I never thought I’d be able to say I’d been to a LAN party. I thought those things were for ultimate geeks who lived in their basements all day and emerged once in a blue moon, justifying a LAN party as their primary form of social interaction. Fortunately, I thought wrong.

Last night I went to a DotA LAN party. (DotA stands for Defense of the Ancients, a Warcraft III mod.) We had about 20-30 people, each playing on a separate desktop in a computer lab. I was the only girl and I was grateful to be treated like everyone else. I played for nearly seven hours, and I actually had a good time.

There was a quite a mix of DotA veterans and new players. It was a challenge to form equal teams, but after a few games we were better able to sort ourselves out. It was my first time playing a full game (five versus five) and it was an absolute blast. It’s so much fun when there are other players around every corner and you have to do more than just hack and slash your way to the end before your enemy does the same. When human minds are involved, the strategy becomes really important.

Once again, the social aspect was one of my favorite parts of the game. It was great to have someone to blame for killing you or hearing them cry out when you surprised them with a powerful attack. I loved how people would hunt each other for personal grudges (i.e. “You’ve killed me five times and you’re going down!”) and stick together for coordinated attacks.

It’s great to watch what happens when members of a team realize that they are losing badly. You begin to see what type of person they are – whether they abandon all hope or fight valiantly no matter what. Fortunately, I played with a group of optimists in most games that always fought until the bitter end.

I have never been able to play a game for so long and have it hold my interest. Perhaps it was because the games themselves rarely lasted more than an hour – providing a natural break and a change of teams. People would get up and switch computers based on their new teams, keeping the blood flowing. Also, with each new group, a new dynamic emerged. Someone who so coldly hunted you down again and again the last game could become a great asset to your team.

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of such continuous play was tracking my own improvement. I played more games last night than my combined experience in the past. I watched my number of deaths decline slowly but surely. I played with some great strategists, who inspired me and showed me a variety of techniques I had never known. I was nowhere near a pro, but playing with a full team is a great experience.

By 2 a.m., I was worn out but happy. No matter how many times I lost, I was satisfied having learned so much about DotA and playing with such fun people. I hope I have the opportunity to play again with such a fun group of people.