On a typical day, David Stiner, 17, gets home from high school in Des Moines, Iowa, and heads to his part-time job at a local grocery store. After that, he goes to work at his next job — as a second lieutenant in the Allied forces.
While he hasn’t been drafted, Stiner is one of the nearly 60 people from all over the world who have joined an online gaming community called Tek Rangers, started by ETSU computer science students in November.
The gaming community, or clan, as it is called, isn’t nearly as technical as it sounds. In fact, it’s nothing more than a group of people who meet online to play the computer game Battlefield 1942, a team-based game where players use strategy to defeat Axis Forces in WWII battles.
Players from the world over talk to each other for free during the game through headsets and microphones. And through a well-developed community web site, they’ve also been able to start up friendships.
“I think that most people think of gamers as anti-social cynics who never leave their rooms,” said James Oliver, one of the founders of Tek Rangers and senior at ETSU.
Oliver, who divides his time between computer science classes and being a musician and husband, disputes this idea.
“We have people from all walks of life: high school students, college students and parents. All of these people have different interests and a wide variety of jobs,” Oliver said.
The idea for Tek Rangers came to Oliver in October, after he started playing in other online clans. “I was captivated by the online multiplayer aspect of it,” Oliver said. “I couldn’t believe that I was interacting and playing this game with people from all over the world.”
Though intrigued, he soon realized that many online clans were ultra-competitive, with rude, disrespectful members. The groups also required mandatory practices and stiff dues for players – a situation that wasn’t conducive to the life of a busy student, musician and husband.
“At first it was fun, but soon it felt like a job,” Oliver said.
After mulling it over, he decided to start his own gaming clan – one that put real life before virtual reality. He soon teamed up with fellow ETSU computer science students Ben Echols and David Edwards to help develop the clan.
Since then, the clan has grown from a handful of people to nearly 60 in just six months, with players from all over the United States, England, Scotland, Canada, Denmark and Austria, ranging in age from 14 to 65.
“I thought it would just be made up of some guys from the computer science department,” said Oliver, who is as surprised at the group’s success as anyone.
Other members aren’t so surprised, however. “The clan has thrived because we provide a safe, clean, positive gaming environment for our members and the public at-large,” said Tek Rangers member Jim Smith, a second-year law student in Fullerton, Calif., who works part-time and is married with two small children.
“Far too often what you find on other clan servers is excessive foul language, derogatory and racial slurs, and general disrespect for other gamers. We provide the opposite,” he said.
Though Smith initially joined because of the clan’s laid-back, friendly atmosphere, he says that convenience is only one of the important aspects of the clan.
“Our clan is a positive phenomenon in online gaming,” said Smith, a former sheriff’s deputy and detective.
“We’re helping to develop the self-confidence, leadership skills and integrity of our pre-college members, as well as allowing our older members to take on mentoring roles.
“That’s the difference – we’re not just about the game, but rather the membership,” said Smith, who hopes the Tek Rangers’ example will take root in other online communities.
Now that Tek Rangers has gotten off the ground, Oliver looks forward to his next battle – graduation.
But looking back to a mere six months ago, he’s still a little puzzled: “I remember lying awake one night trying to think of a cool name for a clan … and wondering if I could get five people to join.

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