HF-Lan 3

HF-LAN 3​

TL;DR information :




What is the HF-Lan ?

Short answer : One of the best-run tournaments you could attend.

Long answer : The HF-Lan series started in early 2010, and only consisted in 2 tournaments gathering 30 to 40 attendants. Yet, it's without a doubt one of the most awaited tournament in the French community along some much larger tournaments like Smashers' Reunion.
The reason for this is that it was one of the best-run tournament the French community has ever seen. Here's a short summary of what was done at HF-Lan and will be there again :

• A large venue (the tournament takes place in the canteen of a huge engineer school)
• Many setups : the HF-Lan series fits in the average TV/players ratio at French tournaments : close to 3. It means you almost never have to wait in order to play.
• Free drinks during the whole event, including RedBull
• Free food (usually hot dogs) for the lunches of saturday and sunday. And the staff took care of a group order in the evening (Have you ever seen someone order 95 McDonalds menu at the same time ? Well they did )
• Couches : in front of many TVs (not all of them), there were large couches to be comfy while you play.
• The top games were played in a 200+ seats auditorium, on a large movie screen.
• One of the most dedicated staff there could be.

So basically, the HF-Lan is an amazing tournament series.

Now for the practical information :

When ?

May 19th-20th, 2012

The venue is going to open on Saturday morning, and will close on Sunday evening. You can stay during the night.

Where ?

Noisy-le-Grand, France. This city isn't far from Paris and easy to reach with the public transportation system.

The venue

ESIEE Paris
2 boulevard Blaise Pascal
Cité Descartes
Noisy-le-Grand

See it on a map !

The venue is an engineer school, and a huge one that is ! We're using the canteen, which is really large and easily provides enough space. Couches are set in front of some TVs in order to play comfortably.
In addition to the canteen, the auditorium will also be used for the most hyped sets. It has space for 200+ people, features a giant screen as well as a scene at the bottom for the players.

You can see the venue on this photo album, taken during HF-Lan 2 : http://www.flickr.com/photos/esieephoto/sets/72157627849883949/with/6279832090/


Who ?

In order to be able to manage the event more efficiently, the ESIEE staff sets an attendance limit, which rose with every edition. This time, the tournament is limited to 64 players. However, to help international attendance, the staff considers setting up a quota reserved for international players.


The hosts

The tournament is hosted by the members of the school's gaming club. They do not enter de tournament, but play smash often and follow the activity of the international scene. While one might think that not being a part of the smash community could make them care less about smash players, the reality is actually the opposite. Their dedication is absolutely remarkable, and they always listen to the players' need to make the tournament a better experience.


Events

The tournament will feature singles and doubles.

Singles : 64 players, most like 8 pools of 8, top 4 making it to a 32-man bracket.
Doubles : 32 teams, most likely 4 pools of 8, top 4 making it to a 16-team bracket.
These are subject to change.

Depending of the attendants and the time available, other events could happen, such as a crew battle.


Equipment

I talked to one of the main hosts a few days ago and we had a common aim : one setups for every 3 players. It would mean 21 or 22 setups, and, it addition to helping the tournament run faster, it would allow everyone to find free TVs whenever they want.


Registration

Registration will take place on the HF-Lan website. It's being renovated right now, but it should be available soon. If the 64 players limit is reached, a reserve list will be set up.


Entry fees and prizes

Entry fees

Venue fee : 6€
Singles tournament : 10€
Doubles tournament : 10€ per player


Prizes

The post should be separated as follows :
Assuming 64 players in singles and 32 teams in doubles, it would mean the following :

Schedule

The venue opens on saturday morning, and closes on sunday evening.
Detailed schedule is TBD.


Ruleset

To be determined. But it will be similar to the usual French tournaments, with 6 stages available (BF, DL64, FD, FoD, PS, YS)


Food, housing, and travel information

Food

Last time, the HF-Lan staff served free drinks during the whole event, including red bull. Additionnally, they served free hot dogs for lunch, and took care of a group Mc Donalds order on the saturday evening.
But there are also some shops in the neighbourhood where you can buy food. A map with the locations of the food stores will be added to this post before the tournament.

Housing

On saturday evening, the venue will be open and you will be able to stay there. Just bring what you need to sleep.
If you need housing before or after the tournament, some Parisian smashers should be able to help you. Please contact me if you need housing (see Contact section)

Travel information

The venue is located 500 m away from the RER Station on the A line. From there, a trip to Paris takes 20 mn and costs 4€. Please contact me if you need information regarding transportation : I'll help you choose the most convenient route.

Other games

HF-Lan began as a multi-games event, including, Melee, Brawl, SC2, LOL, … and then, the list shrinked to keep the most active communities.
HF-Lan 3 will feature Melee and Starcraft 2. I don't have much information regarding the Starcraft event, but if you are interested, just ask and I'll get what you need.


Smash-unrelated interests

The tournament will not take place in Paris, but so close it is pretty much the same. Paris is a beautiful and very lively city, and sightseeing can be great there.

If you plan to attend the tournament and want some information about great places to visit, don't hesitate to ask.


Updates

We intend to stream the tournament. I don't know the link yet, but this post will be updated with more information.
We will also make Twitter updates on LeFrenchMelee, the french community's Twitter acocunt.


