RollStone talks

Upcoming Japanese start RollStone has a chat with beggin about himself and the Japanese ET scene. I tried to make this a "live" interview on IRC so I can follow up on any answers and ask to expand. Big thanks to RollStone for being cooperative and one of the nicest and most friendliest guys I have ever spoken to over the internet.



Hi RollStone. Thank you for taking your time for this interview. As usual, I would like to start by asking you to introduce yourself.

Hello, I'm Syohei "RollStone" Fujita and living in Osaka. I am currently 19 years old. I'm very proud to be interviewed so far from a country in Europe - I never would have expected this.


It's a pleasure to interview such a good player. Until recently, not many players from the EU have even heard of you. Your last performance in the Crossfire Nations Cup was very surprising to all. How long have you been playing ET to reach such a level?

I have actually played this game for 4 years now. 3hours each day - Yes it's long. I have been playing clanwars for 3 years or so and I have trained in every class in ET, so my skill isn't from talent I think :D


Even though Japan is new to the EU ET scene, you have already developed a number of fan boys, including myself. :P A number of people have described you as the "new sqzz". Did sqzz have any influence on your strafing skills at all, or did you develop such skills from other games, such as quake 3.

I'm glad to get some cool people like you as fanboys. :D Anyway, I am actually the biggest fanboy of sqzz. Before sqzz started concentrating on real life, I was up all night watching his strafing on ETTV. Mysteriously, I use to play on a public server after the watching him and I start strafing like him, to a point where some say I am comparable.


Tell me a bit more about yourself. Are you currently studying, employed or relaxing? Do you plan to continue with further education?

Actually I don’t have any job, only a bit part-time work. Because I have dream to be an Author. I guess some part of you may know "Haruki Murakami" - a famous author who writes amazing novels. I aspire just to be like him.

As for your second question, no. Japanese education is getting worse and will soon be rotten. I only read novels like Franz kafka, Sartre, Camus and Geourge Sand etc.


Japan is one of the main countries that take eSports seriously, but not so much with FPS games like ET. How did you come across ET, and how did you find your way to play on a competitive level.

I can't exactly remember how I found this game, because I was around 15 when I fell for ET. Well anyway, I have always had a game-browser and ET installed on my pc, and as I said above I have trained in ET for 4 years, so I can say playing frequently has helped me to achieve a competition level.


Do you play any other games apart from ET?

No. I have tried CS 1.6, CS:S and Quake etc, but nothing is comparable to ET for me.

ClanBase mUnduS recently interviewed Kirark. Many people would like to know how active the Japanese ET community is. We have not seen Japanese players in any EU cups or leagues, so I assume you practice against other Japanese clans. How active is the Japanese scene, and is it comparable to other nations in the EU (such as Belgium, UK, Netherlands)

There are 4 to 6 clans in Japan as always. Due to some new schoolers entering the scene and old-wisemem leaving, every lineup is changing all the time. So I am never bored. There are about 100+ more public players which have never played a clanwar. Clanmatches and Skills aren't comparable to any Europe nations, but the scale of people are.


Let's talk more about the current Japanese ET team. There are some news faces to the team which Kirark introduced in a previous interview with mUnduS. After a surprising performance in the last Crossfire NC, you are expected to go further into the competition this time. How do you expect your team to perform this time around? Can you see yourself even winning the tournament?

To be honest, I am a bit disappointed that our most skilled man upstate has left our team Harakiri-gaming. But real life is more important so I will keep my mouth shut. But yeah, other lineups with Kirark and MiRUKU normally help us to play on a top skill. And some new faces such as Gabriel, sirokuma and vienna amazed me with their skill.
I expect we can reach and touch out to the playoffs this time too. Even want to break Finland, Poland and Germany, and prove my skill to someone who is considering me as distasteful Asian person.


There are only a few registered Japanese players on crossfire.nu, many of which are participating in the CB NC. Does the Japanese ET scene have their own site similar to crossfire.nu to communicate with each other, or do you just use IRC?

We use IRC in Japan. and our community site is http://fragpoint.org/enemy-territory/site/.
But unfortunately, our community is a bit smaller than crossfire.nu and there is always someone evil that doesn't like nerds in Japan so they aren't growing as in the European community.


Steve, the Japanese player known to crossfire.nu as "the new mAus", has not been seen in the last Crossfire NC or the current CB NC. Will be seeing Steve return in the near future, or has he moved on to other games?

1 year ago, I met Steve at Kirark's house in Kobe and we drunk some alcohol. He was quite a nice man and didn't talk to much. However after the banquet I never heard from him in any game, so I guess he left the Internet unfortunately.


Have you met any other Japanese players in real life?
I have met and know Kirark, MiRUKU and Steve. Japan is a well structured country so we can meet each other easily through trains, planes and cars.

Since this is ET, I am going to have to ask you a few questions realted to cheating. Although very few and small, accusations have already been directed towards Team Japan, such as the comment from killerboy

http://www.crossfire.nu/?x=journal&mode=item&id=76467#comment1621027

MIRIUKU has also been accused of cheating, from the last CB NC and the current CF NC. What are your views on this, and do you have anything to say to these people?

He is not a cheater. I have played ET with him for 3 years, drunk alcohol in Kanagawa and always talk and laugh with him on vent.
I don't know anything about the netcoders thing but all I can say is - he is definitely not the kind of person who is likely to cheat.


One noticeable problem with the NC is the issue with pings. This has resulted in a number of journals on crossfire.nu discussing the problems, even a poll and most noticeable a forfeit from Team Australia. Many have said you are used to playing with such high pings, but as discussed earlier in the interview Japanese teams play against other Japanese teams. Do you see the ping issue as a major disadvantage to Team Japan? Do you have any other views on this issue you would like to discuss?

There are a lot of people considering different solutions. One restrained way won't suite everyone. Discussion has obviously been raised naturally and I won't say anything. One thing however - I want a fair match and want to see that every nation’s men are masculine.


Outside of the NC tournaments, do you play against any other countries, such as Australia and Korea?

2 years ago there was a Korean team named Warholic. We used to play against them but unfortunately they disbanded the team due to the players leaving for army service. And in Australia, I used to play in the Ladder match of Gamearena with the Team Otaku. If I remember correctly, we were #1 in season 7 or something.


There is one question I have always wanted to ask you. Do you plan to attend any of the Crossfire LAN events, such as the previous CC5? Obviously, money and time is an issue here, however if your team was taken on by a professional eSports organisation, with all fees paid for, would you consider participating at the next LAN event?

One problem - we aren't experienced with English. I think we deserve to play in a European LAN, but actually we cannot go anywhere in Europe that speaks a lot of English. Well, I dream to play in a famous LAN party and wear the logo-printed T-Shirts. Can some sponsor salvage me from this weird problematic island? PM me 8D



I'm going to have to ask for your views on the upcoming Wolfenstein, previously known as "RTCW2". Do you think the game will be successful like ET, and can you see yourself playing it actively like ET.

If it is a success like ET, I would like to play it. However I am currently not interested in RTCW2. And after the fail of ET:QW I doubt RTCW2 will be my next game. By the way, the older RTCW was just marvellous. :]


Fire questions

Beer or wine? Wine (Brandy)
Linux or Windows? Windows
Favourite food? Coffee
Do you smoke? Yes
What are you Listening to? The Shortwave Set - Harmonica
Favourite ET players? sqzz, Winghaven and Lepari.


Any shoutouts?
10+ shoutouts will be annoying :P So Shoutout and all hail to my lord Syogun and all my friends in bkn!