EC site 2013

Hello everyone! Our site is finally up and with booking information for the hotel and pre-registration. It will be updated with more informaiton as time passes. www.vekn.net/ec2013/ Prince of Lidingö

We are experiencing some problems with the booking code, if it does not work you should e-mail your booking information to the hotel adress provided by our site and they will fix your booking for you. But due to our our national holiday the people at the hotel will most likely respond to the e-mails sent until monday. Prince of Lidingö

Actually just yesterday I was thinking about bugging you guys about this but was a bit busy and let it slide... Seems like telepathy works as well as posting! Funny though that the registration form doesn't allow umlauts/scandics. Especially with you guys being Swedes and plenty of you having them in their names Finnish Politics!

Name fields should be fixed now. No one testing had any umlauts/scandics in their names, so we didn't catch that bug in the form Jussi Hattara Webmaster Extraordinaire Finnish Politics!

> jhattara wrote: > Name fields should be fixed now. No one testing had any umlauts/scandics in their names, so we didn't catch that bug in the form > Jüssi Hättärä would sound pretty darn heavy... Why the age field BTW? Does it serve any actual function? Should this site's opening page's V:EKN ANNOUNCEMENTS also include info on the EC site being open to business? Finnish Politics!

It would be nice to see a list of all registered players, Not just the latest ones. MS

> M.Schumacher wrote: > It would be nice to see a list of all registered players, > Not just the latest ones. > > MS > I'll check on that. I'll get back to you? Isak Esbjörnsson Bjärmark

And the list of registered players is up. www.vekn.net/ec2013/registration/players Jussi Hattara Webmaster Extraordinaire Finnish Politics!

My flag doesn't work.

> BenPeal wrote: > My flag doesn't work. > Form title and flag name were of a bit. That should be fixed now and I manually modified your entry to fit the new form. Jussi Hattara Webmaster Extraordinaire Finnish Politics!

USA! USA! USA!

Hmph. I accidently pasted the wrong vekn number (there should be a 6 at the end) Should I re-register?

> Zenedar wrote: > Hmph. I accidently pasted the wrong vekn number (there should be a 6 at the end) Should I re-register? > I'll fix that. Jussi Hattara Webmaster Extraordinaire Finnish Politics!

When I put the "discount code" on the hotel reservation page there are no rooms available. I booked one on the pay-now and have it cheap option ...

As is said on the EC site, if you have issues with booking rooms with the code, please e-mail the hotel: Jussi Hattara Webmaster Extraordinaire Finnish Politics!

"Thank you for the email. The Reservation code BELI031013 is only valid for stay between 3-6/10. Your stay is until the 7th of October, that´s the reason why you are not able to book true the code. The rate that you have booked is our web discount rate and we are not able to change anything. The Web rate is cheaper then the booking code." So a lot of interesting info in there: - Bonus code is not valid for staying until Monday, which probably most people want - The advance pay web discount gives a better rate So I would put this on the website and encourage people to book early and maybe the "until Monday" thing can be fixed.

> johannes wrote: > The advance pay web discount gives a better rate > Seems that the hotel was extremely "generous" when assigning the EC discount -sheesh! Finnish Politics!

The web discount was -30% , so that is pretty good.

> BenPeal wrote: > USA! USA! USA! > Huh? Ah, you mean the Colonies... Finnish Politics!

> johannes wrote: > "Thank you for the email. The Reservation code BELI031013 is only valid for stay between 3-6/10. Your stay is until the 7th of October, that´s the reason why you are not able to book true the code. The rate that you have booked is our web discount rate and we are not able to change anything. The Web rate is cheaper then the booking code." > > So a lot of interesting info in there: > - Bonus code is not valid for staying until Monday, which probably most people want > - The advance pay web discount gives a better rate > > So I would put this on the website and encourage people to book early and maybe the "until Monday" thing can be fixed. > We'll get the thing with monday to the hotel. Seems a bit wierd considering what we talked about. Anyways thanks for the info. We'll talk to the hotel. Isak Esbjörnsson Bjärmark

