Game On!

We asked our readers to submit their best lame excuses for holding a LAN Gaming Party in the office. By the responses, it sounds like some of our submitters may have actually used them in practice. The Top 11 can...

September 12, 2003

13 Min Read
NetworkComputing logo in a gray background | NetworkComputing

We asked our readers to submit their best lame excuses for holding a LAN Gaming Party in the office. By the responses, it sounds like some of our submitters may have actually used them in practice.

The Top 11 can be seen this week in our latest Last Mile. But until then, here's the lot of them for your viewing pleasure.

  • To stress test the new mouse pads -- Suresh Kumar

  • Network Bandwith Testing -- Ryan P. Robetesting IP packet routing between network campuses with differentsubnet addresses -- Ryan P. Robe

  • The IT staff keeps uninstalling all the games on user's PCs -- Danny Miskov

  • Keeps the CAT5 cables from getting brittle from lack of use -- Dennis Hogan

  • Makes our wives think we are actually working, instead of gaming athome -- Dave Kelley

  • We use the pod racers to push more packets through the system -- JohnnieRay

  • We're trying to clean out the buffers in the router. I noticed theywere almost full this morning.. -- Thomas

  • Management wanted more "color" on the network utilization charts -- DaveKretzmer

  • It was cheaper than buying that expensive traffic generation software -- Dave Kretzmer

  • To try out our new Grid Computing environment -- Steve Bistline

  • It is a "Team Building Exercise". Sure the teams end up in bloody,brutal combat resulting in hurt feelings and flying body parts, but youget the idea.... -- Bill Hellar

  • Testing the switches for Data Storms -- Curtis Griffin

  • Corporate LAN throughput stress testing -- Curtis Griffin

  • Need to do bandwidth capacity testing off hours -- RastaTech

  • Network performance testing. Lots and LOTS of network performancetesting -- Patrick Kingsley

  • Monthly Gigabyte Bandwith Test recommended by the network equipmentvendor -- Josep L. Guallar-Esteve

  • We all have to practice before we take on the "real world" ie play overthe internet -- K. Prewett

  • Allows IT staff to vent on users -- Bob Robinson

  • Boost morale and recognition of our network -- Tony Pedretti

  • Better R.O.I. on all those "pesky switches" we always buy. Besides the

  • T-1 is 24/7 not 9 to 5 again R.O.I.! -- Travis Marsh

  • Keeps folks from going postal in REAL life -- BIll Ward

  • Kill the boss, DON'T go to jail -- BIll Ward

  • Need to check out whether or not the server is truly multithreaded -- BIllWard

  • Why else do you think we needed a P4 3.2Ghz and a Radeon 9800Pro? -- BIllWard

  • Traffic is so bad, we need the workers to stay here in the officeovernight in case of server failure -- BIll Ward

  • the IT staff was already here after hours doing the daily microsoftupdates -- DeWayne Cartee

  • Benchmark/Baseline router/switch load balance/failover -- Ron Blanton

  • We need to test the bandwidth capabilities of our network -- Timothy E.Robinson

  • We just got Unreal Tournement and we wanted to see how good our networkreally was -- Timothy E. Robinson

  • Test all of the LEDs on network utilization display -- Scott Rohleder

  • Compared to all current projects management has us working on it willhave a bigger positive affect on the bottom line -- Wayne Kartchner

  • It won't show up on the web proxy logs like all their porn and job-huntsurfing did -- Chuck Church

  • Since the network guys are already prioritizing Quake and Unreal

  • Tournament packets, it only makes sense to baseline it, to make surethe pesky VoIP packets won't cost you a frag or two! -- Chuck Church

  • Offers a fun and effective exercise in load balancing -- Sarah Rawding

  • Absolutely the best network stress test and anyone can help (even theBoss) -- Charles Lecher

  • Great honeypot idea to find WiFi "leaks", Crackers can't resist -- CharlesLecher

  • It's not a Lan Gaming Party, it's a level three diagnostic -- CharlesLecher

  • Lack of backbone by those people wanning off in private offices -- RandyNeuleib

  • Test out those new Business-grade video cards. -- J.W. Breeden

  • Is it really Category 5e Cable? -- J.W. Breeden

  • The CAD department has these really cool 26-inch monitors -- J.W. Breeden

  • We need to test the frame rate of the data projector in the conferenceroom. -- J.W. Breeden

  • Do you really think we bought video cards with 128MB VRAM for wordprocessing? -- J.W. Breeden

  • Cisco actually RECOMMENDS using online gaming to break in new switches. -- J.W. Breeden

  • Prove a need for a new, higher-bandwidth internet connection. -- J.W.Breeden

  • It's actually wired for multiple PCs in each room. -- J.W. Breeden

  • Bring out the true persona in each of your coworkers. -- J.W. Breeden

  • Give the boss a reason to stay late. -- J.W. Breeden

  • to Payroll: "You don't have to pay us overtime for sitting here afterhours." -- J.W. Breeden

