This will be a mess

He will probably play the matches. But the spot will be given to someone else if he don't have a visa. Unless he gets visa in time by some miracle

He has confirmed he will be playing his Quakecon matches from home.

Cheater from QL cannot play without dirty stuff in QC too - confirmed!

proof he cheated?

katzap

"Do not let the russians in, they'll rob your country!

I did not mean to judge this post. He has - just about - enough time to apply for a priority visa, potentially re-apply if it's denied but that's a stretch.

I have no idea of the process any player has followed thus far, but applying for a visa requires a letter of recommendation from ESL and/or idsoftware/bethesda. The letter may contain specific details such as predicted date of flight, tournament and duration of stay. It is rare that a player will apply for a visa before he has a guaranteed spot in the tournament due to the costs that ESL are likely to front.

You are suggesting that this is a new and easily avoided problem. It's not. This happens in every game and has happened in every esport since forever.

Good factual post, he has plenty of time,

I apologize for my ignorance - that's why I made this thread in the first place.

I didn't know there's still hope for a visa, neither did I know that he will be playing from his home in the case he won't get one.

No problem man, I was new to this once too! I just hope he has a passport, somebody suggested he might not LOL! :D

According to Agent, he has a recently renewed passport, and he wrote to Syncerror and Zero4 repeatedly about an invitation, but got only one response quite recently from Zero4, asking for details what were already sent.

He didn't book an interview at the US embassy because he didn't know if he's going, and with current situation booking is almost impossible. So his only chance now is some help from ESL and/or id. Which is unlikely. To add to all of that, Agent's main source of income (sports betting) is quite unstable and can be a hurdle during the interview.

Also, side story of Agent and his LAN attendance (as told by him on his streams, with my opinions and if I'm remembering all that correctly). Some time around 2010-2011 he wanted to git gud at quake and win something. He was training constantly and already had some online and LAN top placements. So at some point he had a deal with M5 gaming organisation that they will support him going at Quakecon 2011. He got a foreign travel passport and was ready to go, placing a lot of effort in training. But less than month before the event M5 suddenly kicked him out, taking Cooller instead. M5 managers just said something like "Sorry, Cooller is a bigger name than you". That was the tilt moment for Agent, and he doesn't get anything e-sports related seriously since then. Also he says that all those rumours about him not having a foreign travel passport are untrue. Time checks out, btw, he could get a 5-year travel passport in 2011 and he could renew it with a 10-year travel passport in 2016 or 2017.

Some may dislike Agent, but there is unfortunately a big possibility that he will be unable to participate at Quakecon. He has quite a personality, he's objectively one of the top contender, he can be a great drama generator, and without him Quakecon will definitely be more dull, leaving us, viewers, at a loss.

Wow he got really screwed over! Hope he competes, easily top 3 so a chance for atleast $30k

Let's hope zero4 reads this and has a little bit of love left for the competetion in his donut-shaped heart

Here's an update:
Zero4 answered (yesterday?) that he is in England now, and will send an invitation only after his return to US. Which will be in some days, and Agent still needs to book an interview at the embassy.

Embassy is overbooked for the two months in advance (sanctions and diplomatic personnel parity, you know). There may be a chance to get an interview in Ekaterinburg (about 2000km away from Agent, 200 euro avia tickets for roundtrip), or Vladivostok (about 8000km away, 700 euro for roundtrip). But it's also unclear, because there may be some rule that a citizen should attend only his nearest embassy to get a visa. And after that it's two to four weeks waiting time.

Zero4 was surprised that visa approval process takes so much time in some countries. But Xron and Cypher had the same situation: ESL was in charge of visas and couldn't get it done in time, so both of them were absent for the sacrifice LAN.

"Zero4 was surprised that visa approval process takes so much time in some countries."

I liked that part. Props for the update tho.

More like: Zero4 was surprised that visa approval process takes so much time in developing countries.

*ba dum tss*

Better to be devloping, than stagnant. don't you think so?)

doubt it a lot, visa issues have plagued quakecon forever, stupid excuse, he was the first player i became a fanboy off circa 2002 but seriously, fuck him and fuck quakecon. They will get what they deserve because the same stupid mentality killed what could have been a worthy successor to the series. Its only a matter of time for Quake Champions to flop and USA having a longer unemployment line.

agreed 100%

I might like agent or not but it doesnt change the fact that both him and cypher were royally screwed this time

which is fucking amazing since ID organized quakcon for almost 20 years now and they definitely have the experience on subject matter yet they didnt bothered to make sure esl put it together properly

Agent was trying to deal with the invitations and visas long before - wrote to Zero4 and idsoft with the help of his English-speaking friends, but he wether had been ignored for months or answered with the same requests for the info he has already sent.
Now it's 2-months wait until a queue at the US embassy may only be available for him to apply, and noone is talking about any 'priority visas' - doesn't seem like any organization will try and help Kaluga Beast in getting to the championship.
Furthermore - it looks ike not even Zero4 was interested in Agent's chance to compete on location, otherwise the answers and even little help of required invitations and any little directional advice would've been sent before qualifiers have taken place.

