Force 9

From QWiki

Force 9 were a British Quakeworld clan active between 1997 and 2000. They competed primarily in the mid-upper divisions of the UKCL, MCW, UKPL and FPL.

History

Clan F9 was formed in mid-1997 from a selection of regular modem players on the Force 9 ISP (now Plusnet) Quakeworld servers. Their first taste of competition was in the UKNCC, a league set up for newer QW clans to learn the ropes. Despite a couple of close matches and a small rivalry with clan Nexus-6 (of whom AeroTek was a member) F9 mostly dominated the league as their player base expanded and became more experienced.

The clan's first big break was at the Fusion 1998 LAN party where they defeated hosts Reality-X in the Fusion Clan Tournament before losing to Three Fingered Salute in the second round of the competition. With RX being a UKCL division 3 clan, their defeat on a LAN by an unknown group of players raised a few eyebrows. F9 had left a mark.

Spurred on by their Fusion performance, F9 entered a team for the UKCL Season 3 cup which resulted in similar fortunes. This time they defeated UKCL division 2's ACME before losing a close match with division 1's Xtreme Chaos. These results catapulted Force 9 into the main UK Quakeworld scene and before long they had been entered straight into the mid-divisions of the UKCL and MCW.

F9 continued to thrive, putting in big wins and regularly practicing with top-flight clans such as Demonic Core, Denial and QPD. However, despite making light work of the third and second divisions of the primary UK Quakeworld leagues, Force 9 simply could not compete at the top. Regular defeats in those divisions lowered the morale of the clan, as their 'giant killer' image began to fall apart. Regular accusations of cheating didn't help matters and before long F9 simply imploded. The more active players began to look elsewhere as the clan was stripped back to it's original form, consisting primarily of Force 9 ISP alumni.

This down-scaling of the clan rejuvenated it and F9 continued to enjoy some success in the UKCL as well as newer UK leagues such as the UKPL and FPL. Tactics and practice were pushed to the side as members placed more emphasis on simply having fun - duels, free-for-alls, pick-up games, friendly matches, etc, were common. Much of the atmosphere of the clan's early days had returned, and with the UK Quakeworld scene fast approaching its twilight years, F9 finally withdrew from active competition in late 2000.

"SiD!"

Information

Members

Former members

Achievements

  • 1997 - 2nd UKNCC
  • 1998 - 2nd UKCL (Season 4, division 3)
  • 1998 - 1st MCW (Season 3, division 3)
  • 1998 - 1st UKCL (Season 4, division 2 - joint with SPG)
  • 1998 - 2nd MCW (Season 4, division 2)
  • 1999 - 1st FPL (Season 2, division 3)
  • 1999 - 1st FPL (Season 3, division 2)
  • 1999 - 1st or 2nd UKPL (Season 1, unknown division)
  • 2000 - 2nd UKPL (Season 2, unknown division)

External links