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by pi4arctan1guy on the forums:

As I have been without a job for the past couple months, I’ve had plenty of time for LAN parties. A LAN has occurred every week or two at my apartment since mid January. I thought I might share some of what goes into how I organize my LANs and some of the problems I’ve come up against while doing this. I feel that it would be a good supplement to the recent “Party Hard: How to throw a party that’s worth throwing” article, which only touches on LAN-specific topics briefly. Since becoming a professional man of leisure, I have refined how I execute a LAN through trial and error. I’ve also asked several regular guests how I can improve the LANs. The result is a system that works pretty well for my situation.

What you need

The first topic is the space in which to hold the party. I have an apartment with one large living room, one bedroom, and a bathroom. The LAN is generally confined to the living room, which is set up to accommodate ten computers comfortably. I use regular tables and chairs for this, since tables allow for computers to be packed quite densely, compared to traditional computer desks. They’re cheaper, too. You can draw inspiration for how to set up your LAN from computer labs in schools. Make sure as you set up stations that you test each one for comfort. Put a mouse and keyboard in position and sit down at the space. Move the mouse around and type on the keyboard for a bit. Depending on which tables are available and how much space you have, you may need to sacrifice some comfort to fit more computers. I’ve found that having enough stations is more important than the quality of the stations. You don’t always know exactly who is coming and not having enough space for everyone is very frustrating. Lock up valuables and firearms, if you have them. I have a couple of lockers that I use to store my guns. Not everyone you invite will know how to safely handle firearms, and some guests will probably be drinking, so do not leave them out.

There is some hardware that is absolutely essential for you to provide. You should have, at a minimum, power strips for every station, power cables for monitors and computers at every station, headphones with extension cables at every station, a mouse pad at every station, and spare mice/keyboards. People forget these small things, and nothing sucks more than showing up without the necessary hardware to use your system. I keep these hookups at each station so that someone can just plug a computer in and start using it. I also have a whole bunch of IBM Model M keyboards, which I provide for my guests. As a rule, everyone at the LAN needs to use headphones. This should be enforced in a fairly strict manner. The only exception is everyone watching a video or something (It’s rare). Dissimilar sounds coming from multiple sources can be really irritating to many people. Besides, headphones have distinct advantages over speakers in most computer games. I currently have a bunch of headphones I found at the dollar store. They suck, but they’re better than nothing. My guests know that they will need to use headphones, so many bring their own. Power and ethernet cables are cheap. I keep a shallow box out at LANs with headphones, headphone extension cables, mice, ethernet cable, WiFi cards, and a few other trinkets that guests might need.

One topic that should not be neglected is setting up computers you already have before the LAN. If you have more than one, make sure you’re done getting everything working the day before the LAN. As far as LAN games go, “Fix the Network” isn’t a very fun choice. I have seven computers that I keep hooked up all the time. Each one has a clean Windows install, all the games, and all the essential software installed. I keep a share with all of the installs for programs like VLC and Firefox on my main computer for ease of building new systems. I also keep the games shared on each box on the network so that the strain of copying the games doesn’t get focused on one computer. Even if you own legal versions of all of your games, you should get the warez versions to play on your LAN. Just make sure to scan them for viruses before using them. All the DRM/CD check/activation crap is just going to cause you and your guests problems. Nobody wants to have to swap around CDs just to play games. That’s stupid. Besides, people forget to bring CDs. Make sure that you test your games. Open a server on a system and connect the other computers to it. Play the games a bit and adjust controls, video settings, and mouse sensitivity. Install Firefox with NoScript, AdBlock Plus, and FlashBlock on all of your systems and hide the Internet Explorer shortcuts. You can remove the IE shortcut from your desktop by going to desktop properties and clicking the “Customize Desktop” button under the “Desktop” tab. Not everyone who shows up will understand safe web browsing habits. You don’t want to have to reinstall after every LAN. I would also advise not letting guests on your main system at all, except to play a game.

