Merry Christmas and good cheer in the New Year from all of the NQR Admins!

I'd like those few of you who actually read this to think about what I write and to bear in mind these opinions are my own, xhrl's, and are by no means official NQR policy. I would like to offer the suggestion that in NQR 6 we use a five map pool through the regular season and then shorten it to the big3 for the playoffs. Please post your views on this in the comments. The five maps I want to see used are: dm2,3,e1m2, cmt3, and cmt4.

Very few are aware of e3m6tdm, but it has great potential, yet it is untried as far as I am concerned, so it needs to prove itself first in venue outside of NQR imo. But of course you get to offer your opinion on it and other maps, so there is no need to get uptight at this point.

Below I am pasting in my rather long and boring article concerning my views on a smaller map pool and why I reason it is better than a large or medium-sized map pool. So be forewarned that I am defending Ego and the old Villians map pool if you dare to read on:)

Usually the arguments for introducing new maps offer variants on these two positions: 1. They argue a revitalization in qw could be facilitated through the use of new maps; or 2. They claim the original id maps were not meant for tdm anyway and so others could be better used if they were "designed" specifically for tdm.

Respectfully, I reject both points of view in regard to qw tdm.

I will address the 2nd argument first: QW is the beautiful game by virtue of chance more than anything, not by sheer design. How it has arguably become one of the most challenging platforms cannot be attributed to mere human "design"; for there is something more than that at work imo, something like the fortunate caprice in the wonderful design in the natural world...QW has been slowly DISCOVERED and is still being discovered in terms of its gameplay: we are the fortunate inheritors of these discoveries and it is quite justifiable imo, to have an attitude of guardianship or conservation toward the maps which have the set the standards for excellence in QW's gameplay through the years. The maps dm2 dm3 and e1m2 are product of some design indeed...but mostly the product of very fortunate coincidence in all the layout and item elements; for more than anything else, these maps are not old or over played at all, rather they are still awaiting further discoveries and other turns of innovation -- for example as seen in the recent dag/def collaboration -- to yet again advance the gameplay of the beautiful game. These maps give each movement or "generation" of qw players some interesting grounds for comparison between each other and help to afford us our standards for what constitutes excellence in gameplay. Such grounds for standards must be removed only with a lot of trepidation and circumspect reflection on what will be lost...and if i am correct much would be. And this argument, if it has any validity, would apply quite logically to the idea of having a small map pool in duels and 2v2 as well. For duels I am very much in fair of dm2,4,6, aerowalk as being the basis for a standardized duel map pool. But this notion about duel map is a bit outside the scope of this present note I am writing, so I will drop it.

On the second point, regarding a revitalization through introducing new maps...this view thinks qw only needs good players to learn new maps and this will de facto, interject some new passion for the game. I grant that this may be so; though to my mind it is not in accord with what has transpired in qw over all these years. In my view, it has not been a passion for new maps to play on that has kept qw alive; on the contrary, it has been a on-going passion to prove oneself on the established maps that has kept qw alive. To be honest, I like some customs for duelling but i don't think of them in same way as i do dm2,3, or e1m2 in qw tdm. I know there are many who see these maps as setting a kind of standard for duel or tdm play...and there is no good reason not to. In fact, if for over 5 years other customs have not won the hearts and minds of qwplayers, this tells us of the difficult to define but yet very real enduring qualities of the maps I mentioned. Other maps, like cmt 3 and cmt 4 especially, have been played and enjoyed; but has there ever been a loud call by players at a major duel to play their finals on one of them instead of the standard Big Three? Nothing more than a whisper has been made...and a quiet one at that. The subleties of the game flow and the tactics in qw tdm are difficult to grasp and to execute, and still more difficult to master when they have to be coordinated by a team; the sense that these skills are easily transferable from one playing ground to another is only half true. Take hockey: would it alter the gameplay much if we re-designed the ice surface just a bit, for example just change the surface area of the ice to make ir smaller or greater? Any good Maple Leaf or Norsemen knows it would change the way the game flow dramatically. Though aim and movement skills cross the playing field boundaries to some extent, the salient point here is that by changing the standard playing fields of qw tdm, what really happens is the tactical dynamics of the game are watered down. Consider the time it takes to become a solid team player on dm2, 3 or e1m2; some players who have played tb3 since Villians 1 are still presently improving their teamplay on these maps; e.g., Paradoks has undergone subtle, and in certain respects, even radical development in terms of his teamplay on dm2. The standard maps are still waiting to be discovered...they are far from played out; it is a passion for these playing fields which has been a huge, integral part of qw's longevity. Most top players I know are NOT bored with the big 3.


In fact, such a great mapper as baby_roo believes that ONLY the big 3 should be allowed in big tournies like SD; his opinion is echoed by many very skilled players as well throughout the eu, na and au. Hence the great need for the re-establishment of Villians! I think the changes in the game flow that occur today are subtle...this old gnarled game, still the beautiful game imo, has the means for its own invigoration within itself. These old maps are part of the means, as they give us a standard by which to compare what is excellent or is still developing in terms of the gameplay or even to compare an individual player's skill development with other players in different time periods of qw history. From year to year one can see how the qw players have advanced and explored the old maps, and even now we can see them still being discovered and advanced in the recent movie collaborations. I think the only two thing qw needs is to re-establish the old clan system of loyalty, honour and mutual respect, as well as to keep the tournaments alive and publicized. The old gameplay, the old playing fields upon which this beautiful game is played, will sell themselves to anybody that is interested in trying it out. One of the worst things you can do is tell a new player that he has to learn the tactics of a multitiude of maps rather the standard big three; not only does this water down the tactical subtleties for the advanced, but also it hinders development in the new player by laying out a weightier yoke for him. Clearly the case for a Villians style map pool has been made.


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