LAN Gaming

[roboczar]

So I got to thinking today, after seeing the "I the fuck care" Hellgate:London PR trainwreck article again, and seeing a bit on Kotaku about the mega LAN gaming culture in Scandinavia.

The problem is... how many people really are LAN gaming these days? I could count the people I know that have played regularly without needing to take my socks off.

On my many daily "I need to go for a walk and think a bit about life" episodes, I tried to deduce the viability of a LAN gaming location in the United States. However, with broadband and XBL, how many people are going to want to bother to go someplace downtown and play games when they can just stay at home? Even if you provided the PCs/Consoles and only charged for food/drinks, why would people show up?

Is LAN gaming in the US dead? Why is it so big in Sweden?

[Cubit]

I don't game on a LAN anymore because as my friends and I have grown older, we have moved farther apart. Gaming online is really the only practical method for us to play together anymore.

[idrisz]

the first thing that popped in my head when I saw the thread title was "is dead!!!"

[Rock8man]

I don't game on a LAN anymore because as my friends and I have grown older, we have moved farther apart. Gaming online is really the only practical method for us to play together anymore.

Same here. But I have to admit that even when I was living in Seattle, Xbox Live changed things. Suddenly it became easier not to carry my Xbox over to my friends, but stay home instead and just use voice chat. It wasn't as good, but there was a huge convenience factor. And once we realized that was possible with Xbox Live, the same thing carried over to PC games. Suddenly we all bought headsets and started using Teamspeak, and instead of getting together under one roof, we started playing Diablo 2, Warlords Battlecry 3, C&C Generals, and eventually Supreme Commander online instead, even though we used to get PCs together in one place before that.

And then nearly everyone moved away from Seattle, but still kept gaming over Xbox Live and Teamspeak.

[Karacan]

Must be a European thing. Germany's biggest LAN-party just topped 2300 registrations (with PCs of course), taking place in the next few years.

While still living in Germany, I was co-organizing a LAN-party every two months, counting 5 to 10 friends. This went on since Doom 2 hit the shelves all those years ago, a game we extensively played. In LAN.

Good times. I miss that.

[Soapyfrog]

Our group games on LAN now more than ever, in fact we do it once a week on average, and get turnouts of 8-16 people. We are all in our 30s and 40s (and 50s!!)...

Gaming online is EASIER, but LAN play is BETTER, so that's why we do it pretty much.

[roboczar]

Another thing I noticed in the US is a trend of libraries to host gaming tournaments and LAN parties, which have moderate success. For instance a friend of mine that works in the Manchester, NH library system tells me that their gaming room is one of the most popular places for kids to go afterschool.

I'm wondering if it's mainly adults that don't LAN game because they are usually spread out due to jobs/family, and that LAN gaming might still be popular with kids who might not necessarily be able to game on XBL or the internet at home?

[roboczar]

Our group games on LAN now more than ever, in fact we do it once a week on average, and get turnouts of 8-16 people. We are all in our 30s and 40s (and 50s!!)...

Gaming online is EASIER, but LAN play is BETTER, so that's why we do it pretty much.

Yeah, but do you feel like you would still do it if there was an opportunity to do so in a public club/bar/diner setting? While paying a small fee instead of bringing your own hardware? With strangers, not necessarily people you know?

[Vincent_GC]

As much as I loved lans, it phased out as soon as all my friends (and myself) moved away and spread to the four corners of the country.

That said, with teamspeak/vent and broadband, it's just so much easier for everyone to do it in the comforts of their own home.

Now, if there was a lan center/pub in the area, I might be inclined to disagree.

[Soapyfrog]

Yeah, but do you feel like you would still do it if there was an opportunity to do so in a public club/bar/diner setting? While paying a small fee instead of bringing your own hardware? With strangers, not necessarily people you know?
Personally, no, though I would consider renting such an establishment for parties.

In Montreal there are a few LAN gaming establishments and they seem to do fine. Go figure!

[rei]

As much as I loved lans, it phased out as soon as all my friends (and myself) moved away and spread to the four corners of the country.

That said, with teamspeak/vent and broadband, it's just so much easier for everyone to do it in the comforts of their own home.

Now, if there was a lan center/pub in the area, I might be inclined to disagree.

i think arcades died out before lan gaming did. the local arcade in edmonton tried to survive by making half of it a counterstrike/lan gaming thing but they died still.

