OP: Tradewinds AARs/Reviews

[Beran]

I do not feel like this event was worth $160. Not even close. I would have come out of it completely satisfied had it been $75, but I was incredibly unimpressed with the level of professionalism and preparation for an event at this price point and coming from a group with as much experience as LC. Lack of planning, lack of adherence to posted schedules and lack of usable props or mission preparation. Both days felt exactly the same as the other game I have played at Rilea, Sudden Strike 2. That one was $50 for one day, and at that cost was probably worth it. I stayed the whole time and played both days at Tradewinds because I wanted to get the most out of the money I had paid, and I was secretly hoping it would get better. It did not. Too much focus on the MOUT town, and too many people in it. Clusterfuck with keeping to the rules, and double standards for them. I understand from veterans of the LC events that this was not to par with the big ones like Irene, but I still expected much more from it than was delivered.

tl;dr - Cost more than was delivered. Should have been no more than a $75-$85 event at most. Played mostly like an elaborate skirmish.

[Lionclaws]

Thanks for the input, we are gathering all the feedback.

[Variable]

I agree with Matt's AAR.
-I expected more for the entrance fee
-The Indigs (Army PsyOps unit) needed to be briefed on airsoft etiquette.
-Clear objectives, and brief actors/OPFOR on the mechanics. Running halfway around the lake to find that some HVT had teleported there, and was MISTAKEN about game mechanics is a serious buzzkill.
-Use more of the AO. Fighting in the MOUT area is cool for the first hour, give us a real mission that takes us somewhere else.
-Expect stalemates, and plan the flow of the game to break up the stalemates.
-Clear rules on vehicles, and enforced. We were told not to engage civilian vehicles, then at one point someone drove their white suburban into the mout area and TSE guys started using it as cover.

All negativity aside, I had a good time and hope that Tradewinds 2 is better.

Note: I had a fan-fucking-tastic time at Lion Claws 11, and this game is not a fair judge of what a real LC event is like.

edit: Sorry to anyone (Gabe, et al) that I yelled at. I didn't mean offence, this is simply the product of immersion, frustration, and adrenaline.

[dos_Santos]

edit: Sorry to anyone (Gabe, et al) that I yelled at. I didn't mean offence, this is simply the product of immersion, frustration, and adrenaline.

No worries, I realized what was going on. Nice job on the exfil to the beach...one of the best moments of the game for me. I got some decent footage up at the dunes.

[Osmo]

At the end of the weekend, I returned home with the usual collection of memorable moments and battle stories. Unfortunately, the many positive experiences I had were countered by the event's negative aspects. Overall, I came away disappointed with what OP: Tradewinds delivered.

The most glaring problem with the event was the gameplay. This was my first Lion Claws event, and it was very different from what I expected at the outset. I had heard good things about OLCMSS. I was willing to pay the $160 admission to experience one of their games firsthand. Lion Claws events are advertised as exciting, immersive, and highly produced. However, many aspects of the event felt incomplete. Despite the involvement of an Army psy-ops unit, the scenarios turned out to be unimaginative and repetitious. Virtually all of the action took place within a very small part of the field. There was a conspicuous lack of costumes, props, and other "set dressings." The storyline was minimal and not very compelling. In short, it was not the high-caliber game I'd hoped.

Underwhelming objectives

The airsofters who attend "high-profile" events like Tradewinds come for the immersion and sense of accomplishment that comes from completing (or even attempting) difficult tasks. The objectives in this event were ill-defined or poorly communicated, I'm not sure which. They were simple and unimaginative. The goal of each mission was basically "assault the village." Given the large number of players, a larger and more diverse set of tasks was needed.

Weak plot

In addition, Tradewinds lacked a well developed plot. Frankly, I'm surprised that a company that has so much experience hosting events did pay more attention to this element. Players want to be engaged with their mission and a limited amount of backstory and role-playing aids in this. Prior to each mission, event staff would attempt to explain the situation before giving out the objectives. Little detail was provided and much of it deviated from what was in our player packets. It was not very helpful in informing our actions during the game. I had trouble understanding how our assigned tasks fit into any sort of bigger picture.

