Challenge:
Home
News Archive
Forums
CPMA
Maps
Smackdown2
People
Coverage
Features
Interviews
Links
Help Wanted
Powered by:
Columns:
Jjonez 24 Jan
Hoony 10 Dec
Khaile 28 Apr
PhaNToM 20 Oct
dethkultur 14 Sep
CHiNX 20 Aug
Mr.CleaN 24 Jun
twoAM 23 Aug
Wiebo de Wit 08 Aug
RooS 31 Jul
jude 19 Jun
Hosted
3.A.C
Interfaced
QWF
Affiliates:
Cached
Methos
Killer Instincts
Challenge.World.People
Thursday, 12 April 2001 -
Hello, my name is Ard Righ comment
My life is rather boring. You don't want to know. Seriously ;o) Skip down to the gaming parts :oP
Those people that have known me since I started in the online world back in '96 know me as Dagan (my true RL first name). If anyone asks me for my name, I always say simply Dagan.
I live in the Hutt Valley, on the northern edge of Wellington Harbour, in the Wellington region of New Zealand (ok, find the atlas, find NZ, spot the bottom of the North Island, that spot that says "Wellington", and put your finger on the northern edge of the harbour. That's where the Hutt Valley is ;o))
I've had rather mundane jobs, having spent most of my life so far studying (hey, I'm only 21 over here HELLO!!), working in a supermarket (woohoo checkout chicks!! ;oD), and now moving to work at our new 'caketin' stadium (it's only small, about 35,000 people), and a friend's shop in the Wellington CBD.
My various forms of nicknames in the early days, were basically, "Dagan", and later on, "DaganSg", which is short for Dagan Sgiath, my online alter-ego.
In the last year, my older brother started getting into Action Quake (ok, don't hassle my bro, or I'll get canine on your arse!), Ard Choille. Being the good brother that I am (yeah right ;o)), I changed my nick to Ard Righ (like a family clan tag deal).
Anyone with a book on Scotland, or Gaelic could probably translate that. Ard Choille basically means "High Wood", 'cause my brother is - huge- (6'4", weighs over 100Kg), and my nick translates roughly to "High Lord".
My system is a P2-400, 128MB SD-RAM, MX300 (A3D Owns J00!), CL TNT (need to upgrade. Anyone got freebie GeForces ? ;oP), 2 IBM HDDs at 10GB each, Logitech USB Wheelmouse, Logitech NewTouch compact keyboard, Win98 blah blah... oh, and a shite 15" monitor made by Viewsonic (shite 'cause I need a bigger one). All put together by a local computer company Quay, (p1mpage!), where a group of local gamers work.
The games I have on here currently include Tribes, X-Wing, X-Wing Alliance, UT, and Quake 2 (for playing OSP Tourney Instagib games in Q2). I have Q1 here, but I never play it enough. I also have Dark Forces, Descent 1, 2, and 3, though I haven't played them much lately.
For my playing config, basic mouse and keyboard. Left hand sits on the asdf keys, rather than standard wasd config (easier on any RSI you might start feeling people!!!!). Most of my weapon quick keys for gaming are around the asdf keys. Space for jumping.
My right mouse button in Tribes is for jetpacking. In Q2 instagib, it's for the hook. In Q2 DM I had it to "use rocket launcher" or something. Left button is fire. Obviously ;o)
I became a writer on Challenge.NZ 'cause I was sending them news. I saw it when it first popped up. I sent in a number of news updates, got talking to Cinclant, and it went on from there.
The sort of stuff I like to write about is, umm, my personal opinions on whatever catches my attention :o) Seriously, I don't write much, finding news. My column is my current pet writing space.
Stuff I like to read about is whatever I can be interested in at the time. I'm rather strange in that I'll read some of the weirdest links. I also have a strange sense of humour, which a lot of people don't get :o)
When not on my computer, I relax by.. ..Sleep. It's the only true way to relax.
Seriously, if I feel like life is caving in around me, I'll go crash out somewhere for a while. If I can't sleep, I'll go for a walk somewhere I can be bothered walking, and see what money I can spend :o)
Umm, I can't really tell you what the Quake scene is like in my country, I'm not really a Quaker in any major way. My only claim to Quake fame is playing Q2 Instagib and winning a level or two.
