Getting to know Rick Barretto!

[Small]

Your questions have been answered! Check out this Q&A with Rick Barretto - the new owner of TLN!

http://thelannetwork.com/news/article/80

Enjoy!

[itwuzmagik]

Okay first question. What were his reasons for purchasing the LAN network from Mr.P

[simeonberns]

What is your career background? What makes you interested in the gaming arena? Are you doing this to simply make money, or do you care about the gaming community? What can we expect from TLN?

[Small]

Awesome questions so far guys. Keep it up! I will be crediting each of you in the article.

[chris_cr33p]

What background do you have from MLG or TLN have u always been into competitive halo?

[.Apollo]

Do you intend to make another TLN Gaming house? Or are you taking the site in another direction(Like Team Liquid).

[Str8 Aggression]

If you maintain the Streaming aspect of TLN, would it be streamed for all to see without having to pay membership fees?

What types of Ideas do you have for innovating on the TLN site?

[Giant421]

Are you going to keep it strictly halo or were you thinking about doing starcraft 2, cod, LoL,etc?

[Small]

I believe I have grabbed all the questions. Let me know if I missed one. Keep them coming everyone! Rick seems to have an incredible background and I think you all will really enjoy learning about him.

[Smallz08]

Is there a possibility for TLN to become a sponsor for pro teams and/or up and coming players/teams?

[Briimstone]

Will the lans be strictly for Pro Teams? Or will amateurs be allowed to come as well?

[Toomuchmooin]

What do you hope TLN will look like a year from now?

[MidKnight]

How do you think you can improve this community? Forum wise?
A suggestion i have is to edit the forum avatar system so we can have bigger Avatar pictures

[DaMuSiCFiEnD]

What business aspects will you intend to place to secure the longevity of TLN?
Have you had any contact with MLG pro players prior to purchasing TLN?
will you plan to make tln products available such as your harry potter products?

[DeeLuv]

I for one hope they keep this exclusively Halo. I love what SC has done for the MLG community, but I feel Halo has been shoved under the rug somewhat by the influx of that community in a way thats been a bit overwhelming. Frankly, sometimes I think Sundance has forgotten his roots somewhat while seeing the $ signs that SC has brought in. TLN is VERY important to the revitalization of Halo in the MLG community, and its nice to have a place to call our own. :) I realize that Reach is as responsible as anything for the fall of Halo, but I'm confident that the changes occurring in 343 and MLG itself in regards to the gameplay are going to bring this game back and I look forward to 2012!

[Antidote]

I for one hope they keep this exclusively Halo. I love what SC has done for the MLG community, but I feel Halo has been shoved under the rug somewhat by the influx of that community in a way thats been a bit overwhelming. Frankly, sometimes I think Sundance has forgotten his roots somewhat while seeing the $ signs that SC has brought in. TLN is VERY important to the revitalization of Halo in the MLG community, and its nice to have a place to call our own. :) I realize that Reach is as responsible as anything for the fall of Halo, but I'm confident that the changes occurring in 343 and MLG itself in regards to the gameplay are going to bring this game back and I look forward to 2012!

While i disagree with Sundance forgetting where his..."roots" are. There's forgetting and then there's moving onto bigger and better things, which i believe he did the latter, which is the right thing to do.

However, being a fan of other competitive games over Halo, I still believe this site should remain Halo only. Halo needs that one professionally ran community that is their own outside of the MLG forums. If it had one it would help it's growth and strengthen the community so much more.

[DeeLuv]

While i disagree with Sundance forgetting where his..."roots" are. There's forgetting and then there's moving onto bigger and better things, which i believe he did the latter, which is the right thing to do.

However, being a fan of other competitive games over Halo, I still believe this site should remain Halo only. Halo needs that one professionally ran community that is their own outside of the MLG forums. If it had one it would help it's growth and strengthen the community so much more.

I say that from the standpoint that during MLG tournaments ALL SunnyD seems to tweet about is SC2. Its like the other games don't even exist. Dude can't even be onstage to give the Halo tourney winners their trophy. I didn't catch Providence, but every other tourney it was Shockwave and Ghandi handing out the hardware. Is is so hard for Sundance to actually present the trophy himself, or is it just not that important to him anymore? If it wasn't for Halo MLG wouldn't exist. I say that in full acknowledgment of the numbers SC brings in.

[Antidote]

I say that from the standpoint that during MLG tournaments ALL SunnyD seems to tweet about is SC2. Its like the other games don't even exist. Dude can't even be onstage to give the Halo tourney winners their trophy. I didn't catch Providence, but every other tourney it was Shockwave and Ghandi handing out the hardware. Is is so hard for Sundance to actually present the trophy himself, or is it just not that important to him anymore? If it wasn't for Halo MLG wouldn't exist. I say that in full acknowledgment of the numbers SC brings in.

Might be hard for him to wade through the crowds of people to get to each stage, especially through any fans that wanna stop and chat with him. He might be going out of his way then to congratulate the people who have traveled all the way from Korea and draw most of the viewers to the tournament. Stopping to talk to fans, and allowing other people who help the other communities out more then he does, to have that privilege of presenting the trophies to those games that they are most passionate about.

