Charging for LAN Party?

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xdLjt

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Oct 17, 2005
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This is my first (12hr - 20hr) LAN party, I have about 10-15 ppls wanting and waiting to go but waiting for me to get setup (server, network etc.) I would like to know if it is wise to charge for the party and would like to know the best price to set.

For example: 15 ppls at $12 = 180 ---- $100 would go to the nights winner (I guess "best of n - whatever")?? $32 would help pay for stuff I bought for the party and $48 for food and beer. so basically 60% / 18% / 22%... run this every month?? THANKS~ ;)
 
At one of my friends house lans Mamemanlan, the charge is $25 ($10 friday evening/night pre-party, $15 for the main lan on saturday). All the cash goes towards food and there is a lot of it. I typically arrive on Friday night and leave about noon on Sundays.

From your example I would suggest against a lump cash prize to the nights winner and instead reward them with a case of bawls or beer and the rest to cover your expenses and food.
 
If you're going to give a cash price, don't give away more than $50. Spend the rest on stuff you need for the LAN, such as food, drinks, and tables. It's better to have extra food/drinks than not enough. If you end up with extra unopened food/drinks you could always save it for the next LAN you hold.
 
I find it easier not to charge people. I wouldn't go to a small house LAN if I had to pay. Anything more than $5 for pizza is just lame. BYOB is common and maybe a pizza run midway through.
 
Thanks for the idea guys.. hey zero, how much you think would be significant amount of $$ to collect for the LAN Party? By the way, nice laptop! :p
 
Some of the smaller lan parties I have attended charged nothing the first time. However, it was byob, and all of us threw in 5 to 10 bucks for pizza. The second time the guy throwing asked for $5 up front from everyone and was still byob. He made an awesome breakfast for those that crashed at the lan, and the pizza was paid for as well.

My suggestion, less than 20 people, no charge and byob. More than 20 people, $5 and byob.
 
xdLjt said:
Thanks for the idea guys.. hey zero, how much you think would be significant amount of $$ to collect for the LAN Party? By the way, nice laptop! :p
Click to expand...

All depends on what you've got in mind. Are you looking to break even or do you not mind spending a little money on the LAN?

Best bet right now may be to charge everyone coming $5. 15 people x $5 each = $75 to spend on LAN supplies. $50 will get you around 6 pizzas, but it would be wise to contact a House Pizza shop in your area as they are usually willing to give discounts on large orders. $25 will be left over, which is usually enough to cover refreshments, although I don't drink, so I don't really know how much beer costs.

I would just eat the $32 you spent on stuff for the party (assuming it was LAN equpiment/tables/etc.). That stuff is always going to come in handy in the future so although you'll be down $32 temporarily, it'll more than make up for it after you've held a few LAN parties and put all your equipment to good use :D

EDIT - Forgot to mention the cash prize. I would just forget about it. If those coming to the LAN are real gamers, they won't care about the cash prize as long as the party itself is enjoyable.
 
I'm having a LAN this weekend for about 15-25 people. We normally charge 10.00 for food- 2 meals, occassional snack, and sodas. We don't worry much about prizes (usually people play until they drop and stop only to eat). Maybe buy a couple of cases of BAWLS and cive away for

Best Case
Winner of One Free-for-all
People's Choice (goes to most popular player-one with best attitude)

Also for prizes hit up your local EB games for stuff they're going to give away anyway.
It's OK to charge for food- about 5 dollars a meal.
 
Yeah, we are having our monthy-bimonthly (long story) lan in austin this weekend. 25-30 folks.

Yes it is free. We pitchin to buy barbecue, pizza, el regio (its chicken and damn good). All the sodas are provided, think of it as the sunk cost of having fun with friends. If you get a good group together, all the equipment that is necessary will be available whether it be additional computers for servers, networking gear, cable, etc.

I held one at my place on October 1st. Nothing hard core, but it was fun. Had 23 show up and everyone had a good time. Lots of hot dogs and hamburgers. It cost me about $110 bucks. I payed it all out of pocket. I would have if it were a beer party and I would have paid more if I had gone to the University of Texas game that weekend.

Once you have had a few successful small lans, throw a pitch in bucket out there for the folks who see the effort to donate. It will become a good way to sustain your lan. We have the lan in austin every 8 weeks, and one in Houston at my place on the off month. It works out very well and we have a good solid educated following.

http://lanparty.treyandcat.com
http://www.gaminglan.com
 
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