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How do you feel about returning to EQL with tVS this season?
Diki: I have been busy with other stuff so I haven't played any games for long time. And somehow I have missed very much the feeling that you get from 4on4 games. Especially with tVS, because I know these guys from very long time.
Everyone knows their roles / tactics so it's always easy and fun to play with them.

blAze: It was mostly just for fun and getting back together with the old gang.
Looking at the state of competitive 4on4 I guess it's fair to say that playing again is more nostalgic than exciting.

Ihminen: A big mistake! QW is so addictive.

Xantom: It's fun to get back and play some games every now and then. QW has always been, still is and will forever be the best game in my opinion.

Milton: Good. I've always enjoyed playing with tVS because of our rock-solid teamplay and because everyone in the team really understands what it takes to be good in Quakeworld instead of just grinding mindlessly for years without getting any better. It just makes playing a lot easier when you can trust your mates and don't have to tell them constantly what to do.

How strong do you think team tVS is this season?
Diki: That is a really good question for me too. At least the first games will be hard, so time will tell.
It depends also how active scene we have, can we get any pracs or how many officials we can even play.
But when it is playoff time, I’m sure we are ready

blAze: I think we will be about as strong as before, depending on how much prac and games we can get.

Ihminen: Very strong. Not as strong as in previous seasons though.

Xantom: I think we are strong enough to have a good chance of winning this season.
To give it a number I’d say that we are at 2/3 of our all time best shape.
Milton is of course as always performing on the edge of whats humanly possible.

Milton: We certainly aren't as strong yet as we were when we quit, but I hope we'll get there before the playoffs.

What is tVS greatest stength and greatest weakness?
Diki: I have to answer as in general because we still have the same lineup. As a strength you could easily just say Milton and that's something that most people are thinking. But actually I think our strength is that we are so different type of players and we have played together so long that our teamplay is seamless, if you can say so. Also even after a win we think what could have been done better so we don't ever stop developing.

blAze: I think our strengths are skilled individuals, good teamplay, play to win attitude and Milton.
Right now our biggest weakness is being rusty. I personally did not even open QW client in 2 years and I think most of us haven't played much either. I guess you could also say that kenya map pool would have been better for us, I expect it to be a bit more even on TB3.

Ihminen: The greatest strength is maybe blazes sg-%. tVS has no weaknesses.

Xantom: Our strength lies in our teamplay and experience. We don’t have any weaknesses as a team. Individually I’d say it's my poor LG aim.

Milton: Our teamplay and high skilled individuals are our main strenghts for sure.
At the moment our biggest weaknesses are the lack of routine and rusty players.

Which team do you fear the most this season?
Diki: That will be Suddendeath for sure. They have the strongest lineup ever and players are kind of active, at least what I know.

blAze: Suddendeath seems to be in shape. I think I'd pick them as our toughest competition.
I guess this time I really don't have a very good idea about in what shape many of our opponents are.

Ihminen: Suddendeath.

Xantom: Suddendeath. They really have stepped up and become a real div0-team. The movement/aim of these players has by far surpassed my own level. In a duel or 2on2 I don’t stand a chance but as far as 4on4 tactics go I feel like I still have a slight advantage.

Milton: No fear.

How did Milton manage to convince Blaze and Ihminen to play Quake again (and not just BattleField 3)?
blAze: tVS originally disbanded when Ihminen didn't want to continue. Personally I never had any problems with the idea of continuing. Now that everyone else was up for it again, I had no objections.

Ihminen: Still unclear. Somehow he tricked us I guess

Milton: I don't know exactly how it happened, and I guess I wasn't the only one trying to convince them.
It took a while anyhow for them to make up their minds.

Are you here to stay or is this just a test-season for tVS? I am sure many people are happy to see Blaze/Ihminen/Xantom back into Quake.
Diki: It is hard to say. It really depends how much games we get played and how much effort we have to use for that. It is really frustrating if you agree a match time and opponent can't get 4. Or some clans doesn't even want to play versus us. Which is one of the main reasons we retired last time.

blAze: Really hard to say at this point. Have to see how this season turns out and how the scene looks like when it's time for the next. Unfortunately QW 4on4 scene is in evidently unstoppable decline.

Ihminen: I dont know, depends how good Battlefield 4 will be =)

Xantom: Anything can happen. I live in a really old house and play on a 4G-modem which isn’t ideal for hardcore QW but it’s still good enough to enjoy the game. It won't be like the times when I had the time to play several hours every day but perhaps I’ll be more active than playing an EQL every 3rd year.

Milton: We haven't talked about the future yet. I think we'll know a lot more after seeing how this season goes (activity and performance wise).

I am sure a lot of people hope that you have started a chain reaction of teams coming back. Do you think there's any chance that tVS returning to EQL may attract other teams to come back?
Diki: I really hope that too. It's sad to see qw dying slowly. Drafts kept it well alive during winter but we still need the old EQL and top class matches. Next after this EQL it is summertime and we know how dead qw is during that time.
But who knows if next fall will be more activity, I really hope to see some top players back in business.
It's also nice to see that some players have been developing a lot during our break... thanks for draft leagues (I guess).
The main problem is that people are too lazy to agree any dates for the matches or show up when it is time.
So pre-scheduled matches would be good. The possibility that two teams would have eight players online by accident is like 10%.

blAze: I doubt it. People probably have their own personal reasons for not playing anymore.
When I wasn't playing I wouldn't have known which teams were playing because I didn't really follow QW at all.

Ihminen: At least Darkki started to play and now ATG got enough players! Saw Paradoks playing today also. Maybe next season SR will come back!

Xantom: I hope so. It’s really nice to see anzas tappra gossar (CMF) on the servers.
Of course you’d always wish for more teams to play but the scene has been more dead than it is now so I guess we should be happy.

Milton: I sure hope so too, but to be honest I can't see it happening. Please prove me wrong though!

And the final obvious question: predict the top 4 in div1 this season!
Diki: Of course I have to believe in ourselves, so 1) tVS 2) SD 3) Crazy88, they actually have a really nice lineup so will be tough 4) Atg, hope they will show some activity but I have a bad feeling they won't play their games.

blAze: tVS, SD, C88, Anza's.

Ihminen: 1. tVS 2. SD 3. ATG 4. c88

Xantom: the Viper Squad, Suddendeath, Anzas tappra gossar, Crazy88 – the battle between TVS/SD and ATG/C88 will be really tough and I really look forward to play/observe these games.

Milton: 1. tVS 2. SD 3. C88 4. ATG - ATG will be higher if they'll play some pracs or get in shape in general.

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Thanks to tVS for taking the time to talk to me and I hope you enjoyed the small interview!

Writer: andeh