In terms of the CDC series, you will struggle to find a more seasoned attendee than 
Arachon. This friendly and helpful character has been a part of past Crossfire events in both playing and adminning roles, most notably including his part in the CDC2 team ALIS. This situation puts him a unique position of being able to judge events from both sides of the fence, and understand the needs of both players and spectators.
This weekend, Arachon has been firmly spectating, and has been impressed by the progress that the Crossfire LAN mould is making. There is a distinct sincerity in his voice when he cites the improvement in professionalism. Do not be fooled, he certainly isn't blowing his own trumpet as being a part of the Crossfire Crew. After past events, he has been frank and constructive with his suggestions for future tournaments. Now however, and I agree with this sentiment, the event has taken on a role of a well-oiled machine, with everyone playing their part this weekend.
I was interested in what he thought about the rise of the mixteam, in a lan which now contains 21 teams, up 5 extra from the 16 of CDC2. "Of course you can't compare these LAN-made mixteams to those which have been together for three or four months, and who have got solid tactics and know what they're doing". But does he think the quality of the LAN has suffered as a result? "No I don't think so. The skill of the individual players is still really high, and some of the games we have coming up are truely mouthwatering. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the interest in this CDC is as impressive as ever".
There can always be improvements however, and my suggestion is met with a mix of agreement and understanding. "Spectator wise, I think we can still improve a bit. I wanted last time a screen and some seats outside that people could watch the games on, but all-in-all, you can't complain".
So which games have held the greatest interest for Arachon? "I've been watching
dark&beyond a lot, because I get on well with those guys in particular. They've given me some pretty memorable moments already, in fact, I was spectating their crane control attack on supply depot when the team was building the controls, and I was muttering under my breath 'watch the window, watch the window...' Then maybe 5 seconds later, I heard one of them tell the team to watch the window!"
Clearly Arachon gets a lot out of watching players live. The difference between simultaneously watching 6 screens and spectating online via ETTV is one he says you cannot compare. Furthermore being able to hear the live voice comms, combines to give a far more immersive experience than would be possible outside the LAN environment. Having little time to actually spectate games so far, I was interested to know if he felt you could still gain a good understanding of teamplay by watching 6 first-person POVs. His eyes light up. "You should have seen
cZar vs 
118 on Goldrush! Some of the reviving going on in that game was insane, it was really nice to watch".
So now nearly half-way through the CDC, what did he think was the best game he'd seen so far? "It has to be
GMPO vs 
v&e on the big screen which TosspoT was casting. Not only did v&e claw themselves to victory after losing the first map, but Toss really got the crowd going too. He interspersed the commentary with a few good jokes as well as his usual strong manner. I'm sure the players got a lot out of it too. When I was playing with ALIS, I remember making a 3-man kill at LAN and hearing the crowd cheer with excitement. Its those sort of moments that push you on and really make you believe in yourself".
On this subject, Arachon appears to have many good memories. When T&F beat cZar at CDC1, emoboy Baggiez went completely mental. Its true that the T&F victoryupset was one of the highlights of the Rotterdam-based event. As for upsets this time around, the Dane believes v&e will struggle in the latter stages. This despite the fact the Kreaturen team has already recorded 3 victories out of 3. "Their lack of teamplay will show", he reckons. Only time will see.
But perhaps we should really be focusing on the positives on this LAN. Certainly there has been some pretty memorable moments.
"ferus has been so good, he was the sole reason SRP won adlernest against cZar. His 4-man kill, including a 2 man pistol frag was really special - but he is the sort of player who can do that. Again on v&e vs GMPO, 
gifty managed an incredible 3 dynamite defuses at the adlernest door controls. Without that individual effort, who knows what might have happened!"
We've had our fair share of amusing episode as well. "When
humM3L planted a dynamite on the Axis side of the main entrance on radar, 3 opponents ran past him twice while the Russian just watched bemusedly. As well, when d&b player 
immoo dropped a grenade on the crane defense of supply, he ended up team killing two players with about 17 seconds left til spawn. Well I suppose it wasn't that funny because d&b ended up losing because of that, but at the time we had to laugh". We can't talk about fuckups without mentioning Baggiez again, who in a recent game managed stats of 2kill for 16 deaths, and 17 exp. "He certainly is getting himself noticed!", we both laugh.
Does Arachon expect any upsets to come? "Its difficult because nothing unusual has happened yet. But if you look at ZeroPoint, they got knocked out in the groupstage of CDC2. Anything can happen". Alongside upsets, he also expects several players to make names for themselves based on their performances. "wEAK had been getting a lot of flame online with people accusing him of cheating, but the way that he has played so far is definately silencing his critics. When you remember how wasted he got on Thursday night, its only the more impressive, if a little weird! Aimwise he has been superb".
So a final word on the end result. "The top 5 of Krea, GMPO, SRP, TLR and dignitas is pretty much set in stone, I think. It will be really difficult for any other teams to break this domination. But as for the end positions - its too hard to call. Any one team can beat another if they have a good game, so its wide open.We're definately in for a cracking conclusion. But first, lets bring on the playoffs!".
look forward to top teams krea/gmpo/dignitas/srp/tlr. all performing to par.
