LAN Parties and Clans: Social Aspects of Online Gaming
by David Helfinstine
Throughout electronic gaming history, multiplayer games have evolved greatly. Games have gone from the one-on-one Mario Brothers type games to photorealistic first person games such as Counterstrike and Call of Duty. A necessary evolution of the Internet age is the advent of the LAN Party. LAN Party, as defined by Wikipedia as "a temporary, sometimes spontaneous gathering of people together with their computers, which they network together primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games." LAN parties can be very small with only a few computers and may only last for a few hours, but may be as large as over 1,000 computers playing any multiplayer online game imaginable and can last for days.
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One such example of a large LAN Party is QuakeCon. QuakeCon is held yearly at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. Grapevine is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth, which is the home of id Software. id Software has created such games as Quake (I, II, III), Doom, Wolfenstein, and several other older games. Registration began on April 14th, and currently over 4,500 people have signed up to attend for the even that will take place in mid-August. Besides tournament competition, there is a BYOC competition, where an entire ballroom is designated for bringing your own computer. This is where any type of game can be played. The current most popular games are Unreal Tournament 2004, CounterStrike, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Quake III Arena, and Call of Duty. Besides gameplay, attenders to QuakeCon can watch other people play, and attend round-table discussions with game developers such as John Carmack (idSoftware). Vendors also set up booths around the center to sell their products and advertise new games and products being released onto the market. One of the big benefits of attending a large event like QuakeCon is the free technical support. In small LAN party environments, everyone is basically responsible for their own computer, but in larger environments, there is dedicated technical support, which can help assess performance issues, as well as helping users to take care of viruses.
At many of the competitions, large cash payouts can be won by the various players. In the film "ESReality Uncut" by Simon Bysshe, good players can earn $20,000 to $150,000 annually. These large cash payouts are usually as much as $7,000 for first place. Prizes can be won by individuals or by a Clan. As defined by Wikipedia, a computer gaming clan is "a group of players who regularly play together at a particular multiplayer game, generally as a team." Players in clans are not only a team online, but generally meet socially outside of game play. This aspect helps to strengthen the team. Teams will practice several times a week, sometimes over the Internet, but also with sporadic LAN parties. The first clans were created in the age of DeathMatch games, such as Quake III Arena, but were converted into team play for versions of Capture the Flag. Some clans, such as 4Kings, are sponsored by parent companies, which, in return for advertising, give the clans and players new hardware and software. Some of the 4Kings sponsors are Intel, Alienware, and ATI. Also, the team is given financial support for the team (in return for winning of course) which allows them to attend tournaments around the world. Players are bought and sold to different clans as well, and some of the best players can make a very good living just by being traded to various teams.
Simon Bysshe has created several films about LAN Parties, Clans and various
tournaments. Simon is a member of the clan 4Kings UK (4K), and is funded by
Intel to allow him to create these films. Through his films, he shows the
strategy aspect of online gaming, as well as the social interaction involved in
successfully winning at team game play. Here is a filmograpy of his films,
as well as links to their download sites:
Modern Day Gamer -
filmed as a project for an multimedia class. Documentary about gamers and
attempts to answer questions about whether gaming is anti-social. (June 2003)
ES Reality Uncut -
takes place at Electronic Sports World Cup in Futuroscope, France. (August 2003)
Modern Day Gamer 2 -
takes place at QuakeCon 2003. Features 4Kings in competition. (November 2003)
Intel Extreme Edition
Challenge - match between 4Kings (UK) and armaTeam (FR) at
Landed LAN 5. (December 2003)
Intel Extreme Edition
Challenge 2 - match between 4Kings (UK) and Schroet Kommando (Sweden) at
Landed LAN 6. (April 2004)
An article on the
films of Simon Byssche on BBC News
One problem associated with online gaming is the social aspect. When you are playing an intense game online, it is difficult to communicate with other people. Some argue, that playing games online so much takes you away from reality and other people. Forming clans, however, brings a more social aspect to online gaming, by creating teams within groups of friends, or scattered throughout the world. If the clans are based locally, then players can meet on a regular basis to just hang out, or practice strategy at small LAN parties.
In an article on BBC News by Mark Ward titled "Gaming is 'good for you',", Ward says that studies are showing that there is a complex culture and deep community involved in online gaming. Professor Talmadge Wright from Loyola University in Chicago has found that "The Strategy and tactics used by many regular players and teams, or clans, often makes it seem like a game of chess." He went on to say that most of the talk between players were insults, and it was obvious "when teenage boys played, because there was more trashtalk and sexist or homophobic insults flying around." Someone from the outside may think that the players are only there to rip on each other, but actually, as the article says, "The only reason that people can get away with insulting friends and foes was because they knew them so well." He goes on to explain that people are able to actively participate in some sort of alter-ego fantasy role, that lets them play as themselves. Players can play with things that are not normally deemed safe (i.e. guns), and there are no physical consequences. "There's a cultural motif that underlies the critiques that go on around this, the idea of mindless activity is given short shrift in culture where productivity is given the highest praise."
So are the anti-social aspects of gaming true? Probably not. Only if you're playing a game by yourself on your computer, not connected to the Internet is gaming anti-social. Clans and LAN parties give opportunities to individuals to get together and talk about gaming and play games with their friends. I can only imagine that in the near future, gaming will take the place of children's programming in the afternoon on TV. Perhaps an ESPN-style TV station featuring reviews of games, and matches at tournaments and even live online will become the norm for the future.
"Gaming is 'good for
you',"
An article on the
films of Simon Byssche on BBC News
Wikipedia :
Clans (gaming)
QuakeCon
Films about gamers:
Modern Day Gamer
Modern Day Gamer 2
ES Reality Uncut
Intel Extreme Edition
Challenge
Intel Extreme Edition
Challenge 2