The Clan Of The Camper was brought into
existence by Crappy Pants and Fuzzbutt in the early days of 1996. Crappy Pants and
Fuzzbutt, a.k.a. Brad Davis and James McKenzie, now called the "Founders," spent most of early 1996 embracing online gaming, and the
community which burst onto the scene. What became evident quickly was that the community was under attack by self-appointed rule makers,
gamers that talked trash, and people who in the absence of authority presented as immature, and were reckless in attitude and etiquette. Moreover, it was obvious that
general opinions about game-play were being formed, and that these did not include patterns of dynamic thought or strategy. Rather, it was
proposed that massively multiplayer online gaming should be devoid of strategic planning during
game-play, that players should always be in
motion, and that all forms of ambush were forbidden.
In response, the Founders searched for and selected a Southern California deathmatch server in the
spring of 1996. They challenged accepted norms, refusing not to back down from conducting
ambush strategy, vowed to allow others to play without being harassed, avoided being rude, attempted to be respectful to others, and tried above all to be honorable.
The Founders bled to survive but in the process earned the respect
of their peers on the server. In the final analysis they had recruited the entire server, the server administrator, and staff from the
internet service provider where the server
was located, as well as 80% of players who frequented the server.
Additionally, a major quake modification rotated on the server,
called Super Capture the
Flag, became a project and design opportunity for the clan.
One year later, during the spring of 1997, Clan of the
Camper had doubled its number and was benefiting from enlistments in
the United States, Canada, South America, England, Central Europe,
and Israel amongst others. In fact, almost overnight clan
maintenance became a large undertaking, and the small clan had
actually grown into a machine. Turning to history the Founders
sought a form of governance that could provide for membership
investment, and also refine existing human resources into an online
army. Thus, the Clan of the Camper was modeled after Imperial Rome,
the Imperial Legionary, and the Imperial Senate.
A
longstanding tradition within the Clan of the Camper was to organize
groups of members to raid servers where players had prevented or
discouraged ambush strategy. With the formation of camping legions,
centurions, and general orders these groups now became as large as
some clans. By 1998 Clan of the Camper had no less than five
legions, each with a camp prefect, centurions, and legionnaires. The
average size of each legion was approximately eleven members, and
every last one of them a militant camper. Now camp prefects working
in conjunction dispatched wave after wave of organized and
determined campers whose sole purpose was to camp whiners out of
servers.
Clan of the Camper militancy became so organized
that enlistments spiked, and an entire legion (the Ghost
Legion, or gL) was formed to recruit, train, and indoctrinate
incoming members. As Clan of the Camper popularity spread the political
arm was flexed to take issue with the online gaming community.
Camping guides, walkthroughs, and opinions on ambush as a strategy
were encouraged and sponsored. Wherever there was a camping debate,
the Clan of the Camper mission was to join the battle. The need for
such response could not be more evident than an editorial rebuttal
presented to Clan of the Camper by PC Gamer in 1998, wherein they
stated "...[camping is] pathetic and petty...short-sighted and self-centered...a child could train a monkey to
do it." The horrific response from Clan of the Camper: Unite
the Campers!
The Clan Of The Camper believes that all players have at one time or another been treated in an unfair manner. It is believed that almost every player
has had a child or an adolescent or an adult acting as a juvenile
openly taunt them, whine, or generally interfere with concentration
on game-play. It is believed that gaming should be fun, that it is our right to have fun, and that we may defend our rights through any honorable means necessary.
The Clan Of The Camper rejects self-appointed
authority figures whose demonstrations of ignorance and arrogance spoil the
massively multiplayer online gaming community. The method to our madness is respect for each
camper, each gamer, and their
rights online to clean fun. The Clan Of The Camper believes that game designers have the ability to remove
design exploitations during development, but that ambush strategy
can not be designed away.
Over time the Clan Of The Camper evolving doctrines of clean gaming and fun have infected the environments we frequent. As a result membership increases and our community
base consistently expands. The use of organizational
structures has rallied members across the globe and sponsored our future. Embracing the legion structure of ancient Rome allowed Clan Of The
Camper to unite gamers across the world under the principle that service earns
membership, and legions of campers march forward today, united in the pursuit of fun.
Outsiders, game magazines, and even former members have written that our marriage of multiplayer games
and legion structures, organization, and guidelines would prevent any future. Minus the magazine, the rest
have vanished like a fart in the wind. And while it may be true that organizational antics are not always fun,
these antics have allowed us to flourish while other clans and organizations have
vanished into history.
Our
organizational prowess has allowed us to collectively attack obstacles
that have caused distress. Moreover, our organization is a continuation of the dream established by the Founders.
This organization will continue
the enlistment of gamers dedicated to clean fun, to ambush, to
camping, and we will never stop.
Why join this clan? Because this clan provides you with diversified knowledge. Consider that Clan of the Camper has been around since 1996, and the average experience level of each member
is measured by decades, not years. Besides, being able to turn to the clan for assistance with hardware or software issues is invaluable, not to mention the added benefits associated with friendship and
team involvement. But in the end, select this clan because it provides you with diversified knowledge, because whether you join or not, we will still be here.
Maintained by Clan of the Camper.
Copyright © 1996-. All rights ambushed.
This site dedicated to Organ Donor.
