BCU Gaming Society: Student Stories

What is your role within the society?

My role as the president is the all-seeing eye in essence, I handle a lot of the organisational stuff with events, always interacting with the members and actively doing what I can do make the society better though those events or collaborating with other organisations or societies!

What types of games are popular within the society?

'League of Legends' is the most popular, with shooters like 'CS:GO' and 'Valorant' following close behind. 'Final Fantasy XIV' has recently become popular amongst people after it had a huge boost in coverage from streamers and other MMO players. 'Minecraft' is the most popular all-accessible game, we typically run events on it because of that. However, there are so many people on the server that you’ll always be able to find someone who plays what you do!

Can students from all courses join the society?

Yes of course! Everyone and anyone can join the society- we specifically make the bar of entry as low as possible, so everyone can have some fun! We actually ended up with an extremely diverse committee as a result!

How often/ how does the society operate?

The society meets every week, Wednesdays in-person (when possible) and Tuesdays and Fridays in the Discord!

On Wednesdays we tend to meet up at The Square Peg, a Wetherspoons near the university, then we venture outwards from there, just a chilled and welcoming atmosphere! Online on Discord, there are channels for absolutely everything, so if anyone wants to participate in anything, just drop a message in the channel that most fits your needs and it's likely someone will reach out to you.

Is it all competitive gaming?

Not at all! While I was president I actually changed the name of the society from BCU esports to BCU Gaming, specifically to help push that the society is not all competitive, and can cater for the more casual gamer. In the end, gaming is literally just a hobby that people enjoy, and can mix over!

We have multiple competitive teams that play for esports though, which are involved in the National University esports Leagues. NUEL and NSE are the main two.

What are the benefits of joining a society?

Joining societies is a part of the university experience, meeting people, attending events, and making life-long friends. We in the committee try as hard as we can to make everything enjoyable and as attractive to students as possible, and make sure that everyone is happy!

Other societies make sure you have experience that you can note down for a specific area and some can introduce you to things that you could put on your CV.

Why should students join the gaming society?

You should join the society if you have absolutely any interest in gaming at all, whether it's esports, casual, or just something you do occasionally with friends. It's an amazing place to meet new people. People tend to get scared off by societies because they can be intimidated by their size, worry that they might not fit in or something along those lines - I was one of them. I promise that we have done as much as we can to make all those worries almost disappear, and it's so much more friendly and open than you'd expect.