It seems apparent that as Summer comes, a Lan finishes, that the activity in ET and on Crossfire slightly drops. This happens every summer and doesn't have any relevance to this column, except that i noticed the previous column submitted was about AEM and felt that i should write something that became noticeable in something that i recently watched and got me thinking.
Just over a week ago i found a link to a gaming documentary about a guy "Mike Ross" who is a professional Streetfighter gamer. The documentary primarily focuses on his ability to compete at the highest level in the game and the affect of gaming on his life and others.
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/714815/focus-an-original-movie-about-street-fighter-champion-mike-ross-g4-films/
I have linked the documentary above, therefore i will try not to spoil the content, however touch upon the subject which i felt made me appreciate gaming and its influence mainly on others. You will notice in the documentary there are numerous "unknown" spectators/players that approach Mike for autographs, talks etc. A lot of these people just appreciate the undoubted skill that he possesses in the game.
The real heart toucher comes at the end (again i dont want to spoil it, really recommend watching) that he discusses someone that contacted him and mentioned how he admired his gaming ability and that it was from watching streams and videos that he chose the same Streetfighter character, whilst also being diagnosed with cancer. You can see Mike's reaction and emotion when he explains this story and what it meant to him when earlier he had evaluated whether he was to continue the amount of time and effort that he had put into gaming/Streetfigther.
Anyway, the game and the community, although bigger than our's had a similar feel to it that there were few major lans, but when announced, the whole community seems to come together. It got me thinking about my influence/recognition/respect in relation to what "Mike Ross" had to his community.
Although i do not want to base this column on myself, i felt like i could relate to it being at the "top" of the game but undoubtedly not the best player. It seems a strange concept that sitting behind your PC at home, you are actually recognised "worldwide" for what you do as a hobby (in relation to ET) and that you can actually inspire/encourage others through your play, attitude etc.
I remember those long years ago when i was a newcomer to the ET Pro scene that i attended my first lan with
unKind. To say the least, i was awful and had no concept and appreciation of the dedication in terms of time and equipment (turning up with wireless mouse, no mousepad, wireless keyboard and a £5 headset) that competitive gaming required, but like any person entering a competitive scene, was always interested by those at the top of the game.
Fortunately havingeVo as one of our players, we shared a cabin with the eventual lan winners TLR. The lineup boasting some incredible names (
Night, 
iron, Matias, Sheep, 
ferus, 
toxic). It seems strange looking back now that because of their talent in the game and being at the "top" i was slightly intimidated but excited at the prospect of possibly talking to them! Fortunately, the whole team were very down to earth and sociable. The skill level did not come into play and was something that surprised me at the time. I would also say i had the same appreciation for TosspoT who i had seen previously on T.V. shoutcasting the CGS and obviously being heavily involved in the community and organising the lan under the Crossfire names. It was amazing how he got you involved in the community whilst shoutcasting the lan matches and made you feel part of something special.
Nowadays i think i take for granted and don't realise the effect that being a "top" gamer actually has on others. Looking back at CDC4 and being that noob in aura of the top gamers not wanting to approach them (although that slightly changed when i got the recognition of being a heavy drinker) I am now in their shoes and appreciate that it can be awkward trying to communicate to, but at the same time be intimidating/respected. The last couple of events I have seen people whispering and looking with wonder, is that the
Anexis team, is that R0SS, but it was most likely because i was standing next to 
mAus. It kind of makes me giggle at the time but is something i can relate to in my early days of attending lan.
Even playing online, i remember the feeling when i first played the likes ofmAus, Night, sqzz and how hard i would try to get them to notice me. I do think im one of a few "top players" that actually talk in game (sometimes it can be trash and i apologise) and communicate with the community through crossfire etc. Looking at it now, especially as i spend most time playing with my good friends Team Keen, it is most days that i play against someone new or possibly playing with someone new that i have never played against/with before. Although not all, but most will have that feeling that i had all of those years ago of trying to impress and making sure that you recognise their name in the future. Fortunately, ET seems a lot more sociable in game now than it did back when i was trying to come through the ranks.
