Apparently I'm not zany enough, according to my coworkers. Well, I'll show them. Today I will be talking about a topic very dear to my heart: killing perfect strangers across the Internet in video games.
We'll start with the basics, as is my custom. When gamers want to play video games in a more-than-just-casual way, the first step is what's called a LAN party. A LAN party is basically a group of people (often people who have never met before) who like to play games who physically bring their computers to a predetermined location (be it a friend's basement or a hotel convention room) and network them together in order to play multiplayer games together with less lag then one typically sees on the Internet.
Due to the proximity of the computers and the competitive nature of gamers, some gamers will alter their computer cases by adding lights or glowy parts. This is called case modding. Case modding is the nerd equivalent of getting chrome wheels and lowered suspension. Usually case mods are done to make a computer fit into a certain theme. Sometimes it's to make a computer look like it belongs in a video game (in this case Half-Life 2); sometimes it's a steampunk theme.
The end goal of many case mods is to intimidate other players at LAN parties. People see a cool case mod and they think, "Wow, that guy must be awesome if he could spend all that time and effort into modding his case like that." (Well, I wouldn't think that. But someone must, right?) This effect adds to the victories made with that modded computer.
I subscribe to a different school of gamer intimidation. Imagine, if you will, that you are a gamer at a LAN party, setting up your PC. In walks in a tall, pale man carrying a case like this. You'd probably think something like, "Wow. He's probably not very good, bringing his sister's PC in like that." Or maybe you'd think something not very appropriate regarding his unbringing.
Now imagine that the guy with the pink unicorn case mod is actually really good, and has the ability to completely dominate the LAN party and win every game he plays. You lost to the pink unicorn case mod. That makes you feel pretty low.
It's pretty intimidating, isn't it? That happy pony is out for blood. She's gonna buck you right up. The legendary pink unicorn is not to be taken lightly.
And thus is my school of intimidation. Though I don't actually believe in case modding myself, and I don't go to many LAN parties anymore, I do what I can to portray the feeling of badass frivolty online.
This is why, when I play games like Half-Life or Halo 3, I make sure I stand out as much as possible. When you see someone in a big purple suit running at you with a gun, you know you're screwed. You might as well just give up.