So today the news broke surrounding cZar ET's transition to the Zerobarrier name, following cZar Gaming's merger with Logitech.fi, leaving their sponsors and players alike bar the warSow side which will make the transition. But this we already knew.
So too, it seems, did the players.
snot made a statement on the cadred.org website, which included the line, "we knew about the merge with Team Logitech.fi already for about two months". With no cZar support anymore, the players no longer had a primary sponsor to guide them towards the CPC2. Hardly hearts-in-mouths, but certainly an eyebrow or two were raised. What implications might this have? Would cZar ET still be able to attend the LAN? Luckily our fears were allayed with today's annoucement of a union with Zerobarrier, the respected multi-gaming community with strong roots in RTCW - more about this later. Surely all our concerns could be put to bed with another umbrella organisation to shelter the Belgians. But no, for the astute readers amoung us will know that Zerobarrier is no longer the MGC it used to be, or nothing like it. Infact, if you navigate yourself to their website, Zerobarrier.nl, you find only a gameserver website and some clunky music. The reason? Zerobarrier no longer exist.
This is a fact snot explains to us: "We don't get any benefits by joining them". That is because, clearly, there are no benefits to be given, nor anyone to give them out either. The cZar ET guys didn't actually need the move to Zerobarrier to attend CPC2, this whole debacle "doesn't affect our plans for CPC2". The move is purely cosmetic, and aims to provide a name, a well respected name for a team who have had their sponsors desert them. The quote that begins this paragraph concludes with "...except playing under a respected name in the scene", and so cZar ET become .O.| ET with one hit of the delete key. The clan that was laid to rest, having achieved so much in its 3-team history, including players as TosspoT reminds us as Dolt, Darv and Jappio. This was the side who went on to form the foundations of the Amnesia/mysod team, taking golds in such tournaments as the 'Barrysworld Cup' and beating Kreaturen in the EuroCup X, a final which went memorably to 3-3 and is looked back on by RTCW veteran Rafiki as "the neverending final". Now, that history has been raked up, and will soon be shown alongside the exploits of snot and his merry band of Belgian ET players for a second time.
Do not mistake me here, I think the new Zerobarrier team are a decent side. On their day, they can give any top clan a match. But EuroCup winners they are not. They are nothing new, infact they are journeymen, for who hasn't seen this side out before? We know what these guys are capable of. The connundrum is clear to see: Zerobarrier take 4 will not enhance the rich history the establishment holds. It should be said that in similar circumstances, many of the now Zerobarrier players have played before for ZB after being invited to the evenual 2005 OpenCup 2nd Div winners Team Massacre Black, who later joined Zerobarrier. And what did they achieve - well, not much really, only further distancing the links with RTCW. Is this just another case of being friends with the manager, bs?
There are two paths to walk down at this point. The first asks, well, what does history matter anyway? What's done is done, you should move away from the past and look forward. The second reminds you that cZar ET are only joining the organisation for the name, and as such seek to gain nothing except the heritage and past glory that the Zerobarrier name conveys. It could be argued that other famous cases where clans jump upon known MGC names with rich pasts are somewhat different: the helixes, the rewinds of this world all offered their new players support in some shape or form, regardless of why those players chose that particular MGC name over others. cZar are no helix, they are no rewind. They are simply seeking a name which means something in Wolfenstein.
Around this time last year, I wrote a column on heritage being lost in ET, centering around the examples of the now defunct Reason Gaming and 2nd generation 141 teams. But this is not the same. Those clans still existed when they brought new players in, indeed they had to in order to maintain their survival. No players equals no clan. No clan equals a name, a lingering taste of what once was. So yes, this is certainly a different case. We (read old school players, read TosspoT) all like to remember "the good old days". That's not suprising when you go from Pink Gorillaz to Digital Heresy. Nowadays it seems the only thing important about heritage is the fact its gone, allowing us to talk about the great teams of old, the players that made up these sides, and how things evolved to invariably end the good fortunes. There is no sense in saying, well, Nottingham Forest Football Club do not deserve the accolades they won in the European Cup back in 1979 and 1980 simply because their team today is playing 1st division (3rd tier) football. The celebration of their achievements live on, while people look at what occurs in todays world as different, even though they shared the same name. Yes you can say Forest have a rich heritage. Yes, you can say Zerobarrier have a rich heritage. But if players think they will inherit anything simply by using a formerly celebrated name, they can think again.
