IU gamers find solace in LAN war competition

Joystick. Check. Starcraft. Check. Can of Bawls. Bawls? Bawls. Check.\nWelcome to the world of computer gamers, a much maligned society of technically-inclined individuals who, at IU, come together twice a year to engage in a most unique test of stamina: 24-plus hours of continuous game play at parties called LAN wars.\n"We would like to dispel the myth that computer gamers are anti-social people," Evan Schwamb said of the large crowds that attend the parties for both competition and camaraderie.\nSchwamb is a senior and president of the IU Computer Gaming Club.\nThe club, a dues-free venture open to all interested joystickers, sponsors two LAN parties per academic year. Schwamb said the spring 2005 party was canceled due to lack of staffing, so many people are anxious for this fall's gathering. \nOne hundred-fifty gamers are expected to attend the this fall's LAN -- or Local Area Network -- war at Briscoe Quad Nov. 12 and 13. Registration for groups opened at midnight Tuesday and registration for individual gamers opens today at noon on the club Web site, www.iugaming.com. The cost is $15. \n"It's a great way to get a ton of people together in the same place with the sole purpose of playing games," staff sponsor and club founder Jonny Sweeny said. \nSweeny, his brother Adam and Andy Jones established the club in the spring of 2000 to create a way for student gamers to interact with one another. \n"A lot of gamers act through their games and so people may only know you through your character," Jonny Sweeny said. "You get a chance to put a face with a name when you come to the wars."\nAdam Sweeny said gamers tend to be a reclusive bunch. He said he hopes wary players will shelve their shyness and come to the party.\n"So many people do gaming and these parties provide an opportunity for people with like interests to find each other," he said. "Yelling, cheering, booing -- you can't get that sort of immersive interactive experience anywhere else."\nSchwamb said this November's LAN party begins at noon Nov. 12 and ends at 3 p.m. the following day. All gamers bring their own computers and the games they wish to play. Some of them come in teams, or "clans," with the purpose of working together on a particular interactive game. \nFood is provided as are plenty of gifts -- RAM modules, motherboards, other technical "stuff." \nSlumber is optional, though not applauded. \n"Sleep is for the weak," Schwamb said. "That's a typical LAN party term anyways."\nSchwamb said an Iron Man Tournament is held at each LAN party, usually between the hours of 2 and 4 a.m. During this twisted demand for alertness and optimal hand-eye coordination, the stakes are upped and better prizes for winning performances are awarded. It is a time when, surprisingly, little coffee is drunk.\n"There's a drink called Bawls, B-A-W-L-S, that has some kind of extract from a cactus that's supposed to be more potent than caffeine," Schwamb said. "It's sort of like the Red Bull for gamers."\nMicrosoft is one of the sponsors for this fall's event. The company donated T-shirts, mouse pads and 2,500 demo discs to promote a new game, Age of Empires 3. \nAdam Sweeny said a winner and runner-up in an Age of Empires 3 tournament will be crowned at November's LAN party. He also said those two individuals will have a chance to compete with finalists from Purdue and the University of Kentucky in a tournament sponsored by Microsoft to determine a champion of the Midwest.\n"It's in the best interest of the companies to do things like this," he said. "It also creates a nice little rivalry between the different colleges."\nSchwamb said other games such as Battlefield 1942, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counterstrike, Dawn of War and Starcraft -- a mainstay of the club -- have all been played at parties in the past. He said, of course, gamers are welcome to bring whatever games they would like to play.\nJonny Sweeny said the club is involved in matters beyond war as well. One of the groups's biggest current moves is the establishment of game servers in the student activities tower at the Indiana Memorial Union. These servers will allow campus players to readily access and coordinate games from their homes or dorm rooms. Only funds generated by the $15 cover for gamers at LAN parties are available to the club for such a project. Sweeny said the servers should be in place within two weeks.\n"We've been saving for a long time so we're ready to do this," he said.