Individuals are reaponsible for their own Visas. Zero4 and ESL have nothing to do with it. All the info is on Google, in all languages, and reading it takes less time than playing one QC match.

Also, there's nothing id software could have done or could do now. They don't have any leverage with the Russian US Embassy to speed up the process.

I know all of this is obvious and at our age everyone here should at least know the basics, but I guess Russian supporters on this thread just don't understand the obvious, or prefer to play the fool or the blaming game.

But there is something that can be done with help of ESL and/or id:
P-1A Internationally Recognized Athlete Visa

Just read it and it's the same process, of scheduling an interview and going the Embassy, so it's taking more than a month anyway.

BTW doesn't he even have a tourist Visa to enter the US?

How do you imagine a person should apply for a visa without being certain that he will go through the regionals? (also considering that balance was shifted just before the event)

Maybe you can understand the level of frustration of going through all the hoops and not getting a spot at the finals? (like the one that evil had)

Tourist visas are usually getting processed longer than some other types - more people, more facts to check. And judging by this page, processing time could be from one day to sixty.

Too bad Russians have it harder than others but if those are the rules then yes that's exactly what he should have done.

Gettting a Visa is a hoop too, so is a part of the gamble to take when thinking of participating on this event. The other part is putting the practice time to then maybe not qualify.

That site doesn't only state that. The most important thing it says is how many days it will take the interview (appointment) to be held, after scheduling it. In Moscow it's from 30 to 52 days, depending on the Visa type, so it's already too late for him.

His sole chance is to request an emergency appointment. Link on that website. And of course he should stress he's not working or training there, but just competing in a three days long event.

BTW I've been through a similar process twice (for vacationing before ESTA and for studying), and it's not hard or time consuming at all. In his case he just needs to make the phone call request for the emergency appointment, go with the papers given to hin by id or ESL (one email away) and pay for the fees (marginal compared to what he could realistically win). And if he's not granted the interview well too bad foe him, but I'm sure other Russian players planned this in advance.

I'm just stating that knowing three weeks in advance is just too little time. And not getting help from tournament organisers. Especially considering that QC hype machine already looks broken - they got some nice investments into production and prize pool, but barely any investments into advertising. I haven't seen QC-related articles in gaming-related sources, almost no one from my non-quake friends even knows about QC.

Also, there is some hope with Yekaterinburg. It's just three hours flight time from Moscow and 200-250 euro for tickets. All he needs now is an invitation. Which is delayed until Zero4 returns to US.

man, deal with it - z4 doesn't give a shit about Agent's chances to get to US and fair competition - he never even checked the docs which Agent sent him almost 3 months ago as of now! next thing you know he will say, that upon return to US he was too busy to bother with invitation or smth...

and think of it - the invite is sent trhrough internet, right? what matter does it have where you are,nowadays, when internets are everywhere? I mean - I'm signing up fucking building contracts with companies 7000 kilometers away - does zero0 think we'll believe in his inability to contact people overseas with emails or skype immediately?
that's a fucking joke, guys - look at the facts and count how many contestants from CIS will be replaced by that 'sudden' and nowhere-mentioned-before runners-up bunch.
way to go QWC, way to go.

imagine grand-finals last minute 'runners-up tourney' announcement... sounds ridiculous, right? same here, but noone seem to care, knowing id's way of doing things...

I don't blame Agent in playing and I don't know why anyone can hate him for it. If he doesn't get a visa it must be extremely annoying for him when he has the potential to be top 3 and make atleast $30,000!

+1 slot from byoc

don't worry, strenx has applied for a visa on agent's behalf. everything will work out perfectly!

https://clips.twitch.tv/FreezingOptimisticInternDxCat

xou confirmed he will be replaced by yay0

give the man a greencard

in case agent doesn't go, i hope he gives his spot to either :

evil (back to back qcon finalist)

vo0 (big fan)

Watching vo0 yesterday vs. Cooler was fantastic, most enjoyable.

Same with avek, but he has already qualified. No way he's getting into the US ever again.

Not with a convicted drug charge in trump America

America is the greatest!

I meant to say avek played for a spot at something he cannot participate in, wasting a slot other players could have used, but I worded it poorly.

What a guy, isn't he. No idea how he still is cheered on by the community.

The win looks good though on his gaming "CV" if he wants a sponsor for future events which might take place in Europe. Can't really blame him for looking out for his interests.

He was convicted? Thats new to me

it's not stated anywhere he was convicted or charged and the only source of information is that shitstorm thread which doesnt contain any factual information, on how the situation was resolved

haters gonna hate, Av3k is a legend of the game while those nobodies talk shit they doesnt even know about him