vVv Apollo's Blog

20 Days to Dallas: Leave the Hate, the world is watching

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 03:56:00 +0000

With Halo 4 launching on November 6^th. Fans of the franchise as you well know will have the opportunity to play the game in its entirety in Dallas Texas on November 2^nd-4^th. For the second time in history, one of the largest and most known FPS franchises, being played in a full tournament before the release of the actual game itself. Now the Halo community is known for being immature and unkept bunch. There is a dark side ot the community that I am ashamed to admit exists. I will not deny that, but there is a side of the community that people may not know.

A part of the community where there is pure competition, you leave it all on the table, all the hate, all the energy, is used up into the game. Then after, you stand up, shake hands, give a pat on the back, and say good game, no hard feelings. This is the community that we need to show the world. For it will truly be the world watching in November as Halo is reborn onto the MLG Pro circuit. With 199 Passes sold as of last week, this leaves only 25 passes up for grabs. Assuming all the teams show up, we are putting a MINIMUM of 796 people in the convention center. This is more than SC2 and the Fighting games combined, fighting games at the moment stand at 26 passes sold, 23 for Mortal Kombat, and 3 for Tekken Tag 2. This may be one of the best attended Halo events ever, only time will tell. But we must be on our best behavior to represent both MLG, eSports, and the Halo community as a whole in a positive light. Perhaps we can shed the “little kid” theory and show the world that Halo is truly and eSport among the PC giants.

30 Days to Dallas: Halo Opener History Lesson

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 02:44:00 +0000

Well folks, here we are 30 days out!  30 days until Halo is revived back to the MLG Pro Circuit.  30 days until for the third time, a new Halo is introduced to the “mainstream” circuit.  It is time for a little Halo opener history lesson.  In the history of the circuit, as it is today(Not including Halo: CE – Halo 2) in every Halo Opener a relatively unknown team has taken 2^nd place.

In the beginning the switch from Halo 2 to Halo 3 saw the rise of Team Classic, a relatively unknown team at the start of the MLG Meadowlands 2008 tournament.   But by the end of the tournament, they were household MLG names, and they kept at it throughout the coming years.

Jump forward two years, to MLG Dallas 2010, the first event to ever host TWO Halo tournaments in one event.  The Halo 3 championship, as well as the Halo: Reach Doritos Combine.  With the Doritos combine came the rise of four players, Adrenaline, Clamm, SwiftKill, and Amish Acorns.  These players created names for themselves throughout the 2010 season. Jump ahead several months to the 2011 opener for MLG. This is the first full Halo Reach tournament that is held.  People said the luck of Adrenaline, Calmm, SwiftKill, and Amish only came because the top teams were not playing in Dallas.  But little did they know that the next event, Adrenaline and Amish Acorns would come out and place second in the tournament alongside Neighbor and Lethul; while SwiftKill and Calm manage to stay within the top 16 on Invictus with Ninja, and Watch.

With the coming of Halo 4, the continuation of the game that defined console FPS eSports, will we see new faces rise?  There are players that are just on the edge of “making it.”   Will we see the next step in the pattern of new faces in the second place spot at the end of Sunday night?

Ability's possibly journey through Dallas

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 23:08:00 +0000

So this article/blog is going to revolve around 2 assumptions.  First of all, that MLG uses the Columbus placing and seeds, according to where we placed in Columbus for Dallas, and two, that MLG use the same tournament format for running a 2 day tournament.  This would mean that Ability would be going into Dallas with a top 24 seed! Which is going to helpful, but it may hurt as well. I am going to look at going by Columbus standards, depending on our seed going in, who we might play, and when.

Please note that this is more of a pre-game show rather than predictions, because anything can happen at anytime.  Now these seeds would be determined by MLG using some form of logic.  Now since we got through AM, and we are the only team in Winners round 5 to have gotten top 24, the rest continued on into the top 16, so we SHOULD be holding a top 20 seed, either 17-19^th due to our placing and only losing 1 game in winners.

This is also assuming the following: Rosters are the same.

NOTE:  THIS IS A NEW GAME, NEW TEAMS, NEW RULES, NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME. ALSO I AM NOT ACCOUNTING FOR UPSETS, IN COLUMBUS THERE WERE MANY SEEDING UPSETS THAT HAVE MADE SOME OF THIS INFORMATION SEEM INCORRECT.
I also stopped at Round 5, because after round 5 we would be playing for top 8, against the remaining 12 seeded teams, whatever they may be.
Also, due to there being no consolation matches outside of the top 4, there are groupings of teams that we could potentially face.

17^th:

Round 1: BYE

Round 2: Top 100-200 seed

Round 3: Top 48 team

Round 4: 13-16^th seed team

(8)SV- Naded, Kampy, Titomatic, Hoaxer
(11)Apex Str8 Rippin- StrongSide, Tsquared, Ninja, Mikwen
(27)Severence- Munoz kaiss filthyg, gabba
(33)Devastation- buk20, buk57, fusion, riotz

Round 5:1^st seeded team

(1) Status Quo- Enable, Flamesword, Snakebite, Royal 2

18^th:

Round 1:  BYE

Round 2: Top 100 team. Usually 90-130

Round 3: 80^thish seed team.

