Godamned Cheats

Anyone who has played on any of the Barrysworld servers of late, will probably have noticed a phenomenon known as "weapon farming". Basically this is a bug in the Action Quake 2 code that allows unlimited weapons to be spawned and dropped by a player. Unfortunately what this means is that [COK] Sucka joins a server and proceeds to spam weapons until the server can no longer cope and the whole thing seizes up in a laggy mess. This has no benefit for the player doing the spamming other than to totally screw up   everyone else's game. How very clever they must feel. The IP of a recent spammer was found by an admin and the offending player was using a dial-up account in Cyprus. I wouldn't imagine too many people play from Cyprus so someone must know who this dickhead was.

There is a slightly more sinister use of this bug where a player can spawn ammo for himself. Obviously this is a definite advantage for the player and is out & out cheating. A rather well known player was caught on server doing this the other day, for now I will not name names, but if he is caught again then I most certainly will name and shame him. Also If I catch anyone doing this while I am admin for a BWAQSL game then I will not only kick the offending player, but see if I can't get them banned from playing for the rest of the season (along with their clan too maybe). I really think cheating like this is about as low as you can go, especially in a serious clan league game and think no punishment is too sever for such people.

Bigger brains than mine however are beavering away on a dll fix for this bug so hopefully this will not be an issue much longer :-)

Chaks On Speed
I've been swamped with mail and screen-grabs regarding speedy frag limits (yeah ok I had one) and it gives me great pleasure to post a stonking fast time by my clan mate [DP] Chaka for a frag limit on BW TP3. A sub 20 min 50 FL is no mean feat by anyone's standards. OK here's the proof.

GG Chaks I'm impressed :-) Anyone spotting a pattern with the map here btw?

General News
The BWAQSL finally kicked off this week, one or two matches have been played already but I expect a flurry of activity this weekend. A reminder to all that prizes are involved this season so get organized and get those matches played. Clans who just make no effort to arrange their matches or who don't bother turning up without good reason will be defaulted and with this seasons scoring system (10 points for win, 5 points for loss, and 0 points for default) any clan getting a default loss against them is now at a serious disadvantage.

One last thing, will you all please stop shooting me with shitty pistols. I now fear that weapon more than any other as the instant someone pulls one on me I get head shotted!! gits... stop it ;-)

LoJiK

Well Hello There!

Yup after an extended leave of absence (caused entirely by my own laziness) I have decided to start updating these pages again on a regular basis. I am hoping to make my commentary on the Action Quake 2 scene more controversial and more relevant than ever before, so be forewarned - this time I'm gonna get mean! Gone is Mr. Nice Guy, and in his place you will now find a bitter and angry shell of a man, unafraid to name and shame the wrong doers, negativity in all things my new motto! Well ok maybe it wont be that bad and I do hope to inject a fair dollop of humour along the way. So on with the show and and I'll kick things off with that old chestnut - aliasing!

What's In a Name
Anyone who knows me also knows that I'm a shocking aliaser. I have justified this behavior to myself & others many times in various ways, mainly along the lines of "oh I just want to play quietly and anonymously " or "I'm just messing about and trying things out". Well recently trawling through a message board I came across these comments made by a Quaker called Starky. While the comments he has made are aimed at the Quake 3 Arena community, I feel his core argument is actually very relevant to all online gaming communities. Please read what he has to say after which you will find my own revised thoughts on the matter;

I have heard every rationale for the use of aliases (as I'm sure we all have, at this late date), and quite honestly, I do not care to hear another. They exist mainly along these lines: "but IM not playing for real, ill use my real nick for real games" and "this way, only my good buddies know who I am when I play." Perhaps it's just me, but these excuses wreak of personal insecurity, and psychological elitism. This attitude undermines the sense of community that drew many of us to the game; Quake is not about protecting one's own fragile ego or "rep", it is about friendly competition. The existence of "professional" gaming and money prizes do not change this. To those who argue that this alias mentality is all in good fun, as when players on a pickup team change names to some given theme, I respond that it is far more serious than this: the situation is so severe that one would be hardpressed to find a single player who uses his accepted "official" nick.

