New Additions To Methos Quake
I have made a few changes to the site. These changes include the addition of an editorials section. You can get to the editorials by clicking the Editorials button in the menu on the left hand side.

Here's a brief intro to the two new guys (so far) doing editorial pages on Methos Quake.

• [R2]Cataklysque will be writing Cataklysque's Corridor. Cata is a talented USA Quake player from the Rangers Clan. He will be mainly focusing on players and clans in the USA from his point of view. He reminds me a lot of Spookie because neither of them has ever heard of a spell checker. :)
• Gobo with be writing Gobo's Gibbage. Gobo is a decent Quake player from Australia and has been doing a weekly article on Challenge-AU for the past while. Gobo will be focusing on the Quake scene in general from his unique point of view.

I'd like to give them a big "welcome aboard" to Methos Quake. They have both posted their first editorials today. Make sure you take a look at them. They're both worth the time.

Barrysworld Problems
For those of you that have had trouble connecting to Methos Quake over the last few days, you're not alone. Myself and many others have had to deal with connection problems to many of the sites located on the BW servers. Yesterday alone, this site was down for 8 hours.

I haven't been able to speak with DBs yet but, I'm sure they're working on the problems. Hopefully, all will be rectified soon.

Quake3Arena Will Rock!
Bet you never thought you'd hear me saying that. :)  I was talking with somebody very close to the Q3A project and without giving away any of the things I was told, I can assure you that Q3A will be better than most people think.

The one comment I will state is the following... "the id guys are listening to what people are saying". This means that comments from people concerned about the project have had an impact of some sort. Hopefully, all for the better.

On a related note, I received an email from John Carmack or somebody pretending to be him with a return address of johnc@idsoftware.com and the entire contents of the email was as follows.

"Okay, we get the point, you can stop now"

I hope it was him and that he was receiving the suggestions and concerns from email referred from my site.

International Shocker, Methos Shuns Brits!
Well, it's not quite that bad. I mentioned in my last update that the players in the ClanUK Vs [9] matches were less than talkative regarding the big Lan tourney in London this coming weekend. A couple of the players even went as far as to say "who cares about the matches". Moon$hine mentioned on Quake Nation that the news is all happening there. Cool, it's gonna be a great time and should be promoted.

It seems as though the players are talking with somebody. Moon$hine has posted a very nice interview with Xenon and Para from Clan [9]. Make sure you check it out.

USA Vs UK Practice Matches
My new writer [R2]Cataklysque has done his best to make a splash with his first posting. Cata was one of the USA guys that played ClanUK in a couple of warm-up matches a few days ago. Not only that, he also sent me the demos from his POV.

Cata has a complete update of these matches on his new page so, you can read all the details there. I will however mention that these were only practice matches and the USA squad had a hefty ping advantage.

Demo 1 - USA Vs ClanUK Game 1 (QW2.3 DM3 3.84MB)
Demo 2 - USA Vs ClanUK Game 2 (QW2.3 DM3 4.08MB)

These aren't the best demos I've seen but, they'll give you an example of the progress that ClanUK is making and some things that need to be improved. For his part, Cata makes a few fancy moves including the jump (no weapon) from the bridge to the RL box. Even though it's QW, it's the first time I've seen this done in a match.

Ireland Vs France LAN Tourney Over
After receiving tons of mail telling me about this tourney from last weekend, I guess I should mention something about it.

Ireland and France faced-off against each other last weekend and by all accounts, a great time was had by all. France dominated the Clan matches along with the 2on2 matches. Ireland won the 1on1. If you want to read more in-depth news and get some demos of excellent players like Koopa and Skill5, you can visit the following pages. Ireland Site, France Site and Demo FTP Site.

For those who are wondering, legendary Quake player DaNoLd (although he did attend) did not come out of retirement for the matches. :(

TGI Voting Update
For only the second time since the voting started, Lakerman has given up his top ranking to Reload. Kane still impresses me with how many votes he continues to get. The voting is open until the start of the tourney so, keep sending those e-mails and vote for your favorite.

Methos Site Stuff

• Changed Java navigation menu to include an Editorials button for the new editorial pages.
• Added "Cataklysque's Corridor" page to Methos Quake. It's located in the Editorials section.
• Added "Gobo's Gibbage" page to Methos Quake. It's also located in the Editorials section.
• Removed "The Spookie Side" from the main menu. It can now be found in the Editorials section.
• Removed the "Quake Mental Hospital" from the main menu. It is now located in the Archives section.
• I'm way behind on demo posting. I have approx. 40 demos to view. Once I do, I'll post the decent ones. Please be patient. In the meantime, you can download the USA vs ClanUK demos listed here.

ClanUK Vs [9] Update (Sort Of)
This week, I was going to concentrate on the ClanUK Vs [9] matches coming up next weekend in London, England. However, this could be the quietest "big" international clan match that I've seen. None of the players (5 of them) that I've contacted have anything to say about it.

Normally, the clans will at least say how much fun it will be and how good the other clan is. In this case, it's almost a lethargic attitude towards the event. Both teams say that they've had "limited" practice on LAN and that they're "less than well prepared". But, they don't say much else. The general consensus seems to be that [9] will win due to their teamplay skills.

Oh well, if they don't want to promote the matches, neither will I. Good luck to both clans.

Hoony & Methos Demo Review
Ichor, who runs the Quake demos site called "Demos By Ichor", has posted the demo of Hoony and myself along with a professional review. Here's what he has to say about the demo...

"Just one new demo posted today, but it's such an absolute stunner that it surely makes up in quality for the small number of demos uploaded. This match is between two of the biggest and most easily recognizable names on the international Quake scene - Methos of Methos Quake and Hoony of Challenge-AU. I suggest that you go and read the review, and download this one immediately."

Here's the actual review...

"Something of a grudge match this one, played between the webmasters of two of the world's best Quake sites. Every Australian should recognize Hoony from Australia's own Challenge-AU, and his opponent Methos runs one of the world's best Quake demos and news sites over at Methos Quake. When two players have such an intimate knowledge of Quake as these guys have, the result is absolutely stunning when they are thrown into a one on one deathmatch. Hoony has had to put his site on the backburner a bit at the moment due to a variety of reasons, and judging by his performance in this match one of them is practicing Quake, and practicing hard. He displays some great powerup timing, and an uncanny ability to score a telefrag when he needs it. Methos on the other hand is something of a flair player, rocket jumping out of the lightning gun pit, and is quite sneaky as well, catching Hoony in a number of ambushes throughout the game. Methos also proves to be a handful in a few melees, and his ability is good enough to force a last second finish from Hoony. A close, action filled game."

*Note: This review may be slightly exaggerated

Hmm, not sure if I like that last comment. Obviously, the demo is of the highest standard and in this case, Ichor needs to realize that there are better players than Reload. :)

Anyway, take a visit to Ichor's site. He has the best collection of Aussie demos you'll find anywhere. He's also not as picky as me when it comes to posting demos on his site.

Reload Speaks Up
Over the last few days, I've had a chance to see a bit more of Aussie Quake player Reload playing on some AU servers. Now, I'm not as big a fan of Reload as Hoony is but, I do think he's a very good player.

