I'm not sure how many of the people that read this know of http://www.worldcybergames.co.za, and the subsequent event they're going to be holding. Well, that's moot. It's a gaming competition that I'm going to be participating in. (Yes, I'm a geek. Sue me.)
Anyhow, what's quite ironic is that another gaming-related ripple has surfaced in the past few days, in the form of SACGA. We've already got Penquin running around handling the WCG contract, and that's bad enough.
So, the question I want to pose to those who are interested is this: "SACGA: Good or bad?"
Let me give you some "background" on SACGA to fill you in. Before I read the post, and had only heard about them, I did a google search on local webpages for the acronym SACGA, in order to find out more.
At first, I was quite taken aback. Who in the South African Cotton Ginners' Association wanted to influence gaming? Had we transgressed on some unspoken sheep-raping rule at a LAN held on a farmstead or something?
But then, "Hold on.", I asked myself. "Maybe it's the South African Compressed Gases Association, upset at the fact that LAN2K held a LAN and a braai indoors, simultaneously.". A far-fetched guess, but entirely possible.
Or perhaps it was the South African Citrus Growers Association, out in full force to protest the bad eating habits we seem to display every single LAN.
Eventually, through some fantastic investigative skills on my part, (I bumped into the iDentity guys at gym and they told me all about it) I conclusively determined that SACGA, the South African Computer Gaming Association, had a forum on SAIX. Inspector Karlos, to the rescue.
Anyhow, I took a look at their "founding" post, and upon reading through it, a number of questions were subsequently raised by my split personality #47. Let's air them.
I quote,
"SACGA will be an association falling under SAWU ( South African Wargames Union) which has a direct affiliation with the Sports commission. They are also a founding member of the new body that will be replacing the Sport Commission."Ok, am I the only one that's a teensy bit unsure about whether they, or SAWU, are a founding member of the new body cited to replace the Sport (sic) Commission? Anyway, they haven't run up to me and mugged me for my milk and cookies yet, so I've got no beef with them. What miffed me a little is the post reads a bit like it's SAWU's legal right to administer "Computer Gaming". The constitution makes provision for anyone to undertake any business endeavour they please, however, as long as it is deemed legitimate.
I read through the rest of the stuff, and was quite puzzled. They didn't list the objectives of the organisation. I found that pretty weird. Eventually, through brilliant intuition, I managed to empathically sense the presence of a SACGA channel on irc.shadowfire.net. (Actually, a friend private messaged me)
Being the champion of cluelessness that I am, and not knowing exactly what it is that SACGA proposes to do for gaming locally, I soared through the proverbial clear azure IRC sky in my roflcopter, bringing it to a well-calculated landing on the #SACGA runway. Thereafter, I pressed a button to turn off the rotors, and opened the cockpit door.
I stepped out of my roflAPACHE, and surveyed the surrounding area, slowly taking regard of what my ocular senses were telling me. I felt like Steve Irwin lurking about in the Outback, and I'd just spotted a nest of baby crocodiles.
And I proceeded to hound them like a rabid journalist on crack cocaine, in search of answers that would decrypt the great mysteries of the universe that had been spawned in my mind by the posts on the SAIX forums.
And to indirectly quote:
1. They ARE undertaking affiliation with SAWU;
2. They ARE undertaking avenues in order to register SACGA;
3. They DIDN'T name their official spokesperson;
4. They WILL facilitate provincial and national trials for Battlefield 2 and Joint Ops;
5. They first WEREN'T, for lack of interest, and now ARE coming to WCG this weekend;
6. They ARE ironing out a framework;
7. They refused to give a guesstimate on how many players in the form of events organisations already are in the industry.
Now to give you my subjective take on what I've indirectly quoted:
1. They're trying to fall into place under SAWU.
2. They haven't registered SACGA yet. (see point 2 above)
3. They still haven't named an official spokesperson.
4. They ARE championing the causes of games that have little multiplayer support both locally and abroad. (see point 4 above)
5. They AREN'T interested in CS:S, FIFA, or WarCraft 3, or the event WCG have sanctioned. (see point 5 above)
6. They ARE proposing racial quotas for national team selection.
7. They haven't done their market research enough. (see point 7 above)
8. They ARE going to implement a framework: they just don't know what it is yet. (see point 6 above)
And, to top it all off, my concluding point: Noble intentions, bad execution?
I leave you with a quote from one of their members. "Too many peeps think this is the be all and end all of computer gaming, and re-reading the info post, I see that it does come across as being that."
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are completely and totally true in my own little world, and I reserve the right to subscribe to them. If they don't show up as such in your world, perhaps your perception isn't backwards compliant, as I do use outdated standards of logic that have subsequently been deprecated given society's modern moronicism. IRC logs are lies implanted on our computer systems by the government. Chicken isn't really white meat, but rather blue meat made look white through government HAI2U satellites, light prisms, and refraction. No, I do not do drugs.
