EPTLAN Events 101:
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LAN Events: Gaming your heart out
**MLG Attendees, if you don't read all of this, I suggest you skip to the "WHAT TO BRING" section!
Before going any further, I am writing this article (for now) purely from a competitor's point of view. With MLG Anaheim right around the corner, I felt that the timing of this article should be very helpful for those possibly going to a LAN for the first time that may not necessary know what to expect. I plan to update this thread with a comprehensive guide for spectators soon, as well as adding additional sections!
To qualify myself, I am a top masters Zerg currently working for Das Keyboard as their Gaming Coordinator (www.daskeyboard.com). I am the president of the Indiana University Gaming Club (www.iugaming.com) which hosts two 250 person LAN events each school year, as well as a founder of the Collegiate E-Sports Series (www.cesleague.com). Lastly, I am also a director for Check Six Gaming, a professional North American E-Sports organization (www.check6gaming.com).
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TYPES OF LAN EVENTS:
There are many types of LAN events. To a competitor, this matters significantly. The lingo that we use around the Das Keyboard management board essentially groups LAN events in to LAN Tournaments, LAN Parties, or sometimes both. Of course, a lan event coordinator should have the responsibility of detailing the specifics, but it may not always be clear. It is up to you as the competitor to find out exactly what you are dealing with.
--- (1) LAN Parties ---
These are the most basic, casual events. People come from usually the surrounding areas and a lot of meeting new people and building a large friends list happens. Even though there may be a few smaller tournaments, such as a SC2 1v1 tournament, where first place may win a Best Buy gift card and a Ttesports Keyboard, the concept is usually that these events are for local gamers in the community and the goal is to purely have a fun time enjoying themselves. While not as intense (you probably will not see any professional gamers being sent) as maybe a LAN tournament which I will talk about next, these parties will give you a nice relaxing time, gaming for a long period of time with the people around you. If anyone is interested, feel free to check out the ones that I host at Indiana University (www.iugaming.com). You can usually find these events by searching on google or going to a LAN party site listing (www.lanpartymap.com)
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Fun, casual LAN party at Indiana University
--- (2) LAN Tournaments ---
LAN tournaments really just differ in the nature that the tournaments are the main event. While there may be tons of side events, the event is strictly about who takes home the gold cup when all is done. Successful tournaments have some of the largest prize pools in cash and some form of a budget for live event streaming and post coverage. Entry fees are a bit more expensive than LAN parties for competitors, but spectators have a much reduced rate or sometimes even are able to get in for free. Having such large prize pools, a major part of the marketing goal is to grab spectators and fans to the venue to watch these professional players. Examples of strictly LAN tournaments are Major League Gaming, Intel Extreme Masters, and the World Cyber Games.
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MLG Columbus 2011 attracting a ton of fans
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Collegiate E-sports Series event hosted by yours truly
Collegiate E-sports Series event hosted by yours truly
--- (3) Hybrid Events ---
Hybrid events are very common nowadays. As you can probably tell just from the title, they combine a large casual gaming event while having large-scale, cash-prized tournaments as well. The best example from the United States has to be the historical QuakeCon. Of course, the rest of the world, specifically Europe, would probably recognize Dreamhack in a conversation.
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Day 9 looking at himself at Dreamhack
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WHAT TO BRING:
Anyone going to any of these events should be concerned about what exactly to bring. Unfortunately there is no exact answer; however, most websites should give you a good recommended list of items to bring. Many times they will also attach some form of notice about what not to bring as well. While generally solely following those guidelines will allow you to manage and get by, there are a few things an experienced LAN'er will definitely tell you.
--- (1) Competitors ---
If you are traveling to a LAN tournament such as MLG, your ideal end-goal is to recreate your home setup at the venue. Here is my take after competing at MLG Columbus:
**Headset, no microphone is necessary unless you are competing in a team event
**Keyboard, be sure to read on what is legal and not legal
**Mouse
**Mouse Pad, it is so important to have a consistent surface. If you don't use one at home, you buy one immediately and get used to it. I have seen table surfaces from glass to leather.
(Here is some stuff not listed on the website)
**Bring all drivers for your equipment on a separate USB drive. Though MLG says that they do not allow you to have them, if for some reason your driver is not in their "comprehensive driver" (my Ttesports Black Element mouse was not) then you are in trouble. MLG has a quality of service where it limits your upload and download speed, if you do not have it on a separate USB drive, have fun downloading 20 mbs at 19 kb/s, for each time you are at the computer.