I would like to think i am quite a sociable guy online and offline and hope that anyone reading this wouldn't feel "overwhelmed" or "intimidated" to approach me online or offline. Although its more awkward at lan for both parties, especially if you have never met and the first sentence is "Hey im ...." and sometimes you may genuinely never of heard of the player, once you break that ice its all good! I think that we are fortunate that we have such a close community and that most know each other through gaming/crossfire.
Looking back over the last couple of years, i begin to appreciate more the messages that i have received asking me for my config, advice and messages such as I was the reason they started playing a certain class. Although it sounds cheesy but something that i have always appreciated but probably overlooked (i have never refused to give advice, configs or just general chat) you can have a positive influence on other people, thousands of miles away through gaming.
There have been moments and events which have occured in other games and communities that have influenced me. As mentioned before, i used to love watching CGS and in particular the CSS part where the best of the best would battle each other and the score would have a detrimental effect on the final overall winner. I imagined and hoped that one day i would compete in a similar format, unfortunately ET never made that level, however one of my highlights would be playing on the main stage at AEF being watched by 100's of spectators at the event and many more online.
So, can you relate to the influence that you have had on other gamers or that other gamers have had on you? Is there anyone that generally inspired you to continue playing the game or do something gaming or "real life" related? There may be those that cannot relate to this subject, however i think the majority can, whether you have "come through the ranks" or you are an upcoming/new player to the scene.
Although eSports can be considered by some as a nerdy activity, i think delving into it, it can produce some inspirational moments and events that can compare to real sports and real life. Although sitting behind your keyboard and screen most days, it is only when you begin to think of what you have done/been told about or seen that has been inspirational and the effect that it had on you and possibly others.
Just over a week ago i found a link to a gaming documentary about a guy "Mike Ross" who is a professional Streetfighter gamer. The documentary primarily focuses on his ability to compete at the highest level in the game and the affect of gaming on his life and others.
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/714815/focus-an-original-movie-about-street-fighter-champion-mike-ross-g4-films/
I have linked the documentary above, therefore i will try not to spoil the content, however touch upon the subject which i felt made me appreciate gaming and its influence mainly on others. You will notice in the documentary there are numerous "unknown" spectators/players that approach Mike for autographs, talks etc. A lot of these people just appreciate the undoubted skill that he possesses in the game.
The real heart toucher comes at the end (again i dont want to spoil it, really recommend watching) that he discusses someone that contacted him and mentioned how he admired his gaming ability and that it was from watching streams and videos that he chose the same Streetfighter character, whilst also being diagnosed with cancer. You can see Mike's reaction and emotion when he explains this story and what it meant to him when earlier he had evaluated whether he was to continue the amount of time and effort that he had put into gaming/Streetfigther.
Anyway, the game and the community, although bigger than our's had a similar feel to it that there were few major lans, but when announced, the whole community seems to come together. It got me thinking about my influence/recognition/respect in relation to what "Mike Ross" had to his community.
Although i do not want to base this column on myself, i felt like i could relate to it being at the "top" of the game but undoubtedly not the best player. It seems a strange concept that sitting behind your PC at home, you are actually recognised "worldwide" for what you do as a hobby (in relation to ET) and that you can actually inspire/encourage others through your play, attitude etc.
