The Lost Art of Lans

I wonder if LAN play here in the US is just going thru a temporary lull. Overseas, huge numbers of kids and adults play, and those numbers are growing exponentially. China will have almost 65 million gamers by year's end (Google: "The 2009 Chinese Gamers Study"). Same growth in Korea and Singapore; Singapore's government even sponsors LAN teams.

Foreign countries just view gaming differently than we do. Overseas, gaming is revered, appreciated and followed with intensity; lot of adults play. Cybercafes are flourishing, and LAN parties are huge. DreamHack, the largest LAN party in the world, has over 10k paying attendees. That’s 10,000+ people transporting their computers from all over Sweden and Europe.

"DreamHack is a statement of the Digital Generation, the Woodstock of today, but without the mud and the drugs." (~ Fredrik Nyström) Statement of the "Digital Generation"... That's us my friends.

Problem is tho, here in the US we still suffer from the stigma that gaming is nothing more than a casual pastime for immature kids who, if they play long enough, become addicts. I mean, what kind of reaction do you get here when you tell your peers, "Yeah... This weekend I'm going to a LAN party, and we're gonna stay up all night long playing video games and drinking BAWLS" ? LOL..

We just need to stand up for and support our "digital" generation. Host a LAN party. Go to a LAN party. Invite somebody who has never been to a LAN party.
 
I think Nenu pegged it on the first page - broadband. Why uproot a rig and cart it around when I can just connect with everyone in a TS server? I still host/attend LANs (just went to one this month focused on L4D), but it's far less frequently than what it used to be.

I'll admit that I've never done one of the huge LAN parties folks have hosted though. Kind of a different beasts if there's no one there you know.
 
I've been keeping up with this thread and I have a group that I always used to LAN with for about 4 years solid and our decline happened for many reasons. It's almost been a year since the last LAN. We had a series of events in about a years time that included several births, at least 1 divorce and the ending of a serious relationship between a couple of the main staffers. We also lost our venue that could hold 60 easily (one that was filled most of the time) and had to go to a shorter lower capacity LAN. Also, a large number of the core group graduated from high school and either went to college or stared working. I started working wed-mon so that killed my weekends. The biggest thing for me that is sad its I spent 4 New Years LANing, and this will be my second in a row not, and that saddens me. I want to get a LAN room built at my place, but I have so many other things going on I don't think it will happen. One I get the pool fixed at my house I think I'm going to have a Pool party/LAN/Shootout/bonfire/campout. but thats still a couple years down the road. Sad.
 
I never got into LANs. I'm 23 now, and going back to my high school days it was always consoles that'd be the focus of get togethers, no one wanted to lug around a big arse PC, and most my friends didn't have good gaming PCs anyway (for several years I didn't have a gaming PC myself).

It was the NES, then the SNES, then the N64 or Playstation depending on who's house we were at... we always talked about LAN parties but it never happened.
 
Me and three to six friends used to LAN all the time during elementary and high school, but now that we are in college we don't get to do it nearly enough. For a while it got so bad that none of us had gaming computers. Even during that time though, we would make it a tradition to do a mini 4-6 person lan at least once every few months with our thinkpads (you would be surprised how well an overclocked T61 14in runs supcom, UT2004, etc).

Now, all of us except one has a Core i5 or i7 rig and we're doing our first planned ahead mini lan (everyone is actually going to have games installed and patched ahead of time, holy shit!) this Sunday night. Should be Supreme Commander, Age of Empires 3, UT2004, and CS:S.

My friend has a really nice finished and air conditioned basement (4-6 core i7 rigs are hot!) which works out great. Going to have the traditional buffalo chicken pizza and energy drinks and assorted junkfood.

To me, the problem has always been finding real PC gamers. I literally turned every single one of them on to gaming myself - started with my two best friends, and then they turned a few other friends on to it. Most people don't even know such a thing as LAN parties even exist!
 
computerpro3 said:
To me, the problem has always been finding real PC gamers. I literally turned every single one of them on to gaming myself - started with my two best friends, and then they turned a few other friends on to it. Most people don't even know such a thing as LAN parties even exist!
Click to expand...

