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Interviews

	Core 2007-04-06

	Just recently founded in November 2006, clan Core have done an excellent job in the current NQR season, losing just one of their 7 games and winning 12 out of a total of 15 maps. It was time for an interview!


	1. First of all, please introduce the clan, tell us about your current line-up, where everyone is from and how old you all are.
	Well, feels quite strange to tell everyone who we really are, but here goes. The clan was founded by Nopee and Elguapo in November last year. We were the last remains of DQm which had fallen a few weeks earlier. Nopee and Elguapo felt like starting something new and fresh and after some days brainstorming we came up with Core. The question was which players we were going to recruit. The first month the line-up was quite different from day to day with many players leaving almost as soon as they joined. This was of course not good for the clan and our team-play. After Christmas we managed to get our people together and it now feels like we have a team we are proud of. I think we are happy with each other and like each others company. We have lots of fun when playing. So, current members: Nopee 25 (Carl) working as graphic designer and studying Multimedia in Karlstad. Elguapo (Erik) 21, student from Lund. Persuader (David) 24, working as a secret agent in Trollhättan. Edvin (Edvin) from Vingåker, student. Und (Martin) 20 from Ankarsrum, proffesional slacker. Mille (Emil) 20 from Vingåker, student. Last but not least Creature (Tuomo) 24 from Espoo, student.

	2. What about the players' gaming backgrounds? What games did you play before you found your way to Quakeworld? And when was that?
	Nopee: Quakeworld was the first of its kind when it comes to online gaming. Some of us had played some Wolfenstein and Doom but that’s about it. Some of us have a background of Quake since Qtest but others like Edvin was 4 when Quake came, so he started playing later than the rest of us. Mille: I started to play CTF when I was about 10-11 (?) years old, but moved on to TDM pretty soon. Then I've had a few breaks etc, but somehow I'm always ending up with playing Quake again. Now I'm 20 years old and still playing, so that's about 10 years of quaking. :) Elguapo: I’m a true CTF-player in the roots, started to play CTF about 7-8 years ago and actually I’ve just been playing DM for like almost 2 years. Edvin: Don't know if I played any games before Quake... was my brother Mille who got me started at age 8 or something... Then I think many in the clan have tried Counter-Strike but found it boring.

	3. You have won all of your games in Silver Cup A except for one game vs. Jokkmokk, which ended up a real nail-biter. Did you expect to be this successful? Did you see yourself ahead of everyone else before the season started?
	Nopee: The game vs. Jokkmokk was for real a real nail-biter, we knew that the game would be a close one, and it wasn't just the outcome of the game on stage. There is some great rivalry against each other. Persu has played in Jokkmokk, and Zaq has played in DQm. We didn't really think that our first real season would go this good. We knew that if we played well we probably could manage to get to the playoffs but the goal when we started Core was to be a decent div3 clan. After a few games we started to think that if we managed to play well this could probably go all the way. And now when EQL has started and we have won all games except one, we have shown that we are here in NQR for the top spot. Elguapo: We knew we had a strong line-up and quite good team-play, so it’s not THAT surprising to us. Some games have been easier than expected, and after some games we understood that JMK was our biggest threat in the group. Elguapo, nopee and edvin played together in DQm before, so the team-play wasn't grounded from zero. Edvin: Yeah we won every match except against Jokkmokk as you say, we had all bad luck you could ever have with you. :) We have forgotten about that game and are taking them down in playoffs. No we didn't see ourselves ahead of everyone before the season.

	4. What are CORE's strengths? What are your weaknesses? Where do you feel you need to improve?
	Nopee: As all sports there are always a hundreds of things you can do better. I would say that CORES best strength is the individual skill, I think that core would become an average div1 clan if we could get our TP working great. Our TP is when everyone is alert quite good, but we have a lot to learn. Not to drop packs, synchronising attacks, timing weapons and much more, but those are things almost all clans are struggling with. Mille: We need to improve our team-play a lot. We have to use the game-clock to actually time powerups/items ;) Elguapo: We talk a lot about our in many situations weak team-play, so that’s pretty much what I can give you now, closer details about our weaknesses I cant give you for obvious reasons (HEHE) :E Edvin: CORE's strength is dm2 I think it usually works pretty well there, our weaknesses well after every single prac and EQL/NQR game we say to each other that our team-play sucks but in my opinion it works pretty well.

	5. Does CORE use MM3 (Teamspeak or Ventrilo)? If so: How do you think it contributes to your gameplay? If not: Why not?
	Nopee: Core is using Ventrilo at the moment, and I would like to think that it helps us in our game-play. But sometimes I really don't know. There could be a lot more effective and not that much whine. But we learn, and I think we are sticking to MM3. Mille: Yes, we use Ventrilo. I think we should play without it, because we don't use it in the right way, too much laughing etc. =) Although it's a lot of fun!

