Why do you game?

[Tomahawk]

After the last couple of nights I've done a little thinking about playing games and what they mean to me.

When I started gaming it was for competition. I wanted to be the best, a golden god. During SWBF2 I got to be among the elite. I lived for each of our practices and scrimmages. I took it seriously and loved every minute of it. I showed up for every practice and every scrimmage. Every win further catapulting me to glory and every defeat that further push to become better. I loved it and as much as I loved the clan, it was about the competition and the love for being that golden god.

Over time it became less about that and I started to develop legitimate friendships within the clan. I grew from being the new guy in a group of people I didn't know, who lived no where near me and I really didn't give a shit about, to actually having friendships with people that are as close as any I have in real life. I found that I cared when someone got married/dumped, was having a baby (dumbasses!), or just their normal day to day shit. As I get older and my job has gone from just a paycheck to something I legitimately care and stress about, I find myself happy to just play. Every time I get the chance to get a solid night of gaming in, I feel like myself. In the world of Xbox, my stress is simply whether or not I'm having fun. I get to escape the stress and real world problems for a few hours with people that I like and virtually kill stuff.

Without this clan and online gaming in general, I wouldn't have met some of my best friends. I can not be thankful enough for the DSA Jedi server for introducing me to this clan and to several of my best friends. Some of you will get this and some won't, but those that do know what I'm saying.

So let's hear it. Why do you game?

[Deslock]

We game Tomahawk because we game together.

You already know this.

As brothers, as friends, and because we we all hold each other to a higher ideal.

We broker no deal with cheaters, glitchers, and 'sploiters.

What makes us special indeed is that we do care about each other.

So many other gaming Clan's don't have that.

All they care about is the win. Wherein all we truly care about is each other.

The very reason we are "Leet" is because we care about each other.

We are special, because we do indeed love each other,

As I told my buddy Plague when he was braggin' about his Clan:

"Did anyone there buy you a PS3, Give you a DSA dogtag, a T-shirt, and totally stood by your side no matter what, and loved you like a brother...?"

No f'n anwser from him, just a blank stare.

That is why I stand by the DSA no matter what may come.

We may all bitch at each other from time to time, as all brothers do. But when the time comes, we all stand together. No one could ever ask for more.

We all serve proudly, because Ratix would ask no less of us.

Words alone cannot decribe just how proud I am of everyone here, and how proud I am of calling you my "brothers at arms".

The DSA survives because each of you here are a better class of people.

We are "Honorable". We fight with fair play, and class, and we honor those that beat us in combat.

You know this Tomahawk. This question is moot. You are a Knight of the DSA, This question is pointless, as you already know the answer to it.

Why do I game..?

To honor those that have fought so hard so that I might also be DSA.

[Cottoinc]

Tomahawk,

Why do I game? Because reading puts me to sleep, true story.

I have always been a gamer ever since I played Pitfall on the Atari, Super Mario on the NES, Diablo on the PC, and COD on the Xbox. It is the one form of entertainment that I truly enjoy. I will watch a movie once or twice, and get into a good tv show. But a good game will have me for months.

What is new to my gaming culture is being in a Clan. All the time that I played Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, and the BF games. I never joined a clan. It was not until I started playing MMOs when I joined my first guild. A guild in WOW is nothing close to what we have here. I actually did not enjoy being in a guild until my time in Eve Online, when I was given a leadership position in the Corp. Working spreadsheets and user rights for a space station and having other corp mates relying on me brought a whole new depth to my gaming experience.

With my experience of 6 years in the Army made leading enjoyable. Now games were not just a thing to play by myself. They were a community to be a part of.

Sadly, when I left the Army in Sept of 2009. I had lost the community and friendships that I had grown to enjoy. My wife and I had moved to a new town and we had no friends.

Then a random google search for Star Wars; lead me to the DSA site. I thought "Hell, they play the games I like and they are Star Wars themed; this sounds like a ok place". Man was I wrong. It is a GREAT place. I never though I could have built friendships online like I have here. I never share anything online, check my facebook and twiter account, they are almost empty. But I have over a 1,000 post on this site.