Playfield not utilized

Despite the first scenario being entitled "Establish the Beach Head," the assaulting forces began nowhere near the beach. Instead, we started a short distance from the MOUT village with the objective of assaulting and holding the buildings. Each successive mission centered on the village, despite having a much larger playfield available to us. I enjoyed fighting in the MOUT area for the first few hours, but it quickly began to feel like a paintball arena as players began bunkering down and a stalemate ensued.

No props

Camp Rilea is a cool venue, but it doesn't look much like a foreign country. Nothing was done to change this or make players feel like they were anywhere other than an army base. The task force commanders were one of the only things adding immersion to the game. For their part, they did a great job directing and motivating players. There was nothing done in the way of costumes; the Army reservists wore normal civilian attire. At times, a few HMMWVs were parked around the village. Few were driven during the game, and only once did I see one used to transport players. There were no posters, signs, or other indicators of the event's setting.

Difficulties with player-actors

The reservists did not seem prepared to function as airsofters, much less as actors. Only a few seemed familiar with basic rules and SOPs. This led to some injuries for both actors and players. Blind firing, failure to use dead rags, and similar issues were a problem. Many of the reservists I interacted with were not in character as indigenous forces, and simply roamed around the village doing whatever they felt like. By the end of the first day, most seemed bored.

Other minor problems cropped up during the event, although they were more normal for an airsoft event. Rules and game mechanics were changed between scenarios, which led to confusion and frustration. The night game was cancelled due to high attrition. A group of players were called out for being late to formation, even though event staff had been late to open the registration and chronograph stations. Last minute changes allowing mesh eyewear were not communicated well. The end-of-game raffle consisted of just two AEGs. I mention this to explain that the entrance fees did not go toward swag.

In summary, OP: Tradewinds fell short in a number of critical areas. I appreciate the work that went into making the event possible, but the lack of dynamic and interesting gameplay made it an overpriced shoot fest. I've attended games that were more entertaining at a fraction of the cost.

[McNair]

Raffles generally consist of guns and gear DONATED by vendors and what not.
If you're going to phony pony about not getting free shit, then phony pony at vendors for not donating more stuff.
They were only able to get two vendors to donate something to give away.

Complaints about the locals wearing civilian clothes... this is supposed to be taking place here... So what are they supposed to wear?

[Crimmins]

Complaints about the locals wearing civilian clothes... this is supposed to be taking place here... So what are they supposed to wear?

okay, thank you. i finally have an answer as to WTF country we were in? im not bitching about that i was just a little confused. seeing as, how i treat a middle eastern man/women is not the same way i treat a chines man/women and a world different then how a treat an American. so with that being made clear... why were we dealing with tribes?

i had no issue with the fact that "civ's" wore civys. it made it clear who was who for me. what i had a concern about was that i only ever saw two guys marked as admins and only at the end of the second day.

im not trying to dime out and sharp shoot this. as most of you might have gotten i dont play airsoft. namely because the age group has gone from 18-25 avg to 14-17. i did like that with the cost as high as it was only ppl that really wanted to be there went, but. i view this as an opportunity to train, so i dont get a lot of chances to do it. i literally dusted off my AEG's and shelled out 300+ (rented a bunk house, should have been there. good times) for the weekend. because i was promised something that would be on par with an event i would host and get a good chance to do some outside the box training. that didnt happen. but being there i made the most of it and had fun and took what training i could from it (these arnt the droids your looking for).

i understand this was a test fielding to see if the market in the NW would support this venture. but i just get the feeling like it was a "lets not put to much effort into this test and see how it does". that makes me feel a little butt hurt. especially for what we paid. now i dont know how much work went in behind the scenes, but having experienced it myself...

hay LC when you guys come back and if your not going to put the people up here to recruit local talent and compile resources and write a scenario. give BSP a call out and we can co-op on it. be an event promoter for the NW?

[McNair]

okay, thank you. i finally have an answer as to WTF country we were in? im not bitching about that i was just a little confused. seeing as, how i treat a middle eastern man/women is not the same way i treat a chines man/women and a world different then how a treat an American. so with that being made clear... why were we dealing with tribes?

I'm assuming since it mentions the Columbia River and what not. I think people automatically assume that they'll be dressed up like some middle easterner for some reason?

i had no issue with the fact that "civ's" wore civys. it made it clear who was who for me. what i had a concern about was that i only ever saw two guys marked as admins and only at the end of the second day.

