LlamaLAN

Der Management hope that your winter break left you rested and well gamed and that LlamaCHRISTMAS brought you all the gaming goodies you wanted. But with the new year come a new resolution ... mine is 1080p!

LlamaLAN events are a community, albeit a community overseen by a benign dictator or patrician in the form of 'der Management.

We have a few ideas for the next theme and we'd love to hear what you have to say.

We at LlamaLAN HQ love our science fiction and above all our big stompy robots, with that it mind we have a few games that have attracted our interest. Some we would love because they fit the theme so beautifully, but technical reasons would prevent them.

If you have any thoughts for the next event, they must pass a few simple sanity checks ...
1. They should at least superficially reflect the theme, although anyone who knows how 'der Management's mind works will know that shoehorning good games to fit themes can easily be achieved
2. They must work over a LAN and with little or no Internet bandwidth, preferably with a dedicated server
3. They above all must be fun
4. The need to be easily available, still on sale, free to play or cheap enough so that matching team sizes wont present huge obstacles
5. See point number 3

Here are a few of our ideas from a recent brainstorming session, which may not follow the rules above, but are there to inspire discussion ...

MechWarrior 4 ... stompy goodness
Titanfall ... stompy goodness with parkour
Battlefield 2142 ... team based stompy goodness
MechCommander 2 ... RTS stompy goodness
Jedi Knight 2 ... swishy lightsaber 1v1 duelling
Halo Reach or 4 ... classic console team shooter

... so does that inspire you to suggest more? Then speak now or forever hold your peace, the games list will always give us a good fall back position, but now is a chance to shape the next event.

We have had some great games over the years, games that inspire fond memories, games that make us want to go back and do it all again, games that get the pulse racing. Personal memories include nail-biting-multi-overtime-capture-the-flag Warsow matches, panicked-rushes-for-safe-rooms in Left 4 Dead 2, epic-rocking-out-with-your-socks-out on Rock Band, machetes-to-the-back in Far Cry, disappearing-in-a-red-gib-mist in pretty much every FPS we've every played, the-greatest-ever-low-grav-battle-cry-screaming-simulator Chivalry Medieval Warfare.

Those are my memories, what were your highlights?

Look forwards to hearing from you

'der Management

Hello Guys!! returning for another lan. as the last one i personally enjoyed alot games which im playing at the moment which could be good for lan

Rocket League - Mega Fun 3v3/5v5 mayhem even 1v1 is good fun
LoL/Dota2/Smite - any moba generally has a smaller mode.
Dont Starve togeather
Battlefield 4 - very enjoyable 4v4v4v4 mode

would love to see if we can get QWTF/Q3F /ETF game going

MikehUK wrote:would love to see if we can get [-]QWTF[/-]/Q3F /[-]ETF[/-] game going

This
Most definitely

now that ETF installer was on the FTP hopefully it will be easier at next lan!

Having just returned from LlamaLAN 25 and had a good night sleep, I have had a chance to think back over my gaming life, and what makes me come to the LAN parties the most, and for me it is being sociable, laughing, fun and silliness.

With the way computer games have gone now, there are ever more games that will allow you to immerse yourself completely within its digital coding, but that is not what I derive the most enjoyment out of when I think of gaming.

Just like a big family at meal time, do you want to be laughing and joking over the week’s events as you pass the gravy boat around, or do you want to all be glued to your mobile phones and barely acknowledging each other’s existence, too self-absorbed to even realise that someone has asked you to pass the salt three times?

When I think of coming to LlamaLAN, I think that it is giving me a chance to hang out with like-minded people / friends and get the chance to try out and play games that I would not ordinarily play at home, or perhaps just don’t yet own a copy of.

I like the idea of team colours, it helps gives structure to the seating plan, helps organise games, plus it gives you an excuse to cheer on someone without having to play unfair favourites, but being in a team that comes last every LAN I really don’t care about the overall scoring.

What bit did I like the best this LAN?

Blowing myself up in Halo when I accidentally fired my rocket launcher too close to a wall.

What did I like least about this LAN?

Getting sniped in Warsow by an enemy I never even saw, despite having run around and grabbed a shield and collected a few weapons and power-ups.

What do I want to see more of in the next LAN?

More variety of smaller games and tournaments being played throughout the entire weekend, so that I am almost torn between playing one or the other, in a nut shell shorter games and more of them.

I would be very happy for as many people as possible to bring along to the LAN one console game that they think nobody else has played but might like to.

What games would I love to try at the next LAN?

8 player Bomberman, League of Legends, Vermintide, Time Crisis II.

How do I think we can entice new Llamas to the fold?

I think expecting someone who has never come to a LAN before to be willing to give up an entire weekend, agree to pitch a sleeping bag next to a group of strangers they hardly know, and pay for the chance to do so is actually a big ask! Yes of course we all did it, but even for me it took both Rob and Tim mentioning it on and off for a couple of years before I finally took the plunge.

I envisage a LAN where the venue has an open half day on the Saturday, say from midday to 6pm, where invited people can just turn up, perhaps with a small entrance fee like £5, and then get to take part in a variety of games for themselves, plus get to witness all the fun and shenanigans’ going on around them.

If on the main stage there is a different arcade game going on every hour, perhaps with one projector being one game, and the second projector being another, that way they can take part instead of just observe, and if they don’t like one game they don’t have to wait around for a couple of hours for something to see or do.

I also like the idea of people bringing along a board or card game, as long as the game takes less than 2 hours to play and if the games can start before 9pm, as after 10pm I am either too drunk or too tired to expect my brain to take in anything new.

I also would like to get a sweatshirt, cup, baseball cap and mouse-mat with a LlamaLAN logo on it.

Well that’s my two cents for what it’s worth. Thanks for reading.