Round 4: 13-16^th seed team

(8)SV- Naded, Kampy, Titomatic, Hoaxer
(11)Apex Str8 Rippin- StrongSide, Tsquared, Ninja, Mikwen
(27)Severence- Munoz kaiss filthyg, gabba
(33)Devastation- buk20, buk57, fusion, riotz

Round 5: 2^nd seed team

2nd – (3)Instinct- Roy, Lunchbox, Pistola, OGRE2

Round 6: 7-10 seed team.

19^th:

Round 1: BYE

Round 2: We would be playing a 100ish seed, probably ranging from 100-250 seed depending.

Round 3: Mid 40’s seed.  This could probably range from 60-80 depending on number of teams

Round 4: top 16 seed, we would be playing a team from the 13-16 range.  These teams would be

(8)SV- Naded, Kampy, Titomatic, Hoaxer
(11)Apex Str8 Rippin- StrongSide, Tsquared, Ninja, Mikwen
(27)Severence- Munoz kaiss filthyg, gabba
(33)Devastation- buk20, buk57, fusion, riotz

Round 5(top 24 minimum):  We would be playing a top 4 team for a shot in the top 12

Round 6(top 12 minimum): We would play a 9-12 team for top 8 teams would be:

(4)BTH- Twin Savior, Maniac, Reliable, Clutch
(16)Link Legendary- Sargoth, Reaction, Predator, Natural
(41)Dirty Mike N da boyz- Nocside, Chromium, CassCade, ColeCaine
(45)Mighty Ducks- Triii, Revamp, Mario, HunterJjx

20^th:

Round 1: BYE

Round 2: 100ish seed

Round 3: 32-48^th seeded team.

Round 4:13-16^th seed

Round 5: 4^th seed

UoR Dynasty- Tizoxic, Destin, Lethul, Dersky

21^st:

Round 1: BYE:

Round 2: Top 100

Round 3: 32-48^th team

Round 4:  9-12^th seeded team

(4)BTH- Twin Savior, Maniac, Reliable, Clutch
(16)Link Legendary- Sargoth, Reaction, Predator, Natural
(41)Dirty Mike N da boyz- Nocside, Chromium, CassCade, ColeCaine
(45)Mighty Ducks- Triii, Revamp, Mario, HunterJjx

Round 5: Top 8^th seeded team, most likely 5^th

22^nd:

Round 1: BYE

Round 2: Top 100 seeded team 100-200.

Round 3: 32-48^th seeded team

Round 4:  11^th seeded team.

(4)BTH- Twin Savior, Maniac, Reliable, Clutch
(16)Link Legendary- Sargoth, Reaction, Predator, Natural
(41)Dirty Mike N da boyz- Nocside, Chromium, CassCade, ColeCaine
(45)Mighty Ducks- Triii, Revamp, Mario, HunterJjx

Round 5:  6^th seeded team

5th/6th - (5)SHK- Hysteria, BestMan, Elamite, Ace
5th/6th - (10) Warriors- Legit, SneakEBeaver, Crimsix, Goofy

23^rd:
Round 1: BYE

Round 2:100-200 seed

Round 3:32-48^th

Round 4: 10^th seed

(4)BTH- Twin Savior, Maniac, Reliable, Clutch
(16)Link Legendary- Sargoth, Reaction, Predator, Natural
(41)Dirty Mike N da boyz- Nocside, Chromium, CassCade, ColeCaine
(45)Mighty Ducks- Triii, Revamp, Mario, HunterJjx

Round 5: 7^th seed

7th/8th - (2) UoR Carbon- Snipedown, Ryanoob, Blaze, Assault
7th/8th - (14)Fnatic Classic- Chig, ProtoType, Str8Sick, Russo

24th:

Round 1:BYE

Round 2:  Top 100-200 seeded team

Round 3: Top 32-48

Round 4: 9^th seeded team

(4)BTH- Twin Savior, Maniac, Reliable, Clutch
(16)Link Legendary- Sargoth, Reaction, Predator, Natural
(41)Dirty Mike N da boyz- Nocside, Chromium, CassCade, ColeCaine
(45)Mighty Ducks- Triii, Revamp, Mario, HunterJjx

Round 5: 8^th seeded team:

7th/8th - (2) UoR Carbon- Snipedown, Ryanoob, Blaze, Assault
7th/8th - (14)Fnatic Classic- Chig, ProtoType, Str8Sick, Russo

Now please note this is nowhere near final or accurate! Did this just for fun while I was bored!

Hope you enjoy!

Oh The People you will meet: MLG stories from Apollo p3 an amendment

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:45:00 +0000

An amendment to Part 2.

Columbus 2012: An amendment.

I realized that I left out a major part of my MLG stories part 2…Particularly one man who just by chance, I ended up having lunch with not once, but twice; and all because there was an empty seat. The man I speak of is one Jason Tugman.  Now by chance I was eating I believe it was dinner on Friday night of Columbus 2012. As I sat eating with my vVv shirt, alone because the team was waiting to be called, a guy walks up to me and asks if he minds if he joined me. Me being a very personable person, tell him to go ahead.  He sits down and puts a stack of plastic cases down, and what do I see.  StarCraft 2 Trading cards of the professional Korean teams. I was amazed, after talking to him, I learned he was Jason Tugman the owner of the company iHeartEsports(which I just looked and the site is down) which is a company that started out making eSports stickers, and now makes trading cards, and stickers for the professional StarCraft 2 teams.