Agreed... We have the same problem with our LAN here in Austin: Getting the word out. Finding new players that have decent PC rigs which will accommodate the new games. One thing we're attempting to do here is create an online PC Gaming "Meetup" group in the San Antonio/Austin area that would start out meeting once a month. It would predominantly be a social activity; ie we would not be meeting to play PC games, but rather to meet new ppl and discuss new/old games. But the database and network would hopefully generate some new ppl who have not had the opportunity to experience a true LAN, and bring back some of those old guys who have. We'll keep you posted....
 
well the last two lans I had planend had to be cancelled due to various circomstances, but I have a mini lan planned for this Friday, and so far everything is a full go, in fact I may be filling my house to the brim with rigs and kids (old kids as in 30+ ) I'm semi worried about space cuz all I have a is a single bedroom duplex., my other side is empty atm, and I am really hoping it stays empty until after the lan. I may post some pre-lan pics later on in the week, as it looks more like a lan.
 
imo, the "setup" time before the actual LAN is awesome fun; we typically take the week off prior to the event, and use that time to set up all the tables/chairs/wiring/servers/network/posters etc., as well as pick up all the bawls/beer/shirts/food etc.. 48 hours prior, we start cooling the place off; setting all five AC thermostats to 66. 24 hours prior, we start icing everything down and the cooking begins. We take a week to do all this b/c it's important to get some rest before the event; don't want to be exhausted on opening day.
 
PowersGaming said:
imo, the "setup" time before the actual LAN is awesome fun; we typically take the week off prior to the event, and use that time to set up all the tables/chairs/wiring/servers/network/posters etc., as well as pick up all the bawls/beer/shirts/food etc.. 48 hours prior, we start cooling the place off; setting all five AC thermostats to 66. 24 hours prior, we start icing everything down and the cooking begins. We take a week to do all this b/c it's important to get some rest before the event; don't want to be exhausted on opening day.
Click to expand...

Its funny you mention that, I had originally asked for Thurs - Sat off, but my boss ended up giving me the week off. so I am pretty much doing the majority of the stuff you mentiioned now. and yes I try to get almost everything done ahead of time so I can get rest as well b4 the lan. I work part time so I usually get stuff done around work during the week if I don't get additional time off.

One of the most favorite traditions at our mini lans, is everyone piles into a couple cars and goes to one of the 24 hour McD's at 3-4am and everyone has a very early breakfast or lunch. One of my favorite quotes comes from these outings. We were all at that stage that we were so tired that everything was funny, and my friend goes "So this is what its like to be high" adn of course we laughed for 10 min over that. Good Times, Good Times.
 
iGamer said:
Its funny you mention that, I had originally asked for Thurs - Sat off, but my boss ended up giving me the week off. so I am pretty much doing the majority of the stuff you mentiioned now. and yes I try to get almost everything done ahead of time so I can get rest as well b4 the lan. I work part time so I usually get stuff done around work during the week if I don't get additional time off.

One of the most favorite traditions at our mini lans, is everyone piles into a couple cars and goes to one of the 24 hour McD's at 3-4am and everyone has a very early breakfast or lunch. One of my favorite quotes comes from these outings. We were all at that stage that we were so tired that everything was funny, and my friend goes "So this is what its like to be high" adn of course we laughed for 10 min over that. Good Times, Good Times.
Click to expand...

Nice... That made me laugh; I know where you're coming from. This is exactly why we LAN. Sure it's the gameplay, and all the excitement arising from intense competition, but the real reason we attend events like these is the relational aspect. It's about life experiences like the one you mentioned. Creating memories that last a lifetime...
 
I just got done from a 24 hour mini lan that me and 5 friends have and I'm too tired to say anything else but this - fuck you godlike Tamika.
 
computerpro3 said:
I just got done from a 24 hour mini lan that me and 5 friends have and I'm too tired to say anything else but this - fuck you godlike Tamika.
Click to expand...

