(Article) Wow Killed the lan party.. [Archive]

Becky

25th March 2007, 16:00

Actually kinda stopped playing it all together for a number of reasons,
(1) Ive realised how much time and effort you actually put in for hardly anything
(2) The Community side of it disintergrates when people cant get to do what they want to do, and people start leaving guilds looking for pastures new.
(3)Elye been not-happy-Elye when something doesnt go his way as well as rest of the guild.
I agree totally that it does totally ruin lans and when friends say they cant go to a lan or socalise because their raiding or helping friends in game do something, its really kind of saddening. At the time im writing this, Elye next to me is playing on WoW, and has tantrums over "pvp deaths" and when raiding, wipes and the loot that. I'll most likey take it up again as I have done in the past due to people pestering me to but again I'll only play again for a few months. Too much money has gone into Blizzard Bottomsless pocket.
Heres waiting for Team fortress (like I played when I was much younger),Portal and Spore, :).

her0n

25th March 2007, 16:23

Heaven forbid lots of people play a game they enjoy.. like dota!

Anim

25th March 2007, 16:31

as has been proved many a time, people only like dota when they win ;)

Aardvark

25th March 2007, 17:00

You realise DotA stops?

I've known people play WoW for an ENTIRE LAN because yes it is crack.

Omnituens

25th March 2007, 17:03

personally, id like to see CLUK's attitude towards MMOs more often.

MOAR SMOKE etc.

TheDon

25th March 2007, 17:15

I'd only agree with you IF those playing wow actually replaced people who would be playing an fps or something. If you had a limited number of people, say 40, 25 of which played wow and 25 other fps players didnt get a place then fine but at that point you should should state the intentions of the lan and primary games etc.

EDIT - Dota is kind of an rts, so that article merely promotes it ;)

Which is exactly what happens at the smaller lans. And the problem is that alot of the people playing WoW are people that at previous lans were the fps players, so you can't just turn around and say "you can't come, it's an fps lan" because alot of them are people that helped build the lans up to what they are.

I've been a wow player, 2 years of live + beta. I've been to lans as an fps player, and an mmo player. Going as a WoW player it was boring. The entire social aspect with the people I went with was dead (even though they were all ex-fps players who previously had been an amazing laugh), they were too busy logging in to raid than to go for a few rounds of a random fps. I was forced to pull the network cable for the row when they were planning on starting an MC raid on the firday night just to get them into the bar. It just wasn't right. While not all mmo players end up being like that (some can actually take a break from the game and know what socialising is) alot are and it is killing the lan scene.

Lans aren't just about the gaming, they are about the social side, and if you go there just to play an mmo and raid then you're losing that entire side of it and may as well have stayed at home.

Aardvark

25th March 2007, 17:17

Don't worry though, the Eve players will be camping the bar. We don't have to play to progress ;)

Dentist

25th March 2007, 17:28

Gate camp on the bar doors you say?

Anim

25th March 2007, 17:29

I've been a wow player, 2 years of live + beta. I've been to lans as an fps player, and an mmo player. Going as a WoW player it was boring.

The entire social aspect with the people I went with was dead (even though they were all ex-fps players who previously had been an amazing laugh), they were too busy logging in to raid than to go for a few rounds of a random fps.

Im in the same position as you, but i disagree entirely. I'd happily play wow for a raid on one night of a lan as i know that myself and the rest of the attending guild will hit the bar later on, or play some dota etc.

The real problem here is the minority getting the rep for the many.The same applies for the stereotypical cs player, you know the one that doesnt wash and plays cs the entire raid shouting "omfg pwned n00b". Not all are like that, but the ones that arent get that rep too.

Semajal

25th March 2007, 17:45

Gate camp on the bar doors you say?

Ill bring my 'dictor... :)

tucool

25th March 2007, 18:01

What a load of bull!

Ive been to LAN's before, OK nothing bigger than 50 man and Im coming to i-30 next week to play.. you've guessed it.. WoW.

Ive done the whole FPS scene, the 'smack talk' the 'B00M H34DSHOT', Ive played FPS games at a fairly high level and also spent some time playing them for cash at PF. WoW might not be all about smacktalk and pwnage, but there is a very high social aspect involved... which Id have thought was the main spirit of a LAN?? When I come down to newbury in April I will be meeting no less than 50 people I wouldnt have known if it wernt for WoW.. if I stuck with FPS I would be meeting Boffbowsh and Deltus.

Also, does the moron who wrote the article not understand that people can play wow... and other games? I know Ill enjoy sitting in the WoW section because thats where most of my e-friends will be...but it wont be the only game I 'fire up'. I wouldnt mind blowing the dust off CSS and showing some of these "Hardcore FPS" people how us "WoW geeks" do business.

In conclusion.

LAN Party = FUN WITH FRIENDS (OK not literally, but the gist of most lans arnt to play games across the same network.. they are to have fun with your mates).

One thing I can honestly say about MPUK and WoW though, a large number of MPUK staff are WoW players... arnt MPUK the UK's largest supplier of FPS game servers? hmm.. I dont know.. all I know is loads of them play wow.

Conclusion 2.

PEOPLE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PLAY WHAT THE HELL THEY WANT, DONT LIKE IT? DONT TALK TO THEM (caps lock got stuck, honestly).

Aardvark

25th March 2007, 18:05

Yeah not all WoW players do this. However a LOT of them do and I've known a LOT of people that have changed their lifestyle to fit around WoW as well. Then again, I know people that get up at 5am to siege towers in Eve, bloody games :p

Anim

25th March 2007, 18:10

still nothing beats the hardcore planetarion players for altering lifestyle ;)

Omnituens

25th March 2007, 18:38

still nothing beats the hardcore planetarion players for altering lifestyle ;)
QFT

TheDon

25th March 2007, 18:44

Also, does the moron who wrote the article not understand that people can play wow... and other games?

When you're commited to 5 hours of raiding when you fire up wow then It's kind of hard to play other games.

Yes, not every wow player is like this, but ALOT of the people that go to lans are also into the hardcore raiding side of wow (lans generally attract the more hardcore gamers, the hardcore gamers are the raiders in wow)

So while you CAN load up other games when your entire evening can be taken up by a raid it's kinda hard to. You can load up an fps for a couple of rounds, it's hard to do the same in an mmo, especially if you're in a raiding guild.

There's no doubt that alot of people that go to lans do just sit there and play wow all the time, and it can be VERY damaging to the smaller lans.

kandy

25th March 2007, 18:45

wow haters are worse than the anti smoking brigade

Rich

25th March 2007, 19:04

Wow does ruin LAN parties. At the last Landed LAN I went around filming what people where doing, like 70% of the LAN was on a fecking WOW game? You lose those big games where everyone joins in at the lan cuz of people playing wow in small groups. Its not like everyone playing Wow at the LAN will even see each other as people will be in different servers or parts of the world.. I'd completly ban any RPGs at any LAN party ever, and in fact we do at GenericLANs and proud of it! LAN parties should be about the classic LAN gaming atmosphere of getting everyone on the same game on the same server and having a good old mess about. Not some pointless game where the only thing you need to be good at it is too much time on your hands..

Wasnt so long ago LAN Parties didn't even usualy have internet! SHOCK HORROR! Maybe people played games with the people in the same room? What a crazy idea.

Quietus

25th March 2007, 19:14

Frankly, this argument wanders around and does nothing.

For me, personally, I find that at small LANs, people playing ANY one game for the entire LAN detracts from the overall fun level. It is great fun to have the whole lan pile into a new game for an hour or so then move on.

At larger LANs this is less of an issue as there are so many different games going on all the time, I could find a new game to play every few hours anyway.

Oh, and if you're gate camping the bar doors, I'll just be mining the TEA in the bar.

Mouse_On_Mars

25th March 2007, 19:28

I started playing WoW because there was nothing else worth playing at the time. I played for around 2 years and nothing else that came out was good enough to hold my interest. I got bored of WoW and stopped playing but there's still nothing else good to play, so I don't play anything any more.

