The Beginning
...
Back in October 1997, many players used to meet regularly on
a Quakeworld server provided by the Business ISP NetcomUK Ltd.
The server wasn't advertised on Gamespy, and most of the players
who fought on that server were regulars. It was cosy, just like
your local pub :-) The server came with its own newsgroup, officially
for support, but more often than not used for gloating. Victories
were reported with pride, defeats buried under a pile of lame
excuses heh heh heh.
Over the months the server, and its newsgroup became a mini scene
for a regular group of players. Names that spring forward from
the mists of time include Goldy, Mondo, Apprentice,
Monolith, MuffDiver, DM, Quarkman,
the Three Welsh Amigos: ITYE, Winston K and PapaBendi,
and a fair few members of the QW Clan (still active and moving
to Quake 3 hurrah!) The Dark Preachers: TR_Elvis, Dizzy, Zuccini
and Kahuna. Players came and went, but between ITYE, TR_Elvis
and myself generally it was one of the Netcom newsgroup lot who
would win the map, claim victory and laugh at their victims humiliation,
or something... The Rocket Launcher of Justice was feared, in
the days before I became too old and decrepid to hold a mouse...
Quake 2 approached, and we were happy QW llama's thank-you-very
much.
It was inevitable I guess, with my track record for meglomania,
that I would come up with the idea of starting a Clan. I approached
TR_Elvis (then the Dark Preachers leader) as to how to "go about
starting a Clan". He advised me that with the phone bills, the
hassle, the agro, the phone bills and the pain_in_the_arse people
you have to put up with, it was barely worth it. Must have caught
him on a bad day. Typically, I ignored his advice and went ahead
anyway - quickly people signed up, most excitingly IYTE who had
emerged as being the best player on the server by a considerable
distance. Sexy Quake whilst Ruud Gullit was still relying on his
dodgy knees for AC Milan. ITYE aside, I was pretty good at QW
(no, really!) and players like Winston_K and Mondo were always
going to do well. We finally recruited 12 people from the Newsgroup,
some of them class, most of them average, one or two pretty pants
- but we were practically a Clan before we even started, having
known each other and played against each other many times. We
were to be a Quakeworld Clan - most of the lads hated the Q2_test
that was out at the time (sound familiar? Heh heh heh...) and
I think we'd have been pretty good. However, the first major "event"
that changed the course of the Clan happened a few weeks before
the games full release: I got raped on Q1DM4 for the first time
in ages. It happened for a whole week, I had lost my touch, I
couldn't rocket jump, aim, time the Quad - anything. I was Andy
Cole just after he moved to Man Utd - slightly less than useless
is an understatment. I didn't understand why that happened, nor
can I recall what made me play the Q2 test that week. But I did,
and suddenly I loved it. Never mind that the RL was shite, or
that the Rail Gun was so strange and alien. I played it, wh00ped
alot of arse and was hooked. Sod QW, this Q2 lark is much easier:)
Now maybe we should be Quake 2 only I thought. I asked the lads,
and got an unexpected response...
Some quit outright - just left - Quake 2 was no fun they said.
Others, like ITYE stayed only for the crack of being in a Clan
- "not too fussed about Q2 m8 - weapons are pretty shite..."
Even so, at the end of November I formed my Clan. We didn't have
a name, or even a game to play (Quake 2 wasn't even out yet doh!)
but we decided we would be a Clan, and we would (grudgingly in
some cases) be a Quake 2 Clan. I had my own idea for a name, and
put it forward:
