In PC Gaming Club advisor’s Behrooz Sharvini’s classroom during lunch, virtual teams of five mythical characters can be found duking it out on an epic battlefield. This PC video game is called DoTA 2.
Just like playing sports or hanging out with friends, PC gaming combines social and skillful elements into a virtual activity that is entertaining and relaxing. The PC Gaming Club promotes the activity and organizes several gamers into one community. Sophomore Jason Yang is president of the PC Gaming Club and coordinator of activities.
Yang says, “Towards the end of last year, nobody started showing up and even Kenzo Makitani, the previous president, did not come to some meetings. The communication was really bad, and week meetings were only used for planning weekend gaming. Time was not managed correctly.”
Freshman Jeremy Liu says, “I was introduced to the club through the Club Fair. This club is just for entertainment and lets me have fun weekends.” He adds, “You don’t have to be a certain grade to join, anyone can come and join in the fun.”
The club uses some of its funds to buy new games.
“Sometimes we gather funds in order to get cheap games for the club. Members pitch in by donating some money and get games so that the whole club can enjoy playing together,” Yang says.
A typical PC Gaming Club meeting involves planning for the weekend gaming. Members rotate by week and bring their laptops to showcase certain games. This includes instructions for playing the game, and an important point of the showcase is to see if all members are able to play it.
Shahrvini says, “All I do is provide a place for them to meet. I don’t get involved financially, but I have seen the club improve since last year without being focused on money. More members have been coming and Jason’s been doing more activities with showcasing. It’s the same goals as last year, but with more and more members. They are much more focused.”
Planning for weekend sessions appears to be the focus of the club. “I just set up the weekend gaming. Last week, we played Terraria and this weekend we will be hosting a league game,” Yang says. “It’s really a community thing— I’m just the backbone for all the gaming that goes on.”
Last year, game showcases were rare and were used only for certain games. “We did game showcases every now and then. Nobody had time to do them last year, but now our club has showcases every week,” he adds.
In addition to the weekly showcases, the club plans to organize other events. Yang says, “eSport streaming is just watching eSport competitions like DoTA or League of Legends competitions. In LAN, or Local Area Network, parties, a group of members gets together and plays a game all in the same area. Physically, everyone can see each other and no one is left out to play by themselves.”
Yang feels that PC Gaming Club will continue to improve and bring new and more interesting activities to Aragon gamers. “I have new ideas and have already included the weekly game showcases; more will come,” he says. “The goal of our club is to have fun—that’s what games are for.”
PC Gaming Club is meant to connect students together into a bigger Aragon gaming community. Yang says, “The most important thing about the club is that no one has to game by themselves. Everyone games together.”
