Drunkards In Combat

 

 

Over the years I've been a sucker for the media hype surrounding the big blockbuster titles, the whole aggressive advertising campaign and yeah I've even doled it out myself.
Unfortunately we don't always back a winner and you get wiser the longer you've been a PC gamer.
Given I got back into PC games around late 2000 and spending my spare time in LAN Cafes and on consoles it's taken me some time to understand the trends, to be able to see the changes and to ride the wave in their cycles.

I think we can all agree that franchise gaming is not going away and whether it's EA or Activision who's out their peddling a franchise until it's done to death, we just need to be equally careful as to which horse we back.

I could never have foreseen the Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises being as they are today. They're both equally guilty of churning out their titles like clockwork every 12 months and just when we're growing tired of the same old thing Bam! they hit with another title - only this one has more guns and more gear. The thing I notice is that the support quickly evaporates within 6 - 12 months after that new release and this is not only because publishers and developers want money, they also want quick turn arounds for the lifespan of the title. Most publishers of today don't believe in building communities around their title, the independents like Trip Wire Studio's with their indie smash hit Red Orchestra are the rare exception, but most other publishers like Infinity Ward with their Call of Duty franchise want to serve you up something new every 12 months and for you to simply put aside the old one.

Maybe this is why console gaming is best suited to some franchise publishers business model.
They get you with the hook that this is latest thing, everyones playing it, trade in your old game for this one and this is disposable gaming at it's worst.
It might also be argued it's why we see articles every few months that PC gaming is dead telling us to go console, where it's okay to be a nerd, in fact it's very cool.
Not true.

Consoles aren't really a problem for me, I own them both PS3 and X360 and while PC gaming for me is the pedigree the trends in the UK and the USA have gone in the direction of the console market.
This behaviour hurts the PC Gaming industry and stops what little exclusivity we have left, all we get are console clones, no dedicated servers, no long lifespan on game title to build a community upon and as a result when PC Gamers complain we also gain no sympathy from our fellow console gamers because, well, they simply don't know anything else, this is how it's always been for them.

But as most of us know there are more PC's out there than anything else and Console manufacturers should be worried. I mean if PC developers ever did build a single delivery platform for the PC so that their games to suit every spec of computer, we'd own the gaming industry.

But the real threat to consoles is the second hand games market, it's rife with the flow of last seasons smash hit and creates no value for other games struggling to be seen.
All the while media sites always are quick to blame PC piracy,  this too is utter bullshit, I look on the scene release sites everyday and it's the Xbox 360 games that are always pirated first. 
Console manufacturers and the big all-star franchises need each other and together they've attempted to make the PC market it's true enemy. And maybe that includes you and me too in the gaming choices we make every night as to which game and which platform gets our support.

My scorecard for the truly great games, the ones with really decent netcode and shoots straight, are still caught between the big development studios and the big franchise titles that go with them.
But every once in a while we strike gold with something new and truly unique, sometimes it goes on to become a franchise title and sometimes once was as good as gets.

For those savvy enough to understand how we're all being routed into the next big thing can appreciate that these titles need our support ever more.

Look at Red Orchestra of a few years ago, TripWire studios winners of the Lets make Something Unreal competition, produced a fantastic realism FPS set in the Russian German offensive of WW2.
It was quite simply amazing what this mod team did on Unreal 2.0, I was holidaying in Perth when I first heard about it, I grabbed a copy of UT 2003 and got right into it. When Tripwire studios built a standalone retail version of Red Orchestra it was Valves Steam platform who made it affordable and gave them a push in the right direction. Sometime in 2010 we'll be treated again to another instalment of Red Orchestra.

As for the original it drew a close knit community of modders who continued to mod for it and created their own mods that work off the back of the retail release.  I praise all the Aussies who support this title and love the fact that it's a poster child of early Steam success stories.  I have no regrets about this game as I clanned up for it and I was a huge supporter while it was kicking. Red Orchestra still entertains a few people, I know TOG are at it every other Sunday.

 

 

There will always be some games we don’t have time for, as there are simply way too many choices nowadays. In my list of the games I didn't have the time for, the ones I missed out on playing competitively there's one that remains the biggest regret.
Okay you guessed it, it's Day of Defeat, and while I missed the boat because I was into some other game at the time some good people did discover the sheer awesomeness of DOD and pretty soon there was an Aussie/NZ community built up around it.