WoW ruins LANs? I think not. Lack of decent alternatives ruins LANs. Our local mini LAN (round a mates house with 8 or so other people) started dying a long time before WoW took hold. There's only so long you can play BF1942 and UT before it gets mind numbingly dull. The same goes for WoW but it takes a lot longer to get bored of it due to the massive amount of content.

Cyphus

25th March 2007, 19:31

I find that the problem isn't just one of MMOs and WoW, but as Q says, any game that is played for long periods of time (i.e. all night). One example would be DotA (/cower), but there are others. The problem is that it excludes anyone who doesn't wish to / can't participate in those games for long periods of time. It's not so bad if its 1 hour of WoW, a bit of CS:S, something else, etc.

Aardvark

25th March 2007, 19:49

Cyphus

25th March 2007, 19:54

The problem with WoW is that it excludes people. The first WoWLAN was good as there was a lot of messaround events with no level restriction, but most times you can't pick up and play the game. You don't get that limitation with other games, which is why WoW is a terrible lan killer.

You get that restriction whenever people play a game that others do not own, wish to play, or which has a long duration, e.g. a long-winded RTS. It's not a problem exclusive to WoW, but its a little more acute. And that's only if people are running instances or raiding. If they're PvPing, then they can stop and start just as much as anybody.

WoWLAN was good fun though, I agree.

eXceSSum

25th March 2007, 20:06

It's funny how he writes I too have conquered Azeroth and most of Outland with a couple lvl70 "toons". and then later in the article contradicts himself by saying I believe WoW players are generally mindless sheep who get caught-up into the whole community aspect of the game and therefore will willingly submit the best years of the their lives in an effort to save Azeroth and Outland.

I occaisonally go to a LAN party round my mates house and there would be about 3-4 of us and we can have loads of fun playing WoW. You can trash talk just as well on MMO's as you can on FPS's ;)

eXceSSum

Aardvark

25th March 2007, 20:50

You get that restriction whenever people play a game that others do not own
No comment...

wish to play
Most people do want to get involved rather than sit and complain about people playing other games.

or which has a long duration, e.g. a long-winded RTS.
Yeah, but at least at SOME point people can join in. You simply can't with WoW.

It's not a problem exclusive to WoW, but its a little more acute. And that's only if people are running instances or raiding. If they're PvPing, then they can stop and start just as much as anybody.
This is true, but I think the problem where non-players complain is due to not being able to join in more than anything. DotA has similar issues due to the learning curve, but at least people CAN learn it. WoW has zero pick up and play ability.

Joey

26th March 2007, 08:41

i play wow because there's not much else worth playing at the minute, probably because most of the games designers are also addicted to wow!

with sup com, c&c3, ut2k7 this should hopefully change and bring some new interesting stuff to the gaming scene...

kandy

26th March 2007, 08:46

Latest Game/Mod to break WoW addiction: Project Reality

Qdos

26th March 2007, 11:08

My opinion - let them play what they want to. At the end of the day - the customer pays his money to come and play HIS games - be it WoW, DoTA, CS, UT or whatever.

At larger LANs, as has been said, it doesn't make a difference - the WoW players can game in their section, CS in theirs, so on and so on.
At a smaller LAN - if you have a problem with it,then you have a choice - either ban MMOs and risk losing a lot of your customers, or let them stay and work to integrate them into the LAN.

At the end of the day, I don't see WoW and LANs as mutually exclusive. If guilds go together, thats exactly the same as a clan for x FPS going. They can still fire up other games (I'd hate to spend a whole weekend at LAN raiding), go to the bar, whatever.

A lot of people thought widespread broadband would kill LANs, like it has for many LAN centres, yet i-series is bigger than ever, with a large proportion of gamers firing up WoW at some point. I think that the success of the i-series negates what the article is suggesting.

SBB

26th March 2007, 11:10

The problem i've found that if people are playing FPS games or whatever, then you dont have to play for 10 hours at a time. Whereas on WoW, people start raiding and then you can't get them off the game for the rest of the LAN. That's the thing that annoys me at LANs, is that you can't just stop playing, so people miss games and/or make everyone wait.

Bring back the days of 24/7 fun CS, Battlefield and Quake 3 (rocketrocketrocketrocketrailrocketrocketrocket etc) :)

Gunsmith

26th March 2007, 11:22

take away the internet and you'd be surprised on how the lan thrives without it.

Joey

26th March 2007, 11:24

CS has only been fun when Lardy bound a /say command to all of his movement keys

"I am moving to the leftwards"
"I am using Alt-fire!!!!!!!111"

Battlefield has never been fun full stop. :p

kandy

26th March 2007, 11:43

says the one that can't be arsed to play allegiance anymore :p

mavmins

26th March 2007, 12:12

All the moaners go on about pulling the internet out of the LAN, why ? To force WOW players to play with you on a game they might not even like ? The FACT is for most WoW players there just arnt any games out atm good enough to maintain your interest for long enough. CS ? Old and boring now, I like many WOW players used to play it, but its old and dated now, and certainly NOT fun playing with the boom headshot kiddies.

Until a game comes along that has the same wow factor (no pun intended) then people will continue to play what they like, even WOW. I myself have got some other games to play at the LAN, Q4, UT2k4 Mods, DOTA, Worms, but I will also play WOW.

Even if NONE of the WOW players at i30 played nothing but WOW you woudl still have over 1000 gamers playing other stuff, so quite belly aching.

Aardvark

26th March 2007, 12:18

Rich

26th March 2007, 12:19

At the end of the day, I don't see WoW and LANs as mutually exclusive. If guilds go together, thats exactly the same as a clan for x FPS going. They can still fire up other games (I'd hate to spend a whole weekend at LAN raiding), go to the bar, whatever.

It's not the same as an FPS clan at all. if a CS clan attended an event they would be able to play with everyone else in the room, and people could join their games. it would only be the same if they hosted their own passworded server that nobody else could play on. At which point the question would be asked "Why bother comming to a LAN party if you're going to do that?" and they would be branded anti-social mofos..

LiQuiD_PyTHoN

26th March 2007, 12:33

I went to one Stratlan which over half of lan where either playing wow or dota and that made the lan s**t for me as there was only about 6 of us playing ut 2k4 :/

Big Giant Head

26th March 2007, 12:41

The key for the smaller lans with lots of wow players is to make sure you're sat with people who play other games.

The last slan I was at I would say 50% of people were playing wow scattered throughout the lan, the effect this had was splitting up those playing smaller games making it harder to organise.

We had loads of various games in our little corner between 8-10 people but away from that despite much shouting no one was really aware of it.

Maybe the solution is like at larger lans to split the smaller events in 2, have wow players (as in those who are going to play wow and not much else, if you want to log on and check banks etc then I'm sure people would understand ;)) and then other players.

Would make it easier to organise other games etc I guess.

TheDon

26th March 2007, 12:44

I'm pretty sure this isn't aimed at i30 but at smaller lans. Nevertheless it still pisses me off when my friends can't go for pissup/fun game/insert non-WoW activity because 'I'm raiding/have to clear this instance, I'll be done in 3 hours'.

I really, really hate WoW.

Exactly, at larger lans it's not as much of a problem, you can just ignore the wow players and have random games with the other 1000 people there.

At smaller lans where you've only got 50 people having half of them playing wow can really damage the event, and will stop the non-wow players from coming in future as there's little point going if half the lan is playing wow all the time.

Aardvark

26th March 2007, 12:45

I thought the net connection was meant to be limited at Slan? I didn't go to the last one so dunno how it is these days.

Rich

26th March 2007, 12:45

We just ban all online gaming until most people start going to bed. Always worked so far and keeps the LAN atmosphere there. We've only had one or 2 people moan about it but they soon learn to stfu and play somthing decent :D

Joey

26th March 2007, 13:30

says the one that can't be arsed to play allegiance anymore :p
I spent hours before and at the last few LANs trying to make it work, but they've basically stuffed the server code so that it only works online.

