Due to the recent kotaku story on the official word that Blizzard will not contain LAN at all, it left people divided on wether LAN is still important or not.  We now have the internet where everyone can simply log on and play with each other, without the need for moving hardware and having to set up an overly complicated local network. 

The anti-LAN supporters pretty much do not mind this, but then again this may not affect the mindset of the mainstream player or the hardcore solo player who buys the game just to play single player or to play with others online without any interaction with anybody in a local setting.  But there are also large groups of people that do not mind the hassle, and enjoy hearing people in real life get pissed that they got sniped in the head for the 42nd time, or that they just bot ganged up by the entire opposing force in DOTA, or cheer as someone pulls off an entire team kill in an FPS.  It's that feeling that everyone is in a community of people that love to have fun competitively and cooperately, and is something that is often missed in Internet games.  Sure you can recreate some of that thanks to more games incorporating mic support in games (something that more games in general should support), but for what I see, when alone people don't get excited enough about the situation in hand.

 I can assure you, the reader, that when a person plays a game and achieves something in it, the person is near emotionless of it.  It is the total opposite of what the reaction would be if friends were around.  In my case, if I finish a race just in the nick of time with some mates locally, I would feel relief for making that, and an uproar of "Awesome" and "Oh that's bullshit" would ensue shortly after, and it's an overall satisfying experience.  But in the house, i feel only a fraction of that emotional response.  It is the kind of look that makes parents of the older generation worry, as they see their sons or daughters not make any face changes, and play a game for the sake of playing a game.

Please understand that I am not saying everyone is like this, but it is apparent in a good portion of players around the world.  Other people are lucky and feel when they succeed or fail in a game, and others just don't plain like to involve themselves in LAN party gatherings as they still have the feeling that it is a geeky thing to do.  But be understanding dear reader, and I hope you realise that a lot of people still like to LAN and play with mates locally.  They sneak in a game at university computers so that they can all have fun whilst waiting for their next class to start.  They go to internet cafe's and have a ball duking it out in their favourite games.  Hell some people even organise their own LAN events and make people bring all their hardware to one location, just to do one thing - to hang out with each other, and have fun.

You can compare this situation to card games and online card games.  Online card games are fun, but not as much as when you have card buddies around with you.

Link about Starcraft 2 with no LAN here and in many other sites by now: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/06/no-lan-play-for-starcraft-ii/

Due to the recent kotaku story on the official word that Blizzard will not contain LAN at all, it left people divided on wether LAN is still important or not.  We now have the internet where everyone can simply log on and play with each other, without the need for moving hardware and having to set up an overly complicated local network. 

The anti-LAN supporters pretty much do not mind this, but then again this may not affect the mindset of the mainstream player or the hardcore solo player who buys the game just to play single player or to play with others online without any interaction with anybody in a local setting.  But there are also large groups of people that do not mind the hassle, and enjoy hearing people in real life get pissed that they got sniped in the head for the 42nd time, or that they just bot ganged up by the entire opposing force in DOTA, or cheer as someone pulls off an entire team kill in an FPS.  It's that feeling that everyone is in a community of people that love to have fun competitively and cooperately, and is something that is often missed in Internet games.  Sure you can recreate some of that thanks to more games incorporating mic support in games (something that more games in general should support), but for what I see, when alone people don't get excited enough about the situation in hand.

 I can assure you, the reader, that when a person plays a game and achieves something in it, the person is near emotionless of it.  It is the total opposite of what the reaction would be if friends were around.  In my case, if I finish a race just in the nick of time with some mates locally, I would feel relief for making that, and an uproar of "Awesome" and "Oh that's bullshit" would ensue shortly after, and it's an overall satisfying experience.  But in the house, i feel only a fraction of that emotional response.  It is the kind of look that makes parents of the older generation worry, as they see their sons or daughters not make any face changes, and play a game for the sake of playing a game.

Please understand that I am not saying everyone is like this, but it is apparent in a good portion of players around the world.  Other people are lucky and feel when they succeed or fail in a game, and others just don't plain like to involve themselves in LAN party gatherings as they still have the feeling that it is a geeky thing to do.  But be understanding dear reader, and I hope you realise that a lot of people still like to LAN and play with mates locally.  They sneak in a game at university computers so that they can all have fun whilst waiting for their next class to start.  They go to internet cafe's and have a ball duking it out in their favourite games.  Hell some people even organise their own LAN events and make people bring all their hardware to one location, just to do one thing - to hang out with each other, and have fun.