I buy and keep games that other DSA members play that I would not do so if not in the DSA. Gears 3 ?; let's admit it's not my game, but I will from time to time get on and play just to play with other DSA. I bought copies of SWBF2 and Socom just in the off chance of playing them sometime when my PS3 is done updating lol.

Now lets talk COD, my home battalion in DSA.

Some of the best guys I could ever ask to play a game with, and have the honor to lead. I ask them to do some of the hardest shit I can think of and they do it with a smile on their faces.

We may not win every match (63% wins by my elite score) but I always feel like a winner when I play with them. As their current highest ranking officer; I try to bring them the most enjoyable gaming experience I can, by following the rules set before me by RaTix and the COC.

Their guidelines lead my every move, and I hope they have made me into good leader in the COD battalion. Also I hope that I can continue to lead in DSA as Xbox Grand Moff one day, and maybe if I can catch Norm off guard, as RaTix's Apprentice.

So why do I game you ask? Well because books put me to sleep, movies and tv shows don't hold my interest, and because DSA IS THE BEST DAMN GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU WILL FIND ON ANY PLATFORM.

[Kamui]

I game because it has always been a thrill for me since my younger days of Kindergarden when I could hardly make any sense of it. Sure it was a small interest, but I tried out games like Mega Man 2 and Super Mario with Mega Man 2 being the first real game for me to own ever. I didn't really start playing games to beat them until I got alittle older.

Games like Actraiser 2, Final Fantasy 3(6), Final Fantasy 2(4), Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Earthworm Jim, Donkey Kong Country,etc.
I was always a gamer first than a student sadly. It's not that I hated learning, but I found school boring and tedious. I didn't make any real friends their and video games was my true escape from reality of public school. I had a good life at home, with the exception of having an older brother who is a douchebag that would turn of the console when he wanted to sleep.
But I got picked on in public school, so Video games warmed up my life.
Then the new era of video games started Playstation, Nintendo 64, and Sega Saturn. I tested myself here playing, Star Wars Shadows of the Empire and completing it on the hardest difficulty setting "Jedi". Super Smash Bros on it's hardest setting with one life without dying. You'll usually say "Mui Shark", but it's just my crazy style of playing games, and it has adapted in my playstyle today.

Played with a wild group back then as well on the N64 so Super Smash Bros. was among the games i'd play, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye. Gauntlet Legends, Road Rash 64 etc.

Star Wars Battlefront was epic, I was able to finally meet like minded people that believed in team work, and working together. While I had always played in a mercenary fashion, I liked working with a team that liked working together. If the team wasn't working together in that game I would usually play lone wolf and starting grabbing CPs to help the team out via dark trooper or crawling around as a scout trooper or storm trooper.
I was in ARSE during SWBF, but I hadn't been very active due to me being in college and not balancing my time. They were in the UK I was in the US, that just wasn't goingto work. For some it'll work, but for me it's different.

After the storm that was Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars Battlefront 2 rolled around and I was disappointed. It just felt so differenet. The developers I felt were rushed by Lucasarts to finish the game because Pandemic actually have the ideas, but poorly execute them or are just a bunch of corporate fools.
I was just on the brink of selling this game because Lucasarts had abandoned this game, they shut down their servers, and gave no support to the PS2, PC or PSP version at all.

But then something I didn't imagine did happen. I hopped on SWBF2 to play one day and I found DSA:Jedi the one server that would change everything, because that is where I met people like Tomahawk, Taco, Reaver, Shocker, etc. But the people I had the most battles with were Taco and Tomhawk.
DSA is like the biggest DLC to any game. In SWBF2's case it made me like the game a whole lot. From DSA sports, tournaments, scrimmages everything became EPIC! Joining this clan is no regret and while it's sad to see people leave in the worst way possible(simply vanishing or leaving with bad blood) I still enjoy being here.

So why I game....because it's something to escape from the tedium's of life, and to play with awesome friends whom i've been gaming with for 6 years,etc ,etc

[Deslock]

God guys, it really makes a difference being here doesn't it ?.

If I hadn't found the DSA when I did, I highly doubt I'd even ever play any online games at all, especially now.

When I first started jumping on SWBF, all it was; was an exercise in futility, frustration, and anger. There is a very legitimate reason why the DSA has so many military veterans here. The DSA has structure, reason, and a camaraderie that I've not seen in any other Clans. I'm not saying there aren't any out there, but I sure as Hell haven't seen any yet that have what we have here.