Neon

26th March 2007, 13:47

I'd like to say I agree, but I'd want to play City of Heroes. That being said, small lans should be blocked and larger shouldn't.

At least that way the customers, the people who pay for the ticket, get the choice of what kind of lan they want to attend.

JeRkY

26th March 2007, 14:08

I really, really hate WoW.

Amen to that!

My views on WoWs affects on gaming have already been heard elsewhere on these forums. It has to be said i agree with a lot of what the article says, although its not put accorss in a fantastic way.

Joey

26th March 2007, 14:19

with spelling like "accorss" it's unsurprising... :p

Tsung

26th March 2007, 14:31

WOW might be considered a lan killer, but it wasn't that long ago that the same could be said of DOTA. Several people firing up a DOTA game, others leaving whatever game they just started to play just to play DOTA again.

I remember the Stratlan's of old where the room would be divided into two everybody would fire up a copy of BF1942 or UT2k4 or Quake 3 and there would be a big "royal rumble" style battles. They were great, no actually they were awesome fun to partake in. That was until the people hosting the game decide to change to "unfamiliar" maps or switched the rules around. It only took a couple of server restarts for people to get bored and go elsewhere for their fix of gaming goodness.

A lot of the problems are caused by a lack of a proper schedule. When the majority of people in the lan have no idea what is happening and when; they fire up there own games to play. You can hardly expect them to drop out of a game of AOE / DOTA or whatever for a large game when the "large game" hasn’t been pre-arranged / scheduled. Even if they do, chances are they wont have the required game/maps/mods downloaded and installed ready to play (because no one told them it was happening!).

Another issue is with the games. It's true there hasn’t been any real decent multiplayer FPS's since Quake 3 / UT2k4 / HL2/ BF1942. Modern games are an arse to install and require patching / updating before you can play them, then there is no guarantee they will work. Add to that the unlock features giving those who play the game regularly better weapons/cars/etc. than the casual players, no wonder people just don't want to play the game.

If WOW is a problem then it should be blocked by the lan organiser or restricted. Maybe for small lans that is the answer; make people aware before they pay that there will be limited/no access for these sorta games. Also maybe consider the internet as another LAN killer and block the access to it during "prime time" gaming (Between midday and midnight).

winbar

26th March 2007, 16:48

At a smaller LAN - if you have a problem with it,then you have a choice - either ban MMOs and risk losing a lot of your customers, or let them stay and work to integrate them into the LAN.

Or option 3, ban MMOs, announce that to the people looking at your event and gain customers who want to attend a LAN party and not get bored waiting to find a server to play on.

Oh and the DoTA argument doesnt really wash. It's a LAN game so involving players in the event to cooperate to meet a given objective. And it occupies no more than 6-10? players in one game. Still leaving over 40 people at a <50 LAN to play on the LAN. When you get 50% of people playing WOW then it seriously restricts the amount of gaming taking place at the LAN party.

TrumanZi

26th March 2007, 21:48

if I stuck with FPS I would be meeting Boffbowsh and Deltus.

OI!

Boffykins

26th March 2007, 22:17

<3 for groupies

Steadders

27th March 2007, 08:02

Aardvark

27th March 2007, 08:39

Oh yeah no worries, I'll just nip off and spend several hours every night for the next 3 months grinding dull and repetitive missions, on my tod because noones at my level and if they are, they're student bastards that aren't around when I can play.

Yes that will make me feel so good about my social life :p

Steadders

27th March 2007, 08:49

Well you seem to keep coming back to the game every few months that's all :) So you can't hate it that much.

Aardvark

27th March 2007, 08:55

Mostly because its so I can still have something to talk to you bastards about :p

I like the game, but I don't like the commitment it practically insists upon.

maximumweasel

27th March 2007, 11:12

This is a rewrite of an initial post that I started writing before realising it was ENORMOUS.

I’m a wow player, I’m pretty hardcore to the extent I spend a lot of time farming. To be fair I enjoy it. I don’t know why but I do. I dislike the game due to it’s time sinkiness but generally I enjoy it, and enjoy the chance it gives me to keep in touch with all my friends liberally spread about the country.
I’m more than aware of damage it can do, I’ve seen 4 people have their lives suffer because of it and I’ll be wielding my ‘stop playing’ stick come exam time to some of my uni friends.

I read the article, it highlights a point but is far too subjective to address the problem in a sensible light, let alone how to address it.

For the sake of argument two posts. One deliberately OTT in the same style defending WoW at lans and my actual stance.

“The internet culture seems to be breeding a new level of arrogance and self importance. Look at this first sentence. It’s already hinting that whatever I’m going to talk about is necessarily right.
What I’m going to talk about is WoW, or more importantly those who hate it. Clearly the pinnacles of social achievement they frown upon the low life rejects that play WoW. All those dads, mums, parents, people like that. Social losers. Not like CS which is only played by mature adults.
What grates me is the sheer contradictory nature of their whines. They complain about WoW being an online game being played at a lan. What games at the lan do they want to play that can’t be played online? Why do they need to play UT or CS or whatever at a lan?
To play with their friends? Their friends who are all playing WoW and assumingly enjoy it? But these people want to ban all their friends playing WoW to force them to play what games these selfish gits want to play.
Or maybe you go to lans to play games with people you’ve never met, somewhere across the room who you’ll never meet anyway.
Oh my bad. You’re social daemons, aren’t you? You’ll frag them, wander over introduce yourself and BANG.
You’re best man at his wedding.

So do me a favour. The next time someone comes to a lan and asks you why you’re playing WoW, tell him that you enjoy playing it with your friends. Then ask him where his are, and why he’s not playing with them.
Then while he’s not looking all fire up Quake. Cos we all know we all we still like a bit of a frag fest. It’s just that we like to play it when we want to. Not when someone else demands it.”

maximumweasel

27th March 2007, 11:13

This is an over hyped version of what I feel.
I can understand the feel that lans are being hijacked by single, popular games. But if the majority of people at a lan want to play a game, who’s to say no? Especially if they’re paying for the privilege?
It’s like me going to a sports centre telling people in the pool to stop swimming and to a variety of other waters sports because I don’t like swimming.
I can understand limiting WoW, the server and level distribution means it isn’t available to all. However start limiting things like Dota and you’ll be overstepping the boundary from limiting games that are demonstrably exclusionist to limiting games that are popular that a minority don’t want to play.
Removing inequality is one thing. Enforcing equality is another.

Afty

27th March 2007, 11:40

I think people misunderstand why WoW is disliked at LAN parties - it's only getting NAMED because it is by the far the most obvious manifestation of the problem - but ALL MMOs are the issue... and here is why:

No matter how bad I am at Strike Tournament Quake Wars 7 : The Return, if I am at a LAN I can get a copy and play multiplayer with/against/teamed-with my friends immediately. I can have a laugh, spend an hour/3/an evening playing it and then I can go play something else, either with the same/similar/different friends - making for a lot of fun and a alot of variety.

Now try putting WoW into that paragraph - it's not possible for someone to pickup WoW at a LAN party and just start playing with their friends (well it is, but it means them all starting at level 1 characters again) - you can't play for an hour or two and put it down because the game is designed to be addictive, like work - it is designed to REQUIRE you to commit large amounts of time to it. This makes it antisocial because people can't join you in your game of WoW at a LAN - they are left outside your WoW group by necessity.

Now, that *alone* would not be the problem - if the WoW players joined in with other games regularly and just played WoW when nothing was on... but they don't
LANs are normally a bastion of diversity in gaming - from new games to old retro games to betas and demos - but many WoW players I've seen turn up and do NOTHING but play WoW. If they do play other games it is seemingly for as little time as possible, before they return to their WoW game. Their time commitments are made up front, for hours at a time, for raiding - meaning they often cannot partake in the spontaneous cries of "Battlefield Big Game" or "OMFG Allegiance Now!" and of those who do play alternate games for a period most just play a "classic" or two that they know - they rarely try out a demo or beta in the HOPE it might be fun - because they know they have their fix waiting.