DOD in it's last form - DOD 1.3 continues to be enjoyed by a very tight, almost secular community support that I could just about never seem to break into.
So instead of being a regular player on servers every night I rode the along the fringes and looked at it as a spectator does.

Now Over the years I've revisited DOD or DOD:S as many different characters of my own bad self, aliasing as Soluble Duck, nalwood, parkerBoy, CRT, Diana, CoreyCoreyCorey, Xanadu and most recently as Quiche. That's Master Quiche to you. 
All these names, anything but Bird who I am better known as in the COD community.

Along the way I've met some pretty interesting people, both good and bad, most of the time the good folk would talk to you on all-talk server, almost entice you to come back for another dose tomorrow.

For the surviving fans of DOD 1.3 it is sort of like that.

Nowadays there tends to be just about one populated server, for me it's a server that's being hosted by WAD (We Always Dominate). Nowadays you've got to be quick, I get home at 5pm and the servers are thinning out around 8pm their time, this from a heyday of more than a dozen populated servers at any one time.

In its day the DOD leagues were huge and the clans stood out for like superstars, the game is relatively easy to play, but the learning of the weapons, hidey holes and snipe spots all take time.
DOD was different from most WW2 shooters that came before it as it offered multiple classes and respawns that came reinforcement wave and worked on a system of flag control that in itself forced team work, even while in pubs. But DOD is not for the faint hearted and you can't simply pick it up and expect results quickly, it does take time, I can attribute the strength of clans and this games community due to the hardship you will have to endure before you get good.

That is being good enough for people to remember your name.
Hell, I'm still waiting to get invited to join a team.

 

Back in the day there was someone who reached out to me one night, Guys meet "Gidgette"
I met Gidgette in DOD a few years ago and she was popular in this scene because well...she was female. This is a rare thing and any woman who can put up with all of our leering taunts, sweaty come-on's and the male mindset to destroy whatever he cannot fuck, you deserve your place.
Gidgette was cool, at least across the CRT screen divide between me, her and the ether, she seemed so. The guys all rallied around her, she could have easily manipulated this to no end and had her fun with us but thankfully instead she was friendly enough to always say hello whenever someone came online and generally enjoyed a good chat.

Now mind you she was just a face out of many regulars I used to see every night as a casual pubber and her talking to me was rare. She would be educating me on the game, tips and tricks without a trace of ego and for a tight knit jealosuly guarded community even way back then this was for me really amazing. Ever since I've been a firm believer that even in the game world, good people do exist. Minor, a mate from the Drunkards, calls this behaviour -  Random Acts of Kindness.

So who exactly was Gidgette.
Gidgette was a member of NDW and DBD clans, that's as much as a Google search (stalk) will provide you with. Further is the fact she hasn't been on Steam for 124 days, my last count.
From talking to Oldie from WAD he says he knew her and that she was from Perth and a Mum by some description who enjoyed a game of DOD 1.3.
And that's the end of the digital trail.

But how can that be the end you're asking, Did she play DOD:S? Was there some reason that she stopped playing?  Did she name change? was there some controversy that forced her out of the scene. Where did she go.

And that is the same series of questions that can be asked about so many of the faces I remember from DOD. For example,  I SURVIVED THE LONDON BLITZ - where did he go? last post I saw he went to Ego clan, the rumours I heard in all-talk pubs suggested he was the oldest DOD player in the country.

The answer to what happened to Gidgette and like so many people who loved this game and built the Aussie/NZ community around, like so many from that time, moved on to other games...or they got sucked into WoW.

While reminiscing about DOD 1.3 and the scene that followed it along the way I've seen some great clans come go and I've seen some of those head over to DOD:S and turn some heads there too.
Now some of these names will mean nothing to most people, except to some like me who were regulars or casuals, spectating from the bench, watching on from the rando's section forever unknown. To those clans, we salute you.

CRTZ. Navy. DBD. VVV. .r [^] SAW. PoS.PT. NDW. SC. Terrafirma. Bushmasters. Disorder and even Chopped.

But as things move in cycles the new chaps are cool as too,my hat goes off to the few groups that have banded together to support DOD 1.3. Shout out to -  X5. CG. TDA. WAD and most recently RAW.  These guys are funny as hell and because they're the only ones left their respect for one another and love of the game is pure and they know it could end any night.

Depending on who you talk to many spell the ending of DOD 1.3 to be set sometime around the formation of AUSDOD, CyberGamers DOD 1.3 league and the formation of clan WAD.
Most people agree that the Internode servers was where the action was and Game Arena had the best league.

