dreamthief
First Post
Interesting news story.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/08/technology/circuits/08QUES.html?8hpib
Where Warriors and Ogres Lock Arms Instead of Swords
By DAVID KUSHNER
BOSTON -- NICE ears!" the young man with the bow and arrow shouted through the crowd to the corseted woman. Her ears were pointy and Vulcanlike. "I'm guessing, druid?"
"Half-elf," she replied coyly. "Nice try."
He should have known better. After all, this was the Fan Faire, a convention for the most erudite players of the medieval-themed computer game EverQuest. Back home, the 1,500 people whom the conference drew carry out their adventures in an online fantasy world called Norrath where, as Tolkienesque wizards and warriors, they seek treasures, battle monsters and build their characters. The Fan Faire was a rare opportunity for them to meet in the flesh. Players came from as far as Denmark, and many appeared in the guise of their in-game characters — isosceles ears and all.
Don't laugh. The passion of online game players is at the heart of a video game industry that with revenues of $10.8 billion last year rakes in more money than movie theaters. Computer games are no longer just a solitary pursuit but are thriving on the carbon-based factor: the passionate players who use games like EverQuest not just to compete but also to mingle.
These days much of the mingling is offline. In addition to the EverQuest events — Fan Faires are held several times each year around the country — fans of popular first-person-shooter games like Counter-Strike and Quake III Arena stage their own offline conventions and tournaments.
The phenomenon is not limited to the United States. In South Korea, gamers frequent Internet cafes, known as PC bangs, to play in person. In Japan, dance-by-numbers games like Dance Dance Revolution have turned arcades into nightclubs.
So much for the stereotype of the maladjusted gamer geek. As Sara Yeager, whose half-elf EverQuest character goes by the name Livak, said, "To play this game, you've got to be social."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/08/technology/circuits/08QUES.html?8hpib
Where Warriors and Ogres Lock Arms Instead of Swords
By DAVID KUSHNER
BOSTON -- NICE ears!" the young man with the bow and arrow shouted through the crowd to the corseted woman. Her ears were pointy and Vulcanlike. "I'm guessing, druid?"
"Half-elf," she replied coyly. "Nice try."
He should have known better. After all, this was the Fan Faire, a convention for the most erudite players of the medieval-themed computer game EverQuest. Back home, the 1,500 people whom the conference drew carry out their adventures in an online fantasy world called Norrath where, as Tolkienesque wizards and warriors, they seek treasures, battle monsters and build their characters. The Fan Faire was a rare opportunity for them to meet in the flesh. Players came from as far as Denmark, and many appeared in the guise of their in-game characters — isosceles ears and all.
Don't laugh. The passion of online game players is at the heart of a video game industry that with revenues of $10.8 billion last year rakes in more money than movie theaters. Computer games are no longer just a solitary pursuit but are thriving on the carbon-based factor: the passionate players who use games like EverQuest not just to compete but also to mingle.
These days much of the mingling is offline. In addition to the EverQuest events — Fan Faires are held several times each year around the country — fans of popular first-person-shooter games like Counter-Strike and Quake III Arena stage their own offline conventions and tournaments.
The phenomenon is not limited to the United States. In South Korea, gamers frequent Internet cafes, known as PC bangs, to play in person. In Japan, dance-by-numbers games like Dance Dance Revolution have turned arcades into nightclubs.
So much for the stereotype of the maladjusted gamer geek. As Sara Yeager, whose half-elf EverQuest character goes by the name Livak, said, "To play this game, you've got to be social."