Now Jason is a great guy, and I spent a good while talking to him. I learned he woke up and decided he was going to drive up from DC, and attend MLG Columbus on a whim.  I also learned this was his first MLG event, and that he runs a YouTube channel and a show dedicated to talking about production quality at MLG events.  Jason is one of the chilliest guys you will ever meet! Then by chance, I had the opportunity, once again, to chat with him over Subway, on Saturday/Sunday(not sure what day it was).

I felt really bad about forgetting this, this was a great highlight over the course of the weekend, and I really wanted to make it right!  Make sure you follow Jason,

https://twitter.com/JasonTugman

And check out his youtube:

http://www.youtube.c...ser/jasontugman

Oh The People you will meet: MLG stories from Apollo p2 ft. vVv Gaming :D

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:44:00 +0000

Well continuing from my previous article which I will link directly below this, are the past 3 MLG events I have attended and some of my best memories for all of them.  Can I just say how hard it is to write these?  Such good times, such great people.

MLG Dallas 2011:

From what you can tell from the events written here, this is the first flying event I have ever attended.  Now this is my third time flying ANYWHERE, and my first alone, so right off the bat, it’s an adventure. Now this time was the first real event I attended with a team that consisted more of my friends. Going in we were predicted to simply destroy, being the team Southern Comfort.  We even were picked up by one of the largest gaming organizations around, vVv Gaming.  Now I was extremely proud to represent such a known organization. Though I hate to say it, we were a disappointment to the organization.  We simply destroyed in warm ups, we were feeling good. Though when it got down to it, the team couldn’t cut it, we managed to secure a top 64 finish, but that was terrible.  The team simply was not pulling its own weight, and I have half proud to say that out of the four people on the team, only one is still playing.  He is one of the greatest guy’s I’ve ever gamed with, ByHero.  He’s an insane player and has proven himself, breaking into the top AM, top 16.  Though I am going out of my element on this, can I say how shady the team was, they ended up dropping Hero over night.  After we specifically talked about NOT doing it, then a day later I was let go.  I will never complain about it, because through this event, I have gotten to where I am today. All coming together in the Columbus Winter Championship 2012 section.

     The calm before the storm

     There is a bright side to Columbus though, other than completely failing one of the greatest gaming organizations ever.  I won my second pair of Astros (if you wonder where I won the first, see Columbus 2010 in my previous article).  Myself along with byHero were walking back to the hotel on Saturday night, and I got the text saying come to the booth. It was late and previously before the venue, the booth said the last giveaway was for the Astros. So I was like NO FREAKING WAY, and we hurried back to the venue, I arrived and low and behold.  My second pair of Astros, the guy remembered me from Columbus and we had a good laugh. I learned that they ended giving the kid and the mother a pair of A40’s just to shut them up, even though they were clearly in violation of the rules. Can I tell you how difficult it is to pack a pair of A40’s IN THE BOX, as well as a MixAmp AND THE BOX into an already full suitcase?  It was horrible, I managed to rig it so I had only my A40’s and Mixamp’s in my backpack, which was very uncomfortable, and stuffed cloths into the boxes to make room.  Anyway, moving on.

     ^^Another set of A40′s

     Allow me to touch a bit on the part where we were sponsored by vVv because I feel that I owe it to them for our bad performance to point out a few things.  If you have ever been to an MLG event, you have seen vVv, more accurately HEARD vVv, I can honestly say, an event would not be the same without vVv.  LordJerith, DoomHammer, Paradise, DyeHard(even though she is not in it anymore) and everyone else, are the greatest group of people you will ever meet at an MLG event.  Jerry is one of the smartest people you will ever speak with, if you have a problem, he is right there with the solution, and some encouraging words. Paradise may be one of the single most chill and cool guys ever as well. As well as everyone that I have met in vVv, I have nothing but good memories and things to say about every single one of them.

Columbus ’11:

Now Columbus 2011 was really the start of where I am today.  By some random act, I managed to land on one of the best AM teams around, The Fun Police. Now this I say this a lot I’m seeing in the article, but it’s true and I have been blessed to have had some of the best people ever as teammates. But it is true; each and every one of them is totally chill.  Now this is my first step into the old “semi-pro” region, we ended up placing 30th.  The sensation of winning out of AM is something that is incredible even if we did it through the loser’s bracket. With LuckSide pulling off easily the clutchest snipe kill when the game is tied 49-49 in game 5.  Absolutely freaking insane.  Though we had to play ByHero in the consolation matches, we managed to pull out 30th as I said before. Which continues my rise in placing, I have always outplaced myself and I have no plans of stopping.

^^ Game winning kill from Luckside to win The Fun Police out of the Losers Bracket, into the Championship Bracket

Columbus ’12 MLG Winter Championships:

Now this event is what I want to call redemption.  I say this for many reasons.  Firstly because most teams that I was looking to coach either had one, or wanted a sponsor/moneybags coach, who paid for the event for them, which I am absolutely not.  I earn my spot on the team. By some chance of luck, I messaged the king of all cats, the PappaCat, and even though my internet sucked for a while there. Stupid Internet Company was throttling our internet or something.  I managed to convince the rest of the team, which consisted of Xploits, FragThat, and Expozur to let me coach them, even though it was mostly, “Hey you need a coach?” “Yes” “Awesome can I coach?” “Sure” hahaha.  But I got it fixed and everything turned out ok.  Then wouldn’t you know it, I became the coach of Ability.