Now unlike some and from what i've read on the AUSDOD forums, AUSDOD being the hub of all DOD activity in Australia, I don't hate WAD.

Though I agree they're pricks at the best of times they are still on the strongest groups out there supporting DOD 1.3 by hosting a server for it.  I've been on WAD servers for both DOD 1.3 and DOD Source, and it's the DOD 1.3 server that's the very last of the DOD 1.3 server in Australia and NZ combined that still gets populated.

WAD are portrayed by many as a bunch of bitter, angry old men that run a really over the top strict server  with rules that are more about "Do what we say or fuck off" - than "Just play, have fun".
In some cases when Oldie is drunk that sentiment is true but after all it is their server, so if you don't like the rules? You are free to leave anytime to play somewhere else.
And I think it's been said enough times out loud on the DOD:S servers or in AUSDOD for casual DOD players like myself  to know exactly what the Aussie DOD community thinks of these chaps.
The main theme being - "Anyone better than me hacks"  -Banned!
And while I do consider myself fairly impartial and I've heard and seen this occur.
So like them or hate them, they are still supporting DOD 1.3 long after the party has ended.

And like in most gaming scenes  there are the haters, the folk who would rather their game die than to let new comers wade in and experience it in the afterglow. They say, what's the point, the game is dead. Some even seem content to let it die, they're mean, they're resentful of you, a new face amongst the diehards themselves,  this was their scene and you weren't there, and for them anything else is always going to be a pityful second now that their comp scene is dead, and every year there are fewer and fewer and soon  there will be no rivals left, not even regular pub heroes to make it even close to how good it was when it was kicking.
But I guess my question to the haters is - The why are you still here?

I think I can answer that as I share this feeling of loss with other COD1 players I knew from back in the day. It's a feeling of something  that was just so great, that you alone were apart of since day one. It makes you feel that you were in fact a part of something really special and there might not be anything like it quite as good ever again.
And you tend to be protective of those memories and lash out at people trying to create their own, these new faces don't know anything,  what the fuck do they know.
And brother all I can say to you is to let them have their fun with it, your memories are your own and your mates from way back then know it themselves - You were there when it was kicking and we rocked!

 

Using DOD as an example  there are always the regrets on missing the boat on this game or that. Each scene here in Australia has their own story, DOD is simply just one of many.
I wish I could tell you about the Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory scene,  it was huge, a world wide hit, even early Drunkards Bird, Straka and Clintcom all played it when it first came out, we played it for just a couple of weeks. It was great, we had a blast, but I often wonder what would have happened if I'd stopped playing BF1942 then and took that game up instead.

That 'what if' question tugs at my memory as there has been games that came after it that definitely deserved my attention. Games like Soldier of Fortune 2, why not? it was modern warfare, a little like CS on the Quake 3 engine, ran smooth and had nice effects. Or America's Army, it was free to play, offered realism on such an extreme level. MOH:AA and another title I haven't mentioned until now, Vietcong also fit into this 'what if' category.

The only answer is that you simply can't play everything no matter how hard you try.
And believe me I've tired.

I tried to take the time out to learn how to play our clan favourite RTS - Company of Heroes.
I had wanted to get good at an RTS and I really hoped I could dedicate some more time to it.
Alas I didn't but I don't live in regret about that too much because I comp stomp with fellow Drunkards as often as time allows.
There was also another game I loved but others didn't like so much called -Quake Wars:Enemy Territory. This too was supported by a loyal Aussie/NZ community borne from the wake of Wolfenstein:ET. There are times I wish i'd spent more time there or even attempted to get good at it. There were times with Muddy and Forgey where I was totally in the zone, good but not great would be true, but in these moments I felt like it could have easily become my number 1# game of choice. I feel the same way about Red Orchestra which I've mentioned more than once in all three sections of this series. Here was a game that offered realism as an alternative in the already saturated WW2 FPS arena and it rocked. People loved it and together they all tried so hard to keep it going and as strong as their passion was for the game, sad to say folks -  this is Australia, where majority rules and it's the quick and dead that get gamers hard earned dollars.

