Do you still like LAN parties?

[enator15]

Saw and app called "LAN Party" on Steam and wondering if people still make the effort to go to them. I've found that it has become more difficult to get together physically as I've gotten older.

 

[Alm]

There's a huge LAN party called Dreamhack that happens once a year. I think there's another one but I forget the name.

DreamHack Dallas 2025 - Play Louder

The place where gamers from all multiverses and backgrounds connect for a weekend of experiences; esports, cosplay, creator led activities, table top, special guests, panels, workshops, the coolest IRL loot stores and hey, of course....gaming, gaming, and more gaming 😏

dreamhack.com

I personally have only been to LAN parties with Xboxes. Once I had a good PC, LAN parties were hard to come by with my friends. I'm not really interested in carting a PC halfway across the world.

 

[Pifanjr]

It's hard enough to find time when all my friends are available for a regular online game, let alone a full LAN party.

 

[Johnway]

i think with broadband connection, its unlikely we'll ever see lan parties. I suspect we only did it because of poor internet connections (56k modems). The recent decline of 3rd party hosting and community servers mean that there's less chance of it happening.

never went to one myself, went around to family/relatives and we all huddled around the SNES or playstation but thats about it.

 

[BeardyHat]

Can't say I've been to one since I was a teenager. That said, I do have this fantasy of setting up a bunch of my old PCs on my basement to invite all my friends over and play.

Honestly wouldn't be too bad if I had a couple more laptops, though I think my friends each have one. However, when we actually do get together in person, it's usually an opportunity to get away from our screens and play stuff physically.

 

[COLGeek]

Can't say I've been to one since I was a teenager. That said, I do have this fantasy of setting up a bunch of my old PCs on my basement to invite all my friends over and play.

Honestly wouldn't be too bad if I had a couple more laptops, though I think my friends each have one. However, when we actually do get together in person, it's usually an opportunity to get away from our screens and play stuff physically.

Sounds like a good way to play Unreal Tournament.

 

[February's Ghost]

I've never been to one. While I was definitely a computer geek back in the day I was never part of any of the groups or clubs that did stuff like that. I disliked a lot of the people that were in the computer scene in my area (not a large area).

I did go to a lot of the events where people would sell and trade, but that's about it.

 

[ZedClampet]

The only people I know of who do LAN parties these days are Gen Z folks. My nephews often pack up their desktops and take them with them to family get togethers, and my kids bring their laptops. They also have pretty frequent LAN parties at the university my kids go to. Maybe it's just a youth thing.

 

[Zimbaly]

If I could I would...... been over 25 years..... I miss those days. CS, Quake..... I'm old.....

 

[COLGeek]

My last LAN party was in 2003. Was a way to deal with daily stress during a deployment. It was used often among 5 players. We all played via Panasonic Toughbooks and a cobbled together server we assembled from local sources.

After that, while not gaming oriented, the local Linux Users Group (LUG) where I was assigned often hosted "install parties". Like a LAN party, only assembling and installing Linux on systems and then playing with them.

These sorts of things seem more like a thing of the past now as connectivity and on-line resources have evolved so much.

 

[JCgames]

I never went to one, though I did play starcraft once at a local collage with 2 other people for like an hour once.


I don't wanna land these days though I want to get a advanced dungeons and dragons group going and play some classic table top modules

 

[COLGeek]

I never went to one, though I did play starcraft once at a local collage with 2 other people for like an hour once.


I don't wanna land these days though I want to get a advanced dungeons and dragons group going and play some classic table top modules

Old 10Base-T cables and crappy 8-port hubs (not even switches) and we were set (in 2003).

 

[BeardyHat]

I'll just leave this here

LAN Party simulates LAN parties without the LAN

The experience of getting together to use a LAN, except it's on WAN.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Slasken]

The last time I was at a LAN party, they were called, "Copy parties".

 

[Pifanjr]

The last time I was at a LAN party, they were called, "Copy parties".

I think a lot of LAN parties involved some, ahem, creative solutions to make sure everyone could play together even if not everyone owned the game. It often took a decent amount of time to share all of the files around so everyone was able to play.

Though you have games like Age of Empires where only one PC needed to have the CD. You couldn't play single-player without the disc, but you could go into multiplayer and join a game of someone who had the disc (though I think you needed 1 disc per 3-4 people).

 

[Master_Shifu]

For me getting older makes it harder to coordinate, but nothing beats the raw energy of a CS LAN.

Imagine: everyone in one room, the clack of keyboards, the yells when someone clutches a 1v5, and the pure, unadulterated trash talk after a nasty AWP flick. Online's cool, but you just don't get that same level of hype. Plus, troubleshooting together when someone's ping spikes or their game crashes.

Classic LAN party vibes. I'm always down for a good CS LAN, even if it takes some serious planning!

 

[Barukanen]

They were super rare in the UK as it was back in it's prime, it would even harder to find them now.

Nothing seems to hit like a CPL CS v1.6 LAN though.

 

[Ricketysprokets]

I was just telling a coworker yesterday about the awesome LAN parties we had back between 2000 to I think 2018 give or take a couple years. Playing online doesn't hold a candle to getting together in person. I'd go to one now if I could find one. Might be time to get the guys together.

 

[Hriman222]

I maintain my love for LAN parties despite their increased difficulty in arranging. Watching people play video games together in one shared space generates an exceptional environment where they cheerfully discuss both their mistakes and victories. Online gaming can’t replace that energy. I consider these events as my highlights because we successfully organized them.