Combating Evil: Talking to a Quake Live Legend
Introduction
The interview was recorded right after evil's victory in the Season Final of 125 FPS Season #35 Mar-Apr 2017. Most of the conversation is devoted to the analysis of the situation which occurred on the second day in the semi-final against agent. The match was delayed for 40 minutes due to evil's technical problems, preventing him to get started in the best conditions.
Cooke: Hello, evil! What's your feelings about the Season Final?
Evil: Hello. In general, the victory was unexpected for me, I did not even think that I would pass the group, I had to play on 100% of my abilities. In the first group match against iddqd, I lost the first map - it was a warm-up for me, and I almost lost the second, managing to win it only in overtime. On the third map, I played more confidently. With the rest of the opponents, it was also not so easy - all matches ended with a score of 2:1. In the end, despite the defeat to baSe, I managed to pass the group with the first place.
Cooke: How would you comment the situation that happened during the Semi Final against agent?
Evil: Ten minutes before the match, I had no problems after we started looking for the server with agent. After a small warm-up, agent pressed "ready", and at that moment I noticed some lags with my computer. I reported about this on the server and I decided to restart my PC, but it didn't fix the lag. In the end, I even had to change the connection. This gave me good results as the problems in the game were gone. But because of the constant pressure that was on me during the solution of these problems, I could not focus on the match at first and made some stupid things in the game. After a while in the first map I managed to get focused and brought the match to victory. These problems in the game have haunted me for a long time. During the time I didn't play (evil missed most of the Season - translator's comment), I did a lot of research to understand the reason of the lags. On Saturday, when the matches of the group stage were held, there were no problems, they appeared just before the game with agent.
Cooke: Do you think everyone should have waited for you? After all, it's only your problems.
Evil: Yes, I understand that. In general, I have been talking about this for a very long time, many players have already started using the fact that I have lags in the game in order to take advantage of this. They already began to think that they were better at playing than me, just because "something eventually happened". Several times there were situations when detractors arranged DDoS attacks on me or on the server. Such a situation can occur with each of the players, and I think that these problem need to be approached more seriously, that there is some support from the organizers of the tournament, the players should also take maximum actions to avoid it. I have a feeling that someone is messing with me - because the problems started again just before the match, but in the end I managed to fix it.
I have often started matches with such lags in the past, and often lost them, in such situations you can win only if you are very lucky in the game. I believe that such situations should be considered as "force majeure", the surrounding people should understand the situation. It would be different if I just left the server and disappeared, that would be irresponsible. But in my situation, it seems to me that it is worthwhile to show more understanding - as I said, such a situation can happen to everyone, and it will not be possible to disqualify everyone because of this.
We always need to act on the situation - on Sunday Cups I was often given forfeits losses because of the same problem, after which I decided to take a break for a 6 weeks.
Cooke: According to your intuitions, agent played at full strength on the first map?
Evil: Yes, he stopped playing seriously after the first frag on Lost World, the second map. After the first map, I disconnected from the server for a while to check if my anticipated solution for my internet connection issues were working. The waiting around seemed to have angered agent, although I understand him as he wanted to benefit from situation and that did not happen. He realized that he cannot beat me easily, and that his tricks don’t work against me when I’m not lagging. On Lost World for example, he locked me up in the LG room and wanted to control my position from the upper floor. In the end I did the same thing that rapha did against me in the final of DreamHack Winter 2012 (where I beat him 3:1). I went through the bottom floor, taking the Red Armor and taking the position on the Mega Health, and when he rushed that area I managed to frag him. If I was lagging it would possible that he would have gotten the frag. After that engagement, he decided to just rush me as he was angry at the situation as a whole.
Agent started to insist that he is given a 1:0 map advantage due to the delay. When he realized that this was not going to happen, he thought that he would be able to beat me in a fair fight without trying too hard, meanwhile on his stream he was accusing me of having a boring playstyle, and of deliberately delaying games. Sadly for him he failed this time. On the third map, Cure, he realized that he couldn’t get an advantage through the admins, and that he’d already been beaten on his favourite mate (Lost World), so he just sort-of quit. I think this just goes to show that he lost this series not because I was stronger, but because he spent more effort on protesting the situation. After all, I have not played for a month and a half, but I still won.
Cooke: Have you not played at all for a month and a half?
Evil: No, I did not play any Quake. I stayed away from the computer.
Cooke: Are you going to continue to play Quake Live?
Evil: Very unlikely. Prize pool for tournaments have become very minimal, I want to get normal money for the time spent playing. Perhaps I will participate in the next GameTribe Quake Live Duel Series. However there was no information posted about the league for a long time on the official website, they even removed the prize money information.
Cooke: Are you going to play Quake Champions?
Evil: It also depends on the tournaments that will be held, and their prize money.
Cooke: Do you like Quake Champions?
Evil: It's cool, I like that it's a "real Quake". You can straf-jump, get the frags in the air with Rocket Launcher. For me, the game does not look like Overwatch at all.