Arachon. This friendly and helpful character has been a part of past Crossfire events in both playing and adminning roles, most notably including his part in the CDC2 team ALIS. This situation puts him a unique position of being able to judge events from both sides of the fence, and understand the needs of both players and spectators.This weekend, Arachon has been firmly spectating, and has been impressed by the progress that the Crossfire LAN mould is making. There is a distinct sincerity in his voice when he cites the improvement in professionalism. Do not be fooled, he certainly isn't blowing his own trumpet as being a part of the Crossfire Crew. After past events, he has been frank and constructive with his suggestions for future tournaments. Now however, and I agree with this sentiment, the event has taken on a role of a well-oiled machine, with everyone playing their part this weekend.
I was interested in what he thought about the rise of the mixteam, in a lan which now contains 21 teams, up 5 extra from the 16 of CDC2. "Of course you can't compare these LAN-made mixteams to those which have been together for three or four months, and who have got solid tactics and know what they're doing". But does he think the quality of the LAN has suffered as a result? "No I don't think so. The skill of the individual players is still really high, and some of the games we have coming up are truely mouthwatering. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the interest in this CDC is as impressive as ever".
There can always be improvements however, and my suggestion is met with a mix of agreement and understanding. "Spectator wise, I think we can still improve a bit. I wanted last time a screen and some seats outside that people could watch the games on, but all-in-all, you can't complain".
So which games have held the greatest interest for Arachon? "I've been watching
dark&beyond a lot, because I get on well with those guys in particular. They've given me some pretty memorable moments already, in fact, I was spectating their crane control attack on supply depot when the team was building the controls, and I was muttering under my breath 'watch the window, watch the window...' Then maybe 5 seconds later, I heard one of them tell the team to watch the window!"Clearly Arachon gets a lot out of watching players live. The difference between simultaneously watching 6 screens and spectating online via ETTV is one he says you cannot compare. Furthermore being able to hear the live voice comms, combines to give a far more immersive experience than would be possible outside the LAN environment. Having little time to actually spectate games so far, I was interested to know if he felt you could still gain a good understanding of teamplay by watching 6 first-person POVs. His eyes light up. "You should have seen
cZar vs 118 on Goldrush! Some of the reviving going on in that game was insane, it was really nice to watch".So now nearly half-way through the CDC, what did he think was the best game he'd seen so far? "It has to be
GMPO vs v&e on the big screen which TosspoT was casting. Not only did v&e claw themselves to victory after losing the first map, but Toss really got the crowd going too. He interspersed the commentary with a few good jokes as well as his usual strong manner. I'm sure the players got a lot out of it too. When I was playing with ALIS, I remember making a 3-man kill at LAN and hearing the crowd cheer with excitement. Its those sort of moments that push you on and really make you believe in yourself".On this subject, Arachon appears to have many good memories. When
T&F beat cZar at CDC1, emoboy Baggiez went completely mental. Its true that the T&F victoryupset was one of the highlights of the Rotterdam-based event. As for upsets this time around, the Dane believes v&e will struggle in the latter stages. This despite the fact the Kreaturen team has already recorded 3 victories out of 3. "Their lack of teamplay will show", he reckons. Only time will see.But perhaps we should really be focusing on the positives on this LAN. Certainly there has been some pretty memorable moments.
"ferus has been so good, he was the sole reason SRP won adlernest against cZar. His 4-man kill, including a 2 man pistol frag was really special - but he is the sort of player who can do that. Again on v&e vs GMPO, gifty managed an incredible 3 dynamite defuses at the adlernest door controls. Without that individual effort, who knows what might have happened!"We've had our fair share of amusing episode as well. "When
humM3L planted a dynamite on the Axis side of the main entrance on radar, 3 opponents ran past him twice while the Russian just watched bemusedly. As well, when d&b player immoo dropped a grenade on the crane defense of supply, he ended up team killing two players with about 17 seconds left til spawn. Well I suppose it wasn't that funny because d&b ended up losing because of that, but at the time we had to laugh". We can't talk about fuckups without mentioning Baggiez again, who in a recent game managed stats of 2kill for 16 deaths, and 17 exp. "He certainly is getting himself noticed!", we both laugh.Does Arachon expect any upsets to come? "Its difficult because nothing unusual has happened yet. But if you look at
ZeroPoint, they got knocked out in the groupstage of CDC2. Anything can happen". Alongside upsets, he also expects several players to make names for themselves based on their performances. "wEAK had been getting a lot of flame online with people accusing him of cheating, but the way that he has played so far is definately silencing his critics. When you remember how wasted he got on Thursday night, its only the more impressive, if a little weird! Aimwise he has been superb".So a final word on the end result. "The top 5 of Krea, GMPO, SRP, TLR and dignitas is pretty much set in stone, I think. It will be really difficult for any other teams to break this domination. But as for the end positions - its too hard to call. Any one team can beat another if they have a good game, so its wide open.We're definately in for a cracking conclusion. But first, lets bring on the playoffs!".
look forward to top teams krea/gmpo/dignitas/srp/tlr. all performing to par.
omg so much to read that will definately NOT read
tlr will take it imo.