Gillz gears up for DEVASTATION LAN
With Gillz gearing up for Devastation I wanted to take some time to sit down and visit with him about the LAN. His plans, strategies, and what he expected from an event like Devastation. Gillz has been a long standing member of Area51Gaming that has attended a number of online and LAN events for Area51Gaming including QuakeCon. Gillz is flying out for Devastation in Arizona this weekend to compete in Quake Live Duals, here is what he had to say:For those that don't know who you are, you mind giving us a brief intro, maybe some gaming/league exp or wins?
| My name is Bryan Gilbert, my online alias is Gillz. I live in Ontario, Canada and play Quake Live competitively in tournaments. I've attended many tournaments including ESWC events, WSVG events, Quakecon events, and many more. My last tournament was LAN ETS where 22 Quake Live players competed, and eventually I worked my way to the finals and won :) |
So, you're on your way to the Devastation LAN, and you're going to duel. What kind of competition are you expecting, any big names in quake live?
| DEVASTATION doesn't have a player list that the public can see, so no one can really see who's signed up and going to the event. As of right now I know only of one player who's going, who is the biggest name in Quake Live ;). Other than that, I won't know who's competing until I arrive at the tournament. |
Doesn't that leave you feeling kind of out in the dark? Not really knowing what kind of play styles to expect?
| The only thing it leaves me with is a sense of what placing I should be expecting, or even what to try to accomplish. Of course I'd like to win, but you also need realistic goals. I'm aware of most play styles of mid to top American players, so I'm not so concerned about that. I just need to make sure I'm in the best condition possible, mentally and physically, and just play my game. You could say being out in the dark adds a bit of excitement! |
Speaking of the best condition mentally and physically what have you done both on and offline to prepare for devastation?
| Physically, eating right and running every day. An active mind is a healthy mind, and I believe very deeply in that. Eating healthy, no junk food, drinking mostly water, running everyday (or every other day) about 3K. For in-game, just playing top players and working on my play style, watching my own demos and making sure 100% I know what I'm doing wrong, and fixing it. Making sure the quality is there, and if possible, playing as much as possible. |
What kind of tournament setup does devastation offer? Single elim, double elim, round robin?
| I believe they're just going to seed the tournament and put it into a double elimination bracket. Top tournaments will do group play, then go to either a double or single elim, but I don't know about DEVASTATION. I'm expecting double elimination at this point. |
How far do you have to travel to get to devastation?
| I have about an hour and a half flight to Detroit, then about a three hour flight to Phoenix Arizona I believe. |
Do you feel this is more of a "warmup" for QuakeCon, kind of like a "Road to QuakeCon" LAN?
| In a way you can say that. I've changed my setup slightly, my sensitivity is increased and I've also started using mouse accel. This will be a good test to see how I can perform with these changes at LAN in high tense situations. |
Why the change in config?
| I was always against mouse accel, due to it adding another variable in terms of aiming. Without mouse accel, you have a fixed sensitivity that never changes, when you move your mouse 10cm, it will move your character in-game that amount every time. With mouse accel, it changes depending on the speed at which you move your mouse. I was always against it because I felt it was a variable added that was impossible to predict 100%. I'm a very technical person, I like things in a concrete and fixed way. But, after turning mouse accel on, I found that my worries weren't really a concern. Yes, I believe my railgun accuracy has dropped slightly, but I expect it to go back up the longer I get used to it. Mouse accel makes moving around the map a lot easier, and makes up-close rocket fights a lot better do. I'm unable to go back to a setup where mouse accel is turned off. It's hard to describe, but I believe mouse accel can really help most people, when used correctly of course. |
With quake live being delivered via the browser how do you think the game is progressing?
| In terms of development, the general consensus is that it's been terrible, which I don't believe to be true. I think development is maybe slower than it 'should' be, but the quality I believe is fine. Yes I have some problems with the game (Crosshairs, too simple scoreboard, lacking some CPMA features) but overall it's making progress. Technically the game is losing money, and most likely won't be a big money maker anyways, so ID is focusing on bigger projects, like their ID TECH 5 games that will be released for PC and consoles, which will bring in a LOT more than Quake Live ever will. The game is progressing slow, but decently. There's many complains, but over time they should disappear as more updates get released. I might get in trouble for this, but all those people complaining about lack of new and quality maps in Quake Live will have a BIG surprise coming ;) |
Do you have any plans pre-quakecon? More LANs, family vacation, getting your ear pierced? lol
| Pre-quakecon will be playing as many top Americans as I can during the summer months, getting as much practice as I can get in, making sure I'm still active and eating healthy, etc. I'll also be bootcamping a week before Quakecon with some top Americans, and a very good player from Asia, but I'll keep my lips sealed about that :) Nothing planned yet for a vacation, nothing will likely happen in the summer. I'm trying to plan a trip to Japan. |
Well thanks for your time Gillz, I've kept you long enough, any final thoughts or random rationalizations?
| I'd like to say that people should be supporting Quake Live right now, because it's all we have. It's the only Quake we really have that is played competitively right now, and we all know Quake 3 was one of the best competitive 1v1 DM games of all time. The e-sports industry isn't perfect, and I think we're very lucky to have Quake in it. No matter what we have, we should be supporting it 100% and making sure that Quake stays in e-sports. Yes Quake 3 might technically be 'better', but change can happen without warning. We need to support this game, because without it, we have nothing. Please support Quake :) Also a thank you to my friends and family that support me. I post updates from LAN's and tournaments on my twitter, so you can check that stuff out at twitter.com/_Gillz |
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