The Empire Strikes Back

Everyone’s doing it. All you need are two people and you are set. You can do it by yourself too but more the merrier. Everyone loves watching you do it. In fact they actually join you and it turns into a mass affair before you can shout foul!

Being someone who hasn’t started doing it is a bit difficult as I tend to feel left out. I did actually start my initiation ceremony and crossed the tutorials upto the fourth level. The deal with the game is that there is a distinct classification of the players. The registered members of the fellowship are segregated as follows:

Beginner – Novices who have just downloaded the game like yours truly.

Intermediate – Most of the players that are around are classified thus. Noted players include Chocolate Boy, Arun Mudbidri, Gandhi, Vital Statistics, Dark Age, Dark Lord, Hornyta, Captain Jack Sparrow etc.

Expert – The player needs loads of dedication to get this certification. These are the revered few whose ticket to the All Stars game is fixed. Renowned exponents include Punjabi Sher, Artorius and Betgeri. I just hope that they start a mentorship program to drop kick our learning process.

Room no.7 has been dubbed the AOE Zone. It serves the role of being the fighting arena for these bravehearts. Quite simply put one shall find more guys going at each other in this room than attending lectures in the marketing or finance class. Even Arun Mudbidri hasn’t been spared. He is a regular intermediate level player on the circuit. Gandhi played too. He was no good and had to be dropped because of his non violent approach.

The sacrifices that have been made by the members are the stuff legends are made of. Guest lectures that last the whole day have been bunked. Lectures just before and after lunch are on the regular missed list. What’s with missing lectures when lunch and dinner are forgotten? The serious effect on the health of the players is visible to everyone. King, China and Hero have been sidelined at some point of time over the last few weeks. Five to six hours are taken off the busy daily schedules to make time for some serious gaming.

In fact the situation got so bad that Con Air had to delete the software from his lappie as he couldn’t cope with the hectic schedule of our institute. Ya right! But it seems like he has made a comeback to the colloseum. This move has been sparked by the announcement that AOE is an event in Transcend. All of a sudden it seems like these guys will make money from an activity that they love doing.

Life is not the same anymore. It isn’t as simple as it used to be. Uttering Minesweeper, FreeCell, Solitaire or Hearts can have real time implications on your resume. AOE determines who your friends are. It has taken a hold over many young lives. Even the entry of NFS Underground/Most Wanted and Pocket Tanks Deluxe on the P2P horizon couldn’t take away AOE’s position as the most preferred game on campus. Counter Strike and Road Rash don’t even come into the picture.

The marketplace has been reflected truly. Microsoft has garnered a huge slice of the gaming world. It is business as usual in this B-School.