Clearly, there can be no question as to the motive of the cZar ET team. We've already heard how little this 'move' affects them. They could have picked the name 'Japanese Liberal Transexual Movement', and the impact would have been no different. Zerobarrier were picked because of what they have previously achieved, links with bs, and because the name was opportune; it was there for the taking. However. If anyone is fooled into thinking that the Zerobarrier name is indicative of achievement for this latest team, lest they think again. Go full-circle, if the team wins this upcoming EuroCup, people will think no differently about the RTCW team. Players should be looking to forge their own history, and not rest on the laurels of other people's achievements.
So too, it seems, did the players.
snot made a statement on the cadred.org website, which included the line, "we knew about the merge with Team Logitech.fi already for about two months". With no cZar support anymore, the players no longer had a primary sponsor to guide them towards the CPC2. Hardly hearts-in-mouths, but certainly an eyebrow or two were raised. What implications might this have? Would cZar ET still be able to attend the LAN? Luckily our fears were allayed with today's annoucement of a union with Zerobarrier, the respected multi-gaming community with strong roots in RTCW - more about this later. Surely all our concerns could be put to bed with another umbrella organisation to shelter the Belgians. But no, for the astute readers amoung us will know that Zerobarrier is no longer the MGC it used to be, or nothing like it. Infact, if you navigate yourself to their website, Zerobarrier.nl, you find only a gameserver website and some clunky music. The reason? Zerobarrier no longer exist. This is a fact snot explains to us: "We don't get any benefits by joining them". That is because, clearly, there are no benefits to be given, nor anyone to give them out either. The cZar ET guys didn't actually need the move to Zerobarrier to attend CPC2, this whole debacle "doesn't affect our plans for CPC2". The move is purely cosmetic, and aims to provide a name, a well respected name for a team who have had their sponsors desert them. The quote that begins this paragraph concludes with "...except playing under a respected name in the scene", and so cZar ET become .O.| ET with one hit of the delete key. The clan that was laid to rest, having achieved so much in its 3-team history, including players as TosspoT reminds us as Dolt, Darv and Jappio. This was the side who went on to form the foundations of the Amnesia/mysod team, taking golds in such tournaments as the 'Barrysworld Cup' and beating Kreaturen in the EuroCup X, a final which went memorably to 3-3 and is looked back on by RTCW veteran
Rafiki as "the neverending final". Now, that history has been raked up, and will soon be shown alongside the exploits of snot and his merry band of Belgian ET players for a second time.Do not mistake me here, I think the new Zerobarrier team are a decent side. On their day, they can give any top clan a match. But EuroCup winners they are not. They are nothing new, infact they are journeymen, for who hasn't seen this side out before? We know what these guys are capable of. The connundrum is clear to see: Zerobarrier take 4 will not enhance the rich history the establishment holds. It should be said that in similar circumstances, many of the now Zerobarrier players have played before for ZB after being invited to the evenual 2005 OpenCup 2nd Div winners Team Massacre Black, who later joined Zerobarrier. And what did they achieve - well, not much really, only further distancing the links with RTCW. Is this just another case of being friends with the manager, bs?