ROFL... Another reason why LANs are so awesome: Getting your butt kicked, and laughing about it. One of the competitions at our last LAN was Crysis. Two 10-man teams going up against each other. Last map we tie, and then go into overtime on Mesa. So this guy, whose name is SpAceAce, just randomly sneaks into our garage, climbs into the nuclear tank we had just built, and frantically drives off in it while we're all chasing the guy LOL. He ends up getting the nuke off and the game is done. It was hilarious to say the least.
 
hahahaha! Nice! Was that Crysis? or the newer Crysis Wars?
 
iGamer said:
hahahaha! Nice! Was that Crysis? or the newer Crysis Wars?
Click to expand...

Crysis:Wars.. What's cool about that game is, it's a good FPS, but it's still funny at the same time. Like we do CS:S which is intense competition, then Crysis:Wars, which as I said is competition and fun, then we round out the event with TF2, which by then is similar to you guys going out at 4am to MD: just total insanity.

Our LAN starts at 1pm on Friday, and isn't over till 1pm on Monday (Memorial Day Weekend) so by the time we get around to TF2, everybody is in that same state of mind that you described when you guys went out that night lol.

The event runs for 72hrs., and everybody has their own method of pacing themselves. Very important to arrive rested. Our schedule is pretty intense; each day starting at 11am and running till 3am, and there's virtually no "downtime"; something always going on. We typically consume about $400 worth of BAWLS, but the adrenaline is just so high that players want more and more.

Check out our insane schedule, "Top 10 Memories" from all of our past events, lots of pics, etc., at our website. Just click on the bottom of that homepage, and navigate to "PG LAN Event Schedule and Information". And if you're free that weekend, come join us iGamer !
 
I just wanted to weigh in with my $0.02

Lan parties are not "dead" but they are an endangered species.

Years ago, the hardware was so rare and expensive that it was a major treat to get to use one. Today... well what did I pay for my 25-port 100mbps switch... I think it was $20... so nobody is excited at the prospect.

In the past, there was no internet, certianly not the huge communities online like [H] not even Wow Guilds. So getting together was really special. Especially for people who grew up with the "face-to-face" communication. Today most of the gamers have grown up with Email, IM, Guilds, etc so we dont think much about a LAN, it's all "why go through all that work to play a game together" nobody stops to think about the PARTY in "Lan Party" with the food and socializing and the fun. They all think it's about the game.

Time, I think, is not the beast everyone is making it out to be. It's not what's killing LAN parties. It wouldnt be hard to schedual several short lans that only lasted a weekend (whn most ppl are off) It has to do with the fact that the people whowant to party are so thin-spread accross the country. Everyone I know locally (wither close or in-passing) has no interest in a lan-party. If they multiplayer at all it's gonna be on a console for a couple hours one night.

Dont count age or eperiances against people either. I'm 24 and never been to a LAN party, but if one popped up I'd go even if I had to go out and buy ALL the games at once.

I also dont see the "I dont wanna take appart my rig" as an excuse. I have a 2ghz 64-bit dual-core laptop that runs plenty of games great and it cost me $500 a year or two ago. Anyone who cna afford a rig that they dont want to take appart can afofrd a $500 laptop. Use lower-requirement games and everyone can bring a laptop. Hell, I'd get together to play the original QUAKE or even DOOM1 if it were an option! As I said it's about the experiance more than the game.

I think what's killing LANs is that the hardcore players are too few and far-between. Most borderline players are going with consoles (I'm guilty of this too, 360, PS3, GCN...) and because those offer acceptable multiplayer gaming people settle for that.

