Big LAN Network Announcement!

[Small]

Hello LAN Network Community!

My name is Rick Barretto and my company now owns the LAN Network. I am preparing a welcome letter announcement and will be announcing an upcoming LAN event soon at our new location.

Stay tuned, the announcement is forthcoming and I look forward to meeting everyone and carrying on the amazing work already done.

Talk soon!
Rick

I just got off the phone with the new owner of TLN and I wanted to get your thoughts on this article post on the home page. As you can see, his name is Rick Barretto and he will be leading The LAN Network! Let's come up with some new ideas of ways we can make this community even better than it ever was! I will be in close communication with him to make this amazing. Give me your ideas!

Discuss!

----

Edit from Heuer89:

For those wanting more information on Mr. Barretto, here is his LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rick-barretto/3/777/450) that gives some general information on his background and experience.

[itwuzmagik]

SO FREAKING AWESOME THIS SITE IS STAYING UP!!!!!!! As for ideas just promote promote promote. Advertise the site in anyway we can (respectfully of course)

[Morgacht]

Beautiful. I'm so excited. I'd like to meet with Mr. Baretto so I can continue writing for TLN. I'd love to retain my status as a member of the content team. How can I contact him to appy?

[rasha fasha]

I would like to get more involved this time around in any way possible, through writing, moderating, anything

[Inexist]

This will be insane!!! I knew something was going on when I was talking to Mr. P but I had to keep it onthedownlow.

[Small]

Beautiful. I'm so excited. I'd like to meet with Mr. Baretto so I can continue writing for TLN. I'd love to retain my status as a member of the content team. How can I contact him to appy?

By the way things are looking, I will be playing a major role in content production for the site. Let's get chatting ASAP! Will you be around tonight? Would be happy to give you my phone number and we can talk about how to keep you involved (maybe even more so than you were before!).


I would like to get more involved this time around in any way possible, through writing, moderating, anything

I'm the one to talk to! Let's chat ASAP! I'll be around all weekend long.

[Morgacht]

By the way things are looking, I will be playing a major role in content production for the site. Let's get chatting ASAP! Will you be around tonight? Would be happy to give you my phone number and we can talk about how to keep you involved (maybe even more so than you were before!).

I'm the one to talk to! Let's chat ASAP! I'll be around all weekend long.

I will not be around tonight I'm in class til 5 then have a meeting. Tomorrow I am in class til 5 but after that will be free the entire night. I can chat on skype while in class today, but not tomorrow.

[Small]

I will not be around tonight I'm in class til 5 then have a meeting. Tomorrow I am in class til 5 but after that will be free the entire night. I can chat on skype while in class today, but not tomorrow.

Whatever works for you works for me. Add me on Skype and we will continue this discussion on there!

Skype: vg_Small

[BigDogg2324]

Woop woop TLN is back in my bookmarks on my phone!!

[SullyVan]

I def wanna be more involved this time, i posted alot but i want a bigger role possibly! But either way SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!

[Small]

I def wanna be more involved this time, i posted alot but i want a bigger role possibly! But either way SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!

Let's talk then! Get at me on AIM, Skype, or email.
AIM: MLGCoachSmall
Skype: vg_small
Email: [email protected]

[bradsears]

New location? This is big news indeed.

[pt ogre]

who is this guy? does he have any history with the community or esports?

[heuer89]

who is this guy? does he have any history with the community or esports?

A good amount of general information (work experience / background) can be found on his LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rick-barretto/3/777/450).

[DaMuSiCFiEnD]

I would love to try and help and keep this site going. Never been fond of the mlg forums, won't bash them they just aren't as open minded as people here.

[Morgan]

This is great news. I'm glad this is staying around :D

[Waterboy7]

So Glad it's back! When do we sign up for memberships ?

[Str8 Aggression]

So Glad it's back! When do we sign up for memberships ?

I think this is the thing we need to avoid the most to get TLN off the ground again. I understand that the MLG forums are largely hostile towards a lot of the things that TLN does, and are generally fairly cheap overall, but if you can make it free somehow at least for the first couple of LANs to once again draw interest to this, the mood towards TLN would immediately change on the MLG forums. It would be like : "Hey, TLN is under new management? And they're doing it for FREE?!" I'm not sure what you guys would have to do to make that happen, but maybe try and get sponsored by MLG itself, or one of MLGs sponsors such as Dr Pepper / NOS etc. I know you (Everett) have a couple connections with sponsors through the Str8 Rippin name as well as XtendPlay etc.