Ultimately, the LAN organisers are best placed to make a judgment on this - at a smaller LAN of 40 people, having 17 WoW players essentially makes it a 23 person LAN most of the time which is *NOT* what was advertised, nor is it the experience these players are expecting when they pay their money. Events like the illustration will serve to hurt the player base attending LANs, and can be of severe detriment to your weekends leisure experience if you want to be in a dynamic group who play lots of different games for fun.

It's not that "we" hate WoW, WoW players or even playing online games at a LAN - it's that the majority of WoW players are so heavily addicted to their game that they fail to contribute anything to the rest of the LAN - and the reason we pay our money and turn up at LANs is because of the social, gaming and other contributions that the other players make to our enjoyment for the weekend.

Aardvark

27th March 2007, 11:56

I think people misunderstand why WoW is disliked at LAN parties - it's only getting NAMED because it is by the far the most obvious manifestation of the problem - but ALL MMOs are the issue...

Bit of a blanket statement there Afty, I think you'll find that Eve is an MMO that you can do quite interesting things in from minute 1 along with your more experienced friends :)

Yes, I realise I tried this. However the failure was down to me sucking at organising things than any failure of the game :p

Strych

27th March 2007, 12:12

LANs are normally a bastion of diversity in gaming - from new games to old retro games to betas and demos - but many WoW players I've seen turn up and do NOTHING but play WoW. If they do play other games it is seemingly for as little time as possible, before they return to their WoW game. Their time commitments are made up front, for hours at a time, for raiding - meaning they often cannot partake in the spontaneous cries of "Battlefield Big Game" or "OMFG Allegiance Now!" and of those who do play alternate games for a period most just play a "classic" or two that they know - they rarely try out a demo or beta in the HOPE it might be fun - because they know they have their fix waiting.
I think this is more on point. But....

Just so you know where I stand - frankly, I have no idea why anyone would want to pay X dollars to go and sit at a lan and play WoW 24/7. You can do that in your bedroom for free.

I think what people are missing here is that there are exceptions to the rule. A lot of exceptions. I am bored of hearing that because I have a high level WoW character I am a "mindless sheep", a social retard living in a world of fake cyber-friends, who has lost my grip on real life.

Oddly, I am in a guild full of real life friends, who are likely to also be at a lan. If 5 of us are sat next to each other, and we want to run an instance (which can reasonably be completed in 45-60mins for the TBC ones) instead of play a game of "Random RTS" (hour and a half for dota?) then there really is no problem with that. Its just as much fun as playing 45 minutes of "New Steam FPS" with the people sat next to you. (Probably more fun because I don't really enjoy FPS as a genre that much.)

The problem is not with WoW, or even with WoW players in general. It's with people who have a worrying addiction to WoW and don't know how to not play. Newsflash - that's not most of us.

Aardvark

27th March 2007, 12:19

Seems fair Strych, but you also end up with raids that suck up a dozen or more people for hours (this has happened at i-series past) that they just can't leave and that you can't join in with.

It's actually getting to a stage where I frequently debate the merit of going to lans as a whole bunch of my friends will be playing something I can't. Someone sell me a level 70 char ;)

kandy

27th March 2007, 12:38

How about some of the LAN organisers start doing some err......... organising??

I am one of these hated WoW players and I only start playing it at a LAN if there is nothing else to do. It may take me 3 hours to do an instance while I'm excluded from other activities, but it sure beats sitting around for 3 hours hoping you might get a game of something which people are remotely interested in playing.

Get the hint, most WoW players don't want to play the same boring CS map or UT mod over and over again which has been played for the last few years with a small group of people that love that particular game.

I give you the previous StratLAN as an excellent example. Gratz to Wizzo/Bugs for organising an excellent time for us all, which had the whole LAN playing various games together pretty much the whole time.

This was accomplished by putting up a WHITEBOARD at the front of the hall, with 'Q3 8pm / BF1942 10pm' etc. on it, and some gentle encouragement from fellow LAN attendees.

I had so much fun I only fired up WoW once to check my mail at around 3am one morning.

So instead of sitting around bitching and moaning, why don't you start getting people involved and setting out schedules etc. for various games to be played. If some people sit there playing WoW the entire time, who cares, at least the other 75% of the LAN are joining in.

People always seem to be bitching about WoW 'ruining' LAN parties (it was DoTA 8 months ago) but at the end of the day if there is something better to do, most people will do it.

Afty

27th March 2007, 12:38

I think what people are missing here is that there are exceptions to the rule. A lot of exceptions.
but many WoW players I've seen turn up and do NOTHING but play WoW.Note my use of the word "many" rather than "all" - I'm aware it sounds like a blanket statement (Aard) but I'm also of the belief that is is accurate.

I would say at least two thirds of the regular WoW players who have attended small LANs where I have also attended managed to play WoW to the exclusivity of everything, or almost everything, else.
There are of course some players who are not so heavily involved in the game - but from my personal experience it would seem that they are the minority.
If 5 of us are sat next to each other, and we want to run an instance (which can reasonably be completed in 45-60mins for the TBC ones) instead of play a game of "Random RTS" (hour and a half for dota?) then there really is no problem with that.No indeed there is no problem with that - but WoW players "like you" are few and far between - the stereotype I mentioned in my last post is far, far more common.

Aardvark

27th March 2007, 12:43

Note my use of the word "many" rather than "all" - I'm aware it sounds like a blanket statement (Aard) but I'm also of the belief that is is accurate.
I was responding to your 'all MMOs' comment there. Post edited to better reflect this :)

Joey

27th March 2007, 12:54

I'm inclined to agree that it's down to the organisation of the LAN basically, if there's interesting stuff to do then I'll do it. If there's nothing organised which I'd like to take part in then I'll fire up WoW and ideally do some 5-man stuff with the people around me.

I'll make a commitment not to raid at a StratLAN or other smaller LAN here and now though.

(Interesting stuff™ explicitly excludes the battlefield franchise)

Towneh

27th March 2007, 14:05

I'm attending the LAN under the name of my guild in WoW, Celebrity.

In the past we have found it quite difficult to put any huge amounts of time into raiding whilst at the event because the distractions are rife, you do not have the isolation and controlled environment of your bedroom in order to stay focused and play how you need to play at end-game, so bar one night set aside the entire event for a raid, we hardly play it.

This event will allow us to meet some of the european members of the guild, whom of which we have never met before in real life.

You'll probably find the majority of us playing DotA or getting random games in whilst socialising, we've known each other for a long time and treat the i-series as the great social experience for what it is famous for.

I can imagine the concerns of the previous posters affect those attendees who do not have the advantage of experiencing the lan with their guild or a large circle of friends, and find it easily to slip back into the game.

maximumweasel

27th March 2007, 14:21

I think this is more on point. But....

Just so you know where I stand - frankly, I have no idea why anyone would want to pay X dollars to go and sit at a lan and play WoW 24/7. You can do that in your bedroom for free.

Can you think of a game that you play at a lan that you can't play in your bedroom for free?
Chances are you can but I'm willing to be they're few and far between.
(That's can't, not don't)

I can think of an idea. Because these are people I know and like to meet face to face once in a while.

I think reports of people playing wow exclusively are exaggerated/confused with the statement: someone is always playing wow at some point which is fairer but very different.

Lans used to be a get together to play multiplayer before the great internet allowed us to do so with ease.

Lans are now excuses to see people in person, catch up, share a drink, maybe go out for a meal, play drinking games and partake in some gaming.

The other reason is that sometimes getting people together for WoW stuff is tricky, they're out or whatever. It's a lot easier when they're all in the same room.