There are two paths to walk down at this point. The first asks, well, what does history matter anyway? What's done is done, you should move away from the past and look forward. The second reminds you that cZar ET are only joining the organisation for the name, and as such seek to gain nothing except the heritage and past glory that the Zerobarrier name conveys. It could be argued that other famous cases where clans jump upon known MGC names with rich pasts are somewhat different: the helixes, the rewinds of this world all offered their new players support in some shape or form, regardless of why those players chose that particular MGC name over others. cZar are no helix, they are no rewind. They are simply seeking a name which means something in Wolfenstein.
Around this time last year, I wrote a column on heritage being lost in ET, centering around the examples of the now defunct Reason Gaming and 2nd generation 141 teams. But this is not the same. Those clans still existed when they brought new players in, indeed they had to in order to maintain their survival. No players equals no clan. No clan equals a name, a lingering taste of what once was. So yes, this is certainly a different case. We (read old school players, read TosspoT) all like to remember "the good old days". That's not suprising when you go from Pink Gorillaz to Digital Heresy. Nowadays it seems the only thing important about heritage is the fact its gone, allowing us to talk about the great teams of old, the players that made up these sides, and how things evolved to invariably end the good fortunes. There is no sense in saying, well, Nottingham Forest Football Club do not deserve the accolades they won in the European Cup back in 1979 and 1980 simply because their team today is playing 1st division (3rd tier) football. The celebration of their achievements live on, while people look at what occurs in todays world as different, even though they shared the same name. Yes you can say Forest have a rich heritage. Yes, you can say Zerobarrier have a rich heritage. But if players think they will inherit anything simply by using a formerly celebrated name, they can think again.
Clearly, there can be no question as to the motive of the cZar ET team. We've already heard how little this 'move' affects them. They could have picked the name 'Japanese Liberal Transexual Movement', and the impact would have been no different. Zerobarrier were picked because of what they have previously achieved, links with bs, and because the name was opportune; it was there for the taking. However. If anyone is fooled into thinking that the Zerobarrier name is indicative of achievement for this latest team, lest they think again. Go full-circle, if the team wins this upcoming EuroCup, people will think no differently about the RTCW team. Players should be looking to forge their own history, and not rest on the laurels of other people's achievements.
bS, overall leader of zerobarrier gave me permission to take in a team who would play at cpc2, after the split with cZar I thought 'why not take the zB tag'?
btw: .0. has had teams in BF1942, BF & cs:s who also didnt had the skill level the old legendary teams had ....
"'why not take the zB tag'?"
well, why not indeed. but you didn't choose the japanese transexual name, which kinda upset me a little! i understand you guys are mates with bS, im not criticising you for that, and you've played under the tag before, its more of an observation than a condemnation that you didn't have to take the ZB name, in the first place either.
put it this way, would you look to take on the name of a nobody clan or one thats really well known? you'd go for the well known one everytime, im sure most people would. but to me thats always resonated with using others' success as a means to further you own. i hope you understand my point :o)
and refering to cpc1 when talking about this squad is sort of rubbish as well considering that team had quite a different lineup and i never played 1 single time with them before our first game at the LAN unlike T&F. we were more of a mixteam than t&f was tbh :-d
nicely written anyway!
yes, you're right, the cpc bit needs an edit. thats a bit harsh d;
you're going to be destroyed by the tosspot for attempting to question the zb name though.
edit: right on time.
o rly?
rewind.et also, but written about a million times
I guess I'm a very nostalgic person
edit: forgot to say n1 foonr!
Edit: It's a cheese right?:P
I know it always was a brawl between zb and amnesia
i only know the ladder war of zb ,amnesia that ended in 4-4 :P
I still love that rtcw time.
konijn usa as well :P
and about the heritage of team names is it really that big of a deal its just a name people still remember the players of the team together doing good
in this case its not about that obviously but lets say in rewinds case or in many other
You must have just totally invented that because I clearly did not say that.
what's in a name anyway
But what I mean is, what happend in rtcw isn't really to the point anymore... We're 2k7 now, times/things have changed and it's still up to the management of the teams to decide if people can play under the tag of that certain team.