Information For Parents
By MLG Admin | Published: August 11, 2006 12:17am EST
General Pro Circuit Tour Event InformationSchedules and Travel Information MLG provides as much scheduling information as possible on MLGPro.com prior to every event. Check out our Pro Circuit Landing Page. In this area you can find tournament schedules, rules and travel/lodging information for all of our games and tournaments. This information will get you and your child well on your way to planning a trip to an MLG event. If your child is attending the event with friends or anyone other than yourself and you would like to keep up with their performance, our website can help you with that as well. The first step for you will be to learn your child’s mlgpro.com username and the name of the team they are playing with. During an event, we give you two easy ways to keep up with the results. First, we post regular updates on the front page of the site to announce what rounds are being played and to give important results. On the homepage, refer to the news section pertaining to your child’s game of choice (Halo 3, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Gears of War, World of Warcraft). Second, we keep updated tournament brackets online over the course of the weekend. To find the brackets, click on the “Brackets” link listed underneath each game’s header. Event Staff During an MLG event, referees supervise event participants. These referees are over 18 years-old and are trained specifically for their position. While many of them are young adults, they are held to a high standard of behavior and professionalism while working the events and are given authority over the matches they referee. Thus, your child will be playing in a setting where there is adult supervision at the stations. In addition to judging and overseeing tournament matches, event referees keep an eye on the venue to help maintain a safe environment for all participants. Security At Major League Gaming events, we strive to provide a safe atmosphere for your child. Professional security services are on-hand at every event to help create an environment of safety for our participants, spectators and staff. Our event referees are also under instruction to report and remove, at their discretion, anyone who becomes violent, aggressive or verbally abusive from the location. While we do staff our events with adults, we do not directly supervise the activities of every player. While MLG takes reasonable steps to provide a safe environment within the venue doors, we cannot guarantee your child’s safety; and you and/or your child are ultimately responsible for your child’s safety. We do not take responsibility for children or any attendees during the event. If you cannot attend the event with your child and you are not comfortable with them traveling and participating on their own, please make sure they are attending with someone you trust. Release Forms MLG requires all participants and spectators to sign a release form before entering our events. All minors must have their parents sign the release form before they can enter or participate in the event. These forms give MLG permission to film the event and use your child’s image/likeness if they happen to appear in a clip for television. They also function as a legal permission slip for your child to enter the event. If you need more info or want to read over the release form itself, please read the actual Release Form. Food Most of the venues that hold MLG events provide some sort of concessions so that players and spectators can have easily-accessible food. There are also often restaurants and grocery stores within walking distance, but these are occasionally across busy streets or highways. For a third food option, many of the hotels that MLG uses for events have information at the concierge desk for local restaurants that deliver to the location. Souvenirs / Merchandise MLG sells official merchandise at the events, including shirts and “hoodie” style sweatshirts. These generally range in price from $20-$40, but other merchandise may become available at other price points. Additionally, at many events MLG releases a special edition T-Shirt that is only available for that one event and features special artwork to highlight the event city or something special about the event. MLGPro.com Video ContentVideo on Demand (VoD) Video on Demand is MLG’s free video service. All visitors to MLGPro.com get unlimited access to video content released for the web. This content includes live tournament coverage of our events, archived video footage of the top performers and important matches of past events, and special video promotions that may be offered from time to time. This content is available only over the Internet through MLGPro.com. Video on Demand is a great asset for those players that cannot make it out to events, as it helps them to keep up with everything that is happening in the league and at the tournaments. Through VoD, your child will be able to watch our professional gaming events unfold live on event weekends. They will also have access to archived footage from important matches that did not make it into the live broadcast, meaning if your child is a big fan of the league, they won’t miss out on any of the action. MLG Video MLG Video is another type of video content that all users at mlgpro.com have access to just for visiting the site. These videos include highlight reels, webcasts, interviews and certain gameplay footage. MLG Video can be accessed from the front page of the site, through the MLG Video link, or as a part of one of our featured articles on the website. Video Content Concerns It should be noted that VoD and some of our MLG Video content contains video footage of games rated M for Mature by the ESRB for blood and violence. Also, the VoD live streams of MLG events contain unedited audio streams from players and participants at the events. This means that there could be adult or potentially offensive language within VoD. To sign up for a user account, MLGpro.com users must be 13 years of age or older or else MLG requires the consent of the user’s parent/legal guardian . If you are concerned about particular aspects of the content, like the in-game violence or language, make sure you sit down with your child and make them aware of your concerns and your standards for their behavior. And of course, MLG encourages you to get involved by watching the video content on the site with your children so you can be informed about their media choices and interest in our league. Ultimately, we want parents to be able to make informed decisions regarding their children’s exposure to this content. If your child is under 13 years old and you are concerned about video content and/or other services offered by mlgpro.com, and wish to cancel your child’s account, please contact us at remove@mlgpro.com. The MLG Game Room All MLGpro.com users are permitted to access our user-submitted video database. This feature is titled: the MLG Game Room. Due to all content being submitted by our vast user base, the videos within are strictly moderated by designated MLG staff members whose job it is to ensure the cleanliness of the videos submitted. Although all videos are subject to strict moderation, they may however contain footage such as, but not limited to, videos from games marked with an M for Mature ESRB rating, audio containing songs marked with a Parental Guidance rating, as well as other content that you may not find suitable for your child to view. The Game Room can be accessed from http://gameroom.mlgpro.com. Professional vs. Amateur StatusAll MLG events are broken down into two brackets. The events always begin with an Open Bracket. This is the portion of the competition that is open to the public to enter. If your child has never been to an MLG competition before, you can expect that they will start by entering the Open Bracket. By placing highly enough in the Open Bracket, your child can win the chance to play in the Championship Bracket. Players must prove themselves ahead of the large, open field for a chance to play with the top players in the Championship Bracket. This is where the players who are considered “Pro” compete, and where your child has the opportunity to win prize money. However being talented and dedicated enough to become a Pro player does not come so easily. Despite the image that many people have of gaming, being one of the top players on the MLG Pro Circuit requires a significant investment of time and practice, as well as some uncommon levels of talent. So if your child is determined to become a Pro player, don’t be surprised to find that they may want to train for it like they would another sport or competitive activity. Something important for parents to note as well is that the vast majority of the Pro players on the tour do not just sit at home and play games all the time. The best players on the tour are the ones who manage to balance their gaming training with a social life and other activities such as a school, sport, or creative endeavor. For instance, the famous Ogre twins from Halo 2’s Final Boss play soccer actively, and Ghostayame, from the 2006 National Champion Halo 2 team, attends Penn State University. < |