I still feel it's an everything in moderation situation. And it makes for a nice stop gap while the lan are playing some people don't want to play.

maximumweasel

27th March 2007, 14:27

Eep. Double posted.

Edited to include new material.

Er.

Play more Ron.

That'll do.

Cabe

27th March 2007, 14:58

I agree

Cyphus

27th March 2007, 15:06

What's the matter weasel? Got the day off or something? :D

Play more Ron.

QFT

Jingles

27th March 2007, 17:56

Seconded

Murray-Mint

27th March 2007, 23:18

Thirded.

And as much as I hate to say it. Centralan UK (http://www.centralanuk.co.uk) - We block WoW (And other MMOs) between 9AM and midnight!

Rich

28th March 2007, 07:57

Genetically, WoW players have more in common with crabs, than they do with you and I.

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 08:05

Rich

28th March 2007, 08:11

tbh at GenericLAN events we make it public knowledge that Wow/RPGs can't be played. We run really small events anyway to enjoy the classic cosy LAN atmosphere of playing a few games where EVERYONE joins in and has a laugh. Theres simply no point in attending an event like this if you want to sit on WoW all weekend, we'd rather you didnt come and free up the space for somone who actually enjoys playing LAN games. The bigger the event the more leniant you can be I guess.

Lucifa

28th March 2007, 08:19

I'm known to play all weekend at a lan/iseries and tbh I don't care.
Yes I can play at home and it'll cost me nothing but I'm the one paying for my seat so I'll do whatever I want. If playing wow makes me happy that's what I'll do.
I don't come to lans for the games, I come for the social.

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 08:20

The type casting is that people who play WoW will go to a Lan and play it exclusively.

Do you have any provision to ensure those who go to Lans who don't for example play FPS get good coverage?

P.S

There's a lot of lans about that I've never heard of...

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 08:35

Big Giant Head

28th March 2007, 08:37

The problem that I found as a WoW player at lans is that it locks you in. I've never been a raider but you join an instance with a few people and it'll take you 2-3 hours and you just can't leave. Even if another game starts that you might like to join you can't quit and come back later, you're letting everyone down if you do quit and its generally a great big pain.

I think as a gaming lan the centralan approach is a good one, but its also assisted by the fact that they have PA over the venue making it much easier to get people into games and are very vocal about organising big games and tournaments.

ps. According to my WoW account I'm wow free for a month! (The shaking has almost stopped as well)

Rich

28th March 2007, 08:40

Exactly as Aardvark says. Most people will be up for playing a bit of everything. Most of the time its not so much what game you're playing but the people you are playing it with. Much better to have everyone playing the same game and having a laugh on it then small groups all playing different games with just a few people in each.

There's a lot of lans about that I've never heard of...

Have a look around, there's a nice LAN community outside of the Multiplay universe. Shocking I know :P

Say_Ten

28th March 2007, 08:56

Most of the time its not so much what game you're playing but the people you are playing it with.

QFT, I'd almost go as far as saying all the time tbh!

Murray-Mint

28th March 2007, 09:10

It'd be interesting to see if that has any affect on your numbers and regulars.

I suspect not, but on a personal level an event that actively prevents me from doing certain things is a bit of a put off, however that's mainly because I believe I can regulate my time rather than sit on WoW 24/7.

You're right, it doesn't affect numbers at all. if anything, it's improved them. Our last event was a 100 player sellout and great fun. Prior to this, we'd only ran 55 player events.

Do you have any provision to ensure those who go to Lans who don't for example play FPS get good coverage?

Winbar and myself are keen RTS players :) There's the usual DotA and SupCom going. As BGH mentioned, we have the PA and we were using it to advertise people's SupCom games, RA2, etc.

Have a look around, there's a nice LAN community outside of the Multiplay universe. Shocking I know :P

It is actually shocking, the number of LANs outside of the MPUK 'bubble'. There's 100-200 player events going on that we hear nothing about!

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 10:01

Most lans you can get people trying whatever game you like, so long as you actually poke people into playing it. Hell if my friends are playing something I'm not really into I'll give it a go anyway, in fact this method has got me playing many games I wouldn't otherwise (hi DotA :D).

Can you do this with WoW? No. This is why its a terrible 'social' game for a lan.

You can't try WoW?
Subscription issues asside that's not exactly true.
Granted it's not something I'd recommend, but the reasons why can be transfered to any new game you want to get people to try.

When you start WoW you get a level 1 character and bugger all gear, and those who have played are all 70 with uber gear. There's a time spent gap instantly.

When you start dota with 9 other experience people the gap's still there, it's just not labelled.

It's the same with all games. Someone new to the FPS world will invariably get shafted. RTS's are the same kettle of fish.
There's a time sink to get the experience to play the game at a competitive level.

The gap in WoW is much bigger and less forgiving admittedly.
But new people to any game will get binned.

New games are a small part of lans, most people play familiar games with friends who played these games before.

The more I think about this subject and the arguments posited the more I'm feeling that this is a specific attack on WoW.

The main arguments are:
1) that people play it exclusively and that you can't just join it
2) people who do just join it (contradicting 1) are at a much different level to those who do play it
3) people play it exclusively and this prevents other games from being played.
4) It locks you in raids/instances for 2+ hours at a time
5) It limits the people you play with (i.e. friends only)

1) is negated by 2)
2) is true of all games, and can actually decrease the enjoyment of those others playing.
3) is a generalisation and true of anyone who doesn't play specific other games. There's no guarantee that if these people weren't playing WoW they would be playing something you deem Lan-worthy.
4) RTS games lock you down as well. I can see an argument against raiding.
5) Not sure why this would be an issue.

To be honest I'm half arguing now for the sake of arguing.
And if I'm honest I kinda support this WoW crack down.
But if you're gonna lock down WoW, do it for the right reasons, not for some ad hoc excuses based loosely on the fact you don't like it.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 10:02

You may be losing, but you are playing with the people at least. This is important to note.

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 10:43

You may be losing, but you are playing with the people at least. This is important to note.

But you may be forcing people to play a game (specific game, not type) they aren't enjoying because they're having to baby sit you.
And they can't say "no you can't play it'll spoil our balance" because that would be harsh.

And if they do this is exclusionistic (that is SO a word) and frowned upon.

You losing is one thing. Them losing because of you is another.
"We're losing, but it's ok cos I'm playing with you guys, and that's the important thing!"

Playing a game of dota that's a forgone conclusion leads to much whining.

Playing for fun is important but you need some hope of winning to give game a point.

You're placing emphasis on the playing with other people at the lan. I place emphasis on the cost of that in terms of their enjoyment.

(A thought occurs, is the objection to people playing wow with non lan people?
I can understand objection to someone turning up and just playing wow with no one else at the lan. )

Afty

28th March 2007, 10:45

It'd be interesting to see if that has any affect on your numbers and regulars.I suspect it's like a smoking ban in a pub - some people won't be ABLE to go, but some other people will find it more desirable as a result.

I know I'm more likely to attend a small LAN if there's an MMO ban.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 10:59

Strych

28th March 2007, 11:06

(A thought occurs, is the objection to people playing wow with non lan people?
I can understand objection to someone turning up and just playing wow with no one else at the lan. )
Yup, thats the "anti-social" objection, or so I assumed. That's what I meant about turning up and playing 24/7 - if you're not playing with the people AT the lan, what's the point?

andyf

28th March 2007, 11:13

The problem is that small lans have limited spaces. If people go to play WoW almost exclusively, you're tying up the spaces for people that want to go and play 'anything' at a LAN, to play with or against the other people, possibly in large scale games.

I-series is fine as the sheer number of spaces available means you should be able to play pretty much whatever you want and have other people there wanting to play it.

Now does this sound harsh? By wanting to go somewhere such as Stratlan, but with the aim of playing pretty much just WoW, would you agree or disagree that you are perhaps being selfish and denying other people the chance to enjoy the lan more?

The argument against this is that you are, of course, entitled to go play whatever is permissible, and if WoW isn't being blocked during the day then why not?

