Posted by nineX @ 23:55 CDT, 19 September 2014 - iMsg
The Kickstarter campaign to fund development of the FPS game Reflex, developed by Turbo Pixel, is now up and running. While not only providing would-be backers and deathmatch fans with a quite a bit of standard information about the upcoming game, the page lists some very interesting previously-unreleased hints about gamemodes, match making and customization features.
In addition, the project is providing some very intriguing pledge reward tiers, ranging from a copy of the game to custom player and weapon models of your choice. Head over to the Reflex Kickstarter page now, and help the project reach it's goal.
Scheduled: 19:00 CDT, 6 May 2014 to 23:00 CDT, 6 May 2014 Schedule: Passed
After spending some time away from hosting competitive tournaments and working on a more refined tournament page layout, Ready Up Radio is proud to announce the 2v2 CPM QuickCup for May 2014. Tournament play will begin 19:00 CDT on May 6th.
Before the match starts, teams should decide the maps and the order they are played. Each time a map is called, be sure to "cv mode 2v2" and ensure that the proper weapon respawn time is set.]
Game settings:
Weapon Respawn Time: 10 seconds
PowerUp Respawn Time: 120 seconds
Armour Respawn Time: 25 seconds
TimeLimit: 15 minutes
Team Size: 2v2 (A team may consist of three (3) players at most.) Game Version:CPMa 1.48 Tournament Format: The tournament will be a single-elimination format, consisting of best-of-three matches between a maximum of 8 teams. The numerically higher seeded team will pick the first map to be played, and the numerically lower seeded team will pick the second. If a tie-breaker map is needed, a coin toss will then decide which team drops the first map, followed by the other team dropping the second map, leaving the remaining map to be used as the tie-breaker. Mappool:ztn3dm1, cpm25, cpm29, cpm15, pukka3dm1
Go to the team signup page, and enter the required information (teamname, players, contact info, nationality). I will add teams/players to the official list as they come in.
Posted by nineX @ 21:19 CST, 4 December 2013 - iMsg
Scheduled: 12:00 CST, 8 December 2013 Schedule: Passed
At the request of the community, the #uscpmpickup channel is hosting a 2v2 CPM QuickCup after a long absence of the format. Tournament play will begin 13:00 CDT on December 8th.
Game settings:
Weapon Respawn Time: 15 seconds
PowerUp Respawn Time: 120 seconds
Armour Respawn Time: 25 seconds
TimeLimit: 15 minutes
Team Size: 2v2 (A team may consist of three (3) players at most.) Game Version:CPMa 1.48 Tournament Format: The tournament will be a single-elimination format, consisting of best-of-three matches between a maximum of 16 teams. The numerically higher seeded team will pick the first map to be played, and the numerically lower seeded team will pick the second. If a tie-breaker map is needed, a coin toss will then decide which team drops the first map, followed by the other team dropping the second map, leaving the remaining map to be used as the tie-breaker. Mappool:ztn3dm1, cpm25, cpm29, xfdm2, invertedpenguin
UPDATE: The match deadline for the WB Round 1 is Thursday May 24, and WB Round 2/LB Round 1 is Tuesday May 29. Competitors should start scheduling their matches now. Please report the match time to nineX or wonko if you would like your match streamed.
Competitors in the Ready Up Radio CPM Duel League fought hard in group stages and now 16 players move on to Double Elimination rounds. There were a good amount of close games and even some surprises along the way. Check out the Ready Up Radio Twitch.tv page for VODs from several group stage matches.
In addition to the news about players advancing to the next round, we are also announcing additional prize money and extending it to fourth and fifth places. This is due to the extreme generosity of several people within the community: Enthal and MaverickMGS, who each donated $50. The new prize money allocations are as follows. Prizes: $85 for first place, $60 for second place, $35 for third place, $15 for fourth, $5 for fifth. A schedule for the group stages will be announced in the next couple of days on the tournament's rules page; please check their periodically.
Sign-ups for the Ready Up Radio CPM Duel League have been closed and player groups have been compiled. Even though all slots have been filled, we are still expecting there to be some no-shows. If you are interested in playing, please PM nineX on #uscpmpickup with your interest and you will be added. You will be notified if you are needed. Group play will begin May 5.
Group A - gellehsak, eThaD, pinion, Vig1lante Group B - lolograde, gaiia, nigel, shux Group C - kwong, Zeb, Magus^, byce Group D - outlaw, sixers, erhiy, LaNcER Group E - Lsv, BuSTeR, rush, daisukeorochi Group F - wonko, `Gillz, kforce, []34[] Group G - stv, dsN, tab, CaHboK #1 Group H - unicorn, coveryfire, manviking, kne
Please be idling the #uscpmpickup channel for the entirety of the tournement. Also check the Google Docs spreadsheet, where Group Stage scores will be posted.
EDIT: After talking with several players, there are no more set dates/time for individual groups. I will post matches for each of the groups, players are to read and follow the rules carefully and to play and schedule matches on their own. Both players will need to report scores to nineX, wonko or eThaD. Also, if you have any interest in having your match streamed, please contact one of them and that can be worked out. Players have until May 13 to have all their group matches played. I will begin filling out the bracket May 14 with the top 2 of each group, whether or not all games have been played. I will contact players if there is a need for a tie-breaker within the group. Good luck.
nineX and wonko from the #uscpmpickup channel are running a CPM Duel league for anyone willing to play. The league will start out with Group Stages, where winners will move on to Double Elimination Brackets. As always, Maverick Servers is also helping run and manage the servers. The league end date will be determined by the number of players participating. Matches will be streamed regularly by Ready Up Radio.