In my original ranking of the players in the TGI tourney, I mentioned that I thought Reload would finish "6th but possibly much higher". After seeing him play quite a bit, my latest impression is that he will finish 4th. Of course, that could change if Thresh and / or RiX attend the tourney.

I was able to have a (very) brief conversation with Reload and I was able to get a bit of info on his mindset as the tourney comes closer.

Methos:
How are you training for the upcoming TGI matches. What (if anything) special are you doing to prepare for that kind of competition.

Reload:
Basically, all I'm doing is playing online in our local servers with a 100ms ping. This is all I am able to do, due to school commitments. Three weeks before the competition I will be lanning everyday.

Methos:
Are you lanning with anybody we would know?

Reload:
Hmm, you may of heard of Spore and Insane (my bro). Plus, a few others which I don't think you would know.

Methos:
One of the previous comments I made was that you wouldn't get the high level of competition in AU that you'll be seeing in Sweden. Do you find this to be true and is there anything you can do to rectify the situation?

Reload:
Well, you are correct. Most of the players on the servers I play on (golsyd) are average, bar a couple of players (blind, adder, Insane and a few more). There's nothing much I can do about this.

Methos:
Two nights ago, I watched you play quite a few games. You won most (if not all) but, your play seemed "off". Reasons?

Reload:
I don't play at all during the week, practice.

Methos:
What things do you think you need to work on to be competitive (or win) the TGI?

Reload:
Like you have commented on already, my Shaft aim. The lannage before I leave with fix that, I hope. :)

Methos:
When I mentioned your DM2 habit of going through the MH/RA teleporter without knowing where your opponent was, you didn't seem to take it very seriously (from your comments on Challenge.AU). When I see you play now, you seem very conscious of it. Have you adjusted your play a bit in this case?

Note: After watching AU players this past week, it seems that nearly all players do this quite a bit. Hoony also did this a lot in our DM2 match.

Reload:
I have taken notice of what you said and, I have changed my play a tad. I think its good you pointed that out.

Methos:
How well do you think you'll do in the TGI tourney?

Reload:
Not too bad, maybe 3rd or 4th place. Hopefully I'll win though. :)

Methos:
Hoony has been flogging the tourney from an AU pov for a while now. He's worked a lot of the AU quake scene into a frenzy over supporting you. Does this kind of pressure bother you or get too much at times?

Reload:
It does add some pressure to it but, its all part of the event. It's a massive event that deserves a lot of attention.

Methos:
Thanks.

Reload:
How am I doing in the poll?

Methos:
You're second, a couple of days ago, you were on top for about 5 hours.

Reload:
Cool!

Reload seems to be practicing hard for the tourney and I wish him luck. With all the help I keep giving him, there's no way he can lose. :)

Another Quake Site
I was told about this a week or two ago but, I forgot to mention it. Make sure you go and visit the FPS Spectator site. It's well run by Recluse and has a nice insight to the USA Quake / Quake2 scene.

Hmm, since nearly every site I promote shuts down shortly after, I hope this one lasts longer than the others have. :)

Hoony On The Road To Recovery
After his devastating loss at the hands of a Quake master (err, sort of), Hoony has announced on his site that the pain is starting to get better and the mind is beginning to heal.

"Yes, after that horrific loss to Methos it has been difficult for me but life does seem better now. I felt a bit like George Foreman must have felt after getting thumped by Muhammad Ali in Zaire in 1974."

Well, my friend, my only advise is to take it one day, hell, take it one frag at a time. Sometimes, these tragic events have a way of changing the way you see things. Maybe losing isn't so bad. Maybe you could someday beat Thresh. Maybe Bill Clinton did tell the truth. Maybe O.J. Simpson was innocent. Maybe you'll become a Jehovah's Witness. Just think of all the possibilities.

A couple of nights ago, I offered Hoony a rematch (yes, I still have a busted mouse) and he declined saying that he was "too tired". :(

TGI Voting Update
With Lakerman and Reload fighting it out for top spot, players like Kane and Xenon are moving up the ladder. Xenon moved up an amazing 6.2% in the last two days. As I mentioned before, the voting is open until the start of the tourney so, keep sending those e-mails and vote for your favorite.

An important historical note here. There have only been 2 players who have received "write-in" votes to win the TGI tourney (ie: players that aren't in the competition). Who do you think they might be? RiX? Thresh? Gemini? Cable? Bah, not even close. The only two non-competitors that have received votes to win the TGI are those 2 great warriors, Methos and Hoony. :)

Methos Site Stuff

• Uploaded the Hoony Vs Methos demo to Methos' Quake Demos page
• Updated the "Spot Light" demo on the demos page (gee, which one could it be)

Huge Response to the Battle Of The Titans
It seems that the ultimate 1on1 battle between Methos and Hoony was of great interest to a lot of people. After I posted all the detailed exploits of our grand meeting, Hoony responded by having the nerve to post a review of my performance on Challenge.AU last night. Bad aim? How dare you! He even went as far as to post a demo of our dm6 match.

I hope the players from the TGI don't watch this, they may learn too many new DM6 tricks. LOL Actually, I had tears rolling down my face because I was laughing so hard while watching this demo. If you want to see the type of demo that won't make the demos page, watch this one.

Since I joked about it in my .plan file, let me tell you the real story. Most of the .plan posting was accurate.

• Hoony asked me to play a game against him.
• The server was very laggy, more so for Hoony but, it was very jerky which you'll see in the demo.
• My mouse was broken and wouldn't look down. In the demo, you'll see many shots flying about 10 feet over his head, this is the reason why. This was tough to deal with.
• I wasn't wearing my headset, they were on my other pc. This is why I couldn't really tell where Hoony was and he surprised me quite a few times.
• I played like crap, even without a proper mouse and no headset.
• Most important, Hoony was a great sport. Even though he lied about recording the damn demo, it was lots of fun.

Hoony has asked me for a rematch at the TGI tourney. Then he mentioned I was too cheap to go. That's not the case, I would love to go if I had the money. If you want to sponsor me, let me know. I'd be happy to kick Hoony's ass again. :)

Hoony and I have been friends for quite a while now and we disagree about very few things. Matter of fact (except for that Reload guy :), I don't think we've ever had a disagreement. The one common thread we have is our love for the game of Quake. Hoony, I had a great time playing you. I wouldn't have minded if I would've lost to a sportsman like you. Next time mate.

Q3A Suggestions
Some people just don't get it. People are still upset that I asked players to e-mail John Carmack with their thoughts, suggestions and / or concerns about Quake3Arena. Folks, this isn't a competition. It seems that nobody has trouble writing to me and telling me not to post anything about John Carmack but, they won't send him mail and tell him what they want in a game that they will be playing for quite a while. Does this strike anybody as being a bit strange?

Here's the deal.

1. This has nothing to do with Quake vs QW vs Quake2 or any other game.
2. If you don't want to e-mail John Carmack, that's cool. You don't have to.
3. If you don't want to get involved in the whole thing, that's cool.
4. If you don't want your feelings about Q3A to be known, don't send mail.
5. If you have a concern or suggestion about Q3A, please send JC some mail. It may actually help the final product.
6. If you want changes made, let John Carmack know about them.
7. If you're worried that the game may turn out to be something you don't like, send him mail.

