Just 9 days after the last headline about Brink, the 2010 roundup here on Crossfire (read more..) it's time for another quick update featuring Brink.


First off is the launch of the first EU-based Brink dedicated fansite, aimed towards the future competitive Brink-scene - BRINKish.eu which hopefully will be a good compliment to the Brink coverage here at Crossfire. Apart from the actual site there is a large amount of ways to follow BRINKish.eu and among these we find Facebook.com, Twitter.com, Xfire.com, YouTube.com and obviously there's also #BRINKish @ irc.QuakeNet.org.

Since the last Brink-post here on Crossfire (read more..) there've been some new Brink'ish updates to report. First of all, if you've somehow managed to miss it, Splash Damage's Creative Director Rahdo is still around here on Crossfire answering questions in the Brink ?'s-topic. An example of a recent question, made by etkar, Rahdo replied to what lesson Splash Damage have learned from their failure with ET:QW and attracting the competive scene, apart from the tech things.

Quote by Richard Ham

That's a good question. I wasn't at Splash for ETQW, but I know when I started, they know they missed the boat on several things, but the #1 problem was accessibility and communication to the player. The game was very dense and overly complex (not complexity in a 'look how deep' kind of way, but in a 'damn, there's a lot of stuff to wade through' way). So we're trying to ensure everything about the game is streamlined and smooth.

The first season of the ESL Major Series (EMS) are still underway, but that doesn't stop ESL from announcing the second season. There is no date set to when the qualifiers begin, but it's said that "details will be following in the next days and weeks".

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We are extremely happy to announce a second season of the ESL Major Series powered by ASUS. Like the first season, the ESL Major Series will feature a wide selection of games across the FPS, RTS and Sports genres. We also have great prizes to win in a raffle! The ESL Major Series (EMS) are a collection of Pro Leagues situated a step below our highest competitions, the Pro Series and Masters.

The majority of games selected for the second season are carried over from the first, where possible using the latest release of a game's series. This season will have a distribution of €15,000 plus hardware prizes!

[bThe ESL Major Series Season II games and prizes:[/b]]
- Call of Duty 4 (5on5): €1.500
- Counter-Strike: Source (5on5): €3.000
- Counter-Strike: 1.6 Female (5on5): €1.000
- Dawn of War: Dark Crusade (Clanwar): €1.000
- Defense of the Ancient (5on5): €1.500
- Enemy Territory (6on6): €1.000
- FIFA 08 (Clanwar): €2.000
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (1on1): Hardware prizes
- Team Fortress 2 (6on6): €1.500
- Unreal Tournament 3 (Clanwar): €1.500 + Hardware prizes for MVPs

As you can see both Crossfire-favourites CoD4 and W:ET got included but not ET:QW. The decision to exclude ET:QW must've been due to lack of signups for season I. However, ESL only got themselves to blame for that as they didn't do any advertising for ET:QW EMS other then here on Crossfire which must be seen as a giant mistake as the ET:QW-community on Crossfire still was growing and nowhere near reaching out to everyone. Adding to that the information and pretty much everything concearning the first season was everything but good which made many look the other way, especially as the CB OpenCup offered similiar prize purse and was played at the same time.

Either way, I'll try to keep you updated with information from the ESL EMS season II as it comes.

Read more at:
EMS season II announced
EMS mainpage

MCE, or the MEETCOMMUNITYEFFORT-group started their work after a heavy debate whether C.U.R.E (another CoD4-ruleset) really was the real "cure" for Call of Duty 4. As C.U.R.E. rather quickly got called POISON in everyday language the MCE-group started working on their project with more support from the actual community. Their goal is ofcourse to make some kinda global ruleset and with their big variation of members the MCE might actually suceed.

Swedish powerhouse EYEBALLERS have made another interesting move as they today presented the old Swedish CoD2 top-team sveaRoyale as their Call of Duty 4-squad. EYEBALLERS are known to most gamers, especially for their Quake- and Counter-Strike teams. Just recently they ninja'ed an ETQW-squad (read more..) and with this move the future looks really bright for EYE.

sveaRoyale, formely known as fukyuu and Teamoxid, haven't proved anything in CoD4 yet, however - they were the #1 Swedish CoD2-team and in august they won the Wonderbase-LAN, just after being victorious in the prestigious CODQCUP. Now it's up to them to show the scene that they were able to take the step into the slightly different CoD4. Their lineup consist of players with lots of experience, such as zEm and mint, both former players of Team Dignitas and legendary WHO Crew among others.

Statement by Team Manager, [flag=se Robert "Shrek" Holmberg]

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This means alot to the guys, to be backed up by a organisation that is once again growing. With a brand like Eyeballers we open doors we could not do with Svea Royale. Togheter with the other teams playing for the organisation we are looking forward to be able to grow as a team and organisation.