Contact

Slhoka
Check my profile for IM accounts, send me an e-mail, or ask me on facebook !
Make sure to contact me if you have any question.


Here are a few more pictures from HF-Lan 2 so you can see what HF-Lan 3 will be like :

Besides announcing the tournament, I'd like to explain why, as a player, I can't wait for this event.

If I had to make a list of my best smash experiences, I would place HF-Lan 2 in my top 3, with the Genesis events, and proably Beast 2 or Epita Smash Arena 1.

The reason why this 40-people French-only tournament was to me as amazing as the international giants I attended is that, out of all the tournaments I ever attended, no one ever matched the flawless organization of the HF-Lan series. Sure, it was not perfect at first, because the link between the staff and the Melee community wasn't so strong. But they listened to us and fixed what was wrong either right now or at the next edition.

Basically, the HF-Lan series is the perfect mix between a tournament and a smashfest at home : you can play comfortably in your couch, get a drink whenever you want without having to go buy something, and yet you're at a tournament with, in this case, the best players in France.

Would definitly consider if I weren't in the navy. Looks mad solid.

I'll be there for sure

It's certainly one of the best experiences I had.
The finals in the auditorium were especially hyped and we were comfortably seated.
Once again, a near flawless organisation and a staff dedicated to his wook.

Yeah, you certainly want to be there. ^^

leffen said:

I'll be there for sure

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can't wait for this then

Looking awesome, i'll be there, hope more foreigners will come

Edit: sorry I'm not coming anymore, bus tickets suddenly changed in price

Interested!

Very interested!

Confirming soon, good chances.

Interested

Interested. WTF @ France hosting 3 events in 1 month O.o

Yeah... Too many tournaments in one month. I'm interested. The previous tournament was great. I don't doubt this one will be nice too.

I'm here, no matter what.

I'll be there

Interested!

very interested

Supposing I can get there fairly cheap and I'm not up to my neck in school work, I'd love to go.

Ørn said:

Supposing I can get there fairly cheap and I'm not up to my neck in school work, I'd love to go.

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Eagle vs Cyr hype MM, let's goooo!

Jonas said:

Eagle vs Cyr hype MM, let's goooo!

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This.


Glad to see all of you guys are interested

hype!
i'll try to be there!

My possibilities of going to this event have increased hugely. =D

How do I sign up Slhoka?

A website for the registration will be online soon if I recall correctly.

I think Im going =)

At least the chance for me to come is really big.

This is pretty soon, damn. I'd love to come.

If I could find super cheap tickets (like 400) and I can get work off, I could definitely come.

Great so see people get interest for this. I swear that if you come you wan't regret it :D

(Even though I don't know we'll do with the 64-player limit. I'll try to see if we can get some more places but it won't be easy).

@Coen : Registration isn't open so far, but it will be soon.

Yeah try to get some more spots. I guess that a lot from France will be there and it seems like a lot of other people from other countries wanna go to. Last year we had a lot of tournaments in Europe (big ones) was back in 2010 so the community need more spots for this.

Looking forward to see everyone again =)

Armada : You're coming to this tournament AND esa5 ?


for others to know :
HF-LAN 3 : March 31st - April 1st
ESA5 : April 20th-23rd

Oh damn, ESA5 is that close?

I'm not sure what to attend now.

Ørn said:

Oh damn, ESA5 is that close?

I'm not sure what to attend now.

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My personnal advice is to attend this tournament.
Charlon (ESA5 host) and Baxon would say ESA5.

So far, this tournament has gotten more hype in the French community that ESA5, and it seems that those who have to choose a tournament have chosen HF-Lan.
I guess ESA5 won't be bad, but the previous HF-Lans were simply amazing.

Isn't ESA5 supposed to be alot bigger though? So the 64 limit wouldn't be as much of a problem?

Slhoka said:

So far, this tournament has gotten more hype in the French community that ESA5, and it seems that those who have to choose a tournament have chosen HF-Lan.
I guess ESA5 won't be bad, but the previous HF-Lans were simply amazing.

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I strongly second that; all the french players who have to choose between the two tournaments are going to the HF-Lan. There'll be a lot of french players at both though (especially parisians).

Im honestly considering going to both assuming I can get good tickets.

However, I think ESA5 looks like a way better bet for foreigners. 64 limit is ****, and with international attendance I think the limit will be even more pressed to its limit


Maybe if people outside of france decide to go to ESA the french who can only go to one tournament will change their mind?

Porc: I have a big project and I need to have a presentation on that stupid ****. If the date for that is not close to any of this tournament (the odds looks good) I will be at both tournament if I can find at least decent tickets =)

ESA : lots of place (to play and sleep), some cheap food, no player limit.
HF-LAN : free drinks (redbull !), free hotdogs, couches, and a giant screen room, 64 player limit.

both with a good amount of setups

if i have to choose i think i'll go to the one with the most foreigners, but hopefully i'll go to both


Armada : Awesome

Ill be there for sure.

Me and another Swiss player are interested! Confirming soon

I really want to go to both this and ESA =D hopefully...

Zoler said:

I really want to go to both this and ESA =D hopefully...

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I do too, but none of you will believe me. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I believe you wanna go but I don't think you are going

But they have ryanair between Gothenburg and Paris so we + the rest of the WC should look at flights soon.