Now due to me wanting to make myself useful, I started the search for sponsors, since they had just come off a 21st place finish in the 2011 National Championships in Providence RI just months before. Now people are calling that a fluke because there were only 90 teams.  But those 90 teams were the dedicated ones that put the time and the effort to come out and play.

^^ vVv Ability

    But in Columbus we proved them wrong.  Columbus was my redemption both as a coach, and as a player.  When I approached vVv Gaming for the second time, this time bringing a seasoned team, for they had been playing together for years at this point.  With three of them only living 20 minutes from each other.  Another added bonus was they were only an hour from me which was entirely a coincidence. I really had my doubts about vVv I feared that they would have bad blood with me for the poor placing, and I was hesitant to post the application, but after some talks we decided to give it a go. The worst they could say was no, am I right?

But amazingly, they saw something in our application even though at that point Halo was being declared “dead.” Which I am not going to lie, it was on life support, but it was far from dead. What we needed was motivation and support.  What people do not realize is that Halo has never NOT had outside support, like Call of Duty, StarCraft and the fighting games have. We have always had MLG. We needed to find our way; it is as simple as that.  We have to become self sufficient if we are to succeed. But I digress.

We applied and the next thing I know, we are accepted to vVv. Now remember how I said no event is the same without vVv?   I truly mean that, during every match, vVv was there creating a red and black wall.  Now I know how it feels to have the crowd against you in an MLG event, it is an absolute terrible feeling, just a pit in your stomach. I can only imagine what the other teams felt, as they looked up.  They saw us, directly across  from them, and behind us? A WALL of black and red, two sometimes three people deep.  It must have been psychological torture to see that every time they looked up.

But the flip side?  Having the crowd on your side is the best feeling in the world.  The cheers that go up when a player goes off, or simply does something amazing, it is music to your ears, there is nothing like winning a game, and the second the timer his zero, having the loudest station in the entire venue.  All eyes on you.
We proved everyone wrong the second the team picked up the controllers. We went something like 11-0 in warm-ups. Absolutely DESTROYING every team that we played, including some of the teams we played on a daily basis online.  No team managed to get over 25 kills on them.  It was domination, and I knew that we had a shot to go all the way.  We simply destroyed the first few series, until we came against one team consisting of three former pro’s and one random kid, which in reality would make them considered a pro team.  Now Ability is one of the worst teams that I have ever seen playing objective, though they manage to pull it off in the end, every objective gametype is a heart attack waiting to happen.

We won then found out we would be playing one of the professional teams.  We unfortunately lost to them, and I lost respect for every player on the team because they did not simply win, they rubbed it in our faces by waiting the game out and letting time run down.  We finish, and are immediately told that we were in the top 12 by someone in the crowd, which we couldn’t believe, but as it turns out, we played them for top 16, and would be playing in the morning for top 24; which is already better than my placing from the previous year, and on par with the team’s previous placing in Providence. We played the only European Halo team in attendance at the event, Devastation.  To which we again, lost unfortunately.  What is worse, is there were no consolation matches, so we ended with “Top 24” we could not prove that we were better by taking the 17th title. But I managed to bring vVv a respectable finish in vVv Ability, taking Top 24, only dropping games to professional teams.

     ^^The crowd during MLG Winter Championship

     Again taking a moment to talk about vVv Gaming. They are one of the best organizations to play for. They are at every match they can be, always having a solid wall of red and black. The massive vVv Chants, as well as just the overall feel of support. Jerry at one point took the team aside and gave us the best advice I think we could get, which was “stick to basics” basically not to get fancy and over confident. To stick to what we knew, and adapt to the situation.  I personally want to thank vVv for all the support and everyone reading should check them out at www.vVv-Gaming.com

Currently? We are waiting to hear of Halo’s future with the newest edition coming on 11/6/12, Halo 4 drops and competitive gaming will adapt.  But our future is uncertain. Along with waiting, we await the return of our fourth, Kevin “FragThat” who is in bootcamp currently. MLG Columbus was his last big thing before he shipped out.  I write this with much respect, he is a great guy, and can’t wait to continue gaming with him when he gets back!

Well that about wraps it up, all my events, all my best memories for each event.  I hope that I managed to show that MLG events are just not a bunch of “nerds.”  It is more than that, it is more than video games, it is competition, it is socializing, it is fun.
Can I just add once again, how hard it is to write these things? So many memories, so many emotions.

Oh The People you will meet: MLG stories from Apollo p1

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:37:00 +0000

MLG events, what can I say, they are an experience.  MLG is about more than just gaming, it is about socializing, meeting people, and networking.  Each event is a totally new experience, new people, new products, and new stories are born.  If you have never gone to an event, I absolutely suggest going.  This is the first of two articles of mine, where I will relate my experiences at MLG events.

My first MLG event, MLG Columbus 2009

My first MLG event was back in 2009 in Columbus Ohio.  I was supposed to coach one of my friend’s teams, who just happened to be on the professional team Xit-Woundz, which is a historic team in Major League Gaming.  But unfortunately, we missed the roster lock and I couldn’t get on the team.  But I still attended as media for a website that I will not mention and generally hung around the event.  It was my first event, and with a media pass I could go virtually anywhere.  Through the site, and some connections we were able to attend a dinner party held by one of the professional team’s sponsors, Liquid Lighting.  This dinner was an absolute blast, all you could eat pizza, with every kind of toping imaginable.

