| Computers, the most advanced communication tool that humankind has ever managed to create, have the ability to instantly send messages from one part of the world to the next, to translate thousands of words from one language to another in mere seconds, and to create a more global community based on communication and knowledge for the masses.
And yet there are still those of us who only use them to virtually kick the crap out of our neighbours.
Scene one: Bird’s-eye view of an indoor sports arena. Figures move in dim light, their shadows dancing in the flicker of multicoloured screens as they travel across the floor, stepping over the bundles of criss-crossed cables that twine from one group of tables to the next. The sound of gunfire mixes with the clang of swords beating on each other. In the background, human voices curse and compliment each other in the same breath.
The sound of electronic feedback suddenly fills the dusty air as a microphone is switched on. A voice comes booming through the sound system: "All right everyone, welcome to LANageddon 2005!"
And so it began on Friday, March 11, the fifth annual LANageddon weekend event at the Bowness Sportsplex. LANageddon is Calgary's largest computer gaming event – people from all over western North America came to take part in the Local Area Network, or LAN. A LAN refers to several computers hooked up together through a server, which enables them to communicate with each other directly. And over this connection you can share files, send messages and, most importantly, play networked games.
From older games, including Starcraft and Flatout, to the hottest new games, like World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 2004, the choices of what to play and who to play it with were overwhelming. The group is predominantly male with a handful of females, and ranges from the late teens to middle age. Gamers chat both verbally and through text, their eyes fixed upon their various screens.
"We have enough infrastructure for 350-plus people," says Tavis Settles, the head network administrator.
The computers include everything from small, compact laptops to huge, complex desktop computers, and a look of pride comes over players who get the opportunity to show off their custom-built machines.
"A LAN nowadays is like an old car show – you take a car out and shine it up," says Settles, adding that he saw a computer the owner priced as worth over $25,000. "There is some amazing artwork that some of these kids do to their computers."
Settles and a group of 10 volunteer staff spent a large portion of the last month getting ready for the LAN. "It takes three or four weeks of hard-core prep to get it pulled off," he says.
The requirements for staging such an event vary from setting up a network and power plan able to sustain more than 200 computers, to making deals with local merchants to provide prizes for tournaments and electronics for the infrastructure. For example, Shaw donated 10 cable modems to the event.
"Our infrastructure was just about flawless," says Settles, giving a nod of congratulations to his "Power King" Ryan Schoffer. "Every year we’ve improved something, somehow – this year we had a major improvement on the network side. Powering has gotten to the point that it’s rock solid."
LANageddon received an unexpected boost this year when computer giant Microsoft came on board as a sponsor.
"It kind of blindsided us," says Settles, explaining that he was slightly surprised that such a large company would take an interest in a relatively unknown LAN event. But they weren’t the only unexpected sponsors.
"I love gaming," says Bruce Klock, one of the partners of Canadian Rockies Rafting (CRR), which donated free rafting trips down the Kicking Horse River. "And what the hell – anything to get your name out there."
Klock and a group from CRR came to LANageddon with their own group of gamers, or "clan," called Rafting.ca.
"More is better in terms of the gaming community – the more guys that can play the more games that can be played," says Klock.
Final Scene: The third day of LANageddon comes to a close. The gamers stretch and yawn, some standing up from the sleeping bags they brought to catch a brief nap between one tournament and the next. The final hours of the event are spent quickly finishing any file-sharing or playing one-on-one games. Then the computers start to get packed up, and the sound of computer fans buzzing slowly fades out while the screens that lit the dim room for the last 40 hours are replaced by shadows that spread to fill the empty spaces.
Another LANageddon come and gone, another year to pass until the next. Some gamers are already looking forward to the upcoming Fragapalooza in Edmonton this July, the largest LAN in Western Canada with upwards of 1,000 attendees. The remainder only care about getting home and getting some much-needed rest. |
Copyright ©2005 FFWD. All rights reserved.