I remember those long years ago when i was a newcomer to the ET Pro scene that i attended my first lan with
unKind. To say the least, i was awful and had no concept and appreciation of the dedication in terms of time and equipment (turning up with wireless mouse, no mousepad, wireless keyboard and a £5 headset) that competitive gaming required, but like any person entering a competitive scene, was always interested by those at the top of the game. Fortunately having
eVo as one of our players, we shared a cabin with the eventual lan winners TLR. The lineup boasting some incredible names (Night, iron, Matias, Sheep, ferus, toxic). It seems strange looking back now that because of their talent in the game and being at the "top" i was slightly intimidated but excited at the prospect of possibly talking to them! Fortunately, the whole team were very down to earth and sociable. The skill level did not come into play and was something that surprised me at the time. I would also say i had the same appreciation for TosspoT who i had seen previously on T.V. shoutcasting the CGS and obviously being heavily involved in the community and organising the lan under the Crossfire names. It was amazing how he got you involved in the community whilst shoutcasting the lan matches and made you feel part of something special.Nowadays i think i take for granted and don't realise the effect that being a "top" gamer actually has on others. Looking back at CDC4 and being that noob in aura of the top gamers not wanting to approach them (although that slightly changed when i got the recognition of being a heavy drinker) I am now in their shoes and appreciate that it can be awkward trying to communicate to, but at the same time be intimidating/respected. The last couple of events I have seen people whispering and looking with wonder, is that the
Anexis team, is that R0SS, but it was most likely because i was standing next to mAus. It kind of makes me giggle at the time but is something i can relate to in my early days of attending lan. Even playing online, i remember the feeling when i first played the likes of
mAus, Night, sqzz and how hard i would try to get them to notice me. I do think im one of a few "top players" that actually talk in game (sometimes it can be trash and i apologise) and communicate with the community through crossfire etc. Looking at it now, especially as i spend most time playing with my good friends Team Keen, it is most days that i play against someone new or possibly playing with someone new that i have never played against/with before. Although not all, but most will have that feeling that i had all of those years ago of trying to impress and making sure that you recognise their name in the future. Fortunately, ET seems a lot more sociable in game now than it did back when i was trying to come through the ranks. I would like to think i am quite a sociable guy online and offline and hope that anyone reading this wouldn't feel "overwhelmed" or "intimidated" to approach me online or offline. Although its more awkward at lan for both parties, especially if you have never met and the first sentence is "Hey im ...." and sometimes you may genuinely never of heard of the player, once you break that ice its all good! I think that we are fortunate that we have such a close community and that most know each other through gaming/crossfire.
Looking back over the last couple of years, i begin to appreciate more the messages that i have received asking me for my config, advice and messages such as I was the reason they started playing a certain class. Although it sounds cheesy but something that i have always appreciated but probably overlooked (i have never refused to give advice, configs or just general chat) you can have a positive influence on other people, thousands of miles away through gaming.
There have been moments and events which have occured in other games and communities that have influenced me. As mentioned before, i used to love watching CGS and in particular the CSS part where the best of the best would battle each other and the score would have a detrimental effect on the final overall winner. I imagined and hoped that one day i would compete in a similar format, unfortunately ET never made that level, however one of my highlights would be playing on the main stage at AEF being watched by 100's of spectators at the event and many more online.
So, can you relate to the influence that you have had on other gamers or that other gamers have had on you? Is there anyone that generally inspired you to continue playing the game or do something gaming or "real life" related? There may be those that cannot relate to this subject, however i think the majority can, whether you have "come through the ranks" or you are an upcoming/new player to the scene.
Although eSports can be considered by some as a nerdy activity, i think delving into it, it can produce some inspirational moments and events that can compare to real sports and real life. Although sitting behind your keyboard and screen most days, it is only when you begin to think of what you have done/been told about or seen that has been inspirational and the effect that it had on you and possibly others.
POKER FACE
Awesome journal R0SIE :-)
I remember back in 2009, I was introduced to
Playing with pros against pros :P
CDC was very enjoyable with you and
BIG THANKS to
After watching Another Tigger Behind The Trigger, I started playing rifle and wanted to be as good as him.
Can relate to parts of it too :D
When you do start improving, getting that break to play at a high level is soooo small, and unfortunately, back then, the chance you have of getting in a skilled team (including OC Premier) was so small. I had played a summercup with eXim which Kevin (back then Poseidon) used to play in ironically enough. This was my first European experience that had me wanting more.
I had to trial with so many teams before I got into x86 and I used to play for countless hours to improve. Eventually, I got into my first skilled 6on6 team being angelDust, and I had to convert to rifle to get into this skilled team. I basically was so desperate to play at a high level I started playing all classes (who would of thought that I would of become one of the top multiclassers). There was a void in this team for the rifle position so thats what I trialled for, and after some effort, I got in. Back then it had players that would become much more famous such as joop, mize, sanda, spirea. All these players were proper 3on3 players that would only move to 6on6 at that stage.
Then everything else was basically improving together with joop where we moved to morrigu, at the same time, playing some fun games with Adacore and Organised Chaos which expanded my horizons more. This way, more people saw me play. Everything else just fed from one team to another with players following suit. From this point on, I never joined a team that I didn't have contact with before.
Obviously my first top top team was cdap/polar. This was the first team that I was actually in that made me capable of competing from the number 1 spot in ET which we eventually got.
