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Maryland Lan Gamers
Lan Gaming FAQ
This section will
give you a brief explanation of Lan gaming.
What is a Lan
party?
Basically,
a LAN Party is where a bunch of players gather together and play games over a Local Area Network (LAN). This can be a wired or unwired. Wired
networks for lan gaming are preferred because of the higher speeds.
How many people
can play?
A
Lan party could consist of anything from two (which could be a bit
boring) to several hundred (or more) players. There's no real limit to how many
people can participate in a Lan game, as long as the organizers have the
equipment to deal with the higher amount of attendees. However, not
everybody will be able to play in the same game. Game limitations vary
from game to game but typically for first-person shooters player limits
could range from 16, 32
or even 64 people per game.
What games can
be played?
A
majority of games these days have a multiplayer option via TCP/IP (LAN or
internet gameplay). Providing the game supports this
option, it should be playable at the LAN.
The organizers will have dedicated servers running popular games
such as Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942, Counter-Strike, Quake 3, Unreal
Tournament 2004 and others. Having dedicated servers is the best way to
host games. However, if you have a
small number of people playing a game, one of the people playing can host
the game and play at the same time.
This is not feasible with a large number of players in a game.
What equipment
do I need?
You
will need your PC with the needed hardware installed as well as the games
you wish to play. You will need a NIC (network card) and 25’ CAT5 network
cable. MLG also suggests that you bring a computer grade power tap. See our Rules
page which lists everything you'll need to bring to an MLG Lan party.
Also,
for those that do not want to drag their own box to a Lan and risk
breaking anything, MLG rents LAN ready computers for attendees. Go to our MLG
Computer
Rental Information page for additional information.
Why go to a LAN
party?
Lan
gaming has always boasted low ping (latency) gaming. This is where you
get pings of 5 or less in Lan gaming.
Even with a room of 100 or more attendees, the ping is very
low.
And
then there's the social side to LAN gaming. Sitting at home on your PC isn't quite
the same as being in a room full of gamers with the atmosphere and being
able to stand up and yell “Dude...you just got owned!”. Being able to put a face with a name in
a game ads a whole new degree of
competitiveness to computer gaming.
If
you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Copyright ©
2003-2009 Maryland Lan Gamers
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