panda: a semi-professional battlefield 4 sniper
I was born in the ’80s. Part of the last generation that remembers life before the internet. I grew up in a world of PC Magazine covers, shareware CDs, and the unmistakable screech of a U.S. Robotics 56k modem struggling to connect. Back then, computers were magic boxes filled with potential. I didn’t know what that potential was exactly—but I knew I wanted to be a part of it.
Fast forward a couple of decades: I moved to Istanbul. A new city, a new chapter and, unexpectedly, a new obsession. That’s where I was introduced to first-person shooter games on PC. I’d played games before, sure, but not like this. Not the fast-twitch, high-stakes, deeply immersive kind of gaming that shooters demanded.
At first, it was overwhelming. The speed, the precision, the jargon… it felt like I’d stumbled into a world where everyone spoke a language I didn’t understand. But I was curious. Curious enough to spend night after night at a friend’s place, learning, watching, practicing. Slowly, it started to click.
Eventually, I built my own gaming rig. It felt like building a spaceship. I didn’t just want to play. I wanted to compete. I dove into games like Counter-Strike, PUBG, Apex Legends, and others. Each one taught me something new about playstyles, mechanics, and the way people move through virtual space. But it was Battlefield 3 that really got its hooks in me.
There was something about the scale of Battlefield 3. the maps, the vehicles, the teamwork. I joined a Turkish clan and started playing under the pseudonym asmokingpanda. It started off casual, but over time, I developed a reputation as someone who was precise, calculated, and maybe a little obsessive. I loved tracking enemy players across the map, predicting where they’d be five seconds from now. It felt like a mental chess game in real time. The further ahead I could see, the more satisfying the win.
When Battlefield 4 came out, I rebranded myself as lllPanda. A cleaner name for a new era. I began recording my gameplay, partly to review it, partly to share it. I wanted to document not just the wins, but the process of getting better. Not long after, I joined an international clan called revolucion.wtf. Playing with people from around the world added a new layer of excitement and accountability. It pushed me to take the game even more seriously. Chasing that perfect prediction, that perfect shot, that perfect round.
Gaming’s changed a lot since the days of dial-up modems and demo discs. But the thrill of figuring something out and getting just a little bit better? That part’s timeless.