[Panda]

I think this is the thing we need to avoid the most to get TLN off the ground again. I understand that the MLG forums are largely hostile towards a lot of the things that TLN does, and are generally fairly cheap overall, but if you can make it free somehow at least for the first couple of LANs to once again draw interest to this, the mood towards TLN would immediately change on the MLG forums. It would be like : "Hey, TLN is under new management? And they're doing it for FREE?!" I'm not sure what you guys would have to do to make that happen, but maybe try and get sponsored by MLG itself, or one of MLGs sponsors such as Dr Pepper / NOS etc. I know you (Everett) have a couple connections with sponsors through the Str8 Rippin name as well as XtendPlay etc.

I agree with this. It's a new start for TLN, so let's try to attract more attention here.

Anyways, this made my day <3

[itwuzmagik]

hey small i would also like to continue writing for TLN so if you could get back to me that would be great i would txt you but all my contact were erased including your number :(

[Suffer]

Thank you basedgod.

[ReFlex]

I can't explain how happy I am that TLN and the forums are back! :D

[Extermist]

AMAZING!!!! Can't wait for the first lan!

[SolidBob]

OP: You asked for some ideas, lets start coming up with some.

1. New TLN should not be tailored to only HR players. Similar to the Red Bull LAN, i think there should be multiple games/systems LANed. Maybe not at one time, but on different dates. SC2, COD, MvC, etc. I dont know what games outside SC2 and COD have a big following but I'm sure this would broaden the scope of TLN.

2. No wishy washy business crap. This really turned me off to TLN multiple times and ultimately made me stop visiting.
Rick Barretto knows he's trying to resurrect a sunken ship and his credentials lead me to believe he should have a great business plan coming in. Please have a genuine business model, for our sake!

[brmajor]

Yeah!!! Halo is coming back strong in 2012!! Lan Network is back we got a weekly show , and some nice settings with no bloom and no sprint!

[Phoenix]

You know if TLN gets big enough, they could try hosting real tournments for halo. In the great debate all the pros were talking about how Halo only has MLG. Well TLN could be that other league that halo needs. Just an idea... not to sure if this is possible!

[Small]

I think this is the thing we need to avoid the most to get TLN off the ground again. I understand that the MLG forums are largely hostile towards a lot of the things that TLN does, and are generally fairly cheap overall, but if you can make it free somehow at least for the first couple of LANs to once again draw interest to this, the mood towards TLN would immediately change on the MLG forums. It would be like : "Hey, TLN is under new management? And they're doing it for FREE?!" I'm not sure what you guys would have to do to make that happen, but maybe try and get sponsored by MLG itself, or one of MLGs sponsors such as Dr Pepper / NOS etc. I know you (Everett) have a couple connections with sponsors through the Str8 Rippin name as well as XtendPlay etc.

To my understanding, the plan in place will allow TLN to pay for itself. I am getting a better understanding of how this is going to work after some recent discussions but I can tell you that before long news will be out and they will fill everyone in. I am not in an adequate position to attempt to do that myself as I am still learning about things as well.

What do you guys think about having a casting team for LANs? Would you like to see consistent commentators at each LAN conducting some casting? I am trying to make a push to become a commentator for TLN and it would be so awesome to see you guys support that. Your thoughts?

[Hylian]

This is awesome! Can't wait 'till the site is back up in full swing. I will try to come up with ideas to improve the site.

[AECaniff]

Just an Idea but it would be so sick if all 8 players were streaming instead of just one so that way we could pick. Or before the series there is a little poll which lets you vote on which player to watch, Quicker response time as in when a series is done the score to be posted quicker. The site went a lil slow at times. Video Interviews via Skype once a week or something, video commentary on games posted on here. Online tournaments between members. Also if it were set up like The RedBull LAN that would be awesome haha.

Lets make this the number one spot to go to for anything Halo.

Also and most important...

Still do pros vs joes!!!

