X Fragathon 2 - IMPORTANT UPDATE 17th June 2007

[The_Abyss]

Goodness me - we're only a few days into the new year and already we're thinking about the next Fragathon. But we're thinking ahead with good reason - we're going on tour!

Seriosuly though, we'd like to expand outside of the UK and see a bit more of the world - well, Europe anyway - but of course still with the intention of gaming and with more choices of what to do away from a PC and of course with better weather.

Summary as of 17 June 2007

See here

Soemone needs to take over ownership / organisation of the event, as I can't go and France can't be the location.
Otherwise, the agreed fallback location is Scotland. Whilst Scotland would be a shorter trip, we could have the barn for a week.

Lots of people have shown an interest, which is fantastic. Once either location is confirmed however, we will require firm confirmations and commitments to pay.

Travel - there are several drivers heading from the UK who can take people with them. This can also meanpicking people up en route, i.e. like Merroc from Holland.

The good news is that at this time of year, we should definitely have ET: Quake Wars available to play. It is important to note (at the risk of stating the obvious) that if we are bringing our own PCs, you WILL have to have an installed game on your PC in order to play. So factor this cost into your plans as well.

Cheers.

[Merroc]

my oppinion about the countries:
spain: maybe too hot. Dont really know the prices to go there. Do they speak english well enough? golf? o.O . Mostly depends on timing and price for this location.

Scandinavia: Never been there, but it sounds cold. even in mid summer. Costs a fortune? Im a student, do the math .

France: je ne parle pas francais. I do hope they speak english. Mostly the same as spain, bar the hot thing.

The Netherlands: well, duh. I live here. Of course its good by me . Everybody speaks english, else i can be a translator for you guys . Lans are plenty indeed. And im sure there is indeed lots to do outside gaming . Hard to say when living here. As for the "not too exotic", if you hit the right time, it can easily be the right temperature (anything above 25°C with no/little wind). right time would be july/august though. I care little about timing for this. Also if the place allows it, i can bring my own pc .

Germany: I suppose its roughly the same as The Netherlands, apart from the fact that i dont live there, and timing is of somewhat more importance.

Holland - Merroc lives there and can organise the whole thing, lots of LANs, lots to do away from gaming, no language issues, it's close and cheap. Downsides: it isn't terribly exotic.

"can organise the whole thing" i assume thats with backup from you Abyss . I suppose if its in The Netherlands, there will be more dutch joining, so i wont be alone anyway.

[Krusade]

I'm in, I enjoyed it last year so I'll definitely be up for one this year.

[Some Strange Man]

Of those options, I'd have to say I prefer Spain or Holland.

A slightly cooler (climate wise) option might be Portugal, even fewer of us would speak the language, but if we go somewhere "touristy" it shouldn't be an issue.

Same for Spain, and we could make it 1/2 weeks and just call it a holiday, meeting up for the odd night?


Work will have a period where I'm indispensable so I would think timing might be the only issue affecting whether or not I'll be going.

[Krusade]

I doubt we could all afford 1/2 weeks in Spain/Portugal

[thetack]

why not round merrocs save money to spend on pitzas and beer .

[Cycrow]

the best place would be one thats close to an Airport used by easyjet, then u'll get relativily cheap flights there

but now i have a job money shouldn't be a problem, jsut the booking time off work, which is y late summer would be best, as in the mid summer, its almost impossible to get time off work unless u book a year in advance

could always have a lan party at the egosoft offices

[LeeE]

i'll go for cheap please as the main consideration

i'd prefer one of the cooler places but if there's a pool nearby i wouldn't be too bothered by the heat the south of france is very nice, did some paddling on the ardesche river a few years ago and there was some lovely scenery around...

should be able to make this as long as it's outside uni term time, just have to make sure i don't spend all my money first...

ps. somewhere near a paintballing site would be nice as krusade is coming

[Krusade]

last time I played paintball I was surprisingly good for a 6' 1" oaf

[LeeE]

well i'm terrible but practice makes perfect and it sounds as though i have plenty of time

[Krusade]

Right I'm going to develop some sort of portable bunker complete with paintball firing machine gun then