Thank you RaTix for having the foresight, vision, and werewithall to support your group over all these years. I'd also like to thank all of your Darth's, and everyone else here for their support, caring, and concern for us all also.

The DSA has had some severe trials and tribulations over the years, but through it all, everyone still stuck together. I've had offers to join other Clans, and I politely said "No thank you, I'm DSA", and I always will. Once you've found the best, there's no acceptable reason to downgrade. :D Members have come and gone, but the DSA spirit remains the same.

The bonds of friendship run deep in this Clan, and for a very long time. If the DSA was in the Warhammer 2k universe, The DSA would be a Space Marine Chapter. Honor, courage, and dedication to fight for each other to the very end.

The DSA supported me and mine when my wife's Mother died without any warning, the members here supported me when Sony came out with their hateful firmware update that was bricking launch models and I was worried and scared to update, even through my endless hate rants against them for over a year.

The DSA even supported us when we lost our child. And all of your love given from you for us, my wife and I give you a tenfold in return. We both love all of you.

What could any other Clan offer me that could even come close to match that ??!!!

Why do I game with you.... ?

Because it's truly an honor to stand by your side, and bear the DSA tag with pride. I'm just as proud to be DSA, as I am to be a combat veteran.
Then, just as now, no one could ever ask to be in a better group of men and women. We all serve and fight with a "band of brothers".

Why do I game with the DSA..?

Just look in the mirror.

Des.

P.S....

Mui, "Hawk, and Cotto, Rep points given for speaking your truth.

[Yentis]

BECAUSE I LIKE TOO!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahaha

[BOSS]

I've always liked to game, but when online gaming entered the picture it changed my outlook on things. SWBF was my first online game that I played consistently and just enjoyed the epic PvP battles. Eventually, I started to look for a group/clan that shares my same values (teamwork, respect, honor, etc). That's how I'm here today and can't thank Ratix enough for giving me the opportunity to join this family of gamers that are also good people. I'll never forget the members that I've served with like Corporal, Coor, Spock, Frell, and others that are unfortunately no longer gaming with us today.

I used to game just for the joy of gaming, but now I enjoy gaming with those that I can consider brothers.

Forever DSA, forever a gamer.

[TheRealHanSolo]

I remember, pretty vividly actually, the X-Mas my grandfather got me my first Nintendo. There is video somewhere but I may have actually put that N64 kid on youtube to shame. Games were too expensive, at least my dad believed they were, so I only ever rented games and usually beat them in less than 2 days. Or bought them at yard sales, I had some crazy stupid games come from people's junk sales. Anyways, I remember begging my dad for a SNES, an N64, and an Xbox. I remember trading everything I had and using chore money to buy my Dreamcast. I skipped a boring ass theater class in 2006 to drive all the way to Winston-Salem to get a 360 at Best Buy.

Growing up I had a good friend who had almost every system. When I had friends over we used all play the new system he had purchased. Sega Gensis, Game Gear, Sega CD, etc. I have great memories of some great games. NHL 96 was my shit! I think I actually scored 40 goals in one game bc I found the spot you could not miss at. Madden on my Game Boy, yea I scored 70 running the same play the whole game. Starfox 64 I am amazed even worked after all the times I played it. I spent countless hours watching a good friend play FF7, MGS, and RE 1 & 2 on his Playstation (Xbox was the first disc system I owned and never had a PS2).

I was still an active kid. I played sports non-stop Spring-Winter. Soccer->Baseball->Soccer->Basketball and repeat for like 12 years. I still enjoyed my video games though. As I got into high school and into college video games became my escape. My way to unwind. Its how I met some of my best friends in college, including that lil bitch Keyser. Talking video games with other people in college and all things Star Wars helped made me realize the true geek that I am. In high school I kind of hid from it thinking I did not want to seen as "uncool". College and the people I met helped me realize to say "fuck it I am who I am and fuck you if you don't like it". DarthMikey and I actually got pretty annoying playing Deadrising/Gears of War on our college hall.

