October: Brian Davenport

A: Joining us today is Gamer of the Month and senior, Brian (Bribrid) Davenport. Brian has been with the club since his Freshman year, and is especially active in the club’s esport division–coaching League of Legends and playing in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Thanks for being here, Brian. So to start, tell us a bit about yourself!

B: My name is Brian Davenport. I’m a math and computer science major. I’m actually from Worcester – I’ve lived here about nine years, so I guess that counts. I like gaming of course, games of all kind like sports games especially–playing more than watching. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.

  • How did you get into video Games?

    B: I’ve been forcefully indoctrinated my entire life. Nah, just kidding. So, I grew up playing them. I have an older brother–six year older than me–and we played games when he was a kid. I was always there watching for the most part. Early memories of him playing on the N64 and reading dialogue to me, since I couldn’t read yet, from like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time–-that was pretty sweet. So yeah, I also played a lot of Game Cube as a kid. And growing up, I just–yeah–kept playing, transitioned to new consoles and kept on playing.

  • What are your favorite childhood games?

    B: As a kid, let’s see, I was mostly a Nintendo guy. Some favorites from back then you got like, Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door–that was probably my favorite RPG, as a kid for sure. Spor, which is not Nintendo, that game is GOATED. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it. You can make your own animals–it’s on PC. It’s kind of like the No Man’s Sky of the 2000s since it was extremely ambitious and uh, did not deliver on the ambition, but I still loved it–it was awesome. And then, you know in like middle school, that’s when I started to play games that I still play: Hearthstone, newer Smash titles, League of Legends, Black Ops 2 (not Zombies though, sorry to all the Zombies fans.)

  • When you first came to Holy Cross, how did you hear about the club?

    B: That’s a great question. So, we came during COVID, meaning that the vast majority of social interaction was online. And, I think Michael (ranibowsprimkle) sent a link in a class GroupMe. It was some sort of discord shoutout, and I joined so that was that.

  • What impacts has the club had on your time here at Holy Cross?

    B: So I’d say that the club is actually how I met the majority of my friends–my closest friends. I think the people who are lucky enough to be friends with people in their major are pretty fortunate, but for most people I’d say you meet a lot of friends through other things you do. I’ve met a lot of people through League and Smash here, also general events, and we’ve been friends ever since.

  • So, as an esports captain (League of Legends), what does it mean to be a captain?

    B: I joined the team as a sophomore, and I was one of the few younger people on the team. So naturally, since I wanted to continue playing, I stepped up and have been in charge ever since. As a captain your responsibilities are to get people to join your team, manage communications with the NECC, reach out to other captains and coaches to organize practices, and beat other teams that actually have esports funds with your ragtag crew.

  • So what keeps you going competitively? What drives you?

    B: I love beating other humans in, not just like being better, but by beating what they’re doing. That’s why I like the idea of fighting games, a lot of 1v1 type things. I think peak gaming–not even video games, just gaming as a concept–is when you and your opponent have a lot of options at any given moment and then you have to try to think what they would prefer, and exploiting that. I think that feeling is unmatched in terms of satisfaction.

  • What are you goals this year for the League team?

    B: Obviously, I want to win. Realistically, I want us to do the best that we can. Currently, we have talented players but there’s skill overlap, so we’re working out some kinks on how to best distribute our talent. It’s a little messy right now, but that’s okay. There’s a lot of potential. I also may be old, but everyone else here is either a sophomores or freshman, so there’s a bright future for Holy Cross League of Legends.

  • Do you have any advice for underclassmen or future gamers?

    B: Yeah of course. If you’re a gamer and play any of the esports that the club has, then you should join the team even if you think you’re bad, because chances are you’re probably not that bad. Also, everyone loves having a sub and more people to play and talk about the game with–it’s really fun. In more general advice, definitely do all your work and be responsible, but don’t be afraid to join things and put yourself out there. That’s how you meet people and have fun while getting your degree.

  • What are your favorite and most hated League characters?

    B: Irelia–and it’s not even close–but she is really hard to play. Other than her, Wukong (my main character), Vayne, and Ahri. For most hated, I despise Illaoi except when she’s on our team.