Wonderful!

These Thorin interviews with Quake players are always the best and this one kicks close to home. Im sure we all identify with Makaveli when we all tried to be Quake pros and everyone thought we were crazy. Well turns out we were ahead of our time. Now the money and the fame is there, but the games are dogshit. It is what it is.

Remember this guy for sure.

Had one of the best railguns (z4 king:P) and was considered one of the original q3 pros (or gamers who were pro when this a possible reality) who was living and selling the dream of being a pro gamer before it was really a thing and being expressed through ESR.

Even took the time to reply to a cringe message I sent him on ESR (2001/2) when I could not even health to health jump on t4, so says a lot about the guy.

How about socrates, fooki, ztrider, daler etc?

Props for this one.
Really enjoyed these reflections from everyones legend

makaveli is an annoying fag and retard, but he has consistently been community-involved and willing to fight with people about dumb things, which, as a man forged in the fires of the internet, i respect.

i might be a retard of motor skills and short term memory to co-ordinate Mega health, red armor, yellow armor despite how many months and years of Q3a, not to reflect my degree of presentation being based in Hong Kong to reflect how our Special admin region perform other kinds of sports.

I have my First amendment to the honest remarks of strangers, whether it is friendly fire.

eric, your translations are so difficult to decipher that it's like a fun puzzle.

I tried to mean it to anyone best understanding, I remember I ran around DM6 map but would not co-ordinate the respawn of Mega-health, red armour and yellow.

Good idea how i may be entertained into US, probably not good idea

the music playing in Youtube is most popular artist in Hong Kong hardly any interest to Quake

afaik this guy got his ass spanked at the euros at edl in many training games, probably shub was too agitated because he just won edl, he then could not concentrate anymore to play his best against this wannabe "First World Champion" , this guy never won any season PGL in Quake 2 and got his ass kicked in each iteration and thinks he is the Quake 2 world champion

Trashed everyone in the practice area at EDL. Shub played great against Blue right before he played me. Your revisionist history attempt doesn't hold up.

PGL had online qualifiers. Every LAN I showed up to? Top 3. That distinction matters.

If you want to claim I wasn't one of the best players during PGL Season 3 or 4? That's laughable. Who did Thresh pull aside for practice before his critical matches with Immortal at PGL Season 3? Me. There is a reason for that.

Your nonsense will have to compete with the peer validation. I think the words of Thresh and others carry more weight than yours.

If you want a signed picture or something, let me know. You're clearly a fan.

i don't imagine i will ask for your signature

This interview was incredible, and speaks to the pitfalls of gaming.

It can be so appealing to play a game you love 8+ hours a day, but ultimately if it doesn't bring you any long term stability it's worthless.

Initially it seems Makavelli is regretful that he didn't pursue gaming the same way Fatality did but then it becomes apparent he knew there was far more upside to pursuing ventures elsewhere.

Fun fact Dennis Fong aka Thresh is a multimillionaire now with multiple 8 figure exits, really impressive. Would love to see a guy like Thresh on next.

Initially it seems Makavelli is regretful that he didn't pursue gaming the same way Fatality

You can't just copy paste a Fatality, there was a lot of competition in Q3A, not everyone can be a champion. From the interview you can definitely tell he tried. Looking at his achievments it is rather unlikely he would have become like Fatal1ty.

It can be so appealing to play a game you love 8+ hours a day, but ultimately if it doesn't bring you any long term stability it's worthless.

