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Kandral Strongbeard



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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Hello fellow Weatherstock musicians and LMB hosts

When browsing twitter earlier I bumped into the news that all 19 bands were to play at the summit this year. While I applaud the decision - in a welcoming spirit no doubt - to include as many bands as possible, I was surprised that this news had not been shared via this site with the bands themselves (unless I missed something).

I assume the voting for the preconcerts (as mentioned in the application) is no longer valid then? Also, what if a band were not to show for the preconcerts, would they still have their spot at the summit? And previously the bands had 15 minutes at the summit, will this remain the same now we've gone to 19 bands? I read the show at the Forsaken Inn would now move to the summit, so I'm guessing we are starting earlier and ending later? As a band with members mainly in EU timezones my concern is that we might get a spot that might be a challenge for some of us.

Thank you again for hosting this great event and for providing us with any information on the topic.

Cheers,

Kandral,
Band leader of the Rolling Kegs

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Byrcha
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Yes, we have decided to include all 19 bands in the summit competition this year. Yesterday was the first public announcement of this feature.

The original application listed the tentative schedule as 12:30-4:30 EDT /servertime, which allowed for 16 bands. Rather than using the voting process to eliminate just 3 bands, we decided to include everyone and extend the show accordingly.

Here is the current schedule for Weatherstock IX, Saturday July 22nd (EDT /servertime):
Quote:
11:00 am - 12:30 pm: LMB Mega-Band opening set (summit), includes PSAs/Intro
12:30 pm - 5:15 pm: Summit Competition (19 bands, 15-minutes each)
5:15 pm – 6:00 pm: Voting; LMB Mega-Band closing set
6:00 pm – 6:15 pm: Announcement of vote; encore set by winning band
6:15 pm: Mounted Procession to Bree Festival Grounds and/or Mad Dash to Bruinen (details TBA)


So, there will be NO voting process following the Weatherstock Concert Series this year. But all bands are still required to participate in the WCS, as agreed upon previously, to participate in the summit competition. This allows for the audience to see a longer set by each band.

Summit sets are still 15-minutes each, as in previous years.

There is no pre-show at the Forsaken Inn, nor a procession to the summit. LMB will have a welcoming lag-buster set at the summit beginning at 11:00 am. So, all bands will assemble at Weathertop (to avoid lag if arriving 'late', it is best to arrive NEAR but not AT the summit). As in previous years, LMB will provide security/transportation services to cover this.


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Gerhalt White Wolf
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

The longer duration of the Weatherstock, alas, is not so good for musicians and spectators of our time zone.
For example, when the voting starts on 5.15pm servertime, in our time zone it will be 0.15am, and when the results are announced - already 1.00am, and for some of our musicians from the Urals and Siberia region it will be 3.00am ...

And can it still be worthwhile to hold a voting among the bands after Weatherstock Concert Series and, on the basis of the results, present another one prize at Weathertop - the Band's Choice Award?


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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Alas, the tradeoff for a more-inclusive show is a slightly-longer show (by 45-minutes over what was agreed to in the application).

FYI: There will be NO bandleader voting process following the Weatherstock Concert Series, since that was used only to select the bands for the summit.


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  • Landroval alts: Braxwald, Brenthiel, & Hathellaith (LMB); Belyndil (Ales and Tales); Yahr (Lonely Mountain Brewery); Byrkhild, Byrchette, & Byrchetta (Secret Pie Vault); Byrwing (Sisters of the Moon); Byraen; Byrwen (Ithil refugee).

Kandral Strongbeard



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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

To our LMB hosts,

Like for many Lotro bands Weatherstock is the musical highlight of the year for The Rolling Kegs. Not only do we prepare for several months trying to get our lyrics and abcs to the highest possible level, we have rehearsal after rehearsal to fine tune our performance, in the hope we get picked for that magical night at the summit. Hence, you can imagine that the satisfaction to get picked without even having to play one note is somewhat less. Regardless of this we can fully understand why you, our LMB hosts, decided to opt to include as many as possible and forego the usual voting and summit selection process.

What I believe may not have been considered fully however is the impact this change has not just to the schedule but to the members of many of the bands now selected for the summit. The Rolling Kegs have members from all over the world, the majority of these being in the Central European time zone however. As one of those members I can recall that at last year's Weatherstock I was logging off at 2:30 AM, excited and jubilant (after having won the People's Choice Award) but also utterly exhausted. Of course the event was not planned to go over time as it did, it never is. And sadly, this year again no time is allotted at all in the schedule for downtime, something that is inevitably expected to happen yet seems ignored. As a result, chances are high that with more bands that need to perform not only can we expect more delays due to lag and crashes, it seems highly unlikely that the proposed end time of 6:15PM would be met. In fact if we were to base ourselves on last year alone that seems a very conservative (dare I say unrealistic) estimate.