This is also where I first met one of my good gaming friends, Pro Coach Small of Str8 Rippin, though back then he was working for a organization called Vanity Gaming.  But what made the dinner really memorable, was that Liquid Lighting, also was a sponsor of one of my all time favorite bands, called Breaking Benjamin, and they just so happened to have the drummer, Chad Szeliga there as well, who is on all accounts an amazingly awesome dude.  This was an amazing night, managed to have dinner with some sponsors and pro players, as well as the drummer of one of my all time favorite bands, as well as got my picture taken with him?  Perfect day.

^^Me and Chad!

The next story comes from this event as well.  I was in the process of going back to my hotel room when I was waiting in line to get an elevator. For those that do not know. If you stay in the “official” MLG hotel for any event, expect to wait for an elevator. Several of the pro’s waiting ahead of me decided to take the stairs, even though we were on the third floor, and the floor that the pro’s had rooms on, was the 13^th floor.  So that managed to cut the line in half.

By the time the elevator came, I managed to get inside with several notable people in the MLG world.  At the time, the CEO of MLG, Mike Sepso, MLG Pro’s SK, Clutch, Walshy, SK’s girlfriend Jade, along with several other people.  As the doors close, the elevator starts to go down instead of up, and we deal with it. We get to the pool level, where some sorry kid was waiting on a ride after he just got out of the pool, and seeing our full elevator.  It was a stare down, him; trying to decided if there was room, and us; staring back, mentally telling him not to try it.  As the doors shut, at the very last moment, the kid dives through the door and into the elevator. Whereas Clutch begins to call the kid a warrior(the term Warrior in Halo is when a person appears to be “eating shots” or where you shoot the player and they do not register as hits because of their connection)  We all start laughing and Sepso just turns his head and slowly shakes his head.  All the way up the elevator Clutch was commenting, and asking everyone if they smelled chlorine. Needless to say, it was a very fun and eventful ride up.

Now we move onto MLG Columbus 2010:

This was a very fun event; I went with two of my still good friends as a coach. It just so happened that one of the players on a top AM team, Revamp, was living with one of my friends, and there just so happened to be a multi-team LAN going on at his house before the event.  Now this was not any multi-team LAN. This was the greatest ever non-MLG multi-team LAN. The top Halo teams from Brittan, AS WELL AS, the number 1 by a long shot Australian team.

By number 1 by a long shot, I mean these guys were the absolute best AM team period in Australia, there was no team that could come even close to these guys. Now think about it, four Halo teams, each with five people on the team (four players + one coach). That is twenty people in the same house.  And unfortunately our team was the only non-top caliber team there. But it was still amazing, from this experience, I met people from Australia which I still am in semi-contact with today, as well as players from England, all over an “Online Game” with “imaginary friends” as my parents call them, but who’s laughing now right? This guy!  To quote one of the Australian players “It’s the Halo Olympics.”  It was an absolutely awesome experience, and to see the Australians steam roll over EVERY amateur team they played, including the number one seeded amateur team going in? It was amazing, what is amazing, is that the three other teams in the LAN other than my own, ended up getting 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th in the tournament.

The second story is more luck on my part than anything, me winning a pair of Astro A40’s as well as a mix-amp. Winning, as in getting for free! Which retail for $249.99. Italso included a pair of exclusive BIC Flex4 Razor speaker sides for them.  It’s a funny story how it happened, MLG use to have a booth where you could text a number and they would send out numbers and times to be at the booth to see if you won anything, so walking back to the venue out of the blue I decided to text the number for the Bic drawings. I got a text later that said to show them the code, so I did. They told me to come back at 8:30. So I hung around for a while then headed over at 8:30 not thinking much of it. So I got there and they began calling out numbers that they texted people. Two kids managed to get their number called but they weren’t the owner of the code they entered their family in and they weren’t present at the event at the time being. The rules said you had to own the phone, have the code, and be present. So after giving them time to “get the owner of the phone”(they were given five minutes).

They began calling codes again. At this point I’m like I’m not going to win, and my phone is about to die, so I write the number on my hand. As soon as my phone dies, they called my number. I was like OMFG are you serious. I told them it was my number, gave them my phone number to confirm. They said I would win, if I could get the phone on. Lucky enough I had my phone charger in my bag and was freaking out at this point, I asked and this is a direct quote “Dude do you have like an outlet. I have my phone charger come on dude.” Luckily they were awesome people and let me plug it in where they had all the equipment plugged in. Partialy due to the fact they gave everyone else five minutes and they all failed. So I plugged it in, showed them the number, and next thing I knew I was the proud owner of some Astro A40’s and a mix amp. Epic right? But of course it’s never easy.

As I proved it was my phone, one of the kids who won before arrives with the proper owner of the phone, and they begin complaining and yelling about winning but, but the booth people not not giving the headset to him. She starts going at it with them and they tell her the rules and how they gave him five minutes to get them, it was getting pretty ridiculous and loud. She then glares at me and is like “Maybe this kid will be nice.” At this point I’m like seriously lady come on and I really didn’t want to say anything. The guy luckily said something like, “he looks nice enough but he is not going to be that nice”. And I basically start thanking the guy for saying that; I was not going to go at it with a 60 year old lady. At this point the booth people are getting really annoyed cause the kid had been complaining to them for like 20 minutes, eventually the guy is just like, “You won, sign this” and hands me the paper right in front of the lady and she begins fuming, and the guy basically wanted to get me out of there,. So finally I signed the paper that said I received the grand prize and had my picture taken with the booth people. They then continued arguing with them.