Cooke: If you are invited to play in Quake Champions for some team, would you accept?
Evil: Yes, I would gladly accept such an offer.
Cooke: How do you like the new Duel Mode in Quake Champions?
Evil: I don't really like it. I would prefer that the principle of dueling remained as in Quake Live, but with updated graphics. I understand the desire of developers. They want to make players use the abilities of champions to the maximum and to come up with something new in the game. I hope they will offer other variants. And perhaps the current mode will get popular with time.
Cooke: How do you like the idea with different champions? Which champion do you play the most?
Evil: I don't know how to answer this. It's funny, but whether it will work is a big question. For Quake this is very unusual. I play Ranger the most as I like his ability to teleport because it helps to control the whole map.
Cooke: Have you tried to play Overwatch at pro-level?
Evil: At first there were plans with the team, however everything went down. Also, all this situation with lags began to repel me from gaming as a whole.
Cooke: What are your impressions of the game? Did you enjoy playing it?
Evil: I had a passion, I was interested. However I wanted to not only enjoy the game, but also to monetize it. When I did not manage to monetize, I stopped playing it. My career in Overwatch was not set up already on the team searching process. Also I did not have access to the early beta version of the game, because of which some players had a clear advantage.
Cooke: What are your plans for e-sports in general?
Evil: There are no plans, now there is no stability. Now it is very difficult to get support in terms of sponsors. Those times when qualifiers for games were held in each city have already passed, when anyone could participate in a major tournament. Perhaps this will be in Overwatch. We will see what happens.
Cooke: Have you tried any other shooters?
Evil: No.
Cooke: Are you planning to go to QuakeCon this year?
Evil: In general, I have such plans. I hope that there will be a Duel Tournament at least in Quake Champions. So far only BYOC tournaments without serious prize money have been announced. If there is a duel tournament for professionals, then I will gladly go to take part of it.
Cooke: Would you prefer a Duel Tournament for Quake Live or for Quake Champions?
Evil: Quake Live, of course.
Cooke: You are still playing with the 8PLAY tag. Are they still your sponsor?
Evil: Yes, but they are ready to help me only with a trip to QuakeCon. So, if everything goes well in terms of tournaments, then I will be in Texas this year.
Cooke: Any final words?
Evil: I wish everyone would think more and fact-check their information. When it comes to me for example, I am accused of using my lags issues as an excuse for loses and that is not the case. Try to treat everything without bias. Good luck and have a nice day!
Source: Original Interview in Russian, team102.ru
The interview was recorded right after evil's victory in the Season Final of 125 FPS Season #35 Mar-Apr 2017. Most of the conversation is devoted to the analysis of the situation which occurred on the second day in the semi-final against agent. The match was delayed for 40 minutes due to evil's technical problems, preventing him to get started in the best conditions.
Cooke: Hello, evil! What's your feelings about the Season Final?
Evil: Hello. In general, the victory was unexpected for me, I did not even think that I would pass the group, I had to play on 100% of my abilities. In the first group match against iddqd, I lost the first map - it was a warm-up for me, and I almost lost the second, managing to win it only in overtime. On the third map, I played more confidently. With the rest of the opponents, it was also not so easy - all matches ended with a score of 2:1. In the end, despite the defeat to baSe, I managed to pass the group with the first place.
Cooke: How would you comment the situation that happened during the Semi Final against agent?
Evil: Ten minutes before the match, I had no problems after we started looking for the server with agent. After a small warm-up, agent pressed "ready", and at that moment I noticed some lags with my computer. I reported about this on the server and I decided to restart my PC, but it didn't fix the lag. In the end, I even had to change the connection. This gave me good results as the problems in the game were gone. But because of the constant pressure that was on me during the solution of these problems, I could not focus on the match at first and made some stupid things in the game. After a while in the first map I managed to get focused and brought the match to victory. These problems in the game have haunted me for a long time. During the time I didn't play (evil missed most of the Season - translator's comment), I did a lot of research to understand the reason of the lags. On Saturday, when the matches of the group stage were held, there were no problems, they appeared just before the game with agent.
Cooke: Do you think everyone should have waited for you? After all, it's only your problems.
Evil: Yes, I understand that. In general, I have been talking about this for a very long time, many players have already started using the fact that I have lags in the game in order to take advantage of this. They already began to think that they were better at playing than me, just because "something eventually happened". Several times there were situations when detractors arranged DDoS attacks on me or on the server. Such a situation can occur with each of the players, and I think that these problem need to be approached more seriously, that there is some support from the organizers of the tournament, the players should also take maximum actions to avoid it. I have a feeling that someone is messing with me - because the problems started again just before the match, but in the end I managed to fix it.
I have often started matches with such lags in the past, and often lost them, in such situations you can win only if you are very lucky in the game. I believe that such situations should be considered as "force majeure", the surrounding people should understand the situation. It would be different if I just left the server and disappeared, that would be irresponsible. But in my situation, it seems to me that it is worthwhile to show more understanding - as I said, such a situation can happen to everyone, and it will not be possible to disqualify everyone because of this.