**Take screenshots of your in game sensitivities and settings, as well as your settings for Windows sensitivities. Trust me, my first game at MLG was completed permeated with pauses to get everything right.
** Keyboard Quiver or Backpack, matches are hours apart and usually you will not be able to go to your car after each match. Invest in something that can keep all of your equipment together.
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Keyboard Quiver; this thing is amazing
--- (2) Specific to BYOC Events ---
For any "bring your own computer" event, obviously bring your computer, you idiot. Just kidding, but you would be surprised at how many people forget to bring an essential part of their rig. As for the "computer part" of these events you should consider:
**Your computer or Laptop
**Everything necessary to power and run your PC (Cables, Adapters, and any CDs that may be necessary)
**For those with an external monitor, please bring a safe way of carrying your monitor. LCD's can easily damage; ideally you were responsible and kept your monitor's original box, otherwise a few towels should do the trick.
**Power strips are very important, a good organized LAN should have considered giving two outlets to each person, but that is not always the case. Also, if you need a phone charger this would be very helpful to have.
**Ethernet cable, come on, it's a LAN event; wireless internet is awful, especially with a ton of users
**Cathodes, neons, liquid cooling, etc; this is the time to nerd out and show off your amazing modding and brag about your PC Mark score
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"Overkill" is one of the frequents at LAN War
--- (3) Specific to Spectators or Media ---
**Camera, obviously
**Memory card reader, if you take videos especially, be prepared to run through a card within a day or half of a day
**General idea of what pictures you want, it's the worst feeling in the world to start taking tons of pictures on the last day. Have a good idea of what you want to get, whether it be pictures of a specific player or footage of the gamers, etc.
**Index cards, for the more experienced writers, not so much, but for someone new it might be a good idea to have something prepared; really embarrassing when you meet your idol and just completely blank out.
--- (4) Potpourri (Other things to consider) ---
**Food and drinks, at MLG be prepared to drink LOTS of Dr.Pepper if you do not bring anything else. My recommendation is just getting a gallon of water or tea and carry that around like a sporting event.
**Cough drops and medicines, it's not uncommon at all to get sick especially with all of the travel and temperature changes, nice to consider if you are a weakling like me
**Phone charger and accessories
**Cash, really important since at some events you can only buy things with cash
**Comfortable set of clothes
**Glasses if you are planning to hit up a hotel, really annoying if you need to wear contacts just to use your laptop
**Sweatshirt, you can never predict the temperature of the venue. At MLG Columbus it was about 95 degrees Fahrenheit outside and 60 degrees inside.
**Pillow, HuK-Style, under-the-ass. I will say that these are annoying to carry around, but if you are one that does not like foldable chairs, you may want one.
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Classic HuK
OTHER THOUGHTS:
Here are just some things that I think are important that do not really fit anywhere else until I get this updated.
**Plan everything as soon as possible, MLG sells out their player passes within the first week now. Also you will be able to find really good deals on travel and hotel if you plan ahead of time. Clear out your schedule and then have peace of mind later on.
**Scope out the food locations before you attend the event. Even if it is a matter of finding a pizza place that will deliver. It sucks to start panicking and finding food at the last moment, especially when you are starving.
**Check the forums before traveling, a lot of times you will find a "hitch a ride" thread that could save you a lot of money on gas and make the trip a bit more fun.
**Read the rules and regulations through and through. Common sense should take care of most issues, but in some crazy situation, please check and double check.
**In that same light, be on time and make sure you know exactly where to go. As last MLG proved, you may have to talk to a few different people before getting the correct response.
**Have fun, above all else these events are here for you to enjoy yourself and to share your passion about esports with others. Of course these events aren't for everyone; however, the only person that should even be upset even one bit is possibly the coordinator of the event if something goes wrong.
**Thank the people running the event. Trust me, as a host of many different events, a lot of work goes in to the planning and execution stages. Usually those weeks leading up to an event are filled with stress. So please take a brief moment before leaving to thank the administrators and anyone else.
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Look at the work that goes in to networking a LAN! Thank the coordinators!
SPECIAL REQUEST:
I hope this guide has helped you, even if it was just to serve as a brief reminder of some things you should consider bringing. I do have a special request, if anyone has a player pass for MLG Anaheim that they are willing to let go, Check Six will gladly compensate you for your ticket (we can definitely discuss a payment). We are short one ticket for one of our players, as the event sold out as we were buying the plane tickets. Please PM me!
Otherwise, follow me on www.twitter.com/rbkl and check out the sites in the intro paragraph. Thanks!
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