[Omniscia]

There have been three or four LAN gaming centers that have opened around here within the last, oh, four or five years or so, and none have survived. Algebars, Player 1 Gaming, whatever the places in Essex Junction and South Burlington were called -- all dead, as far as I know.

The arcades are hanging on by a thread, and are confined mostly to movie theaters and bowling alleys. There are no dedicated video arcades left. However, I did see a delivery truck for one of the local coin-op amusement companies, out behind the mall the other day, so maybe something's opening soon. One can hope.

[Gil102]

My friends and I still do LANs once in a while...usually for special occassions (like Black Friday while the wives are out shopping). Its true that as we get older, we've had fewer and fewer LANs, but we always look forward to them. I liken them to when my parents would have Bridge night or Birthday Club....I see LANs as a reason to socialize AND be able to swear at your friends in good-natured fun.

The main complaint I usually have at our LANs is that the majority of people only want to play one game...usually Left 4 Dead 2 (previously, Left 4 Dead) whereas I would like some variety...Demigod, Borderlands, Halflife 2 Source, and even Warcraft 3.

-Gil102

[Lux]

As my friends gained more and more familial responsibility the LAN gaming gradually phased into online gaming.

The LAN is largely dead to us now for largely time constraint related reasons. I also suppose that improved voip tech has made the online experience more personal. When you're all on a Ventrilo server bantering as you would be at a LAN in a fraction of the time and hassle, where's the incentive to LAN? Really all that's missing from the equation of the current online experience is the BBQ and manly back slaps. (occasionally derisive comments from significant others ALSO carry over Vent)

[Skipper]

I still LAN play, probably at least every two weeks or so. It's still alive and well, even when games kill it (MW2 I'm looking at you.) For those particular games we simply all connect out to the internet servers WHILE sitting on the same LAN. There's something comforting about seeing the guy when you talk shit about him and how you just nailed him with your gun/army/roaming horde of demons. Then again the group that I sometimes get together with are all of the same generation and "group think" when it comes to some of the game styles and titles.

I have noticed one new style of play that, although it's not LAN play by definition, could become one of it's successors. That's the "search for players around me" style of play brought on by the iPhone. Think of what a LAN fest would be like at college or in your apartment complex if you could just see your neighbors online and playing the same game. I think PC multiplayer gaming could really use a shake up in the direction it's headed, and I think something like this, or something that gets people more involved in playing with people near them, might be a good thing. The problem is convincing developers who seem to be stuck in rose-colored goggle "console vision" to take a chance at trying something new.

[Nellie]

We still do LAN parties every few months. Getting together for beer and Pizza is as much of an incentive these days as the chance to shoot each other in the face.

[GloriousMess]

There are about 4-5 of us that gather for a LAN about once a quarter, mostly as an excuse to meet up and generally do whatever appeals for a weekend rather than to specifically play games. The last one had JM and myself playing as many Space Hulk games as we could fit in between the Guitar Hero games and attempts to get a Windows L4D dedicated server running.

I really miss going to the 1000+ player LANs that are still being run by Multiplay in the UK, they were something special. Sadly it's all Counter-Strike and Call of Duty now, which don't appeal to me. That and a BYOC ticket costs £70+.

[Bad Neighbor]

The last LAN party I went to was spent waiting for x number of people to finish a WoW raid, struggling to get the network back up after a fuse was blown, then arguing over what to play until we gave up and played CS. 2/3 of the people there just watched movies instead. Pretty much a waste of 6 hours.

[rossm]

We host a LAN party each semester at school, with probably ~60 people. Favorites are Supreme Commander, Counter-Strike, Age of Empires 2. I also went to quakecon this year, which is massive. But it was shitty and I don't plan on going back.

After I graduate, I probably won't go to many LANs. I'm much more likely to go to a fighting game tournament (which still benefit greatly from local play).

[Gordon Berg]

The last LAN party I went to was spent waiting for x number of people to finish a WoW raid, struggling to get the network back up after a fuse was blown, then arguing over what to play until we gave up and played CS. 2/3 of the people there just watched movies instead. Pretty much a waste of 6 hours.

