[TrackerFF]

The last enjoyable LAN party I went to took place in the summer of 2004.

The next year, most of the guys that would frequent these parties were completely engrossed in World of Warcraft. They just weren't interested in playing any LAN games, or any of the socialization. Many of them were in WoW guilds with people that lived in completely different time zones, so they weren't even there when the few of us others tried to play something.

At least to me, that was a watershed moment. To me the magic was gone, and I more or less lost interest in multiplayer gaming for years.

To me LAN wasn't just about gaming, but also shooting the breeze, talk abut techy or gaming stuff. When two thirds of the people were glued to their screens 24/7 grinding WoW, a lot of that died.

EDIT: Not saying that WoW single handedly killed LAN, but I feel like it was final nail in the coffin.

[bombcar]

WoW was a big part of it but times were changing without it - and in-person WoW raids showed up now and then (40 man raids with 40 people in one room is a site to see).

The real killer is that many WoW players did NOT play with "local friends" for very long; once you got into raiding you likely joined a guild that was spread across the country or world.