Should I build a game server, rather than using a switch for lan parties?

Doorstopper

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Mar 24, 2014
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I go to live with a guy who is going to school for game development, and he has a personal game server. He says he needs it for all his projects and the fact that when he throws lan parties it apparently helps with lag and ping latency (I have no idea what ping is). He also says that when he is finished with school at the end of the year and moves out I should think about building one, instead of using a switch. I guess my question is, is it worth it?

EDIT: Umm, oops ok so I guess I asked this before actually thinking about it. I should be asking instead is it worth owning a game server for lan parties or not? I will still be using a switch and modem. Sorry for the confusion.
 
Solution
If you want to host a LAN party where people want to play a shared game, generally you'd need a game server for everyone to connect to.

No game server, and it's just a pizza party.

Doorstopper

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Mar 24, 2014
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Alright because we host parties at least 6-8 times a month, and generally there's only about 7-8 people, but we've had up to 35-40 people several times spanning across multiple apartments.