y does ur computer look liek a dragon, nOOb?

Your computer isn't really an alien, a transformer, or an evil monster... so why does it look like one?! I mean, let's get real here, I am all for case modding and the whole modding scene. I was definitely an early adopter when all of this was getting started and I had a blast with my jigsaw and dremel in hand. But let's acknowledge that modding was born of the enthusiast's drive to tweak and enhance his system, and then show it off to the world. It's the same thing or at least very similar in the automotive industry. There's a certain class and style involved here, otherwise you're just lame, man. And you don't want to be lame and a noob.

It's pretty common in the custom systems industry to get requests to integrate special order cases. We typically draw the line at the "dragon cases", though. You can imagine that these things aren't designed with practicality in mind; things like cooling, airflow, and smart component layout... you know, the stuff that makes your computer not die. Thankfully, we're usually able to bring people into the light and convince them of the errors of their ways. It's a better situation for them because they get a better product, and better for us because we don't have a problem machine out in the field.

I want to point out, though, that this phenomenon isn't confined to misguided chassis manufacturers. It's penetrated into the system builder circle and many of our peers in the industry have bought into this as well. The problem here is that many of them get dazzled by the intense energy and hype that pervades the gaming industry. Gaming is exciting and gamers are keyed into the hype, but what they are excited about is gaming, NOT dragon cases! Some system builders understand this, some don't, and some take advantage of the poor saps that don't understand that a crappy computer can look like anything on the outside... what's under the hood is a different story entirely.

Now, I can't speak for every one of the hundred million gamers in this country, but I'm going to make a statement that probably speaks for most of them: They'd rather spend their time gaming and getting pwned by me, instead of dealing with poorly designed computers that leave them doing nothing but staring at glowing red eyes and ridiculous chrome horns. Walk down the aisle of a LAN party in full swing, take note of the number of gamers with plain-looking boxes that are having a blast, and then take note of the people with their boxes cracked open and on the verge of tears because everyone but them is having the time of their lives. Ask any of them at that point if they'd trade their horns for a working machine, or even a tech support department that would help them. You see, when it comes down to it, the hype and the drama that sold the gamer when he was shopping for a computer blinded him to the realities of the complicated machine that was running underneath and the company that was going to build it for him and support him afterwards... It was over before he even got started - all for a gaudy looking chassis.