Hi. This is my house.
> 1) People are facing a wall, not each other.
People are facing their computers when playing, and then they can turn around to chat when done. Having everyone at a table would actually make them more separated. And anyway, the whole point is that having fold-out stations in the wall means they don't take space when not in use.
> 2) There's no table central to all players, where pizza resides.
Didn't you just say that the computer table should be central? :P There's actually space right behind that line of chairs for a table if that's what we wanted, and in the other room you could put a table in the middle of the room. In practice we just put the pizza on the dining table (in the background there) and that works fine.
> 3) A single-line of players means players on the ends have trouble communicating verbally.
In practice everyone's voice carries fine across the room.
> 4) There's uneven lighting across the gaming spots, and it looks like more lighting behind the players than in front of them
I think the lighting in the house is fantastic. There is never a need to turn on artificial lights during the day.
True, bright lights are not ideal for LAN parties, and at just the right time of day there may be some glare on one or two monitors, but it's brief, and once the sun goes down it's a non-issue.
Remember that I live in this house even when there aren't LAN parties. :)
> 5) Those chairs are not comfortable enough.
Actually, I'm very happy with the chairs. They are padded and quite comfortable. And, most importantly, they stack, so I can store them out-of-the way between parties.