

ddk and stermy at the FACEIT studio. ddk and stermy at the FACEIT studio.



ddk at restaurant. ddk at restaurant.



ddk and his girlfriend, at QuakeCon.

Hi there! I'm Daniel "ddk" Kapadia, and I'm an ex-law and politics student that has spent the last 13 years playing games online and offline, and I started playing competitively with Quake 3 in 2003. I was active as a "professional" player from 2005 until 2008 where I decided that I'd move onto other things because Quake was in a really bad state. I love competing, I love fitness and I'm known for producing analytical content. A fun fact is that I've just started to learn programming too, it's pretty fun so far!Currently I'm working in Milan full time as a host, commentator and content producer for FACEIT.FACEIT's beginnings were simple. The two bosses of FACEIT, Niccolo Maisto and Michele Attisani, whom together birthed the idea, were enjoying how great esports had become at live events and how as each month passed it was experiencing visible growth in one way or another. But it was clear that the online side of esports was lagging behind, so they decided to take the initiative and fill the gap to bring it up to speed.Stermy became a clear choice to join the project as a consultant because his finger has been firmly set on the pulse of gaming for the last decade and at heart is one of the truest customers of FACEIT-- a competitive gamer.For me, getting involved with FACEIT was a mix of timing, connections and luck. I had just started my youtube channel a few months prior to joining FACEIT making analytical content for QuakeWorld and casting matches of QW 4vs4 CPMA and QL duels- the content was well received in the community by a minority and I probably averaged a few hundreds views per video. When FACEIT first appeared, I was shocked- I couldn't see the return on their investment of a studio and caster expenses.Some may recall the first FACEIT Sunday Cup was nvc and Zoot, following that they chose fazz to join Zoot. It's this point where connections, timing and luck really came in. At a dinner after Sunday Cup #2 fazz recommended me heavily, partly because we're friends and partly because he believed in me, and to this day I have no idea what he said but I think he really bigged me up a lot. Stermy watched some of the videos on my youtube channel to confirm that perhaps I may have had an idea of what I was talking about- apparently I passed the Stermy test because before I knew it I got a message on a Thursday just a few days before the next cup to fly on over!After two cups, the night after Sunday Cup #4, they asked if I would be interested in a more full time position involving a move to Milan. My gut reaction was, "fuck yeah!" but I gave it a few days to calm down and think about it a bit-- the rest is history ;).The funny thing is that I hadn’t any commentary or camera experience when they chose me.As a point of reference you can see all of the people that make FACEIT tick here: http://play.faceit.com/about-2/ it even has pictures!The relationship in FACEIT is quite tight, we all work together every day trying to build something together that we love, something after the passion we each share for competitive gaming.FACEIT takes a surprisingly large amount of my time. Although not as much for me as some others such as the CEO who I don't think is even human with how much he works, I'm surprised he can keep it together under his work load. But I try to always keep myself up to date within esports which is definitely important as I need to really know what's going on at all times- I often miss stuff too, it's hard to keep track sometimes. I used to do a lot more content related things when ZeroQL was here, as people will remember our weekly top5's, write-ups, my own youtube content amongst other things. But since he has been gone the CS:GO focus has really exploded and I help a lot on the platform with that, players on the platform often reach out to me to try and help and I try to play to stay relevent as well. I'm tasked with casting CS:GO as well as QuakeLive. More content creation type stuff will be coming in the future I'm sure, I'm quite anxious to start with it again :).I've been trying to focus on providing solid feedback to make the platform better as well, because I have the unique position of being able to talk to anyone in the company easily. These days I'm in charge of trying to grab casters and I'm taking over in organising for casters/players to come over for CS now as well. The thing I struggle with the most and I think many will sympathise with is watching yourself. Watching and listening to yourself is so hard, my god it feels like cruel and unusual punishment. But it's part of the job. Also when guests come over I spend time with them as they usually arrive the day before the show. I've been trying some script writing lately for how I think we can do shows in the future production wise/segment wise, it's good stuff.There are a couple things I want to squeeze in which are doing research on mainstream shows to take notes on details from how hosts present themselves on camera to how a show is segmented or how the studio is designed.Besides FACEIT all I have time for is learning some programming which is a new endeavour (starting with Python), going to the gym, skyping with my girlfriend and watching some series. That's pretty much my life! I spend pretty much all my time at the studio using the computers here as I still have yet to purchase myself a PC or Laptop here.Let’s first talk about what FACEIT is, just in case anyone is unfamiliar, we have two divisions that make up what FACEIT is. One is our online platform which is a service for gamers to play competitively and the other is the TV division which is there to entertain and bring coverage of tournaments with our mainstream values. When I say mainstream values, we’re talking about a level of professionalism and quality that is expected in mainstream productions for the purpose of reshaping how esports is perceived.The platform is still in beta. But the idea is just to have a really warm automated experience for the users so they can compete in their favourite games for prizes, glory and just good ol’ competitive fun. Not to mention that we want to facilitate a more social experience, more connectedness, than other colder “out of the box” alternatives, eg. sc2 battlenet 2.0/valve match making. And we want this