[LeeE]

you mean like the inflatable sup' air bunkers i train with once or twice a month and the electronic paintball gun i own capable of about 15 balls per second in straight semi plus ramping modes, burst and full auto (which is unfortunately rather illegal to actually use over here)?

and to be slightly productive here we definitely should do some sort of 'activity' while we are there, the karting was great fun last time but half the people ended up sitting out...if we ended up near a beach somewhere warm we could always do something like renting jet skis or trying wind surfing or sea kayaking or whatever...basically something to do while all the boring people are off playing golf

plus we all know that no brit holiday is complete without a round or two of crazy golf

[Krusade]

Letting us on jet skis would be a recipe for disaster, same goes for windsurfing or kayaking

[LeeE]

exactly, why do you think i suggested it...but really i'm just saying it would be a good idea to look for somewhere where there is a mix of stuff to do (can you tell this would be my first holiday in about 5 years? )

what about some hiking or (very simple and easily paced) cycling?

[fud]

Hmmm. I've been looking for an excuse to go back across the pond....


I'd be up for whatever, wherever, so long as some beer was nearby for purchase/consumption.


Cycrow, EasyJet? UGH! Those bastards screwed me hard, and I didn't even get a rose. They cancelled our midnight flight from Edinborough to Luton. Only to leave at 7am the next morning (spent the night in the airport in Edinborough), and circle Luton for 3 hours because of your lovely fog.

Ended up getting routed to Liverpool (what a charming skyline of factories ), where we got on a train and went back to London. Supposed to have been in Paddington at 1:30am, got there at 5:45pm. Bastards.

Personally, I'd rather ride a camel than fly with them again. Scratch that, I'd rather have a camel ride me than fly with them again.


I agree about the airport vicinity/etc. Somewhere close where perhaps someone could pick me up with relative ease. I'm not too keen on renting a car that I'd have to drive on the wrong side of the road, sitting in the passenger seat.

[Some Strange Man]

I doubt we could all afford 1/2 weeks in Spain/Portugal

I'm talking about combining it with a 1/2 week holiday abroad, so....

We could do the fragathon purely on a weekend, but make sure its near/in a tourist resort so those of us wanting to stay on for 1/2 weeks can.

It just makes more sense to me to do it as a holiday with a few activity nights or something along those lines.

[MrFrog]

Well Chaps & Chapesses,

I really don't mind where we go. Last year I did France x 3, Spain, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Wales and erm... Birmingham.

I have also done Germany and Holland within the last 2 years. They all offer a different combination of culture, food, beer and language challenges, some more than others.

I'm happy to go with the flow as Holidays aren't an issue as long as I know when they are occurring. As for activities, go-karting, golf and beer drinking are all good, paint-balling I'll have a go at, lying by a pool reading a book I don't mind. The only time I can't make it is the weekend of June 17-18 as I will be in Le Mans. (some motor race is on).

There that was helpful with choosing wasn't it.

(Oh and if we could go to Tenerife that would be helpful as I left my chess set in the time share )

[Rapier]

Holland in September has about a 90% chance of getting me there. The further away frm that you go, in time and space, the less chance I'll come.

[cappedup]

my obvious response is 'my place'.. but it isnt finished yet.. but it could be by the time you want to go.. if you are talking after the school summer holidays, then it certainly better had be finished.. if it is before summer starts proper, june etc then its touch and go..

facilities i will have (fingers crossed) - sauna, outside spa, pool table, dirty great big tv, sleeps 8-10 in the format of 4 double beds 2 single beds ( there are loads of places that others could stay only minutes away either same kind of accomodation, camping or hotel.. golf course 15 minutes away, only 10 hole but feindishly difficult and cracking views to put you off your swing and provide a perfect excuse.. lake close for canoeing or renting of crappy outboard boats.. as much walking in the serene rural french countryside as you can stomach.. wine needs no mention.. links to limoges airport from stansted, southampton, notts, liverpool..

price = negotiable

downside is the lan.. aint got one.. also have no idea where there may be one.. maybe someone could find places in the area and i could check it out before you come.. really have no idea what is out there.. limoges is the best place to start looking.. tis 1 hour drive away (this might be too far)

[Krusade]

If it's finished I vote for cappedup's place.