Considering the fact that some of our bandmembers have families with small children (children that will be oblivious of how many hours we've slept and will be jumping on our beds at the usual way-too-early-hour … you parents know what I'm talking about), then sadly we simply can't agree to this unilateral schedule change imposed by our hosts. As a result, we must insist the schedule is reconsidered to the benefit of all, not just those that live in the Americas. We obviously understand that Landroval is a North American server, yet the LMB has in our experience always been very accommodating and welcoming to bands from Europe. Now however the schedule and voting seem very skewed toward a North American audience, as the vast majority of those on the other end the Atlantic will be fast asleep already by the time voting even commences. In other words, by attempting to include as many bands as possible I believe you may have inevitably excluded much of your European audience.

Hence, we the Rolling Kegs ask our ever-welcoming hosts to reconsider this change in schedule and please move the voting back to 4:00PM at the latest (by starting 1:15 earlier), which takes into account the lag/crashes expected by having 19 bands in the line up. If this however is not a possibility then we will accept that, yet must then withdraw our application for Weatherstock IX completely. Though we have considered and discussed the concept of playing at the concert series only, we in the end have concluded that this wouldn't send out the right message in urging our hosts to reconsider the change in schedule. Meaning that if the schedule remains unchanged we will not enter this year's Weatherstock. Regardless of the decision of our hosts we wish all the competing bands lots of fun (and for those brave souls in Europe lots of coffee too).

Ever at your service,

Kandral Strongbeard
Band Leader of The Rolling Kegs

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Floradine
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

I'm from Germany, I know how long Weatherstock takes, yet I have been with it for the last 5 years, this year it's my 6th event.

There might be a very easy solution to the concern - which IS heard(!). I think this will help solve the problems:

How about this - it is just an idea yet, so this is NOT final:

1. We split up the event into two halfs timewise. Let's say an "early" and a "late" halfs.
2. First half has 9 slots, second half has 10 slots
3. All bands get to tell us in which half they would prefer to play.
4. All bands can chose to be able to play in both halfs of course.
5. The order of band appearances within their halfs will still be randomized

That way we can have bands that are in earlier timezones (GMT and even earlier) play earlier in order that they *can* play.

How about this?


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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Gerhalt White Wolf wrote:
The longer duration of the Weatherstock, alas, is not so good for musicians and spectators of our time zone.
For example, when the voting starts on 5.15pm servertime, in our time zone it will be 0.15am, and when the results are announced - already 1.00am, and for some of our musicians from the Urals and Siberia region it will be 3.00am ...


This year it is the same as all years before. I feel your pain but hey, the next day is Sunday and you can sleep in maybe?

Gerhalt White Wolf wrote:
And can it still be worthwhile to hold a voting among the bands after Weatherstock Concert Series and, on the basis of the results, present another one prize at Weathertop - the Band's Choice Award?


I like this idea. We have the LMB Cup and the Free People's Choice award which gives us 6 prizes for 19 bands. It's an okay-ish ratio but having one more award with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place would be really nice. And since the bands get to vote for another it is also a meaningful prize.


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Kandral Strongbeard



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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Thank you Floradine for listening to our concerns and trying to find solutions, it really is much appreciated.

Firstly, when you suggest we could work in two halves, does that mean then that we will have a voting round at the end of the first half and then a voting round at the end of the second half, meaning two winners of everything? As otherwise I don't see much point of having two halves if the voting still takes places past midnight EU time and the winners are still expected to play their set well beyond that hour, if you see my point. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we are still going for one LMB and one People's prize, correct? So what is the benefit then by working in two halves?

Also, when responding to Gerhalt White Wolf's concerns, you wrote: "This year it is the same as all years before. I feel your pain but hey, the next day is Sunday and you can sleep in maybe?"

Sadly, it is not the same at all. The end hour is longer then it ever was and with 19 bands instead of 10 you can expect more people, hence more lag, more crashes and as a result even more delays and not a minute of downtime has been schedule at present to take this into account. So, it is not at all the same this time and we will no doubt have to stay up much later than usual. Furthermore, I'm sorry, but "sleeping in on Sunday", is a luxury the majority of us parents do not have (see my earlier letter).

Thank you again,

Cheers,

Kandral

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Floradine
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

I see your points. I see only one proper solution to this: Start 30 minutes earlier and run only 15 minutes longer than originally planned instead of 45.

Would that work?


About counting in crashes etc:
Lag, crashes, server crashes we don't have any of that under control, therefore planning them in is just not feasable. We will have to adjust to what actually happens on that day as we always did. Weatherstock is famous and maybe even a bit infamous for that... I will only speak for myself here but to me it all belongs to what *is* Weatherstock and that to me(!) translates to part of the fun. It's all a good amount of insane and you really have to throw yourself into it to get the most of the fun out of it.


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Kandral Strongbeard



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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Thank you for those ideas Floradine. But tbh, why do we need to go over the originally scheduled time in the first place? Can these three extra bands not be moved earlier? I don't see an issue for US folks to be there a bit earlier myself, but I do see an issue for several EU folks if it goes overtime.

