It's amazing how quickly time passes. I'v been into gaming since the age of 0.1 basically always ticking away at some console or computer so when the chance and time came to play online (battlefield 1942 and Medal Of honour) getting addicted was the only thing to do. Strangely enough (even though I'm quite a decent player) I always felt more passionate about organising events and tournaments for gamers. So here I am, several years later after I started playing online, asking myself were do we rank in the scale of awesomeness ?
Things have obviously changed for better or for worse. Back in the days, only a few gaming communities existed with the most notable one being Lanforge (organisers of Genesis Lan Etc) while gaming communities such as Playreaction(formerly known as futureshock (minalija :O ), Lanthrax and Lucidlan were still a glint in the Milk Man's Eye. This was both a blessing and a curse in ways as there is nothing better than a community which is united and works together to achieve a common goal. One will however always find players with different interests or ideas in any community so those who didn't get along with the main gaming community usually ended up as outcasts. This obviously led to new gaming communities to be created in order try and provide a service in a niche area that the larger gaming communities couldn't. Fast forward to today and we realise that the scene is way different; Gamers now find themselves with a plethora of choices when it comes to gaming communities. The 2 larger ones are Playreaction.com and Lanthrax.com. Both communities have quite a large user base and are able to offer remarkable service both in news posts and gamer services. A number of smaller communities obviously exist (some of which I know nothing about ) which are trying to bite at the monopoly created and take a small piece of the cake for themselves.
The obvious improvement of all this is obviously the fact that more people that are prepared to take the burden of organising Lan Parties along with other gaming events. The also obvious downside to this is that since we are a small country, having too many Lan Parties will end up starving every Lan Party since not enough gamers will attend every event. Such an outcome can take a toll on even the most optimistic organisers. However, all's not bad in gamermalta; We've seen great improvements in both quality of service from gaming communities and even some respect from local sponsors. Half the gaming clans in Malta have nowadays some sort of sponsor. An example is eversio (only picking them cos they are probably the most notable action taken to put Malta on the e-sport map) which are sponsored by UltraMalta. It doesn't really say anything about the team in most cases but knowing that a sponsor at the back is ready to dish out some dosh for the team is always a comforting thought.
Getting down to the main topic of this rant, one immediately notices how fragmented the whole gaming community has become. The main stance right now is the divide between the 'CoD' players and the 'others'. Seriously, it feels like no one plays anything else on the Maltese islands except for Call Of Duty and some counter strike. Were has the innovation gone ? You never hear about anyone playing games like Enemy Territory, battlefield 2 and other games that are great in a competitive environment that have however been muscled out of the scene by call Of duty. I'm not saying that CoD is bad(God knows I'v spent too many hours playing it while I should have been studying for my O'levels and later my A' Levels) but it feels like the communities are going through a period of stunted growth simply because the only game being played is Call Of Duty. The even worse problem is that while Call of duty (especially CoD4) are going very strong in Malta (both online and in Lans) very few clans take this to a European level. Most clans will cite problems of internet of commitment which in my opinion is total balderdash. There was a time when gaming online was a pain, especially with some providers, however most of these problems are non existant anymore. As for commitment, I can only say that if you play every night in preparation for a Lan, you can easily play online matches against other teams. All matches are pre-scheduled so all team members should be able to make it.
Of course steps are being taken in the right direction. Ideas such as gaming nights with different games every time are a step in the good direction however better organisation with foreign gaming communties and events should be considered to enchance the exposure of Maltese players to the international scene.
Things have obviously changed for better or for worse. Back in the days, only a few gaming communities existed with the most notable one being Lanforge (organisers of Genesis Lan Etc) while gaming communities such as Playreaction(formerly known as futureshock (minalija :O ), Lanthrax and Lucidlan were still a glint in the Milk Man's Eye. This was both a blessing and a curse in ways as there is nothing better than a community which is united and works together to achieve a common goal. One will however always find players with different interests or ideas in any community so those who didn't get along with the main gaming community usually ended up as outcasts. This obviously led to new gaming communities to be created in order try and provide a service in a niche area that the larger gaming communities couldn't. Fast forward to today and we realise that the scene is way different; Gamers now find themselves with a plethora of choices when it comes to gaming communities. The 2 larger ones are Playreaction.com and Lanthrax.com. Both communities have quite a large user base and are able to offer remarkable service both in news posts and gamer services. A number of smaller communities obviously exist (some of which I know nothing about ) which are trying to bite at the monopoly created and take a small piece of the cake for themselves.
The obvious improvement of all this is obviously the fact that more people that are prepared to take the burden of organising Lan Parties along with other gaming events. The also obvious downside to this is that since we are a small country, having too many Lan Parties will end up starving every Lan Party since not enough gamers will attend every event. Such an outcome can take a toll on even the most optimistic organisers. However, all's not bad in gamermalta; We've seen great improvements in both quality of service from gaming communities and even some respect from local sponsors. Half the gaming clans in Malta have nowadays some sort of sponsor. An example is eversio (only picking them cos they are probably the most notable action taken to put Malta on the e-sport map) which are sponsored by UltraMalta. It doesn't really say anything about the team in most cases but knowing that a sponsor at the back is ready to dish out some dosh for the team is always a comforting thought.
Getting down to the main topic of this rant, one immediately notices how fragmented the whole gaming community has become. The main stance right now is the divide between the 'CoD' players and the 'others'. Seriously, it feels like no one plays anything else on the Maltese islands except for Call Of Duty and some counter strike. Were has the innovation gone ? You never hear about anyone playing games like Enemy Territory, battlefield 2 and other games that are great in a competitive environment that have however been muscled out of the scene by call Of duty. I'm not saying that CoD is bad(God knows I'v spent too many hours playing it while I should have been studying for my O'levels and later my A' Levels) but it feels like the communities are going through a period of stunted growth simply because the only game being played is Call Of Duty. The even worse problem is that while Call of duty (especially CoD4) are going very strong in Malta (both online and in Lans) very few clans take this to a European level. Most clans will cite problems of internet of commitment which in my opinion is total balderdash. There was a time when gaming online was a pain, especially with some providers, however most of these problems are non existant anymore. As for commitment, I can only say that if you play every night in preparation for a Lan, you can easily play online matches against other teams. All matches are pre-scheduled so all team members should be able to make it.
Of course steps are being taken in the right direction. Ideas such as gaming nights with different games every time are a step in the good direction however better organisation with foreign gaming communties and events should be considered to enchance the exposure of Maltese players to the international scene.
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