Make sure that if you need any additional hardware or furniture you get it before the LAN. You can sort of count on people bringing stuff if you ask, but it’s best to get the equipment a few hours before so you have time to set it up. If you need help setting the network up, try getting a knowledgeable friend to come over the day before to teach you how to do it.

Entertaining your guests

A LAN is more activity-centered than a traditional party, but that does not mean that everyone there will want to game the whole time. I would say that about 1/4 of the people who come to my LANs want to game the whole time. 1/2 want to game most of the time, and 1/4 only want to game a little bit of the time. Alcohol consumption is less common at LANs than at traditional parties. File sharing and web surfing are pretty common LAN activities. The file sharing is pretty great. You can get a month’s worth of downloads in an hour or so. Obviously, this is limited to people who actually brought a computer. Most of my guests opt to leave their computers at home, since I provide enough computers for almost everyone who comes. Some of your guests may bring friends, so make no assumptions about how many people will be there. Try to have space for more people than you expect.

I generally don’t supply alcohol for guests. Some folks opt to bring alcohol, which is fine with me, but a LAN is generally not a drinking-centered event, so you can get away with not supplying alcohol. It impairs gaming performance, anyways. Also, as the host, you should not drink at all. You will probably end up driving people home at the end of the night. You might also have to put your foot down and insist on driving someone home so they don’t attempt to do so while intoxicated. I’ve had this happen a couple times, and it would have been impossible to handle, had I been drinking. You should provide food of some sort. A LAN is typically an all-night event, so it’s best to have something to eat there. I’ve found that frozen burritos are pretty good for this, since you can pop them in the oven during the LAN and have enough food to feed everyone there at very little cost. You also need juice or soda for everyone, along with cups for said juice or soda. Also, make sure you have something without meat, so that vegetarians can eat, too. This is true, even if none of your expected guests are vegetarians, as they may bring vegetarian friends.

You should avoid driving people to your LAN if it’s possible. You are going to be under enough pressure just getting the LAN set up and working. Try to get your car-owning guests to drive ride-needing guests to your LAN. If you must give rides, pick people up early so that you aren’t out getting people while other guests are trying to get in back at the house. Assume that each person you pick up is going to drag his or her feet for about fifteen minutes after you get there. If you don’t account for this, you will end up being behind schedule. It’s best to make this all someone else’s problem if you can. If you can get away with it, you should also have another guest there who knows your network so that you don’t have to fix every little problem during the LAN. With a larger group, those little problems can really stack up. You can also avoid some of them by testing all of your cables and having adequate hookups at each station.

Conclusions

The main thing I’ve learned by doing so many LANs is that you need to streamline as much as you can. Have the stations ready so that someone can hook up his or her monitor, keyboard, mouse, and computer, then be ready to go. Make sure that your network and the games you plan to play work completely on all of your computers before the LAN. Try to secure any furniture, switches, cables, or other stuff you need before the LAN starts. Try to avoid giving people rides to the LAN. If you must give rides, bring people over long before the LAN starts and assume that they will take 15-30 minutes to get ready AFTER you show up to pick them up.

One other piece of advice I’ll give is to ask people how you can improve your LAN for next time. They might come up with things that you didn’t think of.

further thoughts by Gwinthor on Console gaming

I have planned, hosted and been a part of a ton of console LANs, generally to play the Halo games, over the years. I can offer a few tips on hosting those types of LANs.

1. The more TVs and Consoles you have, the better. If everyone has a TV to play on, and no one has to sit and play 1/4 screen on a 17″ tv, then everyone will be happier. This rule applies across the board to this generation LAN shooters. I know you can’t do this with the original Halo, you can only have 4 boxes hooked up.

2. Food and drinks are a must. Having pop, usually Mt. Dew, is necessary. Most gamers that I have met love the stuff, and drink it like crazy during games. Also, ordering Pizzas and collecting money from the guests is a great Idea too.

