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Esportactu : Hello Winz. You went to Dallas for QuakeCon mid July to take part in the duel and CTF tournaments, could you please come back on this adventure, tell us what motivated you to go there and make a little summary of your performances ?



Michaël "Winz" Bignet : Hi. I've gone there mainly to play the CTF tournament, the duel one was totally secondary and I enlisted only to be able to play before the CTF competition started.



In duel, what happened was exactly what I expected. I ended up first of my group quite easily... and then the single elimination brackets decided where I would stop. I have enough experience to know what I can do with the practice I had and I knew I could not rival the top4 players at this event. I went against rapha in the 1/16 and evidently lost the game, which ended the duel tournament for me.



In CTF, I will be brief since I already said many times what I think of the final results.

We ended up third after having beaten the WELP team (rapha, cl0ck, id_, psygib) 2-0 in the WB semi finals and then lost 0-2 to 2014 (ZeRo4, whaz, DaHanG, brick) in the WB final. Then, unfortunately, we lost 1-2 to WELP in the LB final with quite close maps.



We were disappointed of course because we were capable of more than that, but I think the lack of practice - against our will, there was absolutely no team available to play in July, which says a lot about how ill QuakeLive is... - had a huge impact on our results since we basically started games with a one map loss in each bo3 because of a new map in the map pool (ed : New Cerberon).



Still, even with the disappointing results, the event was fun and I was happy to meet the american teams and my mates with whom I play for some years now. If there is another CTF competition next year, I'll probably go there again.



You said many times that duel does not please you in QuakeLive as a player, especially because of the lack of new maps or the 10 minutes time limit, lowered from 15 minutes in Q3/Q4. Still, you are doing pretty good in the 125 FPS August league where you beat pavel, slimk or Clawz with no real trouble. Also, In your practice games before QuakeCon, I saw you beat Sev3n, which is / was considered the best French dueller while strenx was away, more than once. So, what happens with duel ? Do you like it again, feeling a bit nostalgic perhaps ? Did QuakeCon triggered something in you ? Were you surprised by your performances or did you know you had what it takes to be in the best european players in this mode ?



Duel has always been my favourite mode in all games but not in QuakeLive, particularly because of the lowered time limit and maps that have been played for more than a decade indeed. I think they should get rid of all the old maps, permanently. It's impossible to rival top players who have more than 10 years of experience on some maps.



I also complained about the number of maps in map pools. Seven of them, that is far, far too much. As I said before, I have enough experience to know how you need to play maps countless times to master them properly and challenge top players there. Even if I was pleased with duel settings in QL, I do not have the time nor the will to spend that much time practicing. Things have changed and I have a more casual approach regarding esport. I'd rather spend my time on something more useful on the long run.



Ironically, I have never seen that much whine regarding map pools since QL. I don't remember seeing that much whine back in the days of Q3/Q4/UT2004 when there were only 3, 4 or 5 maps in map pools.



In a completely utopian parallel universe where I would have an impact on QL duel settings, I would change the time limit to 15, the map pool would be made of 4 NEW maps and tournaments would have a bo3 and double elimination structure (single elimination gives AIDS to any real competitor), with two bo3 in the grand final if the player coming from the lower bracket wins the first one. The 4 maps would be replaced by new ones regularly (perhaps every 12-18 months).



In these conditions, I would probably have continued to duel in QL. Of course, it's only my opinion.



What is your future concerning duel ? Will you continue to partake in competitions regularly or is it a period ?



None. It is highly unlikely that I will play duel actively in QL. There is no reason for me to put a lot of time in it. There are not enough events.



Your presence on the duel scene makes me think of your unfriendly relation with strenx, since you could have to play him one day or another. Is the perspective of beating him a source of motivation or does it make no difference ?



It would probably have mattered a few years ago. As I said, I have a more casual approach to the game now and this ego war does not move me anymore. Honestly, if we had played at QuakeCon, in the shape I was in, he would probably have beaten me, and I have no problem with that.



