You reminded me of the first time I saw a lan full of people playing an fps.

I was at a ComicCon in Rome, Italy, circa 1999, anyway Half Life just hit gold production and released multiplayer demos there were at least 20 people all playing on lan multiplayer half life, with mouses too! Crazy.

I went to many many lan parties since then up to 2005, then online match making killed quakenet and socializing.