By Ahmed Naser –
Would you believe that we have an online gamer in our school who is ranked #1 in the world? Well, our Social Studies teachers, Andrew Bargen and Lucas Varley, are two of the best gamers in not only the school, but also the city, state, country, and world in the game of Battlefield 4! Battlefield 4 is a genre-defining action video game that is first person point of view shooter according to EA.
In the game you get to shoot, kill, and fight against other online players in teams. You can create your own clan and play and fight against them. The Social Studies staff has their own clan.
The two mostly play Battlefield 4. Bargen specializes in mostly shotgun kills in the game. He is in the top 4% in Battlefield 4 leadership. He has a total of 60,417 kills with a total playing time of 1194:37:20 hours (approximately 50 days). We asked how much he plays weekly and he answered, “Weekly, it depends on the week. So in the summer time, what would I spend in a week? It might be oh maybe 10 hours in a week. But then during school, I have not played for 3 maybe 4 weeks”
His weapon of choice is the shotgun because of the close range ability to kill almost instantly. Bargen is ranked number 1 in the world for most kills with the QBS-09 according to the battlefield 4 stats online( http://bf4stats.com/ps4/big10blackshirt). He brags about his shotgun leaderboard by saying, “In terms of using the QBS-09 shotgun for number of kills, I’m first in Lincoln, and I’m first in the state of Nebraska, and I’m first in the United States, and I’m first in the world in numbers of kills with that shotgun.”
Varley, who is also in the same clan as Bargen, also has some pretty impressive stats. He is ranked in the top 20 in the state and number 3 in the city. He has a total 13,776 kills and 643:24:40 hours (approximately 27 days) of gaming time on battlefield 4.
When asked what his choice of weapon is Varley responded “I vary but I am a shotgun noob I enjoy the shotgun because it is close range but I can do different weapons”. Varley then commented on Bargen’s QBS-09 and said “…unlike Bargen who uses one weapon his entire life.” Varley is in the top 8% of the country. In one sitting, he has played 6 hours straight. Varley also likes to play other games such as Skyrim which is also a action packed game.
Social Studies teacher Lindsey Herting, who is one of their good friends, had some opinions of Varley and Bargen gaming so much. She says that it is fine to have hobbies and have fun but they take it to another level.
She also joked “How annoying and old it would get because they talk about their stats all the time.” Herting also tried playing Battlefield 4 with her colleagues Bargen, Varley, and Turley and she says it wasn’t a good experience because they yelled at her on how bad her performance was while playing.
The LHS gaming staff displays a positive example to teens on what it is like to have a good hobby. Having a hobby outside of school creates fun and adventure in your life. And maybe, just maybe if you love your hobby and really good at it, you might make top charts in the world just like Bargen. So go out and find yourself a hobby and remember to have fun.