For any Europeans interested in helping out, please PM me on IRC in #uscpmpickup.
Signup End Date: 00:00 CDT, 1 May 2012. Game: Challenge Promode 1.48 Format: Round-robin groups and Double Elimination brackets, both best of three. The schedule for the Mappool: cpm22, cpm24, cpm3a, industrial, pukka3tourney2 Prizes: $75 for first place, $30 for second place, $15 for third place Admins: nineX, wonko IRC channel:#uscpmpickup on Quakenet
Brackets/groups and rules will be made available when the tourney begins. The sign ups are open now. You must be idling the tournament channel (#uscpmpickup) for as long as you are playing in the league.
Posted by nineX @ 17:56 CST, 25 February 2012 - iMsg
nineX and wonko from the #uscpmpickup channel are running a CPM Duel tourney for anyone willing to play. We are also working with Digital Duels to run this tournament as well, who is providing a server and GTV for the event. As always, Maverick Servers is also helping run and manage the servers.
Date: 12:00 CST, 3 March 2012 Game: Challenge Promode 1.48 Rules: Single Elimination, best of three Mappool: cpm15, cpm22, cpm3a, sq3t2, pukka3tourney2 Admins: nineX, wonko IRC channel:#uscpmpickup on Quakenet Brackets:HERE
Brackets and rules are available on the tournament site. The sign ups are open from now until the beginning of the tournament. You must be idling the tournament channel (#uscpmpickup) for as long as you are playing in the tournament.
UPDATE:Necrophag1st Wins The Tournament, gaiia takes 2nd. Thank you to everyone who participated
So two major LANs cut QuakeLive from their lineup, and everyone is wondering why? We talk about Carmac’s appearance on LO3, the decision to cut the game from the IEM major LAN series and what effect it might have on the game's future. Does this this mean the end for QuakeLive as a mainstream competitive game? If your answer is yes, think about why. Is it the lack of support from id? Is it the design of the game and lack of features? Is it the community’s fault for not trying to foster more competition at the lower level to try and bring in more players? Are people just over the deathmatch game style?
We also quickly talk about the StarCraft 2 event at Dreamhack, and how important the outcome was for the foreigner scene. WHITE PEOPLE HAVE A SAVIOR (pun intended).
Also, we’re going to start keeping an eye on the LOL competitive scene and hope to have someone on that can tell us a little more about the game and also how it got to be so popular. Stay tuned.
I wanted to move any further GTR discussion off the front-page thread and into the forum. Please post any initial thoughts or problems here and we'll try to help. Also, someone from the team is usually on the #GT-Revolution IRC channel to answer any questions.
The GameType Revolution mod team is proud to announce the release of the first version of GTR compatible with the Quake 4 1.4.2 patch. The .70 build will bring lots of new features, maps and will give the player an incredible amount of customization of the game. Some of the more important changes are:
- New gamemodes such as GTR, a more competitive take on VQ4, and GPM, which includes CPM like movement, weapon balance and tiered armor.
- New unlagged netcode
- Voting menu now allows multiple settings to be voted on at once.
- Freestyle mode for speed runs, including run timers and statistics
- New scoreboards customized for each gametype
- Optimized huds
- New versions of classic modes like Freezetag, Deadzone and Clan Arena
- New player models and sounds (Keel is Back!)
- New graphics and sound settings to improve client performance
This release of .70 was a goal we set several years back and though we are extremely happy with the current state of the mod, development will continue and we will keep improving upon the very solid base we have. And we want the community to be as involved as possible. We want your feedback, questions comments, opinions. We want to get the Quake community to be involved in the development as much as possible. Thank you very much for your support and patience.
In just a couple days, the GameType Revolution mod team will be releasing the product of several years of hard work and dedication. The .70 build is the first version of the GTR mod of the Quake 4 1.4.2 patch and includes some new features never seen in a Quake 4 mod. Until then, check out the website for the changelog, screenshots of new maps and features, wiki of information about the mod itself and information on the bot-based pickup channel on IRC.
On day 1, we will have several servers across both North America and Europe, but we are giving the mod out early to those interested in running an online GTR server. Please PM zhakal or myself in the #GT-Revolution channel if you are interested.
Wonko is back to talk about the upcoming IEM World Championship and the strong possibility of Anton "Cooller" Singov becoming a world champion again, and who he's up against. We haven't seen much from Shane "rapha" Hendrixson lately; is he still in shape enough to take down the Russian titan again? Last year's IEM World Championships were extremely exciting and this year's lineup should prove to top it. We also talk about the recent increase in TDM play with the TDM Nations Cup, various quick cups and the announcement of TDM at the upcoming DreamHack tournament in June. Who will show up? Will the US have a representing team and could it actually be worth a damn? Also, euro players cheating? Ghastly.
A little closer to home, we're extremely intrigued with John Clark's new involvement with the CSN and their upcoming work, including the tournament that took place while we were recording. Could this be the organization that brings eSports back to the US? We're very excited to see what comes out of this newest venture which has kept their upcoming schedule tightly guarded. Interesting.
Posted by nineX @ 00:39 CST, 2 February 2011 - iMsg
So we've taken a a pretty big break to organize some of the things going on in our lives and enjoy to the holidays, but we're back now. And what an interesting piece of eDrama we have for you all today. Two weeks ago, several admins started voicing their concerns with the ESL National organization and slowly people started leaving their positions, even leading to the departure of Head Tournament Admin and our last guest, John 'Alien' Clark. But why?