Back then, the hunger was there, and everyone wanted to improve. Nowadays, it really isn't which takes away some of the enjoyment of the game. This is why LANs are the only periods that excite people, as this is the only period where everyone wants to do as well as they can, which makes games exciting.
What a LOT of people don't get is, that when you pm someone, no matter who, they might not be there to respond or might be extremely busy, yet they are so insecure that they instantly think that this is showing ego or arrogance.
Just my 2 cents :)
Like you said, the drastic decrease in amount of active players has resulted in lack of competition. Now all the competition goes hand in hand with the LAN tournaments and bigger online tournaments, but mainly with LANs. When there's no LAN or online tournament like BfB in sight, there just simply isn't any competition.
My story about making it to the top level would be very similar to yours and happened at around the same time, too. I still remember the first ETTV games that I watched, featuring spectacles like EU vs NA, gs vs DSky and FIN vs x in NC. The hunger to improve was huge and I spent countless hours just playing and trying to get better in order to reach the top level. Back then it was a really long process to get to the top level and it took a lot of work. Step by step getting into better teams and higher divisions.
Currently we're again in a situation after the LAN when all the competition is gone and on the 'peek hours' (Sunday-Thursday at 20-22 CET) you're lucky if you can even find a semidecent mix to play against. Obviously it's summer and that has always had an effect in activity, but in the past there were a lot of teams who did play seriously during the summers aswell to improve and prepare for the fall season.
Previous LAN was a bit disappointing competition wise, but hopefully with the new Adroits LAN coming up we'll reach another peak in competition and see many new teams fighting for the top placements with proper practice and preparation.
Playing maps like Svarvadel, Cathedral, sos_secretweapon. Everyone took it a lot more serious back then which made it more fun.
I remember looking for a merc and Ganon asking us if he could play... That game was so serious as everyone wanted to show how good they are for Ganon to see lol.
Nowadays, with the amount of mixes that take place, a lot of the non-high skilled players will play with many highskilled players. Ross's column makes it seem like something good for those players that play with highskilled players, which is true as they can improve like this. However, its because of this that these people don't appreciate the fact that they are playing with better skilled players and should pay attention to want to improve. When I see a 'random' playing panzer/covert and playing alone in the mix, it just ruins all the fun as they should really appreciate the fact that they can learn.
It is down to this that competition has decreased as the skill gap is huge, even just between some teams in Eurocup. Before, the skill gap between EC to OC Premier wasn't too massive, everyone can remember the countless fights about EC qualifier spots etc. This is because the skill gap was actually much smaller. Gone are the days that high - med/high - med existed. Now its just high or med+.
Its a huge shame if I'm honest.
first real match I ever played in ET was against MEPA I guess! won, muahaha.
you did?? at that time it was ridiculous how we were able to improve with MyLegend (later on one4one) and we surely did have fantastic matches against polar. you were basically our rivals and those matches were always so tight :-p
we always had close matches vs u guys, you guys were like our bogey team! we had won the EC that started the week after LAN. At this time, everyone was improving, it was great, so competition was awesome :)
i had to work my way up, probably never earned the "high-skilled"-badge during my active time of play, but we did OK. i stuck together with friends, even though i had some good offers from austrian teams that were competing on a higher level back then (excessive) - we made our way, got a spot among the ranks of "gods of quake", which was already a huge success, later some guys joined up with elite (funny hearing you talk about how hard it was to get into even premier league clans: elite actually was one of them, even though probably perceived otherwise nowadays). with goq we managed to beat helix, one4one, played the likes of rewind but there was still one layer above the teams mentioned. with ultima ratio we won against ultimate quest, the later EC winner netrunners but never had the chance to play EC.
there was one thing that marked the point when i personally lost my respect to 99.9% of all players - and that was when i realized that rather luck and name than notable achievements (we were in the top-seed of crossfight when we were put into OC premier again), was the one important variable to get into higher leagues (even as a team). it somehow had a demystifying touch to it - in the beginning the top guys felt untouchable, by 2005/06, i still enjoyed watching and playing against them, but the scene was so dead conservative that it was annoying.
my first "international" team was oceans6 (in times before ultima ratio) - this was probably when i got the most attention by the community - not because of my skill or the team's performance, but because i tried to give as many people the chance to play trial as possible - in the end this killed the team and also made it impossible to sustain decent performance.
