LAN GAMING
Derek Schatz
The thing I love about gaming is that you can do it LANing with other players and friends. This whole process only works for multiplayer games and in my opinion is better for FPS (First Person Shooters) but it works for any multiplayer game. LAN (Local Area Network) is when you connect multiple gaming counsels to each other using Ethernet cords. If you want to get more than 2 gaming counsels to play you would need a router that has enough available ports and you would need a single Ethernet cord for every counsel playing. On LAN you don’t need internet at all you just need gaming counsels connected to each other to play competitively. Most people play online competitively and when your online you’re farther away from people you’re playing and you’re hooking up through internet so it is much slower. If you’re playing a sports game it shouldn’t make much of a difference switching from online to LAN. But playing Shooters switching from online to LAN is much different and it’s a whole different game style in my eyes.
When you play a competitive game like Halo, and you want to be good at it, the more time you need to practice on LAN because when it comes down to playing at tournaments or even just to prove a friend wrong LAN is where it all goes down. I just recently had a Halo LAN at my house this past weekend and we had 8 people playing 4on4 against each other. It gets pretty intense when everyone is trying to call out where the opposing team is and every one trash talking after they kill someone! That’s the aspect I love about LAN because you’re around other people and you can trash talk all you want until someone shows you wrong.
Switched Ethernet is the most common Data Link Layer and Physical Layer implement for local area networks. At the higher layers, the Internet Protocol TCP or IP has become the standard. Smaller LANs generally consist of one or more switches linked to each other, often at least one is connected to a router, cable modem, or ADSL modem for Internet access. Larger LANs are characterized by their use of links with switches using the spanning tree protocol to prevent loops, their ability to manage differing traffic types through quality of service, and to navigate traffic with VLANs. Larger LANs also contain a wide variety of network devices such as switches, firewalls, routers, load balancers, and sensors. LANs may have connections with other LANs via leased lines, leased services, or by tunneling across the Internet using virtual private network technologies. Depending on how the connections are established and secured in a LAN, and the distance involved, a LAN may also be classified as metropolitan area network (MAN) or wide area networks (WAN) Network topology describes the layout pattern of connections between devices and network segments. The most common topology types are bus, ring, star, bus-star composite and mesh.
All around if you want to be good at something, you have to put in time and do it a lot. For me it’s Halo and I’ve wasted summers playing this game and the majority of my life dedicated to playing competitively. Even though you can’t LAN every day, I still put in a lot of hours playing online just to keep playing and learn new things about the game and play with others like me around the world. A lot of (Halo Pro’s) get sponsored by big label companies like (Dr. Pepper, NOS energy drink, BiC, Old Spice, Gunnar Optics, etc) because they are placing well at MLG (Major League Gaming) tournaments. Major League Gaming (MLG), founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso, is a North American professional videogame league, headquartered in New York City, New York. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the United States and Canada. Major League Gaming competitions have been broadcast on television, ESPN.com, other broadband sites, and via mobile distribution. The company has also been involved in television production, game development and product licensing operations through MLG Properties and through MLG Management. MLG's aim is to elevate computer and console game tournaments to viable competitive and spectator events. The MLG Pro Circuit roster currently includes Halo Reach for the Xbox 360 and Starcraft II for the PC. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 for the PlayStation 3. All of these tournaments also have prizes. For example if your team takes 1st place at a tournament for Halo Reach the prize is $20,000 for you and your four teammates, 2nd place is $14,000, all top 8 teams get cash prize and the top 32 teams are considered “pro” and have “pro status” throughout the rest of the events. After all 5 events/tournaments are over MLG hosts a “National Championship” each year and if your team takes 1st in halo reach the prize is $100,000! I say halo reach prizes, because it has more money than any other game involved in MLG even though your winning a lot for games like Starcraft and MW2 just not as much as Halo because it’s the most played game.
The idea of playing online, talking to other gamers through a headset, dealing with lag and grief, is simply unappealing. I realize I’m also missing out on some potentially great experiences. It all comes down to simple time budgeting: how much time I have for gaming, versus work, versus family life versus other interests. There are people out there that game for a living and get paid doing it, and that’s why I do it! Because I want to be one of those guys who gets paid to play video games and to show the people who have said “ive just wasted my life playing all the time” that it will soon pay off and ill enjoy my career as a professional video game player!
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