We sit down with him again to get the real story about what was and is currently going on in the organization and what led to the mass exodus of admins from National ESL. Who will be the next to leave? How does former-Gotfrag founder, Trevor 'Midway' Schmidt, factor into all of it? Can Carmac still save the North American branch of the ESL with his tactical GROM skills? What does this mean for eSports in America, specifically Quake Live? What's next for Alien? Let's have a listen.
Posted by nineX @ 20:40 CST, 20 November 2010 - iMsg
Originally, we were going to do a split-show, like we previously did with Steve 'xterm' Devaney from ESL, but since there isn't a lot going on, we decided to devote the whole episode to the interview I did with John 'alien' Clark of the ESL. His story of how he got into gaming is really amazing, including MEETING HIS WIFE IN Quake. How awesome is that? We talk about some of the previous events he's run including Digital Life, Transatlantic LAN and the recent IEM 5 in New York.
We also get hints of team-based tournaments coming shortly in the future from ESL. I would very much like to see modes like 2v2, TDM and CTF become popular here in North America as they've been pretty dormant as of late. Make sure you check out National ESL and keep an eye out for some of the tournaments coming up in QuakeLive. We can't wait to have John back on.
Posted by nineX @ 11:43 CST, 7 November 2010 - iMsg
After last week's discussion of our "ideal game", we got ahold of putty, current developer and old Quake player from team Chatkill. We get his thoughts on what different development companies are doing wrong and what they're doing right. We also talk about past games that we've loved and what made them favorites. For the most part though, it's a great discussion of what we'd like to see from any upcoming games and what they need to be relevant in the competitive gaming community.
We also go over the 2nd Season of the GSL, which will coming to an end this upcoming Saturday (Nov 13). Season 2 has been wonderful and I'm looking forward to the next one already. I would highly suggest everyone get a subscription to GomTV as the coverage has been wonderful and only getting better.
Also, any CPM players should contribute to the CPMNERDS page! PM bgs on #uscpmpickup to add yourself to it.
Posted by nineX @ 19:08 CDT, 14 October 2010 - iMsg
Weird month for both of us. As events for QuakeLive are starting to slow back down, the GSL and other Starcraft 2 events are starting to draw in MASSIVE amounts of attention. Combined with the amazing content and VODs being released, it's been a great past month for SC2 fans. We both suggest everyone get the subscription to GomTV to check out the second GSL tournament. AND SURPRISE; BOXER IS BACK. That's right. It seems like more and more Brood War pros are jumping ship and migrating by the boat loads to the sequel.
Also, we talk about our journey into the abyss of MineCraft (it really is a great game; try it yourselves if you already haven't). We talk about the possibilities of different mixes of games and such. Just random banter. Finally, we discuss the North American IEM event that took place this last week. I'm not sure why we're even surprised anymore when the first day of a QuakeLive event is spent fixing server issues. Good showings by all the players who attended.
One last thing, entik has given us a quick peak at his latest work "It's Pekka 2" a homage to wonderful Finnish CPM player, ahxnxa. The download link is over at our site.
Posted by nineX @ 21:26 CDT, 25 September 2010 - iMsg
We're back with a Ready Up Radio Double-Header; our discussion of the latest StarCraft 2 news as well as an interview with one of the main guys behind the scenes in the US LAN scene, Steve "xterm" Devaney, currently working for the ESL. We cover the AMAZING games that have already taken place in the GSL, as well as general SC2 scene here in the states. We gush especially hard over the ridiculous games by Dario "TheLittleOne" Wunsch. Who knew nukes were for pushing enemy expansions. Unfortunately, there are no foreigners left in the GSL. On the bright side though, the next season starts less than 3 weeks from now.
In the second half of the show, I sit down with xterm and chat about some of his experiences working at just about every major LAN organization in the US in the past 5 years and what his current company has got planned. He also gives different techniques on how to repel carmac when he's trying to pick you up and put you in some kind of shitty wrestling move. This is an important section as the ESL is headed to New York in 2 weeks. Practice up kids. Also talk about the possibility of team games coming back to the US competitive play.
Posted by nineX @ 13:52 CDT, 11 September 2010 - iMsg
It's been a month since our last show, and there was 3 tournaments to talk about. Holy shit! I can't even keep the results straight of them. We get a little mixed up with the GamesCom results, but cypher might as well have won that too. We talk about the massive blunder that was QuakeCon 2010, GamesCom QuakeLive tournament, and finally Asus Summer 2010. Wow. Cooller making a huge comeback. And for the first time in 2 years, rapha doesn't make top 3. WTF Shane!
So much stuff to discuss and still we're doing a second part of this show shortly, to talk about all the things going on in StarCraft. Check back in shortly if you're interested in all things StarCraft.
Posted by nineX @ 18:46 CDT, 11 August 2010 - iMsg
We're back again after a bit of a break. I was a little busy getting ready for the International Video Games Hall Of Fame event this past week, which was amazing. I had the most fun I've ever had at any event EVER. Besides all the fun everyone had, there was a ton of controversy based around the new update that ID released during the event and the new info on the pricing of the game. There was also quite a bit of drama between id threatening to ban Slasher and DJWheat from the servers while casting and chance and dkt getting into it on stream.
We also just talk about a lot of things that happened at the event and get ready for QuakeCon this next weekend. Whose going and whose not. Is QuakeCon losing appeal in its hardcore competitive community? We discuss. Also, be sure to check out our Frag Documentary contest at the bottom of the post.
