When 1,600 gamers gathered at the Kraftzentrale in Duisburg in Germany on 10 December 1999, they were looking forward to the largest gaming LAN party in the world to date, the Gamers Gathering. In fact, it marked a milestone in the evolution of Germany's LAN scene, not only due to its record-breaking scale. Issues with heat and power caused widespread dissatisfaction, while the youth welfare office prohibited Quake tournaments, due to the protection of minors.
-The planned case study examines the history and background of this early LAN party from the perspective of the organisers and visitors and places it in the history of the emerging LAN scene. The analysis draws upon interviews with contemporary witnesses, photos, videos, digital sources such as forums and scene platforms, and textual records from the private archive of an organiser of the Gamers Gathering.
-LAN parties, gatherings where participants connect their computers to play digital games in a local network, thrived in Germany between the mid-1990s and early 2000s with some parties becoming mass events. Among these was the Gamers Gathering, held from 10 to 12 December 1999. In addition to gaming, participants socialised and exchanged files. Organised by the Internet company GTN as part of a product launch and marketing strategy, it was to be remembered for its organisational difficulties.
-The Gamers Gathering set a precedent for subsequent LAN parties during the peak of the LAN scene, highlighting pitfalls to avoid. It stands both at the beginning of a history of scandals within the LAN scene surrounding failed LAN parties and at the beginning of LAN parties as mass events with thousands of participants. The Gamers Gathering thus exemplifies the professionalisation of supra-regional LAN parties, the associated problems, and the communalisation of LAN party participants into a cohesive LAN scene.
+The planned case study examines the history and background of this early LAN party from the perspective of the organizers and visitors and places it in the history of the emerging LAN scene. The analysis draws upon interviews with contemporary witnesses, photos, videos, digital sources such as forums and scene platforms, and textual records from the private archive of an organizer of the Gamers Gathering.
+LAN parties, gatherings where participants connect their computers to play digital games in a local network, thrived in Germany between the mid-1990s and early 2000s with some parties becoming mass events. Among these was the Gamers Gathering, held from 10 to 12 December 1999. In addition to gaming, participants socialized and exchanged files. Organized by the Internet company GTN as part of a product launch and marketing strategy, it was to be remembered for its organizational difficulties.
+The Gamers Gathering set a precedent for subsequent LAN parties during the peak of the LAN scene, highlighting pitfalls to avoid. It stands both at the beginning of a history of scandals within the LAN scene surrounding failed LAN parties and at the beginning of LAN parties as mass events with thousands of participants. The Gamers Gathering thus exemplifies the professionalization of supra-regional LAN parties, the associated problems, and the communalization of LAN party participants into a cohesive LAN scene.
eSports has increasingly become a focus of game studies in recent years. However, cultural studies and, in particular, historical perspectives are still rare. Examples of cultural studies research include Gudrun Werdenich's study “PC bang, e-sports and the magic of StarCraft”, which examines the special role of Korea in electronic sports, and Alexander Stoll's work on the depiction of violence in digital games and their influence on professional gaming. Both works also contextualise the historical development of the individual games. The contributions of the edited volume by Markus Breuer on various perspectives on eSports from business and academia only marginally open up historical perspectives. In short, there have been few contributions to date that primarily examine the historical development of individual game titles, players or organisations.
-The presentation will examine the development of fan culture in the eSports title League of Legends using the organisation Unicorns of Love as an example. The Unicorns of Love were founded in 2013 and played in the top European league until 2018 (formerly known as EULCS). After the transformation of the EULCS into a franchise-based system, the Unicorns of Love competed in the Russian / Eastern European league and in the highest German league. The team quickly attracted attention, not only because of its name and bright pink team colour and its style of play. In particular, the marketing strategy and the rapid development of a large and still loyal (inter)national fan community of the German-based organisation became its trademark and an inspiration for other organisations. Therefore, the presentation will examine the development of the Unicorns Of Love, their constant reinvention (for example after the elimination from the highest European league in 2018 or the end of the Russian / Eastern European league in 2022) and their influence on the creation of a team-based fan culture in professional League of Legends.
+eSports has increasingly become a focus of game studies in recent years. However, cultural studies and, in particular, historical perspectives are still rare. Examples of cultural studies research include Gudrun Werdenich's study “PC bang, e-sports and the magic of StarCraft”, which examines the special role of Korea in electronic sports, and Alexander Stoll's work on the depiction of violence in digital games and their influence on professional gaming. Both works also contextualize the historical development of the individual games. The contributions of the edited volume by Markus Breuer on various perspectives on eSports from business and academia only marginally open up historical perspectives. In short, there have been few contributions to date that primarily examine the historical development of individual game titles, players or organizations.
+The presentation will examine the development of fan culture in the eSports title League of Legends using the organization Unicorns of Love as an example. The Unicorns of Love were founded in 2013 and played in the top European league until 2018 (formerly known as EULCS). After the transformation of the EULCS into a franchise-based system, the Unicorns of Love competed in the Russian / Eastern European league and in the highest German league. The team quickly attracted attention, not only because of its name and bright pink team color and its style of play. In particular, the marketing strategy and the rapid development of a large and still loyal (inter)national fan community of the German-based organization became its trademark and an inspiration for other organizations. Therefore, the presentation will examine the development of the Unicorns Of Love, their constant reinvention (for example after the elimination from the highest European league in 2018 or the end of the Russian / Eastern European league in 2022) and their influence on the creation of a team-based fan culture in professional League of Legends.