^^Me with 2 BiC Girls and my new A40′s
Well folks, those are my first stories, I have more but they will come in part 2!!!Hope you enjoyed!

Quest Accepted: And IGN E3 contest entry

Sat, 19 May 2012 17:39:00 +0000

Hey, below is my IGN contest entry to win a trip to E3 to blog about it for IGN!

http://www.ign.com/b...-journey-to-e3/

Quest Accepted: Journey to E3

A IGN E3 contest entry:

I am a conqueror. On the planes of Oblivion, demons fall before me. On the islands of Northrend a once glorious king now lays under my boot. On a ringed installation in the deepest part of the galaxy, a talkative blue orb lies forever silent. At my hand all shall fall. But alas, there is one realm, one monster, that since 2007 no mortal man has been able to challenge. Only those deemed worthy are allowed to enter. A place where kings and gods gather, and us mortals are left to watch at afar. I stand, a battle cry in my throat, my pen my mighty blade, my notebook my shield, my laptop my combat system, now ready to cross the plane and join the battle for console dominance.

Gatherings such as E3, and Major League Gaming (MLG) are as much about socializing as they are gaming. Events such as these are about coming together over a common bond of brotherhood, one that extends beyond what hindrance language barriers may cause, allowing us to communicate through a common median. Through events like these, I have companions and friends from all over the world, ranging from Europe to Australia. Networking is what I thrive on. It is the people who I meet from my experiences that defines and drives me, from a quadriplegic StarCraft player, to drummer of the band Breaking Benjamin, to the global marketing manager of Plantronics. Each of these people adds to my life, and redefines me as a person.

This realm, this E3, is a place of legend. It is a place where, every year, history is made. Be it new games, or new technology such as Project Natal, which will forever alter the way we interact with the system. Over the past six years, I have taken part in many epic adventures on behalf of furthering the gaming industry. From hosting podcasts, to covering live events, to eSports coverage, I have etched more personal blogs than I care to admit and have done product reviews for companies such as Plantronics.

Besides writing, I travel across the United States competing in a tournament of the best gamers in all the realms, MLG. I have attended as both media, in order to do live coverage from the event, and as a competitor in these events. This has been a major part of my 21 years upon this Earth. My journeys have taken me everywhere from Meadowlands, New Jersey, to Anaheim, to Orlando, and everywhere in between.

I stand before you, a servant knight, a sponsored Halo: Reach semi-professional for one of the largest gaming organizations in the world, vVv Gaming. I kneel before you, your’s to command, a knight ready to do battle with perhaps the deadliest boss in all the realms. I shall not fail you, I cannot lose, and all will fall.

Better Late than never. A personal post Columbus blog

Thu, 10 May 2012 23:11:00 +0000

Better late than never:

Well, it’s been over two months since MLG Columbus, and the future of Halo is in question so I figured it was about time I finally dropped a post Columbus blog other than the write up of the team adding my own input.

^Left to Right: PappaCat, FragThat, Xploits, Expozur

Friday:

Well after a late start, due to some old lady at the bank that was preventing me from cashing my paycheck…Had to get my money!  It was said that it is a 4 hour drive to Columbus from Pittsburgh PA to Columbus Ohio.  I arrived at the venue late on Friday, which does not matter much now due to the fact that the Free For all was Friday.  After locating the team warming up, we met up with the vVv crew which is always a blast.  Wouldn’t be an event without everyone there, it was a little rough in the free for all with the team all getting out within the first few rounds, which we were fine with.  It was ok, it was only Free for All and that even though it determined who got seeded where, and it all came down to teamwork.  It was amusing to see all the “pros” reaction to playing split screen.  With t2 getting out first round, made for such an interesting night.

Saturday:

Well Saturday started off nicely, after learning we held the 82^nd seed, we had one of the best seeds we could ask for.  We were directly in the middle of the bracket, with a solid bracket.  We were not in one of the professional loaded brackets, though we did not have a “golden bracket” though some people would consider close.  We warmed up and won every single warm-up game we played. We defeated the first team we played “Godspeed” pretty easily, with a 3-0.  The second team we played, “Evolution” is a solid team, they are better than most teams at the event.  We then had to play the team “Stay Dreaming” which is one of the better teams at the event; they are a top 24 team without a doubt and deserve their placing which is tied with what we would ultimately finished.   I am not going to lie, they were the favored team going in, and we were considered one of the “underdogs” of the tournament.   They managed to take game 1 from us, I cannot lie, it was a rough loss.  Though we managed to come back and win 2-1. It was a major win for us and guaranteed us a top 24 placing at the minimum.  This was a great feeling, personally it was my best placing as a coach and as a team, it proved that their 21^st placing in Providence with “only 68 teams” was not a fluke and that as a team, they can hang with anyone.  Next, was the giant standing in our way, the ONLY professional team in our bracket, “Carbon.”  Which consisted of 4 of the “pro gamers” and a former pro coaching them, this was the team we would have to play to place “Professionally” which is top 16.  I am not going to lie, this was a mountain compared to all the teams that we could play.