I personally will never use an alias, regardless of how irreversibly it may scorch my image (do I sound sarcastic? I apologize!). Despite any excuse an alias-using player may field in his own defense, the fact remains that the practice makes it extremely difficult for new competitors (or even existing ones who temporarily leave) to settle in, or feel comfortable. The "community" that we once enjoyed simply cannot exist under these sorts of conditions, with every player actively seeking to remain anonymous except in his moments of glory. When players will even fail to use their accepted nicks in a tournament game, it is obvious that there is a problem. I personally refuse to acknowledge that, as a whole, we're a community that is too ignorant to realize that these games are for fun, and that is tearing itself apart from within, without the slightest element of regard for the entry of new players. After all, if this is the case, why bother to involve oneself in it in the least?

If you are a serious Quaker (as I consider myself to be), and if you do indeed care to do your part to make the Quake scene stronger, then DO NOT use an alias. It is a pervasive threat, but one which really IS destroying the factors that drew most of us here in the first place. Take a stand, and toss aside self-importance in favor of healthy competitiveness. Do not accept the use of aliases as just another fact of online Quake.

Starky

After reading this and thinking about it for a while, my eyes where finally opened to my own arrogance. So for instance "I just want to play anonymously" should be read as "I think I'm special and don't want to talk to you peons" and for "I'm just messing about and trying stuff" read "CLQ is my god and I don't want to damage my stats". I now see that using an alias is just a way of protecting a delicate ego. It's a no lose situation. If you stink in a game playing as an alias noone notices leaving the aliaser free to slink off, rep intact. But If you own the server people will invariably ask who you are at which point you can magnanimously reveal your true nick and revel in your l33t'ness.

But that really is unfair. If you stink and take a whooping then why shouldn't you give the person doing the owning the satisfaction of knowing exactly who is being owned! And doesn't the very act of trying to protect a rep, mean that you think you are something a bit tasty and have a rep to preserve in the first place. I don't think aliasing in Action Quake 2 is as prevalent or as damaging as it is in say Quake 3 arena, but having examined my own motives for aliasing and given some thought to all the possible motives for aliasing, I have come to the conclusion that it is a pretty shallow act and something I do not intend to do in future. Praise be for I have seen the light ;-)

Setting the Standard
I have noticed lately that it's becoming increasingly difficult to consistently top the public servers. The general standard of play in Action Quake seems to be at an all time high. Why should this be? Certainly most people playing the game now have done so for quite some time, the newbie/vet ratio is strongly biased in favour of vets at the moment. However I think just as big a factor is the increase in the amount of LPB's now. High speed access for the masses is now a reality and modemers  are getting fewer and fewer. Its now commonplace for servers to have more LPB's than modemers, and I for one think this is very good thing. As far as I'm concerned the day when everyone has a 50 ping can't come soon enough (although you 20ms pingers are taking the piss). it's actually pretty amusing when that oft heard cry of "damn LPB's" comes from the only HPB on a server populated with 11 LPB's and one HPW :) As an aside I think Makhno should be denied access to any high speed connection for all eternity. Its just too much fun seeing him blub!

BWAQSL
As most of you will already know the AQSL has now joined forces with those fine folk at Barrysworld to bring you the all new BWAQSL. So what exactly does this mean for our favourite Action Quake competition. There are many benefits to our official association with Barrysworld. 1st off is the spanking gorgeous new webbie they have provided for us. I urge all those taking part to take a good look.

We also now have an extra league server available to us at 194.88.93.21:28501;password aqsl. I would post server availability times but top secret negotiations are underway to secure us even MORE time so for now I'll say no more about it *nudge wink*.

What I'm  sure you will all be most interested in however is the strong likelihood that we will be able to offer some rather nice prizes for division winners and certain other categories which will be announced when our other top secret™ negotiations are concluded. Have I said too much already? Watch this space ;-�

Time is of the Essence
Modest chap that I am, blowing my own trumpet (ooh errr) does not come naturally to me, however......take a look at this screen shot

LoJiK