Are we learning yet? For those that don't send in mail and have a problem with the game after it's released, remember this. Don't come bitching to me. Don't post on a messageboard or newsgroup about something you don't like in the game. Don't whine about the game.

For those that do send mail to John Carmack. Congratulate yourself. Even if your suggestion doesn't make it into the game, you did your part. you did what you could do to make what you think would make a better game. Hell, even if we can get the 600ms weapon change down to 300ms, it would be an improvement.

TGI Voting Update
Well, well, lookie what we have here. This should make all of Hoony's spamming worthwhile. It's all tied up folks. Also, Xenon moved from 7th to a 4th place tie. As I mentioned before, the voting is open until the start of the tourney so, keep sending those e-mails and vote for your favorite.

Up to this point, only one of the votes for Reload came from outside AU or NZ.

Battle Of The Titans Has Been Fought
PGL? Wimps! TGI? Puh, losers! 9vsUK? Don't make me laugh. The true battle of ultimate skill and talent was fought the other night. There was no promotion of it because it was two warriors in the ultimate Quake battle. No special place was reserved, we didn't need that kind of treatment. We are warriors and we fought to the death.

You can read about the ultimate Quake 1on1 battle on my .plan page. Don't miss it, it was a colossal meeting with two of the worlds "true" Quake gods.

TGI - Let's Continue With Xenon
Still in my Swedish mode, listening to Abba, driving my Volvo, blonde neighbor beside me and a hockey stick in the back seat. I started talking about Xenon last week. Let's continue with Xenon for a while.

First thing I want to know is why Xenon isn't doing better in the TGI voting? I was under the impression that Xenon was a fairly popular player around the world. Am I wrong? If not, then why is he trailing Columbo in the TGI voting? (see below)

Even before the 9vsDR matches, Xenon was well known on the European Quake scene. During the DR matches, he rose to Quake "superstar" status (if there is such a thing). His play was incredible and he was the focus of that particular tourney.

Now, I can hear what you're say. "Methos, you dummy, that was a clan tourney. This is 1on1 gladiator stuff". Yup, you're right. A 1on1 tourney is a different beast than a clan tourney. It takes a different talent and strategy to be great in both and there are very few players that can be the best at both types of games.

In my opinion, Xenon is one of these people. Did anybody watch the demo I posted of Xenon on DM6 last week? It was awesome and showed that (like in the DR matches) he does many of the little things correctly that other players don't do.

Okay, let's take a look at his play.

The Good:

• The best thing about his play is that he's a very smart player. He could be the smartest player in the tournament.
• His aim is excellent. While DM4 tends to be more of a reactionary type of aim, on maps like DM6 and DM2, you actually have to think about where you're shooting. Xenon does this very well.
• He's composed at all times. Along with Lakerman, these two players have the ability (and talent) to regain control and dominate any level at any time.
• Weapon control is one of Xenon's best assets. He will rarely lose any close-up battles and nearly always uses the most appropriate choice of weapon.

The Bad:

• His player prediction seems to be a bit lacking. This is probably a result of playing more clan matches than 1on1.
• Noisy. As with most European (and more specifically DM4) players, Xenon plays all levels similar to the way he plays DM4. This means that he makes a lot of noise (using jump acceleration etc) without caring if his opponent hears him. This isn't too much of a problem unless you're playing somebody like Thresh on DM6 or Honus on DM2. If he is playing against these type of players, he gets an rl in the face every time he walks around a corner. If Thresh or RiX (or both) make it into the tourney, Xenon will have to be very aware of this.

The Ugly:

• Xenon has a habit of being a reactionary player. What this means is that an opponent (if talented) can usually get the first shot in.
• Nothing more to list here. Xenon makes very few mistakes and is probably the best all-around player in the tournament.

Where does all this leave his opponents? Good question. Playing Xenon and surviving will be tough. Beating him will be next to impossible. How can Xenon be beat? It will be hard but, you can do a couple of things to help along the way.

• Make sure you use your player prediction against Xenon. Get the first shot in and make sure you capitalize on it. You won't get much of a chance after.
• Avoid spawn frags, along with Reload, Xenon is one of the best at this on levels other than DM4.
• Don't be predictable. If you use the same routine more than a couple of times, Xenon will be all over you.
• Most important, avoid the close-up battles whenever possible. Xenon's control and aim make him very tough to beat in any close-up encounter.

The bottom line is that all the players in the tourney must be at the very top of their game to stand a chance of winning. Nerves will be high and if you have a bad day, it'll be over quickly.

Carmack Spamming (Again)
I'm having a hard time believing how much mail I'm getting in regards to my previous post telling people to e-mail John Carmack and tell him any concerns you have about the way Q3A will turn out.

Here's what people are telling me...

1. It's the wrong thing to do.
2. I'll only end up on Carmack's shit list.
3. Carmack won't read the mail if he gets a lot of it.
4. It won't help in the end.
5. Your mail will only represent a small portion of the audience that id is aiming at and he'll just delete it.
6. The way I did it wasn't very nice.
7. There was nothing wrong with Q2, just because a few hardcore Quake 1 players didn't like it is no reason for them to harp on id about Q3A.
8. Why didn't you come for dinner last night? (oops, not Carmack related :)

Okay, I don't know what kind of drugs these people are on but, I'll try to respond to all of them.

• Wrong thing to do - Okay, what's the right thing to do? How else would we share our feelings with id about Q3A?
• Carmack's shit list - Big deal, if it helps make Q3A any better than what it might have been, that's great.
• Carmack won't read large volumes of mail - WTF? If he doesn't listen to the people buying his product, he should get out of the business. If people don't buy the game, he will be out of the business.
• It won't help in the end - Err, I disagree. If id knows what kind of changes the public wants, it can only help them with the game.
• Only a small portion of target audience - This response puzzles me. Since Q3A will be a multi-player only game (which means Internet and Lan), I would suggest that the people sending e-mail would be exactly the audience that id is targeting.
• It wasn't very nice - Okay, I'll agree with this but, no harm was meant and what else can the public do?
• Only hardcore Quake 1 players harping on id - Not true, if you're a Q2 player, aren't you concerned about how Q3A will turn out? Don't you want it to be able to replace Quake, Q2 and QW? At least Q2 players will be getting a faster game with more carnage. Quake players will not be able to receive that luxury. It will still be a slower game (overall) for Quake players.

Here's the deal. This isn't a Quake / Q2 argument. If you think that Q3A will be all that you want it to be, great. Sit back, relax and play it when it's released. If you think that Q3A may contain things that won't make it the best game ever, let id know about it. It's the right thing to do.

It's no secret that Quake2 was successful but, it's sales were less than half of what the sales were for Quake. In the past year, Q2 wasn't even in the top 20 biggest selling games. First person shooter games like Half-Life, Forsaken and Unreal all made the top 10 for sales. This means that id must change from the way they did things in Q2.

To say that I love the game of Quake is an understatement. I'm very passionate about the game and the players. It was the only game that took "talent" to excel at. Before Quake, it was only hand-eye coordination. With Quake, it combined the hand-eye coordination with smart play and quick reactions. Even the best players are still learning things about the game.

