Hello Blaze, can you just introduce yourself please?

Hi! So my name is Robin Hammaräng, currently living in Gothenburg, Sweden and studying Information Technology at Chalmers University of Technology. I’m turning 25 this year and I’ve been playing Quake since 2003 where my schoolmates got me hooked on it (thanks to link, emp and raccoon)!

We all know you as our fellow DreamHack admin, could you tell us how you got there and what you are doing exactly?

I was attending to DreamHack Winter 2006 as a regular visitor when I heard that Dronar and snapcase needed help with the Quake 3 stop for CPL Nordic. So I offered my help and they accepted it. After that I was in, acting as an admin the following events. Dronar, which was the Head Admin of Quake when I started, dropped out 2009 I think and I picked up where he left off. Me and my admins (Slayzah and snelvovve) are involved with almost all the planning before the event, we have a say in what kind of tournament we want to have, what kind of tournament format, amount of players, inviting players, rules, schedule and all such things I can think of. We’re working very close to the DreamHack HQ so both of us are prepared for what’s to come.

Could you give us any insight into the preparations for DreamHack? What are the first steps etc.

The process is rather simple, when it’s decided that we’re going to have a Quake tournament we’re discussing what kind of tournament we should have. After we settled on something we start to draw up a rough schedule based on amount of players and computers so we know for sure that the tournament is doable within 2-3 days. We’ve done this so many times that it’s a pretty short process now. This is where we announce the tournament; ask you guys to sign up and shortly after we start to invite players.

Would you consider QuakeLive TDM again for DreamHack Winter, or will you concentrate on Duel, after the disappointing DHW 2011?

We haven’t started planning for the Winter event yet, but I have to be honest and I was disappointed with the amount of teams that actually showed up last time. Perhaps we could’ve handled it better from our side, we’ll never know now though. Personally I’m not that excited to go for another team mode, but we have to consider the community and the state of it. If the TDM or CTF community is in a good shape and there are teams actually willing to go I won’t be the guy to say no.

What was your worst moment at DreamHack?

Easy one! I think it was DreamHack Winter 2009 where me and Pax were about to host our first Quake Live LAN tournament together with a Quake World tournament. There were so much problems everywhere, problems with computers, network, sound cards, monitors and so much more. The network department at DreamHack had given us too few ip addresses for the tournament areas so all of our computers couldn’t go online. The 120hz monitors we had got at that time came with the wrong cables, with single links instead of double, so we had to fix tons of stuff like that to get the actual tournament going. DreamHack had borrowed computers from Inferno Online (I think) so there was some kind of protection on the hard drives so we couldn’t reinstall them. I remember that we stayed up all night before the tournament to fix it. We actually did fix it, but when the players arrived 8 in the morning we still were without sleep.
I actually thought that I wouldn’t come back after this event, but apparently I did!

What were your best or funniest moments at DreamHack?

I can’t really point out the best or funniest moment; I’ve enjoyed most of the events. During the events there’s always a ton of stuff to do so it’s really relieving when the tournament is over and you can look back and be happy about completing it.
Although I have to say I enjoy grabbing a beer with the other players, admins, supporters and DH crew in the bar to finish off the day.

I heard that Cooller retired from QuakeLive again, which is quite a big loss I'd assume, but there seems to be new Russian blood like evil and pavel. Do you think one of them could step up and earn similar fame?

I’m not sure; Cooller is such an icon for Quake. Part of it is of course his gamestyle but I think it’s mostly his personality that made him this famous. I haven’t met or talked to either evil or pavel so I’m looking forward to it. I guess I have to say that time will tell!

Did you actively play any of the Quake titles?

I started out with playing Quake World and Quake 3 in school with my friends there. We mostly played casual games, especially in Qw, such as midair and dmm4. We were a couple of guys picking up the game at the same time so we also played a good amount of duels. When I got a broadband connection at home I started to play OSP CTF and I enjoyed the game more than ever. Until I discovered CPM; I think I started playing it actively 2005 or 2006 and I’ve been playing it since then. Since I started school I don’t have a lot time nor a proper computer or connection so I’m not very active now.

What are you doing between DreamHack events?

Enjoying life, going to festivals or concerts, white water kayaking (actually got a few Swedish Championship medals and went to the World Championship once), snowboarding, playing volleyball or simply having a good time with my friends.

Thanks for the interview and for supporting QuakeLive! <3

Thanks for the interview, shout out to my fellow admins Slayzah and snelvovve!
Remember, DreamHack Loves Quake!