The Bringers of Justice As you can imagine, it lead to
embarrassed silence. The second big event that changed the future
of the Clan was a brainstorm by Goldy - how about The Suicide
Squad - it comes with a built in cool prefix [SS]. Needless to
say, I was out voted (thank god!) and the Suicide Squad, a Quake
2 Clan, was formed on the 1st Dec, 1997.
Quake 2 was released, NetcomUK duly threw up a server loaded
with crap QW map conversions and Clan practices consisted of trying
to get 12 players to wear either male or female skins, intimidating
non Clan players who just wanted a quick FFA to go somewhere else,
and dying many times to Mondo's amazing rail aim. As more and
more FFA servers were created, we would descend on them in mobs
of three or four (quite against the rules these days heh heh)
and take over - killing all and sundry. Our distinctive [SS] prefix
often the cause of questions like "Are you nazis" etc! And so
we became "known" pretty quickly - IYTE proved to be as good at
Q2 as he was at QW, I was (back in the days before most of you
were born) rarely beaten by some of the other old Q2 players you
hardly ever see these days, and Mondo was known as a bot before
there were even any Quake 2 bots. We approached our first Clan
game pretty confidently - against a group of players (not even
a real Clan) who met on the Fastnet server often. We played, we
got severely twatted, and wondered exactly wtf had gone wrong.
The map was MINE2 btw - this was way before the point release
inflicted Q2DM4 et al on us:) Quake 2, in those days, was very,
very bad! We had a nifty new recruit who'd visited our original
site, [SS]bod, who was goin to be part of the best ever DM team
in some months to come, but even so we seemed to be lacking something,
and I just didn't know what it was...
More games came, the newly formed UNR taught us a lesson or two
about teamplay, and as I applied for the newly formed UKCCL Quake
2 league I admit I expected us to get murdered. We played our
first game, early in 1998 against SK - happily only two SK turned
up (Saturday afternoons proving to be awkward for some Clans)
and we stomped all over them with four players :) Most people
in those days were on a Modem, LPBs being rare an cherished. It
wasn't until [AbFab]Scooby commented on our players all having
300+ pings that I realised why we were so shite. NetcomUK, bless
them, are not a gamers ISP. Every game we played outside of the
Netcom server (nice steady 130 ping to that, btw) we were handicapped
with 100 - 200 higher pings than our opposition. Even so we finished
our first season in a respectable mid table position. We were
arbitrarily placed in Division 1 at the beginning of the UKCCL,
and we finished Quake 2 as the only Clan to remain in Division
1 from the start...
The second season was
more of the same - erratic.With the first ever UKCCL champions
UNR, along with AbFab, UKF and SK beating us, we had to beat TJD,
APO and NKO to even stay in Division 1. Mid table again, and not
enough to justify our position as the most famous Clan in the
UK (Stop laughing! Along with UNR we were the frontline UK Clan!).
We were also the original under-achievers. Towards the end of
the Season, with ITYE getting more and more frustrated with his
crap connection we turned to two new recruits [SS]Flex and [SS]Coldcut
to lead us into season 3. ITYE couldn't reproduce his FFA form
in the UKCCL - mostly because he spent the game on a 999 ping.
Apart from ex [UNR]T00mBZ, C0nan and (UNR)Tasan though, there
wasn't a player who could rack up 50 frags in 4 minutes on a 16
player Minos server like him. Had he a decent connection, he would
have turned many games for us and maybe with Flex, Mondo and Coldcut
created a championship winning team. It wasn't to be though, he
retired, Coldcut went to the States and Flex left for a new Clan
named KING. The start of season 3 was a grim time... Flex's leaving
was probably the worst. The original L33t mofo - his attitude
pissed off the cosy [SS] old brigade, who were used to having
a laugh and chilling out - hell he pissed me off too, but Flex
remains one of the coolest players in the game, whether you love
or hate him. Many were glad when he left, but I knew we didn't
have the quality to stay in Division 1 (over the months the quality
had become pretty decent) and it left us, after an opening defeat
by SK lookin at relagation. I had been speaking to ITYE's old
FFA partner T00mBZ on ICQ, he'd turned us down previously to join
another Clan - MT - who we faced next. He had decided to leave
MT (under a bit of a cloud) and I asked him to play for us. He
agreed more to help out an old mate than anything, with UNR and
MT as his previous Clans, you could understand why he had turned
his back on Clans. He certainly didn't take it seriously, and
made his debut against MT, with a new irreverant name which reflected
his irreverant attitude to the game. We won, quite amazingly,
and he went on to be one of the most contraversial figures in
the game at that time, with a stupid name but mad skilled enough
to win games single handedly. Along with new HPWs Blankk and the
ever classy Pilgrim, and the old boy [SS]bod we had my favorite
DM team in over two years of playing. That team should have won
us something it was certainly good enough... We finished 2nd in
the two DM leagues we competed in, and that is something to be
proud of, at least.