> johannes wrote: > "Thank you for the email. The Reservation code BELI031013 is only valid for stay between 3-6/10. Your stay is until the 7th of October, that´s the reason why you are not able to book true the code. The rate that you have booked is our web discount rate and we are not able to change anything. The Web rate is cheaper then the booking code." > > So a lot of interesting info in there: > - Bonus code is not valid for staying until Monday, which probably most people want > - The advance pay web discount gives a better rate > > So I would put this on the website and encourage people to book early and maybe the "until Monday" thing can be fixed. > I was just browsing to find topic that deals with this, because I was not sure, why the advance pay discount gives better rates. But good to know, that there is not an error there. I was hoping that maybe there were some additional bonuses to the bonus code, such as maybe some deals on food. Otherwise I will try to encourage our players to take advantage of the advance pay. Anyway thank you Johannes for writting this post. czechvtes.blogspot.com/

I have now talked to the hotel and here is what I have for you. 1. The hotel promised me that they would fix the code so it would also be valid until monday the 7th. 2. The staff who handles discounts have vacation and wont be able to fix the code for another three weeks, but you can send an e-mail to the same adress I earlier stated and they can manually fix your reservation. () 3. The pre-payment deal is cheaper due to the fact that it will not let you get your money back if you cant make the trip for some reason. This price will also change if more people book and buy. Prince of Lidingö

I noticed that there's schedule up on EC site and I have to say that I'm really happy to see draft tournament in there Bit disappointed that you guys are going with Nations Cup instead Legendary Vampire, but that doesn't feel that bad as there's draft at the same day. Draft <3 Marko, Prince of Helsinki

> a-e wrote: > Bit disappointed that you guys are going with Nations Cup instead Legendary Vampire, but that doesn't feel that bad as there's draft at the same day. > Legendary Vampire requires Archons to be submitted, which isn't yet the case all around the world (therefore, we don't have an "absolute" ranking yet).

> Pascal wrote: > Legendary Vampire requires Archons to be submitted, which isn't yet the case all around the world (therefore, we don't have an "absolute" ranking yet). > All the events won't ever be reported. It is not like it hasn't been advertised that Archons can and should be uploaded. Yet, Princes and NC tend not to do anything... Perhaps people missing/fearing that they'll miss Legendary because of non-uploaded Archons might put enough pressure on the lazybutts who haven't uploaded their Archons yet! Finnish Politics!

> Randy wrote: > I have now talked to the hotel and here is what I have for you. > > 1. The hotel promised me that they would fix the code so it would also be valid until monday the 7th. > > 2. The staff who handles discounts have vacation and wont be able to fix the code for another three weeks, but you can send an e-mail to the same adress I earlier stated and they can manually fix your reservation. () > Is the code already fixed? V:EKN Website Coordinator

According to the hotel the code should now be extended to monday... Prince of Lidingö

just a question, why this year for make 3 days of tournament the price is double of the last year? 58€ is not a little expensive, normal price of last years was not 30€ for all 3 days? Maybe i'm drunk, help me understand plz. edit: ok i found the information about Budapest: > > Registration Fee: > > 3-day-pass entry fee: 30 EUR or 8500 HUF > Giulio De Cicco Prince of Trento - Italy

> Volpenera wrote: > just a question, why this year for make 3 days of tournament the price is double of the last year? 58€ is not a little expensive, normal price of last years was not 30€ for all 3 days? Maybe i'm drunk, help me understand plz. > > edit: ok i found the information about Budapest: > > > > Registration Fee: > > > > 3-day-pass entry fee: 30 EUR or 8500 HUF > > I think that the main reason for this is that Stockholm is more expensive city in all aspects than Budapest. To get the price down to same level as it was in Budapest, the expected attendance should be double than it was in last year. I think that we, as VTES community, haven't got that many new players in a year that are willing to travel abroad to play. If we ever will host EC in Finland price will probably be in same level that Stockholm has, sadly living in up north is more expensive than in central Europe Marko, Prince of Helsinki

Ok but if all is so much expensive and the quality is the same of the last years probably we have a problem... At Paris 2010 the price was alwais 30€, and i don't understand the double price of Stoccolm. And i can't read in any place the prizes of this year... Sorry if i speak only about price but this year hotel+tournament are very expensive, and maybe is good to remember dat normal european people salary are not the same of sweden...and i hope u can think about dat (the risk is a european championsip with only people of north europa www.vekn.net/ec2013/registration/players) Giulio De Cicco Prince of Trento - Italy

