For starters, There's no protection from the element of space, that orc would freeze to death if the vacuum didn't destroy him first.
Secondly, That Pandaren doll sitting by the bags would have flown off the back by now, just like the hat, as he's not strapped in. The same goes for the Murloc's hat because how is that still attached to his helmet, which would be ill-fitting for that Santa hat and it would have blown off.
Thirdly, where is the fuel stored for those combustion engines? The amount of fuel required for takeoff lift to break gravitational orbit of the planet would be larger than the entire vehicle.
Fourthly, it looks like he's got projectile gunpowder based weaponry aboard. You can't get those to fire in an oxygen-less environment.
Fifthly those bags aren't big enough to hold all of the toys that would be required to dole out to all the children in one trip, requiring multiple landings and takeoff's, which couldn't happen because the pilot (Orc Santa) would be dead long before he broke orbit on the first ascent due to exposure.
@Sobersean: aka Doctor Aquafresh: Wait, Just the fact that there is an orc in EXISTENCE and a spaceship like that in EXISTENCE in this greeting card makes it unrealistic.
@Sobersean: aka Doctor Aquafresh: Wait, who is to say there isn't a larger mothership out of frame? Then there would be no need for him to break free of the gravitational orbit.
Of course, he won't make it very far with the amount of fuel that will fit in that vessel anyway...
@LaserViking: I suppose you've never heard of Ellington Watsworth's Treatise of Theoretical Biotic Propagation of Orcs and Survival in the Expanses of Space subtitled Will Orcs Ever Really Go Where no Orc Has Gone Before 3rd Edition published by Westinghouse then?
@Eruanno: I considered that, but then I realized there is no orbital Elf Workshop. He has to launch from the North Pole and not via launching bays on a Mothership. However, that does lead me to another point of contest with the image.
ELVEN workshop? It's only safe to say at this point that the Orc Santa has hitherto simply hijacked the vessel from it's original pilot, whereabouts unknown presumably K.I.A.
@Sobersean: aka Doctor Aquafresh: To be fair, the aforementioned Elf Workshop is a repository for merriment and toys, while this alleged "sleigh" has only ammunition and conventional explosives in evidence in the satchels which are mounted on the vehicle's rear. It seems unlikely that the source of origin for that vehicle was any manner of terrestrial toy manufacturing complex run by elves, or any other kind of life form.
I'll grant that certain events related in the picture don't make sense in the Newtonian physical view, but perhaps the vehicle uses some manner of reactionless thruster, and that the foolhardy orc merely tossed his hat behind out of foul hubris?
Lastly I'd like to call into question your reference to Watsworth, and point you to Dehaus's exobiotic theory on the reproductive nature of Orks, (And mind you, given the fact that this fellow is in space, we know he must be an Ork, not an Orc.) positing a fungal origin and therefore a species adapted to extraterrestial environs?
Somehow, the "4 DA HORDE!!" on the engine strikes me as edging in on Warhammer's Orks rather than Warcraft's orcs. Maybe it's all the guns too...
And yeah, I know Warcraft is pretty similar to Warhammer already, but Blizzard has steered the orcs closer to samurai/honorable warrior types rather than pure blood-lust types of Warhammer, at least in their later games.
I started LAN gaming again quite recently. The moment we dropped into the game.....nostalgia just hit. The good sort. I couldn't figure out why I hadn't done this in so long. And we were playing bloody AoE 2, nothing new or anything. Just a classic game amongst friends.
There's definitely a lack of LAN-capable games going around. I've organised a few 16-man Halo 1/2/3 LANs in the past, and they were always extreme fun. Even split-screen is dying :( one of the major reasons I want to get my hand on a Wii at the moment is the multiplayer games that don't require me to be online playing with X-box live douchebags. #lan
With the advent of stand alone DotA based games that actually do a good job of modernising the original (read: Heroes of Newerth) WC3 might be under threat as a classic LAN game. Though it still does have its huge array of great custom maps that aren't DotA so who knows. #lan
@Mr.P1ckl3s:
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
@Odin: I am the exact opposite, if I want to play dota I'll go play dota. If someone wants to make an AoS standalone game then by all means go for it (Demigod/League of Legends), I just don't want a dota clone when dota does the dota part just fine.
@Mr.P1ckl3s:
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
it's not just because people have played the game for a long time so they are good at it, it's because the game was made in a way that allowed for actual skill to be developed.
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
As someone who runs a large LAN community up here in Manitoba I have to disagree about the college campus assertion. While a large part of our community is in that age group we do events bi-annually and all sorts of demographics show up. We've especially seen an increase in women and turnout for PC games with Left 4 Dead driving our PC section almost to capacity. #lan
It's nice to see something that says the LAN people still exist. It seemed for awhile we were going to be downplayed to extinction. I run a group for me and my friends called LANMinds [gamers.allfragnolag.com] and will be a staff member for a bigger 75-seat LAN in February next year called CryoLAN Party [www.cryolanparty.com] We still exist and we still have a great following. It's very easy to fill the room every month for mine and from what we see of CryoLAN we will easily fill house by the end of January just on pre-pay sign-ups.
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
There's one good thing to come out of Modern Warfare 2, unlike the previous game you're not limited to the pre-made classes when playing offline, so even in a lan you can use whatever you've unlocked and create custom classes. #lan
@AOClaus: That was the case in CoD4, unlocks work exactly the same in LAN play as they do online. You can use the ones you have and gain XP and levels while playing on LAN. #lan
@AOClaus: Ah, I assumed that the PC version was implied since the story was about LAN parties. (Which usually implies PC gaming, despite the networking capabilities of consoles.)
