500 Man LAN in New England Area April 29-30

[pissboy]

LPANE is pleased to announce that registration for the Nor'Easter 2006 event is now open. The 500-person event will take place from Saturday, April 29th to Sunday, April 30th at the Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. Last year's event drew in 350 gamers, and having learned from the experience, this year's party will be even better!

Gamers who register and pay prior to February 1st will receive an early-bird price of $30. From February 1st to April 22nd, the prepay price goes up to $40. After April 22nd, if seats are still available, the door price is $50. Not only does prepaying save you up to $20, you will also be entered into an exclusive raffle.

We will be hosting tournaments in Battlefield 2, Counter Strike: Source, and Unreal Tournament 2004. More details about these tournaments will be available soon.

Visit us at http://noreaster.lpane.net/

2005 video (http://noreaster.lpane.net/media/videos/Nor'Easter%202005.avi) (50MB)
Hot Hardware review (http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=670&cid=9)
Toms Hardware review (http://www.twitchguru.com/2005/04/23/lpane_nor/index.html)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :)

[zero002021]

Hmm, thats about an hour away from my house. I'm going to have to look into this. If I can find some friends who are willing to go with me, I'll be seeing you there. :D

[pissboy]

If you cant find any to go with, I'm sure you can make new ones there. :)

[zero002021]

My friend went to the one last year, and I was talking with him about going again this year. It's looking good so far, we just need to make sure it doesn't conflict with our schedules.

[4b5eN+EE]

last year was damn fun...can't wait, hopefully i can afford to go again this year...

[dave6821]

My cousin and I are probably going. Do you have to be over 18?

[pissboy]

Please read the release of liability for special rules for those under the age of 18.

http://noreaster.lpane.net/information.php#release

[Slartibartfast]

aww, you guys should hold it in Boston so I could come (no car) :D

Then again, Boston seems to be devoid of gaming goodness, despite MIT's presence...

[pissboy]

I'm sure if you put up a post there will be someone who can give you a ride.

[System]

This LAN looks awsome, can't wait to go!

[pissboy]

Just under 350 registered, and 200 paid seats in the first few weeks. :)

[4b5eN+EE]

My cousin and I are probably going. Do you have to be over 18?
pissboy said "yes" as the first word in his sentence..which confused me for a sec...because you Don't have to be 18 to go

just thought i would clear that up


ps. yes i know what pissboy meant, i just wanted to clear it up

[pissboy]

absentee is correct, I misworded my response. We did have a large number of attendees last year under the age of 18.

[pissboy]

A winter storm warning has gone into effect for the northeastern United States on the weekend of April 29th through the 30th. The LPANE group has secured the Shriner's Auditorium, with ample seating, power and heat for 500 individuals. Already over 200 residents have secured their space to bunker down and ride out the storm. It is advised that those who wish to secure their seat do so immediately, as space is limited.

Residents are reminded to bundle up and keep hydrated with Red Bull (http://www.redbullusa.com) drinks. CompGeeks (http://www.geeks.com), Crucial (http://www.crucial.com), Flickerdown Data Systems (http://www.flickerdown.com), and Vinster (http://www.vinster.com) have already pledged their support, with more sponsors being finalized daily. ConnectiCon (http://www.connecticon.org) has mobilized their video gaming unit to help ensure the success of this endeavor.

Brace yourself, the storm is coming.

:)

[pissboy]

Less than 2 months and 250 seats are left for New England's Largest LAN Party. :)

[lockheed2266]

I signed up right after LANChelms in Massachusetts also, (which is also part of LPANE) and i cant wait for this LAN party, it is going to be AWSOME!

[pissboy]

317 people attending as I post this, should make for a 400+ person event. :)

[lockheed2266]

317 people attending as I post this, should make for a 400+ person event. :)

trust me, it will fill up to 500, dont worry about it.

[xTABx7]

I go to school in boston, and used to work literally next door to this place, i'll have to look into this.

[JediFonger]

LAN has never been a huge thing in new england. i'm glad it's finally becoming more and more popular in NE. if i wasn't writing 10 page essays and studying for finals during that weekend, i'd love to go! =). i'm a sad panda, hopefully i'll make an effort for '07. meanwhile i plan to spread the word =).

[pissboy]

There have been a few large LANs in New England. The BadLANs (http://www.lpane.net/members.php?lanID=46273W8I3D) held a 225 person event, and spent two years looking for a larger, affordable place to host another. They eventually disbanded. On the day of their 225 person LAN there was a commercial event, I think iLAN or one of those things in Boston that drew 175 bodies. LANchelms (http://www.lanchelms.com), out of Chelmsford, MA has held a few 160 person LAN parties over the past few years, future uncertain. LPANE (http://www.lpane.net) is comprised of former BadLANs members, current LANchelms members, as well as a slew of other parties (http://www.lpane.net/members.php) in the New England area. The Nor'Easter event last year hosted 340 gamers, this year we're already going to beat that. More recently, CAD (http://www.cad-comic.com/) held an event with ~285 BYOC attendees (http://www.digital-overload.com), I don't believe they ever released an official count, but that was how many were prepaid (no door payments).

The problem facing large LANs in this area is you can't touch large places for cheap, as most places that are the size we need are convention centers and such. To get a good amount of space in a convention center you're talking about $10-20k in rent, plus $100-120 per 20A outlet drop. The power alone is usually not affordable. Most places don't allow you to bring your own power, and for larger events, sometimes they don't have enough on site as it is. We ended up building our own power supply system and rent a generator.

[pissboy]

We've updated our tournament info and announced a program with our friends at Red Bull on our site.

http://noreaster.lpane.net

[pissboy]

Party is this weekend, so far we'll have 400 gamers through the door, plus exhibitors. :)