We also firmly belive in Cod4 as a competetive game and the growth potential of the game is huge, we hope that our move to Eyeballers can get other big organisations to open their eyes and see the potential and talent that is present in the Call of duty community. Give other teams and players a better chance to compete and develop their skills on a higher level.

We would also like to give a shoutout to a special person, you know who you are!

[bEYEBALLERS CoD4 lineup:[/b]]
mint
odyxz
wnkr
zEm
zsilts

rivieRa (backup)
Shrek (Team Manager)


Best of luck EYE!

Links:
EYEBALLERS.com
#EYE @ QuakeNet
CallOfDuty.se (Source, Swedish)
EYE.CoD4 Pressrelease

Where it's now about 2 degrees Celsius outside things are starting to get hot in the ETQW-scene. With both the Finnish and Swedish ESL Major Series (EMS) Qualifier starting tonight. And if that wasn't enough there will also be some action in the ET:QW Nordic Championship.

[bThe Finnish teams (with 1 spot in the EMS):[/b]]
Pelit
retro4u
Afterlife
Never Grow Old

[bThe Swedish teams (with 2 spots in the EMS):[/b]]
Kompaniet
EYEBALLERS
Junk52 Theatre
Druidz
Mortifier
One2
621
cultBurk
tenax.se

But as said, that is not all as the Nordic Championship kicks off tonight with TGBF showcasting Benz1n.Gaming vs. HeXagon e-Sports tonight @ 19:00 CET (click for link to the showcast..). In the end of NC, the remaining teams will be fighting over 1600 euro and a ticket to QuakeCon 2008 for the winning team.

[bET:QW Nordic Championship groups:[/b]]
Group 1:
Code seven
DeviaGames
Team Pelit

Group 2:
Mortifier
Afterlife
Team-BUBU (Dignitas-mix)

Group 3:
EYEBALLERS
Kompaniet
Never Grow Old

Group 4:
WarBorn
Team Logitech.fi
Druidz

Group 5:
Arcane6
Team Infinity
Strogganoff

Group 6:
Junk52 Theatre
Benz1n.Gaming
HeXagon e-Sports

Group 7:
GRYP
retro4u
Master Incorporated

Group 8:
tenax.se
J.Lindeberg Future e-Sport
Ninjatechnique e-Sport
Two teams from each group go through to the playoffs. Maps for round 1 are Sewer/Area22, and for round 2 it's Refinery/Salvage.

Best of luck to all the participants.

Links:
Finnish EMS Qualifier
Swedish EMS Qualifier
The Nordic Championship
TGBF
#esl.quakewars & #snl.etqw

Another ET:QW team have been picked up by a major e-Sports organization. This time it's the spanish team Exilium who will, as of today, compete under redCode. This might be seen somewhat of a suprise for some as it was wArning who seemed destined to end up in redCode, as they were just recently tipped by CrossFire's very own hentai (read more..) to be the number one team of Spain. But as things turned out, Exilium was a better option for the spanish powerhouse. redCode are mostly known for their CS 1.6, and FIFA-team, but with this addition they now got a new game to shine in.

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The expansion of ET:QW has been so great, that in most parts of the world ET:QW teams have been established. Facing this new 07/08 season, redCode, one of the biggest spanish multisquads has decided to add a new team to their ranks. The team that was chosen is the well known Exilium, composed by former x6tence.bf2-players, and a recent addition from wArning.

Statement from Team Captain Oscar 'Bono' Sanchez:

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It's hard to find words for this great happiness. We truly owe redCode for putting their trust in us as their ET:QW team. The whole team is ready to do all we can for this new flag, and continue fighting for our objectives with more strength and determination then ever before. Day by day, we will struggle to take the name of redCode as far as we can, as this is our new home now.

redCode ET:QW lineup:
Oscar 'Bono' Sanchez *
Daniel 'sntx' Catalina
Sergio 'Y2KaoS' Soler
Héctor 'Cardhu' Viña
Kiríll 'Filete' Bachkirov
Hugo Andrés 'io.sKz' Gutierrez
Savva 'Kasper' Fatkulin
Juan Carlos 'MaRTe' González
Raúl 'Soveliss' Fontecha

The new redCode-lineup will be competing in events such as the CB OpenCup, Spanish EMS Qualifiers and ESL Opening Cup. I'd wanna wish them the best of luck.

Links:
redCode eSports
#redCode @ QuakeNet

A big thanks to Filete for helping me translate the spanish source.

Last wednesday (read more..) Team Dignitas announced their very own ET:QW Cup in cooperation with QPAD. In the first qualifier, held last saturday, we could see Team Druidz and wArning! go through to the finals. Next qualifier is this wednesday (17/10), and there''s still time to sign up. However, the admins have now decided that some changes had to be made in their schedule and this is what they had to say..