Aph is back from Europe and we're talking about all the insane news swirling around deathmatch right now including Rapha winning ESWC and Devastation 2010, id banning Slasher and others from QuakeLive, and the announcement of ESL America and it's accompanying LAN events. Very exciting stuff; I can't wait to see what Midway and staff have in store for the North American gaming community.
On a side note, the GTR Mod of Quake 4 announced that it will be shutting down until they find a new developer to help with the project; head over to the GTR site to find out more information. We also get news in the middle of the show that StarCraft 2 beta is opened back up. Gotta go.
Aph is out again, exploring the world, so I brought in some outside help again. You may have heard of him; Team SK dueler, Shane "rapha" Hendrixson. The healer joins me again for a little chat about the past year and what he expects out of the upcoming Devastation, ESWC and QuakeCon tournaments. He also gives us a little incite into what it's like to square off against players like cooller and DaHanG, and BE FAVORED. Scary. We talk more about his thoughts on QuakeLive and what he thinks id needs to do to keep the game relevant. Enjoy.
Just today, the organizers of the International Video Games Hall Of Fame event, happening this August, announced that they will be including QuakeLive in its lineup of tournaments. In addition, they also mentioned that the tournament servers will be on LAN. Though the specific rules and map list of the tournament have yet to be announced as of posting, some of the top duelers in North America have already showed interest in attending.
Also, they announced that they will be holding a bootcamp for the veteran players, as the event falls just a week before QuakeCon. Check out the link below for more information about the event and to signup for the tournament.
Apheleon's away so I gave ole' buddy Sabian "clampOK" Hayblum a call to talk about the NA QuakeLive scene and the upcoming QuakeLive event which seems like the only thing going on in North America this year. The Team EG quaker stops by to talk about his recent entry into the world of dueling and what his expectations are of QuakeCon this year.
Has QuakeLive really been a worth-while competitive game? Is the iD team really making enough significant changes to the game to differentiate it from Quake 3? All these questions and more answered after the break. We also talk about his interested in StarCraft and revisit the Transatlantic Showdown Finals for posterity.
The Global Gaming League is back in the duel scene! Due to some school issues the GGL Open Duel League has been put on hold. It's not going to stop us from getting some great games completed within the community! The bracket will be starting on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 and will be played over the course of 2 days. Welcome back AlexH for taking on the shoutcasting, check him out anytime at GameFire. Sign-ups for the GGL Open Duel Tournament will be closed Friday, May 21st, 2010. Reminder to all competitors to sign up before then! Please keep in mind that anyone who registers for the GGL Open Duel Tournament will be expected to be available both Saturday and Sunday as this will be a 2 day event. Check in time for both days is at 13:30 CDT, 15 May 2010 and 13:30 CDT, 16 May 2010 respectively.
To sign up, everyone is required to register here. Anyone who is competing in the GGL Open Duel Tournament will be asked to idle in the #GGL-Duel channel over the course of the upcoming events. For the competitors who signed up and anyone who is interested in getting in on the action, private server access will be available! The tournament coordinators will be GGL-ckkz, GGL-zamn and GGL-superjake. If you have any questions you can contact us through#GGLon both Quakenet and GameSurge IRC networks.
- This tourney will be the standard best of 3 maps. Each person picks a map, the person with the higher seed has the choice to pick the first map.
- Grand Finals match will be best of 5.
- The Tiebreaker map (if needed) will be decided by an agreement. If both parties can not agree to a map then each player will toss maps until a verdict is reached, the player with the higher seed tosses the first map.
- Players pings must be within an average of 30 ms of eachother. If possible, contact your upcoming opponent early and please check which server location would be best.
- The only spectators allowed on the server during a match are GGL admins and Gamefire shoutcasters.
- Each player must make a demo for every map. That way if someone is accused of cheating a GGL admin can simply watch the demo and make a conclusion. If a demo is requested by the accused and one cannot be supplied, this can qualify as a forfeit loss for the accused.
- Each player must take screenshots at the end of each map to verify scores. Report maps and scores right away after you complete your matches to make sure the information added is correct.
- If a player is caught cheating he/she will be banned from any future GGL competitions. There is a zero tolerance policy when it comes to cheating within the GGL.
- Players must provide some sort of proof (picture, video, match replay, accused player not making a demo etc.) along with their match disputes. Failure to do so may render your dispute invalid. If there is an issue before the match starts, contact an Admin immediately. Choosing to continue to play the match may render the dispute invalid
The Global Gaming League is going retro as we kick off some fun in the Q3 CPM community! The bracket will be starting on Saturday, May 15th, 2010 and will be played over the course of 3 weeks. Any games that are being shout casted will take place Sundays starting at 8:00pm Eastern time. Once again, thanks to GameFire who will be casting the games over the course of the tournament, check them out via irc at #Gamefire on the Gamesurge network! Sign-ups for the GGL Promode 2v2 CA Cup will be closed Friday, May 14th, 2010. Reminder to all competitors to sign up before then! Please keep in mind that anyone who registers for the 2v2 CA Cup will be expected to be available to complete their matches over the course of the tournament.
To sign up, everyone is required to register here. Anyone who is competing in the GGL Promode 2v2 CA Cup will be asked to idle in the #GGL channel over the course of the upcoming events. For the competitors who signed up and anyone who is interested in getting in on the action, server locations will be listed below! Great thanks to Maverick over at Maverick Servers for sponsoring us. The tournament coordinators will be GGL-ckkz and GGL-superjake. If you have any questions you can contact us through #GGL on GameSurge as well as on QuakeNet.
