There are many things that can be wrong with a multiplayer game. It can be filled with bugs, it can have a player base that is way too small or it can have awful spectator functionality. There are many other things that can be wrong and some of them apply to Enemy Territory. I did not see many of these things a year ago because I was too involved in the game. Having stepped out of ET in some way and into what some would call "real esports" I think that I have observed quite a few things that have prevented ET from being what it could be in the past. What could it be? This column will give an answer to that as well. I do not expect everyone to follow my line of argumentation. I expect many to contest it and I'll more than gladly defend my way of thinking. Some will say "Who are you to judge what's wrong with ET?" and they might be right. I am pretty convinced though that what I think is right most of the time so I won't be bothered by anyone questioning the statements I'm about to make.

So much for the disclaimer, now here's what's wrong with Enemy Territory.

Change is good...isn't it?

A good starting point here might be the 5on5 desaster. Now I do not blame the ones who tried to change the team size for the mere idea, I have been folish enough to support it once. I blame them for the reasons they mentioned and the way they tried it. Forcing it upon the whole Nations- and EuroCup lot and hoping that it would be the way to get ET picked still seems like a bad dream. It remained a one time adventure at the PGA, the only time idle got beat in more than one year. The community's resistance was what helped.
Adventures like these make us question the logic behind certain rash decisions. 2007 saw now less than three new maps being added to the map pools of CPC 2 and EC XV in its first three months, frost_final other than the name might suggest still in beta stage, bremen and karsiah tested but very new. battery gets readded in the OpenCup map pool. supply is removed. "This is madness", the Persian messenger would say, "This is the ET community" I do reply in style of King Leonidas. Why do we feel the need to jeopardize the remote possiblity of a map's varieties being worked out into its tiniest details, of new strategies that have to be found for old maps, of the tactically superior team winning a map even if its aim is inferior? Many maps have come and gone and opinions might differ whether one map is better than the other. Unfortunately those in charge seem to be lead by their own opinions rather than just impartial observations. People are still playing dust2 or Lost Temple, there is no need to replace good maps just because someone thinks they're boring or overplayed. And most importantly - there is no need to add random new maps, as good as they might be and as much effort as the mappers might put in, to every cup there is. There will never be consistency or advanced tactics if maps keep changing all the time and with every cup.
As I was talking about new maps I was mainly concentrating on the player side. It is however a fact that ET is difficult to spectate if you're not a player. It is even more difficult to learn if maps (and therefore objectives) are being changed all the time. No newcomer wants to see a new map every time, he'll get confused and in the end leave it be. Spectators have to be taken by the hand, and if TosspoT screams his lungs out at Quakecon, it shows how exciting this game can be, even if you sit there and just wonder what the hell this guy is shouting about. Yet it someone is curious and joins ETTV for some other cup match where two completely different maps (and maybe even a different config) are played, he won't understand a thing.
Oh yeah, the config thing...how good would it be to have a global config? CS does not have one, but it shouldn't be too hard for ET. mg42 still in, mg42 out...we're running two different configs at the same time, isn't that hilarious?

Oh, the players...

They're the heart of every game. They play, they flock, they split...and ET players tend to do it a lot more than others. I don't think it is necessary to mention names here but if we look at the history of certain individuals any reasonable man (or woman) would call it clan-whoring. Now that itself is not bad as such. It becomes bad though when teams and players keep jumping from clan to clan, always in for some quick money, fame or other things. I wouldn't put too much effort into an ET team if I was leading an MGC. They'll probably leave me if someone offers them 50 extra bucks. There are some exceptions, true. Dignitas could have joined up with several big teams in the last year, they stuck with idle and then in the end joined a very renowned organisation. But then there is the case of the old Goliath team who have teamed up with first dmiZe, then aMenti and now TLR, allegedly refusing an offer to join h2k. Come again? Yes, they did not join an organisation that already pays host to a successful team and whose management runs it rather like a family than like a business organisation, at least for the moment. Now we had insignia cadre picking up img, and I hope that they stay together for some time. Unfortunately that seems to be the case for very few teams. A small fight on ventrilo and they split up. The faces stay basically the same, the teams change a lot. I guess it's one of the downsides of not having any player contracts, but it still makes it literally impossible to keep track of anything, not to mention it totally destroys any kind of decent teamplay. The dominance of Dignitas would soon break if there was a team that stuck together with the same players for a longer period than some months. But there are always roster changes, some small and some bigger. Teams with potential break before they can achieve anything. Few are willing to accept losses on their road to the top. Instead they look for others who have lost two matches in a row and could not stand it anymore. They start up a new team and history repeats itself, most ET matches look like nightly scrims these days.

I'm a cheater and I still play ET

Who can say that of himself? I am constantly astonished that certain players are still to be found in competition though they have clearly outed themselves or been outed as cheaters. I can't understand why anyone in his right mind would associate with these people. I still remember when pG|eddy got busted, nobody from the top players wanted to be mentioned in one sentence with that guy anymore. Yet in ET they keep on playing. Does that discredit the community? It does. While some fight an endless battle against cheaters, others don't care and constant suspicion is the natural cause. Not to mention how bad this looks to everyone outside the ET community.

Presenting: "The (un)friendly ET community"

It is clearly a utopia to hope for an online gaming community that is friendly in all its aspects. Where do you send someone who wants to get into ET? If you send him to Crossfire, he's doomed. It's not the fault of the site itself, it's how people act here. Constantly insulting each other, writing useless comments, spamming, leading endless conversations in their native language and not even remotely being aware of something called dignity. Sometimes there are very productive discussions, but mostly it's just awful to read. Newcomers are treated like crap, questions that seem a little silly are immediately taken and used to bash the one who's asking them. It is not a nice place to go if you're a newbie, and there are very few other places. It's the same on ESReality where the elitist Quake community goes on and on about Q3 vs. Q4. It's nothing you can enjoy if you're new. Another example of elitism would be how people constantly flame CwG for being broadcast on ETTV - it's silly and of no use, but it still happens over and over again.

I'm sure this list could be extended. There are many things that go wrong. Some can be changed easily, some need work. As a small community, change is easier than for a big one. I'm sure it can be done though. ET will not be the next CS. But it will be a very enjoyable small player in the big esports game. Accept the niche just like many other players of games like Day Of Defeat already did. Give maps the chance to grow, be friendly to others and newcomers and stick with your team even in difficult times.

Say no to cheaters.