[rasha fasha]

By the way things are looking, I will be playing a major role in content production for the site. Let's get chatting ASAP! Will you be around tonight? Would be happy to give you my phone number and we can talk about how to keep you involved (maybe even more so than you were before!).



I'm the one to talk to! Let's chat ASAP! I'll be around all weekend long.

I can give you my phone number and I should be able to talk or something this evening.

[Synystars]

Im very happy to see this site back up :) Long live TLN! Missed you guys :D <3

[heuer89]

Just an Idea but it would be so sick if all 8 players were streaming instead of just one so that way we could pick. Or before the series there is a little poll which lets you vote on which player to watch, Quicker response time as in when a series is done the score to be posted quicker. The site went a lil slow at times. Video Interviews via Skype once a week or something, video commentary on games posted on here. Online tournaments between members. Also if it were set up like The RedBull LAN that would be awesome haha.

Lets make this the number one spot to go to for anything Halo.

Also and most important...

Still do pros vs joes!!!

I like the idea, but at least the way it was setup before you can't really select them on demand due to hardware limitations. As for the poll, especially this last time, I tried to ask the chat who they wanted to watch from each team while still trying to give decent exposure to all players.

That can be blamed on me the last couple times as I was running solo. I had to prioritize my time as I had to keep making sure things were working, because something would become loose and it would take a game for me to find it, setting me further behind on updating the scores.

Another good idea. Many players / coaches are starting to do commentaries that are posted on their YouTube channels, and adding a page that shows the various videos and/or channels wouldn't take too much time to set up depending on how much customization is desired. As for video interviews totally do-able and until they're started, check out

Gandhi's TwitchTV (http://twitch.tv/gandhimlg) and YouTube (http://youtube.com/gandhimlg);
HaloNation (http://halo-nation.net), their TwitchTV (http://twitch.tv/halonation), and YouTube (http://youtube.com/realhalonation);
Small's website (http://everettcoleman.com/) (sorry don't know Twitch channel off the top of my head) for content.

[Cheeky]

I can hazz Scooby Snakes Again! O.o

I'm an Excite!

[Antidote]

OP: You asked for some ideas, lets start coming up with some.

1. New TLN should not be tailored to only HR players. Similar to the Red Bull LAN, i think there should be multiple games/systems LANed. Maybe not at one time, but on different dates. SC2, COD, MvC, etc. I dont know what games outside SC2 and COD have a big following but I'm sure this would broaden the scope of TLN.

2. No wishy washy business crap. This really turned me off to TLN multiple times and ultimately made me stop visiting.
Rick Barretto knows he's trying to resurrect a sunken ship and his credentials lead me to believe he should have a great business plan coming in. Please have a genuine business model, for our sake!

Personally while i prefer other competitive games to Halo I believe it would be in TLN's best interest to keep it Halo only, since their are better sitse for other games and Halo really has no good site to go to. Should make Halo the only reason really to visit this site. That way it actually has it's own dedicated well ran site to go to that's off of the MLG forums.

[Briimstone]

Wow! This is great news! I wonder what the odds of free streaming would be? :)

[Bravo]

I just got off the phone with our new "Mr. P"

----

How f***** dare you? Was that serious?

I spent a good part of 3 years of my life with Mr P and his family. They are my second family, my home away from home. They treated me, and many others who LANned at TLN, like a son. You can't just replace him, nor his family, nor TLN.

You don't even know Mr P. Have some respect.

[Champloo]

How f***** dare you? Was that serious?

I spent a good part of 3 years of my life with Mr P and his family. They are my second family, my home away from home. They treated me, and many others who LANned at TLN, like a son. You can't just replace him, nor his family, nor TLN.

You don't even know Mr P. Have some respect. I honestly cannot believe that none of you said a single thing about this, but it may be different from where I am sitting.
All he's implying is that this guy is the new owner...

[DaMuSiCFiEnD]

Hope all of these ideas can be implicated into keeping the company going strong. I wonder if he will be purchasing all the monitors and xbox's from TLN to his house. Kind of crazy read up on him he has a big harry potter line up of products.

[Bravo]

And I've got nothing against this new guy and I am optimistic.