- This tourney will be the standard best of 3 maps. Each person picks a map. The first map will be decided by using the coin toss system. (/cv random 2)
- The Final match will be a best of five (5) maps with the person who wins three (3) maps first wins it all. This match will be broadcasted.
- The Tiebreaker map (if needed) will be decided by tossing. The person with the lower seed tosses the first map.
- ALL players are responsible to contact their opponent for server selection where the match is to be played. Please idle in #GGL and #uscpmpickup on irc.quakenet.org so you may be reached.
- The only spectators allowed on the server during a match are GGL admins and Gamefire shout casters.
- Each player must make a demo for every map. That way if someone is accused of cheating a GGL admin can simply watch the demo and make a conclusion. If a demo is requested by the accused and one cannot be supplied, this can qualify as a forfeit loss for the accused.
- Each player must take screenshots at the end of each map to verify scores. Report maps and scores right away after you complete your matches to make sure the information added is correct.
- If a player is caught cheating he/she will be banned from any future GGL competitions. There is a zero tolerance policy when it comes to cheating within the GGL.
- Players must provide some sort of proof (picture, video, match replay, accused player not making a demo etc.) along with their match disputes. Failure to do so may render your dispute invalid. If there is an issue before the match starts, contact an Admin immediately. Choosing to continue to play the match may render the dispute invalid.
- Pro-q3dm6
- Ra3map1 (ThunderStruck and Evolution)
- Ra3map9 (3 Story and Q3 Terrain)
- Ra3map11 (Death or Glory and Dead and Gone)
- Ra3map12 (DrunkenMummy)
Two weeks ago in a blog post on the coL website, the Quake player Brian "dkt" Flander has announced that he will retire from professional gaming after the QuakeCon 2010 even. Citing the need to concentrate on his personal life and working on his career, Flander assures fans that this does not mean he will completely disconnect with gaming.
"I can consistently say I was one of the top 5-16 players in the world, at any game I played, at any time. I think that is something to hold your head up high about considering the tens of thousands of people I've competed against. But now I have a career, which I've been pursuing since CGS died, and there are lots of great opportunities for me to expand myself."
Apheleon's away this week so I bring in the big stoned guns; Rod "Slasher" Breslau is here to talk about the major happenings in Quake, including the upcoming summer list of major LANs across the world.
I also get to talk to one of the Team EG Starcraft players, Kelby "iNkA" Williams about the soaring popularity of Starcraft 2 and his recent win in the Team EG/Team Liquid Show Match. We get his thoughts on his match against European player Jinro, and a breakdown of his of the game. We close with some of his thoughts on North America's stance in the global competitive SC community and the recent betting scandal in South Korea.
Rod's sister also decides to pay the show a visit and give us some of her thoughts on her favorite sandwich toppings.
Check out GosuCoaching.com where you can find iNkA and other veteran North American Starcraft players giving daily lessons for players of all skill levels. Check'em out.
Well we're back after a great trip to PAX East, to talk about some of the things going on in the community such as the QuakeLive TDM competitions happening online, the tons of beta cups happening for Starcraft 2 and the latest patch, and other random bits going on.
We'll also be having Team EG Quake player Tom "griffin" Wall on the show to talk about his trip to the IEM Masters event, what he's looking forward to this year and maybe a story or two about his time with Darkside or playing CPM.
The show will start at 21:15 CDT, 31 March 2010 and hopefully our guest will actually be able to show up this time (thanks Slasher).
I know last time we tried to do a show live on Ustream and things just couldn't get pulled together in time, and an entire episode was lost. But we got everything together and we're back with friend of the show, Rod "Slasher" Breslau, to discuss QuakeLive IEM World Championships, the upcoming QuakeCon event. We'll also talk about the StarCraft 2 beta, the upcoming PAX East convention, and other random bits of news going on in the community. The show will start at 22:00 CDT, 22 March 2010.
We excited we're finally playing StarCraft 2 (in a slightly hacked together form); it's very good so far! We talk about the World Finals of the IEM Quake Live tour, the incredible amount of whine from the recent strenx interview, who we look forward to seeing in the tournament, and a bit about this past year of open beta Quake Live. Also, next show we will be having a special announcement about a huge LAN event taking place in the US that will actually be using Quake 3 in its deathmatch tournament.
Posted by nineX @ 23:34 CST, 15 January 2010 - iMsg
This week, we are honored to have an extremely special guest, DJWheat joining us. We talk about the news of Quakelive at the Devastation event, a little about QuakeLive TDM Nations Cup and TDM in general and then about what 2010 holds in store for each of us. Wheat and aph get nostalgic about tournaments of the "old days". Will TDM ever make it back as the primary team-play mode in Quake? Kick back and enjoy.
Posted by nineX @ 15:58 CST, 27 December 2009 - iMsg
After reshaping the tournament because hardly any American players showed up, it was turned into European-only and play went on. Though wuxia/HAL9000 had to leave the tournament to take care of an emergency, there were still some great matches from all players. The first CPMChallenges Duel QuickCup is over and the results are:
Final Standings:
1. fedor/sivek
2. buxter
3. guhard
I will post as many MVDs as I can including some great lower and upper bracket finals matches. Thank you to everyone who participated. Another is in the works.