Sounds very familiar. Here in Louisville, LAN gaming was (is) very popular due to one particular quarterly event known as Lanwar and a yearly event known as the Million Man LAN. I stopped attending once sufficient enough broadband Internet was introduced because everyone sat around playing World of Warcraft instead of taking advantage of a 300+ PC room setup.

[jason]

I might LAN more if I had a game capable laptop. The reason I stopped doing LANs was the utter pain involved in lugging around my PC, monitor and peripherals.

[SqueakyFoo]

The only LAN gaming I do these days is on my 360. We have semi-regular halo nights with about 8-10 people and 4-5 xboxes/tvs. I don't know that would neccessarily count, though.

[mok]

I think the business model of trying to run a LAN gaming center is proven a failure.
I suspect you could possibly even today still run a CS Lan party in a large city for a day once a month and clear $2000, but trying to run a viable business on head to head gaming simply will not earn the revenue it needs. Way too many other outlets for h2h play these days.

LAN parties will always have a place as they are social and offer something 'more'. But it is not something done very often.

[KevinC]

My friends and I LAN regularly. We're in our twenties or thirties, some are married, all have access to broadband, etc... but nothing really compares to playing socially with your friends. It's different than playing online with a mic.

Are we the minority? Yea, I'm sure we are, but there's still people in the US who do it.

Now if you're talking LAN parties as in the business operated ones.. yea, not sure on that. Never was into those.

[unbongwah]

A buddy and I get together every couple of weeks to game, though ironically mostly for MMORPGs (DDO & LOTRO of late), but we did play through Red Alert 3 and part of RE5 earlier this year. Other than him, though, all my real-life gaming buddies have moved away, lost interest, are too busy, etc.

[GloriousMess]

I've run two 'commercial' (read: entrance fees required to cover expenses) LANs before, back during the QuakeWorld era. I only allowed for about 30-40 participants maximum, but there was still quite a lot to consider.
Fun things I recall from these events:

-Working out, often with a very bad map of the building's wiring, if the power supply is enough for 30-40 PCs with 17" CRT monitors. The mess that some large halls are in power wise is really insane, I'm surprised there aren't more fires.
-Trying to locate twenty, two-person desks that can actually support the weight of a CRT monitor and various bits. I mention the weight in particular because JM once brought his 19" or 21" CRT monitor to a Multiplay LAN, and the desk literally bowed about half a foot.
-Organising transport for myself and all the extension leads, 6-way adapters, administrative stuff, medical/legal stuff and coordinating it with the venue owners. I was in my late teens during all this!
-Cleaning up. I ended up using the same venue for both LANs, and the owners were very strict about leaving the place in the same condition that we found it, and that's quite tricky when things are thrown around in the rush to get the place up and running before attendees arrive.
-Deciding on a price per head that will balance out the head count with the chance of breaking even and, if you're lucky, covering petrol costs.

In the end I actually had a fantastic time organising and running the LANs, and it gave me a great perspective on the sheer effort that must be required for the huge LANs like Dreamhack. I never broke even for my LANs, but I'd run another in a heartbeat if I could. Maybe not everyone is as keen on LAN gaming as I am, hence the decline in the popularity of it.

[Alex Pirani]

The other day I went out to grab some dinner with my friends. We were leaving and I spotted a Nathan's. So, of course I suggest we go to the arcade and play some video games ( I remembered there being a Marvel Vs Capcom 2 machine there). At the end of it all, it was a ton of fun. Playing strangers in person on arcade machines. The social aspect was great, I had forgotten about how much of that you lose playing online, even when you do have a mic. It's a shame people don't like to play in the same room as one another, but I miss the Arcade/LAN days, they were a lot of fun.
To tell you the truth, I think the reason it's not as successful is just because people would rather not travel, haul their system, pay to play, or be out of their house while they're playing their games. You have to shell out cash for food and drink at a LAN, at home you just open the fridge. Hauling your system can become a pain in the ass once you've done it a few times. You can play for shorter sessions when you're at home, also while only wearing your boxers. At a LAN, you're usually there for the long haul, and should probably keep your pants on. To put it short I think it's just the comfort and convenience level. I'd rather sacrifice that for the social aspect though...

[Janster]

I found we had problems with games we could agree on, we played 6 player Heart of Iron and Europa Universalis, those were awesome games, but requires those 6 people for 3 days to even get anywhere.