The LAN Network could become the sickest ever this season. It could all be an awesome experience, PvJ, free streams, everything. All I'm saying is it is HIGHLY disrespectful for someone to say that about Mr P, who poured so much time money and effort into TLN.

It's like a weird stepdad complex - "Oh, well, I'm your new dad." Extreme example, yes. You get what I mean.

I am looking forward to everything that TLN will bring in 2012 and beyond - don't get me wrong here.

[InKo]

Wow, chill out.
Was it REALLY that hard for him to get SaLoT his prize? Was it REALLY that hard for him to keep the site up for a year for the people that paid? The site was poorly run before, I can only hope it gets better.

He wasn't even saying anything bad about Mr. P...you are out of line.

[Imp3nded]

You can never replace Mr. P, but I'm excited about the fact that TLN is not over! :D

[Bravo]

Wow, chill out.
Was it REALLY that hard for him to get SaLoT his prize? Was it REALLY that hard for him to keep the site up for a year for the people that paid? The site was poorly run before, I can only hope it gets better.

He wasn't even saying anything bad about Mr. P...you are out of line.

I may have gotten a little carried away, yes, but my reasoning is stated in my first post. I love all of you guys, and TLN has been my home for many years. I helped build this site, I literally watched each section get built, etc. The entire idea of "TLN" means a lot to me. However, I am not saying that this guy isn't what we need. I bet he'll do an awesome job.

Re: Salot, I don't know the situation. I can't comment.

Re: The site's functionality - TLN had programmers outside of the country. The flaws in the site's infrastructure cannot be attributed to Mr P or anyone who worked at TLN out of Chicago. Thus, the company has been sold.

Please understand that I want this community to stick together and thrive and I hope Rick is just the man to do it. However, I still think Small's wording was ridiculous and out of line.

I love you guys, I did not mean to offend any of you at all, and apologies if I did. I'm here in this community to stay, please do not get me wrong.

[SaLoT]

I for one could care less about the prize that was promised to me and never happened. It does not matter now it is in the past, but i am really missing watching the lans and want to see that prevail once again. As long as the guy is honest and truthful then i am all for it.

[heuer89]

I may have gotten a little carried away, yes, but my reasoning is stated in my first post. I love all of you guys, and TLN has been my home for many years. I helped build this site, I literally watched each section get built, etc. The entire idea of "TLN" means a lot to me. However, I am not saying that this guy isn't what we need. I bet he'll do an awesome job.

Re: Salot, I don't know the situation. I can't comment.

Re: The site's functionality - TLN had programmers outside of the country. The flaws in the site's infrastructure cannot be attributed to Mr P or anyone who worked at TLN out of Chicago. Thus, the company has been sold.

Please understand that I want this community to stick together and thrive and I hope Rick is just the man to do it. However, I still think Small's wording was ridiculous and out of line.

I love you guys, I did not mean to offend any of you at all, and apologies if I did. I'm here in this community to stay, please do not get me wrong.

Thanks for restating your post Andy. Others (including me) saw your first post as unnecessary and berating. If you're here to stay and help out with the new TLN, I can't wait to work with you again. :)

[Fritzster]

Holy crap! Good news :D

[Celph]

@Salot - Well said.

Basically where I'm at too.

[Small]

How f***** dare you? Was that serious?

I spent a good part of 3 years of my life with Mr P and his family. They are my second family, my home away from home. They treated me, and many others who LANned at TLN, like a son. You can't just replace him, nor his family, nor TLN.

You don't even know Mr P. Have some respect.

Um...what?

[Dragon Eat Kidz]

Any idea of where this is going to be located because if its closer to me in Indiana i'll be happppppppppppppppppppppy

[Small]

Any idea of where this is going to be located because if its closer to me in Indiana i'll be happppppppppppppppppppppy

It's in Indiana =P

[timesknight]

One idea I have is free Streams. If streams are free there are so many more viewers. Plus you could find sponsors to put up ads. this way you could show ads in between games and series.

[DeeLuv]

Small meant that purely in context of identifying who the new owner of TLN was.....

[Small]

Small meant that purely in context of identifying who the new owner of TLN was.....

Thank you..Didn't think I should have to explain that. I love Mr. P and the whole family. I have been to the house before. I wouldn't be here pushing this hard if I didn't love this whole thing. Kind of blown away that I got that type of response.

