Planning a large LAN party

**golfcart** · November 24th, 2003, 11:43 PM

Anybody have any tips on planning a large lan party?
We have been debating on throwing a party for up to 50 or more people. I'm looking for any ideas that might help stop unforseen problems that could occur. I'm looking for answers to these questions and anything else that might help out.

How much electrical power?
How much internet bandwidth?
How to enforce antivirus policies?
How to organize games?
How to handle tech support?

And many more questions that keep running through my head

Any pointers would be great

I've hosted many small(dozen people) lan parties and sometimes it's more work than it's worth. Anybody who has been to a large party, please share any info that helped make it a good experience. Thanks

**Martoch** · November 24th, 2003, 11:45 PM

I still have yet to go to a LAN party, large or small...

Hey, can I be a bouncer at yours?!?!

**golfcart** · November 24th, 2003, 11:47 PM

Sure. I will scratch "security" off the list

**GroundZero3** · November 24th, 2003, 11:48 PM

http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/howtolanparty/

will this cost?
if so how much?
age restrictions? (if under 18 should have parent premission forms)
no alclohol or drugs of any sort
antivirus is basically up to the person who goes. you shouldnt be responsible for there virus problems
express your concerns of file sharing (its going to happen either way :P)

to organize the games you should have several servers set up for people to play right off the start.
have tables, will you provide chairs?
sleeping area?
Have switches!

**Gomer** · November 24th, 2003, 11:48 PM

50 people is going to tax the electrical supply of a house.

**Martoch** · November 24th, 2003, 11:52 PM

Great link GZ!

Originally posted by GroundZero3

no alclohol of any sort

BOOOO!!! Does that include security?

**golfcart** · November 24th, 2003, 11:57 PM

Thanks for the link and ideas GZ

Don't worry Gomer, we plan on renting a hall or something of that nature. Should only be an hour or so from you. I will let you know if and when it happens

**Gomer** · November 24th, 2003, 11:58 PM

ooooooooooo a LAN party... everyone frag the noob or something like that... I can hear it now =)

**phenious** · November 25th, 2003, 02:26 AM

Martoch... NO LAN PARTIES!?!?!?!? Jeeeeze I gotta save you from your self... how far are you from Orlando?

-: phenious :-

**Bob The Great** · November 25th, 2003, 02:47 AM

For a party that big probably staying away from DHCP would be a good idea. Asign nametags (hello, I'm), and IP's at the door.

I'd also look into hotel confrence rooms for the LAN party. You can usually get 35+ people and PC's into a confrence room. It'll cost around $130, but is well worth it IMO. They usually have tables and chairs, plus great AC which can be a major plus (bring a fan or two as well cause even with AC at full it can get hot). Plus most hotels have half way decent connections. DSL, Cable etc that you can use. Sometimes for free if you promise to only use it to get patches.

Food is another major thing. I'd suggest a cover price of $15 per person. At 50 people thats $750. That pays for the room, and 20 or so pizza's, a big old hub or 2, snacks, and sodas.

Buy extra lan cables, and bring powercords as inevitablly someone will forget theres. If you have the money try having some prizes for tourneys or just door prizes. Local PC shops have been EXTRELMLY generous in donating cases, fans, mouse pads, lights etc to our cause. See if you can work something like that up.

**cysus** · November 25th, 2003, 02:56 AM

No LAN is complete without energy drinks and a fridge full of soda. All the ones I had I filled my "soda" fridge to the top. It was so beautiful, a solid wall.

**skuz** · November 25th, 2003, 11:15 PM

We don't allow alcohol at ours, none of our gamers has a problem with that.

Electricity ? We never checked, unless a breaker failed.

Viruses, again we never check, unless somebody asks to be scanned before connecting.

Our LANs are offline, so that everyone play the games, not chat (why are you in a LAN party if all you do is chat ?).

Organize games, that's quite up to you. When a few people want to play a game others don't they do when the others are asleep.

Tech support : that's annoying. Probably one guy will waste the first 2 hours helping those who have no clue and knew before coming that their computer didn't work right.

**MDS** · November 25th, 2003, 11:35 PM

maybe contact Michael or SteveS from directron as they had some huge lan parties. operation lan

**Mike** · November 26th, 2003, 12:19 AM

http://www.lanparty.com/ Video game energy drink? Bawls! They even fund a lot of major LAN parties.

Assigning name tags isn't a bad idea, but it shouldn't be a requirement. Also, see if you can rent a hall from a local university or something. That's what: http://www.mpcon.org does.