You'd have to ask someone else about the local Quake scene ;o)
Some "noteworthy events, people/ clans and places" that come to mind include, I was on Case's Descent 1 ladder, playing over Kali, made it up to #23 or so, and then my ISP's international pings made ladder matches worthless :o(
That was my major start in online gaming. Kali still rocks. Jay Cotton is the Grand Father of Online Gaming as far as I am concerned, no question. John Carmack is a wannabe ;o) Kali.
Locally, I got into playing Tribes, and got into the Wellington clan Malkavians [Malks]. After playing in a NZ Tribes competition with them, which never finished (hell, [Malks] would have won it anyway!), a few personal differences, and I was no longer a [Malks] member.
I freelanced for a bit, then joined the Wellington Q2 clan, The Creation where I am currently.
I'm also involved with The Rebel Squadrons, where I command the Academy section. The Academy is where all the new RS member go through, so it's a special job to have. I have the rank of "Commander" in the RS, which is about half-way up the ladder towards Admiral :o)
I also frequented The Faultline, and Capital Talk a lot. I haven't posted there much lately.
I go to the monthly Wellington lan The Hub, where I am a member, (got a T with my name on it woohoo!)
Personally, I think [Malks] are probably one of the most underated Tribes clans I've seen play. And that's not personal bias.
I've seen most of the local clans play, and the only other clan in their class, is MX3 (a mixture of Aussies and Kiwis I believe). The last Malks vs MX3 game I know of was a draw over 3 maps.
People who don't follow Tribes locally wouldn't have the faintest idea who those two clans are ;o)
Also, my Q2 clan, TC->, have some of the best Q2ers in the country, TC->Bent, TC->Mr Melon etc. Other locals, Sarge, a few people in clan KzN, and the almighty Goose_ of Paradise.net.nz, whose probably the most respected gamer in the country (he has the beastiest rig I know of too!!)
I could name a number of other people, but the ones above I have played a lot, and they rock ;o) If I missed anyone, too bad :oP
I play Tribes a -lot-. I play UT 'cause it's sekC™ ;o) I play Descent 1, 2, and 3. Dark Forces for that old-time fix. I don't really have time for any other FPS games now :o)
X-Wing and X-Wing Alliance (for that SW fix). I used to play War2 on my old P-75, but it's too fast on this P2 now (anyone know how to - slow down- a computer ? ROFL!).
There aren't too many comps around locally. Bloodrain is the major Quaking one. But I've never played in it. The NZTWT comp for Tribes fell through, but [Malks] was unbeaten in any games in that (about 4 or 5).
And Case's D1 ladder, where I got #23.
I like Tribes 'cause of the open-air nature, and the teamplay of it. I tried TF, didn't like that (bad experience in my first few games).
Teamplay games are my current favourite, because you don't have all the hero-types controlling a game by themselves.
My favourite maps and weapons are umm, in Q2 Instagib, with the railgun, the maps Destruct, Q2DM2 (Tokays Towers), and Q2DM5 (I think). In Tribes, Iceridge, 'cause I get lots of snipes. Desert of Death, 'cause most people can't duel like me :oP Rollercoaster 'cause it's fast (unless you're being base-raped). Also the DM map KingUnderTheHill, for showing the bases Tribes can really have. Oh, and the hidden base in the DM map Sandstorm.
My favourite mods for Q2, OSP Tourney Instagib. I play base Tribes CTF, there aren't any Tribes mod servers locally.
There are a lot of people who are trying to get things working in NZ, but don't get much funding support to make things happen.
People like Valhallen, the Wellington Legend, who set about organising a 500 people odd NZ lan, AGN, which fell through. It would have been the best thing the country had ever seen, if the support had been there (which ReBirth seems to have gotten now).
There are a lot of gamers I respect for their skill, but I won't list any of them, as they might get big heads :oP
To hear more from Ard Righ, be sure to visit Challenge.NZ.
Asked who he would like to see profiled next, Ard Righ said that first, we would like to hear about Earthworm Jim from CH-IE, "'cause I don't hear much about the IE scene :o(". Second, JudgeDredd from CH-BR, "'cause I want to know how he manages to organise any tourneys in Brazil, being such a large country (with some ancient phone systems too I believe). That's gotta be something to read about IMO ;oD", and third, Zombie from CH-RU, "because I don't know much about Russian gaming either :o(".
Back to Challenge.World People
Back to Challenge.World.