Thanks to Keyser I got obsessed with Rock Band, Yeungling, and yes even DSA. He was the first person who told me about the clan. I remember watching a scrimmage one night when I was over at his place back when he played Warhawk and he was telling me about the clan. I hoped on checked out the site and sent Phoenix a message about joining the CoD4 division. The rest is history.

For four years DSA was a very important part of my life. You guys are as much as family to me as some of my closest friends. I have drank with more DSA than any other, though Zab is close behind. Gaming changed from something I did by myself or with a roommate to playing with complete strangers that somehow became like family/best friends even though many of us had never met. Phoenix and norm taught me a lot about how to lead not only a division but how to be a good leader for real life situations. It is hard to explain DSA to others. But I don't want to honestly. I don't want them to "get it". It should be something they "earn". You wanna be in DSA? Great, but it won't be easy and for those who are willing to get humiliated, called out, broken and rebuilt we will welcome. Some make it, others do not. This brotherhood has defined my post college years. I know have friends in DSA that I count as I said as family. People that I know would help if the need be or just lend an ear if I needed that or maybe could give me advice that other friends would not.

I game because I like it. Because its in my genes.

[Reaper316]

I've always been a country boy. My family is big into the horse business and very successful I might add. One of my Uncles that has a farm North of Chicago has sold horses to Oprah and the king himself Harrison Ford a.k.a. Han Solo!

Alas, I digress...I started out with the Atari 2600 when I was a kid. Then I'll never forget the Chirstmas that the NES was new out. I begged my parents to get it for me and I'll never forget my older brother telling me I might not get it. It was the new "big gift" that year and money was tight. I was like 7 or something though so I didn't grasp that. I remember we drove to My Grandma's farm (which is now my Uncle's) for Christmas that year. Christmas Eve is when the whole family did gifts...well I got the NES which happened to be bundled with Zelda, Mario and some track and field shit with that damn pad you run on.

Me and my friends would gather before Elementary school in my friends garage on the way to school on our bikes to get some quick games in before we had to ride to school. Then after we got home we would play ball, do homework then hit the games again.

I skipped a few generations and didn't get back into it until the PS2 came out. They had some great titles that hooked me and I had to buy a PS3. Only after my older brother went out and bought one. It was so shiny and cool I had to go get one for myself.

I bought 2 games with my PS3 system...Uncharted and Warhawk. This is the first system I hooked up online so I decided to pop in Warhawk to test out my new online gaming system. Fuck me! I was hooked...I didn't take that game out for more then a few hours for over 2 years...and I joined it after it was out for a year. I got my ass stomped by the vets but I kept grinding making sure I became a great pilot. That was the goal I set for myself.

I ended up joining my first ever clan. This was a group of guys that actually played together and we had some battles. We actually fought DSA 4-5 times, we won a couple lost a couple. The thing that resonates with me is if we won against DSA these guys would stay calm and inbetween games tell us how good we did and that it was a great match. Even better was that when they stomped us they would still tell us how great of a job we did.

That clan ended up being a bunch of douche bags with no sense of direction and leadership failed hard. When I called out the leader for his lack of ethics, morals and belittling of players I was banned from the site.

Alpha Omega was the one who brought me here from AoN. I signed up and was welcomed with open arms. My opinions were always listened to and I was taught how to never give up (like my old clan) and that we can always win! No bitching or whining was tolerated. I learned this even more so when I loved this clan so much I went out and bought a 360.

I bought Black Ops so I had something to play with the guys on the 360 (at the time that was the game to have). It was my first FPS and I know I kept whining and saying how bad I was but it was merely to point out I didn't want to let anyone down. Norm, Solo and Phoenix helped me a lot to adjust.

Since then I have got to know the rest of the 360 division of guys. Everyone is awesome and it is a true brotherhood. I've had a string of misfortunes the last 2 years and gaming with DSA has kept me going and looking forward. I've always had someone's shoulder to lean on no matter what I am going through in my personal life...someone is always there for me and I can't thank them all enough.

I know sometimes I get online and just get blasted drunk but I have a helluva lot of fun doing it. Sure there are random talks about Ratix and Tomahawks nipples...but they don't mind it. Hell I think they rather enjoy my drunken gaming nights. Another valuable lesson I've learned is to never ever ever let Tomahawk or Ratix drive you anywhere in a game. You will end up in the Ocean or stuck on some fence upside down.