I'm tired of being passive about this. Let's do whatever we can to make Q3A the best game ever made. If some people don't want to participate in this effort, that's cool. I'm sure that most players have had enough of the Q2 bullshit and the 3dfx spank (© Paul2 - 1998). It's time that a real successor to Quake is released. I hope that Q3A is the one.

Good News About Q3A
OMG! No way! :) Since I've been sounding like a doom-bringer for Quake3Arena the last week or two, here's some good news about Q3A. I was concerned about the lack of flat color skins in Q2. Mostly because it was hard to tell the players apart when they were more than a few feet away. Most times, one Q2 clan would have to use a custom skin (which didn't help) or the female model.

In this Q3A picture, you'll notice that the skin colors are MUCH easier to see than they were in Q2. They're not quite as obvious as the Quake colors but, it's a great start.

You'll also notice the double barrel shotgun model. It looks a bit like one of the weapons in Unreal but, that's okay. I'm not really concerned about the look of the weapons. I do like the weapon placement though. If we can't have the (visible) center view for the weapons, this is the next best thing. I found the Q2 weapons to be too far to one side.

Daikatana Demo Released!
Finally, it's here, it's here. The long awaited demo of the Ion Storm game Daikatana by John Romero (I lub you, John) was released as promised on February 12. It's the best game I've ever seen and huh? What's that? It was delayed again? There's no new release date? They haven't even updated www.daikatana.com for 3 weeks?

Well, don't that take the cake. Oh well, another big game delayed even longer. Hopefully it'll be out soon.

Update: I received word from the gang at Daikatana that...

"Current target is to start the tournament towards the end of Feb."

There you have it.

TGI Voting Update
Well, it's getting tighter all the time. Columbo has now moved into 6th place. Nothing against Columbo but, he will be hard pressed in the tourney to do better than Xenon who is 7th in the voting.

Of note is that Reload was actually leading for a very short time yesterday.

Methos Site Stuff

• Updated my .plan page. This is a must read for any true Quaker.
• Achived the .plan page from November 98 to January 99

Hmm, I just read over all the stuff I wrote today. I was very sarcastic in my comments. Even more than usual. Not sure why that was.

Barrysworld mail server was down for 2 days. For some reason, they always seem to go down on the weekend. Not sure what caused this crash. That means a) that I wasn't able to get my mail and b) I now have a shitload of mail to delete err, I mean read. :) Actually, I joke about that but, I do read the mail I get. I just may not respond to some of it.

Spam Carmack? I Don't Think So
I received tons of e-mail today with people telling me that I shouldn't have told people to spam John Carmack. For those that can't read, I never asked people to spam John Carmack. I only asked that people send him e-mail with their comments and concerns regarding Q3A changes before it's too late.

A Little Clarification
For the record, I want Q3A to be the best game ever. It doesn't have to be the same as Quake but, I hope it's much better than Quake2. This isn't a knock against Q2 but, it's no secret that there are still millions of people playing Quake/QW because (for various reasons) they don't feel that Q2 is a better game.

Thresh Still Rusty?
Thresh has admitted that he's excited about playing Quake (Quake Arena) again but, it would take a bit of time for him to get back in shape. I received this eye-witness report from a well known American Quake player that describes just how rusty Thresh is.

"Well, I saw on your page about Thresh maybe going to TGI. Well, I had the pleasure of playing against him last night in some Clan Arena games and let me tell you he has not lost his touch. He is undoubtedly the best player I've played against in the last 6 months and I've played against everyone from EG|Gemini to LordVader.  

His aim is amazing, along with his tactics. I thought I was playing some ass using a bot until he told me who he was (he was aliased, of course). He was hitting me mid air with rockets like it was second nature, shafting me to the ceiling and holding me there while dodging my rockets I was firing down at him... The guy is a -freak-. :)"

Hmm, sounds to me like he's in pretty good shape after all.

Xenon and Nikodemus Interview
German Quaker DC-Giant sent word that he has posted an interview with not one but, two of the players from the TGI tourney. Giant chats with Xenon and Nikodemus from Clan 9 (apparently, they only travel in pairs :) and they give some of their thoughts on the TGI tourney and a few other things.

Who The Heck Is Columbo?
That seems to be a popular question as the TGI tourney comes closer. Sargon sent word that he has written an in-depth bio and interview on Denmark's Quake star, Columbo. (sorry, meant to post this a few days ago)

Methos Site Stuff

• Archived the news page from January, 1999. This page should load quite a bit quicker now. Sorry for the delay.

Thresh Hears From You
In my last update, I mentioned that people should e-mail Thresh and convince him to attend the TGI tourney. It seems that he received enough mail to say the following in his FiringSquad column.

"Holy crapcakes -- talk about an overwhelming response! :O Okay, who is responsible for my mailbox being flooded with emails telling me to play in the True Gamers International? Bastards! :)"

Crapcakes? Anyway, the TGI needs Thresh to play in the tournament. Here's the deal. If Thresh doesn't play, the winner will be considered the best player in the tourney but, the question will always arise as to whether or not he could beat Thresh.

If Thresh plays, the winner could most likely be called the best Quake player in the world. Now, there will be excuses but, most of these won't be a deciding factor in the matches.

• Thresh hasn't played in a while. This is true but, the tourney is still almost 2 months away. Thresh is talented enough to get back into game shape. There are lots of decent players he can play against like Gemini, CZM, Reptile and many others that will help whip him into shape. 
• The jetlag will affect the people from the west. True but, sCary is leaving a few days before the match, Thresh can go early as well.
• The games will be played using the QuakeWorld mod. This (to me) is just plain silly. QW was designed to help modemers on the Internet only. It should never be used for Lan matches. Having said that, the players in western European countries prefer it to the real game of Quake. This will be a bit of a stumbling block to players that aren't used to playing on QW. However, except for the rocket splash and a slight physics change, it's not much different on a Lan.

With the imminent release of Q3A, this will probably be the last hurrah for Quake. Although it would've been great to see this same kind of tournament a year or more ago. Then we could've seen greats like Thresh, Reptile, Sujoy, DaNoLd, Ettu, Fragga, Okkun and many others when they were still in their prime.

Since we can't turn back the hands of time, we now have great players like Lakerman, Xenon, Sectopod, Cable (oops, he wasn't invited :) and the others in the tourney. The players in the TGI represent some of the best that Quake (QW) has to offer so, it's natural to hope that Thresh will be able to play. To coin a well known phrase, "There can be only one". If Thresh doesn't play, the phrase, "There can be only two" doesn't have the same ring to it. Let's hope that Thresh joins in this final hurrah for this incredible game.

The Death Of Quake
Let's face the facts, Quake will die and it will die this summer when Quake3Arena is released. The question you have to ask yourself is, "Will Q3A be all that I want it to be?". The answer to this is "maybe". It all depends on what you want it to be. However, one answer that we all have to face is that Q3A will NOT be similar to the original Quake.

johnc@idsoftware.com

As much as we love Quake, Q3A will be closer to Q2 than it will be to Quake. Because of the physics involved with the game engine, we don't have any choice.

johnc@idsoftware.com

Here are the plain facts...

