Good to see that you're trying to organize something! How big of a lan are we talking about here?

I'm not going to argue about the games, my oppinion (ofc) would be quake 3 over the other games you mentioned. Heres a little guide about lan, maybe this will come in handy (first hit off google)

I suggest you don't go too big when organizing your first lan so you can improve and see what kinda problems you might encounter. Start small and build from there!

edit: now that I read through the guide it's a bit complicated. I still suggest you check it out to see if its any help... The ethernet part seemed correct.. you can ignore the other stuff tho :p

Well I create this game called Elements of War for HL/HL2, UT2003/UT2004, and somewhat for UT3. I work at Newport on the Levee at Rainbow HugZ. Game City 360 is also located there. I've talked to them quite a bit about hosting a tournament and even getting my game shown there.

I wanted to do something with World of WarCraft. I thought about using the test realm, then the tournament realm came around. I knew that WoW could pull many gamers and a lot of people at the Levee play WoW. However, this is more like an E-Sport, so, playing online is the dumbest idea ever.

The biggest problem of the LAN is getting the players in one area of the mall and the spectators in another. I believe E-Sports is different than sports. You want the players in their own little box, cut off from the rest of the world. They don't need to hear people chanting, clapping, the announcer, the whole nine yards, not to mention if they can hear the enemy, that's beyond bad LAN.

I can use Game City to promote and get people settled in and maybe even use as the spectator area. Rainbow HugZ has a back party room which would be fantastic for the player area.

Now the bigger problems come into play:
Picking a game. I've never read a EULA in my life. Some companies might get mad at me for using their game. I've heard a number of stories about Valve, so, even though I'd rather use Valve's products, this may just not be the case.

Prizes:
I believe there is a law about prizes. Some kind of tax and the whole nine yards. Not sure about other prizes, like for example we could give a free bunny away from RH(I'm in the Guild of the Raging BunnieZ in WoW and a bunny makes complete sense for any First Person Shooter), a mouse pad, who knows maybe even gift cards at Game City.

Charging to play:
Once again on the EULA of certain games. The law. Who's got to take charge and pay the taxes, how all that crap even works, etc.

Who's paying for insurance? I wanted to get a much larger tournament area in the Levee itself. One guy I talked to said who's going to pay when somebody slips, etc. There might be possible work arounds to this or even if we need such a thing(using Rainbow HugZ and Game City).

At the end of the day, if you cannot even get two computers hooked up, wtf is the point? I clicked that guide, but for some reason it was down. I'll have to check back later I guess.

I think most importantly you need a venue. Renting them can be expensive which is why LANs are often sponsored to the gills.

To make it easier on yourself you could organise the first few as BYOC. The people that will be attracted to this are the hardcore gamers (and will set up their own machines) - then you can just watch and see how it is done and help them out where possible to get the experience.

I say good on you though. It will be a learning experience (I'd say try to connect 2 comps before you start though :) ). And at least you are willing to try something!

wSw or CPMA :D

Mh i think CS is necessary for any today's lans... just look at the bigger lans.

Btw, are we talking actually about a LAN or more of a Tournament?

Here over in germany we have some quite big lans from up to 50to3000people... i would suggest you to apply for a job on one of those lans. So you get experience and friends who can help you.

I've already got the venue. Newport on the Levee. If for some reason they won't allow me to host it in the main mall area (I've worked there for a few years, so, I can get my way ^^), I can still use Rainbow HugZ and Game City 360.

More of a tournament every week or two for like $10 in prizes(Law, depending).

good luck to you dude, if i would live in america i would have a look :P

When do you think is your lan going to take place?