What crashes and reboots are concerned, you are correct that this is an element that is completely out of anyone's control. Yet I don't agree that that means you can't take it into account at all, as simply ignoring potential (and likely) delays is bound to mess up your planning considerably and result in the vote, winners announcement and winners encore, being delayed.

If you were to plan 10 minutes per hour of Weatherstock for potential delays you would likely be much closer to the truth when it comes to an actual schedule. And if by miracle we don't have any crashes (I wouldn't bet on it) then the 19 bands don't need to rush either - as currently (correct me if I'm wrong) but there is not a single second scheduled for the changes between the bands, their announcements, etc... so the 15 minute per band is in fact incorrect already. I appreciate that for you, the crashes and potential delays are "part of the fun", yet for many of us (myself included) that need to get up early in the morning every crash on a schedule that doesn't take into account any delays is a nightmare.

Hence, I must insist to reconsider this change in schedule and please move the voting back to 4:00PM at the latest (by starting 1:15 earlier), as this is the only way I believe, that when we go overtime due to crashes, many of us Europeans will actually be able to witness the vote (and vote), winners announcement and winner encore (takes into account the lag/crashes expected by having 19 bands in the line up).

Thank you again.

cheers,

Kandral

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Floradine
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

The band changes and introductions only take 30 seconds, we simply don't plan on a per-second level for a day-long event that can have unforseen interruptions and everything. You have been part of Weatherstock already, you know that we call up bands well before they play and make band changes super-quick.

Weatherstock requires a bit of a laid-back stance from everyone. Actually, that's a part of it's greatness. Anything can go wrong and we are prepared for swift reactions if necessary. We may have to change band order if a member crashes and much more.

Again, if anyone has better ideas than I had please post them here.


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Hannariel/Brioney
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Having the time moved up either 45 minutes or an hour and 15 minutes is fine for our group. In fact it might be slightly preferrable to running later. We do have one European band member. (When we agreed to play Weatherstock, we agreed that we would be available between 12:30 and 4:30 server time on July 22nd.) Actually I think this makes sense to move it up. Since the winning band plays an encore, if a European band wins some of their members might have had to log off and they might be short of their band contingent.

We know that unforeseen things can happen, but I expect most of that might get sorted out during LMB's starter set, and their opening can be cut short so the bands start on time. I think our group is pretty flexible that day.


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Kandral Strongbeard



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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

Ok, fair enough Floradine, forget about the change and announcement time entirely, that is not the point of my argument at all.

The point is that there is no consideration in the schedule at all currently for any crashes, delays, reboots, etc... . Obviously no one has a crystal ball that allows them to see in the future (we may wish to check with Saruman for that one maybe...Happy ), I get that, completely.

But, indeed having been fortunate to have witnessed Weatherstock several times, to me it doesn't make sense to just ignore such things as due to them the schedule is usually way over time (not mere minutes but an hour and more). Which makes your current scheduled end time sadly very unrealistic, which will very likely result in EU band members having to log off earlier than expected, not being able to witness the vote, nor the winners announcement or winners encore. It may even result in some bands having to bail out early entirely.

I'm not saying we need to stress over this at all, a "laid-back stance" is very welcomed indeed, but we need to recognize that we WILL have delays and crashes (that -as you mentioned- is the very nature of this event), and for the sake of the EU people that would like to witness the entirety of Weatherstock, please move the schedule forward as follows:

09:45 am - 11:15 pm: LMB Mega-Band opening set (summit), includes PSAs/Intro
11:15 pm - 4:00 pm: Summit Competition (19 bands, 15-minutes each)
4:00 pm – 4:45 pm: Voting; LMB Mega-Band closing set
4:45 pm – 5:00 pm: Announcement of vote; encore set by winning band
5:00 pm: Mounted Procession to Bree Festival Grounds and/or Mad Dash to Bruinen (details TBA)

This, in my view, should allow for the EU players to witness ALL of the event, and not just play their set and be forced to log off early in the event of (unavoidable) delays.

What it comes down to really is this... who would we inconvenience the least by starting earlier and having the vote start at 4PM. US folks logging in early on a Saturday? Or EU folks being obliged to stay up in the middle of the night just to be able to witness the whole event?

Thank you again for considering this.

Cheers,

Kandral

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Floradine
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

For a better picture of my idea here is what I have in mind:

Quote:
11:00 am - 12:00 pm: LMB Mega-Band opening set (summit), includes PSAs/Intro
12:00 pm - 4:45 pm: Summit Competition (19 bands, 15-minutes each)
4:45 pm – 5:30 pm: Voting; LMB Mega-Band closing set
5:30 pm – 5:45 pm: Announcement of vote; encore set by winning band
5:45 pm: Mounted Procession to Bree Festival Grounds and/or Mad Dash to Bruinen (details TBA)


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Gerhalt White Wolf
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re: Questions concerning preconcert / summit

I think it will be better to reduce the voting time from 45 minutes to 15-20 minutes. This will be enough for all participants and spectators to vote.
And this will allow to reduce total time of the program of Weatherstock for half an hour!


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