Interview du Siècle
Il y a quelques mois, à l’issue de la 28° saison de BarryJolt Q3CTF, [SARL]Bigfoot annonçait la fin d’une ère. Et quelle ère! Plus de 17 années consécutives de compétition Quake3 durant lesquelles, lui, l’homme, ze man, ze head admin, a organisé, planifié et compte-rendusé plusieurs centaines de milliers de matchs voyant s’affronter plusieurs milliards de gamers.
Un tel dévouement à la communauté valait bien son hommage. En exclu mondiale, l’interview de Bigfoot aka Biff aka Biffy aka Biffeh aka Biffeheheheehe
The Biffeheheh intarvioo by Ozheheheh
A bit of looking in the mirror
Age: 31
Occupation: Customer Support for an Online game
Games most played: MVP Baseball 2005, Football Manager 2009, FIFA 09 and World of Warcraft
Past (and present?) teams: Far, far too many to name :) Started off with a QuakeWorld clan called Dominion in 1997, last proper team was AMBAR.
Why « Bigfoot »? When I first started using the name I had big feet for my age ;)
When did it all start between you and league adminz0rages?
Some point towards the end of 1997 / start of 1998. It’s hard to recall now but I started off helping to admin in the Modem Clan Wars league for QuakeWorld, which I eventually ended up running, before linking up properly with BarrysWorld during 1998/1999 thanks to involvement with other leagues and the BarrysWorld dial-up that provided fantastic low pings like 120.
At most, how many leagues and players have you been leading at once?
When BarrysWorld’s leagues were at their peak towards the end of the year 2000 I probably ran myself about 5 or 6 leagues, with a total playerbase in the thousands. Those were competitions I directly handled, over time that number became less but this allowed me to focus more on the quality of the coverage for the leagues or to specialise in one-off tournaments. Of course at all times I was directly responsible for many more competitions, some of which carried significant prize funds.
Now it’s behind, what are your best moments from all this BW/Jolt era?
The best thing has been working will all the great volunteers who dedicated their time to the leagues and knowing we gave people a great place to play their games. Some other highlights include the European Championships in 2000, the leagues being as popular as they were at their peak on BarrysWorld and latterly GAME, the PC Zone and other tournaments I did with Jolt. The chance to be involved with the WorldCyberGames one year, which included going to Singapore to represent the UK as the national team leader, was an experience of highs and lows but mostly highs :)
Do you have one great souvenir in particular from a game you did admin?
If by souvenir you mean memory, I think the most bittersweet memory was probably the final of the Quake 3 Euro Champs which happened in London. The day the competition ended was a great feeling with a surprise victory for Russia (I think, many years ago now :)) but on returning to my hotel room I found out one of my grandparents, who lived less than 10 miles from where I was supervising the tournament, had passed away.
Did you ever thought about quitting before, and if so, why? What did keep you going?
I only felt like quitting when things were going wrong with work for reasons other than the competitions themselves. I kept going because of the efforts of the volunteers and the knowledge that we were doing a great job.
What’s next now?
What is your future made of, exactly? (all French Frag Factory readers agree to sign a non disclosure agreement if the answer contains specific facts about commercial deals, salary negotiation or anything that has to be kept secret for now)
I left Jolt to take a new job working in a different country, still in the gaming industry but a very different environment and for a much larger company. It was time for a change at though Jolt itself had been bought and the future looked promising there I felt it was the right time to take a new opportunity. This was about 2.5 months ago and things have gone well since, I’m settled in a new country, working at my new job, experiencing new things.
What game will you be playing in the future?
I have tried QuakeLive, it seemed fun even on a laptop, but for now the games that I currently play are the ones I enjoy and all of them are games you can play for a long, long time without getting bored. I may look out for new titles around Christmas but over the last few years I’ve not really bought that many new titles as my free time has been limited.
What are your thoughts on the evolution of the Quake series, past, now, QL and future?
QuakeLive I hope is a real success for the Quake series to continue but I fear for the PC’s future in some respects. I wonder indeed if WoW wasn’t around what would be the draw to the PC. It is specialist, and in some cases phenomenally popular, games like WoW, Football Manager etc that seem to keep the format going. FPS games these days appear to be more and more niche, piracy remains a big problem and the consoles have moved into the FPS market far more than was the case back when Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament launched. The sheer variety of titles plays a part in this and has diluted the quality somewhat. You only have to look to the troubled e-Sports scene to realise that the interest levels in PC FPS gaming aren’t really there as they perhaps used to be as many competitions are forced into selecting games with minute playerbases to get funding from sponsors. I experienced this myself with the WorldCyberGames when the number of players seriously contending certain games in the UK was in the dozens.
You and the Scene Quake Francaise
First of all, and most uber important: la moule ?
La Moule indeed. And the Fromage.
How would you qualify your relationship with French clans, in general?
I always had sympathy for French players as the internet connections to the UK, or indeed other European nations, were never the best, especially as French internet itself was developing at the start of this century. Their enthusiasm for the game was clear though, they had a lot of passion, and a willingness to help out with the leagues also. I always thought France was one of the most talented Quake 3 nations and over later years they proved that to be the case as their internet connections reached a level of parity with the rest of the continent.
