Call them what you want. Nerds. Dorks. Whatever Jabba the Hut-type creatures the South Park kids turned into in the World of Warcraft episode. If you think that the members of the Connecticut College Gaming Club are only interested in sitting in a small, dimly-lit room to play Dungeons and Dragons, you may be surprised to learn that the CCGC is one of the most rapidly expanding clubs on campus.
Only two years ago, an average of five members would attend the weekly meetings, in which gaming events were discussed and planned. These days, approximately sixty members can be found on the club’s emailing list, while Monday night meetings will often find a cluster of board game aficionados staying afterwards to play a few rounds of Munchkin or Settlers of Catan.
“It’s actually a sizeable club now,” muses senior Dan Whittington. He has been the president of the club for the past two years and a member for three, so he knows more than anyone how both the growth and dedication of a club’s members can affect its survival.
Over the years, the Gaming Club has been the go-to organization for video game events and tournaments. Every month or so, they take on the responsibility of hosting a popular game event, from Mario Kart to Rock Band to Dance Dance Revolution (they tend to stay away from Super Smash Brothers tournaments, which the Martial Arts Club frequently use for their own fundraising).
However, the last couple of years have seen the Gaming Club attempting to attract other gamers, perhaps those who appreciate the electricity-free types. “We’ve been trying to diversify, and people have been coming with different interests,” says Whittington. “My freshmen year, we didn’t play board games and this year it’s a significant portion of the club.”
“When I first heard about Gaming Club I thought it was mostly video games and I figured it would be nice to know people who I could play and talk about video games with,” says freshman Evelyn O’Regan. “I think the fact that Gaming Club does more than video games is awesome because I love stuff like Apples to Apples, etc. Basically, the Gaming Club just seemed like a place to meet and hang out with fellow dorks.”
Sophomore Dan Vegeto (one of several Dans in the club, a recurring joke among members) also appreciates the variety and increasing membership. “My favorite games are strategy games, on the computer (Starcraft 2, Civ 5) or in board game form (Catan, Diplomacy). Like a good book or movie, these games allow you to step into an imaginary world, but a game is not a passive experience. You must also test your decision-making skills against those of the other players. This interaction makes gaming a very social activity and a lot of fun.”
Upperclassmen who have never been to a Gaming Club event know the members well, at least around dinnertime. Like other clubs on campus, the CCGC uses tabling in front of Harris as an effective tool to attract potential tournament participants. However, the CCGC takes tabling to another, more interactive level. Whittington will donate his television to the cause, and the members play the game which will be used in the upcoming event, inviting those leaving Harris to stop for a moment and try their luck. “Tabling has always been the gaming club’s method of advertising,” says Whittington. “It’s a very impromptu way of meeting potential gamers.”
One thing to be known about tabling: the club members refuse to take “Oh, but I’m not very good” as an answer. “I have only seen two Gaming Club members take first place in any tournament, and I’ve personally helped plan more than twenty,” says Whittington. “We don’t choose games that anyone should expect to win, we choose games that are fun.”
The Gaming Club is also not a complete sausagefest. In fact, somewhere from one fourth to one third of the club is made up of female gamers. “It always bothers me that the gaming industry thinks that guys are the only ones who play games,” says O’Regan, who joined the club along with other freshmen girls from her dorm. “It’s awesome that there are so many girls because it’s basically proving that stereotype wrong, and considering that there are more girls than guys at this school, one would think there would be more than three girls in the club.”
Whittington is confident in the club’s ability to try out new games in an event format. “We’ve never done a LAN on campus before because we’ve never had the opportunity,” he says. “It’s always been about the Nintendo-type games, and we’ve never had a PC event before. A popular game this semester is Starcraft II and we would like to fit that into the club.”
“The club provides regular opportunities to organize small gaming get-togethers, and it plans larger gaming events periodically,” says Vegeto. “I was glad to see that the club has grown substantially since last year, and I look forward to coming up with some cool new events.”
The Gaming Club’s first event will be a Mario Kart: Double Dash tournament Friday October 22 in Blaustein 201 and 203 at 8:00 PM. Entry is $2 in Harris – the club will most likely be in the lobby from 5 to 7 – and $4 at the door. For those who don’t want to participate in the actual tournament, open gaming will be available in adjacent rooms, and viewership is always free. Snacks and drinks will be provided.
The club meets Monday nights at 9:00 PM in Cro by the 1941 Room.