Cup page (Note:The brackets broke and weren't recording scores and maps)
Edited by Nicky at 02:06 CST, 31 December 2009 - 11378 Hits
Posted by nineX @ 15:31 CST, 19 December 2009 - iMsg
After an amazing weekend of IEM AC action, we finally found the time sit down and record. In this episode we talk briefly about QuakeLive across the world and the resurgence of events (thanks to the ESL), why Streetrunner's lack of discussion and transparency is actually hurting the AGP, Starcraft and random other bits. We've already got the next show planned and we'll try to get back on our schedule of one show a week.Enjoy.
Posted by nineX @ 21:44 CST, 8 December 2009 - iMsg
The CPMChallenges channel is proud to present its first Duel QuickCup; the cure for common winter boredom. This will be a 1 day tournament to bring some of the US duelers out again. Signups are open to any player. Matches will start at 12:00 CDT. The maplists are:
Posted by nineX @ 22:35 CDT, 13 September 2009 - iMsg
In an announcement today, Team LowLandLions said they will be releasing Magnus "fox" Olsson, and that the organization will be picking up Dutch Quaker Jeffrey "draven" Debipersad. When asked about the decision, team manager Birger De Geyter said:
" I would like to wish Magnus the best of luck in his future. The time has come for LowLandLons and fox to move on. I am certain he will sign with a great team and LowLandLions will continue its focus on the Benelux market. Draven fits perfectly into that strategy and I am very happy that Jeffrey will represent LowLandLions in the Quake Live playing field moving forward."
While it's understandable that the team would want to go in a more local approach to their roster, Olsson is still one of the best duelers in the world and will be a tough asset to replace. He will be a huge pickup for any team that has the opportunity.
Posted by nineX @ 17:31 CDT, 9 September 2009 - iMsg
Yeah it's been a while and I still haven't quite perfected the audio settings for the podcasts, but WE'RE BACK. It's been a busy month; went to QuakeCon, new apartment, aph got a job, we've been busy. So we're just catching up a bit and you're meeting us all over again for the first time. Yes, the quality is eh, but it will be better next cast. Hope you like the shorter shows, and we'll be back again soon to discuss more of the topics we mention. By the way, thank you Norway for being such great listeners :)
Yes, muhu does say this is Episode 8 when it is actually Episode 9; I don't care.
Posted by nineX @ 15:15 CDT, 7 September 2009 - iMsg
Today the CPMChallenges CTF and Duel tournaments will officially kick off. Players and teams should start finding their First round matchups and start reporting matches as soon as possible. Rosters and seeds have been locked in, and results for matches need to be reported by September 17th to either nineX or eThaD in the #CPMChallenges channel on Quakenet.
The tournament would also like to thank Maverick Server for sponsoring the tournament with several 16-slot servers. Good luck to all players.
Update: Please see updated schedule in the "Rules" sections of the brackets for days you need to report scores by.
Posted by nineX @ 18:54 CDT, 20 August 2009 - iMsg
The CPMChallenges channel is proud to present its CTF and Duel Tournies set to begin the first day of September. Though the CTF tournament will have some fairly standard maps, the Duel tournament will feature some older and newer maps to players to challenge themselves with. Should make things interesting. The maplists are:
REQTOURNEY1: Still Alive
CPM23: Pull Your Socks Up
NODM19: Blood Run RC
AKUMACPM1A
ASTRONOMYBETA
Also, rather than cram everything into a weekend, both tournaments will feature more league-style schedules, spacing rounds out over several days. This tourney is OPEN to European players and teams, but please read the rules for specifics on maps and servers. Check out the list of players and the complete set of rules at these links:
Posted by nineX @ 17:42 CDT, 19 August 2009 - iMsg
After the announcement yesterday that Bogdan ‘bodzo' Mazur would not in fact be attending the Intel Extreme Masters Pro/Am Challenge, ESL has invited 2009 QuakeCon runner-up, Sebastian 'Spartie' Siira to play in the tournament, which starts Friday. After Siira's great showing at the QuakeCon event, fans can expect him to do well in this tournament as well. Could we possibly see a rematch of the QuakeCon finals?
For more on the announcement including a quote from the fnatic player and an announced list of players attending head over to fnatic.com.
UPDATE: Thanks to a source within ESL, the complete list of players attending has been posted with the Spartie announcement as well :D
Edited by nineX at 17:49 CDT, 19 August 2009 - 13660 Hits
Shashi "DetonatoR" Singh of Team EG was at QuakeCon this year to get some answers from recent fnatic-pickup Alessandro "stermy" Avallone and several members of Team EG, including dueler Chance "chance" Lacina and their CTF lineup, winners of the QuakeCon CTF Tournament.
I was able to get ahold of some of the professional players as they stepped out the door to head to Dallas for this year's QuakeCon event. Check back later for more.
Posted by nineX @ 19:25 CDT, 11 August 2009 - iMsg
Today Fnatic announced that it will be adding 4 new players to its roster and sponsoring them in the QuakeCon event. The four players are:
David "deus" Kinnaird Pierre-Emeric "link1n" Portier Sebastian "Spart1e" Siira Alessandro "Stermy" Avallone
Accompanying them in the CTF tournament will be Magnus "fox" Olsson, who will still be respresenting his team LowLandLions.
Alessandro "Stermy" Avallone said:
"I'm really happy to be part of this team - Sam and I and the fnatic organization have been long time friends, competing and travelling together for different tournaments around the World. I always had a lot of respect for fnatic and having such a talented squad at Quakecon will definitely make a big impact on the tournament. I can't wait for the tournament to start!
