2026 Winter Gaming Meeting Minutes

Reviewing T1 & Feedback, Planning T2 Gaming Activities

Agenda (Minutes Next Section)

Note:

• Raven Lucia (RL)

Agenda I: Term 1 Feedback Form Info By Welfare (points by RL)

• Communication
  • FNG praised for good event comms
• Inclusion
  • Gaming praised for making members feel safe, welcome & included
    • Included notable shout-out for clear support & inclusion of gender minorities
      • RL: Definitely positive & an improvement from before, however cautious against lull into false sense of security. Still quite male-dominated events, which is not inherently unexpected given the primary demographic we pull from (ie DCS students - 80/20 split iirc?), but often more we can do wrt this - similar to inclusion generally, some positive responses are good but don’t necessarily mean there’s nothing left to do (uncomfortable people less likely to say as much)
  • One comment thinks that inclusion at some group events e.g. at LAN could be improved - no extra details given
• Events
  • All responses satisfied
  • Suggestion for more inclusion on participants’ gaming suggestions e.g. through rolling form
    • RL: iirc there is/used to be a form for this that we could revive - or create another similar to the board games one. Worth noting budget constraints & others can be a limiting factor.
  • Suggestion for LAN-like sub-events at FNG
    • RL: Not against themed things/running particular games e.g. like happens in CS0.07. However, imo the value in FNG is not in turning it into a mini-LAN every week - ie I wouldn’t want to detract from LAN, and I think overdoing sub-events/similar will be large overhead for extremely variable engagement
      • RL: Special one-offs like D&D and social deduction games (w/ Mafia) work pretty well - extends idea from BFL of getting people engaged with a wider circle via other socs too. Possible UWCS x A@W x Pride poker collab as per social agenda.
  • BFSL comment about bad placement of VR headset
    • RL: this was originally a limitation bc of goofiness around quiz setup & monitor stands having despawned. Defo could have been moved when quiz wasn’t a consideration though
  • Scavenger hunt praised as an amazing idea
    • A respondent says they were busy with coursework, but enjoyed watching people take part
    • Suggestion to make annual event "like Chicago Uni".
      • RL: Scav hunt into LAN T3 would go hard - if we managed to [redacted] that would go HARD AF
  • Request to repeat Wii Sports Tournament at a future LAN
    • RL: Will be noted for next LAN (provisionally T3, next exec cycle). Could also be run at an FNG during T2

Agenda II: Equipment/Purchases

• More batteries - annoying lack of them for the controllers

  • New (larger) battery charger as well maybe?

• More USB-C cables - e.g. Valve Index being charged by 1ft cables is unhelpful

  • More 6ft Anker cables

• USB-C to USB-C hub - LZ request

• Possibly raid tech budget for above 2

• RL & RB put getting a sim racing rig into their manifesto/speech

  • This is going ahead (likely done when this meeting happens)
  • CeX for Logitech G920 steering wheel & pedals (£145 Grade A, £125 Grade B, RRP is £350), shifter (£25, RRP £55)
  • F1 25 half-price on Steam till Jan 5th (£24.99)
  • Max cost ~£195, min cost (B wheel + F1 25) ~£150 - currently £249 left in games & petty budget

• LZ game suggestions:

  • Yomi Hustle
  • GG Strive
  • Nubby’s Number Factory
  • Getting Over It

• SK suggests Upload VR Winter 2025 Bundle from Humble Bundle (9 for £15.44)

• We have been gifted Garfield Lasagna Party

• More switch 2 games: not cheap at all, depends on how much budget we have left

• Fix the clone hero drums/get another controller (again, not particularly major, it’s really if budget allows which probably not)

Agenda III: Events

• FNG is happening

  • Virtually never ends by 2am - backed by “FNG is kill” messages sent by RL & others - RL changed end time on events site to 5am, not expecting people to have to stay that late
  • Pref say about availability for setup, packdown & snack run a bit more beforehand - any unavailability to declare now?
    • RL: Happy with doing my chase-ups, but timings of those are a bit chaotic ie could be helpful to do those a bit earlier and be more proactive
  • Democracy is being respected
    • FNG named correctly
    • Wii has been jailbroken
  • Snacks etc
    • Costco works
    • Disposable cups rather than cans cut down massively on waste (remaining waste far easier to clean up), plus cheaper
      • Prolly worth reminding people to tidy up after themselves - we’re not janitors
      • Serving from Atrium helped with this issue

• WASD is happening

  • Submissions open till 31st Jan
  • Happening 14th-15th Feb
  • Setup clash slightly with W5 FNG - RL to give more details ahead of then
  • RL to do planning pack (base off FM’s one from last year)
  • Shilling sensible for T2 socs fair (Tues Week 2)
  • Other points deferred to WASD server

• LAN is not happening

  • Locked in to scrap T2 LAN from RL’s original BFL proposal on 25/06
    • Coursework grind etc has made T2 LAN fall through multiple times previously
    • Made more sense to not waste effort planning an event that was almost certain to fall through (RL is going to be buried by their degree T2, softeng & other culprits gonna hurt the others’ sanity a lot), and instead make BFL a mega-event
  • BFL post-mortem
    • Prev comments by RL - summary to be done once I’m not dead inside

Agenda IV: AGM & Handover

• Helpful to have a think about advertising about new gamers early on, and do outreach
• RL: Finn & Krister’s handover doc is pretty exemplary imo, are there any missing bits of info that would be helpful
  • RL: Connected, I’m acutely aware of knowledge skew wrt me - may be my last term as exec, so esp important to flag any areas that need documenting, both generally, but esp if there’s something I’ve primarily handled
    • e.g. DCS Tech comms, circulating stuff on TVs, via dept newsletters. LIB2 shenanigans wrt Estates (plus probs helpful to mention more about networking PC etc). Any others?
  • Soft-launch for new gamers (sorta like FM & KH did with us last year) would be sensible - quite an intense role to get used to & a lot to take in

Agenda V: Misc

Minutes

Attendance

• Josh
• Crystal
• Raven
• Lyon
• Laina
• Arda
• Harmony

Agenda I: Term 1 Feedback Form Info By Welfare (points by RL)

• Read through the events feedback form (useful)

Agenda II: Equipment/Purchases

• Obtain more batteries due to high demand
• Invest in USB extensions + more USB cables
• Get a controller (ideally a USB version)
• Transfer food budget in LAN to investment in equipments (if needed)

Agenda III: Events

• FNG
  • Indicate that FNG lasts until late
  • Ensure event doesn't end on discord events (misdirecting)
• Clarify availability 1+ week before FNG to prevent exec shortage
• Remind people (eg announcements, talking) to clean up after themselves
• Scavenger Hunt
  • Potentially make it into a tradition
  • Create a budget
  • Get inspiration from the uni of Chicago Scavenger Hunt
• WASD
  • FNG Desktop Wallpaper could include adverts
    • Eg ball and WASD
  • Let people try to do runs/practices at FNG
  • Create leaflets for promotion + awareness
• LAN
  • Don't bother with Term 2 LAN based on previous experiences
• Collaboration
• Potential poker event during FNG (Willow is leading discussion)

Agenda IV: AGM & Handover

• Handover FNG after the AGM
• Are able to reuse the handover details for Gaming (was exemplary from last year)

Agenda V: Misc

• To reach out to more freshers directly to pitch FNG
• Add department into department newsletter + socs fair + WASD to pitch FNG
• Themed Sub Events
  • Potentially at FNG (could create more engagement)
  • FNG is very open minded and people don't know what to do

To Do Tasks:

• Raven to automate FNG announcement using Apollo