You have to remember that in Paris the location was pretty far away from central and it was closer more of a hostel than hotel, but in Stockholm location is three star hotel near central. I'm pretty sure that if the location in Paris would have been at the same level as it will be in Stockholm, they would have had no choice other than charge higher price from players. Marko, Prince of Helsinki

> Volpenera wrote: > Sorry if i speak only about price but this year hotel+tournament are very expensive, > I booked my double room 10 days ago, and the price was quite reasonable: 86 EUR/night (43 EUR/person/night). That's cheaper than using the booking code for reduced prices, because I paid in advance. V:EKN Website Coordinator

> Volpenera wrote: > and maybe is good to remember dat normal european people salary are not the same of sweden... > I got to agree -Swedes are indeed abnormal! Finnish Politics!

> Lönkka wrote: > > > Volpenera wrote: > > and maybe is good to remember dat normal european people salary are not the same of sweden... > > > I got to agree -Swedes are indeed abnormal! > to be very clear here we know there is a marginal difference Northern to Central - Eastern to Southern Europe but we also need to move it around and also go where we get great volunteers like the Swedes!

if we think that we can have maybe 100 people at this ec, the organization collect 6000€ only by player. I'm not a expert but 6000€ for prizes and for pay refree is not a little expensive? I don't want to speak about the conference room because i think the hotel don't ask SEK for that if u full the hotel with more of 200people (many of us come alwais with girlfriend). I know it's maybe too late for write this consideration, but i'm trying only to understand better. Giulio De Cicco Prince of Trento - Italy

> Volpenera wrote: > if we think that we can have maybe 100 people at this ec, the organization collect 6000€ only by player. I'm not a expert but 6000€ for prizes and for pay refree is not a little expensive? I don't want to speak about the conference room because i think the hotel don't ask SEK for that if u full the hotel with more of 200people (many of us come alwais with girlfriend). I know it's maybe too late for write this consideration, but i'm trying only to understand better. > For what it's worth, I can tell you that I had to pay 3300 EUR for the conference room (1100 EUR/day) in the hotel where the 2009 European Championship took place. V:EKN Website Coordinator

3300€ are not 6000€ . anyway maybe some Swedish can give me some info ^^. Giulio De Cicco Prince of Trento - Italy

Look outside your window. If you don't see longboats, then you have nothing to fear from the Swedes.

lol BenPeal u are alwais so fun Giulio De Cicco Prince of Trento - Italy

> Volpenera wrote: > 3300€ are not 6000€ . anyway maybe some Swedish can give me some info ^^. > There are other expenses involved, like prizes. For example, in the 2009 EC, we spent around 4300 EUR on prizes (boosters, playmats, pool counters, etc.) V:EKN Website Coordinator

Sure there are other expenses involved. Damnans could you please tell us how much it was the ticket for the whole tournament in 2009 EC, please? I don't want to question the organizers about the event managment, I just need some answer for my playgroup, that is struggling about participation. Stockholm is sure more expensive compared to east or central europe, but we are trying to come over in a larger group anyway. Could please some of the organizer let us know a little bit more? Thanks in advance. Il Male "When you are an anvil, wait. When you are an hammer, strike." Italian NC

> ilmale wrote: > Sure there are other expenses involved. Damnans could you please tell us how much it was the ticket for the whole tournament in 2009 EC, please? > 45 EUR. V:EKN Website Coordinator

> Damnans wrote: > > > ilmale wrote: > > Sure there are other expenses involved. Damnans could you please tell us how much it was the ticket for the whole tournament in 2009 EC, please? > > > 45 EUR. > Thanks! "When you are an anvil, wait. When you are an hammer, strike." Italian NC

> Damnans wrote: > > > ilmale wrote: > > Sure there are other expenses involved. Damnans could you please tell us how much it was the ticket for the whole tournament in 2009 EC, please? > > > 45 EUR. > Do I remember correctly that you had to pay some of the expenses from your own pocket in the end, as the entry fee collected wasn't enough to cover all expenses? Marko, Prince of Helsinki

> a-e wrote: > > Do I remember correctly that you had to pay some of the expenses from your own pocket in the end, as the entry fee collected wasn't enough to cover all expenses? > That is correct. V:EKN Website Coordinator