You never know until you try, it is a difficult decision, I think often priviledged people give those things a try, people who have family with a business they can opt to work in for example, or have fuck you money, plenty of examples in the quake scene ... if you don't have either of those props, u should really think hard, or at least have some education part time going, or try for one year and if you didn't reach shit in one year, it is unlikely it is coming the next year ... but whatever, there are really some people who don't care it seems, just look at the PQL in QC, a lot of people there that pursued QC fulltime even though there wasn't a lot of prize money, probably they are already content with the status or hope to play in possible future high profile tournaments

Dennis Fong aka Thresh is a multimillionaire now with multiple 8 figure exits

Thresh used his name and made it a brand, he had column or so in the PC Gamer magazine ... but his money came from an unprofitable company with a failed gaming messaging client, but he managed to scrap of 150 million or so from some clueless MTV boomer manager suits in the dotcom boom time where a lot of paper tiger business were sold for 100 mil plus etc, I think MTV terminated that software a few years later ... since when I am not sure what Thresh is up to, isn't it now 20 years already since he sold that software? But there was already an interview where was pretty full of himself: https://www.esreality.com/post/2766052/reflections-with-thresh/

Oh thanks I didnt realise hed already done an interview with Thresh.

Fatality was before my time I only got into Quake during the QL era 2009ish. I take it he was simply better than Makaveli then? Skill wise do you have any comparisons of someone from the QL era to compare them to so I have some idea in my head of what the differences in level were? Thanks. I've watched Tox v Fatality Q4 finals but that's it really, I never enjoyed spectating Q4 VODs, probably because I never really played it.

Re the you have to try to know thats true. But theres always a opportunity cost where you could have been paving a road in something more lucrative. I give props to Makaveli for having the awareness at that age to step away when he was from the sounds of it bigger than most names.

"people who have family with a business they can opt to work in for example, or have fuck you money, plenty of examples in the quake scene ... if you don't have either of those props, u should really think hard"

It's not that I couldn't continue playing at a certain level. I couldn't continue without support. So your point here is excellent. I thought hard and walked, to back up what you said.

My father came from nothing, and my family is very discipline/work orientated. There wasn't extra money to send me to events, etc. Just was not a possibility. I was completely reliant on winning trips and whatever minimal infrastructure existed at the time.

I don't think people even realize I didn't have a max FPS machine most of my time as a "pro." I was reliant on parent upgrades and anything I won from events to fund my own.

With no infrastructure/proper support, I had to let go of the dream. It wasn't about "being another Fatal1ty." I had my own marketability and player potential. The pie simply wasn't big enough at that time for it to be realistically a sustainable occupation. Even Fatal1ty's path was a serious grind. And given my life today, I clearly made the mature decision. As difficult as it was to let go of something I was passionate about.

TLDR: You're correct. Without some support back then, it was rough. I can tell you first hand.

The sad truth is that nobody cares about what bullshit people back then had to go through...
I mean I was several years later than makaveli and when I wanted to actually go to lans and dedicate more time to competing and improving rather than work/education I got to see some "contracts" (of teams that actually had some decent players signed).
The contracts basically meant that you would be forced to play 20+ hours each week on times that they determined. For a specific budget (added monthly) of a hundred bucks (maybe 200 (so for a max of 2,5 an hour)) which you could only spend on going to lans IF approved by the team management.
And if you won anything it would go to the team and not to the player...
You did get a t-shirt a headset and a mouse which they got for free from their sponsors ofcourse and you were meant to play with that crap as well.
So when I had to choose between a higher education and gaming the choice was obvious to me... though my heart always just wanted to beat everyone at the game...

And tbh I did get further in that endeaver than I actually meant to with a bare minimum of support like being lent a car to drive to events (and really early I got driven a few times as well). Which I largely repayed by giving them most of the hardware that I won. (I mean what else are you gonna do with a videocard, a motherboard and 15 or so mousepads after each lan)
Going from Maka's words it actually seems like the player community in the USA supported eachother a lot in improving and sharing their knowledge of the game... In the EU you were just another enemy to break. Our scene had virtually none of the sharing (at least not that I am aware of).
The only time knowledge was shared was in RoX and afterwards I shared most of that with PZZ (the year they made the eurocup finals (ending 4th) I had a lot of discussions with Sick about teamplay prior to that season and played a sort of coaching part... where unfortunately I didn't get to play because my internet was too crap during that season often making me disconnect.).

