The Future of Sweat

[TriniXaeno]

It's 2008, some ten years+ after the first sweat.

My how things have changed since that inaugural session. Technology, Titles and the times. The internet was limited, sparse and slow. Nowadays it is unlimited, ubiquitous and speedy. TSTT's Blink and Colombus' Flow provides 1mb and 2mb connections for a measly $300.00. A service of that speed would cost about $4000.00 back then.

Understanding the history to predict the future.

About four years ago, when the cable company first offered internet, there was operation "Nude Sweat". So named as it would

facilitate gamers sweating in the nude. Whether that is a good or bad thing depends on the gamer in question, but I digress.

Basically, the plan was to use the cable company link to connect gamers at home to the sweat at GLs. Low latency, high

bandwidth offered by their service would make this a reality. It worked.

Fast forward to 2008. Today, many many more gamers have true broadband connections at home. We could connect directly to each other with xfire or hamachi or even via international servers. That sort of technology has been around for a while but remained a laggy proposition for many with regular DSL. The speed boost of blink and flow changed that.

My question is this.....is the online sweat scene the future of our beloved "Lan Party". A natural progression to a WAN

party?

To best answer, let's look at the pros and cons.

What are the advantages of sweating at home?

1) No need to lug around your PC
2) You can sweat anytime you like (no opening or closing hours to worry about)
3) No fighting with anyone for use of a machine
4) Your bed is a few feet away.
5) No need to drive up and down the country dropping home comarades crammed into your car for transport in the wee hours of the morning (for Crixx)
6) No hourly rate

Notable disadvantages as compared to the GL sweatage?

1) The camaraderie between everyone in the GL (Headsets and voice chat approximate the sweat feel but it's still not the same)
2) Ready access to the latest games, patches, anime and other media. (Somewhat mitigated by the broadband access as well if you know your way around the internet and installing of same)
3) Disconnects (Less honorable players pulling the plug when the game isn't going their way)
4) Annonymity (You never truly know who you're playing against.

XBOX live has long since brought "Operation Nude Sweat" to the Halo / Gears of War / and now Cod4 console playing masses. they are no strangers to online sweatage.

The fighting game circuit on the other hand has been slow to come around. That looks to change with Smash Brothers Brawl, Soul Calibur 4 and Tekken 6 being introduced to online play in 2008. Street Fighter IV will have online on Xbox 360 and Ps3 as well but that is slated for 2009. You can get your fix in the Anniversary Edition on XBOX live as of this writing.

Will the GL sweat scene go the way of the arcade as more and more gamers start playing games in their drawers?

sound off

[SPK]

I think that the classic sweats of having them in a GL will pretty much go the way of the arcade in truth, there are so many benefits to playing online...

However, I still think that people will still come together physically for a good LAN...you get the banter, the ole talk etc, while filtering out the emo people that tend to sour a good online sweat...not to mention a good way to show off your rig.

[TheApprentice]

Indeed.

GL's will continue to work though not as much as the past years.
The attraction of competitive in person gaming and/or a prize incentive at a location will continue to attract gamers.


The simplistic stay at home gaming for having a fun time will never end. Personally I enjoy friends coming over and we swetting some cod4 and unreal on a LAN.... And though my friends and I can play online...its much funner in person.

So pretty much the future of sweat hasn't all that changed, looking at the near future,i.e. 3-5yrs.
I pretty much believe consoles will lead the revolution and we'll see the future of sweats and the change in gaming culture when the big 3 bring their new hardware to the plate.

[TriniXaeno]

Good points. What about the console scene? Do gamers still bring their consoles over to hook up say 4 xboxes for a Halo sweat? Or do they just meet up on xbox live and duke it out that way?

I have noticed a trend where many of the console only GLs have gone the way of the dodo over the years. Personally think the success of live and the internet played a huge roll in that regression.

Now that I think about it. Teamspeak, Ventrilo, WoW, Lineage 2 and lately Xfire should have a similar effect on the PC scene.

Apprentice, as you say, it's more fun in the actual lan environment but if, for argument sake, you can achieve 80% of that fun with a headset and sweating online, will you still frequent LANs?

[Arcmanov]

I have high-speed internet, and currently I'm fiending for more LAN sweats.  I have a LAN PC literally
sitting here doing nothing, and that frustrates me.

I guess it depends on the individual if they want to lock off LAN-ning or not.

I for one would like to see the local LAN-party scene thrive again.  There's really nothing like a good
lime with people you know, doing what you love, and turning acquaintances into friendships along the way.

