Recently I've been getting quite a number of emails from people asking me for help and suggestions in setting up a big LAN party. They run along the "I'm planning on having a 50 player party in 2 weeks.... Any advice?"

Here's the answers to a few of the most common questions I get asked:

1) How much time can something like this really take to plan and set up? Two, three hours??

I actually had one moron (*cough*[xeno]Emplate*cough*) inform me last year that a large LAN should take no more than a few hours of planning. I offered him $100/hour for the work if he could pull it off. He never got back to me for some reason. I hate the clueless.

It takes an incredible amount of work to pull a large event off, don't be fooled or get into it lightly. You need to talk to potential sponsors, arrange for the location, signage, advertisement/publicity, create a web site, arrange the tournaments (If you want to get people to pay, you'd better have a chance for them to win some good swag!), worry about the little details like clean up, setup, registration, transportation, sponsorship and acquisition of equipment, cable and servers.... etc etc... And of course the little things. (Coffee? Do we provide cables? Powerbars? Internet access? Can we provide Interac/Visa etc for people who don't bring cash.. Are we going to run a snack bar? Smoking area? Insurance?) As the organizer, it's your name and reputation on the line if everything goes to hell. So make sure it doesn't, or no one is going to like you very much.... Oh, and if you have another event you're not likely to get people out to it.

Sometimes it seems like the works is endless, and it can be very, very frustrating.... It's also something you have to get done and can't just put off....... or the day comes and it's quite a shock to realize you aren't prepared.

I start planning for a big LAN at least 6 months in advance, and you tend to spend at least an hour or so a day planning it, with much more time spent in the last few weeks before as you get into panic mode and start working like a maniac. :)

For the actual setup, you go until it's done. You've got until people start walking in the door to get everything up and running. Generally give yourself at least one day. This year's party took our crew approximately 19 hours to set everything up, get the network and servers tested, run all the cabling, setup tables and chairs etc. It's one HELL of alota of work. And that's not counting the building/initial testing of the servers, collecting all the gear etc. We spent a day the week before setting the network up in a different location and testing it all.... Including testing something like 200 network cables for faults. At the actual setup, we realized that we might not have enough power for our requirements, so 4 of us stayed until 2:30am to make sure we were not going to have any blackouts. (We had to be back at the club for 7:00am for signups.) Dedication is paramount, and you have to be able to stick it out.

2) How do I get sponsorships?

You ask. Nicely. A billion times to a billion companies. One or two of them will express interest. One thing I found a big help was checking other LAN sites. If a company sponsored party X they might just be willing to help you out. Having business contacts also helps. Startech and Dlink were a huge help with our networking equipment this year and last. (The 2001 party ran almost completely on Dlink 10/100 switched hubs... can you say pings of 9?) We resell for both of these companies, and I think that helps one hell of a lot. They know we're not just a bunch of punk kids out to scam some free equipment, we're serious business people as well as gamers. Many companies have been burned by scams too many times and are now very cautious about sending out valuable equipment and prizes.

Have a nice little letter put together to send to people, but call them first. I've found that talking to an actual person is much likelier to get you some help than an email. It shows again that you're taking the time to do this thing, and you're willing to spend a little money on a phone call. If you can't afford to spend a few dollars on long distance phone calls, you can't afford to stage a big LAN.

Having a good and established web site also helps to show potential sponsors that you're serious about this entire venture. If you're willing to spend the time to design and implement a sharp site, chances are you're willing to go all the way with this thing.

3) Can I do this thing by myself?

Good luck if you want to try it bro. We'll put something nice on your tombstone. A big event is far too much work for one person to handle. Talk to a couple of your buddies and see if they're willing to help you out. If nothing else you can't run more than one tourney by yourself. You also need someone to maintain the website during the party (if you're going to do that.), handle registrations etc. Our break down of jobs for the 2001 party was this:

Registrations (2), Tourneys (2 people+per tourney+overall director), Website (1), General help a few others...... We use around 11 people for the FRAGtopia party, not counting the Quake III stuff which was taken care of by 5 of the Planet Quake staffers. That's 16 people for a party of 65 gamers. That's a decent size. If you're trying to do it by yourself. A) You WILL fail and B) You WILL kill yourself from the stress and running around.

