This past week saw Quake finally listen to the community.

Instead of the usual focus on a tiny number of players battling it out for the title of the best introvert, we had a competition in the format most people actually enjoy playing.

Team modes.

Finally the focus was taken off the celebrity glamour of duel and placed on the community that actually supports the game.
Was the format perfect? No.

Are the team modes the best they could be for spectators? No.

Did the unenthusiastic commentary, lack of games streamed and poor analysis elevate the entertainment? No.

But for anybody with half a brain, this event was different. We actually brought back that excitement we had when Quake was worth a mention in ‘esports’.

Team modes built the community that encouraged players to fly thousands of miles and play for a realistic chance of ZERO dollars prize money.

I should not need to highlight the importance of focusing on making Quake an engaging and welcoming environment for team games. I outlined those obvious points previously.

All I must do is first thank ‘id’ (I presume Sync Error and Sponge) for listening to the community and finally giving the game some direction towards potential growth.

And secondly ask this question…is it all just too late?

Can we finally accept that listening to organisers who wanted to reduce costs, and the money hungry egos of a few top players all demanding duel was the way forward, COMPLETELY and UTTERLY KILLED the game?!

LoL has shown the world that team games are where it's at, but hey we didn't even need that. The intelligent few among us have been saying for maybe a decade or more that focusing on duel was a mistake.

Nobody plays duel. It kills the community. No community means no players. No players means no audience. No audience means no sponsors. No sponsors means no money. No money means no events. No events means no interest. No interest means no further development.

Sure we all enjoy the show-piece of duel. Two of the best players fighting it out so we can name a BEST INDIVIDUAL PLAYER. But in reality it’s just like the ballon d'or in football. It's vanity.

So Fatal1ty got rich. Good for him. But Quake is dead.

Having a shitty stream every weekend showcasing the same 20 players will not build a game. It will KILL IT. We all mocked painkiller because nobody wanted to play it. But did anybody really think why? Was it really because it was a buggy game? No. It was because it was all focused on duel. 90% of people do not want to play duel.

Most people have an ability to be social. Most want to play with friends. Most don't want the insane pressure of everything being down to them.

Think of every arena shooter that has been made off the back of Quake. They all focus on duel and they all FAIL. Reflex will fail too.

Please all you duel supporters WAKE UP that YOU have killed quake. The major mistake id made was to listen to the community and focus on duel. Quake SHOULD BE A TEAM FOCUSED GAME. Just like LoL or CSGO are that are now killing it once a broader audience has access to watch.

I hate every one of you duel only supporters that killed my game.

Duel should actually be removed completely and the development team for the next quake should focus around a single team mode. Something with an objective that sets a focus on the viewpoint.

End

Just watched this... (Need to be UK or get a damn prox)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b050ssz2/the-rise-of-the-cyber-athletes

Interesting. My two cents:

- Why would we care if esports is actually considered a "sport" in the traditional sense?

- I don't think the whole "esports" discussion makes sense. People like specific games. Some more than 1 but very few like the WHOLE of esports.

- Games change all the time to be completely different. Sports do not. There is no applicable history to be built if they change often, so I think it will be hard to build a lifetime fan like you would in a sport.

- The growth and money seems more to do with broadcasting (Why did we pick Quake to stream and why did we quit!) and twitch of which many major broadcasts could be considered casual gaming. So isn't it more about entertainment than competition now. 'Big Brother' is technically a competition, but 99% of the show is just about entertainment (debatable).

Discuss...

Scheduled: 14:00 CDT, 28 August 2014 to 15:00 CDT, 28 August 2014
Schedule: Passed

Level Up TV is back and hot on the heels of the latest Quake Live update is ready to talk! We have finally reached episode 6 of ‘We’re Talking It’ our topical chat show, and this time it features Disrepute, vor and nvc.

Discussion topics

The Quake Live update, the major changes, the community and our reactions, how it will impact the future of the game... and all the related topics around. We also have some community questions to answer! Tune in on TV1 twitch.tv/leveluptv.

VOD: Episode, Q&A
Related: Level Up TV -

So we will be doing a new show next week and we will have a Q&A section. So if you have any questions to ask that we could discuss/answer, post them here and we will use em!

I know many people have their favourites be it old-school DJ Wheat, Quake GOD 2GD or Up and Comer ddk.

Mine is vor.

If you listened at the weekend you would know why. I would say he is significantly better than others that have enormous hype around them.

Agree?

After safely arriving home from QuakeCon Level Up TV's Disrepute sat down with Zoot to discuss their experiences. If you missed it here is the VOD!

FULL - Level Up TV QuakeCon Review – With Disrepute and zoot

Remember to subscribe to our YouTube while you are there!

