Saturday Night Gaming

LAN Party Etiquette

Here are some suggested rules of etiquette you might want to spread around before the LAN party begins:

• Be conscious of space limitations. If you have a 17-inch LCD and a 21-inch CRT beast, bring the smaller one. It might not be as impressive, and it might not give you the greatest gaming experience possible, but your neighbors will thank you for being so considerate.

• Don't bring alcoholic beverages. LAN parties can disintegrate into drunken schmooze fests if everybody gets tipsy during the festivities. Worse, alcohol tends to bring out the worst in people, causing them to become hyper-competitive and condescending to other players.

• Be kind to players who are new to a given game or to LAN fests in general. You were a "newbie" once. Give advice when requested, and be patient.

• Be very careful around open beverages. The equipment you destroy may not be your own. Some LAN parties have separate tables for food and drink and insist that you do not keep open cans, bottles or glasses near the computers. It's not uncommon for someone to spill a Coke into his or her keyboard.

• Make sure your PC is virus-free before connecting to the LAN, and have an antivirus program running and up to date. If your computer is patient zero in an infestation of a LAN-aware virus, don't expect anybody to be very understanding.

• Do not cheat. Do not use hacks, cheats or other questionable code, and don't look at other people's monitors while playing. Cheating of any type will not be tolerated, and you may be asked to leave if you're caught.

• Use default skins, textures, sprays and so on, unless the host specifies that you may use custom versions.

• Be a good sport. Don't whine if you lose, don't accuse everyone who's better than you of cheating, and don't holler and swear.

• Be prepared to listen to and obey those in charge. If you cannot subordinate to the party hosts, don't bother showing up.

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