Fri, 29 Mar, 2024

The Gaming Community : Part II

By Abhusan Gautam

Photo: The DWIT E-Gaming Community                          Photo Courtesy: Abhusan Gautam [To read the part I of the story, Click here : http://dwitnews.com/history-gaming-group/ ] It wasn’t long before their new found obsession was brought on stage. The Documentary Club of the college featured a movie “Free to play” which highlighted the importance of gaming and the future it had for the people in it. Everybody enjoyed the movie; they were thrilled to see a side of gaming they had never seen before. But it affected people more than it should have. It gave birth to new Gamers. The community grew; more people were excited by the prospect of having fun. Almost half of the third semester students at DWIT, along with some fifth and first semester students, jumped on the bandwagon and learnt the ways of “DOTA”. The curiosity which was expected to end quickly lasted longer and became an incurable addiction. The casual spectators from the past now became hardcore competitors for the “1st Generation Gamers”. The competition gave birth to new rivalries and it promoted friendship, friendships between two people who thought they had nothing in common. The group organized their own tournament in the premises of the college. More than 30 epic 1 vs. 1 matches were held, the “2nd Generation Gamers” had to face off with the veterans, their mentors, and their coaches, the “1st Generation Gamers”, to progress to the tournament. Of course, the experience and lack of knowledge of game mechanics made the game go one sided, but there were upsets. Sharun “Shady” Sangat’s Finger of Death on Rishav “Franklin” Bhurtel’s Death Prophet out of nowhere set the crowd jumping and Suniel “LAMS” Lamsal’s Sunder on Ronit “R-16” Pradhan was the highlight of the tournament.  The final match of the Tournament, between Avusann “Carefreeav” Gautam vs. Ronit “R-16” Pradhan was the most anticipated one. The Final event was grand but it got delayed for months due to the examinations and the break. Tensions were high as both players looked to snatch the bragging rights from the other. “I want both of them to win, one has knowledge and other has sheer hard work. Save the match, I am sure it will be epic,” said one of the gamers of third semester, Bidur “Logan” Bastola. The Finals was conducted in the midnight with 10 people viewing it online from home. In an epic Best of Five matches, a tournament that could go either way, R16 took the essence of surprise on Carefreeav and took the game. The tournament had officially ended and all the bragging rights got reserved by R16.  Couple of months later, the group organized their own 5 vs. 5 matches up with all the players present in it, first of many. [caption id="attachment_4878" align="aligncenter" width="555"]tiesheet of the tournament Photo : The tournament’s fixtures
Photo Courtesy: Abhusan Gautam[/caption] The Community was also criticized a lot as they were obvious targets for mismanaging the DWIT Computer Lab, making noise and “eating up” the bandwidth. Many of the members were disheartened by it, but it has not stopped them from doing what they love to do and the community has agreed to follow the rules set by the college to not hinder anyone’s work and co-operate with other people. While DOTA 2 still remains as the most loved game in the community, the members are open to other popular games as well; FIFA is still the second most preferred game as it can be played alone while COUNTER STRIKE could be played in small numbers for limited time. The craze for Counter strike is now through the roof as majority of 2017 batch –section B is seen playing it all the time, even in the classroom. With the new first semester students, the community has welcomed their “3rd Generation Gamers” who has a lot to prove among their elders. The community has not participated in external tournaments, but will participate in tournaments after they are ready to take on the elites. After all, if you are competing, you compete to win.