Taken from his Facebook status, Jonathan "fatal1ty" Wendel said he is heading to QuakeCon 2009 and possibly looking to sponsor a 1v1 player and a CTF team. Could you be the lucky gamer(s) to join FPO?
Edited by nineX at 02:27 CDT, 24 July 2009 - 5050 Hits
Soooooo I found out today that I'm going to be in Dallas during QuakeCon on a business trip and my boss gave me the OK to head over to the event after our work is done. HORRAY! So I rounded up ceppy and icel0re to talk about the upcoming event and the recent update that hit QuakeLive. We also hope and pray that QuakeCon is run properly this year (ie not making your championship players wait 2 hours on stage before their game).
In advance, I apologize for the quality of the stream. It was done pretty hastily and I just built a new computer and was using onboard sound card at the time. It's a pretty rough listen but for anyone that forges all the way through, there is cake at the end :D
I'm joined by ESWC Champion and dear friend Shane "rapha" Hendrixson of Team SK. We talk about his recent win in the Alienware tournament, his preparation to for the QuakeCon LAN in August, his continued sponsorship by SK and other stuff going on in his life. We get his thoughts on the progression of QuakeLive and what he thinks needs to be done to make it better.
So finally we got the original cast back together, myself, aph and LSV, to have a little bit of a rant-fest about everything and anything, mostly a bitch about how Quake Live will never be as good as Quake 3, due to id's lack of interest in quality and competitive gameplay. We also talk about our lust for Starcraft 2 and how we're scared of console-fighting-gamers for fear of getting raped in an alley. Are consoles the reason for the lack of interest in PC gaming? Are developers to blame for not making quality games? Download the podcast and find out.
This week I brought in the experts to give their opinions on the situation with LAN events, not only in the US but worldwide and what the gamers can do to help bring the good ol' LAN event back. Back to help us out is ceppy, who helped run QuakeCon and ESWC 08. Also joining us is Dave "killdashnine" Derington the organizer of Warfactory, whose also worked for CPL, ESWC and MLG.
A fairly long and extensive discussion of the state of LANs across the world, and what the gamers need to remedy the problem. We also talk about how Warfactory got its start, and reminisce about the high points of gaming.
After a long drought of tourney-less North American CPM (and a busy schedule), I've finally found the time to run a decent 1v1 CPM tourney. Ideally I would like to run a 32-player tournament, but I will drop it down to 16 if there aren't more sign ups. Also, this tournament will have cash prizes which will be paid out after the Grand Finals have been played, by means of Paypal. I know that the prizes aren't much, but I figure it'd be OK to give the community something.
Brackets and rules are available on the tournament page. The sign ups are open from now until the beginning of the tournament. You must be idling the tournament channel (#cpmchallenges) for as long as you are playing in the tournament. To sign up, PM either admin and they will add you to the list.
Additional note: I would like to run a tournament for euro players as well, but I can't find any admins. If you are interested, please PM nineX.
Edited by nineX at 01:03 CDT, 20 May 2009 - 10468 Hits
So we finally got some time to sit down for a quick podcast, unfortunately without LSV, to catch up on some things going on in the community. This episode we talk about some of the news on ESR, share a heartwarming story about Luis, discuss aph's continuing unemployment, and the US - Canada Quake Live match (*sigh*).
Check back in throughout the week as I hope to get and interview or two with some of the world's top duelers in Quake Live. "Who?" you may ask; you'll just have to find out.
About a year and a half ago I received the Razer Lycosa; Razer’s first attempt at a slim-style keyboard, similar to the fatal1ty keyboard, but with some interesting twists. Since then, I have been in love with the peripheral and I don’t play with anything else. Despite some wear on the keys, the Lycosa has stood up to some hard years of heavy gaming, lots of hours of studying and papers during my senior year of college, and been a generally great device. A short time ago, I thought I would try out the Arctosa, a similar keyboard with some minor variations. Featuring a lower price point and some of the same great features, I was hoping for a similar experience. Though I may have had some pretty high expectations for the black-on-black little brother to my all-time favorite keyboard, I felt the Arctosa fell slightly short in a couple categories.
This episode, I spoke with Dave 'icel0re' Ritson and Neil "ceppy" D'Benedetto about the recenetly announced plans for Quake Live including private servers and enhanced gameplay features. In addition we cover the possibilities of Quake Live rejuvenating professional deathmatch and the release of the top 100 list of duelers in Quake Live.
Sorry about the lateness of this one; it's been a busy weekend and I just never got around to encoding this until now. Also, sorry about the background noise on the cast, icel0re's mic picked up a lot of background. Good discussion nonetheless.
Head over to the Ready Up Radio website to download the podcast or subscribe using the RSS feed.
Edited by nineX at 00:15 CDT, 4 May 2009 - 1186 Hits
So after a great week of rave reviews and nearly a million downloads of our first podcast, apheleon and nineX sit down with guest host, ceppy, to talk about some of the major events in deathmatch gaming today. From the exclusive announcement of the exhibition Quakelive Nations Cup match between USA and Canada to why ceppy was kicked off the QuakeCon staff; all this and more in this week's episode.
Head over to the Ready Up Radio website to download the podcast or subscribe using the RSS feed.
Edited by nineX at 11:52 CDT, 25 April 2009 - 10499 Hits
Posted by nineX @ 21:35 CST, 28 February 2009 - iMsg
Scheduled: 18:00 CST, 31 December 1969 Schedule: Passed
The GGL is proud to announce that CPM Challenges are back! Signups are open to both North American and European duelers. With other tournament formats in the plans for the future, we would like to start the new year off with a bang and bring some of the duelers back out of the woodwork. Note: This tourney is being held on Sunday, not Saturday as previously stated.