As I wrote about earlier (read more...) Quake Wars League, QWL, are hosting a ET:QW Demo Cup starting next week. But since I wrote that there have been some major updates concearning the rules. Earlier, QWL wanted to allow flyers but after some careful consideration and a heavy debate at their forums they have now decided not to. This decision now rules out flyers and I wouldn't be suprised if this was the last time we've seen the flyers actually thought about in ET:QW competitive play.

There are also some more restrictions made by QWL and this is kinda interesting as the new rules will make way for some more intense infantry combat.

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To prove we're not deaf, dumb and lame public players.. we have been seriously brainstorming about all possibilities and ofcourse considering all kinds of remarks made by you, YES YOU!; thus coming to the following rules for the upcoming cup:

- Teams may only use vehicles from their current spawn and/or capturable forward spawns.
- The defending team may use vehicles from the previous spawn if it does not conflict with the vehicle restriction ruleset.
- Teams may only use 1 heavy vehicle at a time.
- Teams may only use 1 medium vehicle at a time.
- Teams may only use 1 sniper, however there is no limit on the Covert Ops/Infiltrator class.
- There may only be 1 Field Ops/Opressor deployable, however there is no limit on the Field Ops/Opressor class.
- Flying vehicles are not allowed. (Not including the Icarus)

Heavy vehicles include: Cyclops, Desecrator and Titan.
Medium vehicles include: Hog and APC.

Valley Specific Rules
- The shielded rear strogg base is off limits. You may not take vehicles from this base nor place deployables inside this area.
- The serversettings to allow MCP destroying when off-course should be disabled, meaning that if the MCP drives off-course and is disabled it will stay at this position. These are the commands and how they should be set:
seta g_noRouteConstraintKick "1"
seta g_noRouteMaskDestruction "1"
- The MCP may not be driven left after the bridge, before the tunnel along the mountainside to prevent falling in the water with the serversettings provided in the previous rule, however it can be driven left by the end of the tunnel.

There are still some debate whether these rules are final or not, you can take part in the discussion HERE.

QWL is set to start on Wednesday, the 19th after the seeds are done this weekend. So far 49 of 64 slots have been taken, and there is little time left, so head over there and signup.

Find out more at:
Quake Wars League
#QWL

Electronic Sports League, ESL announced their very own ET:QW Demo Cup yesterday. The signups are open until saturday the 15th, 23:59CET so hurry up if you want to participate.

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Today the international section of the ESL for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars opens its doors, co-inciding with the release of the demo tonight. ESL presents a demo cup to prepare for the game's upcoming release and ESL Major Series!

Modus: Single Elimination
Participants: 32 teams
Date of registration: 09/10/07 18:00 until 09/15/07 23:59

Schedule:
Round 1: Monday, 17th - 21:00
Round 2: Tuesday, 18th - 21:00
Round 3: Thursday, 20th - 21:00
Round 4: Monday, 24th - 21:00
Final: Wednesday, 26th - 21:00

Rules and Vehicle Restrictions
Rules:
Stopwatch (Best of 3)
Timelimit: 20 minutes
XP are disabled
seta g_noRouteConstraintKick "0"
seta g_noRouteMaskDestruction "0"

Decider:
If the 2 teams are tied after ABBA has been played, a decider map will be played. If there is a double fullhold on this map, then the team which completed the most objectives will be declared the winner.
If the teams are tied on the number of objectives completed, then the team which completed the last objective in the fastest time will be the winner.

Valley Vehicle Restrictions:
Global
- Teams may only use 1 heavy vehicle at a time.
- Teams may only use 1 medium vehicle at a time.
- Flying vehicles are not allowed. (Not including the Icarus)
- Teams may only use vehicles from their current spawn and/or capturable forward spawns.
Strogg
- The defending team may use vehicles from the previous spawn if it does not conflict with the vehicle restriction ruleset.
Additional
- Heavy vehicles include: Cyclops, Desecrator and Titan.
- Medium vehicles include: Hog and APC.

Class Restrictions:
- Teams may only use 1 sniper, however there is no limit on the Covert Ops/Infiltrator class.
- There may only be 1 Field Ops/Opressor deployable, however there is no limit on the Field Ops/Opressor class.

Valley Specific Rules:
- The shielded rear strogg base is off limits. You may not take vehicles from this base nor place deployables inside this area.
- The serversettings to allow MCP destroying when off-course should be disabled, meaning that if the MCP drives off-course and is disabled it will stay at this position. These are the commands and how they should be set:
seta g_noRouteConstraintKick "1"
seta g_noRouteMaskDestruction "1"

- The MCP may not be driven left after the bridge, before the tunnel along the mountainside to prevent falling in the water with the serversettings provided in the previous rule, however it can be driven left by the end of the tunnel.

Find out more at:
Electronic Sports League / Signup
#ESL.etqw