While saying MLG wouldn't exist with out Halo, I also bring up the point that with out SC2 MLG wouldn't be anywhere near the professional and huge level that it is today.

MLG wouldn't exist for plenty of reasons, it's not just one game that brings it and holds it together, and that's what people need to realize.

Could also be plenty of reasons I didn't list as well.

[ZeroCool]

Small, would it be possible to do an actual video interview with Rick? we can ask these questions there and have interaction from viewers?

[Small]

Small, would it be possible to do an actual video interview with Rick? we can ask these questions there and have interaction from viewers?

Let's discuss. I am interested to see what you think and how we could best pull this off.

[Waterboy7]

Will this be the first time you are involved in a gaming website?

How did you come to this decision?

Have you met any of the Halo Pro's?

[Small]

Will this be the first time you are involved in a gaming website?

How did you come to this decision?

Have you met any of the Halo Pro's?

Good q's!

[.Apollo]

Does he intend to keep alot of the TLN stuff? The Buy/Sell/Trade, badges, etc? Or does he plan on making changes?

Also, Do they intend to make TLN more content, fourm, and media based along with the LANs(If they are doing the LANs)

[Harrison.Greenhalgh]

Will he be making a TLN store and sell shirts plans stuff like that

[DYNASTYBLUE2]

how do u plan on improving TLN and do u plan on making the site have any more interactive content

[bradsears]

This is a great effort dudes thanks. I have a question.

1 year ago TLN, and arguably redbull, were the only reliable places to get lan coverage and off season pro halo content. Since then many pros have started streaming and more jump in all the time. How can TLN stay viable now that so many streams are available?

[forefront]

Will you be doing any staffing? If so, how can we contact you?

[Antidote]

Are you looking for future opportunities inside competitive Halo such as sponsoring teams or players and opporating sort of as a training house instead of simply a place to hold LANs along with your own professionally ran tournaments? If so, would you task it to a AM or Pro? Would be kinda cool to see the TLN logo out during MLG events as well.

[Small]

Seems as if this article will be posted on Friday of this week if our schedule's allow. Keep the questions coming until then!

[Dragon Eat Kidz]

Can't wait to read it ;D

[Araneatrox]

Will you only be focusing on Halo? Or is there a possibility of having other games on the site with the recent shift in MLG's pov.

[ARCHY ARCH]

As far as bridging the gap in the Community and bringing it together what exactly are your plans for this?

What are you plans for the amateur community as far as giving them a chance to shine and getting their voice heard or to be spotlighted?

[D Moralize]

will the pros vs. joes events be returning?

[AntKeyyy]

Can't wait for this to come out because I have no idea who this person is and I really want to know.

My question is what is his favorite game on the circuit.

[americanbash]

Same here Anykeyyy

[Harrison.Greenhalgh]

Did this happen?

[Fatal]

Skimmed through the thread, not sure if this has been asked yet.

Will Mr P be able to be involved in some way with the new TLN now owned by Rick Barretto?

Him and his son were such a big part of why people are fans of TLN, with their personalities and love for the community, and they would be missed if they could not be involved somehow.

[Small]

Uploaded the article and updated the OP! Enjoy.

[Harrison.Greenhalgh]

Uploaded the article and updated the OP! Enjoy.

Great read man im excited to see what he can do

[ARCHY ARCH]

Uploaded the article and updated the OP! Enjoy.

Thank you so much Everett. I really enjoyed the article and it definitely seems like we are in more than great hands with the new ownership.

[Spankem]

Uploaded the article and updated the OP! Enjoy.

Great job man, I really enjoyed the article. I had a jaded opinion about you from a friend but you're a pretty good guy. Keep it up.

Welcome to the MLG Community Rick! You the man!

[Small]

Great job man, I really enjoyed the article. I had a jaded opinion about you from a friend but you're a pretty good guy. Keep it up.

Welcome to the MLG Community Rick! You the man!

If that part in bold was in reference to me hit me up on AIM (MLGCoachSmall) or Skype (vg_small). Curious to know what happened and I want to be sure we get it straightened out.

[Antidote]

Excellent interview and I wasn't disappointed in anything in it. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what we all need for the community and look forward to it taking action.

[Dev]

Great to see that the new owner knows what he is doing, and has a solid plan for the future.

I look forward to this.

[Phresh]

This was an awesome interview and Rick seems to be a very nice guy with a ton of experience. The only thing that worries me is if he is ready to deal with a community like Halo. He's seems very open minded and fair so I hope that the halo community will show the man the same respect that he gives us because we all know that the community can get out of hand sometimes, mainly the MLG community.

[SaLoT]

Well i did enjoyed the intrview, but still a little sketchy about the whole tln thing. We will see what the future holds

[D Moralize]

If that part in bold was in reference to me hit me up on AIM (MLGCoachSmall) or Skype (vg_small). Curious to know what happened and I want to be sure we get it straightened out.

you smell bad

[THC28]

I like this guy.