Going into the match, personally, it just seemed our drive died, just due to the caliber of teams that we have been playing previously online.  We were on fire the entire Saturday, going 11-0 in warm-ups and steaking(beating a team before they get to 30 kills) another top team, Severance.   We unfortunately lost the series 3-0, and I lost some respect for some of the players that I would have expected more from.  They were not taking the games seriously, I saw it before during other matches but didn’t think much of it.  They at one point stopped getting time in a king of the hill game, and just killed the team for a few moments.  They could have ended it there and then, but they decided to draw it out and kill everyone for fun.   So that kind of ruined the mood, but we were confident ending Saturday night, just because we knew we would play a lower seeded good team in the loser’s bracket, just because of the bracket we had so far  So we went back to the hotel room and called it a reasonably early night, after checking the bracket and finding out we were going to play ApeX. Devastation. The European team, who was on a bubble most of last season, always placing pro, but just on the edge.   Now this was the best case scenario for us, out of all the teams that made it to where we were, Devastation was one of maybe two, best case scenarios.  They sent a tweet out asking who was on Ability, and I am not going to lie, it was a relative confidence booster when Chig replied with 3/4ths of our roster

Enough of the team, let’s talk about the HYPE of the event; this was the best event I’ve been to period.  From the massive chanting from the Halo crowd, to joining vVv in cheering CdJr on in Mortal Kombat 9, there was always something to be loud for.  The grudge match between CdJr, and Perfect Legend was perhaps the greatest gaming moment I’ve seen at an event in a while, outside of Halo.  We need more of these moments, I was not able to really appreciate that match up until it was explained to me, and once I knew, it was on.  Halo was perhaps the loudest it’s ever been, period.  Yes we use to have the bleachers, yes it was epic, yes we fed off each other.  But only a few dozen could fit.  We managed to bring the bleacher feel, into the chairs.  We made SC2 wonder what was going on over on the Halo side.  We stole viewers from SC2 so they could check out the chanting.
On a completely unrelated side note, during lunch, I had the pleasure of being joined by a man called Jason Tugman, who is the owner of iHeartEsports.com, little did I know I would find myself joining him again.  He is a great guy and knows his stuff!
Now, I have one more thing to touch on when it comes to MLG, and this has been beat to death with several dead horses.  CHAIRS, FREAKING CHAIRS.  Now I understand 100000% that they will never have enough, but the amount of chairs that Halo had was absolutely pathetic.  They completely underestimated us.  They could have easily doubled the number of chairs and had them filled. Now I understand they wanted to “make the crowd look full by having less chairs.” But seriously?  When we sell 170+ passes BEFORE the event,  that means that there are at least 680 people for Halo alone, this is not accounting for coaches, spectators,  families, FFA participants, etc…

^PappaCat dropping the "Nuhhh uhhhh" finger to Stay Dreaming in Winners 4

Sunday:

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Championship Sunday. Now we woke up early spirits high, and grabbed some breakfast on the go to get down to the venue early.  We arrived to an almost empty venue, only a few teams were there and even less spectators.   We managed to get a few warm up games in before we had to play Devastation.   The games against devastation were rough.  Again, I hate to say it because it sounds like an excuse but it is the truth, I feel that the loss was a result of the teams we practiced against.   The games were close and we proved that Providence was not a fluke, that they can place high and they deserved to be a “semi-pro” team. I am not going to lie, being 3 wins away from a “Pro” placing and losing all 6 of them was devastating (No pun intended).  But I am happy with it.
After we were done, I hung around the venue, watched some MK9 with the vVv crew, saw some StarCraft and then headed home.

Overall it was one of my favorite events if not my favorite of all time.  Also, as a interesting side note, it continues my trend of event placing….I have placed top 128, top 64, top 48, 30^th and now top 24, in that exact order….The next event will determine if it will continue to rise.  I am proud to rep vVv and be on the great team that I am!

Now:

Ability is still on the search for a fourth.  All of our preferred picks have ended up quitting Halo in wake of Halo 4. Though we WILL be picking up a fourth soon, and will be representing vVv in the Spring Ladder and in all following events/ladders.

MLG Columbus: Halo's SoS

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 04:32:00 +0000

MLG Columbus: The Halo's SOS

Halo is at a cross roads, down one way, a league where a once flagship game is no longer played; the other, a game with a strong following with a supportive community. We are in the middle of a community identity crisis, where does Halo stand in a literal world dominated by PC gaming. Now you will point out that there is the fighting game community. Yes, there is the fighting game community, they are the definition of grass roots e-sports. If we want Halo to succeed, we must learn from the fighting community as well as the SC2 community. We must take the grass roots movement of the fighting game community, and the dedication and the maturity of the StarCraft community if we are to succeed in reviving Halo starting in Columbus. With over 140 passes sold in the month or so of notice that we were given shows that we have the partial drive to continue as a major e-sport. Places like NJ Halo, The LAN Network, Redbull, and The Iowa Pro Gaming League are making this possible, and we need to make sure that they know how much we appreciate their support.

