A lot of people were disappointed to see you not return after NQR6. Why did tVS quit after having such a good season?

There was several reasons for not to continue quake and I'll try to
list few of those here. First of all: there is no single reason which
lead us to the decision to not to continue.

1. The state of div1. Waiting, waiting and waiting. Is there more to
say? It took ages to get prac and games up and running.

2. Connection issue. Tut.fi network lagged then a bit and a month
later it became totally unplayable so blAze and Ihminen couldn't
play at all.

3. Real life stuff. As we all are well above 20 years old now, there are
some other things going on in our lives than qw. School and family
things mostly.


A lot people are delighted to see you return to EQL2. Why did you return?

A month ago ihminen tried some povdmm4 and said he owned all even he
had not played since LA game. So I jumped to server too and played
some pov. It was quite fun again. So we kind of got stuck in this game
again and thought maybe we could try some 4on4 too. So here we are


What are your thoughts on EQL and "league QuakeWorld" in general? Is it different now than it was back in the days of NQR6?

The basic structure of EQL is quite the same as we saw in NQR, which I
find quite good. Just the lack of interest in learning new map in div1
is dissappointing. We all are afraid of loosing because you might not
know the new maps as good as some other clans.

The top in div1 is nowadays narrower than it used to be. And now when
FoM is out of the picture, the lack of topnotch clans is even bigger.
IMHO the level of teamplay today is not at the level it used to be
some 2-3 years ago. Clans don't play as much togetger anymore. New
clans come and go etc. But it's nice to see that there are still some
older clans going for the trophy like AQ and FS, just to name a couple.


This season you recruited Milton from SSC. Was it him who approached you or the other way around and what were his reasons for joining tVS?

I think a couple years back at MindTrek LAN milton said to us that the
only clan he would leave ssc for is tVS. And the fact that we had only
3 active players without maga drove us to recruit a new player. It was
us to let Milton know our interest into recruiting him. So the first
approach came from our side and Milton did his own decision to join
tVS for EQL.


Your teamplay is among the best in the game. What makes tVS so solid as a team?

According to my information we were the first clan out there to use
qizmo voice. Since then we have used voicecom to beat our rivals. I
think the experience in using voicecom into our advantage and the
fact that ihm,blaze and me have played many years together makes a
package that is quite hard to beat. And when Milton joined, there is no
doubt what a player like him can do with solid teammates.


A lot of people named you as their favourites to win EQL2. Do you like being the favourite or would you rather be the dark horse?

We don't mind being the favourites. I have a feeling that we have
always been a (moral) favourite in public minds even we have not yet
won a single international tournament. And what makes us the
favourite? I think people enjoy our style. It's pretty
straighforward without too many tricky or complex tactics. I think we
are good example of what a solid teamplay can do against a clan with 4
highskilled individuals.


Your game seems to be improving all the time. How do you like your chances this season? Do you have enough to go all the way?

The more pracs we get the more better we will play. I hope that we all
have enough time together to prac few maps before every official game.
Then we will have a good chance to go for the victory.


And now for some more personal questions:

I understand Ihminen and Milton run most of the quads in tVS. Where do you think you best fit in ? Are you the rock-solid "DM2 tele and DM3 RA only" guy or the all-around support guy?

Now when Milton joined we have had to rethink some of our tactics. Now
we have 2 great quadrunners. My position have always been in
positional play, but in tight games it's not always possible to just
camp your own spot. During the years of play I think I've improved
quite a lot and I'm able adapt into different situations.

btw blAze is the dm3-RA guy not me


You just got back to playing QW with tVS. How has your long hiatus affected your feel for the game ? Is it like riding a bicycle?

Getting back to the state of skill and routine after a break always
behind a hard work. We all lack mostly the routine which leads into
some stupid mistakes. And there is no shortcut for routine. You just
need to play a lot and think what you are doing. You just tend to
forget all the small things in the game. Where to shoot in different
situations, positioning etc. It takes time..


Do you believe in the QW-connoisseur mythology where a better mouse+pad and the absolute optimal config and settings will make you a better player?

Better mouse+pad can't hurt you. But the differences between new
mouses aren't decisive. Config and settings will make you able to shoot
and move better, but you can't get any better if you don't practise.


Last but not least. some quick multiple choice questions:

Weapons: RL or shaft?

shaft

Maps: DM2, DM3 or E1M2?

dm2

Players: dag or fix?

fix

Commentators: gaz or sassa?

gaz

DM2 tele: hover at NG or sit in the kurwahole?

neither but an active style of play covering all the spawns on the area

Women: Teen slut or mature slut?

I would not go for a slut.

Thanks for the interview mirage and good luck to tVS in EQL2!