FINDING A PLACE TO LAN; CLUB FOR COMPUTER GAME ENTHUSIASTS FILLS A NICHE IN CAPE

Crouching behind a box of explosives, John McClung takes careful aim and fires. The result is a lifeless body.

Silence. Then:

"Dude! You killed me! We're supposed to be on the same team!" Andrew Bard can be heard grousing from the other room before he stalks in, glaring around at the five young men seated before computer monitors.

"Who did it?" Bard demands.

"Ooops," says McClung, grinning.

Still muttering, Bard returns to his computer and restarts the game.

It's a scene played time and again in Brandon Stricker's apartment and wherever else the SEMO LAN Gamers congregate.

Call it a geek tragedy.

Stricker, a 22-year-old Sikeston, Mo., native, founded SEMO LAN Gamers in the fall.

LAN stands for Local Area Network and refers to a system that allows computers to be connected and share files. A LAN party is a gathering of people who play computer games together.

A student worker at Southeast Missouri State University, Stricker designed the honor program's Web site. He also works part time in computer services at the Southeast Missourian.

And he doesn't mind being called a computer geek.

The idea for an official club took shape when Stricker and several friends attended LANWar, a multi-state LAN party in Louisville, Ky., and encountered hundreds of other gamers.

"I thought, That's something we can do, too,'" Stricker said.

He knew the local interest in gaming was high. When the Computer Science Club sponsored what they thought would be a small gaming event last year, about 60 people showed up.

The club is moving quickly. Plans are progressing. for a regional LAN party dubbed "SEMO Smackdown" set for early fall.

Staff adviser Ron McAdams is a network specialist with the university's computer services department. He said the club fills a niche that doesn't exist anywhere else in Cape Girardeau.

What's a LAN party?

So what happens at a LAN party?

Each guy (with a few exceptions, most gamers are male) brings his computer and all the necessary equipment to wherever the party is held.

We're not talking laptops. These guys lug around monitors, hard drives, keyboards and whatever other equipment they think they'll need.

"It's a trying experience. You really have to want to go," club member Joe Cipriano said. "I've got to where I can set up my computer in five minutes."

In response to the growing popularity of LAN parties, companies like PC Tote sell straps and handles to make carrying computer towers easier.

Once at the party, gamers compare hardware and software, brag a little and hook up their computers.

After a bit of tinkering under the hood and tire-kicking, the group gets down to gaming, often in all-night sessions. Bigger events, like the one in Louisville, last several days. Participants consume a lot of caffeine and pizza.

Some games are strategy-based, others are high action shoot 'em ups.

SEMO LAN Gamers' current favorite is Counterstrike, a sort of high-tech version of "capture the flag" in which teams of soldiers try to outmaneuver each other on a variety of battlefields.

In all the games, lots of virtual bullets fly.

"We stay up all night, go to breakfast together, then go home and crash," McClung said.

Are these guys normal?

Despite the often violent and sometimes bloody images on screen, Kareem Boctor describes the LAN party atmosphere as good, clean, wholesome fun.

There is no alcohol or drugs at the party, and the few members who smoke go outside.

"You can't do anything at a LAN party that you're going to regret the next day," Boctor said.

He and the other gamers are like any other guys, he said.

"We all have lives outside the computer screen," Boctor said. "It's just cool we have this common ground."

Of the 15 members of SEMO LAN Gamers, the youngest member is 17 and the oldest is McAdams, 25. Two of the guys are married and one is engaged.

"We're really a melting pot of all different types of people with an interest in computers," McAdams said.

Club members also get together for movies and even an occasional bowling outing.

A student with a double major in speech education and mass communications, Boctor said he knew very little about computers when he started gaming.

Neither did Cipriano, whose professional interests are in the medical field.

But several, if not most, club members work with computers for a living. An unspoken code of honor prevents the professionals from mocking those with less technical knowledge.

"It's like karate," Stricker said. "There's always somebody who knows more."

On the Net

www.SEMOlangamers.com

www.lanwar.com

www.pctote.com

Want to play?

What: SEMO Smackdown, a regional LAN party

When: Fall

Cost: The event will be free to spectators with a small admission charge for gamers.

Information: SEMO LAN Gamers welcomes new members. Although it is a university club, people from the community may join also. Call Brandon Stricker at (573) 335-5368 or e-mail nodnarb@semolangamers.com.