Online Editor’s note: The paper copy of the UP has the club mislabeled as “Lan Protocol Society” and “LPS”. This has been corrected in the online copy of the UP.
It’s all about the “doot-doot-doo-doo-doot-do-doot” sounds that come from old-school video games. That’s what I thought. But it’s more than that. For the Lan Protocal Learning Society, FAU’s official “video gaming” club, a mere “doot-doot-doo-doo-doot” will get you clowned on. Believe me. I know.
See I go back with video games, people. I have played video games in the snow. I have beaten Mike Tyson (Nintendo’s “Mikes Tyson’s Punch Out”). I have been enthralled by “Excitebike” (another Nintendo classic). I think of a pudgy, ethnically-sound young man named Mario, brother to Luigi. They gathered mushrooms and hit their heads on bricks for points. A simpler time it was, of hot Pop-Tarts and gooey-sweet lemonade Kool-Aid that could have been used as glue.
But what I learned this past weekend changed me. I have decided that I am not as cool as I once thought. In fact, I have no problem saying it and I’m sure many of you will agree: I am a dork.
I met with the men of LPLS. They greeted me with warmth that I found as generous as their intelligence levels. Mr. Adit Burkule, the Lan’s advisor is a computer engineering graduate student. He briefed me on the history of this ever-expanding club. It was founded about three years ago. The name, Lan, is computer jargon for local area network, hence the name. Originally, it was a club designed for FAU students who wished to learn more about computers in general. It was discovered, however, that roughly 90 percent of the students preferred video games. But not the ones I grew up playing. Role playing games. Hard role playing games. LPLS currently has 45 members. There is no fee to join. Men AND women are welcome. It’s a beautiful thing folks. “Originally, as a kid, I had no access to any type of games. I always wanted to play, however,” says Burkule, a native of India. And play he does. The newest games go far beyond my comprehension. Let’s see, there’s “Counterstrike,” “Source,” “Half-Life 2,” and “Warcraft III” to name a few. These games play a large role in the socialization of younger students in college life. It is a good way for technically advanced young men and women to meet others with similar interests. They hang out together. They go out and watch movies, play pool and eat pizza. Stuff like that.
When I met them they were playing a game called “World of Warcraft.” I was scoping it out. It was a neat-looking game. I heard no “doot-doots.” It was a very sophisticated game. Blowing up people. Violence. Flying beasts. It was real looking as well, a far cry from the “Pong” that I played as a young man in Georgia. “This is the very best game ever made,” Adit tells me. Anyway, the Lan Protocal Society is a club that is doing things. Anyone may join. Holler at Adit. They meet on Fridays at 5pm and Saturday’s at noon in the second floor computer lab at the University Center. ‘Shrooms’ not needed.