I hadn't realized there was issues figuring out who the admins were since I had people coming up to me every few minutes assuming I was a member of the admin.

[Pacman]

I would agree on the point that the price point was way too high for all the hiccups the event had. I'm sure the bugs will be better worked out if there are future events in the Northwest but everyone seemed to be flying by the seat of their pants and it showed. Having been sent on a mission by command to find weapons caches during the second half of Saturday and later being told they realized they had all been found during the first half is a good example. When we returned to reinforce our teammates in the MOUT it pretty much went down hill from there with stalemates. While we were reconnoitering the area I saw a lot of real estate that would have been great to been included.

[Crimmins]

I hadn't realized there was issues figuring out who the admins were since I had people coming up to me every few minutes assuming I was a member of the admin.

okay, then that is 100% my failure to be more observant. i saw ppl running around that looked like they were admining with out vests on so i thought they were just observing. never thought to ask them. im always use to looking for the bright orange vest.

[Matt]

Raffles generally consist of guns and gear DONATED by vendors and what not.
If you're going to phony pony about not getting free shit, then phony pony at vendors for not donating more stuff.
They were only able to get two vendors to donate something to give away.

Complaints about the locals wearing civilian clothes... this is supposed to be taking place here... So what are they supposed to wear?

That's not how it works in this case. To even be listed as a sponsor, retailers have to pay a significant fee. On top of that payment, they can then choose to donate merchandise. Two vendors donated because only two could afford to.

It doesn't work like most of the events we've hosted here that you are used to. We allow any sponsor to donate and get on the sponsor list. In the case of this event, perhaps having different tier levels of sponsorship would allow sponsors with less budget available to be able to donate too. Maybe a "retailer level" where they can sell at the event, and maybe just a "donation level" where they can't vend at the event but they can be mentioned during a raffle and in event credits.

[AFL-235]

http://youtu.be/H8bjEElGIL4

[McNair]

okay, then that is 100% my failure to be more observant. i saw ppl running around that looked like they were admining with out vests on so i thought they were just observing. never thought to ask them. im always use to looking for the bright orange vest.

Understandable.

Raffles generally consist of guns and gear DONATED by vendors and what not.
If you're going to phony pony about not getting free shit, then phony pony at vendors for not donating more stuff.
They were only able to get two vendors to donate something to give away.

Complaints about the locals wearing civilian clothes... this is supposed to be taking place here... So what are they supposed to wear?

That's not how it works in this case. To even be listed as a sponsor, retailers have to pay a significant fee. On top of that payment, they can then choose to donate merchandise. Two vendors donated because only two could afford to.

This still falls back to the vendors. I don't understand how it's the event's responsibility to provide the players with a ton of free guns and gear?

[Matt]

This still falls back to the vendors. I don't understand how it's the event's responsibility to provide the players with a ton of free guns and gear?

Well having given away 10s of 1000s worth of gear over the past several years, I'll say yes, it's definitely the event host's responsibility. The gear doesn't just show up magically. The vendors don't just randomly come to the event and start handing out AEGs. You have to ask for them. And the answer is more likely going to be NO if you are asking for a fee up front to even be considered.

And you might ask, why do we even need to have raffles? Why not! They're fun. We like to win stuff. Retailers want publicity and exposure. Seems like a win-win to me. There's no overhead in throwing a bunch of stuff in my car that was shipped to me free of charge to give away at events. I don't see why a promoter wouldn't do this. It's a no-brainer.

[McNair]

This still falls back to the vendors. I don't understand how it's the event's responsibility to provide the players with a ton of free guns and gear?

Well having given away 10s of 1000s worth of gear over the past several years, I'll say yes, it's definitely the event host's responsibility. The gear doesn't just show up magically. The vendors don't just randomly come to the event and start handing out AEGs. You have to ask for them. And the answer is more likely going to be NO if you are asking for a fee up front to even be considered.

And you might ask, why do we even need to have raffles? Why not! They're fun. We like to win stuff. Retailers want publicity and exposure. Seems like a win-win to me. There's no overhead in throwing a bunch of stuff in my car that was shipped to me free of charge to give away at events. I don't see why a promoter wouldn't do this. It's a no-brainer.

I just think it's a dumb thing to phony pony about. Events don't need raffles. People going to events and bitching about the lack of raffles look like self-deserving assholes.