Heck I even had times where players wouldn't play me for practise prior to a lan (even though I asked) because I would go there and end up beating them (which ofcuz I stil did even without decent practise)
Later on there even was an entire game where the #1 ranked EU player simply organised it such that he alone had decent sparringpartners and they (the sparringpartners) actually told me that they couldn't play vs me because of their contract (which prolly was like the before mentioned)...
I'm envious of the early USA scene :D

you look back things 20 years ago beyond when 20 different kind of noun daily

FORZA QUAKE GOTFRAG 0wned by Hong Kong this individual

I wrote some short articles to coincide with the Reflections interview and have publicly released the full archive.

https://d16makaveli.substack.com/p/the-ghost-...d?r=68odl9
https://d16makaveli.substack.com/p/the-craft-...d?r=68odl9
https://d16makaveli.substack.com/p/the-brothe...e?r=68odl9
https://d16makaveli.substack.com/p/the-champi...n?r=68odl9
https://d16makaveli.substack.com/p/the-unseen...e?r=68odl9

Full Archive:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hHwD-sD8dFJV...0-HzJ/view

Thank you for your time if you decide to read.

you can't over-+ this man!

Additional player testimony has been given to me. There are simply no words. I'm incredibly humbled and overwhelmed by the sentiment. As I've said in the other thread with this material, these words are worth more than any trophy or prize to me.

First in high school except no certificate of a matter in y2k. In my midlife crisis you would not help or understand anything.

Testimony from Aaron-Anton “HELL” Jones

"When I first started learning Quake II as a kid, Makaveli was one of the players who genuinely made me want to get better. I remember watching his old demos on repeat, not because I understood everything he was doing at the time, but because there was something about the way he approached the game that stood out. His movement, his awareness, the way he controlled the pace—it all had this clarity to it that made me feel like there was an actual craft to master.

Makaveli didn’t just play well; he played with intention. And even if I couldn’t fully explain it back then, I could feel it. That feeling is what pushed me to keep practicing. It made the idea of becoming great seem reachable, not because he made it look easy, but because he showed what was possible when someone really committed to understanding the game.

As years went by and I kept grinding, those early impressions stuck with me. I didn’t know it at the time, but watching his demos was laying the groundwork for how I would approach competition for the next two decades. The small things he did—the discipline, the timing, the way he handled himself—ended up being things I carried forward in my own career as I rose to become a top contender.

What stands out most looking back is that Makaveli was influencing players before “influence” was even a word people used in gaming. There were no coaching staffs, no analytics, no content creators breaking things down. There were just demos, and for a lot of young players like me, he was the one showing us what high-level play actually looked like.

Makaveli helped shape the mindset of an entire generation without ever needing to say a word. His matches quietly taught us to respect the game, to think deeper, to take competition seriously. And for many of us who grew up studying those recordings, his impact wasn’t just about winning— it was about setting a standard we wanted to reach.

That kind of influence doesn’t fade. It’s foundational. And this is the reason he deserves to be recognized for his pioneering role.”

Sincerely,

Aaron-Anton “HELL” Jones – United Kingdom’s Longest-Reigning Professional Quake Player (Q2, Q3, Q4), Co-Founder Myztro Gaming, Professional Esports Competitor, UK Champion in Q2, Q3, QL, Q4 and European Champion in Q4

Testimony from Wiktor "phaze" Skwarczynski

I was born in 1997, so for me Quake has always been there. My first Quake was Quake III when I was five, imagine tiny hands on a huge keyboard, getting completely lost on all the maps. My uncle would always watch tons of old demos, including some with this guy called Makaveli. Back then I didn’t understand I was watching the early chapters of esports history. I just saw a player who "dominates."

In 2017, I tried playing competitively for the first time. Somehow I found myself up against the best players in the world. But the part that truly blew my mind wasn’t just playing at that level, it was who I was playing against, but more importantly, who was there on the mic.

Victor “Makaveli” Cuadra.

By then he was a retired legend turned caster. At my first LAN, I arrived nervous, unknown, and honestly a bit overwhelmed. I wanted to meet everyone, but two names stood out to me: Rapha and Makaveli.

