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PnF : MPQ Closed
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As youve probably read on Multiplayer Quake, Ive closed the site. If you didnt know then go over there first and then come back and read this.
For my last update at MPQ I thought Id keep it simple-ish. Here though Im going to explain a little more in-depth my motives behind my decision such that if you feel like questioning me on it, then your answer will most likely be here.
Reasons
There are basically three main reasons. The first is that I do have a job now and cant hope to do 3 proper sites at once. I therefore felt MPQ had had its time and was for the axe.
The second reason is the most important one. At the end of the day it comes down to what I get out of doing the site. Its selfish but its honest. What I get is the enjoyment of doing the reviews and playing the maps. So when you dont enjoy doing so anymore, its probably a good time to stop. In recent weeks it has had become more like a chore than a fun thing to do.
There was an email I wrote to Alc over at Bighouse. He asked for some advice and here is part of what I said:
One thing I must say though, is that you shouldn't be doing it for the hits. I do it because I love playing Quake maps. Which is why at times I don't update because I lose my interest in playing. If you do it because you like it then you'll be doing it for a long while.
That got me thinking, I thought I'm not really interested in doing this anymore. I do enjoy reviewing but it had become very repetitive. When an email came in I could tell from the authors name whether or not the map was good. Read ROCKETMAN. Here are a couple of examples. The last update has maps from Qurnel and Big_Foot. Now when I got the emails in for them I knew that Qurnels map would be half decent and that Big_Foots would be a little bit dodgy, thats before I even download the maps. Basically its the same people sending in maps. What I need is a fresh start and new challenges elsewhere. It had become depressing and I was seeing more rubbish than good maps.
The third reason is I need a break! I like you, enjoy playing computer games. Ive just not been able though to keep up and play all the new games that have come out. So in the break I have until Daikatana arrives Ill be doing that.
What about the other things I do? Well Inspection, the Quake DM LOTW and this column take relatively little time to do. An afternoon or two tops. MPQ on the other hand took bloody ages because I could not find the enthusiasm and motivation to play the maps in order to review them.
Rocketman
A rant on MPQ would not be complete without a mention of him. I could not fucking believe that he has now go hosting at PlanetQuake. What the hell is going on? He has been the bane of my time at MPQ. Id happily have some good maps to review then I get a blasted email from hm. Weve reviewed over 20 of his maps at MPQ! 20+ shitty maps. It really pisses me off that I see little sign of improvement. There was a glimmer of hope with Medication Time, but unfortunately he then went and repeated the same theme in his next lot of maps. Will he ever learn? Just once make a good map! PLEASE!!!
Institutional Decay
Some people see MPQ as an institution for Quake maps. I dont see it that way. I see it as a site, which was irregularly updated with half assed reviews on mostly bad maps. Thats true of the site through its entire history of running. I also think the Quake community doesnt need or deserve the site anymore. Need because people are really only interested in good maps and coverage is sufficiently good enough to mean that by the time I get around to reviewing them youve most likely already got them. Deserve because some people are down right rude bastards and dont respect what they have
Attitudes
The custom map scene is a rather eclectic thing. You want sites to review the maps that appear and promote them. When you do that, people say Stop doing the crap stuff, I dont want to see that. Thats life! There is always going to crap stuff. Id love to see the world some of you people live in, it must have fucking pansy assed fairies in pink tutus and chocolate covered trees and houses.
Anyway, if I had done that, you would not have seen authors develop from making average poop to really good stuff. An example of that is Pingu, the first map I saw from him was Atlantis, which wasnt that good a map. Now he has job as a mapper and has made some brilliant maps. Classics infact.
The thing is when I did actually review bad maps I got shit for panning them and ripping them to shreds. If the reviews werent funny people wouldnt read them! MPQ was a public site with content, which anyone can read. If an author wanted a personal review of his map then he has frankly come to the wrong place. MPQ was not an authors clinic for advice and help. If people arent going to read the reviews then there is not much point in writing the review in the first place, after all, people dont download these bad maps so I might as well write something funny about them. Cranky Steves site is entirely about that one thing, slagging off shit.
Basically you cant win.
Its also most likely I got a little too involved in other peoples opinions. Taking a step back from all the vomittal (thats not a word, but you get what I mean) bullshit may help to sort things out. At times I got really pissed off at people comments.
The Zan situation
Ive never known someone who did so little to piss off so many people. Once normal and sane people turn into ranting idiots. I think the majority of it can be put on his young age of 14, but some of what he has done has been truly annoying and I cannot believe he didnt do it without some ulterior motive to piss people off.
Anyway, for some reason Rush bugged the fuck out of me until I gave in and let him do reviews. Why I did I dont know. Having Zan associated with MPQ was a bad idea. One that is, fortunately, short lived. I do however apologise to Zan for pissing him about, I wasnt totally honest and upfront with him on it all.
Why now?
Hehe. Why not? Now seems as good a time as any. Its kind of like when your favourite TV program is stopped at the peak of its popularity. Thats not quite the case here, but Id rather stop now than watch the site die. I was rapidly losing interest in doing it so there was not much point in continuing.
Why not handover the site over to someone else?
I thought about that and decided not to. I think its only by luck that the site continued for such a time. Just over a year ago Taskmaster handed the site over to Smash. Xori then dropped in and redesigned it all. By pure luck Smash wanted a Quake reviewer, I put my name forward and got in. Not long after that Smash left because hed started school and didnt have any time to run the site. Xori was so completely pissed about the whole situation he left. I was then left up shit creek without a paddle.
I took on the challenge and carried things on. I made some bad calls and decisions, which at the time I was not to know what the consequences would be. Hindsight is a wonderful thing
Lessons learned?
Loads of stuff. Things that will help me get things right first time at MPD. The hardest thing of all is getting in reliable people. People you can trust. That is damn hard to do over the Internet. You have to take a person at their word. Unfortunately I screwed that up twice.
The most important thing of all is organisation. Keeping things in order makes running the site is a piece of piss.
Did you actually enjoy it?
Of course I did. For all my bitching and moaning if I hadnt have enjoyed it I would not have done it for a year or so. What I enjoyed the most was when Id get in an email for a map and I really wasnt expecting much, to then be surprised and see that it was actually damn good. Ill miss that part of it.
The important bit
Maybe, and Im not sure, this will cause some kind of bullshit outburst on the Qboard. If it does then I have this to say. Stop it. The site is closed. I have no interest in handing over control to someone else. My reasoning is fully explained here. I need not answer to anyone on this decision, I do this in my spare time and do not get paid for it. If I want to stop then I will.
The thank yous
I basically covered everyone over at MPQ. But Ill do so again here. Skorpion, Pingu, Aardappel, Peej, Monsto, Fat Controller and Shambler have all been extremely helpful in various ways. Thanks guys!
And finally!
Well Ive still got plenty to keep me occupied. A break away from it all until Daikatana comes out will be good. I also hope to give Inspection a kick up the arse and get a regular flow of reviews going there. Also as Ive mentioned earlier Ive got the LOTW and this column to keep me more than occupied. Fear not Ill still be here to spout verbal diarrhea.
If youre annoyed about what Ive done then thats tough shit. Sorry. If you feel you want to shout at me then go ahead and email me.
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