Chapter 5 Characteristics of Video Gamers and Video Game Communities Introduction
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- Figure 5.12.
- Figure 5.13.
- Figure 5.14.
The Opening Ceremony & Pub QuizDuring Insomnia (i-Series), it was often for BYOC gamers to attend the Opening Ceremony and Pub Quiz together. The Opening Ceremony usually takes place on the Saturday morning where people would gather around the main stage to obtain information on the latest gear from computer games companies, as well as to obtain free swag and ‘The Box’ (the box that once contained all the prizes) (see Figure 5.12).
Figure 5.12. Opening Ceremony at i50 – BYOC gamers trying to obtain ‘The Box’ These forms of participation were common amongst BYOC gamers, which were considered more ‘community based’ with a shared understanding amongst community members. For instance, Bulbasaur (Group Interview: Insomnia) mentions that there is a story behind ‘The Box’; Bulbasaur …there’s a story to the box… we didn’t become randomly obsessed with ‘The Box’… it happened years and years ago, early I-LAN… on the opening ceremony, they ran out of stuff to throw out… so people started chanting for the empty cardboard box… and it became a thing since… like all try to obtain the box… some of the boxes are so big, it’s fun to sit in them… or stuff small people in them *giggles*… it use to mean something… to have the box… but now it isn’t since the kids ruined it all… Throughout the duration of the data collection, Insomnia (i-Series) have had a couple of changes applied - since March 2015, GAME, the UK’s largest specialist gaming retailed acquired the company Multiplay for £20 million. This has led to expansions towards widening the scope of audience to attend Insomnia (i-Series), in particular ‘kids’, or ‘Minecraft Kids’ – of which BYOC gamers have felt that it is no longer an event about them; Bulbasaur: LAN is good, but just not the same anymore… it used to be all about the BYOC, of which it still is… but not as much as it should be… because so much is going on… and now it’s been taken over by fucking Minecraft kids… Squirtle: I still remember when they first introduced Minecraft to i-Series… there were so many complaints, ‘we don’t wanna play Minecraft’, ‘it’s a kids game’, ‘booooo’… I hate Minecraft! Charmander: …but it’s what keeps i-Series going and what makes the ‘dollar dollar’ (money)… because it has such a big attraction where kids, or more precisely, their parents throw money at… and it’s probably what’s paying the bills to run this place… Bulbasaur: I know, but it’s just a shame that everything is changing… like the opening ceremony… Squirtle: Oh my god, this year’s opening ceremony was awful… it was literally bombarded by kids… Bulbasaur: It’s been like that for the past few i-Series now, hence why I stopped going… It used to be all about the big game computer companies, like Overclockers, Corsair… where they give out their little speeches and tell us about the latest gears… then they throw out loads of free shit, like keyboards, mouse, memory sticks… now they just throw out bags of Haribo to feed the kids! Despite the transition (from Multiplay to Game), several BYOC gamers have noticed the changes that have been applied to later Insomnia (i-Series) events – such as requests have been made for a separate opening ceremony for BYOC gamers only. However, it is important to highlight that not all the changes are ‘bad’, as Rengar the Pridestalker (Group Interview: Insomnia55) suggest positive changes;
Although, the Opening Ceremony has been ‘bombarded by kids’, the Pub Quiz still remains ‘sacred’ to the BYOC gamers, where it has been kept a separate activity during the Saturday evening, away from the general public (see Figure 5.13). 
Figure 5.13. Pub Quiz – i56 For instance, Annie the Dark Child (Interviewee, Insomnia) mentioned that the most exciting moment of the show was the Pop Quiz, which happened on Saturday evening – the quiz being on video games of course. Annie the Dark Child: I’m really looking forward to the pop-quiz. It’s the main highlight of the weekend. Well… I think it is anyway. People get dressed up. And we’d work together in own our groups to try to win a keg of beer. During the pub quiz, there are also several activities that happen; such as teams attempting to build the biggest beer and pizza box towers or competing in the boat race (see Figure 5.14).  
Figure 5.14. Building the biggest beer and pizza box tower [left], and competing in the boat race [right] This suggests that amongst the various activities LAN gamers participate in, they also look to the ‘Insomnia community’ for activities, where some aspects have remained part of their focus for their entertainment. Download 21.28 Mb. Share with your friends:
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