what made ET a ridicule to me was when we really put up good games with massacre in the seeding tournament for cdc3 (placing 4th, winning kreaturen, losing to dignitas in the playoffs, and SRP in the rank 3 game). still we got seeded 14th, ending up in a group with the future EC winners and SRP. Along came the poor support for teams which were considered "low" (play without sound if you don't fix it in the 5 mins of time we give you - while at the same time the better team was already praccing for about an hour). disrespect from admins such as nellie, disrespect from tosspot (bruz's mp3 player was stolen, tosspot refused to ask on stream whether anyone had seen it, because casting was supposed to be serious - jerking around with gifty who was in the same WL group with us years ago seemed fine though), and finally, after coming home, seeing our team not even getting an EC qualifier, while teams who had performed miserably on lan and had nothing notable to their name got in (this was the rise of a player named duke_).
ended up to be a longer text than expected. bottom line: i think in the very beginning people really looked up to others. i can't see why one would nowadays, because within no time, as a newcomer, one can hook up with an international team and play at least OC premier anyway. there is nothing prestigious left. if one can thrive from the belief (or maybe it is really true, i can't tell) that others are looking up to them: that's good for you, but also don't forget other important things in your life. we are all not getting younger - and ET is not starcraft.
I'm not really sure what my point is, but I think it has something to do with people not being intimidated by playing and/or talking with high skilled players anymore.
the point is, the way you saw the game and all its contents when you were only 2 years into it is the same way current new (2 years in) players view the game. I remember this season in around February a PL guy who used to talk to me a lot (low level, dunno if he regularly reads CF even) asked me if Queens will stay together til another season because his motivation in this game is that he could one day play with that tag. I used to have a similar motivation but not relating to any team that is still around; once I reached a certain level I found other things to chase. in the end everyone's attitude changes but the game never does. :) new players will go through the same cycle you have, everything looks better when you are looking back.
CF alone gets so many new accounts daily, I remember asking subbi how many EESTI's he thinks there are now and he said like 30, so I checked CF for how many different accounts from Estonia have logged in the last month and it was like 150 unique accounts all with Estonian IPs (unique, keyword). and CF was always the smallest ET community at that. it feels like there was once a bridge for 2.55 to finally break through to 2.60b etpro or just public playing, but something is missing (that in the past informed those pubguys of the competitive scene/higher skill on etpro).
anyway, they couldve just gone to crossfire.. from there on its pretty easy
I have my moments, like everyone, where i probably overstep the line and say something i shouldn't. However, i would rather be open and tell someone what they are doing wrong rather than let them continue do it. If it makes me look like an ass then it makes me look like an ass.
You are no saint either and if anything are probably worse when it comes to this matter.
Back then in the UK scene (yes, we actually had a scene about 35-40 teams ok 5+ UK players) shit talk and piss taking was rife - If TosspoT reads this he will remember the famous combo of Blacklotus and Vegas who literally put todays flamers and trollers to shame and pretty much make those guys look like artists they were teed off by Damage who joined their little group a bit later. IRC and Jolt3 forums were prime preying grounds for these guys but as much as they took the piss, as much as they trolled - it was never in their game.
I played a number of games against both players: publics, scrims and officials - they never openly insulted an opponent, never called them on things they messed up on openly they just played and that's it. To reiterate, these guys were Monsters when it came to flame and insults, they were not tryhard either, it was so natural and off the cuff, it was funny even when they insulted you :D there was malice but it never seemed personal. If they could hold their tongue I am sure you could.
It is a shame, you are a nice guy but that never changes that you actually do this in game and it is something I noticed a bit, but maybe its just because it isnt what I am use to. It can give a perception of arrogance as well, maybe you are, maybe you are not. Your thread outlines you are basically playing with some of the players you held in the highest regard, let this humble you and at least nullify this ingame stuff, I would prefer people concentrated on how I was playing especially when in recent times you are one of your teams better performers.
2005 = 2003-2004 players screaming 'ET IS DEAD'
2007 = 2004-2006 players screaming 'ET IS DEAD'
2009 = 2006-2008 players screaming 'ET IS DEAD'
2012 = 2008-2011 players screaming 'ET IS DEAD'
and in 2015 when there are still people playing, everyone will be screaming 'ET IS DEAD, 2012 WAS THE PEAK' :DD
As Penn said though - Those were the days, particularly for the UK scene :D
Nothing compares these days, games are too easy. To give you an idea of the hours required to get that kill...
