What is a LAN party?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 10,000 people). Small parties can form spontaneously, but large ones usually require a fair amount of planning and preparation on the part of the organizer. The current world record for number of computers connected in the network at a LAN party is 10,445, set at DreamHack Winter 2007, in Jönköping, Sweden.

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

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. 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 Bungie's Pathways Into Darkness and id Software's Doom in 1993, the gameplay that MIDI Maze pioneered was perfected, with the latter 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 Bungie's Marathon on the easily-networked Macintosh platform in 1994. By the time Id Software's Quake was released in 1996, the release of Windows 95 and many low-cost Ethernet cards had brought relatively easy ad-hoc networking to the Windows PC, further expanding the popularity of LAN Parties.

Small LAN parties

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

These are sometimes established between small groups of friends, and hosted at a central location or one that is known to all participants. Such events are often organized quickly with little planning, and some 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 all computers connect 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 communicate to teammates 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 refreshments is often also a duty of the host, though guests are usually asked to contribute. 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 participants will also bring energy drinks and other food to consume over the course of the party.

To set up these parties a network hub/switch isn't always required. If all the computers have Wi-Fi capability, an ad-hoc network may be set up. This allows two or more computers to connect over a wireless connection, thereby eliminating the need for a wired network.

When some of the participants cannot be present or when merging a few LAN parties together, VPN software such as Remobo or Hamachi can be used to arrange computers over the Internet so they appear to be on the same LAN.

Larger LAN parties

Many commercialised 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, Doom series, and the Halo Series sometimes awarding prizes to the winners. Prizes can include computer hardware such as overclocking kits, cases, lights, fans, graphics cards and sometimes even complete computers (often considered humorous as typically the winner of the competition would already have (and be competing on) a custom PC far superior to the prize).

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

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 -- groups of gamers that often play in team games -- 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. 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 demoparties 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 demoparties. This is due to the fact that many of the largest demoparties were already well established in the early 1990s and their facilities were also suitable for large-scale LAN party activity. This eventually led 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.

Culture

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

Console LAN Parties

Another type of LAN Party is a gaming console party. It can range from a small group of friends linking two consoles together with a crossover cable (also known as a system link cable), to many units connected to an ethernet switch or existing network.

On the Xbox and Xbox 360, LAN gaming is known as system link. Some games on these consoles can support as many as 32 players in a single game.

It is becoming common for different consoles to be present at larger LAN events where participants connect their consoles to the existing network. Some of these events have a separate area for participants to set up their consoles.