UL Games Society: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 20:59, 16 April 2005

This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy .
Please see this article's entry on the Votes for Deletion page for voting and discussion on the matter.

Please do not remove or deface this notice or blank, merge, or move this article while the discussion is in progress. However, you are welcome to edit this article and improve it. For more information, read the Guide to Votes for Deletion.

UL Games Society logo

The University Of Limerick Games Society is one of the oldest societies based in the University of Limerick, Ireland. It is often abbreviated as GSoc or G~Soc.

The UL Games Society is a society for students and staff of the University of Limerick. The purpose of the society is to provide an opportunity for people to take part in non-sporting or alternative sports games and to socialise with others interested in such activities. The activities of the society include Paintball, Speedball, multiplayer LAN gaming, and RPGs (role-playing games) but are not limited to these.

There are currently approximately 120 members of the society, the majority being undergraduates.

Organisation

An Annual General Meeting is held at the first semester of every academic year, where the members of the committee are elected. The size of the committee varies from year to year, but usually consists of a president, PRO (public relations officer), treasurer, Ents (entertainments) officer, and officers dedicated to LAN gaming, RPGs and paintball respectively.

The society - like all other clubs and societies of the university - is funded by membership fees and a budget given by the Students' Union, which is mostly sourced from the registration fees that all UL students pay every year.

History

1987 - 1994

The society was allegedly founded in 1987 by John O'Sullivan and Joe Vaughan.

Very little is known about the first years of GSoc's existance, but it is said that it was a dedicated RPG society with a leaning towards games like D&D and MERP. It also held its own gaming convention, called LugCon, which invited other people from around the country to come and have fun.

1995 - 1999

During this period of time the society began to go into decline. Some blame it on CCGs or collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering, and the prevalance of students who owned computers and video game consles.

This period also saw the demise of the LugCon convention, as it slipped from one of the premier conventions in Ireland to being something of little interest. LugCon had its final appearance in 1998, and has never been seen since. The continued success of the ConClave convention (also held in UL, but not organised by GSoc) means that it is unlikely to ever surface again.

2000 - 2004

In 2000 a new committee was formed, mostly consisting of first or second year undergraduates. Under their stewardship the society rose from its depression. At first it focused on the traditional GSoc activities, building up a small but dedicated base of role players.

In 2002, GSoc merged with another UL society - FragNet, who dealt mainly with holding LAN parties. The ability to hold events with popular PC game titles as Quake and Counter-Strike drew in a many new members who would not have been interested in GSoc's previous types of events. The society also expanded into another niche - Paintball.

A difficult period followed, as the new direction that the society was taking did not sit well with older members of the society who had been around since before GSoc did anything outside of RPGs. Some chose to run their campaigns on their own time, unaffiliated with the society.

Meanwhile, GSoc moved in the direction its membership requested, with LAN parties and paintball trips becoming a frequent fixture on the GSoc calender while RPG campaigns dwindled in quantity.

In 2003 and 2004 most of these committee members graduated - an unavoidable issue which has often led to the demise of many of UL's societies. With the new committee now dwindling in numbers, successors had to be drafted in from the ranks of the current students.

2004 - present

Under a new committee with similar aims, GSoc received recognition for its growth and success by winning the "Best Improved/New Society" award in the UL Clubs & Societies awards of 2005.

Teams consisting of GSoc members also participated in the Irish national paintball inter-varsity championships in 2004 an 2005.

Past Presidents

1987-1994: Unknown
1995: Adrian Harte
1996-7: John MacNamara
1998-9: Mhici Ní Mhurchú
2000-1: David Martin
2002: Jim Foley
2003: John Drohan
2004-present: Aaron Smart

External Links

The GSoc Website
ULSU Clubs & Societies Website
Skynet (contains most other UL clubs & soceties websites)
University of Limerick Website

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 Meanwhile, GSoc moved in the direction its membership requested, with [[LAN party|LAN parties]] and paintball trips becoming a frequent fixture on the GSoc calender while RPG campaigns dwindled in quantity.
-In 2003 and 2004 most of these committee members graduated - an unavoidable issue which has often led to the death of many of UL's societies. With the new committee now dwindling in numbers, successors had to be drafted from the ranks of the current students.
+In 2003 and 2004 most of these committee members graduated - an unavoidable issue which has often led to the demise of many of UL's societies. With the new committee now dwindling in numbers, successors had to be drafted in from the ranks of the current students.
 ====2004 - present====