  • Allow security guards to test their e-marksmanship skills. -- J.W. Breeden

  • We're already hosting a Quake server... why can't we use Quake clients? -- J.W. Breeden

  • New Employee Morale Award/special parking spot for: Unreal TournamentWinner! -- J.W. Breeden

  • Do your part and keep Teens off the streets at night - let them playgames in your office. -- J.W. Breeden

  • Need something to do while migrating to Windows Server 2003! (or insertany long installation/upgrade process here) -- J.W. Breeden

  • Isn't that what networks are for? -- Dave Baldwin

  • betters inter-office relationships, promotoes team work, and gives youa chance to kick your bosses arse around just cause you are better thanhim -- Fareed Azeez

  • Support Company's Team Work Strategy -- Moo Mings

  • You said you want your staff in the office on nights and weekends,right? -- Ryan Marsh

  • Resuscitate brain after mind numbing helpdesk calls Tim Lupardus

  • Hosting the 2003 TCP/IP Packet Olympics! -- Terry Smith

  • What else are you going to do until the layoffs? -- DMH

  • Quake III is the best tool for settling the Token Ring vs. Ethernetlatency issue once and for all -- Mark Jass

  • Civilization is much more realistic with representatives from eachcorporate office playing their own nation on the WAN. -- Mark Jass

  • Invited women from Accounting again. They promised not to stand you upthis time. -- Darin M. Bush

  • Cheaper than another ropes course, if you include medical bills. -- DarinM. Bush

  • Testing network latency improves your Dogbert secret society score. -- Darin M. Bush

  • Stephanie Stahl wrote an editorial on it. Well, she should. -- Darin M.Bush

  • Reduces stress and decreases companys' need for EAP. -- Darin M. Bush

  • Last Quake III LAN party: police were called by YOUR mother. -- Darin M.Bush

  • Everyone could then claim they at least have a "Half-Life". -- Darin M.Bush

  • Have to get back at 19-year old intern. She back-handed you andinsulted your 85th level Druid. -- Darin M. Bush

  • Typing speed increases with manual dexterity exercises. -- Darin M. Bush

  • That guy in programming has a MOD where the monsters wear RIAA skins. vWireless = no stopping to pee. -- Darin M. Bush

  • Inspires workers to submit idea for Last Mile: Top 11 Resume Euphemismsfor PC Gaming! -- Darin M. Bush

  • Great Way to stress test all the network components -- Jason Song

  • Provides a great opportunity to test that batch of old CAT5 patchcables you found under the raised floor behind the server racks. -- PaulBohn

  • Chance to learn 50 ways to fix a pair of broken eyeglasses. -- Paul Bohn

  • Excellent test of the circuit breakers for the call center cubiclesection. -- Paul Bohn

  • Collect enough aluminum cans to pay for that new neon lighted tower. -- Paul Bohn

  • You needed a good excuse to dust off that disaster recovery plan. -- TomObright

  • Its summer... nobody has any real deadlines in the summer... do they? -- Tom Obright

  • A good test of Mac and PC integration. Graphic designers versus theworld. -- Tom Obright

  • It's slow when we wanna work on it so we decided to give it a rest andlet it play some games! -- Chris

  • There is nothing better to do with a T1 pipe and a gigabit LAN -- MichaelCleary

  • lab tech to Engineer..our customers use servers as gaming serversright... so we need to test that too? -- Richard Hunt

  • Makes the Switch Activity LEDs' twinkle like Christmas lights. -- SteveHarvey

  • Bandwidth, we don't need no stinking bandwidth... -- Steve Harvey

  • Keeps George in the 4th cubicle down the hall on his toes. -- Steve Harvey

  • Gee Boss, look at all the network activity. -- Steve Harvey

  • We really need to go to a 10 Gig network! -- Steve Harvey

  • Helps test latency time in network switches/hubs and see if vendor ishonest -- Gerardo Galvan

  • "This was the easiest way to conduct a network throughput test -- theguy three cubicles over either has alot of lag or is simply horrible atit!" -- The Dave

  • "Well, boss, it's illegal to kill you in real life, so fragging you in UT seems like the next best thing -- and I can do it repeatedly!" -- TheDave

  • "We were simply testing whether Apple was telling the truth about theirG5 benchmarks -- the graphic arts department will be glad to know thatwe've test driven their new computers and, yes, they really can beatour PCs in Quake3 framerates." -- The Dave

  • "And just -why- do you suppose we pushed so hard to upgrade the networkfrom 10base2, huh boss?" -- The Dave

  • "Well, I've always wondered what it'd be like for a bunch of us to playgames on these obselete computers across an obselete network maintainedon an inadequate budget by inadequate and obselete IT staff." -- The Dave

  • "Three words: Loser buys lunch." -- The Dave

  • Verify if all our network devices support and are configured for IPMulticasting -- RSK

  • Network performance testing and evaluation -- Thomas Zverina

  • Sir, the only way we going to resolve this network congestion is toseriously frag!!! -- Matt Winegarden

  • Collects Geeks from throughout the company into one place. -- Ryan M

  • Gives you the opportunity to use the office computers to their fullability. -- Ryan M

  • Gives you the opportunity to kill your boss... over and over again. -- Ryan M

  • Gives the IT guys something to do. -- Ryan M

  • Shows how dual-processing 3GB-RAM CADD machines render 190fps, at1600x1200. -- Ryan M

  • Allows management to determine who gets laid off next month.

