First off the basics. Name, age, location, that kind of mundane stuff.
My name is Ross Lavery, 18 years old in Ontario, Canada. I am an image arts student at Ryerson University.
How long have you been playing video games? What genres did you go through and do you have a particular favorite?
I’ve been playing games for quite a while, typical console stuff, NES, then Genesis, then N64, then PC gaming. My first pc game I ever played was C&C Red Alert (guess where the name came from.) I played ut99 on public ctf-face only instagib servers all day long but never even knew about competitive gaming. When UT2003 came out I bought it and played Bombing Run (br rules!) for the first 3 months or so. I went to a local lan event where I met Toque (Canadian representative @ WCG along with gimix), and to make a long story short we both ended up in No Escape where we are today!
No Escape is your home clan, care to tell us some about them, your experiences in the group, and where they will go from here.
No Escape is a fairly old local Canadian clan that was established in 1999. They played the quake series and then moved onto CS and then eventually developed a strong UT division late into ut2003 and into ut2004. Nowadays we are slightly less local, but 90% of the clan is still Canadian with the few exceptions being Dawgpound and Smooth (and a few others I surely forgot!) We are also currently inactive.
You have a bit of an odd reputation. Some people seem to take you the wrong way, yet others view you as one of the friendliest and most positive people around. Is there a reason for the misunderstanding?
Yeah….about that. I think anyone who has had a bad impression of me is basing their opinion off of forum posts. I am nothing like I am on gaming forums and I don’t pretend like I am either. The people who know me as being friendly and positive (for the most part) are people who have actually spoken to me and gotten to know me a lot better, or even met me in person. I think the same can be said for many other misunderstood people in the NA community however. People are a lot nicer once you give them a chance and get to know them instead of reading a forum post intended as a joke and categorizing them forever.
Speaking of odd… you’re extremely good at 1v1, yet you don’t play it. What is up with that?
I’m not quite sure how to answer that question really. I don’t feel comfortable in a 1v1 environment and I never have. I lack a great deal of confidence and despite how lame it sounds, I always feel a great deal of pressure to win even when there is nothing at stake. I can’t really describe the feeling but it is another reason why I don’t like people watching me or spectating me while I play. I also think that the NA community takes practice games far too seriously. I try to play and have fun while listening to music etc, and if people beat you or come close, they take screenshots and post them on their refrigerator as if it was for anything other than fun. So the very rare 1v1 games I play are about once a month or so with my close friends like Dawgpound or Gimix, but other than that I don’t play 1v1 at all. People don’t really know my skill level simply because they have never played me but DP and Gimix will vouch for my sake ;]. I also know that my aim isn’t at the same level as the top players, and I am only strong on ironic while very weak on rankin and roughinery. Anyways, I plan on participating in Americup 1v1 tourney so if I can keep myself together (not likely), I hope to do better than some might expect me to.
Since the announcement of the Americup several teams in NA have been broken up and destroyed, and a few newer teams have emerged with power players. Your team for the Americup is Gravity, and you are heavily favored for second place. Your roster (lotus, cursive, dawgpound, xyber, you) is certainly top notch. Would you care to elaborate on how this group came to be, how you get along, and the inner workings of the team?
The story is too long on how the team came to be, but essentially we are a group of friends who pulled together in order to create the strongest team we possibly could with the players that were left after the creation of X6. We get along quite well, the balance of power hasn’t really shifted in anyone’s favour (which I think is a problem). We don’t have a real leader yet but hopefully that will change soon. I’d also like to mention that we recently recruited xspain to our roster and we’re very glad to have him aboard.
While we are on the topic of Gravity, what expectations do you have for the team?
We have expectations of top 3 and nothing less to be honest. There are a lot of teams participating but I feel the skill gap after the top 3 teams is just too great to be made up. Our biggest challenge is our inactivity which is something I am concerned about and something we hope to remedy soon.
For the Americup, most people view x6 as the team that will dominate it. Do you think any team has a chance against them? Also would you care to give some opinions on some of the other teams you think will make a good showing at GGL.
To be completely honest I really don’t think anyone but x6 will win the tournament. That is NOT to say that teams don’t have a chance, simply that it isn’t likely. The top 3 teams right now in my opinion are x6, gravity, and con. Con is an amazing team of guys that should not be underestimated. They have excellent teamwork and lots of experience playing together. With their latest addition of Pen15 from kaizen they are certainly a force to be reckoned with. With hard work teams like SBP and h2o could also perform well, but I don’t think they will shake the top 3.
Speaking of the Americup, 2k4 has been on a huge resurgence recently. It went from dead, to kicking with OLB, and now into full swing with GGL. You have played for a good team prior to this games lull, played on the best team when it started to come back, and now are on one of the top teams now. Care to comment on your experience as such and your views on why the community changes.
Well I think it’s great that the community is back and lively just like it was right before CPL. The most disappointing part of it all is that organizations have to put a dollar sign in front of a tournament before people will even consider playing again after many teams went inactive after CPL. I have heard that Americup will be running these seasons bi-annually and I certainly hope they continue to use UT2004 as a game. It would be a shame to have everything die off after having such a great rebirth for the TDM community.
You have been one of the key members in several tournaments/training programs and other efforts to get this community growing. Perhaps more importantly, you have been part of the more successful attempts at this. Are there any comments you have about these events, or advice for those trying to run their own events?
The only comment I have really is that it’s great to see things finally coming together. I’m proud to be staff at gameamp and I’m proud of what we have done to help rebuild the community from nearly scratch. Our latest project #2k4tdm on irc.enterthegame.com (blatant plug), is going very well and it is great to have somewhere to provide comprehensive coverage of events. With regards to people trying to run their own events, my most honest answer would be – at the moment, don’t. The biggest problem with the community was when there were too many options and leagues to choose from. The community became oversaturated and there was no standard competition for everyone to join. Things are going great the way they are, so get a team together and play in them!
After GGL we have ESWC, a 1v1 event. What effect does you think that is going to have on the UT community, and what direction do you think it will take?
I think that entirely depends on if ESWC chooses to be entirely invite, or entirely qualifiers, or a mix for North American countries. If it is invite only the community will not be changed for the better at all, the only possibility is for it to get worse. Here’s to hoping its qualifiers ;)
And since I have to… is it going to be No Escape 3, or Gravity 1?
Ahhh yes, the inevitable movie question. I was very happy with how No Escape 2 turned out, although it is a shame that the frags were not up to par. Let that be a sign of the state NA ut2k4 was in. However I CAN tell you that No Escape 3 is infact in production at the moment. I can guarantee that the frags will be better, and the editing and quality will be better than ever also. With GGL around the corner there will be lots of opportunities for some movie shots to occur
Well that’s all I have, comments, shout outs, go for it.
Hi to all my clanmates and good friends in No Escape and Team Gravity, especially Dawgpound who has stuck with me through all of the stuff that has happened. Of course all of the people in x6 like cc, gimix, elix, frenzy, tex and who could forget my best friend and lifemate stryfe. Without getting too emotional or sentimental, good luck to everyone in GGL and keep playing ut2k4. BY THE WAY HI DANIEL CRAMPTON, who is probably the nicest and coolest guy I’ve met in the NA community. Also sorry to anyone I forgot before I get yelled at. Stay tuned for No Escape 3 also! Thanks for the interview.
good read, gl in americup.
the next interview should be CombatCarl part2 featuring his opinions on nytejade, LOB, wingzero, and the notorius super clan h2o.