Well, the argument against is that WoW is a lot more focused on playing with a group of very closely matching individuals. It's not Trackmania or Quake - you can't have an 'open' game and let anyone join with an equal chance of winning. The selfless decision would be to not attend the LAN to play WoW, but to get on Vent and play from home through broadband. It just means you don't get the socialising you would from the LAN, but you are letting other people who want to pay to play games on a LAN, do so.

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 11:23

If someone is going to stop me playing DotA because I suck, they can go **** themselves. I wouldn't shed a tear about not playing with someone with that attitude.

I don't mind if they have a moan along the lines of 'we had the newbie so we lost', thats fair enough. But saying 'you suck so you can't play' is a bag of ****.

WoW says this by default, which is why I don't like it at lans.

What about the middle line of people saying 'I don't want to play because with this person we can't balance the teams?'

You're almost peddling the attitude "I'm here to play games with you, and you're gonna like it no matter what."

WoW is denial of play because a level 1 can't physically can't do what a level 70 can.
This is different from denial of play becuse the level 1 character player isn't as good a player.
I'm as experienced a WoW players as the mpuk WoWers but can't play cos my character is on a different server. There's no ability difference.

I detract.

When I go to a Lan I tend to go with about 10-15 others who play wow.
Where is the objection to this group playing wow with each other at the lan (with moderation?)
And to answer the question why bother with the lan, the answer is to meet each other and to swap computers and play each others characters, which is actually a fun thing to do an Lan-necessary.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 11:37

You're almost peddling the attitude "I'm here to play games with you, and you're gonna like it no matter what."
Yeah that was bad of me, god forbid the day would come where I'd go to a lan expecting to play games with my friends.

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 11:44

The implication is of you forcing the hand of people you don't know, based on your comment about them turning to you and saying you're not playing cos you're crap.

I'd be surprised if your friends turned you down from a game because you were new, especially if they're goading you to try something new.

But if you're going to use that arguement then your argument against WoW falls apart; if you're taking as a prerequisite that you're playing with friends then there's no differentiation between you playing Game A with your friends at a Lan and playing WoW at a Lan with your friends, which is what I'm arguing for.

Deman

28th March 2007, 11:56

I am a mix, since I used to play WoW fairly hardcore I can see the WoW players points of view. Although I have to say the stratlans i've attended where WoW was not banned just not promoted and everyone was jumping between BF, Trackmania, quake, UT, SupCom, Dota, Daiblo 2(wtf!), alien swarm etc it was far far more enjoyable than when I'd maybe play a little (hours on end) WoW/Eve/EQ/EQ2 (mmo addict...) while everyone else around me had fun in other games.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 12:02

But if you're going to use that arguement then your argument against WoW falls apart; if you're taking as a prerequisite that you're playing with friends then there's no differentiation between you playing Game A with your friends at a Lan and playing WoW at a Lan with your friends, which is what I'm arguing for.
My argument doesn't fall down, as *my own personal view* that WoW sucks is because a lot of my friends play it at a lan and I can't. Built in inaccessability really pisses me off, and there's no way around it apart from restructuring my life so that I play WoW enough so that when I get to a lan I'm in a position to play. I'm not willing to do this.

I would happily play WoW if someone was able to give me a character so I could play, a WoW instance in that case is no different to a game of DotA or Alien Swarm :)

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 12:04

Diablo 2? Hell yes.

Although that shares similar issues to the whole WoW issue...

The last Stratlan I went to was fine. Played a bit of WoW, a lot of Ron, until blue screen and Captain Whine and his armeggedon counter ruined it.
Some drinking dota.

I go to the lan to play other stuff, it's just nice to know I'm able to drop into wow with some friends if there's nothing else I want to do.

Big Giant Head

28th March 2007, 12:11

Comparing DoTA with WoW is actually not a great comparison for several reasons mainly that DoTA is fairly unique amongst lan games in that there is a lot of minutae and tactics that new players just aren't aware of and the learning curve is rather extreme.

You also can't balance the teams, by stacking one side, eg. 2v4 as we have done in the past for games like RoN or other RTS' to even up the difference in ability levels.

If you compare WoW to a game like NeoTokyo, Trackmania, Ravenshield, FlatOut, UT,CS,RoN,SupCom,vanilla WC3 etc - then you really can just drop in and play pretty much regardless of skill level (even if you've just run through the tutorials), you may get thrashed but you're not really holding back the other players or your teammates that much.

kandy

28th March 2007, 12:19

Ignore Aardvark, you couldn't get more outrageously biased than a WoW hating corp boss in Eve :p

Rich

28th March 2007, 12:20

I suspect it's like a smoking ban in a pub - some people won't be ABLE to go, but some other people will find it more desirable as a result.

I know I'm more likely to attend a small LAN if there's an MMO ban.

Exactly, I think you'll find a lot of the smaller-medium sized lans will start mentioning if MMO's are banned or not. I've been to a couple of medium sized LANs where WoW has been played, I was shocked to see how widely it was played, but the stupid thing was it was just small groups playing together. Maybe 40 people in the room playing wow but all in groups of 3 or 4. They just completly kill the LAN atmosphere of playing against people in the same room, it's just pointless.

I like how WoW is becoming more socialy unacceptable than smoking. It's a filthy habbit that harms those around you (at a LAN party) :P

btw- Dota is crap as well.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 12:33

Ignore Aardvark, you couldn't get more outrageously biased than a WoW hating corp boss in Eve :p
Oh don't talk ****. I want to play WoW, sadly it requires a silly time investment that I'm not prepared to make.

Afty

28th March 2007, 12:50

then you really can just drop in and play pretty much regardless of skill levelThis is the essence of a suitable LAN game - can you pick up and play the game for a few hours with your friends ... from scratch?

WoW and every other MMO I've ever seen all answer "no" to this question - except perhaps City Of Heroes which has the "sidekick" (temporary level up to your friends level) feature.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 13:03

I am so making you play Eve at i30.

Deman

28th March 2007, 13:13

I am so making you play Eve at i30.

I still fail to see how a new player in Eve can do anything against a 2-3 year veteran in some tech 2 monster without being in goonswarm(purely an example :P) and having 100 other clueless people with you :P

But thats a whole different EvE thread :)

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 13:14

My definition of a lan game is a game you can play at a LAN...

:P

Ok with the stipulation of having a multiplayer element.

I understand the type of game you're talking about Afty et al. I wanted to play co op quake 2, but Toaster forgot the CD...

My concern is that I'm being told what I can and can't play because some people have no sense of control or indeed fun, mixed in with a bit of prejudice.

That's the kicker for me.

gemini

28th March 2007, 13:22

I have to disagree with most of the article.

Look at multiplay.

The i series have continued to go from strength to strength with wow being an increasingly popular seating area. And with WoWLAN aswell.

But I can almost agree with him to an extent. Fighting NPC's is not as good at a lan party as fighting other people 3 rows away.

The article has some foundations in truth imho. But these foundations do not justify the article stating that it has killed lan parties.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 13:22

I still fail to see how a new player in Eve can do anything against a 2-3 year veteran in some tech 2 monster without being in goonswarm(purely an example :P) and having 100 other clueless people with you :P
It only takes a single day old noob to stop even the biggest and baddest ships from running away :)

Joey

28th March 2007, 13:27

Fighting NPC's is not as good at a lan party as fighting other people 3 rows away.
But fighting NPCs with the 3 people sat either side of you is just as good...

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 13:29

My argument doesn't fall down, as *my own personal view* that WoW sucks is because a lot of my friends play it at a lan and I can't. Built in inaccessability really pisses me off, and there's no way around it apart from restructuring my life so that I play WoW enough so that when I get to a lan I'm in a position to play. I'm not willing to do this.

Fair point, now I see where you're coming from.
In that instance WoW IS a big crock of pants.

What you nearly need is a me. I levelled my gf's lolock to 70. And geared it.
She only does instance now.
Epics magically appear on her character.