4) How do I get equipment and servers?

Beg, buy, borrow or steal whatever you can. Your buddies' extra linux boxes can be game servers, as can that little pile of parts from your last major upgrade. As long as you have a few decent machines, you're set. For a smaller party you don't even need that. Most guys will just host listen servers and everyone else can play there. For tournament play you will need dedicated servers. I had 8 servers for the 2001 party, and we lost one to a power outage (Not sure what happened, but the servers lost power the night before the party, and the motherboard went in one of the machines. Another one refused to run stable for some unknown reason......(See, testing IS good!) Luckily we had others to back us up so we were fine. Rune and Chisel were nice enough to drag along an extra box each, which we put to good use.

If you have any friends who work for companies that happen to have large numbers of small server machines sitting around spare, have a chat with him.... You'd be amazed what you can get your hands on sometimes.

Sponsors are great as well. Talk to networking companies. As I'll mention elsewhere, Dlink and Startech provided us with amazing network performance this year. You're likely going to have to buy network cable, but that's only likely to run you a few hundred dollars at the most. Most big LANs don't even provide network cables for their attendees. We do, but it is just one more expense. (Everything adds up rather quickly.)

5) What should I look for in the way of location for my event?

The hardest thing you'll find is getting a place that can handle the power requirements for a big LAN. If you don't know anything about power take a look at the circuit breakers in the place. (If they have fuses don't even bother, go elsewhere.) You can run about 4-5 machines comfortably on a circuit. It's important to note that that is not per outlet... that's per circuit... So if the location has one breaker for 50 outlets, you've got a problem.... Most arenas are set up for tradeshows and such, and so have each outlet on a separate breaker. Power heaven for gamers baby.

Cost is also a factor. I found that there are only two places in town that meet our power requirements. The convention canter was also a contender, but was several thousand dollars to rent for the weekend, well out of our reach. If you know anyone who works or owns such a place you can usually get a good deal.... It's something to consider.

Oh yeah, and try to make sure the place is pretty presentable. Holding your LAN in a dark church basement or a location where making noise will be a problem isn't a good thing. You need a fairly dim place (Glare is bad.) where you can make all the noise you want into the wee hours of the night, and you have to have lots of power as well. It can be a little tricky but hunt around and you'll find a good location in your local area.

6) I'm going to be able to spend my time at the party gaming it up right?

Hah! So I thought. At the 2000 party I played exactly one 30 second Tribes duel at 2:30am on Saturday night. This year I did a little better, and got one 5 minute 1 on 1 Q3A game, and about 5-10 30 second Tribes 2 duels in. That's it. What with taking time to make sure everything is running smoothly, running around talking to people, answering questions etc you won't have any time. Trust me here. Don't expect to be doing much gaming, your job is to make sure everyone else has a good time and everything runs smoothly. It's pretty hard to sit down and concentrate on a 15 or 20 minute game when people are constantly looking for you, and you're all nervous that somewhere something horrible is going wrong.

Remember: This party is something that people are going to come from long distances to attend, and they're expecting to have a good time for all their hard earned money and effort. It is your job, and indeed your responsibility as an organizer to make sure they do have a good time, and if there's any problems you have to solve them quickly and to the best of your ability.

7) How do I get people to come to my party? Will my l33tness help?

No the fact that you are a l33t hax0r and have mad skillz won't get anyone to come to your party, nor will it impress anyone.

My best advice: Advertise. Word of mouth is your best friend, as are sites like bluesnews.com, lanparty.com and any other place you can put an advert or post in a message forum. Talk to teams and get them to come. If a few people see that some big name teams are attending, you'll get more people.

Go on IRC and start hitting all the really popular gaming channels. Talk to people from various news sites and see if they'd be nice enough to help you out with your pimping. Mention the party to ALL of your online and local buddies. Pass out flyers and talk to people at other LAN parties. Talk the party up on any gaming servers you are on.

Have a web site, and make it look decent. People aren't likely to attend if your party web site looks like it was designed by a 5 year old with a box of crayons. (Please note that the FRAGtopia site was actually designed by a 27 year old with a box of crayons. :)) Make it sharp, and keep it updated with info on how the planning is going, what you're thinking of doing etc. Ask people for their opinions and have forums working.

