QuakeWarsLeague Round 1 Recap

Round 1 of the 16 team QuakeWarsLeague.com knockout cup is over, and 8 teams have advanced into the Quarter Finals. Both TGBF.tv and GameTV have been providing coverage of a number of matches, and the results from Round 1 are as follows.

[bRound 1 Results[/b]]
ntech` 0-2 4th Rangers
One2| 2-0 Grievous Angels
dignitas 2-0 te4m.
bioxar 2-0 Venatio
cZar 1-0 tyrn
NINJA 2-0 Pain is Coming
exilium 1-0 Habitual Genocide
cause* 3-1 earthquakers

This gives us the following matches in Round 2, where the competition heats up with a number of big matches. First we see 4th Rangers taking on One2| in what should be a formality for One2, and the same goes for dignitas as they meet bioxar. Team Exilium have been impressive and should be able to pull off a victory over cause, however this is a match which could easily go either way. The biggest match this round sees the two Battlefield 2 sides which seem to have best adapted to Quake Wars go head to head, as cZar and NINJA battle it out for a place in the semi-finals. It's expected that a number of these games are covered with videostreams in the coming week.

[bRound 2[/b]]
4th Rangers vs One2|
dignitas vs bioxar
cZar vs NINJA
exilium vs cause*

I also managed to catch up with QWL|MoraX for a quick interview.

[bQWL|MoraX Interview[/b]]
Please could you introduce yourself to our readers, and give us an overview of what QuakeWarsLeague is about and what it hopes to accomplish?
Hi there, I am MoraX from QWL. I am both admin and developer of the QWL site. QWL is trying to gather a great community for ET:QW, as well as provide a platform for clans to compete in cups and ladders. While keeping in contact with Splash Damage, we have lately also been busy on the field of video match coverage by both TGBF and game-tv as you may have noticed


So what do you think differs yourselves from the more traditional leagues such as Clanbase and ESL?
We try to be different by means of letting things loose a bit. Where Clanbase and ESL most of the times have tight rules to follow and having large amounts of ladders and cups, we are trying to pay more attention to our ladders and cups, and we are always open for suggestion out of the communities.

What are your future plans for the website, both upon the full release of ET:QW, and in the more distant future, will we see you branching out into other games?
The future plan is to first stick with ET:QW for a while. Since the website is completely homemade, the ET:QW beta was a great opportunity for us to test the system. Two new features which are in development, are a ladder system (pretty much self explanatory I guess), and a server reservation system. With the server reservation system, it will also be possible to reserve our servers for practice matches. If everything goes well, and people seem to like the way we run QWL, branching off to other games is certainly a very good possibility.

At the moment, you're the only league to be running without any vehicle limitations. Why have you chosen to do this, when most of the competitive community would rather play with heavy limitations on the vehicles?
First, we would like to the game be played as it should be, the way Splash Damage ment it to be played. Vehicles are part of the game, so in our eyes, it wouldn't make sense removing them. Second, since it is still a beta, this is also a great balance test for Splash Damage to see if any vehicles are overpowered or not. Especially since the game has not been tested in actual competitive clan matches that much yet (not without limitations that is). However, clans who play an official QWL match are allowed to make their own additional rules as long as they don't contradict with any official rules. So if both clans agree not to use any aircraft, that is fine with us.

Speaking of those clans, do you have a a favourite or favourites that you think will win the competition?
Well, both clans in poule 2 of round 2 seem to have good papers (Dignitas & Bioxar) . Although I must admit I haven't seen many of the other clans actually play, so there might be a surprise in there.

You've already mentioned your partnerships with TGBF and Game-TV; How do you see the role of broadcasting in ET:QW?
I think broadcasting might help the gaming business to get to a higher level of seriousness. Gamers are often still considered "nerds" these days sadly, while more and more people discover the fun of gaming,and that we are not nerdy creatures living on cola in the dark! Broadcasting, in combination with the professional contests like the World Championships of Gaming helps showing people that there is more to gaming than they think, and it can be a serious business.

Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
Thanks for the interview, it was fun to do. We hope to see you on QWL. Don't be afraid to PM one of us with any questions or suggestion you have, we won't bite!