3. Basements are best for LANs. Finished basements, which are free of clutter are the best. Set up a bunch of tables and folding chairs, and it’s on. It’s also easiest to connect everything together when you are in a big open space, because all the TVs can be in the middle, and everyone else around the outside.

4. Extension cords and Power Strips are also very important. Every console and TV will need a spot to plug in, so you will need at least that many open outlets. That’s why Power Strips are the best.

5. Having multiple routers, and backup routers is important. I have had problems before, like the router doesn’t work, or that port on it doesn’t work, so we need a new one. It sucks when you have hardware problems, and can’t fix them. Then you have to find an alternative. That’s why having extra routers is important.

6. Count spaces and Controllers when you invite people. I’ve been to LANs with one extra person, and it sucks for that guy, because they don’t get to play as much. My dumbass friend brought his girlfriend, and expected her to play, and it ousted someone else for several games. That sucks. So know your guest list, and stick to it. Also, have everyone bring all the controllers they have. If you are a controller short or something, that sucks too.

That’s it, I hope this helps my console gamer friends out there.

I really enjoy having lots of video games, posters, and all sorts of other stuff available to me. But sometimes, it’s a bit too much. At this point, virtually every average joe has a DVD collection of some kind, a game console or two, and some general crap that just needs to be organized. Here is 8 ways to do that.

8. Let everything have a “place”‘

nuff said- your gaming stuff belongs in a specific location, your books in another, etc. One of the biggest flaws of most pads is that they tend to mix up in one jumble- avoid it. If you have work or schoolwork in your place, make sure it is in a special location where you know where to find it.

This makes sense both from a physical and mental perspective. If you know where things are, you will naturally not only be able to find them better, but it will begin to make sense- and you will feel less overwhelmed when it comes to general clutter. It’s always much easier to mentally “know” when it’s time to work when you go to your desk with your paperwork on it- or when it’s time to screw off when you go to your couch to play a video game.

7. Open up floorspace

This is simple- get rid of tables and things that obstruct your ability to walk around freely in your place. Never stick chairs and other objects in your way- not only is it a safety hazard, but it’s just stupid. If you can’t walk from one end of a room to another with some path without tripping over something (or having to step over it), then you have a problem. All this requires is a bit of reorganization.

6. Make those decorations classy, not crappy

Repeat after me: Posters should never be taped to the wall, nailed to the wall, stapled to the wall, or otherwise stuck on a bare wall.

Okay.

Poster frames are cheap and easy to acquire- use them. If you like having movie posters around, get the ones you like and get decent quality frames- it will look leagues better and less college student-esque. More so, avoid going overboard on other forms of wall decorations- the general rule of thumb is, nothing out of a magazine you tear out, and think stylistically before fanatically. As spartan as that sounds, it will help.

5. Get better, more suited furniture

Ditch the childish “gaming chairs” and related junk. You do not need a special “gamer edition” desk to properly enjoy video games- you just look like an idiot. If you are over 15 years old, inflatable chairs are childish. Similarly, never use multipurpose furniture (see: folding tables) for furniture- it looks bad and unprepared.

I do know furniture is expensive, but trust me, it’s worth it. There’s nothing stupider than seeing a 20-something with a living room comprised of bean bag chairs.

4. Pack and store away (or throw away) stuff you don’t need

Box it and toss it, give it away, or put it away. Some things (winter clothes during summer, various photo albums or the like) don’t need to be out all of the time- so put it away, label it, and don’t worry about it. If you don’t intend to wear an article of clothing again, donate it to charity. Shit, if you have furniture you don’t like, donate THAT to charity.

3. Toss old game consoles, emulate

We all love old games- however, it’s come to the point when none of us can really fit a NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS1/2, Dreamcast, and XBOX into our everyday lives. The nice thing? All of what I listed (and more) can now be emulated with a decent computer with some good tinkering, and you can enjoy your games on one system.

