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Ake Vader  /  16 Dec 2010, 21:03
EQL:Pro - survival of the fittest
The European Quake League recently presented their new initiative in the form of EQL: Pro, which caters towards the top eight 4on4 teams in the QuakeWorld community and features the classic ruleset which consists of DM2, DM3 and E1M2. The main idea behind this league is to ensure high quality QW 4on4 action every Sunday as they have a fixed schedule for playing the games, which makes it possible to provide better coverage for every single game.
After twelve seasons of division-based league structure the European Quake League team tries out something new which includes only the top teams within the community. The various new ideas behind this league makes it a rather experimental and interesting move. What are the new things that they will try out then?

First and foremost the league is closed to only the top eight teams in the community. Four are already directly qualified after having ended up on place 1-4 in the recently finished 12th season of the European Quake League. The other four teams will have to qualify for the tournament in a qualification round which will happen on Sunday the 19th of December at 18:00CET (i.e. on "this" Sunday at the time of writing this). Recent revelations has made it clear that there are only three pre-qualified teams that will participate though as the Viper Squad won't participate due to parts of the squad going for holidays.

Moreover the admins have decided to try out a fixed schedule for all the games to cater for the spectators and increased possibility to plan and arrange coverage in advance. The chosen days will specifically be Sundays which is probably a very wise move. What would be interesting to know is whether the Sunday is split into different game times aswell, in order to avoid having the games go on in parallell.

The map pool for the whole league will be the traditional DM2, DM3 and E1M2. This will most likely make the best of the best players want to show up and ensures the highest quality on the games as compared to matches played on the "recently" introduced maps CMT1B, CMT3 and CMT4.
Wanting to have the best players in the league is also one of the main thoughts of this new initiative. Signs of this includes the sizes of the squads, which will be unlimited, and the fact that players can join other teams if it would happen that their own team should fail to qualify for the league (which wouldn't be due to the star player, who later joins a qualified team of course!).

All in all it's a very interesting concept and the consistency of how the show will be run is probably a key to making it all work; good preparations, no exceptions and professionalism among the organizers will most likely be very important ingredients for success. One thing is for sure though - you don't want to miss out on it!

Key dates
18th December 12:00CET (Saturday): Deadline for qualification sign-up
19th December 18:00-00:00CET (Sunday): Qualification games
January: Start of league!