Prepare for disappointment if you don't get the turn out you expected. During the 2000 party we were setup for 200 people and got around 60. For the 2001 party we setup for 100 max and got around 65. Each year roughly 40 people signed up online and then never showed. (Grrrrrrr......) Don't be upset, and plan realistically. Don't waste money on silly expenses that don't have a really good chance of making you something back. (At the 2000 event we dropped $1,000 on event Tshirts. We sold a total of one. Argh!)

8) How much money can I expect to make on this thing?

At least a few thousand dollars, and maybe you can snag yourself some hot babes while you're at it. Oh, and I have a small Caribbean island just offa Florida I'd like to sell you.

Honestly you're not likely to make anything on a LAN party. On the other hand, if you plan correctly it's probably not going to cost you very much either... Maybe you'll even get back your pocket money. If you DO make money, let me know how you did it. :)

9) How much should I charge for admission?

Well, whatever you want you can charge. What people are willing to pay.. Well... That's a different story altogether...... I find that for a 2 day event people are willing to spend around $45 (Taxes included) Go over that you're not going to get many people willing to shell out. Especially if you don't have some killer swag and tourneys planned.

10) How much is this thing going to cost me?

Quite a bit, depending on what you're setting up for. Chairs, tables and the location rental alone can kill you. Figure that for a table & two chairs you're going to drop $10. (Delivery on said items is likely to be around $40) So if you're planning on 50 people + staffers you're likely going to need 30 tables at a minimum. That's $340+taxes.

You'll also be needing a few other things. Like a location. Our local curling club is pretty reasonable at $600 for the weekend. You can drop ALOT more if you're going to rent out a conference hall or a hotel. Coffee. Cups. Garbage bags (If not supplied by location.) Snacks and drinks for your staffers. Advertising (Don't bother with ads in the papers. Pass out flyers at other big LANs and work on online stuff.) Long distance phone calls to talk to potential sponsors. (Count on spending quite a bit on these ones.) RJ-45 Cables for your network. Internet access if you have to get a cable modem for a weekend. Extension cords (These just killed us last year.), power bars........It's always the little things that kill you, so sit down and do a budget up. Figure out all the things you're going to need, and which of them you will have to buy. Make a list and check it twice. If you think of anything else, add it.

You're going to have to put down a deposit of some sort on this stuff, so make sure you have a coupla hundred bucks set aside for that.

It'll also cost you a great deal of grey hair and time. Trust me here.

11) How did you get your alias, Marauder?

Ahhhh. That's a story for another article, grasshopper.

12) I need help. Who can I ask?

Well, a good place to start is talking to other people who've done LANs. They've been there and done that, and can give you advice on what to look for, and what to avoid. They may be able to point you to sponsor contacts, or give you some ideas based on their expedience. I personally have no objections to giving out bad advice...... Just ask! :)

Another excellent source is any of the LAN party web sites like planetlan.com or lanparty.com. They've got tons of advice for folks just starting up, and help for those who're just looking for some tips and pointers.

13) Sooooooo...... Is it worth it?

Well it depends on what you mean here. Is it worth it financially? Hell no. (See number 8 & 10) I think that setting a LAN up actually IS worth it. Why? I like to see people have a good time, and there's nothing like sitting at the front of a LAN party you've organized during a quiet moment and watching dozens of people sitting at their machines fragging happily away and yelling back and forth. I really, really enjoy seeing people having a good time, and that just makes my day... I think we did pretty well with the 2001 party, everyone seemed to have a good time and I've gotten a ton of nice ICQs and emails...........

So... Yes... In the end it was worth it, for me anyhows....... :)

Now, all of the above said... If you're getting together with a couple friends (Up to 20) all you really need is a basement with a few power circuits, a few medium sized hubs and your buds. Smaller LANs can be just as much fun and are one HELL of a lot less work.... And yes.. You do get to play at smaller events. :))

Hope that this babbeling helped out those of you who are thinking of starting a big LAN. If you need a hand or have any questions, just email me and I'll do what I can. The most important thing to do when you are planning your LAN is simply this:

Be determined and organized.

Start there and you can't fail.

Marauder out.