Hey, another day another dollar.Spanish people aren´t lazy but if I don´t publish that interview now, my balls will be cuted by jiriki.Then, the day is today, the moment is now and the DRAMA starts: Sir GIBBONS interview.
Trying to make contrast between old/epic and nuschool/TERRIBLE, I made the SAME questions to zaiko and Gibbons to see how different are the points of view of that players/moments.
First of all, How is the person behind the nick?How old are you, What are you doing?, tell us a little about your life outside the network.
I'm 19 years old, and currently a student at Manchester University. Outside of gaming I like to go out and get drunk and have a good time with my mates. I don't really do much work wise so have lots of free time.
Tell us about your story in the competitive NS. Getting Started tell us which were your major achievements and competitions in which you participate, the clans where you
was, ect.
I started playing NS since 1.04 release and played on and off. In 2.0 I made my own community with a guy called Teepo. We called it "The Terrible Gorges" and although we were called a clan, it was definately a community. We had a 20 man servers (hosted from my home) with over 10 different plugins on including the very first marine vs marine plugin (developed by me). In 3.0 a guy called waller, who was a player on my server, told me to sign up to a gather channel and play. I played a gather and still remember it till this day. We had Organmueller on our team as lerk and I remember it being end-game. We turtled in our hive (the old pipeline on veil) while Organmueller pancaked around like a pro killing marines. This is when I got into competetive gaming. I soon formed a team with Tweadle (another regular on my server) and an estonian called iCs. The team started off well with everyone wanting to improve and I loved it. iCs unforunately emo quitted but we soon got good players like Player, pantsu (I recruited him off public after me and him outscored frG on veil - kids eh?), Shadow and TheFog. Since then I just moved up the ranks slowly. I think that was a mixture of the steep learning curve and the fact I only got a half decent PC around the time I was playing for Emergency Room. The clan which I had the most fun in was easily The Sproggalots. We were super active, had a mixture of personalities and I think we were the fastest team to improve in the history of NS. The banter we've had on vent has been hilarious and there are a few moments I'll never forget. own? (omgwtfns?) was a great clan however for similar reasons to sprogga, just with less talent and length. My major achievements would be winning division 2 and then 1 ENSL in two seasons, giving sheep, green and even alty a chance to grow, and actually having one of the best match histories on the site!
How do you feel the community has evolved in your country and European competitiveness from your beginnings to these days? DRAMA SPOTTED
As I started in 3.0 it's hard to compare as really I joined NS when it was in decline. I think the scene, although put down by a few people, is actually incredible. There are so many players I really respect just because they keep trying and have kept the scene alive so long. People have stuck with NS even till today and that's incredible for such an old game. I think skillwise NS has been very up and down. Currently I think the skillceiling is pretty low but that's because the only decent team playing is Saunamen. I do feel though that as the game progressed the alien skill ceiling got higher and the marine skill ceiling dropped slightly. However I don't agree with zaiko about the nL comeback comment. The Sproggalots dominated nL in the first official 4-0 (the only ever 4-0 win over nL?) and in every pcw up till 3 days before the finals. I see every finals in the same way, it's not always the best team that wins but sometimes the most active one. Not taking anything away from nL! Back on track however... I still do feel though that some players have evolved in some areas where no other players have in the history of NS. Sheep's orientation as lerk is unbelievable and is clearly more then just practice. Phils movement can only be defined as sick in all aspects. Cosmic showing the scene girls can play NS and aim. Enigmatic being a complete aimbot. Alty and Green inventing the zwndr and in my eyes revolutionising skulk dodging and movement.
Talk a little bit about versions. What's your opinion about the different versions and what do you think about each one?
I think the current version is actually the best as it's well balanced and very bug free!
Do you think the difficulty curve ns has been too high for the players called "casual"?
I agree and disgaree. I just feel that the game needed a more indepth help system. The game should come with a manual which teaches players how the game works, as in fairness, it is very complicated. Still, I don't see the difficulty curve as a bad thing. It filters out the more intelligent players from the dumb ones, as in my eyes even the dumbest NS players are more intelligent then players from other games (bar Jimmis).
What are your expectations for NS2? What are as game´s player?
I just want it to retain the skill aspects of NS1 with some new features which add spice and depth. I'm optimistic it'll be a good game, but I still think it will be no way near as good as NS1.
Do you know enough of ns2? What do you think about the new game? (Especially the symmetrical style (2 Commanders, unification of resources, mobile siege)
I actually try to read as little as possible from the site so I stay sane. Well, 50% of what I have read just seems illogical. So best stay away.
What is your opinion about the changes aimed at reducing the learning curve (elimination of bhop, purchase weapons system, etc) and do you think that will help the community to grow in number of players, sponsors, etc. or by Instead much of the hardcore gamers think of ns1 that has lost the essence?
I think it will reduce the learning curve but I don't think it's going to have a massive effect on the player population. NS2, even dumbed down, will be a very unique game and this to me will be what seperates the usual CS pubber and the typical game enthusiast. I do think NS2 will have less original essence of NS1 though, and this will be a shame. Some features that the team is thinking of adding however seem to make the game more confusing, just in different areas (less skill more brains). So we'll see the final product first.
Will you buy NS or you've already purchased?
I've already purchased the SE like a good little boy.
Many features of the hl2 source as HLTV are not available for NS2 at begin.What type of tools based on the competitive game would you like to be available and you've seen in other games?
I would like to see a STV feature (HLTV), player stats (like in TF2 to see hours played ect.), and that's about it really. That + IRC and you've got yourself the basic competetive tools.
What was or were your / s lifeform / s ns1? What do you expect of them for ns2?
I normally play fade. The NS2 team hasn't actually released much/any information on the fade yet so I'm still sitting back and waiting. However I do hope that the fade is just as movement orientated and still relies on a skill and brains curve to seperate the good fades from the top fades.
What changes do you think should be done in order to ns2 in organization of leagues, tournaments, etc.?
As mu said in a few forum posts, rules need to be stricter as there is a bigger playerbase. Anti-cheat teams need to be set up also.
Do you think that ENSL will be a good reference for the future ns2 competitive scene?
Hopefully so.
Would you consider beneficial to the game had great success with all that implies (leagues, sponsors, etc) albeit at the cost of making the game more accessible to casual players?
Yeah ofcourse! There is no competetive community or scene without a pool of casual players to evolve from.
What are your concerns about the new UWE engine created by ns2?
From what I've seen it looks great, I only SLIGHTLY worry about the hitreg.
Do you consider the ns2 being a new network engine will resolve the typical problems of regging or on the contrary nothing will change?
Max is a very good coder and clever guy so I have faith.
Do you have a computer ready for ns2 or intend to buy?
With a bit of tweaking my PC will run NS2 fine!
What is your opinion about "downgrading"? (The tendency to play with minimal graphics to get as many fps and performance)
As a competetive player I generally always downgrade the game to give better performance and to give an advantage. I raise the gamma, lower the model quality ect.ect. just so I have less things to worry about and so I can concentrate on the game.
Bunny hop or not bunny hop?
Bunnyhops fine but even better would be another movement system which has a skill curve but is easier to learn/use for newer players. (Never seen this done yet however).
Finally, tell us everything you want to say and we haven´t asked. Thank you for completing this interview and collaborate with the interview section of the ENSL.
Shoutouts to all of Sprogga and to Danny.
And that´s all folks.I have something interesting in mind for my next interview, probably one of the most expected interviews for the competitive/clan players.I´ll try to get my best for that but first, enjoy it and be nice with Gibbons.He deserved that fama moment.