Who are the duellers you like to see, and how would you define your own style ?



Tox, Tox and Tox. He is one of the very few players who manage to wow me with their aim. I consider him the best aimer in the world, period. I also like to watch evil and his super agressive style that brings a lot of action every game.



It is difficult to define your own style, it is very subjective and honestly, I probably did not play enough duels to develop one.



You helped evil to go to QuakeCon 2013 by lending him a substantial sum of money. Did he give it back to you, or did it turn into a donation ?



He gave me the money back as soon as he received his cashprice. I lost around 40 or 50 euros because of the exchange rate when he did so.



In Dallas, he came to see me and started talking to his smartphone. He was using a russian -> english translator to communicate and it was a bit complicated :P. Anyway, the translation said he was eager to give me the little bit of money I had lost in the transaction.



He has been totally honest and I have absolutely no regrets for having helped him.



I think your carreer as a player has been particularly prestigious on Unreal Tournament, and it happens a new opus is currently in development. Did you follow the UT franchise since UT2004 ? What do you think about this next one ? Do you think the game will give a new breath to the fast-FPS scene, or is this style definitely lost in esport compared to RTS / MABA games ?



"Particularly on UT" ? :)

I only took part in one offline event on UT, which was ESWC 2005. I give no credit to online cups and I don't think I had better results in UT than in Q4 or Shootmania (shit game btw). I just wanted to correct that :P.



Also, yes, I do follow with interest the new UT devlopment. It is hard to make an opinion about it since it is very early in the devlopment and many things are placeholders. The only thing I can talk about is the movement system which seems to go in a direction I do not like. Simple dodging like UT99/UT3... it is far too linear, simplistic and limited to my taste. It will make it slow to go across the maps, there will be far less surprises, creativity in combats and game styles in general. I really hope they will change it.



I do not think fast FPS will have as many players as MOBAs in the future. No other game type will challenge MOBAs for a long time anyway but I think a fast FPS can be huge if things are done correctly, like Valve / Blizzard / Riot do it.



Let's say the next UT becomes big and tournaments happen. Do you see yourself competing again on this franchise ?



It depends on many things and I cannot say with certainty but that is entirely possible, yes.



You said once that you thought UT required more skill than Quake. Do you still think so and, most of all, could you develop this idea ?



I don't remember saying so. What I remember is that I said there are part of UT I like (like shock rifle, best weapon!) and also some part of Quake I like (like movements). I probably said somewhere that it was harder to hit in UT2k4 compared to Quake but I also said that Quake was the skill school. Once you mastered Quake, you can master any other FPS.



There is a lot of fuss about the famous leak of the potential next gameplay changes to QuakeLive which would be implemented when the game is ported to Steam (automatic timer, players limited to two weapons, change in weapons damage, automatic acceleration when jumping, etc.). What do you think about these changes, about the shape of the game in general, the Steam release, etc. ? Are you part of the focus group ?



A small correction : the loadout system does not limit players to two weapons only. It allows players to spawn with two weapons of his choice : a primary weapon (RG/RL/LG/HMG) and a secondary weapon (SG/PG/GL/MG), but the other ones will still be available to pick up on the maps.



One only has to read ESReality to understand the totally justified indignation of the existing community and, honestly, I don't think differently. QL is decaying year after year and the need for a new good FPS is growing.



I am part of the focus group like many other people and everybody has expressed themselves vigorously and, in general, quite against these changes. Developers aren't going in the right direction and these changes will be completely useless in the long run in my opinion.



Anyway, I do not approve any of these changes and I would honestly rather see the franchise die with dignity than the devs trying to get a bit more money for a while by making it COD/BF'esque. This is really shameful.



What about your brother aKm we discovered with Shootmania ? Does he play Quake or another game ?



I think he spends most of his time on CS:S or CS:GO. He will probably go back to Shootmania to practice for the ESWC with aAa (alongside Sephis + l1nkin).



Thanks for answering the questions, last words are yours.