Going to my first LAn party tomorrow...

[sandman001]

Anything I should know?

[Baowuf]

a. Scan your comp for virii before you go. You don't want to be 'that guy who brough nimda' to the lan.

b. Double check your packing. Nothing worse than finding out you forgot your headphones or a power cord when you get to the lan.

c. Make sure you have all the patches for all the games you want to play. (also depends if the lan has internet access)

d. Bring all your cd's with you. (Games AND OS) never know when you might need to reinstall something.

e. A large mug or waterbottle isn't a bad idea.

f. Have a lot of fun. don't get stressed. :)

[Matt761]

also bring bawls

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by Matt761
also bring bawls

<newb question>
What are Bawls????
</newb question>

[sandman001]

Lol, I was going to pick up a 2 liter of mountain dew on the way, and bring 5 bucks for pizza or something, does that sound about right?

[Too Smart]

I think Bawls is a type of drink drank only at lan parties.

[Bensa]

Bawls is a high caffeine soft drink, made from Guarana, which is 2.5 times as potent in caffeine than coffee.
http://www.bawls.com
I allways bring a large folder of patches, updates, utilities and free games, so I can share it to others through the high speed network if they need to.

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by Too Smart
I think Bawls is a type of drink drank only at lan parties.

hrmmmm.... I've never heard of it, except for here. :-/

[Wraith]

Bawls is awsome, it saved my ass from the sand man at a 50 man lan, thanks t obawls i won a UT2k3 2st place trophy and a CS first place! w00t!

[sandman001]

I know what bawls is lol.

[Bensa]

Heres a story:
I asked a girl from the States (here studying), if she could bring some bawls for me, the next time she went back for a holiday. It was pretty akward...

[YellowDart]

<-- Googles Bawls.

HOLY JEEZ ppl!!! How hard is it to say "Bawls = energy drink"???? =P

[ThePerfectCore]

Bring all your cd's with you. (Games AND OS) never know when you might need to reinstall something.

Wrong.

Bring BACKUP CDs and a loaded shotgun. Keep your CD case under your arm and your PC case locked at all times.

[Bensa]

Originally posted by ThePerfectCore


Wrong.

Bring BACKUP CDs and a loaded shotgun. Keep your CD case under your arm and your PC case locked at all times.

Now this brings up the subject, again, of what kind of places do you LAN at? I have never tried to lock or hide any of my stuff, and nothings been stolen.

[YellowDart]

I've only ever LAN'ed w/ close buddies of mine. No strangers have ever really been present @ any LAN's I've been to... so I've never had an issue of losing software or hardware...

[DaveSauce]

HEADPHONES ONLY DO NOT BRING SPEAKERS.

Make a list of the following items and check them off as you pack them. Bring it with you to the lan party so you can make sure you leave with everything you brought.

-Computer
-Monitor
-Power cords for above
-Your own PERSONAL power strip (do not share or daisy chain, this will cause problems if you or someone else has to leave early)
-Monitor Cable
-NETWORK CABLE (long, at LEAST 15 feet. If you have spares, bring them to lend out to those who forget them)
-Keyboard
-Mouse
-Mousepad
-Any other peripherals you use (joysticks, gamepads, etc)
-Headphones (NO SPEAKERS! Not vital for small lans, but can make a lot of people angry at large LANs)
-Games WITH CD keys (keep them in a backpack or something so they dont get jacked, lol...not a problem if you're only going to a small LAN tho, unless your friends are shady characters, lol)
-Operating system disc (just in case of emergency)
-Discs with current drivers on them (same as above, if you have to reinstall OS, you'll need drivers too)
-PATCHES FOR ALL THE GAMES YOU BRING (this is important, since internet is not used a lot at LANs. It's not even present at larger LANs. It's also important so you can give them to anyone who doesn't happen to be up to date).

