be able to grab a drink at their leisure, instead of having to specifically go to the shop or the VIP area to pick up a drink.
The Venue
Spaladium Arena is located close to the coast line, boasts a 12,339 visitor capacity and generally is quite well located in terms of getting there. The venue was absolutely fine for the event, although it did feel a bit empty during CounterPit, the opposite was seen for DotaPit, as the seats were filled with people cheering for their favourite teams. Perhaps this was a slightly ambitious choice for a first event; regardless I feel that it’s way better to have extra seats than simply not enough, especially if such an option exists.
All in all the event had both ups and downs, however something to point out is that the organisers, one of which we interviewed, were very cooperative and understanding when we approached them with various questions and queries. I spoke to some of the guys personally and it was abundantly clear that they worked incredibly hard to pull this event off. I am definitely looking forward to future events from the organisers.