One thing Flex did before
he left, was introduce us to Capture the Flag. We had been a DM
only Clan up till then, but CTF seemed like a natural expansion.
We entered the allready established Savage league in Div 3 (along
with UNR and UC lol) and did pretty badly to be honest. But CTF
at that time was more for the laugh, only Flex had ever played
it and he'd departed to KING leaving a crop of newbies to fight
the likes of UC! Still we enjoyed much success in DM, finishing
2nd in the 4th season of the UKCCL, and it was a fantastic time
for the Clan. It was also around this time that we started our
internal Academy league - for newbie Quake 2 players. People look
at our history and for various reasons denegrate us - but look
at the list of players introduced to quake by the Academy, and
the top flight Clans like UNR, NME, TF, FED etc who have all counted
ex Academy players in their ranks at some time and people who
question our integrity fail to see what we did for the scene,
and how much effort it took. Look at the ethos of the Academy,
an you see we were tryin to bring some decent behavior into a
scene that had allready started to become rotten at its core...
Around May / June 1998
the RA2 mod was the "in-thing" The place to be seen was the Barrysworld
RA2 server. A skilled LPB called B0se had decided to poach the
best players in the UK who didn't play for UNR for his own uber-l33t
Clan called KING. Players like TJD Indica, E.Coli and our own
Flex who had somewhat carried our Clans now plied their skillz
for King - and love em or hate em, they had a massive effect on
the scene back then, which still exists even today. As 1998 drew
on, our team never quite made that jump from challengers to champions
- T00mBZ was planning a move overseas, Blankk was being forced
from the 'net due to phone bills, and we didn't really have any
replacments lined up. Our CTF and LMCTF exploits were exciting,
winning promotion to Division 2 of the Savage CTF league (not
bad for DM llamas) but the core axis of the team, and the Clan
was again breaking apart. It was time to recruit - and once again
the cosy atmosphere of the [SS] was disrupted by David Beckham
like petulance not seen since Flex had departed. Welcome [SS]The_Shadow...
Now I have a lot of time
for The_Shadow, and his joystick skillz were amazing - but the
Clan, and the community were not so friendly (and often John would
be his worst enemy). Long, drawn out wars of words between he
and many vitriolic members of the scene followed, and it was certainly
a time of turmoil. "On the pitch" as it was, he lead us to some
memorable victories, and supported by an Academy graduate [SS]Dutchie,
ex Quake Nemesis an long time Quake friend Nemesis we continued
to compete at the top flight in DM, and improve in CTF. This team
wasn't as good as the previous one, but it still kicked arse -
finishing yet again in the top 3 of the UKCCl, and gaining a respectable
position in Div 2 of Savage. We also embarked on our first memorable
Savage CTF Cup run - finishing with a forgettable 15 - 1 defeat
in the semi final. Still not bad for a bunch of DM llamas:) Our
first birthday saw us in exactly the same position as we'd started
- a big clan (by this time in more ways than one - including the
SSa lot we had over 100 active players!!), a famous Clan (everyone
knew who the SS were, including around four or five imitators
- seriously!) and a Clan with nothing in the trophy cabinet!
1999 dawned, with another
3rd position in the UKCCL due. A storming game against UNR finished
SS:49 - UNR:53 with newboy Fusion looking to have a bright future.
The Clan scene had changed dramatically, each Clan now sporting
2 front line LPB's in season 5 - unlike seasons 1, 2 and 3 where
an LPB would be a match winner. To play on a modem now was harsh,
a case of staying alive. The_Shadow eventually left, tired of
gaming as much as anything, and [SS]Stab filled the gap admirably.
He and Fusion providing the most likable, if not the most prolific
first team axis we ever had. Our CTF had also picked up considerably,
with [SS]Splitsoul, another Academy recruit forging a team of
some skill. Although we didn't really have any stars at this time,
certainly compared to our past, the teamplay was excellent, and
in many ways the [SS] returned to its roots - it was a friendly
Clan again. Something I was glad to see return. We did okay in
the leagues we competed in, but it seemed our glory days were
behind us. To be frank though, by this time I had considered removing
us from competitive competition and concentrating on the Academy.
We had attracted critism by playing an aliased T00mBZ (notice
he wasn't playing for any other Clan at the time - unlike some
of our most vocal critics...) and I was generally tired of the
L33tness that had started with a few, actually good players, and
ended up endemic in IRC with any old 15 year old, skilled or otherwise,
treating people like shit and using the excuse "It's not real
life - dont fret if I call you a c***" I personally think it is
no different, an if anyone called me a c*** in a pub I would twat
them! I expect that thought ran through Barrysworld's DBs when
he met Maskaler at a lan one time :-) There were still some good
things to enjoy - [SS]Dippy's emergance as one of the best defenders
in british CTF for example - she was reluctant to play in Clan
games but finished as our most prolific defender as well as running
the by now hugely successful Academy. espite the many good times,
things were due to take a turn for the worse...
The recruitment of CrazyFace
- villified for his ringing activities enforced my general tiredness
of the scene. I have said alot on this subject, but a decent lad
approached to join the Academy, didn't have a hint of L33tness
about him (not what you'd expect from the founder member of FED
- L33t Clan Extroidinare), he was somebody I'd never spoken to
in the past and he, suprisingly chose a different nickname - how
I was to know he was CrazyFace I do not know. Anyway he was recruited,
he twatted EED-Billox (which was nice) he was discovered and we
were crucified. The fact that he'd done this in the past with
alot of other Clans didn't count in our defence apparently. We
were to be ejected from the UKCCL, a league we'd helped to found.
Only common sense from a few, in the face of so-much-bullshit
from the many saved the Clan at that time, as I was ready to call
it a day. The sun was shining, I had a stupid phone bill, I would
rather be out enjoying myself than dealing with this crap. How
we survived intact I do not know - mostly due to Stab's hard work
I guess - but at that time everything which was wrong about the
Quake scene hit me between the eyes like a jab from Mike Tyson.
It was the worst time I'd spent running the Clan, and it led to
my retirement a few months later.
And so the summer saw
people come and go. Most of the old guard were gone now, with
only [SS]Apprentice, [SS]Goldy, [SS]Mondo and I left from our
original line up. We managed to recruit two new star players -
the ever excitable [SS]SuperTedd, and the amazing [SS]Drugs. These
two were the axis for our most successful team - the only team
to actually win anything. CTF was also going swimmingly, with
promotion to Division 1 and a Cup final appearance to boot! I
retired in August, leaving Stab and Tough in charge. In my absence
many things changed (we started winning for example!), the Clan
continued, and despite two or three times when it could have folded
in the past, the SS enjoyed a renaissence whilst I was away. Games
were won, leagues were there for the taking (the explanation of
how we managed not to win the UKCCL with our last Q2 DM team is
beyond description!) and we eventually finished with the UKCCL
LPB cup in our trophy cabinet! Amazingly, it was the first title
in two years of trying - despite all the class players we've had
in the past. We retired from the UKCCL and Savage Quake 2 leagues
in Jan 2000, retaining a Div 1 place in both of them - unique
in the UK Quake world. Our move to Quake 3 was sudden for some
of the players - especially those who thought we could win the
Q2 UKCCL this time around. But I am out of retirement to lead
us to Quake 3, and hopefully I'll enjoy it as much as I did leading
the Suicide Squad in Quake 2.
Just Ade
|
|