• The game will be slower. Both the gameplay and characters.
• The game engine will be more powerful. This of course leads to much higher system resources and that will slow down gameplay even more.
• The 600ms weapon change speed. Do I have to explain this?
• Lots of fancy graphics and new tricks and gimmicks. This leads to one thing. More toys = Less carnage. We want a true 1on1 game with fast action and lots of carnage.
• Air movement. I'm not sure if this will be put back in Q3A but, it should be. No air movement equals no talent RL jumps. Everybody will use an Rjump script like they do in Q2.
• Q2 style teleporters. Nothing more annoying than going through a teleporter and end up a) standing still or b) facing the wrong direction. The Quake teleporters need to be back in the game.

There are many more examples but, you get the picture. The bottom line is that it won't be Quake. This fact is fine as most players don't expect id Software to revert back to a 3 year old game. But, all players would like it to be the best game possible. This means that id will have to make some changes before the game is released.

johnc@idsoftware.com

Most people will take the "wait and see what the game is like" type of attitude. Trust me, this is the wrong thing to do. This was done with Quake2 and we all know how that turned out. Did anybody read the latest PC Gamer mag with the "Top Games of 1998"? Quake2 didn't win any of the categories. Matter of fact, it didn't even make runner-up in any category. This should be a huge statement to the folks at id.

johnc@idsoftware.com

You may be saying, "Is there anything we can do?". Good question. YES, there is something we can do but, we don't have much time to do it. John Carmack and the rest of the guys at id Software like to hear what the game buyer has to say. So, let's tell them what we want in Q3A.

johnc@idsoftware.com

It's too late for Id Software to do anything about the engine and graphics but, there are many things they can do to affect gameplay. Did I mention that in multi-player games that "Gameplay is Everything"? Here are some suggestions you can mention to id Software.

• The 600ms weapon change has to go. Even a command switch to remove it could be added. Something along the lines of "cl_no600mscrap 1" would be fine.
• Q2 style teleporters need to be better or changed to Q1 style.
• No lagged feel to the game like the Q2 engine games had.
• Flat skins need to be added. The Q2 skins were very hard to see from more than a few feet away. Players had to use the female character to help clan mates see the difference
• Better 1on1 maps. Q2 dm maps were awful. They were just smaller ffa maps and except for possibly Q2DM3, none of them came close to Quake's DM2, DM3, DM4, DM6

You can also mention the rocket speed, too many melee weapons, no hand weapon (like axe or chainsaw), the personal power-up and anything else that comes to your mind.

It's up to us. If we don't let John Carmack and the other guys at id know that we have serious concerns with how Q3A will turn out, they'll never know. I've already sent in my list to John Carmack and I hope he takes it seriously. Maybe if he gets more than a few e-mails, he'll start to take our thoughts into consideration.

Get the picture yet? Don't wait and be (possibly) disappointed. Make your thoughts and feelings known before it's too late and Q3A is in the stores.

Oh, did I mention that you can send John Carmack some e-mail at johnc@idsoftware.com?

What's Wrong With Quake?
I was talking with a buddy of mine last night. He's a Q2 player but, he used to play Quake. He's been listening to me talk about how great Quake is for a couple of years (poor guy). He also likes Quake and he agrees that there were problems with Q2.

He asked me a question regarding Quake that I've never been asked before. The question he asked was "We all know what was wrong with Q2 but, what changes would you have made to the original Quake?".

After thinking about this for a minute or two, I honestly couldn't come up with any decent changes I would make. There were a few minor ones but, nothing serious.

I'll pose the same question to you. If you were designing the original Quake, what changes would you have made to the game? Keep in mind, the game is 3 years old so, you can't add anything that wasn't around back then. It will be interesting to hear the answers.

TGI Voting Update
Well, things are getting really tight now. Even more Aussie's stopped by to vote for Reload. Columbo started to get a some votes, Sectopod moved up and Kane continues to be strong in the voting.

Keep those votes coming in. As I mentioned previously, I'll keep the voting open until the tourney begins. It will be interesting to see what happens if / when Thresh joins.

Time Warp
Once again, the weekly feature where we travel back in time 1 or 2 years to tell you some of the more interesting things that were happening in the Quake scene.

- Sunday, Feb 8, 1997
American Quakers, sCary and Giggler join Hipnotic. sCary as "Gameplay specialist and web pimp" (honest, that what they announced) and Giggler as level designer.

- Wednesday, Feb 11, 1997
Id Software releases WinQuake. This was the first "real" porting of Quake to the Win95 platform.

- Friday, Feb 13, 1997
Canadian Quaker MikeJ is rated #1 on the official QW rankings (remember them?) He is able to stay on top for over 3 months

- Saturday, Feb 14, 1997
Blue from Bluesnews quits his real job to become a full time web pimp. He now has over 30 million hits. (wow)

- Monday, Feb 9, 1998
After beating Thresh in his only Quake 1on1 tourney loss, Reptile of Clan Postal announces that he is leaving Postal to join DeathRow. The next day, XP-Littledragon also joins DeathRow.

Methos Site Stuff

• I had yet another system crash. This time, I found the culprit. It was one of my hard drives. The problem was that it was my C: drive. I quickly removed the little bastard and added one of the unused drives from my other system. Things seem to be running fine now. (fingers and toes crossed)
• Still busy at work. I have a few demos to upload when I get the time.
• Called my local cable company to find out what was going on with the cable modem service in my area of the city (the edge). I was told a year ago that it would be available in 3 months. I finally got to speak with the systems manager (instead of the receptionist) and I was told that I would have cable modem service in my area by the end of next month.

Thresh At TGI?
After originally declining to attend the TrueGamer's Invitational 1on1 tournament, it seems that Thresh maybe having a change of heart. In his latest Frontline article, he says the following.

"I've recently started playing Quake again, and I dare say it is much more fun than I last remember it. (I haven't touched the game since the end of PGL Season 3) It's really surprising what a decent break away can do for ya! Playing Quake feels like the first few months I've played it... it really is an amazing feeling that I can't recall feeling since, well, the first time I booted up Quake.

With that, I recall Izno (I think) emailed me a while back about a "TrueGamers Invitational," a tournament featuring some of the best players around the world, such as Kane, Timber, Lakerman, Reload, Scary, etc. I'm just getting caught up on this news, and it sounds like it'll be an awesome event. I've gotten a bunch of requests from people for me to attend and compete -- While I haven't played a 1on1 game of Quake since, man, probably at least eight months, it still sounds like fun.

While I'm not sure if I'm qualified to represent the U.S. anymore in Quake (since I'm so out of practice), it's still worth looking into"

Hmm, sounds to me like he's definitely interested. If he could get into the tourney, that would be the coolest thing since.. umm.. errr.. well, it would be very cool. :)

Thresh has been "THE" Quake 1on1 player since the the game was released and has only lost one match in tournament play. He would be a great addition to the group already there. This has got me really pumped and the thought of Thresh possibly being in the tourney makes me almost as excited as the last time I saw my "gorgeous blond neighbor". LOL

You could always send Thresh e-mail and convince him to go. :)

I have talked to Izn0 about this and he is looking into it. More on this later....