Everyday we'd start at 6pm CET and finish at 4am CET non stop. Weekends was all day every day, we did that for about 2 weeks. That doesn't include farming materials for the required frost res gear or healing pots etc!
I loved it, because it was a challenge. I stopped playing right after that as I was in the burning crusade alpha and beta reporting back to the community on my findings. Blizzard banned me when I leaked the warrior rage generation nerf :P
People these days have no idea what hardcore gaming is, and I'd say that's been the case for the past 5 years.
Wasn't in a world class guild myself at that time but despite that we still showed some propper dedication trying to progress trough all the content.
IIRC you guys actually went as far as getting Darkmoon Fair buffs, Dire Maul North buffs all in addition to the flasks/potions/scrolls you already used,
In relation to R0SS's original message, those times and the effort you guys put in, did infact inspire me as a player as well. Unfortunatly we weren't blessed with a similar group of skilled people :(.
I do however disagree with the statement 'people these days have no idea what hardcore gaming is'. I believe there will always be people trying to push a game to their limits, it is just a matter of the goal people are trying to achieve.
WoW clearly doesn't provide the same challenge it used to, but other games might prove more of a challenge these days.
There are none.
I remember the newer old days and asking myself why the likes of
I feel like there are those in the past that need to get with the times. What i do or say in game can not be compared to the likes of
Although these may be extremes and my comments may be inappropriate I think it is time to move on with the climate and adapt to the changes.
Anyway, my point in this column was to illustrate the POSITIVE INFLUENCES that gaming and gamers have and not my ability to talk trash in game and look arrogant.
talking globally was not rare, just it never deteriorated into what you seem to perceive as part of gamings progression - it is perhaps but it really shouldnt be. I am sure there are powerful people who do not like it too and wouldnt doubt that teams/players have missed out on orgs and nice opportunities because of it.
This is a good point, and I do apologise but I think you can realise how much this sort of thing detracts from concentrating on a) your gaming ability, b) what you have to say about gaming. You mention Idra and as much as he is a good player he will always be known as this rage guy which will make anything he does not seem as good - and that is a shame because like I said, he is a good player.
For instance, above you may see a guy reply to me called Penn, he was a guy who would react sometimes on pubs and forums but in the time I played with him he never did in a scrim or officials - thats why I will remember him as a top player and not a guy who was trying to wind up opponents.
It is amazing how many focus on the negative points rather than the positive. Saken being a prime example. IIRC I/we accepted them using a merc in BFB with the admin(s) permission and it nearly cost us the match. Think i was the first to comment on how lucky we were to win that match and how well they played afterwards on the forums. Same with your comments about myself being remembered negatively, yet I am convinced you can hardly name many examples apart from the whole "TosspoT incident" in irc afterwards which in my opinion was blown way out of proportion.
I am pretty sure if you go through most of my matches maybe 1/10 i say something "negative" in game and if anything it is usually about/against the same person. I am not condoning it, i just think people take it way over the top when they suggest I am being arrogant or will be remembered as that type of guy compared to previous "highskilled" players. What i say has never meant to wind up opponents and the majority of my team were thinking it and saying it on TS but i would be the one to speak up.
What i have said in game to opponents or whoever does not detract my gaming ability or what I have to say about gaming. Like i said, it is easy to be used as a scapegoat in this category because i am one of the only "top" players that communicates in game or through crossfire. For this reason I am an easy target because I am noticed for doing it and more often than not i respond. I have noticed the same trends in other communities and games as well. If anything i would say I have had more of a positive influence on the game (BFB, crossfire council, advice, configs) than negative just because people see it in game. I would be surprised if anyone replied saying i have ignored them for advice, configs, crossfire related queries etc.
You can look at it in another view that at least I communicate and you can say that those that didnt/dont can be deemed in a negative perception as well. I would much rather be like what/who I am than someone who goes by day to day without involving themselves with opponents/community.
You are not being made a scapegoat, as you are not denying that you do this 'banter' in game, you are actually saying you do and that you don't hold your tongue - which is your choice, but the majority of people do not like that sort of thing towards team mates, heir team or themselves and will simply remember you for that reason.