Will you remember some French clans and players particularly? (feel free to either praise or trash some;)
Well of course SARL are the most famous French clan ever. AAA were probably the most talented. But there are many others who were big parts of the scene, at all levels. Too many to mention.
From your long experience with us, summarize the typical French player:
Passionate, lucky and normally played the game with a bit of gallic flair.
kthxbye cya m8
Thanks for everything during those precious and fun years, Biff. Hope you’ll enjoy whatever comes next my friend!
Moi, je l’aime ce Biff.
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ayé, ozh il renewse, il va bientot se remettre à coder le site et tout !
Nice interview ffs good job !
Par contre « Plus de 17 années consécutives de compétition Quake3″
Pas mal pour un jeu sorti en 99 \o/
Thanks bigfoot \o/
Qu’est-ce que la baise homme ? :D
Quel anglais incroyable Ozh !
Nice interview, a nostalgic accent floats through all of this :)
superbe interview !
ca fait plaisir !
Mon cul sur la commode tomboss de merde, t’as du faire 0 league BW ou jolt.
Et pE et RaWR! Zerg de merde ? C’était Jolt « new generation » ok, mais jolt quand-même (et biffie faisait les reviews chaque semaine aussi).
donc fu k thx bye.
on attendait tous une interview de hehe² ton thread perd toute crédibilité
nice
Thanks Bigfoot.
17 années ?!?
« Well of course SARL are the most famous French clan ever. »
Tu l’as payé combien pour qu’il dise ça ???
nice itw :D
J’aime toujours ton ton « décalé » Ozh.
c’est toi le neveu?
heureusement (pour lui) non :p
nice good
gg grospied et merci
Que celui qui n’a pas survolé les longs compte-rendus de bigfoot à la recherche de son nom me jette la première pierre !
@tb : newfag !
coupable.
Aussi coupable :o)
Mais il faut dire qu’il savait flatter les égos (et reconnaitre les talents).
Comme quoi yen a quand même qui ont apprécié ma façon de jouer (p-ê aussi qu’il n’avait pas à subir mon whine… Quoi que je whinais 10x moins durant les vrais matchs qu’en pickup…)
Quelques extraits piochés par-ci par-là :
« Bigfoot’s Key Man: Co1nCo1n »
« Player of the week : St_clan Co1nCo1n Cruised through the game in fine style.«
« both teams being stretched by the attackers with Co1nCo1n doing exceptionally well to hold onto the flag under pressure before scoring »
« PROST did at least create a bit more on this map but they lacked the cutting edge st_clan possessed and also the defensive presence of a player like Co1nCo1n.«
« they’ll need all their big names to be at the top of their game in order to make an impact in Division 2 with the likes of MadMarc and Co1nCo1n having to produce on a weekly basis if it isn’t to be a disappointing season. »
Et là j’ai décidé d’arrêter de play…
« things have not improved for the French team since as they look set to lose Co1nCo1n, a key man for this clan, to inactivity. «
« The loss of Co1nCo1n is a mortal strike to their hearts which will only be recovered from if they can draft in some high quality new blood soon, »
Putain, tu dois etre le seul pélo au monde à avoir compiler des extraits des comptes rendu de bigfoot citant ton nom.
nice itw ^^
Zerg, j’ai juste regardé qqs reviews ça m’a pris 5 min :-)
Tu veux que je te fasse une compile de tes exploits ? ça me prendra que 30 secondes :)
J’ai ri !
On te croira pas Coincoin, tout le monde connait ton fameux « myepic-q3.txt » qui traine sur ton bureau.
Et puis ne t’embête pas à chercher pour Zerg, inutile de lister les exploits barry/jolt d’un triple champion d’Europe CTF. Ce serait une insulte plus qu’autre chose.
PS : Je pense cependant que certains lecteurs de FFF ont du loupé le moment où Zerg a enculé un lièvre lors de ton triplé.
j’avoue gg, meilleur joueur de la semaine dans une division 3, c’est tout un palmares :)
coincoin, tu m’as fait rever.
C’est malin ds, maintenant tu seras quoté dans son prochain blabla ^^
Coincoin tu me fais mal au coeur. J’ai mal pour toi.
Tu ne trouverai rien sur moi CoinCoin, j’ai quasiment pas fait de jolt. Moi c’était BW!
Ozh, t’es un sacré saligaud d’avoir transformé une partie de l’interview…
Je viens de recevoir ce mail de Bigfoot :
« Dear KaG,
I’m so sorry about the interview on Sarl.
Ozh is so lame…
When he wrote « Well of course SARL are the most famous French clan ever. « , of course, there is no doubt that my real answer was « Well of course DX are the most famous and the best French clan ever. «
Warm regards »
Voilà, la vérité est rétablie… Je vais pouvoir bien dormir :p
ozh qui prend tout le crédit alors que si je t’avais pas signalé la chose et suggérer une news t’aurais rien remarqué :)
‘culé
Nice itw btw !
Mais oui ArMa on sait tout est grace a toi, t’es notre idole, merci de le souligner.