Related: Level Up TV -

While many of you might have watched our live coverage from Sweden at the DreamHack event, we also provided a second stream covering games that clashed. This was produced live from our London studio by Disrepute, with additional commentary from nVc and vor.

The playlist for all the matches covered during the two days is found on our YouTube channel here:

Level Up TV - YouTube Playlist

Level Up TV is proud to announce we will once again be covering the Quake Live Tournament from DreamHack Summer 2012. To explain all about it I ( Disrepute) sat down with Zoot for a quick chat.

Enough! Do you ever stop talking! Lets get onto DreamHack already! What are you most looking forward to?

Everything, even the technical issues. No, but really.. I want to see why it is known to be the largest LAN event in the world – I want to meet all the people I’ve been streaming and I want to laugh at Insan3 when he loses all his games :D

FULL - Level Up TV at DreamHack – Zoot Interview

Related: Level Up TV -

Level Up TV are back with another in-depth strategic guide to Team Death Match in Quake Live. This time on the map Purgatory hosted by Disrepute and vor. Please watch the videos and share your comments and ideas in this thread. Any ideas are welcome.

• Purgatory Exorcised – A Quake Live TDM Guide to Purgatory by Disrepute and vor

Previous Guides:

• Grim Dungeons Excavated – Grim Dungeons Guide by Disrepute and vor
• Retribution Solution – Retribution Guide by Disrepute and vor
• Hidden Fortress Discovered – Hidden Fortress Guide by Disrepute and vor
• Dreadful Place Exposed – A Quake Live TDM Guide to Dreadful Place by Disrepute and vor

Related: Level Up TV -

Level Up TV are back with another in-depth strategic guide to Team Death Match in Quake Live. This time on the map Dreadful Place hosted by Disrepute and vor. Please watch the videos and share your comments and ideas in this thread. Any ideas are welcome.

• Dreadful Place Exposed – A Quake Live TDM Guide to Dreadful Place by Disrepute and vor

Previous Guides:

• Grim Dungeons Excavated – Grim Dungeons Guide by Disrepute and vor
• Retribution Solution – Retribution Guide by Disrepute and vor
• Hidden Fortress Discovered – Hidden Fortress Guide by Disrepute and vor

Related: Level Up TV -

Level Up TV present our brand new map guides for Quake Live TDM hosted by Disrepute and vor. Please watch the videos and share your comments and ideas in this thread. Any ideas are welcome.

//EDIT: We have now added Grim Dungeons to the selection of guides, so if you would like to hear our discussion on the most tactical map in Quake Live, or just want something to falls asleep to, the 3 part vod lasting 2 hours 20 is linked below! Expect us to add the additional maps in the coming weeks.

• Grim Dungeons Excavated – Guide

• Retribution Solution – Guide

• Hidden Fortress Discovered – Guide

Related: Level Up TV -

Level Up TV present Episode 002 of their Quake Live news show hosted by Disrepute and vor. Please watch the video and share your comments about the show and the topics discussed in this thread. Any ideas are welcome.


Please subscribe to our youtube channel. Previous episodes: Episode 001

Related: Level Up TV -

Hey guys,

Here Disrepute and vor present to you a Pilot show aimed at the Quake Live community. Its a kind of podcast style news and discussion show, the kind of thing people have been wanting for QL for quite a while.

This is just the first show and we have a lot to improve, it is a bit dry perhaps but will get more fluid and hopefully entertaining especially when we are inviting on guests.

Anyway have a watch and tell us what you think, any ideas you might have and most of all HELP NAME THE SHOW.

To do this please comment below with your ideas and we will pick one from the submissions. Try and make it clever with reference to Quake Live.



Related: Level Up TV -

Level Up TV is a video streaming service providing live shoutcasted streams of some of the best Quake Live games online (and at LAN) today.

So far Level Up have covered games for most of the major Quake Live competitions as well as Team Fortress 2 and Quake 3 cups.

On the 28th December 2009 a live group draw for the QuakeQuickCup Team Deathmatch NationsCup will be taking place live on stream.

EDIT - It appears lvl^ will not be allowed to cover any of the nations cup matches as planned. Although we obviously want to I was informed by holyshit that they had grabbed "exclusive coverage" rights a month or so before the cups were announced. Apparently us both streaming it would also be unacceptable to hstv so we are left with not being allowed to cover anything from the 3 different nations cups.

Level Up's Video on demand section is growing steadily with some classic matches already available.

However, Level Up are currently limited to 500kps upload by the streaming platform livestream and are currently in a competition to receive the ability to stream in High Definition. If you would like to help Level Up improve their Quake Live coverage you can vote for them over at the livestream website.

The voting closes at 22:30 CST, 28 December 2009 so be quick.