LAN parties became really popular during the dial-up era as folks sought out the low latency of a local network and the chance to sit around each other while you beat-up on each other in whatever the game at the time was. Widespread broadband did put a bit of a damper on it in the sense it helped weed out the less-serious gamers or those who were good at dying. But LAN was so much more than winning or losing, it was the relationships that developed because you actually did have personal interaction with other gamers.

I suppose there are a number of reasons why times of changed - I'm older, tire more easy, the current crop of FPS games suck (just say "no" to spreading crosshairs), game developers care more about reaching full market potential through cross-platform development rather than creating a best-of-class PC gaming experience. But all of those issues pale in comparison to the phenomenon that is World of Warcraft.

Since its release over a couple years ago, WoW has managed to grow into the most widely played MMORPG of all time and completely dwarfs its competition. Over 8-million subscribers have paved the way for what is now the ultra-cash-cow for Blizzard Entertainment and its parent company, Vivendi Universal.

Before you start foaming at the mouth, you need to know that I too have conquered Azeroth and most of Outland with a couple lvl70 "toons". I've witnessed first-hand the depravity in which so many WoW gamers find themselves - finding ways to justify losing bits of their life everyday in the hunt for "better loot".

This huge success has unfortunately had a bleed-over effect into the other facets of PC gaming; namely the local LAN event. Call me "out of touch" or "not with the times", but the past few LAN events I've been to have ALWAYS had some schmuck firing up his WoW account and start playing it. Does it strike anyone else as ultra-lame to do that to your buddies? After all, being an online-only game anyway, you can easily play it from the comfort of home - there is no smack-talk going on when trolling through Blackwing Lair or Gruul's lair at lvl70 and the only thing you're worried about is getting out alive in order to get more loot.

Ya see, because Blizzard's formula for success rides heavily on it owning the lives of those who really do need to get out more, everything (purposefully) takes forever and a day to accomplish, therefore, it's not too surprising that so many of its addicts will fire it up whenever a broadband connection is available. Additionally, applications like Teamspeak and Ventrilo have made it possible to commence with the live, verbal communication in real-time.

It's a shame that folks now put virtual loot above real comradery, above interaction with live people around you. I believe WoW players are generally mindless sheep who get caught-up into the whole community aspect of the game and therefore will willingly submit the best years of the their lives in an effort to save Azeroth and Outland.

Yes, Blizzard has single-handedly helped kill off LAN events - at least for the foreseeable future - until someone can convince the "black helicopters" to go and take out the facilities that house their servers. What we have here folks is a battle for the hearts and minds of computer geeks everywhere who got their first taste of fragging action on a LAN - a battle for what's good and right in PC gaming.

If you’re lucky enough to find a LAN event near you – I’d encourage you to go to it and support this endangered species by playing some good FPS or RTS games. And if there’s a moron there dumb enough to fire-up WoW, please do the rest of us a huge favor and beat the livin’ snot out of him – if on principle alone. It’s folks like him that help Blizzard in its ultimate quest of worldwide dominance of gamers everywhere.

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