I love lan parties but by god people who photograph them should focus on the more photogenic people, not the unshaven double chinned masses.
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
@Adhominem: I say let them take pictures of whoever they like. Who cares what others think? Most people will be looking at the pictures with preconceived notions anyway. I think it's important for everyone to simply have fun and capture the good times with one's friends. Let anyone marketing anything use stock photos. #lan
It's not just PC gaming that is creeping away from gaming in person. When I first got my Xbox I intended to buy three extra controllers so I could play some Gotham 3 with friends, as we'd had quite a few successful evenings on Gotham 2. But when I got to the shop and was looking over the box, I noticed that it only listed two player split screen modes. I started to think that something was wrong, and although I still bought the console and game, I only left the store with one controller.
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
@Toothball: 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.
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
@spiderweb1986: and that is really a sad state we live in today, as gamers. I like being able to share my experience with friends. And guess what? Not all of my friends have a console and TV to bring over, and sharing a single connection with multiple consoles? Heh, that is lag city.
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
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
It's really sad my college has nothing even closely resembling to an organized gaming community. Either that or it's so underground that it's practically not there. #lan
@RockyRan: i don't think most colleges do, i don't think most colleges care, and i think at this point in time they might find it hard to justify the cost of setting up a room like the one they talked about in this article.
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
@RockyRan: We have one, but it's total crap. We tried to organise a lan at the start of the year but it just devolved into a pissing match about which shooter was better. #lan
@EchoSix: Mmm, yeah. Stuffing a bunch of college gamers in one room does may or may not be such a good idea.
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
@RockyRan: I agree with Nexus.
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
Great article Owen. I love LAN parties, but I've unfortunately moved past the college/HS prime for it, and almost never get to do it anymore.
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).
Ah the good old days of LAN gaming.
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
@deanbmmv: that's one of the reasons why i like the fact that the xbox has a VGA cable, you can plug it into any computer monitor making setting up a lan easy. just bring your computer monitor and your xbox, kinda like you'd to with a PC lan. #lan
Yea sadly I'm in engineering so you know... We kinda dont have the time these guys do to play in lan parties... But in the end, it balances out, I'll be able to buy whatever size tv, and every game I'll ever want when I start making 200k year. #lan
@deanbmmv: i knew some engineieers...they worked at Rocket Dyne, testing rocket engines and other such rather complex and sophisticated machines. i can't exactly say they made a boat load of cash though... #lan
@AOClaus: RocketDyne eh?
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
I still miss the BANGG (Bay Area Network Gaming Group) lan parties. It really is sad to see companies alienating their origins in favor a DLC money and network control. In the long run they're hurting how widespread their profits could be by pissing off a rather large and hardcore group.
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
@NecronomiconUK: So your mom carries your equipment, drops you off and then picks you up from the LAN party afterwards? Where does she find the time? #lan
12/11/09
12/11/09
For starters, There's no protection from the element of space, that orc would freeze to death if the vacuum didn't destroy him first.
Secondly, That Pandaren doll sitting by the bags would have flown off the back by now, just like the hat, as he's not strapped in. The same goes for the Murloc's hat because how is that still attached to his helmet, which would be ill-fitting for that Santa hat and it would have blown off.
Thirdly, where is the fuel stored for those combustion engines? The amount of fuel required for takeoff lift to break gravitational orbit of the planet would be larger than the entire vehicle.
Fourthly, it looks like he's got projectile gunpowder based weaponry aboard. You can't get those to fire in an oxygen-less environment.
Fifthly those bags aren't big enough to hold all of the toys that would be required to dole out to all the children in one trip, requiring multiple landings and takeoff's, which couldn't happen because the pilot (Orc Santa) would be dead long before he broke orbit on the first ascent due to exposure.
(This is how you Kotaku right?)
12/11/09
12/11/09
12/12/09
12/12/09
Of course, he won't make it very far with the amount of fuel that will fit in that vessel anyway...
Also, yes, this is how you Kotaku.
12/12/09
12/12/09
ELVEN workshop? It's only safe to say at this point that the Orc Santa has hitherto simply hijacked the vessel from it's original pilot, whereabouts unknown presumably K.I.A.
12/13/09
I'll grant that certain events related in the picture don't make sense in the Newtonian physical view, but perhaps the vehicle uses some manner of reactionless thruster, and that the foolhardy orc merely tossed his hat behind out of foul hubris?
Lastly I'd like to call into question your reference to Watsworth, and point you to Dehaus's exobiotic theory on the reproductive nature of Orks, (And mind you, given the fact that this fellow is in space, we know he must be an Ork, not an Orc.) positing a fungal origin and therefore a species adapted to extraterrestial environs?
12/11/09
And yeah, I know Warcraft is pretty similar to Warhammer already, but Blizzard has steered the orcs closer to samurai/honorable warrior types rather than pure blood-lust types of Warhammer, at least in their later games.
12/11/09
A) Looks like thats a stolen vulture with a Hydralisk head on the front.
B) Its Painted red "RED GOES FASTER!"
C) The terrible grammar, more WH-orky then WC orcy.
Eh, im just starting to really dislike Warcraft in general. The entire universe is just seeming... played out to me now.
11/25/09
11/16/09
Those really are some of my favorite days. #lan
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
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
11/17/09
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
11/16/09
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
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/17/09
11/18/09
11/20/09
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
11/16/09
11/16/09
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
11/16/09
11/16/09
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
11/16/09
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
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Wait... #lan
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
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
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Enjoy. #lan
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
11/16/09
Brave man. #lan
11/16/09