Most excuses can be resolved:
Wife/husband can usually be reasoned with or bribed
Kids - the LAN can have a TV with cartoons in another room and each hour 1 player take a turn keeping an eye on the kids.
Work - schedual around a massive holiday when practically EVERYONE is off or schedual them at night when most people are off and others can pop in and out.
Rig - play lower-req games and everyone uses a laptop. Anyone who has a spare laptop can bring it and loan it to somone for the event.
Setup time - order pizzas/chinese/we and have the first hour where everone helps to set up the even. All it takes are tables, chairs, and a dozen or two cables, it shoudl be done within an hour.
Cost - have everyone bring their own booze/drinks and every chip in for the food (if you really want to be formal, have a $10-per-person cost to cover food)

The only thing left is the lack of gamers in any specific area. This is what I think has killed LANs for the most part. I'm sure if somone in Atlanta, LA, etc tried, they coudl have a LAN every day with 20+ people. Outside of major tech areas though, hardcore gamers are hard to come by... all the others are content to play over XBL...
 
PDXLAN 16 Signed up ready to go for July 16-19 :D

I want to go to PDXLAN 15 but not going to happen just not the right time of year with school and work
 
Used to lan back in the day with two other friends regularly. One friend is a total pot head now - literally doesn't / can't go 2 hours without getting high, and the other wants to be a history teacher... needless to say I don't lan anymore.
 
topslop1 said:
Used to lan back in the day with two other friends regularly. One friend is a total pot head now - literally doesn't / can't go 2 hours without getting high, and the other wants to be a history teacher... needless to say I don't lan anymore.
Click to expand...

You don't LAN anymore because your loser friend blazes his brains and the other friend wants to teach people.

maybe I read into it to much :confused:
 
It warms my heart to see this thread and have so many people still fighting to keep the LAN alive. Back in highschool I had a group of friends who LANed every weekend except the week before the end of the quarter. A small group of about 6-8 people regularaly, but for 48 hours we could just have fun and be geeks. Who cared if someone was being a dick and getting cheap kills or whatever, we laughed, cried, and made amazing memories sitting in a dark basement staring at CRTs.

Now that I am in college I LAN maybe once a month, and its still nice that we are able to do that, but so many people have switched from being a PC gamer to a console gamer. Its cheaper, and easier to console game, and those who do still game on the PC have a hard time getting off their butts to actually take apart their rig and come over.

From what I have found if you can convince someone to just come to one LAN they will come to every one you throw after that. A lot of the guys we got to come to our micro LANs we convinced after taking them to Nor Easter 2005.
 
I love lans. I have at least 100 under my belt. PDXLAN, Quakecon, TXGF, East Coast... I just love the comraderie.

Anyway at 33, most of the lans I go to now are much smaller. We had a great run of about 6-7 years of a high quality monthly lan, but now as everyone else has noticed they are scarce. True, kids, life, jobs start getting in the way, but that just makes my free time even more special.

Anyway I am having a LAN for my birthday in Houston TX on Jan 23rd. Anyone that has visited this thread is derfinately invited. Gonna bring back some of the fun in LAN gaming. I've got the food, you bring yourself and your fun box. PM me for more information.
 
Nickbaldwin86 said:
You don't LAN anymore because your loser friend blazes his brains and the other friend wants to teach people.

maybe I read into it to much :confused:
Click to expand...

These were the friends that I used to go to lans with. I'm still waiting on Uconn's Scythik lan and I will probably go there alone but basically I used to go to lans with these two friends all the time.

I say that they have both given up because one blazes... and the other wants to teach.. and those who can't do.. teach.. and those who can't teach teach gym =]
 
Man, reading this thread is bringing back memories of my post high school and early 20's days of doing LANs every 3 months. Even at the age of 26, I'm always down to drag my rig to game it up with friends and new people.

My set of friends used to have access to a warehouse where we can host the LANs and sleepovers if need be. Those LANs used to peak at 20 people easily and it was fun times then. Unfortunately, my friend's family had to switch locations for their business and was no longer practical to do it.

I also checked out other LANs within the SF Bay Area, but rarely found them and often through friends for small events. I do give props to nVidia for hosting a few LANs in the last several years out here, starting with Geforce LAN (1-4) and nVision. I wonder if they will ever do it again: if anything its beyond great PR events for their new cards and hey, who wouldn't want to go to a LAN party on nVidia? (ok we had to pay like maybe 20-25 dollars but worth it!)