But that is not nearly enough, we must show up at the event in force. With the FFA taking place all night on Friday, we need to show that we can out cheer the StarCraft community! With more than 140 passes sold for Halo, that means there will be ATLEAST 560 people for Halo, not including coaches, spectators, family, etc... With StarCraft selling out at 256, this means the we out number the StarCraft competitors by almost two. Which means that we need to put out twice as much noise as they do. I am not speaking about random screaming or chaotic noise, but bring back the chanting like the days of Halo 2 and 3. We need to support ALL players.

Next, with the FFA deciding the seeding for this event, we will be seeing a side of all players that we never have seen before. This is the first event where our game at it's essence is at stake. Where all teams that show up will be playing through the bracket until only one team remains. This means that EVERY team that enters the venue will have a truly equal chance of winning, a chance that has for the most part, been a long shot with the separation of the AM and Pro brackets. This will for the first time, put to true test, the skill of every Halo team. There will be upsets, there are “pro” teams that will not make it to play on Sunday.

This is a call for us as competitors, gamers, and fans, for when this happens, to turn the event on it's head, make the StarCraft players, no matter if they have played a console game in their life, to wonder what we are about as a community. We must also treat each loss as a victory, for you have done what many others have not, you have shown up, participated, and given your all, in support of a game that very well could never see the light of MLG again. For every now “pro” team that falls, you must treat them as you would everyone else, shake their hand, congratulate them on a game well played, and tell them to keep their chin up. Do not scoff them, trash talk them, or demean them in any way. For they are players just like you and I. No matter if they have been raised to a higher platform or not.

Up to this point you may be furious at me, and trashing me saying that I am being over dramatic. In fact I am not, it is a very very real possibility that Halo will never see another event after Columbus. Who's fault is this? Puckett's? Sundances? Killa KC? MLG for less than perfect gametypes? No, it is none of theirs, when it boils down to it, it is our own fault. MLG has given us a platform to do what we love. And how have we repayed them? By trashing their staff for making “crappy gametypes” and cussing out Sundance and the rest, via twitter, and even more I am sure by e-mail. It is our fault, when we are willing to admit this, we can begin to rebuild. It is the amateur players fault, for not attending every event they could find a team for, regardless of gametypes. For the “pros” and yes I am calling them out. It is their fault for not interacting with the community more, for feeling that they have some superiority over the rest of the players. Yes, they are better at Halo, yes they do make money playing. But when it comes down to it, they are doing what they love, just as all the amateur players do. Some believe that if they are not “pro” players that they have no right to play the game, that there are no players that even compare to them. This attitude is partially what is killing our community, and it is not just the “pro” players, it is everyone in the community.

Attitude is to be expected when playing a game. In the NFL, more than a little trash talk happens on the field, it is to be expected when tensions are high, and you are in the heat of a moment. Trash talk is good, it intensify a game, makes it more suspenseful. But when you take it out of the game, and flaunt it, then it becomes a problem. There has to be a level of professionalism from ALL levels of the Halo community. We need to get rid of all the hate towards each other, all the negativity. We need to “self-police” those who disagree and continue to project un-professionalism. Lord Jerith has written a very good and eye opening article about the racism, and sexism in E-Sports in general. We need to take this a step further. How many times would it take a known player, such as T2, or Walshy to publicly chastise a Halo player for saying something completely out of line, for them to stop doing it? Probably only once.

Link: http://www.vvv-gaming.com/forum/topic/55338-homophobia-racism-and-sexism-in-E-Sports-a-call-to-action/

We need to pay attention to what we say, for if parents are looking at their sons twitter or facebook, and see messages like “I'm having sex at this event i don't care who or what is it but it's fucking happening. “ How many events do you believe they will be able to attend? Probably none. Joking or not, this is a serious issue, as well as messages that are meant to hurt or to undermine the community and those who put the time in to create this game, I cannot list the times I’ve logged into twitter or facebook and have seen messages of people saying they are not attending the event due to “(Insert various words here) gametypes.” or “This event is going to be stupid, I’m not going.” When new comers come to the league and see relatively known players posting these things, it does nothing but hurt any sort of E-Sports. How have we repayed EVERY single forigen team to come over? With USA chants when they were defeated.. What does this say for us as a community? That we have a sense of pride for our country, but that we severely disrespect what we consider “foreigners” you need to remember, that in the StarCraft community, all Non-Korean's are the foreigners.

Two years ago a team from Austrialia Frenetic Array comes to MLG Columbus. Paying out of their own pockets to do. How do they do at the event? The DESTROY the AM bracket, 2-0ing the #1 seeded AM team Fire Breathing Franks, who until then, where predicted to win out of AM easily, but Frenetic made them look little more than children. They put up serious challenges to every pro team that they played, and after all they went through to get here, to play in an American tournament, how do we repay them? With USA chants, including some who trash talk them simply because they are not from America. What kind of message does this send?

If Halo is to survive, we must unite this event. It is not just a matter of having a fun event, it is for the survival for Halo in Major League Gaming, and for the most part E-Sports. For if there was no MLG, where would we all be? There are no other major leagues where we can compete at a major LAN. Would we turn it into a grass roots scene like the fighting games? Would we be able to hold multi-team tournaments out of people's basements? Will we be able to make Halo 4, the largest Halo in E-Sports history? That is what we must decide, and it starts this weekend. Below I have listen two video's which describe in essence what E-sports is, what we need to achieve.

What is Hype:

This is what we represent every time we plug in the controller and play: