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EQLadder has been launched!

The first season of EQLadder begins today, the 8th of June, and will continue throughout the summer. The playoffs will begin in late August and the Final will be played during the first week of EQL12.

Go to the signups and register your clan now as well as checking out the rules.

Dont rage about the maps just yet though. We will continue to listen to the community throughout the season and will add more maps should there be popular demand to do so.

Do not hesitate to ask the EQL admins if there are issues regarding the ladder that are not answered on the ladder page. Hooraytio will be head admin for the ladder and Zalon will deal with any issues regarding the site aside from answering other ladder related questions. Itsinen will also be around so you should be able to get an answer as soon as possible when a questions arises.

Good luck and happy fragging throughout the summer!

EQL12 & EQL:Pro!

.. but not from the far future! The following events will take place during 2010!

As we have got the 11th season played in EQL we are getting closer to season 12 each day. Before the next season we will have some other tourneys/events to keep those somewhat active who are intrested in playing during the summer. But for those who are going to be inactive during the summer you better read these news so you know when to wake up!

The upcoming 12th seasons start will be 20th September, the signups will open on 1st of september. This isn't written in stone but gives you and us a plan for the fall. EQL 12 can't be much later either since we will arrange a totally new event after the season has ended. The league doesn't have an official name yet but goes as project name: EQL: Pro!

The name itself reveals quite much what it is about. There has been plenty of seasons with only Division dividing and no "proper" tourney which would collect only the best players in the scene to play. There would be 8 teams (maybe only 6, but for now we go with 8) that will have a strict schedule (2 sundays regular season). This will allow us to make streams, commentary etc available for all the events. So the teams will play with the best players available which should show in that the teams will try to gather the best players from the scene to make sure they really have a hardcore lineup for the games. This will also create a goal on the QW-scene for the players. For those who struggle to become better they will have a clear thing to achieve: Get to play games! This is some of the attitude that has been lacking for several years since the big divisionsless events stopped.

Who will play?
Those who are top 4 in EQL12 will get a straight invite, while the other 4 will have to qualify. The players that plays in the teams that will not make the top8 will also be able to join up with teams that are playing in the top8 teams after the qualifyers. And this is only because we want the tightest league possible. It will also be divided into 2 different sections, so the regular season has 4 teams each in both sections, the playoffs will mix these teams up.

Now, go prac!

EQLadder

EQLadder info:

During the summer EQL will host a 4on4 ladder tournament for all interested clans in Europe. Other clans are welcome as well but the games will be played on European servers. And some quick facts and rules:
Matches will be best of 3 and one of the TB3 (dm2, dm3, e1m2) will always decide the outcome if the score is 1-1 after 2 maps.
If 2 of the TB3 maps have been played the remaining one will be decider.
If 2 custom maps have been played the clans will throw one map each. Random select will tell which clan throws first.
If 1 TB3 and 1 custom map have been played then random select will decide which of the 2 remaining TB3 maps will be decider.
The teams can play as many or as few games they like during the season.

Teams.
A team can hold any number of players as long as no player is registered for several teams.
A player cannot join a new team unless his old team has gone inactive, in which case he cant rejoin his old team if it is revived.
A player currently not in any team can join any team he likes.
New teams can join the ladder at any point during the season.

Versions and cheating.
Latest versions of ezquake and fodquake are allowed.
No cheating. This includes but is not limited to hacking, ghosting, dropping on purpose etc etc.
Denying to play a certain map is not allowed, if you dont like a certain map then dont agree to play in the first place. If you can't get an answer from these rules to you problems then read the EQL11 rules first and see if there is a solution, lots will be the same.

Versions and cheating.
Latest versions of ezquake and fuhquake are allowed.
No cheating. This includes but is not limited to hacking, ghosting, dropping on purpose etc etc.
Denying to play a certain map is not allowed, if you dont like a certain map then dont agree to play in the first place.

Playoffs.
The ladder will go on between 2 set dates and then playoffs will begin (typically 2 weeks before eql12 starts, so final will be during first week of eql12, nice transition)
When the season ends the top 8 teams will go into playoffs where bo5 applies to all games.
TB3 will decide playoff games as well but the clans can choose from the pool during the first 4 maps. Random select chooses which clan to start)

The maplist has atleast the following maps:
TB3
CMT1b-3-4
Schloss
Grim
e1m5, e1m6, e2m2, e2m7, e3m1, e3m2, e3m3, e3m6, e3m7

We will listen a short while to map suggestions. There are also some maps that most probably will be included that wasn't listed!

Winners of EQL11 (+gossip/rumours!!!)

.. we want to congratulate this seasons winners:

Division 1: tVS

Division 2: A2k

Division 3: BP

We would also like to thank all who participated this season and specially to those who contributed Previews and similarities during the season! Thank you!

ppppssssst.... Heard there is going to be some action during the summer and a brand new tournament during the winter!!!

Now: Let the drama and speculations begin! ;)

Scheduling, Finals and Bronze matches!

... teams would inform us on when they are atleast trying to play. We will try to set up streams and commentary for as many hot games as possible. Also add info about the event to esreality and similar sites. So please let us know when you are going to play (in advance)!

First bronzegame was already played, In a Blaze won the Fallen Angels 3-2 in maps! (Div3)

Finals are getting closer!

... and we have had some very close games so far already. At the moment the qwscene seems to be on fire, with both EQL & Ownage finals getting closer! Also the hype of QHLan haven't slowed the scene down as much as usually this time of the year!

So hopefully we will get the information about when the next rounds games will be played in time! This also goes for Div2&3!

Happy fragging!

Late edit:

Division 1 preview of the upcoming games by Hagge

Division 3 preview of the upcoming games by Gaz

Division 2, playoffs preview

Read all about the division 2 playoffs here!

Playoffs #2

... to you players out there. We still want some people to write playoffs previews!

Div1:
tVS - 3tk
]SR[ - Sauna
Fusion - SD
Enigma - CCCP

Div2:
A2k - DC2
Fu - SSC
DC - M44
Csn - PC

Div3:
BP - mofos
Osams - cpm.qw
[da] - =FA=
Inblz - Paras

Info & notices:
TB3 will be played first, first choice of map is the team with more points in the regular season (clanname first on the list above). 2nd map will be decided by the other team, while 3rd map will be the remaining one of the three maps. 4th map will be decided by the team who has less mapwins and last map will be chosen by guess who?

Quarters:
A:1vs8
B:2vs7
C:3vs6
D:4vs5

Semis:
AvsD
BvsC

All games are Bo5. Now gl & hf!

WOs and final standings

... be played. WOs will be added and points checked during monday day. So we will add a news post to let you know when the standings are final. This year it seems like there are no major drama considering the final standings (but guess there's enough otherwise on the scene) :P

Last days of regular season & playoffs info

... be done. There will be NO catch-up week this year since the summer is behind the corner, and sadly that always affects a lot on the qw scene. Well the last night to play is sunday/monday night, we will start checking points and WOs etc ~21-22CET with the admins. So if there will be games played which aren't reported by 22CET, then inform us admins that you will play so we know about it, and this is a MUST. This is only because we want to get the playoffs started as soon as possible.

Well then about the playoffs. The games will be Bo5. Bronze game will be played! And we will have a strict "hitler schedule" about the playoffs games. So if it exceeds the 1 week given to play we will straight away give an WO, no matter what game this is. So if you want to leave it to the last night -> be prepared to play with whatever squad you have. So if there seems to be problems scheduling the game then let us know right away.

If there are guys willing to write playoffs previews let us know about it. The scores of the regular season can be seen sun/mon night so you know who plays who, and therefor the previews need to be written in the beginning of the week, when not so many of the games have been played.

Mid-season preview Div1

the Viper Squad

Multiple and current EQL champions are doing the expected, after 8 games they have 16 maps won and 0 losses. They accumulated full set of points and are leading div1 standings with 24points.
Interestingly enough tVS has achived that without the help of their swedish Div0 star Xantom who made an appearance only for the game against Teamkillers. Seems like Diki was a worthy replacement for Xantom and eventho it�s not the same level of tp that tVS presented past years I think it�s caused by teams refusing to give tVS a chance to work on their tp in prac games, and not by Xantom going semi-idle. I just wish other top teams start playing more with tVS, because it would be such a big loss for qw if those guys stoped playing. They are the oldest team around in the scene founded in 1997. Them quiting qw would be like a loss of Michael Jordan was to NBA. I just can�t understand that there is lots of players in other teams that made big improvements and eventho some years back they were too bad to even think about playing with tVS. Now is the time to finally test yourself against truely the only legendary team/lineup still around. Mark my words, some time in the future you will regret not playing them more often when they are not around. Back on topic, Maga, the oldschool tVS member has recently made an apperance in an EQL game against fellow finnish team Sauna and performed exceptionally well considering he is busy with horning his duel skillz and not playing tdm at all. All in all it�s looking good for tVS and they have only one more big game this regular season and it is against Slackers, which will be the first time in competition since their battle for EQL championship. You don�t want to miss this game, should be an epic battle. One more interesting thing worth mentioning is Milton's inhuman average frags per map stats which is 106.6 after 16 maps.

Fusion

Fusion has played a total of 8 games so far winning 13 maps and losing 4. They accumulated 21 points and currently sit on second position in divison1. Martin aka Valla proved this season time after time why he was and still is a god of dm3. Time after time banking amazing performances on that map and going on sick streaks without dying. It's been already plenty of times that he finished matches on dm3 with 100+ frag counts and 90%+ efficiency making it look like noone and nothing can stop him. The Viper Squad was only once in danger of losing a map this season and it was when they faced against Valla and his Fusion at dm3, which turned out to be a thriller with overtime. Glory was never closer but there was this guy called Milton who decided that tVS deserved to win that one more that Fusion. Other than that the biggest game for Fusion was when they faced last seasons EQL finalists, Slackers. First map dm3 was a relatively walk in the park for Fusion with Valla in charge. Second map dm2 was even easier win for Slackers with zero making a cool 100 frags. A decider was needed to find a winner of the game, E1M2 for most of the game turned to be a real thriller and only in the end was SR able to jump off with frags and secure a win that day.

Slackers

Slackers has played a total of 6 games so far, winning 12 maps and losing only one dm3 to Fusion. They accumulated 18 points and are currently placed as third in division1. I am really glad to see Slackers back in the middle of action playing lots of pracs. Their leader ParadokS has been really active lately aswell as zero seems to have less problems with his connection and you can see him working out on nighlty mixes pretty much everyday. This is all good for Slackers team and finally we might see them playing up to their potential. I heard that The Evil Dog is making a big progress with his tdm lately and filling nicely for the abscence of krab.
Slackers already avenged their lost to Fusion in polish Clan Warz tourney. And still have their game against tVS left to be played. Who knows, maybe they will take a revenge in the EQL finals ?

Sauna

Sauna boys from Finland. A young team builded just before EQL started out and has played a total of 7 games winning 8 maps and losing 7, accumulated 15 points and are currently on a very high 4th position. This team has great potential and if these guys stick together and keep practicing I see a bright future for them in Quakeworlds TDM scene. They seemed to have hard time against top teams but who doesn�t? Other than that they did really nice vs other teams. Securing wins over teams like russian CCCP, Rev, 3tk, Oblivion.

Enigma

Enigma has played 6 games winning 7 maps and losing the same amount, which gives them currently 5th place with 13 points. Votary saved the day by recruiting new players. Razor seems to be really commited to help those guys out. He took part in 100% maps of his team in this EQL and is their most experienced player who seems to be getting into shape in no time. These guys are doing really well and deserves to be this high in the standings. This team is similar to finish sauna, so if they stick around for longer the Qw scene will enjoy one more established div1 team.

Revolution

Polish team played 8 games won 4 maps and lost 15 thanks to their activity they do currently have 12 points and a very high 6th position guaranteeing a playoff spot. They had a real thriller against Sauna on dm2 where they lost by only 6 frags. The only game they have won was against Dies Ater. Unfortunately I hear that some of their players are busy with other games and their nice activity from the beginning of the season might be hurt by this. Another thing hurting this team is that they mess with lineups a lot making it hard to establish any kind of solid teamplay. Other than that I feel these guys deserve lots of credit for their first time participating vs div1 teams in a competition, except for Avenger of course. Well done guys and keep at it!!! From now on it can only get better.

CCCP

The best that Russia has to offer. Total of 6 games has been played by this team, 4 maps won 9 lost and total of 10 points is good enough at this moment to be placed 7th. They do it again, no prac at all yet doing great. If you check their games they�ve lost so many close games that they could easily have much more points now. I hope they will shape up for the playoffs because one can only imagine what they can do if not rusty. They have the potential in my opinion to give a great fight to anyone in this division when in shape. They proved it with their game against Suddendeath. Their game vs Slackers should be an interesting one.

Suddendeath

Only 3 games played so far but perfect score, 6 maps won zero losses 9 points and 8th position so far. I am disapointed with their activity, this lineup was meant to do great things this EQL 8) yet all they did so far was beating two div2 clans and CCCP. I am waiting for them to start playing their games against the true div1 teams so we can see some great games. Hope it�s not some part of a mysterious plan to get enough points now to get easy walk into playoffs and then suprise everyone there...nah I am just kidding GO SD! 8)

Oblivion

6 games played, 3 maps won 11 lost and 9th place with 9 points. The only reason this team struggles in div1 is Hagge and his stubbornes. He tried to prove to his mates that he can own div1 game playing with keyboard only, and that one as good as him doesn�t require a mouse. Long story short: It took five losses in a row for Hagge to come to his senses and give some credit to div1 competitivity. Finally in their last game against Teamkillers we saw a Hagge with a mouse! and man what a view it was when Oblivion took their first victory in this EQL, rumours say that Milton himself after this game said "watching Hagge play made me realize how much more there is for me to learn".

Easy to Kill

My own team yay! We played 5 games, won 2 maps and lost 9 while we have got 10th place with 7points so far. Great hopes and plans to prac 24/7 and beat tVS by the end of regular season. But people were really busy irl making it impossible to practice/play. We got one win against fellow polish team Revolution. Other than that we recruited few days ago the skilled danish qw player Desmo, and we do still need some more because now it makes us 3 active players with me and Tom. So if there is any qw monster reading this who doesn�t have a clan, msg me on #3tk and help us out finishing all the remaining games and getting us into playoffs! 8)

Teamkillers

5 games played 1 map won, 10 lost and 5 points gives a 11th place. Similar situation to Revolution, another team really steping it up in competitive gaming giving lots of respect from me to these guys. Check their performances on E1M2 against Slackers and Fusion which is quite amazing stuff. Also they had a really great performance against the more experienced team featuring Hagge. Tks won dm3 and almost took it down home 2:0 but unfortunately for them they lost really close E1M2 game by 21 frags and had to play a decider on their worst map which is dm2.

Dies Ater

My black horse of this EQL with only 2 games played, 1 map won and 4 lost giving a 12th position with 3 points. Unfortunately same story happened as previous seasons idleness none existent activity killed them again. Such a shame really close game against Revolution that went into a decider and another close battle with Enigma. This could have been an amazing season for this team only if activity was there.

Boefje

And finally boefje 0 games played 0 maps won 0 maps lost perfect score.

1tsinen add: Some Boefje players has been moved to Dies Ater after this was written by Slabi, so the activity problem should be solved with Dies Ater!

Reviews/Previews?!

... looking for people who want to write predictions, reviews, previews, interviews or similar stuff. You don't need to have a pro writer to do these, people are more intrested in your opinion and why you think like you do. We are specially in need of a Division 3 preview writer atm. Division 2 is out and Division 1 preview coming up. Usually we hope to even get more than just one persons opinion so even if Div1&2 are written it is ok if you write another one.

Just let us know if you are writing so we know what's coming up!

Division 2, mid-season report

Read up on the latest developments in division 2 here!

Division 1 & 2 Preview

Division 2 preview by Hooraytio:
Preview!

Division 1 Preview by Slabiutki:
Preview!

Division 3 preview by KapitanKloze:
Preview!

Divisions are up and EQL 11 is GO!

... we are quite certain these will work just fine! We expect some minor whine about some placements but when is there not whine in the air, specially considering the divisions? ;)

To remind the guys willing to write predictions, now is your chance! Who will be the first one to get a preview published?? There have been quite dramatic clan changes lately and these will have a quite certain and big impact on the scene, we know it, you know it, but let's see what it brings to this springs qw scene!

We hope to get you players now to activate yourselves, since you have 7 weeks of regular season to get ~12-13 games played! So even if you only miss out one week with 0 games, this means that you will have major catchups to do!

There is also a new client version that is accepted, Ezquake 2.0.1 which you can find @ Download it here.

Now, wake up your mates from their beautysleep and get those rocket launchers singin'!!!

The commentary

... free for all commentary channel: It's on voice.quakeworld.nu (mumble) and the purpose is to give the chance for amateurs to try out commentating. The channel goes by the name: "EQL-Commentary-FFA".

GL HF and enjoy!

About EQL 11!

... similar stuff. We will open a EQL channel on the mumble voice server (voice.quakeworld.nu) for people who wants to try commentating games (mainly div2-4 depending on the amount of divs ofc). Maybe we can find a new skilled commentator this way? Well this is ment to be kept at an amateur level and will be there for fun. The division 1 games (atleast the crucial ones) will be provided with streams and commentators (pro/semipro) if YOU provide the info when the games will be played a couple of days before or so.

Other coverage: Well we hope to see many previews during the start of the season by the players them selves. We will also (admins) provide a preview or two but we would also like to see 5-10 previews that we can publish on the qw.nu/eql-pages. Reviews of the situation in midseason are also welcome, so you don't need to ask us permission to do these things. We will gladly take your help and efforts to make the scene better and more dramatic (in a good way). Or if somebody wants to do an interview or similar stuff, you are more than welcome!

Some slight tuning of the rules which had some minor unlcear parts which have been fixed. One new Ezquake beta version allowed so you can use "the best route"-feature.

Well we are hoping for a very nice season and happy fragging! Btw, Ownage, EQL, Clanwarz.... QW is ALIVE!

No more delays, Signups are open!

For this spring season we will be running a tb3 only tournament. We are looking to end the signups as soon as possible so we can get the games started, so don't expect much time to fool around.

We are aiming at the 1st of March as a possible launch date.

Make sure to check out the rules, not much have changed from last season, but make sure to take a look anyway.

New ezQuake allowed in EQL
The ezQuake devs have released a ezQuake 2.0.1 beta build for use in EQL11, this build includes the "best route" feature, something that is very useful when trying to find a fair server to play on.

We encourage everyone to test this beta build out.

Now go sign up and be happy.