OCC 24

The weekend is almost banging on our doors; a weekend full of fun and intense moments approaches the end of the waiting line. It’s time for fun and competition as OCC 24 is about to kick off.

Ordened Computer Chaos (OCC) is already hosting its twenty-fourth edition; a phenomenal performance in the LAN-history of Belgium, since the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA) took actions against the massive downloading weekends at several LAN’s in Belgium. From that moment onward, the LAN-scene was with their backs against the wall and witnessed a continually decreasing quantity of registrations. Organizations suffered and closed their doors with immediate effect; scared to organize a LAN without getting enough income to pay the bills. Yes, it was a real shock to many of us to see big and smaller LAN’s disappearing around the globe. “Words can’t describe what we felt when at that moment. We were sad to cancel our event in july 2006 but stopping wasn’t an option for us”, explains the twenty-six years old Maarten “Ares” De Graef from OCC.

Luckily for us, Ordened Computer Chaos and Frag-o-Matic (FoM) still exists by decreasing their financial plan after the BEA-invasion. It was necessary to survive those hard times with less attendees, as everyone was scared to attend a LAN. They didn’t want to get caught with their illegal software; so staying at home was the best solution for them. It affected the organizations in Belgium immense. A clear proof: OCC 19 (1600 gamers, Flanders Expo) to OCC 24 (420 gamers, Waasland Expo Hallen). A huge difference, but we must be glad that such organizations had the courage to go on. That’s why we are still packing our bags for a classical three days’ LAN. And... since OCC 23 and FoM 9.1, the organizers started to listen for signals from the gaming world; holding a worthy tournament with good prizes (cash prizes?) – nobody is looking any longer to collect their tenth cooler fan and to achieve a professional status, decent prizes are a must. “We realized that we had to change course. OCC 21 was the first event that featured 1200 euro’s cash prizes. I’m glad we took that step as it improves gaming a lot; the roots for every gamer, from rookie to professional. We are working hard to improve OCC, event after event and hope to be a decent competitor in the scene” said De Graef.

By hook or by crook, the show must go on