Hi, could you first please introduce yourself and tell us about your Quake background.

gizmo: Im nowadays 28 yr old and living in Norrkoping Sweden. I started playing in maybe 1997 or something like that. The game at this time was Quakeworld (Q1). We Lan'ed mostly due to lack of good connections. Lucky for us we had good competition at hand such as ic oldschool guys such as toxjq, gopher, panicore and phantom. At the release of Quake 3 I ended up abandoning quakeworld and also got more active online in many different teams such as United, 9-norrkoping, ic and Action-ligan.

bl4jnd: My name is Pierre Edlund. I've played Quakeworld since it started, after that I played Quake 3 for maybe 3-4 years, then when Quake 4 came I played it from the start until it died totally (maybe 3-4years). For 2 years ago I started to play Quake Live mostly for fun.


Whats your current Hardware Setup?

gizmo: My setup is more or less known to be laughed at, I got rid of my ball mouse ~8months ago ;), the "new mouse" is microsoft basic optical mouse 2.0 \o/

bl4jnd: It's an 5years old crap computer with a shitty tft screen. I dont even remember the hardware thats in the computer :). I have a logitech mx 510 mouse.


While teams in TDM tend to quite fragile, aCtion has been around for quite some time. Tell us a bit about your team, whats your secret?

gizmo: Well our "main team" more or less over the years has been close friends irl such as boney, bl4jnd, me, drush, nite and so on
and we play for fun, so theres really no question about going separate ways or not :)

bl4jnd: The secret is friendship :). Everyone that have played or are playing in aCtion are loyal to the team and are are good friends :) We dont care to much to win just to play with nice people and have a good time doing it.

Gangsters in the back seat of the bus. (bl4jnd, gizmo and Drush)


In Q3 you had a constant lineup and great teamplay was an important part of your success, how important is teamplay nowadays in QL TDM compared to back then?

gizmo: Teamplay is more important nowadays. the bar is set higher now and mid-skilled teams are playing teamplay at a much higher level now than back in the days.

bl4jnd: Teamplay is the key to be the best team. Today there is alot more players and alot more skilled players than it was back in the days therefore teamplay is very important.


You guys also played Q4 TDM, what are your thoughts on that era?

gizmo: Our Q4 period was a great time, even though I joined the game a little later than the others we competed at the very top pretty much all cups and there were some rly nice teams always competing such as lm, FOE and GUNK and also ic in the beginning.

bl4jnd: It was a very nice time. We had sponsors and we almost won everything in tdm (second alot of times in eurocup tho ;P). I rather play Quake 4 than Quake Live. Its a more complicated game and its harder to aim, move etc.


Enough about the past, aCtion missed out on the Playoffs of the current CB EuroCup, are you dissapointed?

gizmo: Well ofc its a bit sad, but we cant rly expect to beat guys that practise 2, 3 times more than us. Were older now and we have less time for gaming and whinier girlfriends more kids and more work theese days ;). We still aim to upset some of the "big" teams in the future, we love beeing the underdog!

bl4jnd: Naaa not really, we play maybe half the practice TDM than the rest of the teams and still manage to play very even with the top teams. Tho it would be very nice to be the best :).

4th place behind srs, METSU and TA.


TDM seems to have gained a bit of momentum, do you think it can gain back importance and be a central part of competitive Quake again?

gizmo: My opinion ofcourse is that TDM is the funniest and also social MOD (and CTF ofc) and I think thats what many have realised
lately. 1v1 can be fun for some time but in the long run the mates is what makes u come in and play often. A great solution is to arrange LANs and cometitions more often. I wouldnt feel the same for the game if i hadnt met all nice guys IRL that I have.

bl4jnd: I dont think so but I hope. I like both 1on1 and TDM but I think if there would only be 1on1 tournaments alot of players would quit Quake live.


Lets talk a bit about Dreamhack Summer. What are your expectations?

gizmo: We are not sure abut what lineup we will use but we believe it will be pretty strong atleast. We havent played THAT much 4v4 lately but before the event we will try push it to get our game a little smoother. We're going for the competition but also for the get-together, we will play, party and have a great time! and ye btw we will be top3 at the least ;).

bl4jnd: First place.


Do you think that LAN will affect how teams play?

gizmo: Yes I do. Personally id be dissapointed if I dont play better. My internet gaming has been mostly at a 10 or 100mb, but as I moved in with my gf and I have to play with 45-50 ping and it hasnt rly improved things :/. From what I know of earlier LAN events I believe we play better on LANS teamwise aswell.

bl4jnd: A little bit... because of the ping. Lg is aloooooot better with 0 ping :). Otherwise it want change much I think.


Who do you see as the Tournament favorite?

gizmo: reason, ic, if they WILL attend and also 4kings. Im rly interested in seeing 4kings on LAN. Their teamplay is awesome and time and time again I get surprised how much they can accomplish with it. Playing in their team is very organised and relaxed from what I know. This in my opinion is not easy to manage.

bl4jnd: aCtion or 4kings


What is your take on the Mappool?

gizmo: I have no straight answear for this one, we have not rly any xtra strong maps id say and even what some might call our worst maps we can from time to time play very well. The coming weeks of prac will let us know.

bl4jnd: Remove realm of steel rats, intervention and grim dungeonn. Then add two new maps.


What is your opinion about the issue of MG balance in TDM?

gizmo: Imo the MG is too weak or atleast u have not enough bullets to start with :/

bl4jnd: Its good. I havent thought so much about it.


Thanks for your time and good luck in your next matches!

gizmo: thanx ureself lets hope we will upset some hotties in the near future

bl4jnd: Thx and see u on DH I suppose! :)