It’s been a long time since I blogged just to blog. I have to apologize for that, but things are nutty at my house. Then again, aren’t they always?
My kids are finally out for summer – this is the second full week they’ve had off from school, so it went way later this year than in the past – and you’d think things would slow down but somehow they never quite do. We’ve got doctor appointments, hair appointments, college applications and essays to start. (we also have to narrow down the college list because I am sorry my darling Heather – we simply cannot apply to 27 colleges or universities.) We also celebrated my son’s birthday last week, culminating with an “All Night LAN Party” at my house on Saturday. This consisted of four (yes, just four) boys coming over complete with their full computer systems – desktops and all – and setting up at my dining room table for a full night of gaming. Their game of choice? Starcraft II. Oh, and Smash Bros. (that’s a Game Cube game…yes, I said Game Cube. The system is practically archaic at this point, but for some reason – it’s the system that gamers like my son still love most. They had a Smash Bros. tournament at MLG – Major League Gaming finals – here in Anaheim a couple weeks back using Game Cubes. Go figure.)
Now, why would Duranies care about any of this? Well, this isn’t really a Duran thing, but it’s definitely a fandom thing. With the exception of my 16-year old nephew who was here, these boys aren’t kids that my son knows from school or even the neighborhood. He met them online, while gaming. They all play Starcraft together. In fact, they, along with a few others they’ve recruited from the Southern California area, started a high school team for HSL (High School League) for Starcraft II last school year. They play in tournaments. Last year they were JV – Junior Varsity – and this next year, they’ll play in Varsity, which means that if they do well, and they probably will given how they placed this last year – they’ll move on to finals and get to go to where ever finals are held next June. (This year it was San Diego, and I’m really hoping it stays that way next year!!) These kids take this eSport as seriously as other kids do with regular school-sanctioned sports. They play to win. They practice. They push one another. They have fun, and they’re on a team.
The boys on my son’s HSL team met in-person a few weeks ago at a gaming event here in Anaheim called MLG, and in a twist of fate, two of the boys live near and go to school with my nephew, so it worked out beautifully to have them over. I knew from watching the events unfold at MLG (I watched online) that the way these gamers react to their favorite players winning or losing in the same way that we might to the band. They hold up signs. They cheer. They find them after the games, and yes, they get pictures with them and have things signed. I was intrigued.
One quick anecdote about meeting their idols: my son is not a hugger. I don’t dare grab and hug the kid unless I want a face full of stink-eye (besides, he’s like hugging a statue) unless he initiates the hug – which happens maybe once or twice a year. It’s to the point where when he starts to come at me and says “Stand still, Mom.” I freeze, not exactly sure how to react, but recognizing that hugging back is probably not the way to go. Yes, it’s awkward, but he’s my son, and I’ll take the hugs! One night while he was at MLG I got the following text: “I hugged Day[9]!” I had to read the message twice, AND ask him if he was joking. Indignantly, my son said that he wasn’t kidding and that he’d “never” joke about hugging such a cool guy. Day[9] is a podcaster/e-sportscaster/pro-gamer for Starcraft. Even I know who he is, because I’ve watched a few of his (incredibly entertaining) podcasts. I don’t even understand Starcraft at all, but he such a great storyteller it doesn’t matter. He’s also brilliant. If my son needs an idol (and don’t we all?), I’m pretty lucky it’s this man, I’ve gotta say. In any case, when my son said hi to him that night at MLG, he took the time to say hi, ask him his name, offer a hug AND ask my son what he plans to do with himself in school/college. I know I’ve mentioned my son is a man of few words – well, Day[9] got him talking. (His real name, which apparently no self-respecting gamer ever uses, is Sean.) My son came home with a fully-signed mouse pad that is now getting framed and hung up on his wall, and a lot of great memories. And he hugs strangers if they’re gamers!!
So that brings me to this past weekend when I played hostess to these very serious gamers. I tried to stay out of the way, only supplying the necessary drinks, food and sustenance, but I listened. They spent hours dissecting all aspects of the game. They talked about everything from the way each of them play, to the game characters, and professional players. They heatedly argued over appropriate moves to make in a game, or which players were most worthy of their respect. They talked about the story lines involved in the games, and how each of them could be better players. This went on for HOURS. As I got up yesterday morning and came downstairs for coffee, they were still at it – sitting on my couch, eyes glazed over, playing Smash Bros. and still needling one another about gaming mistakes. Only one kid allowed sleep to win – my nephew, who is the oldest (and wisest, apparently!) of the bunch. The others kept going, talking about how they couldn’t wait for next year’s tournaments and what they’d do differently – how they’d strategize to meet the players they wanted and whether or not they’d actually remember to get photos next year. They talked about other gamers they knew online and how they’d hope they’d meet up, and that maybe they could convince a parent to go with them and get a room at a hotel near the convention. It sounded so different, yet incredibly familiar.
I asked my son at one point after MLG was over if he’d ever consider playing a different game from Starcraft, assuming that another game would come out that coerced the gamers to start playing en masse. You have to understand that my son takes Starcraft really seriously. He’s not just an avid-gamer, he’s training to play among the best, leveling-up as quickly as possible, with the goal being to make Master and then GrandMaster in the next several months. (he’s nearly there) His dream is to play professionally and get sponsored in the same way other kids dream of being a professional football or baseball player. He sat quietly and then answered, “No. I think I’d still keep playing Starcraft unless my friends stopped playing, because while I love the game and it’s really fun and I’m very good at it, the friendships I’ve made are just as important. They make it all even more fun.”
I couldn’t say it any better.
-R