On the flipside there are some games, no matter how great they were, or as scenes that were built up around them, that you absolutely don't regret not getting more into.
For me I hold no regrets about a few of the Battlefield franchise titles like Battlefield: Heroes or Battlefield: Vietnam. Now I played the shit out of BF:V in pubs with all the Drunkards for a few solid months but with the internal cock-up's and the fact it had to compete with COD 1, I didn't miss it when I put it down. I'd say the same is true for me with Battlefield 2142. While my Drunkards brethren were rocking out and winning gongs and coming into range of making finals the game meant very little to me outside the few pub sessions I had with the gang. Even the mightiest of all the Battlefield titles that came after Battlefield 1942 failed to keep me keen in the face of COD 1.
Battlefield 2 was huge, I sure can appreciate it, hell I even played it competitively and as huge as an impression it made with gamers everywhere it failed to keep me involved or wanting to come back to it every night.  For me it was the basic test I apply to most FPS titles, how well does it shoot, how does it shoot for me. I look back on Team Fortress 2 and while I might have been there on day one with everyone else it failed my own little test and it's why I similarly cast it aside and hold no regrets.

Now I could just as easily write the reason that these games get pushed aside due to the fact I'm a COD player. I used to brag about it, I was a CODs man, so loyal to the COD franchise, but since COD: Modern Warfare 2 I really don't know how valid that statement is for me anymore. The game came out in November less than six months ago and has been fraught with disaster at every turn. I can say this though, I do enjoy pubbing it this game with my fellow Drunkards. This is another game that I'll hold no regret over not playing competitively. I did play a few ladder games for this incidentally, but there's no regrets in not playing it at that level either.

In-between Battlefield and Call of Duty there's been time enough for me to love Day of Defeat.
I'm so grateful I played DOD back in the day, even if it was just in pubs. I played the shit out of DOD:S from day one and then got pulled back and forth between Battlefield and Call of Duty titles. But again I'm grateful for the experiences I've had with DOD:S both in TUB clan (The Ugly Buggers) and in DIC with the Drunkards. In TUB, I literally forced TUB members to play DOD:S with me because my love was so great, later I'd join the Drunkards squad and got to play with Dilbery, Cannon Fodder and Smead who aliased as CRT. Most of all I've enjoyed pubbing this game with Suicide Jockey, a good friend who is sorely missed, we rocked the pubs together and there's no room for regret there despite not playing too much of it competitively.

And in reflection I guess that's the difference in the regrets we share for this game or that.
All you can do is get what you can from it and then you carry on.

So on the other side of this entire argument is this question - What about your favourite games you enjoyed playing way back in the day, Why don't you keep revisiting them?

Oh but I do. Every once in a while I'll reinstall COD1 and BF1942 and have a bash at it, but sadly it just isn't the same experience. I guess this feeling comes from the fact that I was there at the start, and I feel I've done my time for this game or that,  it served a part of me and in return I served it well. I think there's also a certain satisfaction I have when looking back at my old favourites and I know I did everything I could while playing it to make my mark. I say to others who didn't get to play it - I played the fucking shit out of that game, and I know it to be true because I was there on day one right through while it was kicking.

In closing, in my online stalking of Gidgette and trying to find out about what happened to her it mirrors how I've always been stalking DOD and the classic community favourites from afar.
Riding the fringes, looking inward, looking at something that you instantly recognise is cool and you feel stupid because you're missing it. Torn between two lovers, or something like that, yeah, that's how it is with me and DOD and for all the games you missed the boat on. It's those you keep revisiting, reinstalling, hoping to fore fill that empty space of regret because you know, deep down inside that you missed out on something that was really great.

Folks, there are no second chances, there are too few chances to recapture the magic after it's gone, rivals are seldom. All I can leave you with is the advice  is to not live in regret, get in there on day one, keep at it while the community/scene is at it's best and then that way you'll know when you look back there are no regrets because you were there, you played the ass and tits off it, you were there while the best of the game soared high, as you were very much apart of it, for their experience and your own, these memories keep you smiling.

So guys, until the next thing comes out good luck, stay true to your beloved favourites and i'll see you out there on launch day.

 

 

 

 

*Update*

Oh and if you're wondering what's become of my love affair with DOD 1.3
This story finally has a happy ending.
Even now at the end, I joined a team for social side of DOD.
Better late than never I suppose.

One more thing,  what I hope you'll take from my comments on WAD is just some outsider perspective.  Please note for most of WAD truly have their hearts  in the right place and I mean no offence to their crew.

If you're interested in some additional look-up's on cool WW2 games with small dedicated communities you may want to investigate the following websites.

http://1944game.com/forum 

http://www.resistanceandliberation.com/