:P

But you're right it is a huge timesink and I can understand your position.
Still not sure it's a valid reason to ban it though.

Joey

28th March 2007, 13:30

we need a private server at a LAN so we can instantly equip people with L70 characters in full T4...

Cyphus

28th March 2007, 13:38

WoW and every other MMO I've ever seen all answer "no" to this question - except perhaps City Of Heroes which has the "sidekick" (temporary level up to your friends level) feature.

Planetside was quite good in this respect - day 1 n00bs were perfectly able to hop along with the seasoned veterans.

Playing WoW means there are less people playing games that can be quickly dropped in favour of LAN-organised games / joined-in with. Essentially, people who don't play on that server / at that level can't join in, though notably, those that *are* on the same server and *are* at the same level can. It's just that the group of people that can join in isn't the same as the group containing all the people at the LAN.

The two sides of the argument seem to be:

1) LANs are about having fun, and the WoW player is having fun, maybe playing socially with a group of mates also at the LAN, so what is the problem? (the capitalist argument - market forces mean people play the most fun thing that is available to them, and if that's WoW, then so be it)

and

2) LANs are about everyone having as much fun as possible, and this means that anything which excludes even a single person at the LAN from playing (be it because they don't have an account / the CDs / a good enough PC to play) is a bad thing, and against the spirit of the LAN. (the utilitarian / communist argument - people can't be trusted to act in the best interest of the LAN as a whole, so it must be centrally controlled)

I'm more in favour of (1) to be honest (you may have spotted that), but I think that with the right kind of goading, most people can be convinced to behave in the same way as they would if everyone felt the same as in point (2). Stop people playing WoW by (friendly) badgering and by offering enticing alternatives. If they still want to play WoW, then it's their loss. I think most people will succumb.

Aardvark

28th March 2007, 13:43

What you nearly need is a me. I levelled my gf's lolock to 70. And geared it.
She only does instance now.
Epics magically appear on her character.
I'm afraid I won't sleep with you, sorry :p

And again personally, I'm not saying ban it, I'm just saying please WoW players, take a break sometime!

;617605']we need a private server at a LAN so we can instantly equip people with L70 characters in full T4...

Do it. DO IT! :D

maximumweasel

28th March 2007, 13:45

That's pretty much it.
Wondered when you were going to post Chris.

Cyphus

28th March 2007, 13:53

;617605']we need a private server at a LAN so we can instantly equip people with L70 characters in full T4...

That does actually sound like a pretty fun idea. Not sure what the TBC private servers are like these days though.

Towneh

28th March 2007, 14:08

Last time I checked theres some emulators out there but not finished enough to actually do anything fun on (think sandbox)

Mouse_On_Mars

28th March 2007, 16:50

Last time I checked theres some emulators out there but not finished enough to actually do anything fun on (think sandbox)
As long as you can duel and use the Dire Maul and Gurubashi arenas then you're sorted. :)

catbeef

28th March 2007, 17:54

i'm not going to read the contents of this thread, but i think the article was aimed at small lan parties, not wizzo's crazy wet dreams.

kandy

28th March 2007, 18:48

Oh don't talk ****. I want to play WoW, sadly it requires a silly time investment that I'm not prepared to make.

<3

slacker :p

Boobleeboo

30th March 2007, 19:27

IMO people who goto a lan to play wow alone do spoil it

Its great fun when theres a big bunch of players (most likely fps) usually playing tournements having a great laugh chatting away, but what downs the mood is when you've got a group of wow players just sitting in the corner or dotted around, not talking to many people because there MMORPG fans and not fond of all the fps thats going on.

Of course if there was a guild of 10-20+ at a lan raiding together then that keeps the community spirit alive (h), Im just against people who go to sit in there own little world when they may aswell be at home ;)

bvark

31st March 2007, 08:48

I think LANs have been in a slide towards balkanisation since the day Warcraft 1 came out (now there are TWO games to play at a LAN!).

Only you can fight the entropy.

Qdos

31st March 2007, 10:07

Only you can fight the entropy.

Indeed. Go buy world of warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.

Join the rest of us here (https://signup.worldofwarcraft.com/trial/index.htm)

/flees

bacardibatman

31st March 2007, 12:16

personally i think Play what you enjoy if you dont want to mix with ppl then dont
personal choice,but i think a mix of gaming a socialising is best. prolly more socialising :)

pls dont anyone take offence at this :)
there are some good mmorpg's im sure
.............................................
To the tune of GLC's guns dont kill ppl

Wow dont kill lans, wow'ers do
sit in any wow section and you'll see thats its true
its a fact that mmorpg's make ya grumpy
its cos they pay fees monthly
you dont believe me heres my hype
but theres many genres to play online
fps's left em crying
they such pussys they coudnt handle dying
RTS's made em say F***
if theyd stuck with platform games then they woulda been in luck
but they didnt, they got wrong
and now they waste thier lives away playing eve online
so they started , with asherons call
but they gave it up because it was a bore
so remember ppl when ur elves fight
mmorpg's are just f***ing s**te

wow dont kill lan, wow'ers do
call lan police woo woo woooo

Bored so another verse sorry :(

WoW dont kill lans WoWers do,
I seen it in a documentary on BBC2
Maged to death outside Tirisfal Glades
warrior slices you with his blades
Wow statistics are sometimes misleading
the type of lan'er WoW is breeding
spell in that chest,oooh no wonder you stop'd breathing
earth to wow'ers, OI! are you receivin?
remember burning crusade in 2007
lord of the clans up in Wow heaven
Orcs n humans R-I-P
even Wizzo got pwned by Fa-tal-1ty

WoW dont kill ppl fps'ers do
sound of lan police
woo woo wooooo

eXceSSum

31st March 2007, 15:16

.............................................
To the tune of GLC's guns dont kill ppl

Wow dont kill lans, wow'ers do
sit in any wow section and you'll see thats its true
its a fact that mmorpg's make ya grumpy
its cos they pay fees monthly
you dont believe me heres my hype
but theres many genres to play online
fps's left em crying
they such pussys they coudnt handle dying
RTS's made em say F***
if theyd stuck with platform games then they woulda been in luck
but they didnt, they got wrong
and now they waste thier lives away playing eve online
so they started , with asherons call
but they gave it up because it was a bore
so remember ppl when ur elves fight
mmorpg's are just f***ing s**te

wow dont kill lan, wow'ers do
call lan police woo woo woooo

Bored so another verse sorry :(

WoW dont kill lans WoWers do,
I seen it in a documentary on BBC2
Maged to death outside Tirisfal Glades
warrior slices you with his blades
Wow statistics are sometimes misleading
the type of lan'er WoW is breeding
spell in that chest,oooh no wonder you stop'd breathing
earth to wow'ers, OI! are you receivin?
remember burning crusade in 2007
lord of the clans up in Wow heaven
Orcs n humans R-I-P
even Wizzo got pwned by Fatal1ty

WoW dont kill ppl fps'ers do
sound of lan police
woo woo wooooo

Haha quality :D

eXceSSum

Rich

31st March 2007, 15:33

WOW IS GAY I R TEH LARN POLIZIA

Elkeeed

1st April 2007, 09:27

The main problem with WoW is that everyone is on a different server and you cant easily change to play together. So everyone ends up sitting there playing just with 1 or 2 regular friends and the social aspect doesn't exist. I imagine that with everyone actually playing together it would be a lot more lan friendly.

Predobear

2nd April 2007, 12:20

Meh, WoW doesn't have that much of a problem - just as much as an extensively played FPS or RTS - except instead of level problems preventing such interaction, it's skill levels. You get killed too much, you get righteously pissed off with the entire thing, and go away and play something else.

Which is why you need some sort of comic relief after extensive play.

Hence, our love for SourceForts and Gary's Mod.

tucool

2nd April 2007, 13:04

I will bring 3-5 10 day trial keys if anyone wants to check out wow for themselves.