Anyways.... now that that's over with. Let's continue with what this thread was created for. Good, mature discussion and some new ideas for TLN!

[D Moralize]

I wonder if there will be free steams or at least a membership option again, I heard twitch allows streams to make a lot more now than they did when TLN tried to go free.

[HEA7]

Am I the only one who found it funny that drama of some sort couldnt be avoided for even one day?

I really do hope that TLN will make a full comeback!

[Smallz08]

Wow it feels great to log into this site once again! I hope to see that the video quality gets better with the LAN's and I will be happy. I also hope that this place can be as clean as possible when it comes to internet trolls. I know of a few off the top of my head that came through here before but I hope that we can all be mature and just discuss what we think will happen in 2012 and beyond without getting flamed for having an opinion that others don't agree with. Lets GO TLN!!!!

[Gweedo888]

I am really excited to see the changes that are coming in the near future

[MyTail]

TLN is back baby, let's get LANs going all around Chicago, bring it more to the Amatuers and spectators, make Damn Events out of TLN in the MLG Off-season, Starcraft has events going on ALL YEAR LONG. Let's do something like that with Halo we need more leagues and events as Ninja said.

[HavkinKnight]

its no longer in Chi Town anymore and im SO stoked lol this was a hard secret to keep lol! but its out SO YAY! im so stoked for whats to come and its gonna be awesome

[Harrison.Greenhalgh]

IIm sooo happy! I want to help out any way I can with this site!

[Giant421]

To my understanding, the plan in place will allow TLN to pay for itself. I am getting a better understanding of how this is going to work after some recent discussions but I can tell you that before long news will be out and they will fill everyone in. I am not in an adequate position to attempt to do that myself as I am still learning about things as well.

What do you guys think about having a casting team for LANs? Would you like to see consistent commentators at each LAN conducting some casting? I am trying to make a push to become a commentator for TLN and it would be so awesome to see you guys support that. Your thoughts?

I'd love to do some casting. I play Halo and SC2 so if they needed someone for that then I'd be more than willing to catch a flight to commentate for a LAN or a tourny. Now the hard part is getting a personal setup to do some commentating haha

[Antidote]

I'd love to do some casting. I play Halo and SC2 so if they needed someone for that then I'd be more than willing to catch a flight to commentate for a LAN or a tourny. Now the hard part is getting a personal setup to do some commentating haha

Skype and Xsplit is all you need to learn the ropes and practice it. That and advertising and something that draws a crowd.

[Rick Barretto]

Hello everyone!

Rick Barretto here. I have enjoyed reading through the thread and look forward to carrying on what Joe (Mr. P) has done. I have lots of respect for their whole family and got a chance to hang out and get to know then when we were moving TLN. I also agree that in no way do I expect to "replace" Mr. P in any way - only "Carry On" what he has started. I want to include the whole community in this endeavor - everyone is passionate and that is what I love. All of my life and the businesses I have created have been so out of my passion for what I was doing.

You will be learning much more about me and what makes me tick and what will make TLN "tick" moving forward. Suffice it to say it will be exciting, fun will seem like "family" again and just WAIT until you all start to hear some of the things I have envisioned.

I talk with Mr. P on a very regular basis and I wanted to send the word out that he has said from day 1 that I will have the FULL SUPPORT of he and his family to ensure TLN goes to places we all want it to.

Much more to come but rest assured I appreciate and respect everything that has been done up to this point and am humbled and excited about the community support for what we are going to do together.

And yes, TLN will now reside in Carmel, Indiana in my own personal residence. Stay tuned - pictures coming soon ;)

Blessings & Happy Gaming!!

Rick Barretto

[aX goes ham]

rick the boss

[.Apollo]

Really, excited to see TLN coming back! It will be good for the community(Both MLG and TLN's)

[Giant421]

Skype and Xsplit is all you need to learn the ropes and practice it. That and advertising and something that draws a crowd.

It's not that, i just have a bad computer haha. Looking to upgrade it soon.
Welcome boss man, we are glad to have TLN back!

[HavkinKnight]

Hello everyone!