[TheApprentice]

@ NGW....
True at the 80 percentile...

But I still love my LAN sweats...
So it would be more 50% with headset online for me...

[TriniXaeno]

Interesting. and what about your xbox arc? I'm curious if you lug that around to network and sweat with friends at this stage of the game? Or does it just sit at home on your broadband connection?

[Crixx_Creww]

for LAN parties to survive, we are gonna need to innovate.

GOnna need to go the extra mile to advertise events.

Start leagues with mixed online and LAN party legs.

cafes gonna need to try and have atleast a mid level gaming experience to get and keep peoples attention as well as probably more importantly, have ridiculous amounts of bandwidth to share and to play up the files they have shared.


Gonna have to bring back clan battles.

[TriniXaeno]

you're right crixx but that is a whole lot of effort and money.

Which begs another question, does it need to? Survive that is.

Could be that the process of natural selection is having it's way with the LAN scene as it did with Arcades. Consoles totally stole their show despite the many hard core gamers who tried to keep it alive. Just as CDs killed the TDK 80 min cassette. DVD wtfpwned VHS.

Is WAN/Blink/Flow going to do the same to LAN?

When Starcraft 2 drops will gamers be running to LANs to sweat or jumping on Battlenet with a headset to get their fix with their buddies?

Try to get the best of both worlds by making the WAN experience more "LAN" like with xfire, etc...

There will always be the hard core guys who will LAN, just as we have the hard core fighters that still patronize the arcades. In the beginning, the core of GATT were guys that were in a lan party sweat pretty much every weekend. Today, I think the core sweat online more than they do with each other irl.

Correct me if I am wrong or getting the wrong impression?

It's strange that countries like Korea have such developed internet infrastructure, yet still  have a thriving LAN party culture. Proves that with the right conditions, the two can co-exist merrily. Then again, these people still playing Starcraft, hard core ten years after it's release. lol. May be a special case.

[Crixx_Creww]

well , i think korea's gaming scene is where everyone should want to have theirs, with japan at a close second.

i mean, korea's gaming scene is so hardcore they fill out stadiums absolutely packed with screaming fan GIRLSS and they have nationally broadcasted sweats!!

girls have posters of GAMERS up on their walls instead of back street boys or watever the kids are listening to these days.

so hey, not a bad formula to want to emulate.

[TriniXaeno]

Met Neo (the GL owner, not the gatt admin) and Jouster the other day and both had interesting views on the future of sweat.

Neo says the GL scene is dying because of online sweatage. WoW being the #1 culprit of course. Citing many regulars that are no longer around because of it.

Jouster says he still does the LAN thing but on a private basis. That is, just amongst friends but not running to a public GL.

I've been to a GL and sweated online this week but just as a sample, let me pose this question to the rest of yall.

1) In the past week have you been to a GL?

2) In the past week have you gamed online?

3) In the past week have you attended a private sweat?

[W1nTry]

My 2c. Having lived in a household with a computer all my life and having younger siblings that sweat WOW regularly. Also having XBL, a Wii and whatever else at our disposal it was interesting to me to learn that my youngest sib would still go to a cyber cafe and sweat WOW... to which I was like BUR??? O_O I myself am an advocate and seller of the goodness that is XBL, HOWEVER if a good LAN sweat were easier to organise I believe firmly that I would be there. Esp these days with crime as it is and the damn weight of my rig and having to toat around a HDTV or LCD... it's a daunting task when you can just log on.

I think that as 'high-speed' internet becomes cheaper and more reliable the medium of choice will be from the comfort of your own home. As it stands, a GL has the advantage of having the hardware and internet connection to feed the less fortunate (by less fortunate I mean those with no/old PCs and no internet) which is still pretty common in T&T. Also add to that as an afternoon sweat, it's pretty attractive to run a lil LAN or even WAN sweat at a GL before yuh head home. Otherwise I think a GL would have to diversify into not being solely a GL but rather in internet cafe that hosts sweats. Or some other type of money making business that can sweat. If you catch my drift...

[TheApprentice]

1) In the past week have you been to a GL?

2) In the past week have you gamed online?

1.) No

2.) Yes

XD

Applies to both console and pc...

Why not at a GL? Because none nearby as the nearest one closed up last year...
The week before did have a LAN party at home though...with bunch of friends.... much enjoyable over online..

[TriniXaeno]

w1ntry, damn good point about the crime situation. Hadn't even considered that in my earlier musings.

