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/