Event: QCon'09
<img src=http://i31.tinypic.com/2en9fdf.jpg align=right><b>Basic info
Name: </b>Chance Lacina
<b>Alias: </b>Chance
<b>Clan:</b> <a href=http://www.myeg.net/>Evil Geniuses</a>
<b>Games (currently played):</b> QuakeLive, Trine, Left 4 Dead
<b>Favourite song:</b> At the moment.. "<a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smE-uIljiGo>Guitar Sound</a>" by Ronald Jenkees
<b>Favourite movie:</b> At the moment, Peaceful Warrior =]
<b>Hi, can you begin by telling the ESReality members something about you that they are unlikely to already know.</b>
I once did the Phantom Chair (also known as the "wall sit") for something like 15 minutes.
<b>How would you describe your average weekday/weekend?</b>
Depends on my varying work schedule. On days off I typically I get up, eat, work out, eat again, play quake or tend to other hobbies, eat more, go lift at my friends house, go to kickboxing, come home, eat again, hang out with friends/relax/tend to other hobbies for the rest of the evening =]
<b>You've been involved in the professional scene in the last 3 Quake releases (3, 4 and Live)...How do you think the progression has been quality wise? </b>
It's been a wild ride for sure. I think q4 was an improvement over q3, it staggered a bit at first (understatement) but by the final patch it was great especially thanks to AnthonyJ and the Q4max team. QuakeLive has been great too, a bit of a throwback to the gameplay of q4 + the superior netcode and framerate of q3. The only things I miss from Quake4 are the maps and the movement.
<b>To date what has been your single best and worst memory from playing a quake title?</b>
Picking favorites is difficult for me. Hmm... Watching Tim almost beat Toxjq at WSVG Toronto was pretty awesome. Worst thing was probably getting mad at my friends for talking over my headphones while I was playing a match against cl0ck at CPL Winter 2005.
<b>Of the multitude of LAN tournaments you've competed in what has been your favourite? </b>
Quakecon has always been a blast. The tourney's have been pretty sloppy some years but the last couple years have been great. Overall I think the best events were ESWC events though, really professional and well run.
<b>Which ESWC was your favourite? Any reason why?</b>
The ESWC Finals last year were a blast. It was just a nice event and a lot of friends and players were there so it made for a good time. I also like California, particularly San Jose. It was the first time I'd been there and it seemed like a pretty cool city. The only thing that beats it perhaps is San Diego.
<b>Having played QuakeLive since its release what do you think of the current state of the game? What needs changing? What features need adding?</b>
They need an additional spectator mode so unlimited viewers can spec games. I don't have a problem having specs, but I'm forced to play on private servers to avoid people going afk or wanting to play when I'm trying to practice. On top of that, within the spectator mode they need to make it so you can see enemies through walls, and it reads out their health so it's more spectator friendly.
Another thing I've been crossing my fingers for is a simple demo gui that enables you to launch, play, pause, rewind, and fast forward demos. Maybe the spectator thing and this could all be connected to the same menu or something, who knows.
One more thing I think they should do for duel pubs is make the fraglimit 7 or so. I used to play on servers like that when I was a newb and it was a lot more fun.
Gameplay is great. Nothing needs to change until Quake 5 =]
<b>What are your thoughts in regards to 10 minute matches?</b>
They're fine really. 15 minutes would allow more time for a comeback, some maps it can be pretty brutal. I think everyone's used to 10 minutes now though, isn't really an issue.
<b>You were linked to some controversy with walter in Quake 3. Have you played him in QuakeLive? Do you know how good he's meant to be in the game?</b>
Yeah we've played a few games back when QL first came around, since then not really. I've heard he's been playing lately though and looking pretty sharp.
<b>Having played him (walter) in QuakeLive do you still feel that hacks in Quake 3? Or perhaps he found a way to cheat in QuakeLive too?</b>
Nah I don't think he hacks anymore. I know there are ways to cheat, but I haven't seen much of it. That may be because I've been playing mostly my friends exclusively.
<b>Looking ahead to Quakecon and the 1v1 tournament what are your thoughts on the maplist?</b>
It's got too many old maps. There aren't many new maps to replace them though. I was really hoping they could release a community map pack with like pukka3tourney5 in it and some others. That map rocks. I'm pretty sick of the old ones. On the other hand, the list is really diverse, and that'll mean you'll see some players that are really strong on slower maps and some players that are really strong on faster ones, and it'll come down to who can do both. :)
<b>What are your expectations on where you hope to finish?</b>
My goal is to win every map I play. I'm really enjoying the competition in practice.
<b>Who do you think will be the top 3?</b>
I'd just be shooting in the dark :p. It's really just too tough to call. We'll see, anything could happen!
<b>CTF (at least in Europe) hasn't gained much attention leading to no tournaments while 1v1 has had many; do you think that more organisations should include CTF tournaments or does the community size/quality not justify it?</b>
The whole Quake scene needs to grow in general, but CTF is really exciting and probably the best mode outside of duel for competition. I would love to see more events like this.
<b>Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Shoutouts?</b>
Thanks a million to all my friends, opponents, and sponsors. Without your passion none of this would be possible. Thanks to ID and the community and you for the fun questions. See you at Quakecon!