This takes a bit of work, but pays off for it in the long run. While it may limit your ability to play multiplayer, the ease of getting many good multiplayer games via new consoles makes it ridiculously simple to enjoy old games with friends. You can easily set up an emulator on your existing PC, or even go so far as to make a cheap Linux box for your media center that plays all your favorite games- it all works. And it’s all sweet, and a lot easier than having a ton of stuff crammed into your cabinets.

2. Get organizing solutions

Stop jamming clothing into boxes, DVDs into random bags, and books into drawers. If you enjoy making a collection, it should be no surprise that you need to invest in good ways to organize your collection- ways that don’t risk you losing your stuff, or even worse, harming it due to improper storage.

There are plenty of storage solutions for anything you might have- from CDs to DVDs to anything in between. For DVDs, invest in shelving that specifically fits DVDs as closely as possible. For books, invest in typical shelving, but make sure it can hold the weight of the collective books. For clothing, get a nice dresser or shelving solution, and never neglect your closet- get uniform, nice-quality wooden hangers.

Let’s put it this way- if you don’t keep it organized, you might lose it. And that would suck.

1. Sell old technology for better stuff

One of the silliest things I’ve seen in recent days is someone who had a fairly powerful PC (8000 series nVidia, etc) using a huge rear-projection television at 1024×768 for “hardcore gaming”.

No.

Old technology is big, bulky, and most important of all, useless. Unless you are a collector, there is no reason why you should have hundred pound CRT monitors or large bulky PC cases. Sell what you have and spend the cash getting something nice and worthwhile. For example, large rear-projection TV sets can sell for $400 or more- the same amount of cash you could use on a sweet 1080p flatscreen. Similarly, huge off-white PC cases can easily be replaced by a tech for smaller, sleeker cases that don’t take up a desk of their own- it isn’t expensive or hard.

Yes, this does require a bit of cash, but it’s worth it.

Yahoo seems to think women need to “win back” gaming boyfriends/spouses with, among other things, dressing like a night elf. What a joke. For some reason, there seems to be a common belief that gamers are like crack addicts, injecting themselves with token amounts of World of Warcraft and Resident Evil to survive life. We know that’s far from true (and if it is, that’s odd, because both games aren’t THAT great). So, in retort, it’s time for us to give OUR 7 tips- to help girls get into gaming, rather than encourage them to be scared of it.

7. Lay off the overbearing systems and equipment.

Okay, we all know what we secretly want: 50″ 1080p flatscreen LCDTVs with all of our next-gen consoles hooked up with HDMI cables blasting on a 7.1 Bose-quality speaker system. Most of us are probably working toward this goal in some direction, in almost a very stereotypically male fashion. Virtually every gamer in the world wants to be able to have the top notch quality equipment for their “gaming experience”- so you really can’t blame them.

Unfortunately, no surprise here, it comes off as a little bit much. Having a huge LED tube lit PC may be cool to your highschool buddies, but it doesn’t work as you get older. If you get a larger television or better PC, make sure to not place it as the center of the entire world and consider the general surroundings. It may pay off to stock up on good movies to watch as well- no-one said girls didn’t like technology, it’s just when you basically worship it that they get a bit scared.

6. Keep the discussion off the games.

Yes, this sounds boring, but avoid ranting about video games. I have personally experienced this as a friend of mine tried to, in detail, explain the story and mechanics of Final Fantasy 8 to a girl who had never played a game before- and, needless to say, she ran off almost screaming. It was too much: his overbearing obsession with the topic, the needless details he fed her, and his overwhelming expectation that she would actually care.

If you talk about video games, don’t be arrogant or rude- be relaxed. Much like if you were into skydiving, you need to realize that most girls (and some guys) will need you to explain things from square one, and briefly at that. It’s something of a social faux pas to be so overbearing- so relax and be casual about it. Just like you wouldn’t attempt to explain the entire distilling process to a girl you have a drink with, neither should you explain too much to a girl who is just casually interested in your hobby.