Barrysworld Coming To An End?
Last week, DBs (Tony), who is the driving force behind the Barrysworld mega hosting site / game servers / dial-up service in the UK, announced that he may be forced to shut down Barrysworld. The projected date for shutdown was March 31st. The reason behind this decision come from the requirement of a new switcher for the dial-up customers. The cost for one of these switchers is approx. $30,000 U.S. and the hosting company (BusinessNet) isn't willing to put in that kind of cash.

I went to the BW site to get more info on this but, I couldn't find the posting that DBs made the other day. I contacted Zarjazz from the BW staff and he told me "Ignore what Tony said. A new switch is needed but, that's being sorted".

Ahh well, a juicy story goes to waste. Tony has now taken his valium and is taking a much needed break to get back to Real Life™ for a bit. Come back soon Tony, we still have more bitching to do. :)

TGI - Enough Reloading, Let's Move On
Okay, I've drank all the Foster's Beer, put away my Olivia Newton-John, Inxs and Crowded House CDs. I've even watched my entire Crocodile Dundee movie collection for this year. Let move on to other parts of the Tourney.

Right, my Volvo is ready to go, I have my Abba CD on the stereo, the Swedish Erotica movie in the VCR and my gorgeous blonde neighbor beside me. Let's talk about Sweden for a while. In particular, let's talk about Xenon.

Unlike some of the other players in the Quake world, he will do things differently than most players will when they're not playing. For example, Xenon tries to use the Internet media to his advantage. He will say thinks like, "I'm not really good on this level" while he knows that he's very good at that particular map.

How about the fact that while other players aren't releasing any new 1on1 demos before the tourney, Xenon decides to put up a demo site with a bunch of his demos. He says that he put a few "fun demos" on there but, that's not really the whole story. It's not by chance that he happens to include this awesome DM6 demo when he usually doesn't play the level. Could it be a coincidence that he posted a very old DM4 match against Timber where he beats Timber 51-1? I don't think so.

For some reason, people tend to forget how good a Quake player Xenon really is. These demos (especially the DM6 one) should remind most people why he is one of the favorites to win the TGI tourney. He's not just a very good clan player, he just a very good Quake player, period.

TGI Voting Update
Well, it's nice to see that some of the Timber supporters came by to vote. He has jumped considerably since the last update. I have a feeling that Xenon will jump a bit after people watch a few of the demos listed above. Here are the latest results in the voting.

Methos Site Stuff
Okay, it's 7 a.m. now so, I'm gonna get some sleep.

An Evening With Reload
On Wednesday, I spent a few hours talking to, then watching Australian Quaker and TrueGamers Invitational player, Reload play about 15 matches on DM2, DM4 and DM6 (yes, you're right, I have no life). He and I (along with Aussie player Ichor) talked about a wide variety of topics from his decent modem connection to his mouse sens and even his "glaring dm2 error". Fortunately, for the safety of the women and children reading, no cat-fights broke out and we got along very well.

On a cool side-note, I've now had 7 of the 10 competing players in the TGI send me e-mail and thanking me for the comments I made about the way they played. Also, 6 of the 7 said that my "evaluation" of them was "dead-on".

I watched Reload play 6 - DM2 matches, 6 - DM4 matches and maybe 3 - DM6 matches against various opponents. When I was watching Reload play, there was myself and Ichor watching the match until Reload's opponent dropped from the first game after being pasted about 30 times. :)

Then I watched Ichor play a few games, after that while myself and Izn0 (who I invited) spectated. The person who runs the server then changed the max spectators to a higher amount and the server got very crowded with specs. in about 5 seconds. Gobo (one of Hoony's weekly writers) jumped in and played a few matches after that.

- Reload's Play:
One thing I noticed, which will be a disadvantage to Reload is that every player that joined the server had a ping of at least 100ms higher than Reload. He needs to play LPB's only so that he's accustomed to players that don't have a 1/4 second delay when playing. Apparently, from what I was told, there are very few LPB's in Australia because of the cost involved. Reload will have to get some serious Lan play in, prior to the tourney.

The good thing is that Reload is taking this competition seriously. He's not playing matches on other levels beside these three (like Aerowalk) and he's getting lots of matches to hone his skills.

The bad news is that he won't be able to find competition equal or superior to himself on his local servers. In most countries where Quake is very popular, it's not unusual to jump on a server and see 75% lpb and some very talented players.

- The Levels:

• DM2 - Reload's play on DM2 is very good. He was able to control the levels (albeit against opponents with more than twice the ping) and got some impressive frags. On the downside, he became very predictable after one or two matches. Then again, there's only so many ways to run around DM2 without being predictable.
• DM4 - This level surprised me quite a bit. Reload was much better than I remembered from his demos. His play was smooth and his aim was very good. Again, it's not hard to shaft somebody with twice the ping and, in the competition, he'll be playing Kane, Timber and many other DM4 experts so, he'll really need work on this map which is id's classic "in your face" type of level.
• DM6 - Reload played the way I expected him to on DM6. He covered the level very well and got the frags when needed. DM6 isn't suited to Reload's style of play but, he's fortunate that in the TGI tourney, there isn't really a DM6 "expert" for him to play. If players like Thresh, Reptile, Gemini, Gollum, Sniket and a few others were there, Reload would have more to worry about.

- The Shaft Aim:
One of the things I mentioned to Reload, to help his shaft aim (okay, here's a dodgy trade secret) is to do what a lot of players do. This is by binding a key for shooting the shaft and including a mouse sensitivity change to about half of what the regular sensitivity is. Something like the following...

alias +shaft "sensitivity 8;wait;impulse 8;wait;+attack"
alias -shaft "-attack;sensitivity 23;impulse 7"
bind mouse3 "+shaft"

This way, when you press your mouse3 button, it lowers Reload's mouse sens, fires the LG for as long as you have the key pressed and then reverts back to the RL when you release it. You could always set it to previous weapon incase you don't have an RL. Many players also use this method (w/o sens change) to throw out some grenades without having to switch weapons.

- The "Glaring DM2 Error":
Just a reminder, the dm2 error was, "going through the teleporter by the RA/MH to the big lava room without knowing exactly where your opponent is". Reload and I talked about this and he agreed that it could cause some concern in the matches. Although he stated on Challenge.AU that he wouldn't change his playing style, I did notice that in the 6 matches I watched him play, he only went through that teleporter, without knowing where his opponent was, a total of 4 times in the 6 matches. He may not be changing his playing style but, he's obviously taken note of the error.

Well done Reload, it's nice to see that you can accept constructive criticism and learn from it. There are many Quake players that have such big egos, they wouldn't listen unless it came from a clan mate or another great player.

Speaking of other great players, I had 4 of the other TGI tourney players e-mail mail me and say "Why the hell did you tell Reload about that? I was going to use that against him in the matches." All I can say is "Oops!". :)

The Results So Far
Envelope please, and the winner (so far) is... With the mail-in poll at the top of this page, here are the results so far. You'll notice that Timber received zero votes (so far) but, I've only had a couple of people from the UK send mail. I guess they're either too caught up in the [9] Vs UK matches or they're too busy playing Tribes. :)

I will let the poll continue until the TGI tourney begins and we'll get a better representation

As a side note, all of Reload's votes except one were from AU & NZ.