experience to be available to as many gamers as possible, which is why we created an API that developers can easily interact with to add games to our platform with minimal effort required on both sides. In the immediate future we are going to be constantly adding more features to premium, increasing efficiency and stability, listening to the communities needs and wants, and as the numbers and support grows we’ll in turn be able to invest more and more into growth. We just want to make it as fun and awesome as possible that generates value for the users, sponsors and us. You gotta FACEIT! Everyone should be winning! That’s what we want!We’ve become a point of reference for CS:GO in Europe and are experiencing a lot of growth in this area, so currently our focus is there. We’re looking to replicate the model with our games that are in beta on the platform such as LoL and SC2. From the beginning we've believed in the potential for Quake so we'll look to carry on developing that over time.First of all, working at QuakeCon 2013 was an amazing experience because of the people I had the pleasure of working with. Of course we had the entire FACEIT team there, but we also had SirScoots who was leading the production at that event. SirScoots is an absolute professional, very experienced and a joy to work with. He was the person in my ear when FACEIT had full control of the production during the first couple days. He always kept Zoot and me very well informed, giving us information before we knew we needed it. He had prepared fail safes for situations that weren't likely, had confidence, authority and communicated very well; all because he has so much experience in production. He made my job so easy!Working with Zoot was fun as always, we've done many shows together now and I think we can fit pretty well together so it was nice knowing in advance I was going to be in familiar territory despite being what felt like half-way across the world.I experienced many firsts at QuakeCon, the interviewing is one example of that. I jumped into that having not tried anything quite like it before and it was really fun, I hope that people enjoyed it because I'm going to try and do similar things in the future!I suppose the second most notable first was working on the main stage- that was something special. All those quakers out there in front of you, hungry for some brutal quake action, hanging on your words. It was an amazing audience. At one point the audience even started chanting "D-D-K" which was completely surreal and really knocked me off guard. Unfortunately we didn't have the production in our ear because of the way QuakeCon had setup the main stage between all their technicians and fancy gadgetry, Zoot and I found ourselves without any guidance, we had to wing it and trust the production would pull up the overlay or video when we called it etc. Either way, I absolutely loved the main stage experience and I can't wait to have something similar again for DreamHack Winter.As I worked at QuakeCon I stumbled across many people who I had never met before, coming up to me and expressing great appreciation for work that I had done, whether it content such as my outcome dependency video or just in general my commentary. It was strange to have that kind of feedback, I'm not someone who cares about being famous- I'm just there to do something I feel qualified enough to do, cast Quake!It had a real convention or festival like feeling, I recall having an average of 3-4 hours sleep per night as I'd be up late drinking and dancing, talking and wandering. But feeling energised and ecstatic to wake up and do it all again in the morning.There is a surreal feeling of connectedness when you're at an event like this which is hard to quantify with words, an almost familial feeling associated with people you'd only just met. It's very special. It was also very unexpected.I had fatal1ty coming up to me with a drink which felt to be a random event and initially a bit confusing-- the last time I met him was 2007 and I doubt he recalls it. I was quite suspicious at first, fatal1ty interuptting me as I'm dancing with a big grin on his face and a drink in his hand signalling it's for me. But he's a very friendly generous guy in person from the experiences I have had. Again it's strange, I don't deal well with recognition and surprisingly being the center of attention isn't something I enjoy in a social setting typically (unless it's exclusively girls, then I'm fine) The night before I left we had a somewhat melancholic party in fatal1ty's hotel room as we all realised that the event was soon coming to an end and we wouldn't see one another 'til perhaps the following QuakeCon.I remember making sure I was there a day early as I had to leave immediately as the event ended more or less. I had to think carefully how to spend this day. Actually I'm kidding; I spent 5-6 hours in the pool drinking cubra libras and maintaining a perfect level of tipsy whilst conversing with gamers such as Stevo, Rapha, chance and the like who drifted in and out over the period I was there. I got sunburnt. It was glorious.Moving on though, backstage on finals day I spied the couch with all the QuakeCon girls sitting by themselves, and those that know me know I tend to flirt quite a lot when given the chance. The couch was empty besides all the QuakeCon girls- I mean, seriously. What else are you gonna do there? So I sat down and chatted, flirted and so on. Long story short, one of the girls who was there, Tiffany, is now my girlfriend.Either way, QuakeCon was an absolutely amazing experience that I can't wait to repeat. It really is special.It was basically a numbers thing, we were investing money into having the NA Sunday Cup, but we were seeing turn outs as low as 10-13 players. We didn't really see much activity at all on the regular points/level cups during the week as well. It's the unfortunate truth that the scene just isn't that healthy, and honestly it hasn't been since maybe as far back as 2005. But we are more than willing to support the US more if we see a lot more activity, but from a numbers stand point we just aren't seeing that much activity. I spoke to this on stream a few times after we dropped the NA Sunday Cup, that we would be happy to do the NA cup again if there is a lot more activity such as a much higher participation in points cups.With the beginning of the spring season, you also started