This past weekend, DreamHack Dallas was the ultimate nostalgia trip, thanks to a viral tweet asking gamers for their first-ever gamertags. The responses ranged from cringe-worthy to very creative to downright uncensored er**middle-school-ish!** The official @Dexerto account got the ball rolling with *”What was your first gamertag and why?”* while also hyping up the @AmericasNavy booth at the event, where they were giving away freeifying personalized gamertag bags and merch.
No bonding really happens faster among gamers than the sharing of memories about their first and utterly embarrassing user IDs. And the replies? Pure gold! From *”Osama Bin Laggin”* (I swear it’s true) to *”MonkeyChunk13″* (“I was 13 and retarded,” in the words of the contributor), the thread turned into a time capsule of immensely questionable choices! And then we had jewels like *”xX_ShadowSlayer_Xx”* (twelve-year-old edgelord spirits), *”THA CARTER 712″* (shoutout to fans of Lil Wayne), and *”Russian rock sloth”* (I honestly do not want to explain).
Bragging worthy names came into this thread too. For example, *”Waterdragon”* needs no more explanation other than to define a Socom 2 player who has a passion for water polo and dragons—what a legendary combo! *”defaultking,”* on the other hand, was a Halo player who proudly used the default settings. Then we have someone going by *”xxSn1p3rJesusxx”* who duly confessed, *”12-year-old me thought headshots were holy.”* Fair enough.
Of course, not everybody was bold enough to spill the beans. *”Yea… not gonna self-report,”* one user said, while another made the joke, *”If you didn’t have either ‘xX Xx’ or the word sniper in it, what was the point?”* Tru.
Meanwhile, @AmericasNavy’s booth at DreamHack Dallas was ready for the sudden formation of a gathering spot for the gamertag history spillers and for those seeking free swag. The promo set a witty military-themes gamertag, with one particular user giving kudos to *”Thalassic”* for sounding like *”a sea monster you’d fight in an RPG.”* Very appropriate, given that the Navy, after all, is involved.
However, not every response was all-fun-and-games. Some skeptics dismissed the tweet as *”self-doxxing”* or *”propaganda,”* while others just went right ahead and slipped into the lists with no explanation (*”BadAssNath”*—we see you). Then came the youthful chaos of *”NoobMaster3000,”* a name that, as the user admitted, *”peaked in middle school.”* So relatable.
DreamHack Dallas will be there all weekend. If you do find yourself there, Navy’s booth might well be worth a visit just to have your gamertag and a free bag immortalized. For those that will decide to stay on the sidelines, this big-time thread is a reminder: your first gamertag will haunt you forever, no matter how cool you think you are.
So, what was it? (No judgment…okay, maybe a little.)
