Gaming LANs are nothing new. But LANs are certainly not for everyone. It takes a very dedicated gamer to pack up and carry around all their gear every time and travel (sometimes hundreds of miles) to a LAN.

Gaming LANs can also be an extremely powerful way to get the message across about the power of video games in the community. [URL=http://us.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/events/]BlizzCon[/URL] is one of the largeset video game LANs and events held every year. Sponsored by [URL=http://www.blizzard.com]Blizzard Entertainment[/URL], developers of the [I]StarCraft[/I], [I]Warcraft[/I] and [I]Diablo[/I] franchises, BlizzCon brings together thousands of gamers worldwide each year to compete in competitions and participate in the event.

I'm a fan of gaming LANs and think they should be encouraged for several reasons. Firstly, LANs are a very social event and participants show a level of commitment to gaming that is rarely seen by outsiders of game culture. Secondly, it's a whole lot of fun to spend time with like-minded people who share your passion and enthusiasm for video games. And lastly, it fosters a strong sense of community amongst gamers when they meet face-to-face.

So if you've been wondering about whether or not LANs are a good idea, maybe you should check one out and experience it for yourself. Or better yet, invite some buddies over to the house some time rather than rely on the internet to play online. It doesn't have to be as big as BlizzCon to be fun and you don't have to have thousands of people over for it to be worthwhile.

Image via [URL=http://www.blizzard.com]Blizzard Entertainment[/URL].

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