Holy shit, it actually worked!
Anyone who has played QuakeWorld for more than a week knows about the issues that rookies have these days. First they need to spend a considerable amount of time to set up the config to fit their needs and then they find out the painful truth: Whether or not they played with a perfect config and the newest gaming mouse or just a Sega steering wheel with your pedal bound to “+forward” hardly makes a significant difference; Being a rookie is highly demotivating. Consequently, only few of them make it past the first week before giving up.
Keep this in mind and picture the following scenario: You randomly select a couple of these QuakeWorld rookies, all of whom don’t even know each other, tell them to form a clan and ask them to sign up for the next league. And then, as if it wasn’t utopian and far-fetched enough, you add the typical QuakeWorld mentality of “I’ll sign up now and won’t bother playing my games once the tournament starts” and you multiply the unlikeliness of everything going smoothly times seven. Never going to work? Well that’s what I thought too…
But surprisingly it did. Many people were skeptical when Itsinen announced his “team building initiative” and started a thread at the QuakeWorld.nu forum in order to find teamplay-hungry rookies. “Nice idea” is what most people said back then, but QuakeWorld history has proven to us more than once that “nice ideas” and “success” don’t always walk hand in hand.
While I too thought it was a nice idea, it reminded me of another “nice idea” that was pursued in 2004. A handful of people had created a league titled “PickMeUp!”. People from all across Europe could sign up for the league and the admins then somewhat randomly (with regard to skill-level of course) created about eight teams consisting of five to six people. These were not demotivated rookies but experienced players. However, even though the league had a working website and was run by a competent crew of admins, a shocking amount of 0 (zero!) games were played. Now if it didn’t work with experienced players, why on earth would anyone even consider the possibility of this rookie project not failing. Itsinen’s “team building initiative” was doomed and destined to fail, but it didn’t.
Despite the horrendous linguistic crime of calling it “Division rookies”, one cannot deny the success of the current lowest division in the underway season of EQL. Four weeks into the league, “Division rookies” is the only division in which all participating teams have played at least one game.
But what exactly are the reasons for this? Why didn’t these rookies get frustrated and give up? Are the numerous attempts to bring rookies on board finally working out? Who should be thanked for this? Perhaps #qwrookie on QuakeNet? Maybe Quakecon for including QuakeWorld in their tournament? Itsinen? The guys from ezQuake and nQuake? QWDrama? QuakeWorld.nu? Goldrush? The Ignition admins? The courageous rookies? The QuakeWorld Kenya Collective? The KTX crew? All of the above? Please, you tell me!
Either way, I am more than happy about all the new faces in the scene and I pull my hat to this season’s rookies for proving stamina and courage. Perhaps there’s even a thing or two we can learn from these guys.
Yeah div rookies ftw! :D