Rick Barretto here. I have enjoyed reading through the thread and look forward to carrying on what Joe (Mr. P) has done. I have lots of respect for their whole family and got a chance to hang out and get to know then when we were moving TLN. I also agree that in no way do I expect to "replace" Mr. P in any way - only "Carry On" what he has started. I want to include the whole community in this endeavor - everyone is passionate and that is what I love. All of my life and the businesses I have created have been so out of my passion for what I was doing.

You will be learning much more about me and what makes me tick and what will make TLN "tick" moving forward. Suffice it to say it will be exciting, fun will seem like "family" again and just WAIT until you all start to hear some of the things I have envisioned.

I talk with Mr. P on a very regular basis and I wanted to send the word out that he has said from day 1 that I will have the FULL SUPPORT of he and his family to ensure TLN goes to places we all want it to.

Much more to come but rest assured I appreciate and respect everything that has been done up to this point and am humbled and excited about the community support for what we are going to do together.

And yes, TLN will now reside in Carmel, Indiana in my own personal residence. Stay tuned - pictures coming soon ;)

Blessings & Happy Gaming!!

Rick Barretto

Awesome! i cant wait Big Boss Ricky B!

[Toomuchmooin]

I had just started really getting into the community the last few months of its existence, happy its back now, I get to continue to try and be more involved

[MidKnight]

its a new beginning, and im glad the site is back up! Hopefully the new LAN location will be better, and Mr. P will be missed

[pt ogre]

please, no casting.

the players are plenty entertaining to listen to.

[D Moralize]

please, no casting.

the players are plenty entertaining to listen to.

Many people feel this way, but just as many enjoy casting. My idea I tried pitching to Mr. P was to have the casting one on the basement cam's audio, so that we all had the option to listen to the games with or without commentary, and I still think that would be an ideal solution, but if it had to come down to casting or not I would be for it.

[Morgan]

Thanks for introducing yourself a little bit Rick. I can't wait to see the new place!

[americanbash]

I am super excited TLN is back. Thank you.

[HavkinKnight]

i like both Casting and hearing the players but i would rather have casting!

[Small]

I don't see why we couldn't have the option to turn off/on the casting. It would be a great feature to have and a great way to grow TLN production.

[LeftyB]

Are the P's gonna be involved at all?


please, no casting.

the players are plenty entertaining to listen to.

This.

In 2010 I absolutely LOVED listening to Final Boss play. The things that Ola, FiS, and sometimes OG2 would say was absolutely hilarious.

[Haced]

This makes me incredibly happy. TLN is amazing for the community!

[Morgan]

I don't see why we couldn't have the option to turn off/on the casting. It would be a great feature to have and a great way to grow TLN production.

This is a great idea if it's possible. Maybe we could have one stream with casting and let the viewers choose which stream they want cast.

[gazurk]

please, no casting.

the players are plenty entertaining to listen to.

Just put a different volume bar for game sound, player talking and casting.

[itwuzmagik]

Hello everyone!

Rick Barretto here. I have enjoyed reading through the thread and look forward to carrying on what Joe (Mr. P) has done. I have lots of respect for their whole family and got a chance to hang out and get to know then when we were moving TLN. I also agree that in no way do I expect to "replace" Mr. P in any way - only "Carry On" what he has started. I want to include the whole community in this endeavor - everyone is passionate and that is what I love. All of my life and the businesses I have created have been so out of my passion for what I was doing.

You will be learning much more about me and what makes me tick and what will make TLN "tick" moving forward. Suffice it to say it will be exciting, fun will seem like "family" again and just WAIT until you all start to hear some of the things I have envisioned.

I talk with Mr. P on a very regular basis and I wanted to send the word out that he has said from day 1 that I will have the FULL SUPPORT of he and his family to ensure TLN goes to places we all want it to.

Much more to come but rest assured I appreciate and respect everything that has been done up to this point and am humbled and excited about the community support for what we are going to do together.

And yes, TLN will now reside in Carmel, Indiana in my own personal residence. Stay tuned - pictures coming soon ;)

Blessings & Happy Gaming!!

Rick Barretto
this is awesome Rick :) or Mr.Barretto whichever you prefer. I can't wait to see all the new things that are to come. As a long time member and supporter of TLN you will continue to have just that, my support and whatever else it is that you need! :)