Clan Bake: Part 2

It's been a few months since I joined my first clan (we play Call of Duty on-line--it's a WWII first person shooter). I have learned the following things:

"Team-speak" allows you to hear the voices of your fellow clan-members, and it allows you to speak through your head-set so long as it has a mouth-piece--like the head-sets Britney Spears wears...though I'm pretty sure she's not in my clan.

Once you get team-speak, you will be "surrounded by more talent"--that is the exact phrase one of my clan-mates used once I got teamspeak.

If you purchase the right software, you can disguise your voice. You can become a 32 year old woman with a 15 year old daughter which is exactly what a former clan-mate did. However, something happened with his software and his voice modulater misfunctioned and he gave herself away. Nobody really cared, but he didn't come back. Off to join another clan perhaps? The moral is: chicks with names like SniperWolf are probably not chicks.

Being able to hear your fellow clan-mates allows you to know them a lot better. You can hear the twang of the Southern old guy, the perpetually stoned sounding voice of the teenager, the always irritated voice of the twenty something guy who obviously doesn't have a girlfriend OR a good enough porn collection. You come up with catch phrases to use like "Boo-yah!" and "Spoon!".

There are some web-sites which host team competitions. One such well-known site is TeamWarefare.com. They use a "ladder" system which means you can challenge anybody in the rungs above you and BE challenged by teams below you. If you win, you move up the ladder and if you lose you drop some rungs. Currently, in one category we are #1 in THE WORLD. Is it wrong that I actually take some pride in saying that?

As part of this clan, you are "promoted" for doing certain things...like showing up for practices and matches and basically just being a good clan-mate. I've been promoted from lowly Private to Private First Class. I also got a badge for being a good rifle-man. I think 16 year olds are responsible for my promotions.

I must say it is enjoyable to log-on and hear the voices of my clan-mates as I shoot them. It's a bit like showing up at the local basketball court on the weekend to play pick-up games with the same regular guys. Except of course I can't see them. I don't ever want to see them...especially since I might find out that one of them is in my freshman English class.