Towards the end of 2020, I decided to try my hand at something I'd been thinking about for a while (what could go wrong, right? Right?!?). I'm taking DGP live. Drinkers with Gaming Problems started as a social gaming group. In fact, that's not entirely true. DGP started to fill a gap in a form.
I love experiencing stuff with friends. It's why I insist on dragging mates into pretty much every hobby I have. It's why I firmly believe gaming is a social hobby. Because, well... it is. Sure, people are still welcome to seal themselves away and just play games to shut out the world. I have respect for that. But gaming has become so much more.
There's plenty of satisfaction to be had beating challenging sections of games on your own. But to do that whilst playing with friends is in a league of its own. And if you do that beating other players at the same time, well... Welcome to the holy grail of gaming.
This is why I ended up dragging a group of friends to Insomnia 51 at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The events are the largest LAN parties in the UK. Over a thousand people lug their PC's to the venue and connect to a massive network to play games, eat food, get drunk and, well, not a lot else. Carnage doesn't come close to describing it.

Food and drink gets delivered to your seat, there are different food stalls vying for you attention, there are bar areas for when you need a break, and a massive expo with new kit to buy, new games to enjoy, nerd gear galore and even new tech on display and chances to play games before they are released.
Which brings us to that gap in the form. As I filled out registration forms for us all, there was a section of the form that read: Clan/Guild:____________________ And it felt like that blank space needed to be filled. Cue the conversation that happened a few times in the run-up to the event. Me: "Here's all the forms and stuff, we're all good to go." Friend: "Awesome.... what does DGP mean?" Me: "Oh - Drinkers with Gaming Problems. They just wanted a Clan name and I liked that one." Friend: "Cool..."
That's not to say it doesn't mean anything - just the opposite. We are DGP every time we go to an event. The social aspect is extremely important for us. We're happy to have friends, friends of friends, distant cousins twice removed etc come and hang out. We will always be about having awesome gaming experiences together. If you want the DGP tags however, you need to to attend events and be more than just a name in a chat channel.
It's a mindset. Being able to have fun. Wanting to support each other. Able to take a joke. In other words, to be one of us, you have to BE one of us.
So why the long story if this is about me starting videos about great gaming experiences? Because DGP is a group, but the going live thing is just me. Uthred is trying his hand at streaming over on Twitch, and he's doing rather well.
I'm going to take some time and make YouTube videos about awesome gaming experiences, starting with Star Citizen.
If all goes well, I have some ideas for where I'd like to take things. But the point is, not all of DGP is involved. I don't claim to speak for the group - I'm only talking from my experiences, my hopes and my thoughts. Friends can disagree just like anyone can.
I hope if you're reading this you'll check the Youtube channel out. I'd love to have you along for the ride.
Comments