And no one can question your contribution to ET and Crossfire, but this negging and so on undermines your own efforts and gains you absolutely NOTHING. Negative things are always remembered longer, by pretty much anyone - The reason I personally have written this stuff is not to burn you, but maybe you don't realise the perception and I think you are smart enough to know that it brings you no positives.
You seem to be incapable of comprehending that nobody wants to hear what you think in game. You mention the rest of your team "thinking the same" yet they do not speak up? You know why? Because they have been taught manners. Your trashtalk ingame is bad manners and bad sportsmanship.
I remember a time when we played supply against you and we didn't capture the flag in the first 5 minutes or something you came up with some witty "Hey guise you have to capture FLAG LOLOLOLO"
Do you honestly think a team playing against you is trying not to capture the flag? What on earth do you get out of these comments? It makes you look pathetic and I can only feel sorry for how horrible your life must be if you have to get your satisfaction out of making dumb remarks like that.
Just because you compliment a play once doesn't mean you have to talk shit in 20 other games. The weirdest thing is that it's mainly happened in practice games, random, casual games with nothing on the line. Yet for some reason you seem to pick up a feeling of superiority when you're on the winning side and go all quiet when you're the one getting held at flag. It's just sad that you have to lower yourself to that level to make yourself feel better. I'll leave it at this as I doubt you'll understand it anyway.
In relation to your "capturing the flag" comment which also relates to the practice games. Generally when i have played vs yourself and your team in the past, especially in prac games, it feels like your team is playing for damage/frags and pissing around. Camping, not attacking, for kills which get you nowhere. I would much rather a tight close game or at least appreciate the efforts of the opposing team. Although in the past i have probably said some "out of term" comments i try and make up for it wherever possible.
Nothing what i have said or done gives me a feeling of "superiority" or that i get a kick because i have such a pathetic life. I am outspoken and can understand people's feelings towards that, but to imply it has some sort of benefit to me outside of gaming in itself is pathetic. From now on please leave your "feelings" towards me out of the column as it just distracts from the meaning of it.
because they are unsocial nerds, who never leave their room.
I personally love ur ingame chat, it just shows how much u want to win the game by any way. making the enemy mad and stuff!
Please don't drag Idra into this, the kind of "flame" is way different. x/
Another difference is that 90% of the time you chat in egos ,"me, myself and I", and Idra does the opposite. This is a big difference in general perception of the joke/flame and the characters involved.
As I see it, much and many of your "certainties" and speculatory premises are way off or simply "bosh".
You really should look back on what you have written in this column, unless you troll.
then I think: maybe he's not nerd maybe he is just bored, and even if he is nerd nerds are often clever and I am bored so maybe I read it..
then I was reading it and don't rly mind, then I see this
then I think WHAT FUCK IS THIS NERD+DISGUSTING SHIT and I threw up and then I came to write this disgusted comment.
have a good night
When i was active in CSS i looked up at ex6tenz, so good with awp, brained and a nice guy open for questions about configs and stuff, i still look up to that guy. Positive influence takes u far in gaming.
I remember having to play vs crumbs on 1.0 nations cup 2007 or something when i played for belgium. It was funny cause all these guys said like omg we have to play vs crumbs, one of the best in rtcw. Those kind of matches when i had to play vs really known players in the game was so exciting. I always tried to play at my best & somehow i wanted to impress these highskilled players. My thirst to become better was so high back then and every game i wanted to improve. Even in 2008 when i started ezbh with my friends on 1.0 I wanted to improve together as a team rather for me to join a better clan and have a more relaxed position where i didn't had to make tax & tell everybody where to be and figure out spawntimes etc etc.. I just thought it was more fun to play with your friends in a team and become better together than rather play with players you don't really know well.
I guess my highlight on the game was when i played with indomitus in the rtcw cups held by merl, althought i didn't prac a lot back then, infact didnt played for months at all. It was really cool to play while WTV was speccing the matches & i couldn't wait to see players reacting to certain moves you made during the match when i rewatched the wtv demo.
After the last rtcw cup held by merl the game sorta really died ultimately & my motivation also crumbled. That motivation only sorta comes back when i hold my 3v3 odcs and want to beat No Pressure or Curbs Stompers in semi-finals/finals with askungen & bully (and having that play together as a team feeling again).