Source: European Quake League press release
27
Comments
2010-12-16, 21:04
#1
As we're getting so professional now i figured the EQL post is not just a news item anymore
2010-12-16, 21:09
#2
Sound great... if commentators are up to the challenge
2010-12-16, 23:28
#3
sweet!
2010-12-17, 07:26
#4
One of the better initiatives! Looking forward to this
2010-12-17, 10:00
#5
I would be up for trying to do some commentary on some of the games. My idea would be to try and talk through the maps and give an insight to some of the lower div players as to what each team is trying to achieve.
2010-12-17, 10:19
#6
I think the initiative is very good, I just hope the timing doesn't ruin it. I think a lot of people are leaving to christmas holidays, if they didn't already...
2010-12-17, 10:21
#7
@5
Yes, that's generally what commentators do...
2010-12-17, 10:23
#8
Chris - but be sure not tu mumble (when commentating) as many British ppl do!
Make yourself audible and comprehensible
Great initiative guys
2010-12-17, 10:27
#9
@gaz. I have listened a few times and I hear people commenting but they are not really saying much (apart from paradox) about what is really going on in div1. I thought some of the lower div players would like to get an idea of some of the tactics/goals in div1 4v4.
2010-12-17, 10:38
#10
#8 subtitles?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s02ePEQ79Zo
2010-12-17, 10:42
#11
#8: funny you say that. I am known for mumbling as it goes haha. Sometimes I am at the PC with one eye open trying to play heh
2010-12-17, 11:09
#12
Where can I get a serox pet? I seriously want one!
2010-12-17, 11:24
#13
will cost you
2010-12-17, 12:12
#14
#12 Do you have enough space for all those pets you are thinking of getting? First a Hagge and then a Serox...
2010-12-17, 12:14
#15
I'm eager to see some more teams sign up! Only Quakeklan signed atm
2010-12-17, 12:14
#16
Ofc. Always room for cute things in my apartment
2010-12-17, 13:09
#17
lol
2010-12-17, 13:49
#18
if someone twisted my arm enough i think i would be up for some more commentary, i'm quite certain i can improve on my debut. i guess it depends what people want, if what i did before was satisfactory or not! otherwise, no biggie
2010-12-17, 14:05
#19
I didn't hear your commentary but i would be surprised if you wouldn't be needed/wanted as a commentator as there will be a lot of games going on.
2010-12-17, 14:40
#20
ddk - you did well! Ofcourse there's alot to improve after debut, and if you want to, and have the interest, you should! I really think commentary is great to qw, but I lack community touch in commentary. Like, revealing secrets ("en_karl has been praccing bots before this game", stating statistics ("he's been praccing 24/7 this week", or behind the curtain infos ("razor's been sick for 3 weeks" yada yada. Commentary is often so standard like... "bps picks up the quad" zzz... like, why even bother saying it. pregame community talks or maybe even during games would be more interesting to me. Enough rambling, proceed ddk
2010-12-17, 14:52
#21
exactly bps. That's why I was thinking of giving it ago. Try and give players an idea of what kind of things div1 players are thinking about in game instead of standing 'X has quad' etc
2010-12-17, 15:01
#22
Commentary isn't just about being incisive though, it's about adding to the entertainment and excitement. I always aim to do that without talking too much or telling the spectators what they already know. It's a tough balance. I like commentating with someone who can add the 'dry' stuff alongside my exciteable yelling
2010-12-17, 16:12
#23
Gaz represents quite a good balance, especially if he has some div1 player commentating with him, like Para, except when they go off on something and totally ignore important things happening in the game.

Jehar probably works better for those less familiar with the game, but for me, he lacks way too much information and experience from top level qw (even as a spectator). I appreciate his effort, but as such a long time player and heavy spectator, his commentary just doesn't work for me :/

Being a long time and avid spectator is also important because you've seen a lot of the players play a lot and all of them make similar mistakes and plays over and over again. Giving insight and commentary on those would be nice. Also pointing out more in depth or nuanced types of failures and successes in certain plays.

A more professional commentating duo would probably use multiview and possibly even a bird's eye view to catch interesting things happening on the map. In between rounds you could have experts join in and give their 2 cents

I know many of the things I discuss have been done at least a few times in the past, but very rarely. I also understand that it's quite a leap from being a casually learned commentator with a decent contact with their crowd to a more professional approach to the whole thing.
2010-12-17, 16:48
#24
I like Jehar as a commentator, he just needs to do more QW so he learns the game. Everyone else have been doing a good job too, I think they'll get better at it the more they do it so I wouldn't worry about it.
2010-12-17, 16:59
#25
I have to say that gaz & para at one game (I think it was Fusion vs Teamkillers) were perfect. Para gave insane insights (at least for me) about the tactics, why some players did what they did and what the results were going to be, while gaz was more like the professional commentator. Additional to this both gave some great anecdotes about past events, players and so on.

Jehar is maybe more professional then gaz, but I really dislike when he is screaming around "What a frag!". It's so superficial. Of course it is nice to see a cool air frag or something. But for me the beauty in speecing 4on4 lies in the incredible display of teamplay, positioning and preparing an attack.
2010-12-17, 19:06
#26
Where is Pektopah??? PEKTOPAH STOP HIDING AND DO COMMENTARY!
2010-12-18, 10:05
#27
Yeah well it's really difficult to satisfy players who play this game for years with "what a frag!", coz really, there's like 0.000001% chance you'll see a nice new frag you haven't seen before
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