UPDATE: The tournament has been canceled and will be re-announced for another time.
Edited by nineX at 20:40 CDT, 21 March 2009 - 14684 Hits
Posted by nineX @ 22:51 CST, 20 February 2009 - iMsg
After extensive review of game footage, the thought-to-be winners of the FragDominant 2v2 Tournament, DaFoneMen (walter and kgb), have been ejected from the competition and lose their title as tournament champions, due to "suspicious circumstances" surrounding the match. The finals will now be replayed between 3rd place finishers, Chronic Insanity (whaz & plague) and Because of Parkinsons (griffin & bLt), leaving Team Darkside (cha0ticz & hoens) as the official 3rd place finishers.
Head on over to Frag Dominant for the official story. Further details regarding coverage of the final will be released shortly. Check back for dates & times.
Excerpt: "The finals were over turned by Razer|Nomadic, representive of the lead sponsor of the tournament (Razer) and one of the tournament organizers. All prizes are coming through him so there is absolutely nothing I can do about him over-turning the result of an event I worked extremely hard to get completed with a good amount of coverage for both the players and spectators alike. So I believe my frustration over this is clear."
Statement from Razer (See comments #637, #638 & #643):
"We recognize that there is a conflict of interest with Nomadic being both an admin and a competitor and we will respect and support any decision that comes from the Q3 Cup Staff regarding the tournament's final outcome."
Edited by Nicky at 00:34 CST, 26 February 2009 - 340224 Hits
Joe “nineX” Szymkowicz had a chance to sit down with Shane “rapha” Hendrixson, of SK-Gaming, after his trip to the ESWC Masters Quake 3 competition. Exhausted from the combination of jet-lag and an intense field of competition, Rapha talked about his future in gaming and some topics swirling around the deathmatch community.
GGL: After already seeing much of the competitors at the Masters event, how do you feel about the upcoming finals event in San Jose?
Hendrixson: It’s going to be a tough event but as I said before, I’m looking forward to it. The gap isn’t really too big between most of the players that’ll be going to the finals, but there are going to be some fantastic games. I feel good going into it and I’m glad I still have a month to try and prepare for it.]
Head on over to GGL-Wire for the complete interview and keep an eye out for more interviews from the ESWC players.
Edited by Nicky at 11:50 CDT, 1 August 2008 - 205172 Hits
Posted by nineX @ 17:13 CST, 5 January 2008 - iMsg
Scheduled: 22:00 CST, 5 January 2008 to 23:00 CST, 6 January 2008 Schedule: Passed
Put on by the #duel channel on EnterTheGame, the New Year's Throwback Tournament will kick off tonight as some of the nation's best VQ3 duellers go at each other tonight for a shot at a possible $300 first place prize. Breaking a moderate amount of inactivity in the US VQ3 duel scene, it's good to see a tournament being played again, especially with this much talent participating in the event.
Here's the catch; the winner of the tournament will go on to play the tournament's host, Shane "rapha" Hendrixson. If they win, they will receive an additional $100, if not, they still go home with $200.
Update:
kgb will face rapha shortly in a best-of-7 exhibition match for a chance of winning an additional $100 prize. Map order: dm13, t4, osp8, dm6, hubt1, hubaero, ztn. rapha wins 4:1.
First round will kick off at 23:00 CDT, and will continue into the second round at 18:00 CDT tomorrow.
The tournament will be a best-of-5 style for each round. The first round will be Single Elimination, and then change to Double Elimination after that. The Super-Finals match against rapha will be a best-of-all 7 maps. Each competitor will be required to submit demos from every match they play, and will be available for download after the tournament is over.
Kickstarter, 
Reddit, 
Twitter
#uscpmpickup, Brackets + Signup, Stream
nineX on #uscpmpickup with your interest and you will be added. You will be notified if you are needed. Group play will begin May 5.
eThaD. Also, if you have any interest in having your match streamed, please contact one of them and that can be worked out. Players have until May 13 to have all their group matches played. I will begin filling out the bracket May 14 with the top 2 of each group, whether or not all games have been played. I will contact players if there is a need for a tie-breaker within the group. Good luck.
gaiia takes 2nd. Thank you to everyone who participated
Anton "Cooller" Singov becoming a world champion again, and who he's up against. We haven't seen much from 
Dario "TheLittleOne" Wunsch. Who knew nukes were for pushing enemy expansions. Unfortunately, there are no foreigners left in the GSL. On the bright side though, the next season starts less than 3 weeks from now.
Tom "griffin" Wall on the show to talk about his trip to the IEM Masters event, what he's looking forward to this year and maybe a story or two about his time with Darkside or playing CPM.
wuxia/HAL9000 had to leave the tournament to take care of an emergency, there were still some great matches from all players. The first CPMChallenges Duel QuickCup is over and the results are:
fedor/sivek
Magnus "fox" Olsson, and that the organization will be picking up Dutch Quaker 
Jeffrey "draven" Debipersad. When asked about the decision, team manager Birger De Geyter said:
Norway for being such great listeners :)
Alessandro "stermy" Avallone and several members of Team EG, including dueler 
David "deus" Kinnaird
Pierre-Emeric "link1n" Portier
VQ3 duellers go at each other tonight for a shot at a possible $300 first place prize. Breaking a moderate amount of inactivity in the US VQ3 duel scene, it's good to see a tournament being played again, especially with this much talent participating in the event.
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