	6. Are there any clans you expected more from? Are there clans that surprised you?
	Nopee: If we start with Silver A I think HGC has done a quite a good job. I thought at the beginning of the season that they would be struggling at the bottom. CMT is the opposite, but what I didn’t know was their lack of players and pracs. In Silver B I must say that Ballistic has done a good job, them and FU will be a good fight for us in the playoffs. Elguapo: Well now its 5 clans in the top with scores between 14-18 points, so it has been a tight group. We're happy to end up in top of it! Personally I (Elguapo) expected more from ChoseN, they were for sure h0t last season. They haven’t fielded their top line-up (?) every game so that can be a reason. We also stole their key-player Greendog (sry!) :D Edvin: Didn't think Jokkmokk would loose to a2k. But one clan that surprised us was HGC except for all the ping whine they were really good opponents.

	7. Give us some drama please. Are there clans you hate playing against? And why?
	Nopee: Drama is always fun to hear and maybe it would be nice if someone told some drama for a change. There are always clans you don’t like playing, and here come a few (to be taken with some irony). Ballistic: ALWAYS delaying and delaying like hell before starting. Jokkmokk for our rivalry against each other, but in that case it’s good. I think it will help both clans to play even better. Edvin: Of course I will give you some drama! Well we have "hated" D2 since we played against them in EQL because of all the ping whine... 7 ping avg. you think people can live with but no mille had to play with 39 one second then the next 70... But in NQR there is no clan that we hate playing against :)

	8. Do you expect to win the playoffs?
	Nopee: We don’t expect to win, but I think we have a really good chance, and I really hope we are going to take it. The teams battling for the title are CORE, FU, BST and JMK. Edvin: Well you have to hope for something or else you won't get somewhere.

	9. Give us some predictions: Who do you think will win Gold, Silver and Bronze playoffs?
	Nopee: Predictions are always very fun to read, because I think everyone writing them has no clue of what they are doing. So I’m going to do one try for the Silver cup. Core and JMK in the final. Core taking it 2-0. And BST and HGC battling for 3-4th place. I would like to announce JUGS as an outsider, only played 4 games but won them all. [editorial remark: finals are best of 5] Mille: I think Slackers will win Gold playoffs. They got a very strong line-up and seem to prac a lot, but you never know what damage clans like DAG, CMF, KOFF and FREE could do. Silver playoffs is a bit harder to predict, I don't really know much clans there, but I hope and think Core will have a good chance of winning. I don't even want to try to predict bronze playoffs, have no idea :) Edvin: Hmmm, have to say CMF because they have very good players and now even the almighty Reppie? :)

	10. Be honest: What don't you like about NQR? How could NQR improve?
	Nopee: I really like NQR at the moment. I like the idea with Gold , Silver and Bronze. That makes the divs bigger and you can fight clans you usually don’t play. There is always the discussion of adding more maps, and I personally think that could be a good idea after 10 years. But on the other hand it also works as it is. People love TB3. There would also be a dream about the perfect ping, making all European QW players ping 13-26ms to each other. Only technical achievements can help us with that. ;) Edvin: That you could be a bit faster with transferring a player if no matches have been played :<

	11. There is an ongoing Ownage 1on1 Tournament, King of Tuesday Kenya, the NNQL 2on2 league as well as EQL and NQR for 4on4. Is there anything missing? If any, what tournaments would CORE like to see more of?
	Nopee: It is very good that there are a lot of tournaments going on, a lot of people can find their own tournament of personal liking. The only thing I could think of is a POV league. Elguapo: I really wanna see a “Kenya-4on4-tourney” with maps like Schloss, CMTs etc! Would add another dimension to the 4on4 and also be very funny when everybody doesn’t know the maps EXACTLY and so on. Edvin: A normal 1on1 tournament would be nice no Kenya maps!

	12. QW has often been described as on the verge of dying out. There's FQuake, tons of tutorials, beginners guides, #qwhelp on Quakenet and so on and so forth. It seems like the QW scene is doing everything possible to keep things rolling. However, do you have any suggestions on how things could improve for the better in terms of activity and players?
	Nopee: Yea, it seems like QW is dying, but there are a lot of people working really hard of keeping it living a bit longer. There is very good that there is a lot of tutorials helping new players start with QW. One thing about new players though, we have to take care of them in the tournaments! It’s not fun for new clans facing div4-5 clans. We have to figure out a way to let them play against the same skilled clans. Ezquake and the new Quakeworld.nu is also helping, more of those things will perhaps generate more people starting playing or getting back to QW from other games. Mille: We need some new servers. It has been a lot of trouble finding a playable server lately and also we need to force all of our friends, family etc to start playing quake. Elguapo: It seems like the community is blessed with a lot of rational people who know a LOT about computers and stuff. So, why don’t do a documentary or something about qw? :D Try to get it shown in some TV-channel, and all kids will be hooked! Edvin: Well like in Counter-Strike and other games you win money if you are winning maybe a tournament, maybe a great sponsor would be nice to give some win money maybe more people would see one more reason to begin to play QW.

	13. Okay that's it for now. Any last words or shoutouts?
	Nopee: Maybe this is the end of QW, CORE will make the end count! Mille: Keep up the good work with the leagues, interviews etc. It's important for the qw community! Elguapo: The Core of Core is the Core! Edvin: HUR KÄNNS DET ATT BLI BOLLAD !

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