Hello, I am a person coming over from the Quake Live community, and am also a map designer for Quake III, who is a part of the LevelDesign.nl community and the Quake3World community. I would like to share my opinions on the maps id is offering us and why we should come to appreciate these maps and enjoy them, rather than complaining about what we don`t have.

There`s an old saying that I promote with great frequency - "Try it, you might like it." That may sound quite trite, but it is a true phrase, yet it is one that probably 90% of people here refuse to acknowledge.

Many of you probably are wanting id to add some popular maps that the community has been demanding for a long time now. q3wcp9, q3wcp14, cpmctf2, cpm1a... the list goes on. Now, I, as much as anyone else here, would like to see these maps added. However, I also realize that I can`t control what id is going to do with Quake Live`s future. No amount of complaining is going to get the job done.

From the QL forums, I have laid eyes upon some posts where people said that "all id is giving us right now is useless maps that nobody wants". I beg to differ. While everyone does have their own opinions and tastes, you can`t just say "nobody" wants them. There are people, and quite a large amount, that are enjoying the maps id has given to us, including myself. Also, "useless" should not apply to any of the maps in QL. An example of a useless map is test_bigbox. Although some arenas in QL are questionably simple, such as Thunderstruck, they still have value because they have weapons and items to help to make the map playable. Of course, you could always play Clan Arena, but not everybody does.

Take a look back at some of the maps id has given us within the past few updates. Do you really consider all of them to be "useless, maps that nobody wants?" You need to consider that all of the maps in QL were built by some of the best level designers in the world. They have a working knowledge of what makes and breaks a map. They have their maps examined for potential gameplay and technical problems, they are heavily polished, and the maps only make the final cut once all the work is finished. Even though everyone has their preferences, you also must consider the time and effort put into these maps, and realize that they have all the qualities of what most people would see as a good map.

Take Devilish, for example. This map has gotten "okay" to "awful" reception in it`s QL debut, yet ironically it was also the 1st place winner of the NoGhost Mapping Competition back in Q3. That`s a lot of variance in opinion right there. However, take a closer look. Many people say that the map is "large" for a duel map. It is, in a way, but you`d be surprised at how fast it plays. In both practice duels and online ones, I found this to be a very enjoyable map. It may not be to everyone`s taste, but it still has all the qualities of what made Blood Run so legendary - connectivity, item balance and control, etc. At least give thanks to Justin "StormShadow" Ingels for giving you this map.

This also comes to show how harsh the QL community generally is, especially towards new or unfamiliar maps. Back at Q3W or LevelDesign.nl, a map can get good to excellent reception there. However, when / if it arrives in QL, people look upon it from a different perspective. And before anyone says "Those people don`t know what good maps are," let me assure you that they do. They criticize maps. They tell what`s bad in addition to the good. They even comment on texture misalignments. What makes them different is that they can look at a map from the "inside", so to speak, and know the true quality of the map as a whole, rather than by preference.

To summarize, it`s not id`s fault that you don`t like the maps. That`s your preference, not the actual quality of the maps. How is id software supposed to know that a map like "Gothic Rage" or "Double Impact" is "useless" or "crap", if it has the qualities that all your favored maps (q3wcp9, ztntourney1) have?

Once again, I realize everyone has their opinions and preferences. But also remember that it`s quality that matters, not preference. And back at Q3W / LevelDesign.nl, that`s how we see things, and that`s how I`d like to see QL view things as well.

Because we are not ran by bias.

We are ran by perspective.