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A LAN party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people together with their computers, which they network together primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. These local area networks (LANs) come in various sizes, from very small (two people) to very large (more than 6,500 people). Small parties can form spontaneously, but large ones usually require a fair amount of planning and preparation on the part of the organizer.

LAN party events differ significantly from gaming centers and Internet cafes in that they are generally bring your own computer (BYOC)^[1] and are not permanent installations, often taking place in general meeting places or residences.

LAN party attendees tend to be more experienced gamers, as the setup required turns most casual gamers away.

History

LAN parties originated from early single-player Unix games such as Larn, Hack, Rogue, and Hunt the Wumpus that kept scoreboards on a centralized server.^[2] At this point the majority of the people playing these games were university students who had access to such systems for schoolwork. Another early incarnation of network gaming was Xanth Software F/X's MIDI Maze. Programmed for the Atari ST, the game allowed up to 16 computers (though any number above four caused instability) to be linked together via the ST's MIDI ports and deathmatch games to be played over the makeshift network. With the release of id Software's Doom in 1993, the gameplay that MIDI Maze pioneered was perfected, allowing four players either to cooperate in the game's singleplayer campaign or to fight each other in a deathmatch game. As a result, network gaming (and consequently LAN parties) grew. The initial explosion for the LAN Party scene occurred with the release of the shareware version of Id Software's Quake in 1996. The release of Quake closely coincided with the release of many low-cost Ethernet NIC and hub packages from companies such as Linksys and Realtek allowing for easy ad-hoc LAN building. An additional factor was ease with which computers were able to be networked domestically with the then recently-released Windows 95.

Small LAN parties

Usually smaller LAN parties consist of people bringing their computers over to each others' houses to host and play multiplayer games.

They are sometimes established between small groups of friends, and hosted at one participant's house or a small venue. Such events are often organized quickly with little planning, and are usually overnight events, with some stretching into days (or even weeks). Because of the small number of players, games are usually played on small levels and/or against bots. When a broadband Internet connection is available, some LAN parties will join on-line servers, where everyone connects to the same server to play together, often on the same team. In this case, the LAN party helps bring the team in one physical location, to talk/chat more efficiently.

A small LAN party requires a hub/switch, with enough ports to accommodate all the players, a fair amount of power, and suitable surfaces for all the computers. Providing large amounts of food and beverages is often also a duty of the host, though guests are usually asked to contribute resources. In larger parties where participants may not all know each other personally, an entry fee may even be charged. Another tradition of some small groups is to purchase large amounts of fast food for consumption over many days. Many LAN fans will also bring energy drinks and other food to consume over the course of the party.

To set up these parties an Ethernet hub/switch isn't always required. If all the computers have Wi-Fi capability, an ad-hoc network may be set up. This is a network which connects two computers together without the need for a switch/hub.

Larger LAN parties

Many commercialized parties offer various tournaments, with competitions in such games as StarCraft, Quake III, Call of Duty 2, Warcraft III, Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament, America's Army, Battlefield 2 and the Doom series, sometimes awarding prizes to the winners. Prizes can include computer hardware such as overclocking kits, cases, lights, fans, graphic cards and sometimes even complete computers.

The duration of the event is not standardized; many organized parties last for a weekend, while there have also been longer and shorter parties.

Big LAN parties often offer a quiet place to sleep, shower, and eat, as well as hired security, alternative entertainment (such as music), and a dedicated support crew, as well as a professionally managed network including a connection to the Internet. Catering might come in the form of a bar, delivered food such as pizza, or nearby shops. Some parties come fully catered in the form of regular barbecues or even employment of a catering staff running a public canteen.

Gaming clans are groups of gamers that often play in team games and often use these gatherings to meet one another, since they typically play together over the Internet between other parties with little real-world contact. Their goal is often to win tournaments (major groups in Australia include ALexboys, Ultralan and IMOgaming). Clans are often in "ladders" where they move up after winning a match. As well as counting for standings in national and international gaming leagues such as the CPL there are regular events such as Quakecon in which the very best players from around the world compete against one another, much like in popular sports. Practice matches are usually held prior to a match so competitors can get a rough idea of what they are up against.

Often case modders and overclockers attend these events to display their computers, which otherwise would be seen by few. Some come just to display their computers and look at others' computers.

Some attendees also use these parties for the purpose of file sharing. Copyright infringement via file sharing is often discouraged or forbidden by the larger parties. However, enforcement is rare and spotty due to the time involved and often a lack of desire by organizers. Some LAN parties actively support file sharing for legitimate purposes (game patches, updates, user contributed content), and may run Direct Connect hubs or other P2P service servers. One of the main reasons for running such servers is so file sharing can be monitored/controlled while standard Windows file sharing (SMB/CIFS) can be blocked, thus preventing the spread of SMB/CIFS-based viruses. Most P2P setups used at LAN parties also have a 'centralized' chat area, where all members of the LAN party can converse in an IRC-like environment.

