Quake 4 players engaged in quakeworld combat

It’s that time again, interview-time. Time to check out the status of our newly formed teams in the rookiebuilding. Let’s see what they are up to.

(Hey) Please introduce yourselves to our readers.

tide: Hey, my name is Benjamin, I’m an 18-year old (or young? :>) Croatian living in Vienna, Austria. I started Quakeworld a week ago and played Quake4 CTF/TDM as well as War§ow TDM before that.

crippan: Hi! My name is Jonas Zander, I´m 21 years old and from Karlskoga, Sweden. I recently finished my studies and now work for an ISP in Sweden. I have played FPS-games actively since ‘99 when Unreal Tournament was released and now I just started to play QW, currently playing in a clan called Shortys with some old Q4 friends.

dape: Hi. I am 23 years old and I study in Jönköping, Sweden.

You have signed up on the team building thread over at quakeworld.nu. What are your expectations?

tide: I hope we can establish an active and friendly rookie-community division with really only rookies so the teams will be fair.

crippan: I read about #qwrookie in a interview with Fojji and then decided to give QW a shot. One of the things that made me start playing QW was the qwrookie teambuilding. Its a really good idea and it has gathered many new players. I’m gonna play the cup together with 2 old friends that i have played Q4 with, GUSTAPOO and Dape.

dape: Just to have some fun with my friends and hopefully win some games :)

Tell us about your gaming history: when did you get your first computer, when did you play your first fps game and when did you fire your first rocket?

tide: I got my first computer back in 1997 when I was 8 years old. Back then I played Command & Conquer: Red Alert and Settlers 2/3 but only single-player because I didn’t have an internet connection. When I got internet in 2000 I played MoH:AA with real mod and was in one of the best teams. When Call of Duty was released I switched to that and was in the top3 of the European ESL ladders (search & destroy) but due to really bad patches i stopped playing it and started playing Painkiller just for fun but only the Multiplayer Demo - this was also the game where I shot my first rocket ;). With the release of Quake 4 I started playing CTF which was the most fun of all games I’ve ever played. But many players stopped playing CTF because of their crappy PCs or because they didn’t like Quake 4. That was the time where I switched to TDM.

I played in a German div2 team at first but then joined the Austrian team “Angels of Apocalypse”. We reached the playoffs in div1 and after we were kicked out of the playoffs everybody in the team except for me wanted to stop playing Quake 4. So I was looking for a good quake-like game and found it in War§ow. It’s a free quake-like game based on the qfusion engine with QW-like movement. It’s still in the beta-stage but in my opinion it will be the best e-sports game because it’s made by gamers for gamers. I was supervisor of the two first TDM cups and was in one of the best teams (Respawn Addicts). And that is how I came to Quakeworld: the Austrian team Respawn Addicts + nQuake made me enjoy QuakeWorld and here I am! :>

crippan: In the beginning of the 90’s my dad bought a Victor 286 and that was my first contact with a computer. My first FPS game was DOOM but the first game I played over the internet was actually Quake and it was around ‘96-’97. When Unreal Tournament was released in ‘99 I started to really play online a lot. After UT99 I went to UT2k3 and then moved on to UT2k4. When I studied at university I shared an apartment together dape. It was then that I got into Quake games and I started to play Quake4 when it was released.

dape: My older brother was into computers and stuff so I went with him to his friends on the weekends and played Quake FFA. Later, I played some TDM matches as HPW with my friends but nothing too serious. When I got my internet connection (LPB) I started to play Quake 3 TDM and 1on1. I played it for some years and when Quake 4 was released I picked that up and have played mostly CTF since then.

You are mainly Quake 4 players now, so what got your interest in playing a decade old game? Tired of fancy graphics, lack of air-control or something else?

tide: I never liked really good and detailed graphics but the main reason why I’m interested in QuakeWorld is the community. After such a long time it still has the biggest community of all quake games (at least in TDM) and thats what I like.

crippan: Actually I gave up Quake 4 in November ‘06 because I got bored of the inactive community. I installed QW because my computer is broken and I’m on a 12″ laptop so i don’t have much of a choice to play other games =). But I’m totally stuck with QW now and I will keep playing it even if I get a new computer. The best parts about QW are the speed and the tension in the game.

dape: Well. I have tried QW some times between Quake 3 and Quake 4, but often got my ass handed to me. But now with #qwrookie and everything I think it is a very good opportunity to pick it up and try it again :). I have always liked QW and the fast gameplay that it brings. I also like the aim maps which are really fun and good to start with to get the feel of the game again.

Do you think most rookies that have been trying out QW and the few that re-installed it after half a dozen of years or so will enjoy it enough to stick around?

tide: Yes I think so because there are many rookies which all play on the same level.

crippan: I think most of the players that reinstall QW will play it for a week, then they get tired because there is no one with the same skill level. But now with those rookie cups it looks really promising.

dape: I honestly don’t know, but I do hope so.

As you know, the QW scene is quite small. Do you think this is due to people being unaware of the fact that people still play this game? (if they actually know about it, what keeps them away from trying/playing QW?)

tide: It hasn’t got a big public scene but a bigger competition-scene in TDM than the other Quake games. I think many out there don’t know that there is an active QW community and the guys who know and try it out don’t stick to it because there is already a high skill-level which is unreachable.

crippan: I think the QW scene feels more active than both Q3 and Q4. Q4 only has the big tourneys and it doesn’t have any smaller active leagues like QW got. There are probably many gamers out there that don’t know that QW still has an active scene. You never read anything about QW on the big gaming sites or in the media. :(

dape: The worst part about QW is that it’s almost only “old schoolers” that play the game so it’s really hard for new players to evolve.

What is/are the main difference(s) between Quake 4 and QW? Which game do you prefer?

tide: The movement is the biggest difference. In Q4 you don’t have air-control but crouch-sliding which is fun too. I like both but QW has the smoother gameplay and netcode.

crippan: The biggest difference is the movement and that QW doesn’t have a railgun. Hmm, I dont know yet. Q4 was a good game but the community was too inactive. I think I prefer QW. It has a nice and dedicated community with many players from Scandinavia.

dape: The main difference must be that QW is a lot faster even though Quake 4 is fast too. I am not trying to compare them, they are both very different games. Right now I prefer QW but I will still enjoy to play some CTF games in pickups or with my Quake 4 clan.

At what level do you play Q4 in TDM? Have you seen division 1 TDM QuakeWorld games played? Is it as competitive as the highest level of gameplay in Q4?

tide: I played in division 1 Q4 TDM. And yes, I saw the final of the last EQL season which I really enjoyed. It’s really competitive and fun to watch.

crippan: I wasn’t that good in Q4, probably around middle. I achieved more during the years I played the UT series. I haven’t seen a div1 TDM matches :(. I better download some demos to watch! But I think it can be as competitive as Q3 and Q4.

dape: I haven’t played Q4 TDM for some time but I’m currently playing in mid/high level in CTF. The competitive scene in quake 4 is high yes, but mostly in 1on1. The experienced clans in QW have played so many years now, so I think they are at least as competitive as the clans in Q4.

Good luck in whatever team you end up in and have a good time. Long live Quake!

tide: Thank you. LONG LIVE QUAKE! :>

crippan: Thanks for the interview! And now let’s hope that the cup will be a success! <3 phrenic

dape: Thanks!