Time Warp - 1998
I thought it would be cool to add this as a weekly feature. Once a week, I'm going to go back 1 year and tell you some of the more interesting things that were happening in the Quake scene, this week in 1998. Let me know what you think of it.

- Sunday, Feb 1, 1998
Thresh wins PGL season 2 tournament by beating Reptile twice in the final matches. This came a few days after Thresh was beaten by Reptile in his only loss ever in a Quake 1on1 tournament match. (Yikes, was that really a year ago?)

- Monday, Feb 2, 1998
Diamond announces the March 2, 1998 release date for their Monster 3D Voodoo2

- Tuesday, Feb 3, 1998
Acclaim releases official Forsaken demo (wow, what ever happened to this game?)

- Thursday, Feb 5, 1998 (A Classic)
id Software's Barrett "Bear" Alexander (does he still work there) made these incredible BS comments in a GameSpot interview regarding the infamous Q2 point release. (which wasn't released for another month)

"I insist that the Point Release should not be taken as a sign that id needed to rush the release of Quake II to meet a holiday season release, as has been rumored."

"None of the point release features would have gone on the initial release,"

For those that don't remember, the point release included, all the DM maps (as bad as they are), team play, ctf mod and a few other features. Yeah, I'm sure that id didn't want dm maps and team play in the original release of Quake2. That would've meant that the game would've been close to being finished on the original shipping date.

Methos Site Stuff
If you're wondering why the TGI survey at the top of the page requests that you send me mail instead of just having a voting page, it's because I've been having trouble with the FP code on the BW server. DBs has given me what he thinks is a fix for it so, I will try it later and see what happens. If it works, we may actually see an Ultimate Quake Poll ]|[ in the near future. :)

QIL2 Update & Correction
Since I posted my update last night, there have been a couple of changes in the QIL2 tourney. First, I made a mistake (thanks to some dodgy wording by RJ), R3V were waiting to play the winner of the EG / DM match to go into the "western" finals. The winner of the west div. would then play the eastern winners, NB (Negative Burn).

The big (and strange) news is that both EG (Evil Geniuses) and DM (Demolition) have dropped out of the tournament. Hmm, who would drop out of a tournament in the semi-finals? Apparently, the EG guys are too busy playing Tribes these days to worry about Quake. Anyway, this makes Clan R3V the western QIL2 winners. Now they have to play RiX and the rest of NB for the title. Good luck to RJ, sCary and the gang from R3V.

As I side note, I played R3V-Diehard (On My Way, Foo!) a couple of nights ago and he kicked my ass. Me with my 300 ping and 92% pl (honest) and him with his ultra-low LPB ping was too much for me.

Aussies Plan Attack On Methos
It seems as though I've had to battle every Aussie Quake player in the world today. Although nothing I said in my last posting or the subsequent conversation with Hoony was bad, the rest of the players down under took it as a personal attack on their beloved Quake God, Reload.

The gist of the story was that Reload goes through the teleporter by the RA/MH on DM2 without knowing where his opponent is at the time. I watched 6 dm2 demos of Reload and he did this about 10 times in every match. In one match, he fell behind by 5 frags because he got caught every time he did this.

Knowing the caliber of players in this tourney, people like Xenon, Lakerman and sCary would be waiting for him every time. Hoony also pointed out that Reload can take a hit and still get the frags. This may be true but, it's not something you want to make a habit of with Xenon and Lakerman around.

I tried to contact Reload and ask him about this umm, tactic but, some unnamed person who runs a Quake site in Australia forgot to answer my e-mail. :)

For the record, I think Reload is a VERY good player, I just don't think he'll win the tourney. If he wins, great. If he loses, no shame in losing to these players.

How To Prepare For Great Players?
One question that has come up quite a bit is how players are going to prepare for other players in the TGI 1on1 tourney. With most of the competition, you know what to expect as far as playing style and tactics. The biggest question mark stands beside sCary's name.

If I were to tell you that your next game would be against Lakerman, Timber, Kane, Xenon, Reload  or Sectopod, you would have a fairly good idea of what kind of game you're about to play. To a lesser extent, it's the same way if I mentioned Niko, Columbo and Blitzer. Then comes sCary. It's strange that even though sCary has played Quake longer than probably every player in the tourney, most of the Euro players have no idea what to expect.

In some ways, sCary reminds me of Timber. Not in style or talent but, it just seems that some days, Timber is just "on". He plays great and can do no wrong. Other days, it's like it's not even him playing. This is the way that sCary is, some days he can beat the best in the world while other days, it won't be close.

I'll say one thing for sCary being at the tourney, it's a great choice. He's a hardcore Quaker that is true to the game. You also get the added bonus of him being known as a cool guy and a well known (and liked) player, all around the world. Plus, he's a straight shooter in the figurative sense. He will give his best and (unlike another American player) he won't make excuses if he loses.

Methos Site Stuff

• Finally posted reviews for 5 demos on the Methos Quake Demos page (happy Zombie?)
• Updated Methos .plan file with some more mundane thoughts

TGI 1on1 Choices
I still want more responses to my question regarding the TrueGamer's Invitational 1on1 tourney. The question is simple, "Who do you think will win, and why?".

To remind you of the players... Blitzer, Columbo, Kane, Lakerman, Nikodemus, Reload, sCary, Sectopod, Timber & Xenon. Send me mail and give me your thoughts.

I've received quite a few messages with people's opinions and they're much appreciated. So far, Lakerman seems to be the favorite to win although there have been quite a few votes for the other players involved. Some of the reasons as to why certain players will or won't win have been interesting. Without naming the players in question...

• He's always on drugs so he doesn't play well at lans (wtf?)
• He cheats way too much and can't win without them
• He's from Australia so, he can't lose (gee, who could this be?)
• I beat him twice yesterday so, he ain't gonna win
• He'll win because Thresh isn't playing

Once I get some more responses, I'll post all the results so we can all scoff at them.

Of interest, I was chatting with Xenon from Clan 9 and asked him.. "If you weren't playing, who do you think would win?". His response was "I've never seen some of the players play from Scandinavia so, my guess is either Sectopod or Nikodemus".

The cool thing is, with the talent in this tourney, Xenon could've chosen any 2 players and the choices would've been okay.

I should mention that Izn0, who is running the tourney, says that www.truegamers.com should be on-line soon. They're just doing the final touches.

Want Some Promotion?
Don't ask me to promote your site on Methos Quake. It seems that nearly every time I tell people to go and visit a site, it shuts down.

The other day, I mentioned Stayne's House of Demos. The next day, I received word from Stayne saying it was down and they were looking for a new host. Gee, wouldn't have anything to do the massive bandwidth usage? :)

Anyway, I'm sure SHOD will be up and running soon.

Methos Wimping Out?
When I posted my thoughts on the players in in the TG tourney, I received some mail saying that I didn't say enough about them and that I was scared to mention anything bad about the players in the tourney. Thus, I copped out of actually giving my opinions on them instead of just talking about them generically.