PS: Yoooo kag !!
J’avais le level div2… Et j’pouvais faire partie d’un clan div1 en jouant la 6eme roue du carrosse (donc en ne jouant pas :o)
mat, j’espère que tu souffres pas trop, car j’aime pas les gens qui souffrent… surtout si c’est de ma faute :’( »’
Bigfoot thank you for your dedication during all these years! Thank you for BW (such great memories of those blessed days!), to jolt thank you, thank you for your reports, the time that you spent; our community is indebted to you and your team for these great moments of joy.
You have marked the history of this game we played with passion and fun, then yes, you did a great job until the end and you even made a little more than a great job. This « little more » which make us smile when we remember you. I just regret to never being able to share a pint of beer with you during our quaker’s rendez-vous in Paris. :)
Je te souhaite sincérement bonne chance pour ta nouvelle vie bf, et merci encore !
C’etait fun l’epoque pE qd meme.
Et puis « reach a ping in adequation with the continent » mon cul ouai, jamais pu jouer avec moins de 105ms avant q4
Ca s’arrête a la saison 20 l’history des reviews coincoin …. dommage :/
C’était bien fnu la bw cpm league avec 200 de ping.
bon pi pour ceux qui captent pas l’anglais a part « Secure Middle » ou autre joyeuserie de ce genre … ba qu’ils aillent voir ailleur. Dommage ca a l’air interessant et instructif comme interview.
Bise all
Ceux qui captent rien à l’Anglais ils doivent en avoir un peu rien à foutre d’une itw d’un gars qui faisait des review en Anglais =)
Il me semble que tu as déjà fait cette reflexion Me7al. Tu aurais peut-être du te mettre à l’anglais entre temps ? D’autant plus à l’heure d’internet, ce ne sera pas du temps de perdu. Si tu as eu la malchance d’apprendre l’allemand et/ou le latin en classe, ce qui à part nourrir le mythe scolaire des langues des bonnes classes et faire plaisir à papa et maman ne sert à rien dans 95% des cas à part pourrir sa moyenne sache que je compatis.
je suis un peu comme me7al. Etant collé a la frontière Allemande, l’Anglais n’était pas appris a l’école (au temps ou j’y étais), et c’était donc Allemand ou rien. Il aurait juste été intéressant de comprendre en quoi ce bf a eu de l’importance dans l’existance de cette ligue, ou des ligues en général. Mais rien de grave. Vos commentaires montrent bien la tristesse que vous ressentez à la disparition de cette BarryJolt. J’espère juste que cela ne sonnera pas le fin des compétitions en CTF, vu le niveau de la Sarl.
Etant collé a la frontière Allemande, l’Anglais n’était pas appris a l’école (au temps ou j’y étais),
Tu étais à l’école durant l’occupation ??? o_O
zavez pas un mouchoir ? zallez me faire pleurer …
… y a LV1 et LV2 dans tout bon collège/lycée qui ne se trouve pas en rase campagne … (perso j’ai fait allemand / anglais, ca passe tranquille !)
Pis meme strenx il arrive a mettre 2 mots d’anglais à la suite alors qu’il sait pas mettre un casque dans le bon sens (et/ou qui ne le remarque pas), ca doit etre à votre portée je pense :)
Lol, je crois pas avoir une tronche a apprendre le latin.
Ceci dit l’anglais scolaire remonte a un baille now.
Tandis que le réapprendre entre temps bas … pas que ç
a a foutre, je suis pas toute la journée a la maison moi monsieur :p
Nice coincoin, ta blague m’a bien fait marrer:)
loul @ 19 :)
\o/ for teh biffy !
me7al a pas tort….
une star a dis un jour
» On est en france ici !! alors les questions sont en francais, merci !! pas d’autre questions ? merci au revoir ! «
il est barbue et bidon a Quake 3
ps: non ce n’est pas Tomboss
ch4b4L !
http://www.team-aaa.com/news/comment.php?news_id=12743&offset=1
Arrête strenx, c’est vraiment surjoué …
Des commentaires épiques.
I WAS THERE
Vous essayez de remettre en cause l’idée que se font des gamins qui jouent à cs sur un site cs au sujet d’un autre gamin qui s’appelle Kévin, qui a gagné un truc en Suède, qui joue à cs dans une news dont il est le héros. Faites plutôt comme moi, devenez aigris, ca vous fera perdre moins de temps.
on essaie mais bon tu as 3-4 ans d’avance sur nous :|
they were a hard team to beat, and the addition of CTF Legend Ozh should strengthen their skills
« CTF Legend », ouais. Alors BUT AHAH COINCOIN AVEC TES HIGHLIGHTS A DEUX BALLES!
see you later bf.
by and Thanks for all time past in quake league
quake is gone.
thx bf for the long and good job.
quake 3 is eternal, long life Q3.
salut à zion
Cette interview m’a rappelé de très bon souvenirs avec la scène UK à l’époque de Q2 et au début de Q3, grâce au boulot de gens comme Bigfoot ou Slave, qui ont toujours bien accueilli les français dans leurs leagues.
Merci à lui pour tout le boulot qu’il a fait.