There are also other kinds of parties not referred to as "LAN parties" where temporary LANs are built, but are not used as a main attraction. Amongst these are demo parties such as Assembly and hacker conventions such as DEF CON.

In the traditionally active demoscene countries, such as those in Northern Europe, the LAN party culture is often heavily influenced by demo parties. This is due to the fact that many of the largest demo parties were already well established in the early 1990s and their facilities were also suitable for large-scale LAN party activity. This eventually lead gaming clans and other similar groups to attend these events and regard them merely as large LAN parties. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for "pure" LAN parties in Northern Europe to organize some demoscene-like competitions in areas such as computer graphics or home videos.

Sponsorship

Many computer companies, including Corsair^[3] and Alienware,^[4] offer sponsorship packages to large LAN parties, with funding, prizes, or equipment given in return for advertising. Many large-scale LAN parties seek such sponsorship, in order to reduce operating risk (often the organisers risk losing tens of thousands of dollars) and provide prizes for attendees.

Equipment

Patrons

The sort of equipment someone would take to a LAN party, be it a small or large one, includes:

• Computer
• Monitor
• Keyboard
• Mouse and mouse pad
• Headphones/Speakers (Usually Headphones as it is common for organizers of larger LAN parties to disallow the use of speakers as it distracts other party goers)
• Microphone
• Power cables for monitor and computer
• Power strip
• Network cables
• Network hub or switch
• Games with their respective CD keys and latest patches.
• Sleeping bag and toothbrush

Host

The host's job in a LAN party involves much more work, especially in large parties:

• Power. Most hosts should allow for about 300-350 watts of power per attendant on average, with approximately 80% utilization per circuit. (E.g., in North America, this would be six people on a typical 20A Circuit.)
• Networking. Ethernet networks are almost universally used. In large parties, a common configuration scheme is a Gigabit Ethernet backbone switch, and a high-speed internet router and Fast Ethernet switches connected to that. Servers for basic network services (DHCP,DNS,Proxy server, etc.). In smaller parties, the host's existing network will often do.
• Space. Computer monitors, keyboards, and mouse area take up a significant amount of space. Hosts should see to it there is enough room available for the number of people planning to attend.
• Information services. LAN parties of some size often have a video projector to distribute important information, and a stage of some sort to announce competition winners. Bigger LAN parties may also have internal net radio, internal web sites, and even an internal IP based television channel.
• Planning. Nothing is worse for patrons than showing up to an empty LAN party, or finding out that few people are going to the current one.

Culture

LAN parties have their own unique culture. Attendees often show off their computers with flashy aftermarket lighting, plasma screens, enhanced speakers, and many other types of computer accessories (otherwise known as Case modding).^[5] Highly caffeinated drinks, termed energy drinks, are very popular in these events to improve concentration and as the LAN party often run into the early morning hours.^[6] Large parties can last for several days with no scheduled breaks. Often sleep is compromised to play throughout the night and onto the next day.

Gaming console system links

Another type of LAN Party is a gaming console System Link. It can range from a small group of friends linking at least two consoles with LAN capabilities (such as the Xbox 360) together with a Cat 5 crossover cable, to a separate part of a bigger, established LAN Party. At these, many people connect their consoles to an existing LAN Network already available using a standard Cat 5 cable. Most consoles are capable of networks between as many as 32 units. It is becoming more common for different consoles to be present at larger LAN events giving a massive array of different games, on different formats available to play. This functionality is similar to Sega's DirectLink for Sega Saturn.

References

See also

• DreamHack, The largest LAN party in the world, held twice annually in Jönköping, Sweden.
• Multiplay UK, The largest UK LAN party at Newbury Racecourse, United Kingdom.
• The Gathering, One of the largest computer parties in the world, held in Hamar, Norway.
• Assembly demo party, Another very large party, held annually in Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, Finland.
• QuakeCon, Largest LAN party in the United States and the largest free LAN party in the world. Held annually in Dallas, Texas.
• Lanwar, One of the largest LAN events in the United States. Held quarterly by the same name, and annually as MillionManLan.
• Cyberathlete Professional League, One of the largest LAN events in the United States. Held annually in Dallas, Texas.
• Minho Campus Party, LAN party held annually in the Minho region, Portugal.
• Fragapalooza, The largest LAN party in Canada hosted in Edmonton, Alberta
• LANageddon, a LAN party held annually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• Campzone, a large outdoor LAN event held by Gameparty.net in the Netherlands.
• xLAN, New Zealand's largest LAN Party held in Auckland, and National qualifier for WCG.
• Nor'Easter, The Largest LAN PARTY in New England noreaster.lpane.net held in Wilmington, MA
• theGXL, One of the Largest LAN events on the east coast http://thegxl.com in Millville, NJ
• Block party
• Demo scene

External links

• LAN parties at the Open Directory Project