A lot of people also suggest a comfy chair....I don't usually worry about it. Large LANs are already set up with chairs (since they're usually in hotel conference rooms and such), and at smaller LANs you can duct tape the host to the nearest flag pole if he/she doesn't provide enough chairs for everyone...If you want to bring a chair, the easist would be those $5 vinyl folding chairs from a store. They're VERY comfortable (if a bit low to the ground), and very portable....

Another important thing is food and beverage. Small LANs aren't usually a problem since its easy for the host to provide, or for someone to bring a 24 pack....but large LANs are expensive to run....food and beverages for 200 people is a royal PITA, even if it's concessions. Anyhow, bringing your own stuff is always a good idea, just in case....if you're just getting together with friends, bring a 24 pack of pop or a bag of chips to share around...less of a burden on the host.

[ThePerfectCore]

Now this brings up the subject, again, of what kind of places do you LAN at? I have never tried to lock or hide any of my stuff, and nothings been stolen.

I've never been LANing, it's just common sense. I have taken consoles and PC equipment over to (what I thought were) close friend's houses, but then I'd get home and find I was missing the disc for game Y... or the expensive splitter for system X... yeah.

HEADPHONES ONLY DO NOT BRING SPEAKERS.

Not big enough.

HEADPHONES ONLY DO NOT BRING SPEAKERS.

k then.

[sandman001]

I plan to keep all my Cd's in a binder type thing, right between my monitor and computer tower.

[SniperXX]

If you are nervouse since this is a lan u havent been to, take a friend along. That way they can watch your stuff for you when you need to get up, I did that my 1st lan. Then I found out how trusting eveyone is and most have been gaming together for yrs. Alot of of just leave our PDA, cell, and keys @ our seat and we can walk away and return w/o worry. Same for loaning out game cds, I just write down who has it, they will usually image it if the left theirs @ home.

EDIT: Also, if you loan out a CD dont give them the original case, copying that CD can be tempting for some who dont own it...

[sandman001]

My friend is taking me along, which is good.

I think there will be somewhere around 25-30 people there, and I know like 2.

[BigRed]

Im staff at a local lan here (www.lanpartynw.com) and to my knowledge we havent had a major incident where someone stole anything.
Granted there were a few misplaced cds because some moron gave it to someone else to install then that person gave it to someone else to copy, etc...

Established lans are cracking down on illegal stuff nowadays. Things that annoy the hosts are:

Watching porn at a lan (espically if theres people under 18 there)
Open discussion about file sharing
passing around game cd's to copy

I dont know what happened to people going to a lan just to play games :rolleyes:

Anyway most of the things to bring have already been covered, another thing I want to add is, CLOSE YOUR FILE SHARES. Espically if you plan to be in a tournament.

We had a problem in a cs tourney when some ****ed off team member (because he lost to another team) Found open file shares on one of the winning team mates computer and pummeled his bandwidth during the next match :rolleyes:

Even though people say not to sleep its handy to take a nap for a couple hours. Espically if its a 24hour lan and if you are driving home the next morning. Car accidents arent fun. Plus the sleep keeps your reflexes alive so you are better in the games than those who are struggling to stay awake :p

[Amino]

Originally posted by Wraith
saved my ass from the sand man at a 50 man lan

Say that 10 times, fast.

[Oni]

Originally posted by ThePerfectCore
I've never been LANing, it's just common sense. I have taken consoles and PC equipment over to (what I thought were) close friend's houses, but then I'd get home and find I was missing the disc for game Y... or the expensive splitter for system X... yeah.


Never been a problem at any of the LANs I've held, or been a part of. Mind you, my LANs are usually just a close circle of friends, and usually no more than say, 10 people.

You wanna have some fun? Set up a Battlefield server w/ max tickets (a good map like El Alamein) and have drag races and stuff w/ your teammates! Or see how many people can ride on the wings of bomber, or if you can make it do a loop! (I almost did that, but the ground rushed up pretty damn fast :D I did manage a corkscrew, however).