We always need to act on the situation - on Sunday Cups I was often given forfeits losses because of the same problem, after which I decided to take a break for a 6 weeks.
Cooke: According to your intuitions, agent played at full strength on the first map?
Evil: Yes, he stopped playing seriously after the first frag on Lost World, the second map. After the first map, I disconnected from the server for a while to check if my anticipated solution for my internet connection issues were working. The waiting around seemed to have angered agent, although I understand him as he wanted to benefit from situation and that did not happen. He realized that he cannot beat me easily, and that his tricks don’t work against me when I’m not lagging. On Lost World for example, he locked me up in the LG room and wanted to control my position from the upper floor. In the end I did the same thing that rapha did against me in the final of DreamHack Winter 2012 (where I beat him 3:1). I went through the bottom floor, taking the Red Armor and taking the position on the Mega Health, and when he rushed that area I managed to frag him. If I was lagging it would possible that he would have gotten the frag. After that engagement, he decided to just rush me as he was angry at the situation as a whole.
Agent started to insist that he is given a 1:0 map advantage due to the delay. When he realized that this was not going to happen, he thought that he would be able to beat me in a fair fight without trying too hard, meanwhile on his stream he was accusing me of having a boring playstyle, and of deliberately delaying games. Sadly for him he failed this time. On the third map, Cure, he realized that he couldn’t get an advantage through the admins, and that he’d already been beaten on his favourite mate (Lost World), so he just sort-of quit. I think this just goes to show that he lost this series not because I was stronger, but because he spent more effort on protesting the situation. After all, I have not played for a month and a half, but I still won.
Cooke: Have you not played at all for a month and a half?
Evil: No, I did not play any Quake. I stayed away from the computer.
Cooke: Are you going to continue to play Quake Live?
Evil: Very unlikely. Prize pool for tournaments have become very minimal, I want to get normal money for the time spent playing. Perhaps I will participate in the next GameTribe Quake Live Duel Series. However there was no information posted about the league for a long time on the official website, they even removed the prize money information.
Cooke: Are you going to play Quake Champions?
Evil: It also depends on the tournaments that will be held, and their prize money.
Cooke: Do you like Quake Champions?
Evil: It's cool, I like that it's a "real Quake". You can straf-jump, get the frags in the air with Rocket Launcher. For me, the game does not look like Overwatch at all.
Cooke: If you are invited to play in Quake Champions for some team, would you accept?
Evil: Yes, I would gladly accept such an offer.
Cooke: How do you like the new Duel Mode in Quake Champions?
Evil: I don't really like it. I would prefer that the principle of dueling remained as in Quake Live, but with updated graphics. I understand the desire of developers. They want to make players use the abilities of champions to the maximum and to come up with something new in the game. I hope they will offer other variants. And perhaps the current mode will get popular with time.
Cooke: How do you like the idea with different champions? Which champion do you play the most?
Evil: I don't know how to answer this. It's funny, but whether it will work is a big question. For Quake this is very unusual. I play Ranger the most as I like his ability to teleport because it helps to control the whole map.
Cooke: Have you tried to play Overwatch at pro-level?
Evil: At first there were plans with the team, however everything went down. Also, all this situation with lags began to repel me from gaming as a whole.
Cooke: What are your impressions of the game? Did you enjoy playing it?
Evil: I had a passion, I was interested. However I wanted to not only enjoy the game, but also to monetize it. When I did not manage to monetize, I stopped playing it. My career in Overwatch was not set up already on the team searching process. Also I did not have access to the early beta version of the game, because of which some players had a clear advantage.
Cooke: What are your plans for e-sports in general?
Evil: There are no plans, now there is no stability. Now it is very difficult to get support in terms of sponsors. Those times when qualifiers for games were held in each city have already passed, when anyone could participate in a major tournament. Perhaps this will be in Overwatch. We will see what happens.
Cooke: Have you tried any other shooters?
Evil: No.
Cooke: Are you planning to go to QuakeCon this year?
Evil: In general, I have such plans. I hope that there will be a Duel Tournament at least in Quake Champions. So far only BYOC tournaments without serious prize money have been announced. If there is a duel tournament for professionals, then I will gladly go to take part of it.
Cooke: Would you prefer a Duel Tournament for Quake Live or for Quake Champions?
Evil: Quake Live, of course.
Cooke: You are still playing with the 8PLAY tag. Are they still your sponsor?
Evil: Yes, but they are ready to help me only with a trip to QuakeCon. So, if everything goes well in terms of tournaments, then I will be in Texas this year.
Cooke: Any final words?
Evil: I wish everyone would think more and fact-check their information. When it comes to me for example, I am accused of using my lags issues as an excuse for loses and that is not the case. Try to treat everything without bias. Good luck and have a nice day!
Source: Original Interview in Russian, team102.ru