> 4300 EUR on prizes (boosters, playmats, pool counters, etc. > OK, but i play EC since PARIS 2010 and i never see so many prizes, i'm right? Giulio De Cicco Prince of Trento - Italy

> Volpenera wrote: > > > 4300 EUR on prizes (boosters, playmats, pool counters, etc. > > > OK, but i play EC since PARIS 2010 and i never see so many prizes, i'm right? > Since that was the last EC I played, I can't really help you there. V:EKN Website Coordinator

> Volpenera wrote: > if we think that we can have maybe 100 people at this ec, the organization collect 6000€ only by player. I'm not a expert but 6000€ for prizes and for pay refree is not a little expensive? I don't want to speak about the conference room because i think the hotel don't ask SEK for that if u full the hotel with more of 200people (many of us come alwais with girlfriend). I know it's maybe too late for write this consideration, but i'm trying only to understand better. > Sooo, the real question is; why haven't you corrupted your girlfriends to play? If there are so many females already willing to travel with you to the big tournaments, it's just such a waste they don't play! Corrupting at least some of them to play should be doable - I know, because it happened to me! With more traveling players the price for big tournaments per player could maybe also be little cut down. And even if it wouldn't, more players is still more players, which would be good for the game

Hey guys! We know that the price of the EC are a bit high. Though it's not much we can do about it. The Nordic countries are expensive (and especially Stockholm) - we were aware of that from the get go. But with that in mind we'vedone our out must to keep the prices down. That has been our primary goal. We've manage to get the prices for the conferance rooms down to a third of the normal price. My and Randy hope that this won't be deterant and that you still will be able to show up. Isak Esbjörnsson Bjärmark

the problem is dat we have corrupted our girl's to play and now we must pay for 2 person, so 58+58 is very much expensive of 30+30 ^^. Giulio De Cicco Prince of Trento - Italy

> Volpenera wrote: > the problem is dat we have corrupted our girl's to play and now we must pay for 2 person, so 58+58 is very much expensive of 30+30 ^^. > Ooh, you already have, then I must applaud you! From the previous message I get the impression that they just come hang around instead of playing (and well, I haven't seen that many females playing on the last two EC). And from the price point of few; it's not so black-and-white. This will be for me the cheapest EC this far, because the last two years the traveling expenses from Finland to eastern Europe have been so much more than the traveling from Finland to Stockholm will be. As also Hugh already pointed out, it is good that the EC moves around - because of many reasons. One of them being our lovely Swedes, who are contributing so much time and effort to this event.

> Randy wrote: > I have now talked to the hotel and here is what I have for you. > > 1. The hotel promised me that they would fix the code so it would also be valid until monday the 7th. > > 2. The staff who handles discounts have vacation and wont be able to fix the code for another three weeks, but you can send an e-mail to the same adress I earlier stated and they can manually fix your reservation. () > > 3. The pre-payment deal is cheaper due to the fact that it will not let you get your money back if you cant make the trip for some reason. This price will also change if more people book and buy. > Petri just reserved and paid for a room for us two (Fri-Mon). We knew there was a price difference but were taken aback by how huge it was. This difference will obviously wither away the longer you wait before you make your reservation. approximate prices: normal reservation, non-cancellable: 260e normal reservation, cancellable: 350e reservation with the EC code: 380e Want to stay in the EC hotel but save some serious moolah? Then I dare suggest you place your reservation ASAP. Finnish Politics!

Randy/Isak, local players wanted to know whether you needed decklists or not for the tournaments. Finnish Politics!

Non-local players want to know as well ..

> extrala wrote: > Non-local players want to know as well .. > Erm, I meant my local players. But you already knew that you witty German you... Finnish Politics!

Just to add to this thread - the EC site now contains details of this year's Storyline. This year even if you're not attending you're still welcome to participate. Read my new blog: gameaholicblog.wordpress.com

Hallå killar? Inquisitive minds want to know if we need to bring decklists? Finnish Politics!

from prior experience of Isak/Randy I wouldn't expect decklists to be required but they will want the finalists to have lists/be willing to photograph decks there and then for purposes of wider community reporting [similar with Ralf I guess?]