On ET i never had this motivation, just because i don't think its as great as rtcw & also i don't have time to invest in training when i am studying at uni etc.
Ok don't really know why i wrote this but it's kinda my story about the motivation to become better etc part of my gaming experience
But still, everybody could play a mix with ec-players if he wanted to, don't think many would have done so few yrs back..the community got much closer
I don't admire or look up to any player and never did I think :D
I can definitely relate to the part where you're trying to impress better players wanting them to notice your skill. I always felt excited and super motivated if I had to play with/against a pro and it even worked sometimes. People would chat you up saying well played man, nice aim blabla and eventually you would end up hanging around with them.
This kinda changed for me when this cheater paranoia emerged back in 2007 onwards. People got a lot more suspicous about you and would rather flame you for being a noname cheater than saying well played. I also adapted to this and began not to chat ingame, not answer questions and boost my ego whenever someone called me a cheater. I started spamming cheating quotes ingame and mostly acted all ego if I was being raped. I remember
Too bad that there are only a few guys left like
Newcomers are mostlikely to start at a low skill and do not have the gamesense for wars as most of the people that have been playing for a while have.
People just do not accept that, they prefer hating on those people rather than helping them getting familiarized with the maps, warsettings and everything.
People that have been playing together for a while will keep playing together in stead of sometimes letting some new guy join in.
If you look at irc people searching for a merc, a requirement many give is that you must know one of them. I don't see how that would possibly matter perse? Perhaps its more fun with your friends and people you know and perhaps they surely do know how to play with you guys. But maybe, just maybe, this guy you haven't heard of is actually pretty decent and becomes one of the guys you end up playing a lot more with.
Surely I have had the most fun in ET playing with people I knew, but we always had a spot free for a newguy looking for fun as well and we'd get him in ts and play some wars together, eventually we'd find him a suitable and fun guy to play with and we had 1 more in our so called list of scrimmers.
It seems to me that most of the people playing for a longer while just do not care anymore to make new friends and new warpartners, even if only for the small mixwars.
What lahq said is true, if you play a match against someone and you are not an EC winner or so but you still roll them, you get called a nonamed cheater or you hear 'sure; nice knowing' rather than 'gg very well played'.
That particular one, who is it? xD
I give u a beer at lan if u tell me ;x
Or 2 beers.
The choise is yours my friend
I'll let you take a picture with the 2 of us and I'll even sign it for you!
I feel like a retard for not knowing it lol, have only been on that ts3 once ;p
Feel like you might e talking about my mate at lan tho, Kura, but he doesnt play ET and the other Kura is a polish one so that might be him xD
it is because it needs to be when playerpools are a lot smaller than they used to be. in 2004/2005 and even a bit later "highskilled scene" was almost absolutely "closed league". it was very lucky to get in good clans if you didn't have anything concrete to show. of course then again how can you come up with a situation where you can show your skills when there's no such situation?
I think it was 2006 or something when decem got an idea to pick up Lepari in our lineup in #stfu? which was something like medskilled (we beat some highskillers and had a lot of potential, though!) at that time. Noone even knew who the fuck was Lepari. MulSu said he'd leave the clan if "some random Lepari" joins. decem took him, mulsu left. It'd be interesting to know what would've been the highest clan skillwise he would've been in if decem wouldn't have picked him. As you know he became an excellent medic, but once in his ET carreer he got a bit lucky and I'm glad he did.
Played on 3 Lan's, played everyone possible in the game, sure you can think okay they're much better players.
And it was always nice when you had
But please, ET players are no Messi's or Ronaldo's... Does anyone seriously think that if you're a top player you're hard to talk to? Or even if you think that yourself, get real. You're not making millions neither are you an important person..
LOL
Mijn God
not afraid of anything
I have had endless help to progress to where i am from other casters & players. The one thing that kills me these days is the attitude that people who are in the public eye display, i hate swearing on streams or being generally unprossional it sets a awful example and puts eSports in a bad light. I hate to say it but people being drunk on streams, swearing, talking trash and just being idiots really does get me wanting to put a pencil up my nose and smash my face into a desk but hey its only eSports right .__.
Overall I would like to think i have made a impact on some aspects of what i do but who knows.