These days though, unless I didn't look hard enough, there's barely any LANs at all in the SF Bay Area. I do wonder the true costs of operating such a event outside of a mini-LAN setup...
 
I host lan parties for my group at least once a year, usually the week after Christmas so everyone is off school/work. In my basement we set up our rigs and hang out for a solid five days. We play pretty much everything including Killing Floor, L4D2, and even some D&D. The five of us have been doing this for about six years now. I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon either. :D
 
I'm no expert, but from what I've seen, LAN parties are on the upswing.

We just started a "Meetup.com" group here in Central Texas to promote "PG Gaming and LAN Parties", and I'm amazed at how much interest we've seen as of late. New kids are joining almost every day. Lot of 'em that have never been to a LAN party now want to know what all the hype is about, and those ppl that have been going to them for years... I think they miss that old LAN party euphoria. The fact that this thread is still going strong adds credence to those that still believe in and honor LAN parties.

Today, we live in a time that allows us to admittedly be more "in touch" with the entire world, as a result of the Internet. Some of us are behind monitors all day meeting and greeting more ppl in a single day than ever was thought possible, and it's a global endeavor. Billions of ppl just a keystroke away. Yet in many ways, we're more isolated than we ever have been. It's just not relational imo. To me, there seems to be an inherent human need for relational contact. Getting to know some guy online in England isn't the same as inviting my neighbor over for a cup of coffee.

For instance, I play my favorite game online the whole night, and I walk away tired, thinking, "man... why did I play that game all night ?" When an all night LAN is over, I might be tired, but the experience leaves me energized, and I'm thinking, "wow.. that was awesome !"

Think about it.. What makes LAN parties better than WAN parties ?
 
I can't say I do LAN parties much. I've always played TM Nation, Quake 3 Arena and Halo over the school LANs, but never actually met with people specifically to play on a LAN. Some friends want me to buy a real cheapo old lappy and put Quake 3 Arena on it, with an old PCMCIA Ethernet card, so we can meet up and play the game. Thoughts?
 
keywo said:
I can't say I do LAN parties much. I've always played TM Nation, Quake 3 Arena and Halo over the school LANs, but never actually met with people specifically to play on a LAN. Some friends want me to buy a real cheapo old lappy and put Quake 3 Arena on it, with an old PCMCIA Ethernet card, so we can meet up and play the game. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Why a laptop, for space considerations? I do use a laptop for LAN parties, mostly because lugging my system and my son's system to LAN's got old. Much easier to grab my backpack with everything I need and go. However, you can easily just have an older computer in a midtower or smaller case with a LCD monitor and be fairly portable. I used a midtower computer and 22" monitor for years going to LAN parties. It's up to you how you want to do it and what you want to use, but I say go for it. Quake 3 and or UT would be awesome fun running on an older system. :)
 
There's a thread going on in this Forum that talks about all the carrying systems that everybody is using these days; makes traveling to LAN parties a whole lot easier.
 
I'm always up for lans but my friends never want to move their pc. Im still lugging around a 70lb CRT and they have lcds. I dont mind moving and driving 2 hours just to hang out, drink and play games together, i guess im a rare breed. I miss the old days of going to 2000 person lans and lanning every friday\Saturday night in high school.
 
neokeelo said:
I'm always up for lans but my friends never want to move their pc. Im still lugging around a 70lb CRT and they have lcds. I dont mind moving and driving 2 hours just to hang out, drink and play games together, i guess im a rare breed. I miss the old days of going to 2000 person lans and lanning every friday\Saturday night in high school.
Click to expand...

I was about to ask what monitor you had, but I just looked at your sig... I would like to move back to a CRT evetually, that or a 26"+ LCD, I'm on a 22" now which isn't bad, but I need more screen real estate....
 
