paying for PC gaming

[vivinator]

I can't seem to find any locations near me where one can pay to go to a place with a bunch of PCs where people can go to LAN or play single. Used to be one near me. Live between Baltimore and DC closer to Baltimore. Anyone know of any? Specifically live in Ellicott City, MD.

 

[digitaldurandal]

I can't seem to find any locations near me where one can pay to go to a place with a bunch of PCs where people can go to LAN or play single. Used to be one near me. Live between Baltimore and DC closer to Baltimore. Anyone know of any? Specifically live in Ellicott City, MD.

In America, with perhaps an exclusion for large college towns, LAN centers do not tend to do very well. Most people that want to play PC games own a PC that can do so here.

I regret that the ones here have closed down, but mostly people there only played WOW anyways.

Good luck finding one.

 

[shortylickens]

Wifi and internet have killed the old-fashioned LAN party. In fact some newer games like Starcraft 2 dont even support LAN play.
I miss the good old days.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

There was one in a mall in where I once lived liked 5 years ago. Died a pretty quick death, but they were way too expensive to ever make it.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Yep.. They only lasted for a while in that small window where online gaming was taking off, but nobody had broadband and you need to go somewhere that had a MASSIVE t1 line. As soon as dsl/cable hit, it was game over.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

lan centers are increasingly rare, but lan tournaments have really taken off. there used to be only 1 lan here in CO a year(intel lanfest) now there are 5-6 annually with prizes....I never ever go to them though....

 

[Bateluer]

Wifi and internet have killed the old-fashioned LAN party. In fact some newer games like Starcraft 2 dont even support LAN play.
I miss the good old days.

Never been able to game well over WiFi, connection is always laggy as fvck, unplayable. But the Internet has really killed the LAN Party. Nobody wants to lug their machines to a basement and game for a day. That requires a shower, pants, a drive, and some manual labor for moving the PC. Also, you have to convince other people to do the same thing.

 

[shortylickens]

Never been able to game well over WiFi, connection is always laggy as fvck, unplayable. But the Internet has really killed the LAN Party. Nobody wants to lug their machines to a basement and game for a day. That requires a shower, pants, a drive, and some manual labor for moving the PC. Also, you have to convince other people to do the same thing.

I shower everyday, even if I dont hit the gym. Which I do, more and more frequently.
Maybe I am the reason LAN's died.

 

[zerocool84]

Yup pretty much no reason for businesses to invest in them like they used to. There's still many near me but nothing like they used to be in their golden age.

 

[Childs]

There is one a couple blocks from where I live and the machines are ancient. If their machines are not better than what I have, why would I pay to use theirs? And with basic DSL being like $13 for 1.5Mbps, a few hours at a lan center would pay for your broadband for the month.

 

[Rifter]

There is one a couple blocks from where I live and the machines are ancient. If their machines are not better than what I have, why would I pay to use theirs? And with basic DSL being like $13 for 1.5Mbps, a few hours at a lan center would pay for your broadband for the month.

This x 1 billion

I would only pay to use a PC better than mine, and since im running a i7 @ 4.2Ghz and SLI OC'ed 460's im screwed. I've never seen a LAN center with better hardware than me.

 

[Avogadro]

Better PC or not, no LAN center can compete with my house having a kitchen full of snacks, and a fridge full of beer, about 30 feet away from my computer desk.

 

[Rifter]

Better PC or not, no LAN center can compete with my house having a kitchen full of snacks, and a fridge full of beer, about 30 feet away from my computer desk.

Thats also a good point!

 

[RavenSEAL]

A couple of places that were around here that i used to visit to play BF2 back in the days when i was running around in a Dell went under very quickly, they didn't hang around for more than maybe 6 months. Owner was a pretty cool guy. LAN is dead.

 

[taltamir]

I can't seem to find any locations near me where one can pay to go to a place with a bunch of PCs where people can go to LAN or play single. Used to be one near me. Live between Baltimore and DC closer to Baltimore. Anyone know of any? Specifically live in Ellicott City, MD.

I swear I thought this was going to be a discussion about piracy

Anyways, the type of business model you describe is dead, gone and buried. Like the horse and buggy industry, its time has come, they all closed down. There is simply no reason for customers to use them nowadays.

 

[SonicIce]

it's a shame because i had a blast at the lan parties i've been to

 

[zerocool84]

it's a shame because i had a blast at the lan parties i've been to

They were coll but having to lug around a heavy ass computer+monitor+accessories was a huge pain. I'm glad they're dead.

 

[taltamir]

it's a shame because i had a blast at the lan parties i've been to

you can still have lan parties. The "pay us X$/hr to play our game on our computers" model is dead... but lugging your own PC to a lan party is a pass time no different than any other party... well, ok, maybe a bit different then a BYOB party in a frathouse. Its just a party rather then a business...

although, to be honest I was never much for those either... much rather use the internet.

 

[frozentundra123456]

What games allow LAN play these days? Dont most games require a separate copy of the game for each player and for them to connect through an internet server?

The only modern game that I have played LAN on is Borderlands. That game is a blast by the way.

 

[TridenT]

Never been able to game well over WiFi, connection is always laggy as fvck, unplayable. But the Internet has really killed the LAN Party. Nobody wants to lug their machines to a basement and game for a day. That requires a shower, pants, a drive, and some manual labor for moving the PC. Also, you have to convince other people to do the same thing.

You must have had a shitty setup then... I've played over wifi before and I did completely fine. I'm pretty anal about my lag too.