Okay, I offer a challenge to any of the whining bitches*** on this site:

Organize a regional Quake 3 LAN tournament that has at least 16 people show up. Do it for free or with a minimal entry fee to cover property. Then do it again every 3-6 months.

Until you ungrateful fucks get over yourselves, and start contributing more than complaints to the so-called community, the tournaments will continue to shrivel into something resembling your testes.

And please, will everyone agree that the phrase "Professional Gamer" is dead for Quake players? Other games, sure, but you've gotta roll 3rd world* to be living off of Quake tournaments these last few years.

* No offense to our 3rd world friends! And also, this obviously excludes Toxjq!

*** EDIT: This is directed at all the hate on the Quakecon tournaments, not everyone on this site. If you're already keeping your scene alive, keep it up :D

So, after talking with Walter, he was gung-ho about coming. Then, once we got into really deciding when he was coming, he was in a car wreck. That also impacted his ability to go to Quakecon, so I don't think I'll be seeing him there.

Whether or not any of this is true, I have no idea. I never saw pictures, but I talked with him a good bit, so while I've given up on any verification of his Quake talents, he's a fascinating individual, and I'll keep in touch with him because of that. If he ends up being the Quake prodigy that his demos indicate, that's good, and if not, I was wrong and I'm OK with that :) Since he's not playing much any more, I think this chapter of Qdrama is over.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: Who all from ESR is making the trek (short or long) to Quakecon? I'll be there with my local buddies, and I'll be running some Q3 servers, and HOPEFULLY a Q3CTF tournament this year. I tried last year, got about 6 people from outside our local crew interested, and didn't do anything about it. If you're going, let's try to sit somewhat near each other so we can shield ourselves from the stinky, porn-watching nerds that have turned the event a bit...lame.

EDIT: By last year, I mean 2006, and instead we played back-to-back 50+ minute overtime 5v5 CTF games, followed by another overtime game that was just under 30 minutes (I think). If I wasn't as drunk, I may have had demos worth posting, for once :P

I'm assuming it's still the machine gun, and I'm assuming it's still7 damage per round by default (except maybe TDM like Q3).

Is this the case? I want to argue about machine gun damage :)

Walter, I've believed you to be a legit player for a long time now. You've now said that you'd "Greyhound it" to a LAN. While Austin, TX is pretty damn far from VA, we've got people here who want you to prove yourself, and are willing to give you a place to stay for a weekend. It might be the same cost to fly (probably $200-300 round trip) vs Greyhound, and if you're planning on going to Quakecon, we'll be there too, so I understand if you want to wait. If it's Quakecon or a small LAN here (we can set up a CTF LAN for that weekend; we have a solid group of players), I'd like to end this once and for all, no matter which way it goes.

I have some conditions:
1) No destruction of any property, even your own; that's messy.
2) You must use a computer provided to you; it's not super awesome, but runs the shit out of some Q3. You just have to bring your keyboard, mouse, mousepad, and headphones. Yes, we have good CRTs.
3) All details will be made public; any pictures/demos/videos/accounts/transcripts taken over the weekend will go to youtube/ESR/etc.

I'll try to get daler to come to town, I could probably get cyan to come play QW with you too :), but you'd at least get to play myself (yeah lol) and maps (out of shape). Without cyan and daler, we're not the best competition, but maps and I have played at a fairly high level at some point(s) in Q3's life, so we can at least put up a fight. Or not, if you're as good on LAN as you are on the internet.

*** Edit - since the "conditions" are getting some flack, it's just a CYA thing in case something net-worthy happens. I destroyed a keyboard (for lolz) at a LAN a year ago, and we are STILL finding keys from it scattered about; it was hilarious and well worth it, but I don't live there :) Also, I'm not going to type every word every person says at the LAN, but I'm the type of person who, if asked, wouldn't post something if requested not to. I just want that to be out there so that funny pictures/demos/etc. can go up without any BS.

Hey, in the interest of actually playing some Quake at Quakecon, who's going to be in the BYOC? Some of you HAVE to be going...come on, admit it :)

So since my first journal actually got some responses, I'll post more so I can build a soapbox, stand on it, and cry about the virtues of a weak machine gun and bunnyhopping :)

When I stopped playing Q3 back after Quakecon 2002, the NA scene was a bit abrasive, but not too terrible. Coming from a QW background where I played West almost exclusively, I started playing East as there just wasn't much West activity in Q3, so it was definitely a different type of community. However, coming back in 2005 casually, and being regularly active from mid-2006 through now, it's even further removed from the sort of friendly, intelligent, enjoyable community that still existed when I left. Sure, I had people I couldn't stand, and there are still people I won't talk to. But seriously, what the fuck happened? All I see now are the following things:

Lose a game? The other person HAD to be using a bot, wallhacks, steroids, and probably voodoo. I'm the best player in the world, and I could beat the genetically engineered offspring of cooller and czm.

Pickup CTF game not going well? Remove someone you don't like from the team, and let it disintegrate. Alternatively, after there are already enough people for the pickup, get your friends to come so that you can pick them over the people who were waiting because fuck them, they're newbs.

Frustrated with someone's rail on the other team? Eh, I'll just team s. Again with the roids.

Someone goes on a hot streak and hits a few nasty shots? Clearly a cheater. And gay. Time to post the demo on ESR!

Someone's not as good as you are? Let them know about it by calling them names and berating them, regardless of their actual abilities. Oh and then claim you weren't trying and you'd beat them even worse after the fact. Noob.

Someone does something you don't agree with? Don't listen to why they did it, tell them what to do and if they ask why, they must be an idiot and should NEVER question your infinite wisdom. Best player, etc.

Someone asks for some tips concerning one of your strengths? Fuck them, they suck and will never be better. Can't give away the secrets of my HGH treatments!

I just don't understand why these are the responses that are not just common, but prevalent. I've gotten some of them, seen the rest, and the antics in pickup games are more out of control every time I partake (or attempt to partake) in one. I haven't had the patience to sit through the 20-30 minute process of teams being picked which is then followed by a 45 minute game that includes 15 minutes of actual play time because more time is spent in timeout berating someone than actually playing, and then they either get removed, disconnect, or go team s.

Oddly enough, the oft-maligned Walter is one of the players to go out of his way and respond to me in a level-headed, intelligent way. I recognized that his rail is insane and mine is absolute shit, and asked him some questions, and didn't just answer them, but talked about why. Others responses, even from friends, have been much more...egotistical.

And when did variations on a theme of newbie become the only way to insult someone? At least be a LITTLE creative. And who started it? RA3 people? Insta people? Trickjumpers?

With all of the "pro gaming" shakeups in the last couple years, can we get back to our roots? With money out of the picture, as far as Quake 3 is concerned, has it made you go to something else? Or have you decided to play because you like the game and possibly even (oh dear) the community?

And the big question: Would you be willing to go to a LAN event that's just for Quake 3 if there were no major prizes other than bragging rights and fun? What if it was in Austin, TX? If you would want to go, where would you come from?