I used to lan alot around the age of 12-17, it would be a once a month thing with my friends. But man everything changes once you get out of high school and all your friends and yourself? are going to college or getting jobs. I'm 22 and still love gaming, but most of it is done by myself. I would like to goto pdxlan this year though those are pretty fun since there is so many god damn nerds in one place ( which also causes my nose to hate me lol )
 
Our group ranges from 18-45. We don't just plays games. We also hang out and talk computers. Nice to see all the new setups.
 
RIP LAN..

Diablo 2, Warcraft 2 & 3, Unreal T 2, CS, BF2 all good times.


Diablo 3 will have no LAN which is the signaling for its death.
 
f1y said:
Me and a couple buddies would LAN in high school every sunday night.. His mom worked nights so we all stayed over there and went into school the next tired as shit. Man it was fun.

We also installed Starcraft 2 on the Drafting computers in the back, and would sit back there and LAN durning school.

<3 lans.

Now there's a couple lans around me. 1 in southeast arkansas, and one in Northeast ark. Atleast 4-5 a year. I maybe make it to 1 or 2
Click to expand...

I don't know how you installed starcraft 2 but we did the same thing in comp sci my freshman year in high school, only it was team fortress classic and couterstrike. My junior year in drafting we did the same thing, by my senior year we had WHOLE CLASSES playing against each other on games... I laughed when the kiddie freshman thought they were cool because a few of them got halo on some comps. My senior year I had accrued admin access and built a new ISD + individual schools web sites so I had the setup files stored in specific hidden places on the schools network, buried in fake directories and setup so anyone could install them. lol my brother-in-law works IT at that same school district now, thank god they got it cleaned up. its funny though because they are already eyeing a middleschooler that they think will cause some trouble once he's in high school.
 
Been to 2 lan parties in the past couple weeks. Last one before that was over a year ago. The first one had 6 people and we played Fear, Quake III, Unreal Tournament(original w/ bonus packs), and Enemy territory.

Had 8 people at my house on Friday and played Quake III, TF2, and League of Legends. Even though there is no LAN mode in LoL, it ran fine over my cable connection and was tons of fun. Every single person stayed till about 3:30 AM when we called it.

Planning on one next month hopefully. I know people say Lan's are dead, but it's so much more fun with the other players in the same room.
 
We've got a 28-man LAN coming up at the end of May. Everybody is really excited about Bad Company 2. The fact that we're running that game at our LAN has increased our signups. Also playing CS:S and TF2. No dedicated server files for BC2 but we've got a pub server with NFO and an awesome business connection with Time Warner. No worries.
 
PowersGaming said:
We've got a 28-man LAN coming up at the end of May. Everybody is really excited about Bad Company 2. The fact that we're running that game at our LAN has increased our signups. Also playing CS:S and TF2. No dedicated server files for BC2 but we've got a pub server with NFO and an awesome business connection with Time Warner. No worries.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to figure out something for our small LAN. Normally we only have around 12 people. I was hoping we could rent a BC2 server and password protect it so that only attendees of the LAN party would be on it, but I haven't found enough information about what is allowed and what isn't. Post back about how the LAN goes... ;)
 
We've used a GSP called Nuclear Fallout to lease servers for the last 5 years. Awesome connection, and excellent service. Nicest guys you'll ever meet. Private 16man servers for BC2 run around $28/mo. (you'll need 16 to run squad deathmatch, but also to get enough guys in there to populate the maps and make the game interesting)

Oops.. Forgot the Link...
 
Last edited:
I've been wanting to organize something, but don't really know where to start. I live in a small town in southern Virginia. If anyone lives around Lynchburg, Danville, Roanoke, or even Greensboro, NC, and would like to do this together let me know through PM. We'll see if we can organize a Saturday event somewhere.
 
htpc_user said:
I've been wanting to organize something, but don't really know where to start. I live in a small town in southern Virginia. If anyone lives around Lynchburg, Danville, Roanoke, or even Greensboro, NC, and would like to do this together let me know through PM. We'll see if we can organize a Saturday event somewhere.
Click to expand...