something new : the FACEIT Profiles, which you did with Strenx, zsx, zoot and... it stopped. What happened ?The FACEIT profiles were quite awesome I agree, and I've no doubt in my mind we could do a much better job now than when we first started. The reason they stopped though was because it required ZeroQL to make and he had to go back to Serbia. Without him it wasn't really possible.Unfortunately I'm not sure about us being able to release FACEIT Profiles with the guys who came after then to the studio (Rapha, Cooller…) and it's a huge shame but we didn't have time when Rapha was here to do a profile with him. He was focused on the tournament before playing, and he had to leave soon after, we just couldn't find a moment. That happened a few times. We treated the FACEIT profiles as bonus content that happened when it made sense time wise as we don't want to wear our guests out and demand too much of them. Sometimes it can take quite a chunk of time depending how many questions we want to ask :). As a consolation I can say that I'm expecting us to be able to begin making content like that in the future, although I hesitate to say when, but be assured we will do our best to create engaging and interesting content when it's feasible to do so with the resources and time we have!There is something in the works on FACEITs side but I’m not at liberty to give any details I'm afraid. With UGC I honestly have no idea, if anything is happening on that front Stermy hasn’t revealed anything to me- nor would I be able to disclose anything if he had I imagine ;). Yay secrets!Well it's undeniable that Quake has seen better times. But I think in the last year FACEIT and 125 FPS have really helped to pick things up. We've seen so many great players come back and enjoy weekly and even daily competitions. So as far as the evolution, I'm not sure how to comment. But I can say that it's much healthier than before, we have a lot of fresh storylines and a lot of old blood as well. I think because of FACEIT and 125 FPS's efforts in the last year, we are seeing an incredible tournament now this DreamHack Winter.It's hard to talk about it in the scope of "esports" because it doesn't have the playerbase to be seen as a viable game that sponsors can get good marketing or ad dollars from. It's not new either or boasting technology that hasn't been seen before. It's not easily accessible as the skill curve is quite brutal and there's not a huge amount of money being thrown at it from the developers like we see in other games.I don't know where Quake will go or how it will continue to develop but if support continues it can only stand to grow instead of stagnate, and for me, considering where Quake has been, is enough. Roll on good times :).Of course! :) it's solid. The projections look great for the future and we have no reason to doubt that FACEIT will be a long term project. Which is great seeing as everyone in FACEIT is a customer of FACEIt, we all love playing games and we all have gaming roots, so that prospect makes us all really happy to say the least.I was pretty inactive until I started playing with sitto. Previous to this my last high level experience was a top team in Division 1 in QuakeWorld. And before that playing with cherubim/reason in TDM. Either way, Q50 messaged me saying he felt I'd be a great fit for the team and I was excited to take him up on the offer. I had to start from scratch, I made a new config and had to practice a lot by myself to get in shape to play on their level but after many years playing at a high level I know what works for me. After a lot of analysis as well I find myself becoming better and better than I ever used to be because of how my approach to the game changed. Playing with the sitto guys was highly enjoyable, it was a great team with no ego at all, a good mix of players with a strong focus on teamplay, it made for one of the most fun teams I've played on in my many years of TDM.As far as my setup, I've always stuck with ambidextrous mice because I have girly small hands and the shape fits me better, I struggle to palm the bigger right-handed mice. At the moment I'm using a razer abyssus (CE MEC EST UN MEC BIEN) and a goalithus speed mousepad, razer blackwidow mechanical keyboard (cherry blue switches) and of course 120hz monitor- it's impossible to play at a high level without 120hz!I also play with my entire forearm on the desk. :)I've been playing games all my life, since I was 3 in fact. My older brother had an Amiga 500+ back in those days and I've been playing ever since, I think I had my first PC at age 8. I've played EVERYTHING. I'm a massive fan of "casual" or single player games as well, I'm a great appreciator of a well weaved narrative or of cool technology or innovative design- I've played every great PC title you can think of I believe. One thing I'd do whenever I would get bored with one game I'd try and learn a new one to as high a level as I could, including games like: wc3, sc2, sf3:3s, ssf4:ae, q3, osp, q3 cpm, 1.6, source, cs:go, dota1/2 - I spent a lot of time on all these games. At the moment I'm just able to play some CS:GO for work related reasons, but it's fun too I won't deny that :).First of all you have to play a lot, there's no denying there is a huge executional requirement in Quake. You have to stick with a comfortable setup as well. Other than that, watch as much as you can and try to think about decisions more than about aim, because aim will always be inconsistent, your decision making can always be good.Guests questions :I have to say I don't have a huge knowledge about the french scene as I don't speak french or anything, but I have to say that the french players are usually quite surprising and can often be pretty impressive :). winz, sharpe, zulu, guismo, strenx etc- France always has exciting Quake and as much as it pains me to say it, it wouldn't be the same without the French scene being so awesome! :)hahaha it was a coincidence, not planned :)I want to speak in a language you can understand.I think it's pretty awesome you had to own me in duel because we owned miel in tdm just before that :DI want to shoutout to the whole FACEIT crew for all the hard work they put into the project, to all the people supporting our endeavours and watching us each week, who routinely put up with me (I know that's tough :D). To you and the French community and lastly to my girlfriend who is sexy. <3 Cheers!