Q.) First things first, Introduce yourself and your team. How did Forsaken.Kingdom come to be?
A.) Hi, I am Lore I run the TDM side of things in Forsaken.Kingdom which was formed by me and InsaneAgain at the release of ut2004.We had been in clans together since UT99 and decided it was time to start our own clan fresh with the release of the new game,with the thought in mind to be a "fun" yet competitive team in due time,and the competitive time is here!
Q.) What is your team's philosophy? Are you trying to improve in order to compete with the stronger top-tier teams or are you mostly a casual group of friends?
A.) Actually our clan is sort of balanced between the two.We have guys that just want to be casual players as well as ones that REALLY want to take it to the next level and be competitive.Recently we had to rebuild our TDM structure due to the loss of a few TDM players, and now we are a much stronger, tighter group of players and are striving to compete with the higher tier clans that are established and well known.The ONS side of the clan that InsaneAgain has put together is really getting their act together constantly practicing, working on strats, I look for them to be super competitive in the coming months.
Q.) What motivated your choice to apply for our Training Session and Interview? Did you think you had good chances of getting picked?
A.) The motivation came from the want to be more competitive, being a new clan in the UT community isnt very fun,We would scrim higher tier teams and get harassed the whole time, "noobs", "noob clan", and being told we were killing the ut community REALLY made us want to get better come back and get revenge on these guys, and we also thought this would be a great way to get our name out.We really didn't expect to be chosen with all the new clans out there wanting the same thing we do.
Q.) Have there been any greatly inspirational teams for you?
A.) SBP - short bus passengers, A great bunch of guys and at this point the only guys who give us the respect we give them.Really solid players willing to scrim us at anytime, anyday, anywhere, I believe they really wanna see us move forward in the competitive scene versus other clans we've run into who like to downgrade us for trying to take the step forward.
Q.) What do you think of the current competitive set-up? (How ladders function, tournaments being so selective and often not finishing, etc)
A.) There could be more ladders with admins who actually pay attention to whats going on, often times when problems arise before or after a match in our experience it takes days sometimes weeks to resolve the issue due to admins not checking e-mail or not being found in irc or the likes.Tournaments like the TDM Open and One Night Stands are really great its a shame there aren't more of these.Maybe the ball will get rolling more often once CPL is done, so FSK can get in some of these for the experience.All in all I feel that the current competitive setup is a bit rough around the edges there isnt really enough "ACTIVE" ladders out there right now, perhaps if we could get more coverage on UT2k4. I'll use the CPL and TSN Network for example, I've been watching TSN Network for almost all of the CPL, and all i can see is Counter Strike, It's almost like the rest of the gaming world has written off the UT2004 community. If we could get more publicity, more tournaments online,just alot more active as a community I feel it would spark others interest into playing UT2004 competitively, and there will be more top teams versus the same 2 or 3 teams running the show constantly.
Q.) Are you at all scared of progressing to the \"next\" level? Excited?
A.) Not at all scared, we've already played some top teams and learned from it,we're ready to make the leap and work on our teamwork so we can compete with the upper level teams.The only problem is the ego trip some of the higher tier clans are on, I wont name them off or point fingers but if you are a new clan trying to step into the competitive scene prepare to be bashed,It's ridiculous how some of these guys have no respect and dont support newer clans yet they complain about the scene like its dead,But we are willing to do whatever it takes to progress and become one of the high tier teams.'WHEN' fsk gets to be one of the higher tier teams,we WILL be willing to help and support newer clans coming into the scene.
Q.) Have you followed the major tournaments happening across the globe, like this year's ESWC and CPL?
A.) I think alot of our tdm guys have kept track of the big events, right now CPL is going on and we are all constantly checking to see who's doing what,Really backing the US teams,it's really sad there isnt more coverage on ut2004 though, all we have to go by is the brackets site =(
Q.) What, in your opinion, are the greatest differences between casual players and professional players?
A.) Professional players treat it more like its a job really, casual players play for fun. Professional players will sit for hours watching demos of matches while a casual player might find it more fitting to watch a rerun of friends.Pro players are constantly working on their game to be the best while casual players just play to kill time and have a little fun.The competitive scene is a whole different world compared to that of a casual scene.
Q.) What did you think of the Training Session? Things you liked, things you didn't like, things we could improve, etc?
A.) Disliked the way no one seemed to be in the mood to help train or assist, It seemed unorganized.I wasn't there as I was out of town at the time but the guys said all in all it was good stuff.Most of the tips given were more for a team that had never played TDM before,Things you could improve in the next session...Give starter strategies for a given map, ask what their favorite map as a team is, and work with em on it,but again I wasnt there im just speaking for the guys who was able to attend.Being the team leader I've seen drastic improvement on teamwork with our guys. =p
Q.) Do you feel it was a good way to improve?
A.) They feel it WAS good learning, the communication has picked up alot since then as well as weapon sharing for weaponless teammates.I think it is a great idea to have these sessions,maybe bi-monthly to introduce smaller / newer clans into the competitive scene.We need more and more clans stepping in to make the scene really active and this is a great start for them.On behalf of FSK I'd like to say thanks for choosing us it was a good experience,good job and keep it going.
Thanks go out to FSK for being such a great bunch of guys. Also, for those among you wondering how they "won" this little shindig, here's their original e-mail application:
Hello uNity,
In response to your post on the Atari forums I am writing you this passage
in anticipation you will choose our clan "Forsanken.Kingdom" as your
Interview.
We are in fact not an 'elite' clan and it shows when we scrim or play
matches against squads like Skullface, IDN, or gsk. Scores are often
lopsided whether it be TDM or ONS but we do manage to get a few kills in.
But that doesn't seem to deter us from scimming the likes of Skullface or
IDN again. Usually we do a little better with each match.
I'm not going to sit here typing trying to convince you why we should be
picked for your interview. I'll let you determine that with what I am
writing about our team. We are at a point in our early existence where we
are trying to bring in a few good players. Though we have managed to
recruit a couple of skilled fraggers the fact is that some of them have a
bad attitude that they bring with them and have been dismissed. I don't
understand this because if you have skill, then why the attitude? I guess
if you're '1EEt' then bad ping or crappy teammates is the cause of your
failure, as they see it.. and from what I've seen. We just don't tolerate
that type of moronic behavior.
Forsaken.Kingdom's members are typically hard skinned when it comes to
playing matches, and we have to be. Like I said, most of the time we are
playing squads with a bit more talent and skill but we never give up or
leave the match early.. always fighting to get that next kill in. It's
the only way to get better.
Out of our team probably Lore and ThreeSevenSeven have the advantage of skill when we scrim amongst ourselves and are usually involved with the
matches with other clans. Followed by me, Kinetix, and probably
Corrupt_Mind. I can tell the rest of our team draws off this and likes to
play against us just to see if they can get a kill in. We make it a point
not to make a lesser skilled player feel like an idiot or give excuses
when they get a kill. Hey, they are getting better, that's what we want!
What I am going to do here is not inform my team that I submitted this
application and if you select us I'll be like: "Surprise!" and we'll go
from there. I'm sure every one on the team would enjoy the attention and
'exclusive training session'. All of us would benefit from it, I know I
would.
Damn man... I had no idea you guys did this... I cant believe FSK died... you guys were doing so damn awesome... I wanted to stay with you guys but due to moving and lost a good connection and was stuck with satellite for a while... I finally went ahead and got a 56k connection and went to come back and you guys were gone... I wish I could have been there to try and stop it from dying...