What happened next tells you everything you need to know about who the real Victor is.

Before I could even work up the courage to introduce myself, he walked up to me. No ego, no distance. He spoke to me like an old friend he hadn’t seen in years. Within seconds, all the nerves disappeared. I didn’t feel as much like a random rookie anymore, I felt like I belonged there.

He asked about my games. He wanted to hear my perspective. In between, he would share stories from his own past: how he approached competition when there were no real prize pools, no structure, and no guarantee that any of this would turn into what we now call “esports.” It was just pure drive to be the best, to see what was possible if you committed fully.
That’s when I slowly started to realize what he’d done for all of us. Players of my generation get to compete at the highest level, earn recognition, quite often even make a living, because people like Victor built the foundation first. The way he carried himself as a competitor set standards for professionalism, respect, and mentality that we’re still benefiting from today, whether we realize it or not.

On a personal level, he became something more than just a legend from the old demos. In many ways, he was, and still is, one of the few father figures I’ve had in this scene. He doesn’t know that, at least not until he reads this.

His impact didn’t end with his own professional career. To this day, Victor is deeply involved in the community. He supports pros, welcomes new players, and helps with events quietly, without needing the spotlight. Recently, I organized an event for a friend, an old school Quake player we’d just learned had been diagnosed with cancer. We wanted to raise money and show support.

I messaged Victor and asked if he could help cast. It was very early for US time zones. I’m pretty sure he was still in his pajamas…. but he showed up immediately, no hesitation, no conditions, just: “I'll just "crash the party”

That’s Victor.

When I think about what an esports pioneer is supposed to represent: legacy, character, impact on the game and its people, I think of him. He wasn’t just one of the best FPS players in the world. He helped define what it means to be an esports professional, and he’s still giving back, decades later.

As someone from a new generation who grew up in the world he helped create, I can say sincerely and wholeheartedly, he embodies everything an esports pioneer is meant to represent.

Sincerely,

Wiktor "phaze" Skwarczynski - 2x Polish Quake Champion, Quake Champions Pro League Competitor, and Video Producer at Keen Games

I might be in the minority here, but what did all these 'achievements in life" give to Makaveli and others?
Money?
Understandable, if one have 5 kids to feed.
Or if you some of you build a new nice cozy engine, something like Carmack did, or do something relevant other than money.
Or if you say that you found another intellectual provocations, interesting things, this is understandable.
Otherwise, I don't sympathize with any of ex pro players who chose to go on another path, because Quake games are not El Dorado, and they wanted to make bucks because cars, luxury and garbage.

To me Makaveli and old guard in general are the true gamers, when playing good was about brain, not beating around the bush with UIs and settings and hardware to "get good". But I don't like their approach to their next goal, when maturity (aka getting bored, win money that you never need and pretend to be important) trumps passion and what is called the younger spirit.
and still all we hear around is -money, money, money... countries being invaded by others with the same goal in mind -money, money, money; in the end you will realize that you threw away all that precious time that defined you, and the territory of you land that is your ecosystem, for empty materialistic goals

we competed in 1998 and we were happy if first 3 places got us free hours at the PC pub

For someone so idealistic, you sure talk a lot about money.

i try to have slighest patience to support your podcast for the betterment of University of Hong Kong staff and students.

i am increasingly raising the temperature political climate it is happening Hong Kong. I heard Thorin

It would happen again it might be whatever i said here UK esports site could find its way to local community of Hong Kong i am based in

These OGs deserve mad respect. They sunk thousands of hours and took competitive FPS to the next level mostly on pure passion. Yeah some like Tresh and Fatality made big bucks but theyre the exception.

<333

Thank you. It really was a thankless grind at the time. And we got ridiculed for it.

You got ridiculed by people that dont understand passion. Being ridiculed in this backward society is a good sign. If people were less greedy the world would be a much better place. Youre were on the right side following your passion, and that has no price and its a feeling most people never experience in their life.