[Too Smart]

This is just a guess since I've never been to a lan party, but even if they say no speakers allowed, you should still bring them and then hook up your headphones to them, because if you try to plug your headphones directly into your sound card, you will have a problem because most headphone cords aren't long enough to reach to the back of your computer, and even if they are the sound won't be loud enough (you need your speakers for their amplifiers). Am I right?

[Amino]

You don't necessarily need your speakers to hook your headphones up to. You can simply turn your volume up, but it does definitely clear up the sound much like a preamp.

Your cord doesn't need to be that long really. I mean, you'll be right next to you computer.

[BigRed]

Originally posted by Too Smart
This is just a guess since I've never been to a lan party, but even if they say no speakers allowed, you should still bring them and then hook up your headphones to them, because if you try to plug your headphones directly into your sound card, you will have a problem because most headphone cords aren't long enough to reach to the back of your computer, and even if they are the sound won't be loud enough (you need your speakers for their amplifiers). Am I right?
Or you could get some sennheisers with an 8ft long cord and a headphone amp ;)

[SF101]

yea some times there are short cords on headphones
i like my pc setup audio jacks out the front is nice

[Agent_Mull]

Ive always wanted to go to a lan. Ive never been invited to one and it would have to be close b/c my parents usually dont like to leave me some place far away.

[Oni]

You should hold your own!

[schismspeak]

Originally posted by BigRed

Open discussion about file sharing
Geez, cant discuss anything anymore, it is a lan with pc's, so ofcourse people are going to discuss computer related topics, I dont see why that would annoy anyone, last I heard it is ok to discuss illegal/legal issues. Your Hosts need to lighten up.

BTW, I am not for illegal filesharing, but, I dont see why it cant be discussed at a lan party.

[trueplaya4ever8]

this makes me wanna goto one...

[sandman001]

Well, I went. Was there for about 12 hours, had fun, drank some pop.

I owned hardcore in CS too.

[Agent_Mull]

Originally posted by Oni
You should hold your own!
oh ya, my parents would let me host a lan party that promotes sitting around and playing games.

[Oni]

Uh . . . That's what a LAN party is.

[BigRed]

Originally posted by Agent_Mull

oh ya, my parents would let me host a lan party that promotes sitting around and playing games.
If they say no then ask if you can have a party that promotes people doing lots of drugs, playing really loud music, and having sex for 24 hours.

then im sure they will be a little open minded to a little harmless gaming ;)

[Blotty]

Bawls is the main thing to make a lan work. See if they are supplying them. If not bring your own. Also practice a lot. Make sure you have everything you need, and most of all have fun and make friends.

[sandman001]

I disagree, pixie dew is where it's at.

[Oni]

Originally posted by BigRed

If they say no then ask if you can have a party that promotes people doing lots of drugs, playing really loud music, and having sex for 24 hours.

then im sure they will be a little open minded to a little harmless gaming ;)

That's it, I'm going to your next party :D

[Jawsome]

Bawls is just a huge gimmic, you dont need it. If you start getting tired, its because you arent playing enough first person shooters.

[xCarne_Asada]

Originally posted by Jawsome
Bawls is just a huge gimmic, you dont need it. If you start getting tired, its because you arent playing enough first person shooters.

haha seriously. i mean i do like bawls, but some games get you so hyper cause they are exciting. especially when your team is winning.

[Perre]

I've been to/hosted ALOT of LAN parties and my advice is to get some sleep instead of drinking lots of coffefin. You will do better in games and the overall experience will be better.

We Swedes know about LAN-parties: http://www.dreamhack.com/

hehe

[tandar]

I have been sold on bawls ever since playing Run Like Hell. For about a week i thought it was just a cleaver gimic inside the game, especially with the slogan "Grab you bawls and run like Hell" on the back inside cover of the manual. It wasn't until i noticed the website in the add that i realized it was the drink of gods! (And with what other drink can you say the bottle is ribbed for her pleasure!)

[sandman001]

Originally posted by tandar
And with what other drink can you say the bottle is ribbed for her pleasure!)

LMFAO