(would be nice if you'd answer the two questions though, lol)

Thanks AP, I think a third question should be added, "did you have a private sweat over the past week?"

[W1nTry]

w1ntry, damn good point about the crime situation. Hadn't even considered that in my earlier musings.

(would be nice if you'd answer the two questions though, lol)

Err... right:
1) In the past week have you been to a GL?
No

2) In the past week have you gamed online?
Yes

[Jdcrys_Shinkuu]

hmm

1 yes
2 no
3 yes

i would always prefer a LAN over anything that tstt/flow can offer... i mean can u truly feel satisfied pwning someone without seeing the "i dont believe its no butter!!" look on their face afterwards?

trinis like ole talk n as much as it could happen via voip its still not as potent as real life imo.
gaming at home has a major downfall that most have overlooked ...

(parents / spouses that want attention or at least the garbage taken out)

thats right distractions... after all if u go to a cafe n pay for an hour u also pay for TIME for yourself. whether u choose to game or whatever... also its a good way to network for more sweatage...

i went to SNS met most of u guys n now i have the pleasure of calling any one of the mass that is gatt to sweat with...

another downfall of online sweating.... how can u tell that the other person isnt using patches or fixes that gives an unfair advantage.?

most cafes with common sense build their rigs as level so the playing field is always level n fair...

so in closing i think its going to take a lot more than tstt/flow to kill/eliminate a lan sweat...


speaking of which VZ is having an overnight sweat byoc style 50tt a head this monthend 31st from sat till sun (SNS Style)  they running cnc3 n sof2 n dota for all u diehard sof peeps... about 25 spots left so call up at 6409675 and make sure n tell them that Shinkuu referred u thanx!

ps also we can sweat whatever u have on ur rigs that powerful enough to run it.... COD4 neone? Unreal 3? Who say it?... Check me if u need Ahem"!!@@#@install files..)*&^# lets see if u can get that feeling of LAN in your blood again.... passing through NGW?

[W1nTry]

i would always prefer a LAN over anything that tstt/flow can offer... i mean can u truly feel satisfied pwning someone without seeing the "i dont believe its no butter!!" look on their face afterwards?

I'm quite satisfied after pwning someone even if I didn't see their face, the silence and lack of conversation on their part usual does the trick for me XD

trinis like ole talk n as much as it could happen via voip its still not as potent as real life imo.
gaming at home has a major downfall that most have overlooked ...

I agree, but i'm sure they'll integrate a vid cam at some point and then telepresence will be more than enough.

(parents / spouses that want attention or at least the garbage taken out)

thats right distractions... after all if u go to a cafe n pay for an hour u also pay for TIME for yourself. whether u choose to game or whatever... also its a good way to network for more sweatage...

That's the same idea as having gym equipment home, when you PAY YOU BLOODLY WELL BETTER GET UR MONEY'S WORTH. It doesn't however mean you can't fully enjoy yourself in the comfort of your own home. Also I don't have those issues and I live with other family members, my room is my domain, my time is my own.

another downfall of online sweating.... how can u tell that the other person isnt using patches or fixes that gives an unfair advantage.?

I sweat on a console, there is no such problem

so in closing i think its going to take a lot more than tstt/flow to kill/eliminate a lan sweat...

Let's hope so, I think a GL is a good thing to have around, yuh never know when the hunger for a sweat may take yuh!

[SPK]

My answers to those 3 questions:

1)No
2)Yes (even on my poor lil dialup)
3)No (LAN was postponed for an overnight beach trip by the crew, will be made up for this Saturday coming...)

In spite of the convenience of online gaming, there is nothing like the real level of interaction, especially after the game is done.

I kinda equate it to buying food, you can get a stew chicken and rice and whatnot in how many food courts around the place, it's good and convenient...but compare that to when you and your friends, all putting their hand into cooking a good pot by someone, which would you value more?

[W1nTry]

I kinda equate it to buying food, you can get a stew chicken and rice and whatnot in how many food courts around the place, it's good and convenient...but compare that to when you and your friends, all putting their hand into cooking a good pot by someone, which would you value more?

I would value my Grandmother's Home cooked meal which I would share with NOONE XD which would translate to I home, sweat online or however, once I home.

[Arcmanov]

Xfire and hamachi can offer a damn good substitute for a LAN-party, but cannot entirely replace it.

Somehow I wish that all the people I play with online could get together for a big-@$$ LAN-party somewhere.