Rich

2nd April 2007, 13:20

Alternativly you could lock yourself in a cupboard for 3 days and repeat the same mundane action 11,000 times such as picking bits of plaster off the wall.

Don't worry though, excitement will be thrown in by the power of the increment function which transforms this dull act into a wonderful game of number management, which is great as you don't have to learn any new skills - it's exactly the same from the word go - the numbers just get higher on everything as you progress. :D

kandy

2nd April 2007, 13:51

Rich, if WoW is as boring as you make it sound, why do 8million people play it?

Fair enough about the comments on the rest of the thread relating to playing with friends etc, but it is hardly a boring repetitive game.

It can be repetitive, but its not boring.

Rich

2nd April 2007, 13:55

Matter of opinion. Personally I think any game that runs off a mysql database must be boring :P

tucool

2nd April 2007, 14:12

Actually, the game can get pretty exciting and has a lot of lore behind it which gets interesting. Unlike [insert generic FPS] which is the same over and over and has no story.

WoW is a good game, no matter what the 'haters' say.. I like it and thats that :P

Rich

2nd April 2007, 14:16

Stories are for gays. Real men shoot things mindlessly :D

kandy

2nd April 2007, 14:20

or run amok at LAN parties and vandalise things

Afty

2nd April 2007, 14:23

Rich, if WoW is as boring as you make it sound, why do 8million people play it?8 million people worldwide is alot less than the number of smokers.

Just because alot of people "do something" does not mean it is either interesting, or healthy.

Popularity != value

Say_Ten

2nd April 2007, 14:23

Aw, it was so light-hearted till then.

Rich

2nd April 2007, 14:45

It can be repetitive, but its not boring.

Please can somone remind me what the term "grinding" means relating to MMOs? Nvm Urban Dictionary saved the day (after reading past other definitions of grinding ;P)

A repetitive task usually involved in a Massively Multiplayer Online Role playing game (MMORPG) where a character's skill's are based entirely on killing monsters to gain strengths or levels. In most MMORPGs, there is no skill from the player involved, so anyone who plays 20 hours a day of grinding will be stronger than a player who does not. MMORPGs become a game genre filled with those who are too slow to play First-Person Shooters (FPS) or too dumb to play Real Time Strategy (RTS) but want to brag and be 1337 g4m3r so they play 20 hours a day and boast to "n00bs"

me_is_n00b: Johnny, what level are you?

Grinding_Johnny210: I'm level 250+

me_is_noob: wow you are so uber 1337! You must be so good at this!

Grinding_Johnny210: Yea, it's pure skill.

me_is_noob: I wish i could grind like you, unfortunately, I have a life, a job, a car, a girlfriend..

kandy

2nd April 2007, 14:51

Ever played the game then Rich?

kandy

2nd April 2007, 14:53

Just because alot of people "do something" does not mean it is either interesting, or healthy.

Popularity != value

True, but there must be a reason so many people play and keep on playing the game. If it was as dull as people make it out to be this wouldn't the case.

Rich

2nd April 2007, 14:53

Yep, I tried it round a mates house for 20 mins. I was violently sick after.

Rich

2nd April 2007, 14:54

True, but there must be a reason so many people play and keep on playing the game. If it was as dull as people make it out to be this wouldn't the case.

Maybe it's addiction like smoking? Would explain why people keep dieing due to playing it for 72 hours straight and forgetting to eat.

kandy

2nd April 2007, 15:07

Yeah, cos people really die because they don't eat for 72 hours.

I can see why this thread was originally closed now, bb!

bacardibatman

2nd April 2007, 15:16

just rofl at it all :)
(makes me feel like dooing verses 3 and 4 )
and tucool, i'll give it a go pls
dont say i wont make an informed decision
plus it may buy me valuable seconds to escape the WoW hoarde that will no doubt be after me for my lyrical efforts :D

Bootz

2nd April 2007, 15:17

The first time I played WoW was at Dreamhack when Wubs let me use his 2nd account to make/try a new character. The reason I tried it is because I was complaining of utter boredom of the games I was attempting to play at the lan..... CS/Q3. Now many years ago I was heavily into FPS games, and I still enjoy 'going back' to them now and then.

Funnily, I remember feeling the same towards the 'MPUK' crowd when I first started going to lans in 2001+. I got to know many of the staff at my first few i-series/stratlans/dreamlans, and found that few 'MPUK Staffers' played CS as much as I did. Every now and then we'd get into some big games of cs, but then they would dwindle down to maybe 10-ish for people to start their lengthy RTS games.

I freely admit I play far too much WoW and lately that's all I've played at recent LANs. But then looking back 3 or 4 years ago, all you would see me on was cs....

I am making the effort to lessen my WoW-playing, but I don't have an issue with what game people choose to play or where they play it. Don't hate the game or the people that play it.

kandy

2nd April 2007, 15:31

I don't have an issue with what game people choose to play or where they play it. Don't hate the game or the people that play it.

/cheer

maximumweasel

2nd April 2007, 15:51

I am making the effort to lessen my WoW-playing...

Phew. I was beginning to worry about you.
Anyone who spends that long in AV on a ping of one K with a SMILE ON HER FACE needs help.
I've never seen someone actually enjoy being in that place.
;)

P.S.

Feign Death.

P.P.S played some WoW at a friend's lan this weekend. Easily as much fun as playing any other of the traditional lan games for different reasons.

Afty

2nd April 2007, 16:20

True, but there must be a reason so many people play and keep on playing the game.The same reason people smoke and keep on smoking?

Mouse_On_Mars

2nd April 2007, 17:36

Rich, do you have anything new to bring to this discussion? We're all pretty clued up by now that you dislike WoW; there's no reason to carry on posting it over and over and over.

Rich

2nd April 2007, 17:44

No, just trying to drum it into peoples heads. I'm trying to save lives (and LANs) here.

bacardibatman

2nd April 2007, 17:48

ooooh i can see another song fray how to save a lan :D

kandy

2nd April 2007, 18:06

The same reason people smoke and keep on smoking?

The point I was trying to make is alot of people play it because it is fun and challenging, your straying into the WoW addict side really :p

Afty

2nd April 2007, 18:16

The point I was trying to make is alot of people play it because it is fun and challenging, your straying into the WoW addict side really :pThe "WoW addict side" is the side we are discussing in this thread... the casual players who can pick it up/put it down are far less of an issue at LANs.

kandy

2nd April 2007, 18:27

The "WoW addict side" is the side we are discussing in this thread... the casual players who can pick it up/put it down are far less of an issue at LANs.

Ok, but the hardcore are still a small minority. I can think of only a couple of people who spend the entire LAN playing WoW and alot more casual players that would be annoyed if it was banned outright.

WoW really is a life saver at 1-2am when alot of people are asleep also :)

tucool

2nd April 2007, 18:29

That might be the point but many people in this thread are tarring all WoW players with the same brush.

We arnt all addicts, I can happily go weeks without WoW... but right now Im enjoying playing it so why should I stop just because others think its lame?
I smoke, Im addicted to that... I game... im not addicted to it!

Ive been playing CSS more than WoW recently, when I come down to Newbury I/guys Im sitting with wont be playing much wow we will be enjoying other games, pub, xbox, pub quiz just like everyone else.

So what Im gonna say is, if you're a 'WoW hater' then its OK to voice your opinion but at least drop some facts into your posts instead of mass generalising us all.

There are games I dont like (take Q3) I hate Quake, but I gave it a chance and didnt moan at others for playing it. OK its not a LAN killer, but neither is WoW in small doses.

If you dont like WoW... dont play it! Anyway back to the OP I think it was generally accepted that online games can ruin the atmosphere of smaller LANS, but dont make a dent on larger ones...

Personally Im sick of feeling I have to justify to people why I play WoW... just look at my Xfire profile, you will see ive played just as much BF2, CoD2 and CSS as I have wow... does that make me a FPS player or a WoW geek?