Well, this is partly true, they're all great players and I don't want to say anything bad about them. However, as my buddy Hoony points out, you have to read closely into what I said as I chose my words carefully.

But, since people have requested it, I will give my unbiased opinion of all the players in the tourney. Before I start, PLEASE keep in mind that these are all great players and the only bad thing is that somebody has to lose in this tourney.

Here's the scoop on the players (in alphabetical order)

• Blitzer - From Finland's Clan Z - One of the 3 players in the tourney that I consider a dark horse. The kind of player that wouldn't surprise me if he won the entire tourney or if he finished last against this kind of competition. I described him as a controlled player with lots of talent. This description still holds. He also has very good aim.
  - Keys to Blitzer Winning - Stay cool and in control at all time.
  - Keys to Beating Blitzer - Play aggressive, get him off his game
  - Prediction - Tough one, could be anywhere from 6th to 2nd
  
• Columbo - From Denmark - I'll be honest and tell you that I don't know a whole lot about Columbo other than seeing a few demos. He's a smooth player with very good aim. He's a better clan player than a 1on1 player.
  - Keys to Columbo Winning - Getting off to a fast start and not letting up
  - Keys to Beating Columbo - Get on top of him from the start
  - Prediction - 8th to 6th
  
• Kane - From Germany's Clan SK - A smooth DM4 player with good reactions and decent aim. Not as strong on DM2 or DM6 in 1on1 competition and will have to work hard to get into the finals.
  - Keys to Kane Winning - Play as many DM4 matches as possible and keep quiet.
  - Keys to Beating Kane - Stay away from DM4, use good player prediction
  - Prediction - 4th or 5th
  
• Lakerman - From Swedish Chefs - One of the best all-around players in the world. One of the few DM2 experts. He tends to go "balls out" through the entire match, he'll have to play smarter to win the tourney but has the talent to win.
  - Keys to Lakerman Winning - Stay away from DM6 and play smart
  - Keys to Beating Lakerman - Umm, break his hands before the matches :). Seriously, play very smart, keep silent and avoid DM2.
  - Prediction - 1st or 2nd
  
• Nikodemus - From Clan 9 - A good player, he won't get 50 frags a match but has the uncanny ability to avoid being fragged more than most players. He will have to use this talent against these guys along with some luck .
  - Keys to Nikodemus Winning - Keep playing smart & avoid DM4
  - Keys to Beating Nikodemus - Play aggressive and stay on top of him
  - Prediction - Because he's a better clan player than 1on1, 7th to 5th
  
• Reload - From Australia - A talented and smooth player who hasn't played against many outside of AU. Supposed to be a DM2 expert but, there are a couple of glaring errors in his play. Because of his high mouse sensitivity, his aim isn't the best and his shaft is lacking. Having said that, he's a talented player and "most times", seems to do the right thing. He also has very quick reflexes.
  - Keys to Reload Winning - Play smarter, avoid too many close-up battles
  - Keys to Beating Reload - Wait for him to come to you, he will make mistakes in matches and other players can take advantage of that
  - Prediction - 6th but, could be much higher (Sorry Hoony)
  
• sCary - From Clan R3V - A talented player who can think on the fly. Decent aim, very good player prediction. One of the smartest players in the tourney and very good in close-up battles. Steve is a better clan player than 1on1 these days and will have to be at the very top of his game to make it to the finals.
  - Keys to sCary Winning - Practice, remain cool at all times, don't make mistakes, keep playing very smart and use your player prediction.
  - Keys to Beating sCary - Tell him his hair is out of place and fluster him. :) Seriously, don't be fancy, sCary has seen all the tricks. Be straight forward, very aggressive and play it smart.
  - Prediction - Wow, tough one. sCary could finish anywhere from 8th to 3rd
  
• Sectopod - From Norway - A very talented all-around player with good player prediction. Good DM4 player and decent DM6 player. Good aim and smart play. Lost to Lakerman at the Cots tourney but, played well.
  - Keys to Sectopod Winning - Keep playing smart, avoid DM2, use the shaft more
  - Keys to Beating Sectopod - Play smarter than he does, keep on top of him, don't let him get in control.
  - Prediction - 3rd
  
• Timber - From England - A DM4 monster with lightning quick reflexes. He will need to really work on DM2 & DM6. He will also have to tame his ultra-aggressive style on those two levels. Timber isn't as unpredictable as he use to be, he's developed habits on DM4.
  - Keys to Timber Winning - Play as many DM4 matches as possible, keep playing your style.
  - Keys to Beating Timber - Avoid DM4, don't try to be as aggressive as he is. Look closely for his (bad) habits and take advantage of them.
  - Prediction - 5th
  
• Xenon - From Clan 9 - A very good all-around player with excellent skills. Does all the little things right. One of the smartest in the tourney. He tells everybody that he needs some work on DM2 and DM6 but, he's actually okay on all three levels. He needs to "sharpen" his 1on1 skills but, Xenon makes very good use of all weapons and will be tough to beat.
  - Keys to Xenon Winning - Keep playing smart
  - Keys to Beating Xenon - Play as smart as he does, avoid too many close-up battles, tends to be predictable so try and take advantage with good prediction.
  - Prediction - 1st or 2nd

There you have it, no holds barred, honest opinions. Keep in mind that this could change by tomorrow as they are all very good players and the players I picked to win could end up finishing last. No matter what I say, the event will be great and the competition should be excellent.

As usual, all comments are welcome. I'm sure I'll get many about this one. :)

QIL2 Tourney Winds Down
I received word from my buddy RJ of Clan R3V saying that R3V won their semi-final match against PB (PointBlank). Now, they will play the winner of the EG vs DM match for the QIL2 Championship.

The EG / DM should be a dandy. Everybody knows how good EG is but, not many people know about DM. Here's a list of some of the DM members.

• Shade (ex Legends)
• Twistedkiller (former XP and now D7-Twisdkilr, in Death Row)
• Whitewolf (ex Legends)
• R2 (an original Ranger and still pretty good)
• Da5id (currently in Death Row)

With those players, DM should give EG a run for their money. I'll still put in my vote for EG to win the tourney but, there should be a couple of great matches before the end.

Methos Site Stuff

• I uploaded 5 demos to Methos Quake Demos page but, I haven't written up comments for them yet. I'll write up the reviews later tonight
• I will be updating my .plan tomorrow

[ /\/\ethos Quake News - May 01 to July 01 ] [ /\/\ethos Quake News - Jan 00 to May 01 ] [ /\/\ethos Quake News - August - December 99 ] [ /\/\ethos Quake News - July 1999 ] [ /\/\ethos Quake News - June 1999 ] [ /\/\ethos Quake News - May 1999 ] [ /\/\ethos Quake News - April 1999 ] [ Methos Quake News - March 1999 ] [ Methos Quake News - February 1999 ] [ Methos Quake News - January 1999 ] [ Methos Quake News - November & December 1998 ] [ Methos Quake News - October 1998 ] [ Methos Quake News - September 1998 ] [ Methos Quake News - August 1998 ] [ Quake News - July 1998 ] [ Quake News - June 1998 ] [ Quake News - May 98 ] [ Quake News (Jan 1 to April 29) 98 ] [ Quake News 1997 ]