For us the combination of WoW and WC3, then later LoL, are what ruined the thriving LAN centre scene across Ireland. There were 12 or so actual GAMETHEWORLD centres, then other wee franchised ones. WoW especially just didn't lend itself to LAN gaming, absolutely sucked the life out of the centres.

The issue that was noted at larger LANs I used to go to was that matches of DotA could lock in around 12 people for around 45m per game which would make getting participants for other games more difficult. There would be constantly running CS/UT servers where people would drop into to kill time, but trying to get a large game running or something like battlefield required advance planning

You sound like me. I disliked CS because of how slow and campy it was compared to Quake and we always had this banter in my friend group about Quake vs CS vs Unreal Tournament and which game requires more skill. I ended up playing for one of the best clans in Sweden and competed for a few years until Q3 eventually died.

I did try playing CS more serious for some time but I just couldn't stand it and I never had the patience. Got to respect that.

Quake requires more skill btw.

> Quake requires more skill btw.

+10

I still get a buzz watching the old Q2 / Q3 frag videos.

I was never that good, but have scored a handful of ridiculous flick rails over the time. I think Rocket Arena 3 was peak for me. I'm nearly 20 years out of practice now though. Feels like I'm getting closer to picking up some light hardcore PC gaming again though ;)

My niece is looking forward to having a crack at Portal 2 in the near future (yes, it's old, but it came up somehow or other recently, and she knows it from memes), so I'm aiming to enjoy that together. Gotta refresh myself through Portal 1 first.

Playing Q3:RA3 felt like being dropped into a world full of crackheads with rail guns and telepathy. I still don't know if they were cheating or insanely talented.

Yep, brings a nostalgic tear to my eye.

You get to know the areas of the map from which you can see the most and are exposed to the least, and move along those lines as much as possible.

RA3 is where I started my interests in first-person shooters. My family and someo of their friends had a clan, and they would hold LAN parties, playing matches against other clans. Sometimes I was allowed to play a bit, and got instantly hooked.

When I got my first personal computer, I stated playing RA3 a ton–and Unreal Tournament on the side. Later on it became Quake 3 OSP/CPMA (as well as Freeze Tag and InstaGib) and Quake Live Clan Arena, but never really competitively.

At the same time I also discovered CS 1.6. It was sort of a relaxation from all the fast-paced fragging for me. I liked the slower pace and different skill it required. I eventually joined some tournaments and started playing more competitively, hooking up with people in IRC.

I try to seek out games every now and then, but unfortunately there's less and less communities around Q3 and the likes, so it's becoming increasingly harder to find fun matches.

CS requires more skill considering just mechanical and movement skills... let alone everything else ;)

Competitive Quake is to CS, like bowling is to basketball btw

This is a silly take. You're comparing apples and oranges.

Agreed. The only thing more technically challenging than Q3 was its aptly named Challenge ProMode (CPM) mod which added thing like full air control to make gameplay even faster. Watching demos of the best CPM players I had the feeling that they were playing the game faster than I was able to follow it.

i used to think that too coming from quake i was like wtf if i die i have to just wait? lol. but i've grown to love all the tactical skill required in CS. tbf back in the day you could bunny hope like a quake player before they neutered all that