One of the benefits of being at a LAN party is having a lot of the heavy lifting done for you in terms of setting up game servers, especially for older games that have a way of handling multiplayer that is a bit archaic by today's standards. BEan, the game server admin/engineer/guru/whatever, talks about his process and experiences getting game servers ready for Laclede's LAN events, both online and in-person.
What is it the staff likes about LAN parties so much? Why are they so special? Why not just open up a sushi joint and call it a day? Tim, aka BraveSirRobbin, aka BSR lays down what makes a LAN party such a special place.
Piping two hundred gamers' network traffic through a single Internet connection is no small feat. Twitch streaming, video watching, game downloads, VOIP, and actual multiplayer game traffic all have to go through the same pipe and can affect the performance significantly if not properly managed. Network guy Nick takes a look at how QoS and caching help keep the Internet chugging at our LAN parties.
A career in IT is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be… quite useful at LAN parties! Nick reflects on his time as a network administrator at both internet service providers, and at LAN parties. Stay awhile, and listen!
James takes a nostalgia-fueled trip into the past to uncover some lessons about running LAN parties that were learned the hard way. Things have been forgotten, equipment has been fried to crispy nuggets, and simple pranks escalated all the way to PTSD!
Adam reflects on how gaming has had monumental effects on his life... and how embracing his passions for hits like Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft have resulted in profound friendships and travel opportunities, and even shaped his wedding.
Did you know that doctors seem to agree that getting up from your gaming chair every now and then might actually help you live longer? We were skeptical of this claim as well, but there might be something to it. Nate talks about how he uses video games to complete to keep hit workout goals despite a hectic schedule.
Laclede's LAN has competitions and tournaments, but what about the people who just want to hang out and socialize? How do we find fun things for them to do? As it turns out, this is a question we are constantly asking ourselves as a staff and trying to come up with new things to keep you coming back! Read on to find out what we've tried, and how you can help us with new ideas!
Zach has a problem - he just keeps buying games. And now he has too many games to play, too many choices, and is paralyzed when it comes to deciding what to play! So he makes a New Year's resolution to take control of his paralysis.
It was 2004. Intel’s Pentium 4 had just introduced the world to hyper-threading, Valve’s buggy new Steam platform was frustrating gamers everywhere, and massive 17" CRT monitors were the norm. In Saint Louis, Missouri, BraveSirRobbin, Dickie, Dudsmack, and Lodsiek decided to expand their private LAN parties. Opening to the public sounded like a great way to make friends and the perfect excuse to justifying buying toys equipment that would be overkill at home. Although Dickie and Dudsmack hosted two open LAN parties previously while attending Mizzou, creating a public organization in Saint Louis was an exciting step into the unknown. The first Laclede's LAN branded LAN happened August 2004 in the kiddie corner of a church’s basement in Ballwin Missouri. Between 2004 and 2008 there would be 12 more “prime” events with the largest drawing 248 PC gamers from as far as Western Canada. In addition to a few smaller “LL Lite” events for our most loyal fans, there was one event that provided a whiff of the future to come: Hurricane Katrina Relief LAN, our first charity LAN.