  • Gives a whole new meaning to the term "Overtime at the office" -- Ryan M

  • keeps our Plasma flowing in our 42 inchers in the executive boardroom.(You don't want to know what happens if the plasma stops flowing toolong now do you Boss?) -- Owen Mathias

  • Have to keep the endians flowing through the TCP/IP stack or they willjust get corrupted! Endian Corruption is our 24/7 best practice concernof the month Sir. Gaming packets are just the best way to stress testthese little (and or Big) suckers. -- Owen Mathias

  • Help facilitate the Corporate "Team Building" initiative. Robert Hauck

  • We need to load balance the network -- Robert Hauck

  • Need to load test our new server. -- Robert Hauck

  • We set up a Quake game in the computer lab at the a high school for aprofessional development day. The draw to the whole thing was that theprincipal was playing, and ready to be fragged. Its nice to frag theboss. -- Mark Lachniet

  • If you don't use the full avaible internal bandwidth, the cat5 cableswill go bad ! -- Rob Bley

  • The Company 'bots monitoring productivity will score participants'packet flow the highest. -- Gregory R. Hopp

  • Encourages users to submit their jobs in batch mode. -- Gregory R. Hopp

  • Gives IT a reason to learn IPX/SPX. -- Gregory R. Hopp

  • Solitaire and Free Cell just doesn't give people the full "multimediaexperience". -- Lance Johnson

  • HR says we need to promote positive interaction with other staffmembers. -- Lance Johnson

  • It's a heck of a lot safer than last year's company ski resort outing. -- Lance Johnson

  • It keeps the guns at home and on the computer screen. -- Lance JohnsonAccounting shot down your project budget? Now you can shoot down theirfighter plane! -- Lance Johnson

  • We are testing the ergonomic and physical abilities of workstations ina highly intense, stressful environment. -- Lance Johnson

  • Arnold Swarzenegger is running for governor or California! Let's partywith a couple "Terminator" games in his honor! -- Lance Johnson

  • We want to get the boss to play, too so we can hunt down his gamecharacter and beat him like the dog he is. -- Lance Johnson

  • Someone has to load test the network! -- Jim Ekstrom

  • Had to "open it up" to clear out the carbon in the CAT5. -- Jim Ekstrom

  • The real-time graphics in the game are the only way to check networklatency and throughput. And besides, the CD came with the switch! -- KeithAbbott

  • In this age of anti-terrorism actions, one cannot get enough free,physical security training -- Jeff Murdoch

  • Your parents complained the last time you had that many people in yourbasement room -- David Perdue

  • Like you really want the people you work with to know where you live -- David Perdue

  • That's the paper figure...we won't know the actual network capacityunless we test it -- Nick Nielsen

  • Needed justification to upgrade network to gigabit ethernet Ihaab Dais

  • Needed justification to fire the entire IT staff -- Ihaab Dais

  • You see boss? That's why the department needs Alienware PC's. -- Ihaab Dais

  • By using the network for gaming purposes, the cabling gets a realworkout. Those weekend work-outs improve the strength and endurance ofthe network, resulting in a faster and more flexible network. And allfor the price of a few pizzas! -- John Wiley

  • We uplugged the network to keep it from overheating! -- Leo Jordan

  • My office has a better network than I have and better downloading fromthe internet -- Timothy E. Robinson

  • Finally, everyone in the office actually gets some work done! -- Rick Olson

  • Blows the soot out of the wires! -- Jerry Cardin

  • The switches, servers, and video cards need weekly load testing -- David Yu

  • Games? Who's playing games? We are stress testing our new server! -- AdiCernea

  • Because our managers said we couldn't play "solitaire" any more, butthey didn't say anything about "Internet Checkers"!! -- Johnnie Ray

  • If we let (insert vendor here) beat us at Quake, maybe they'll let uskeep our jobs after we get outsourced to them. -- Jeff Novick

  • Because according to an email I received, if I can get one more personto participate, then Bill Gates will send me $1000. -- Johnnie Ray

  • Gotta test the network reliablity -- jake haldeman

  • To ensure the graphics card will work right -- jake haldeman

  • Cause I love to hang out at work after hours -- jake haldeman

  • Cause my work computer is faster then my home computer -- jake haldeman

  • To prove to my IT guy that I know more then how to turn on the computerand send emails asking for computer support -- jake haldeman

  • To keep me from having to cook/take care of kids/see wife/ect. -- jakehaldeman

  • Its alot cheaper then having a poker night -- jake haldeman

  • This way you can kill your boss and laugh about it the next day -- jakehaldeman

  • To prove you can concentrate on something longer then 10 minutes -- jakehaldeman

  • To prove that your switch needs to be upgraded so it doesn't crashagain. -- jake haldeman

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