Unusual Circumstances
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:44 pm
Some of you know, but I attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy here on fair Long Island. It's a full blown federal military academy, with all the rules, extremely tough work load, and very little free time. And yet, beautiful things happen sometimes.
The only computers we can have here as freshmen are the issued laptops, mid-range Acers with decent graphics power. Of course, with everyone's interests and time so varied here in the barracks, it's hard to find many games that we can enjoy together, and there's rarely time to do so anyway. One does stand out though: good old Counterstrike. It's amazing what people, with a little creativity and very limited assets can accomplish. On our floor we purchased a Link-sys wireless router. Then someone got ahold of a hacked copy of CS 1.5 (the last version that doesn't require Steam, which is blocked by our school firewall). So, with our laptops, old copies of CS, and wireless router (to avoid detection on the school network), 4-10 of us will all pack into a couple neighboring rooms, and proceed to have the time of our lives. It's beautiful, a bunch of stressed, worn out college kids with no freedom and no lives, finding momentary enjoyment and comradery with each other. We've played through all the old maps, bitched at each other about AWP-whoring, whooped in triumph at a knife kill, and all the other typical things you find in a LAN party.
I was always a mediore fan of CS before, but now I am indebted to it, and will remain fond of it forever. It honestly has brought the most diverse people together, under the toughest of circumstances. So, from one old gamer to all you, my mentors, my friends, and you young pups out there, enjoy your games. Enjoy playing with friends. Go to LANs, you'll never know how special it may be to you someday.
The only computers we can have here as freshmen are the issued laptops, mid-range Acers with decent graphics power. Of course, with everyone's interests and time so varied here in the barracks, it's hard to find many games that we can enjoy together, and there's rarely time to do so anyway. One does stand out though: good old Counterstrike. It's amazing what people, with a little creativity and very limited assets can accomplish. On our floor we purchased a Link-sys wireless router. Then someone got ahold of a hacked copy of CS 1.5 (the last version that doesn't require Steam, which is blocked by our school firewall). So, with our laptops, old copies of CS, and wireless router (to avoid detection on the school network), 4-10 of us will all pack into a couple neighboring rooms, and proceed to have the time of our lives. It's beautiful, a bunch of stressed, worn out college kids with no freedom and no lives, finding momentary enjoyment and comradery with each other. We've played through all the old maps, bitched at each other about AWP-whoring, whooped in triumph at a knife kill, and all the other typical things you find in a LAN party.
I was always a mediore fan of CS before, but now I am indebted to it, and will remain fond of it forever. It honestly has brought the most diverse people together, under the toughest of circumstances. So, from one old gamer to all you, my mentors, my friends, and you young pups out there, enjoy your games. Enjoy playing with friends. Go to LANs, you'll never know how special it may be to you someday.
Pretty sad the depths I've decended to, but we still gamin'! S'all that matters.