Happy Birthday XDC

Chatting to Alzir on TS tonight and he realised it was about this time some years back that XDC was formed, so I did a bit of digging and found this gem from the old old website confiming we are 8 years old this month! W00T us!

XDC was formed back in October 1999 in response to the growing number of faggots using the Internet Gaming Zone. As anyone who plays multiplayer games on Internet knows, there are an amazing number of complete and utter wankers who use the gaming services. The people I’m referring to come from all parts of the world (although for some reason most seem to be American?) but they usually all have one thing in common; they rely on the Internet to replace a gap in their lives caused, usually, by a non-existent social life. They have difficulties forming friendly relationships within the real world, so they resort to congregating in a virtual one.

As technology has improved and Internet access has become more widely available, the rest of us have discovered the entertainment value of the Internet isn’t restricted solely to porn sites, and that Internet gaming is a brilliant way to fill a boring day. The only problem is that some people take gaming far too seriously. In my view a game is, funnily enough, a game, but it seems that this simple concept is too confusing for many Internet gamers to grasp. There are people who spend nearly every waking minute at their computer playing games, and when we’re unfortunate enough to meet them in a game, all they seem interested in, is the game itself. Conversation is non-existent, and they will only find the game enjoyable if it is taken seriously by all participants!

If you are familiar with Internet gaming, then you’ll probably also be familiar with the concept of the clan (and whoever came up with that name should be shot). In our view a clan is a group of people who come together regularly to play a game, and often enter competitions together as a team. The problem is that the vast majority of clans are full of pricks, and consequently take themselves far too seriously. For example clans often have a ranking system with members of low rank being ordered about by those of higher rank, and even resort to calling each other “sir” or “master” as if it were the fucking army! There is also usually a set of rules by which all members must abide if they wish to escape discipline!

In an attempt to bring some sanity back to the world of Internet gaming, I decided to start a clan myself, but in XDC the emphasis would be on having a good time, rather than on serious gameplay. We only invite someone to join if we like them, and if they’re good fun to have around. We have no ranks, so no one is ordered to do anything, and the only condition of membership is that you’re not a wanker. How good someone is at the games we play isn’t even a consideration when they’re asked to join, so us actually being good is purely coincidental 😉

In XDC we take games they way they should be taken as, i.e. just a bit of fun. We play for the entertainment of a challenge, but never get so carried away that we can’t have a laugh with the people we’re playing against. Nobody in XDC is expected to give up any free time towards the game; we can do what we want, when we want. That means we don’t have any bullshit like ‘meetings’, and we certainly don’t care how often members appear online. So basically, XDC gives us the opportunity to play in a team of friends when we want, but at the same time not letting the game become our life.essage board

I also posted the entire article because it is quite nice to be reminded why we got together over the years. I’ve been hanging around like an old smell since 2000ish and the XDC “clan” has, in my eyes, been a fantastic success in maintaining this vision from our leader and guru, the great one, he who must be obeyed, etc Matt. (don’t tell him but he’s actually a wee Irish cock 😉 ).