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Denver, 7:50 PM
Tue Dec 1
63 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/16/09
Those really are some of my favorite days. #lan
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11/17/09
Funnily enough if you actually admit to heavily basing what you make off of something else it absolves you of ripping off. Ripping off is where you blatantly copy something and don't admit to doing so. They said they were making a DotA based game, asked the current custodian of it for his blessing and were granted it.
I really don't see any problem with that.
@D4nte:
LoL tries to be DotA based but tries to do a lot of its own thing as well. The result of which doesn't really feel enough like DotA to be worth playing instead of DotA.
HoN on the other hand got both myself and about 7 of my friends, all long time DotA players, to finally kick the game for good and move on. #lan
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11/17/09
DotA does the DotA part just fine but everything else about it is and always will be under the heel of WC3 and its limitations.
HoN also does the DotA part fine along with allowing people to rejoin after being DCed, better matchmaking tools, an improved interface as well as a bunch of other stuff. #lan
11/16/09
minute aspects of a game like counter-strike, such as recoil, movement techniques, and the extremely precise aim needed to compete at a high level compared to nearly ALL new games that are casualized by comparison and lack the physics and game dynamics that are needed to create an atmosphere in which actual skill is what matters in the game. #lan
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11/16/09
This article says that we (PC LAN people) mainly play older games, and while that is true, it's mostly true of competitive gaming from my own experience. I would say we play a lot of newer games like Killing Floor, CoD5, UT3 and more.
It's unfortunate that games like MW2 will not be played as we can't guarantee connection to be stable with so many users using the same connection. For me, this was the biggest argument for dedicated servers. #lan
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11/16/09
Gamers get such a bad rap because we're not very good at marketing ourselves. Even if there are just few attractive girls and guys there, focus on them and not the 19 year olds with pot bellies.
I know it's shallow but that's how the world perceives things! #lan
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11/16/09
My teenage years had been spent on a great number of N64 hours, four people sharing a 14" CRT that I had in my bedroom. We had a great time of it. University had me get a Gamecube and similar things ensued. One of my friends had a wrestling game on the PS2, so we got hold of a multitap and pooled our controllers. Leading up to this generation I was keen to get set up with all the necessary controllers from the start so I could continue this. But the games didn't seem to support this plan. I was already on Live from the older Xbox days and eventually my friends joined me there. We had fun playing online, but there was different.
Since then there have been numerous games that do feature four player modes, but they're easily in the minority. There have also been examples of games that can only be played online in multiplayer, not only lacking split-screen but even local network play - Army of Two is the one that comes to mind. So while I'm not a frequent PC gamer, I can understand exactly the appeal of face to face gaming.
Rock Band had been my main source of gaming with friends recently. We've had regular band sessions ever since it was released, going through the resulting sequels. Most Friday nights we gather at my place, get a few drinks in and pretend to rock the night away. Many people thought that the introduction of online play in Rock Band 2 was one of its best features, but it changed nothing for us as we played all of it in person. It just didn't feel the same any other way. #lan
11/16/09
I've never understood that. Most of Rock Band's appeal is playing in a group, in person. I guess we could play online, but it's not as fun as ripping on the only guy who missed the last note in the Big Rock Ending, or watching my guitar virtuoso buddy nail the solo on the other side of the couch. And if we play online, they can't hear my Billy Idol yell.
That said, for co-op play last year, we had Rock Band and the other music games, Halo 3, and...that was about it. It's a lot harder than it used to be to find good games that let you do four player local multiplayer. #lan
11/16/09
One of the biggest things I like about the Wii and 360 is the support for alot of split-screen games. I remember many nights playing the first Gears with my friend Matt online at his place.
Freshman year of college I played ALOT of Warhammer 40K with friends, not using LAN but instead just playing online as a big ass group in a single dorm.
I think that is another benefit and why college has so many LANs and even multiple players in a single dorm room. The internet usually rocks, and we each have dedicated plugs that feed off separate connections. You don't see that in a house too often. #lan
11/17/09
You let your guitarist play sitting down? Has he no shame? You need to kick him out of the band pronto. And the only person who is allowed by law to sing sitting down is William Shatner, so bear that in mind next time you get together for some Rock. #lan
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maybe if they charged money to get in, but i'm still not sure most schools would be willing to set aside the space required. #lan
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11/16/09
Still, I'd like some sort of gaming community that I can get in touch with. All my friends are either very light gamers or not at all. I love local multiplayer/LAN parties but I can never find enough people to get a good meeting going. I'd start a group if I weren't in engineering/wasting all my time at Kotaku. #lan
11/16/09
If it's not there now, then start it.
Dorms tend to have a pre-set up LAN network ready and waiting.
So just ask around, find the PC gamers (usually in PC labs) and get something going.
Maybe ask at your IT office. Our uni has UT3 installed on a floor of our comp building, so as long as we ask nicely and only play at night then we can use it for some gaming. Just obviously no food n drink, n keep it quiet:P
So yeah, ask about, maybe make some flyers, and get something going. And remember to pitch it to the people in charge how socialable it is, the ones in charge like that stuff. Meshing students together, breaking the ice n all that. #lan
11/16/09
Also with all the debating over NSMBW not having online multiplayer and all, this article should give some of those debaters something to think about. (Sure it doesn't match up perfectly, but a lot of the same principles apply)
Sidenote: Most commonly and recently LANd game is StarCraft. Really bummed about SC2 not having LAN (not without going through b.net anyway, which kinda throws a wrench into the process).
11/16/09
KESnet, log in to a game, jump on LAN n see who's playing in the other dorms. Mainly Dawn of War, that used to be a favourite. As people dwindled off LAN we'd turn to the net n prey on unsuspecting people with our organised groups.
Halo 3 on system link used to be a good one too, though it's getting harder now everyone's decided to get big immovable HDTVs
Tourney's will take a hit when more games yank out LAN n dedi support.
But then again I feel that many will be happy to stick with the old games that do support those.
I do find it sad that games are pulling out stuff like this and splitscreen. Kinda isolates everyone. You don't get to meet up as much, it's all done over headset. Thats good for most the time, but you just wanna get together one over few months n LAN, down some beer, laugh n chat. Oh n cheat. coughTVbGonecough #lan
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Wait... #lan
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First it's Rockets, then they move onto Cybernetics. and poof, WWIII.
I find it funny that one of the worlds richest man (and many of the worlds richest men) is Bill 'uber nerd' Gates.
And tbh, I don't think he graduated either. #lan
11/16/09
My college originally hosted just LAN parties, but as consoles became more prevalent (around the time of the first Halo and Smash Bros) there was a drastic switch to console only gaming. Over time this gave way to "Console only" and "PC only" game nights, each drawing a big crowd with quite a bit of overlap.
I'd probably still attend the PC gaming nights but I made the mistake of making my current rig a huge watercooled monstrosity which is in no way easy to transport. #lan
11/16/09