You can compare this situation to card games and online card games.  Online card games are fun, but not as much as when you have card buddies around with you.

Link about Starcraft 2 with no LAN here and in many other sites by now: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/06/no-lan-play-for-starcraft-ii/

I'm one of those who want to sit with a group of people in a basement, yelling and screaming with and at other players, rather then just connecting through internet. The same reason why i still enjoy playing video games more than PC games. It brings back that old-school feeling in me. And also it's much more social gaming.

the only reason there is no lan, is to stop people from using that service to play throught the internet without paying the game. lan is still important.

" I'm one of those who want to sit with a group of people in a basement, yelling and screaming with and at other players, rather then just connecting through internet. The same reason why i still enjoy playing video games more than PC games. It brings back that old-school feeling in me. And also it's much more social gaming. "

unfortunatley the copyright issue is probably the reason behind the exclusion of LAN support.

Although I havent played many lan games of recent I do still think it is the best multiplayer experieince, and with the arrival of high end gaming laptops takes the hassle out of the equations.

I dont think LAN gaming will go away, may get smaller, but wont disapear.

And Im sure someone will either hack starcraft to support LAN, or create a third party tool to trick the game into thinking its playing lan when infact its not.


But remember, just because it doesnt support lan,  techniclly it does, its not gonna stop people playing lan games together in the same room,  the room just needs to have internet access is all.

" @MythDarK said:

" I'm one of those who want to sit with a group of people in a basement, yelling and screaming with and at other players, rather then just connecting through internet. The same reason why i still enjoy playing video games more than PC games. It brings back that old-school feeling in me. And also it's much more social gaming. "

That is very interesting to hear, as I loved game consoles a while back like the Xbox, as lanning with 2 xboxes or more with up to 8 to 16 other guys in split-screen action.  Back then no one complained about screen size, as it was just enough to make things visible (depends on the screens you use of course), and still go crazy with team tactics.  Also team games where entire teams are sent to different sides of the room or seperated by a wall would be a lot of fun as well, and it was so convenient.Nowadays developers have dropped that, and I honestly wonder why.  Unless it was a method that made games toughter to run on consoles, I find it disappointing that all of a sudden that feature too is virtually non-existant.  It's a shame when features like these come and go. "

Never been in a situation where I could LAN except at my Dad's office with Unreal.

Lan with friends is really fun.

" The reason more dev are dropping split screen is because the would need to drop graphical quality in games to be able to create the additional views, and when the single player mode uses the console 100% it makes it very dificult for them to cope with 4 player split screen. "

" unfortunatley the copyright issue is probably the reason behind the exclusion of LAN support.
Although I havent played many lan games of recent I do still think it is the best multiplayer experieince, and with the arrival of high end gaming laptops takes the hassle out of the equations.
I dont think LAN gaming will go away, may get smaller, but wont disapear.And Im sure someone will either hack starcraft to support LAN, or create a third party tool to trick the game into thinking its playing lan when infact its not.
But remember, just because it doesnt support lan,  techniclly it does, its not gonna stop people playing lan games together in the same room,  the room just needs to have internet access is all. "

I agree that it is still kicking. It is also still the best multiplayer experience one can have. I haven't done a lot of it recently but my past experiences of hosting 10-20 people LANs numerous years ago, will stick in my mind forever. There's nothing quite like it.

That being said...any lack of LAN support which I don't really like, isn't the end of the world anymore. With a good internet connection people in the same room can still create a multiplayer experience that can bring out the same emotions. I have done that more recently and it does work. Sometimes it could be even easier, without the struggle of setting up the LAN in the first place. Not that, that is too difficult anymore.

That really sucks. I mean, I really like lan, a lot more than I like online. I used to play Warcraft 3 on lan all the time, and Halo on lan at school with my friends, and that was awesome. But then again, I'm out of school  now, and the only place to go now is Lan centers, where we could just as easily hook up to the internet and play private games. It will make things a little more complicated for dudes in their basement, but there are ways around it I suppose.