Wish we lived closer. You could come to our LAN and learn everything there is to know. That's the best way to learn how to do LAN parties; help out on an existing one. Most ppl are willing to share how it's done. We've been at this for 11 years now; learned by working the CPL's in Dallas, NewEgg's in NewYork and Cali, EverLAN's in Denver, plus our own events. To me there are basically two sides; the setup (or venue) part and the server/network part.

We use a 3-brdm house to save $$$, and the guys sleep there to avoid Hotel costs, tho we also rent a travel trailer and have tents. We empty everything out; even pull off the doors. Holds 28 players. May is the perfect month temp wise; not too cold/hot, and the highways aren't iced/dangerous for players traveling. Picking a "three day weekend" where guys have Monday off is a good idea. Upgraded the electrical everywhere (4 plugs/20 amp breaker, increased the service panel to 225amps), knocked out a few walls, and added plenty of window AC's to assist the Central AC.

We've slowly bought all our equipment (servers, tables, chairs, wires, switches) which helps. But those can be rented. Purchased used restaurant equipment (two stand up freezers for food/ice = our LAN runs 3 days) And two refers for beverage/food storage/cooling. We still distribute beverages using ice chests placed in the house to keep guys from constantly opening the door to the garage (heat). Getting local sponsors is a good idea; friends you might know that own or work at restaurants can help. A friend with a Sales Tax ID can allow you to purchase bawls/sodas at a good discount. The local Starbux might be willing to help out if you're a "regular". Or just cooking onsite. We make as many meals ahead of time as possible, and use COSTCO for frozen stuff (like lasagna) that can be heated in the oven (which we locate in the garage to cut down on heat).

Keeping accurate records to know exactly how much we spent on previous years so we don't over buy or run out in upcoming events is a good idea. Don't want to make unnecessary trips to the store, nor end up with food that will be thrown out. Player likes/dislikes play a role also; some guys will eat Lasagna, but won't touch the corn dogs or hot pockets, and you may have vegans/vegetarians. We make notes during and after as to how to improve the event.

Servers can be a bit tricky; my son handles those (we have two running in case one goes down). You can find friends or friends of friends that can help with that, and may even be willing to bring a server and some switches with them. For games like BC2, where public distribution of server files is non existent, you can rent a server for a month from a GSP that's strong in your area. It's a good tool for advertising your LAN, and then when your event arrives, you've got a server to play on. Never had any problem with our whole LAN connecting to our server, but we do let Time Warner know ahead of time that we'll be a "heavy user" for that weekend. Most of those techs love gaming anyway and are willing to help out.

I can honestly say that there is nothing like hosting a LAN party. The anticipation of all the guys that can't wait to get to your house, and just the excitement of the whole event. Even exhausted after it's all over, and having a massive clean up job is well worth it imo. Taking 1000 bawls/beer bottles to the recycling center lol. Buy bawls and beer in cardboard cases (not 6-pack carriers) adn cut the tops off the boxes. Just distribute them around the venue; helps with clean up/storage/disposal.
 
PowersGaming said:
words.
Click to expand...

Damn, don't mess with Texas. :)

We had a friend who worked at a resort and did something similar. We would get a timeshare/townhouse for a week out of season (Winter on Cape Cod) and we would pack all the beds/furniture into the closets or against the walls standing up in the case of the beds. We would bring in tables and drop one switch upstairs and one switch downstairs and have a trunked uplink connecting them. The upstairs people would be powered off of the breaker upstairs, plus one circuit from the downstairs. The downstairs people would be powered off of the downstairs breakers, plus the outside plugs from adjacent units. Since it would inevitably get warm, it wasn't too much of an issue for the sliding door to be cracked open half an inch. Two bathrooms and showers were key in keeping the stink down.

The availability of a stove, microwave, dishes, fridge and freezer was ideal. We would have bagels, drinks, hot pockets, mac and cheese, ramen, etc all packed away. The air is quite dry in the winter time and led to a lot of static discharges every time someone turned a light on or off, but boiling some water, or turning on the shower brought the humidity up enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top