5. Avoid becoming too engrossed in video game forums.

Video game forums tend to be childish, somewhat boring, and most importantly, needlessly heated. There’s not much to say there- I don’t care who you are, what you say online CAN come back to you, in a very Densha Otoko sort of way. I know how things go as well as anyone, which is precisely why I say to avoid them: one or two “I’m so lonely” or “Girls are whores” threads can destroy a relationship, as silly as that may be.

4. Allot time to play and keep it in that manner.

Don’t forget to do the “chores” or any of that other stuff- give yourself time for gaming, and do it while you can do so without interfering with other responsibilities. For me, the rule has always been to do work in the morning/early afternoon and then relax my day with good gaming and other geekery- that way, you can focus on life from 9-5 and to a date or other functions, but still have some alloted time that you can relax and game away. Girls actually tend to prefer this- you will be somewhat regimented and relaxed, and if you ensure you focus your energies on her when you can (see below), it’s nothing more than a form of “guy’s night out”.

3. Make time for her truly time for her (AKA the no-sitting-around rule)

WHEN SHE IS AT YOUR PAD, DO NOT PLAY VIDEO GAMES OR SIT ON THE COMPUTER ALONE.

This is something that grinds at me like crazy. Do not do this unless your relationship is such where she is doing something else or doesn’t care. If she is doing nothing, you better NOT be playing Video Games, Computer Games, browsing the web… you name it. Don’t sit around and waste time you could be using to entertain her. Only highschoolers sit around and stare at each other with no general idea of what to do in mind- if in doubt, spend time doing nothing with her rather than entertaining only yourself.

This is not to say you can’t invite her to game or something, but it’s insulting if you ignore her, especially for electronic entertainment. It would be the same thing if she sat on her cell phone for hours at a time ignoring you- and making you just sit there and listen.

2. Introduce her to friendly games, avoid the fanservice.

Introduce her to games! It’s not that hard. Nothing says you can’t drop the needlessly complex/unfriendly games and pick up a party game or two. Believe it or not, the Wii is a great console for this- while the console is somewhat bereft of titles for people like me that like long RPGs and action games, the console is tailor made for general party gaming. Besides the general pervy comments about it (making girls jump around holding a phallic controller), it does well- and there’s nothing to say the 360 or PS3 won’t do well as well (though the PS3 is obviously lacking anything at the moment).

So what should you do? Get games that she will enjoy just as much as you. Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball 2 is a bad idea. Rumble Roses is a VERY bad idea. While girls have nothing against a little sexiness in games (some enjoy it), parading around softcore porn is a dumb move. You will always do much better with games like Halo or Super Smash Brothers rather than forcing girls to put up with the overdone semi-porn that comprises titles like “Playboy: The Mansion”.

There is a caveat though, and that is you can get away with more in video games if you swing it right. “Singles: Flirt up your Life” is actually incredibly sexual (to the point of being edited for the US release), but you pull it off. The rule applies here just like it does for movies and books: if it’s disgusting and aimed for guys, girls will not like it as much. Big surprise.

1. Stop playing so damn much.

Hey, this isn’t difficult! Stop playing so damn much. Stop grinding on WoW for hours until your steel chair molds to your body perfectly. Stop grinding away at RPGs for no reason. Don’t feel as if you have to play video games in your free time- trust me, there are much more useful, cheaper hobbies to have as well. I love gaming like everyone else, but when you do it so much that your spouse/girlfriend/whoever has to have an article from Yahoo! Video Games to help her figure out what to do, there is a problem.

Here’s a good benchmark: on a regular day (be it a work day, school day, or otherwise), if you play more than 3 hours of video games without it being a special occasion (as in, you have JACK to do, a holiday, etc), you are more than likely spending way too much time gaming. As spartan as it sounds, you should ration out your time wisely, as obviously too much begins to not only affect your sex life, but your work and education as well.

Why make this much effort? All I need to post is THIS:

http://www.gamegirladvance.com/archives/2002/10/26/sex_in_games_rezvibrator.html
I have never found a greater gaming-related article in my LIFE.