One last thing, and this has to be the most fun! From Ratix and Tomahawk....I've truly learned how to be fierce and competitive...and most of all EVIL BASTARDS....but in a good way! LOL

I hope you enjoyed my journey and path I walked to the Darkside!

[Zabka]

I game because of an unnatural obsession with Ratix. When I am not gaming,I am usually outside his window, peering in to see what he is doing. But since that will cause you to go blind if you stare at it too long (kind of like a solar eclipse), I have to spend more of my free time on line in hopes of being able to hear him on the mic!

Interestingly, tomahawk, you asked this question on near the anniversary of when I became a gamer. I played when I was a kid, did sega in college, then stopped gaming for years. Then on 9/11, being in NYC was jarring. I knew two who died, I had family that was two blocks away, and the whole thing was a mess. I had 7 people sleeping on the floor of my 1 BR apt since they weren't allowed downtown where they lived. In order to not watch tv for hours on end about the tragedy, since we could see and smell everything where we were. So I pulled an old ps1 given to me that I never played, went to EB and bought a few used games. And then all everyone in my apartment did was play games for the next week. I became a gamer.

[norm]

I game to have fun and to unstress. When I started gaming I did it to have fun. I gamed a little when I was younger, but mostly I played outside during that time. I skipped college right after High School and went to work so I spent most of my time either working or hanging out with friends. After a bit I got bored of all the shenanigans and started to become a little more mature. It's still a process..lol

I bought a PS2 and had fun with that. My wife supported my gaming habits with purchases like Spiderman 2. I purchased SWBF1 and really enjoyed the online part of that game. I played it a bunch and hung out in PR's server. I saw the DSA and played a couple of times in their server, but PR's always had Kashyyyk: Docks running and I really loved that map. I got SWBF1 later on in its life so I had time to make up. I didn't get SWBF2 till it had been out for a while. It was a big difference in the community at that time and it seemed like the DSA servers were the only one worth playing in and even if you weren't DSA they played nice with you and wouldn't shoot you in the back or boot you from the server for killing any of them.

After joining the DSA my gaming changed and I wanted to be good at the game. I wanted to compete and to win all the time. While being a part of the DSA it's changed from wanting to be good to teaching others how to be good. I could play SWBF2 all the time and enjoy finding out new ways to win and new tricks to teach folks.

After the split into PS3 and 360 I played Gears and loved Gears. It was during that time that I started to want to look into college and see what else was out there for me. With each new game that has come out I've been more involved clan wise, but less game wise. It's been tough managing time with the wife, work, family, and gaming. Now I've recently been hired into a new position with a large company. I'm really enjoying the position and it is a 3rd shift position. Currently I'm studying for a cert so I can get a pay raise a long with a new position title. I've been there a little less than six months, but I want to be the first one in our group to take the cert. There's six of us in the group, but only four open positions so I want to do well. I told my wife it would be funny to be there the least amount of time and yet pass the cert test first.

Because of that I haven't been on as much. I haven't had time to be good at gaming anymore much less use it to unwind after a day of work. Recently I just had my schedule changed so instead of working 6 days in a row I will only work 5 in a row. I work 10 hour shifts with alternating weekends. So this week I work Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Next week it's Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Then it repeats that same schedule week to week. Not a bad schedule, but I'm learning to manage wife time, family time and household chores in with it. I will never make a Tuesday practice or event, but I can make other events and practices in the near future.




I've really enjoyed gaming, but since starting the new job I don't love it like I used to. All of my passion and drive is going into my new job, succeeding at it and fitting my life around it. I've gotten on a few times and gamed. It's been quiet my mind a little bit and unwind from my day/night. I hope once things calm down I get back into gaming and loving it again. I may end up like Tomahawk and just pick and choose a game I like and stick with it. I really miss playing L4D with everyone. I miss checking the site at work, but work has a filter and darsidealliance.com is blocked due to the content of the site (games) ..lol

I'm not sure what the future of why I game will take me. I'm guessing it'll move me into Ratix, Tomhawk, Kerry and Zabka land of picking a game or two and having fun with those games. Right now I'm more excited about where work might take me and that's a little scary..lol