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Gathering
to play computer games "beats jumping out of a plane
By
Katie Drewieske
For Dot Com Magazine
Mike Krajewski, Green Bay, has a huge party every other
Friday night. But it is not your average, run-of-the-mill
party. PC-gamers from the area drag their computers over
to Krajewski's storage room and pay $10 (which goes for
food) to play computer games and compete in tournaments.
The event is called "CycoLAN."
The
"LAN" in CycoLAN stands for Local Area Network.
A LAN party, as it is known, is an event where a group of
people get together to play computer games. The games run
more smoothly and quickly when all the participants are
in one place than when trying to play over the Internet.
It also gives participants a chance to swap files.
"I
always liked gaming," Krajewski said.
CycoLAN
was born five years ago when Krajewski and six of his friends
"packed into a little office" to play multi-player
computer games. Their connections over the Internet were
so slow, he said, that they were forced to get together
with their computers in order to have a decent game.
"We
had so much fun, but the room was really small," he
said.
In order
to combat this problem, Krajewski decided it was time, to
expand. He moved the party into the storage room of a business
owned by his father. He bought tables, chairs and network
equipment and wired the room himself. He set up a Web site
so gamers could register and so he would know how many people
were coming each week.
"it
gives me a chance to meet my fellow gamers face-to-face,"
said Rob Poirier, a CycoLAN regular.
Frequent
CycoLAN gamer Troy Frisque agreed. "I love to hang
out with people with a common interest," he said. "Massive
multi-player gaming is one of the most exhilarating things
you can be a part of and not have to jump out a plane or
anything like that."
Krajewski
said his parties do not have much structure. Participants
begin setting up at 5:30 p.m., and by 5:45 p.m. several
games are usually up and running. Krajewski orders pizza
or subs for everyone and by 10 p.m., the tournaments begin.
The
gaming continues until around 3 a.m. Right now, the tournament
games of choice are Counterstrike and Unreal Tournament,
both first- person shooters. Also popular are Starcraft,
a real-time strategy game, and Dungeon Siege, a new role-playing
game.
For
the tournaments, Krajewski pulls names out of a hat to assign
teams of four. He offers some small prizes for tournament
winners, but never money prizes.
"People
start to get too competitive (when money's involved),"
he said. "It's not fun anymore. And it's all about
fun. If someone isn't having fun, they can leave."
Frisque
said that the competition generally leads to a positive
experience and gives everyone something to talk about at
work on Monday morning.
"You
cheer for people you don't know, people you do know,"
Frisque said.
What
advice do experienced LAN partiers have for "newbies"?
When
going to a LAN party, Krajewski recommends having all the
software loaded on the computer beforehand. He said many
people have to spend valuable game-playing time just installing
programs and games.
"Taunting
and cheering are all a part of the game, but I would keep
it to a minimum until you are comfortable with the people
you are playing with," Frisque added.
For
someone running a LAN party, Krajewski said, try to make
sure the network is working before everyone arrives. He
said much of his time at the beginning of the party is spent
setting up key addresses and helping other people get set
up, but because he has so many helpers, he gets a lot of
game time, too.
"Most
people are eager to help ... One guy fixes problems, one
runs tournaments."
To sign
up for the event, visit www.cycolan.com. Gamers must be
over 18 years old. CycoLAN parties are limited to under
40 people because of space restrictions. Every fifth time
a participant attends, it costs $5, and every 10 times it's
free.
Related
sites
www.landparty.com
Portals for those who want to know how to put a party together
or who have news about parties they already have.
www.tweak3d.net/articles/howtolanparty/
A step-by-step guide about how to set up and invite people
to a LAN party - no hints on how to beat them, however.
www.langamermania.com
Good site for finding out what type of gear you need and
how much it will cost you.
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