Interview with stermy

Alessandro "stermy" Avallone has been around for quite some years now and has proven to be an established player. To name just a few of Alessandro’s achievements; 2nd at the Electronic Sports World Cup in 2004, 3rd at the CPL WT Grand final NY in 2005 and 3rd at the World Cyber Games 1v1 in 2006. He’s the ideal person to chat about Quake LIVE, the newest game in the Quake series.


Alessandro, your list of achievements seems endless but which achievement do you consider most important or most memorable?

Hey there, thanks for the interview.

I don`t really have a most memorable achievement, each one was special in a different way.  The most important ones I`d say were my 1st place at WCG Italy qualifier, 2nd place at ESWC 2004, 3rd place at CPL finals , 1st place at WSVG Lanwar and 2nd place at the Championship Gaming Series World Final.

The WCG Italy Qualifier was my first big event in my career. I practiced really hard for it because I wanted to show I was the best in Italy and I managed to win the event and represent my country at WCG when I was only 15. My family was there as well to support me and my friends for my former team TuLLs.

The 2nd place at ESWC 2004 was probably the most important one because it was the event that started my career as a professional player. For the first time I had the chance to attend a bootcamp outside Italy with great players and prepare myself for the event in the best way possible. I managed to play a solid game, beat Fatal1ty in the semifinal and place top 2 in the most important tournament at that time. 

3rd Place at CPL Finals has to be in the list because it was the event we all prepared for in 2005, after traveling and competing for over a year in so many different countries and with really strong players competing in it. It also represented the end of Painkiller and the CPL itself, but the memories, the players, and the competition was probably the best I have ever had in my career.

My 1st place at WSVG Lanwar represents myself as a professional gamer. The attitude, the will of practicing to keep myself up there and the skill of switching games. After the CPL finals that was in November 2005, I decided to start playing quake4 but I was beyond alot of players when I started in January. Players who have already competed in CPL Winter 2005 and players who kept playing Quake 3 when tournaments used Painkiller. I had to put down a great amount of time, practice and a lot of sacrifices to get ready for the first WSVG event. But I picked up the game really fast and managed to win my first Quake 4 event.

The CGS World finals has to be in the list. After being openly attacked from media because of being picked in the team instead of “real” fifa players, I managed to show everybody that I can compete in other non-fps games as well. As a matter of fact, I wonder why those journalist who wrote/knew so many things about me when I got drafted in 2008, didn`t write a single word about that the year after.

It was a personal win.

We had a great team. All the people who were part of the San Francisco Optx put so much work into that competition to get to the finals. All the sacrifices and the problems we had and solved was a great experience and lessons for our life and gaming career.

I personally enjoyed the CGS and I will always miss the group of people we had during that time. It was amazing.


You have played quite a few games already. Which one do you consider most fun?

Painkiller and Quake 4 were great for the competition. However, they weren't as fun as Quake 3/Quake Live. These games just offer so many different mode types and the community is wider, much more competition. TDM, CTF, and Clan Arena are a big part of my judgment, because even if I love playing 1v1s, I believe it's a lot of fun to compete with friends in team games and have a big community that follows the game.


Can you still enjoy gaming or has it become more like a job to you?

I still enjoy gaming a lot, especially when I have to practice and prepare for one event. Probably because I'm a really competitive guy..It gives me so much motivation and tons of things to study and look forward to.


Until now every game you’ve played has been a success. Do you feel Quake Live will be a sequel to your success?

I believe I can do really good in Quake Live as well, yeah.


Quake III Arena and Quake LIVE look very much the same. Yet, there are some pronounced differences between the two games. What is the most remarkable difference between Quake III Arena and Quake Live for you?

Beside some maps, I would probably say that the gameplay/weapon balancing is a bit different and it takes time to get used to it, especially if you played CPMA before switching to QL. But the games are really similar.


What is, in your opinion, the most important advantage Quake LIVE has to offer in comparison to other FPS games?

The possibility of playing the game for free, in a web browser, on a low-medium spec system, with a huge community , etc. Stats and personal pages with awards, which make the game fun for every level of player and a growing community that we probably have never seen in years.


Enemy Territory, for instance, did not have many competitions with cash prizes. This was mostly because it was a free game, and did not get much support. Do you think Quake Live will get the necessary support to make it interesting for professional gamers? 

I think ET was a fun game, but its main problem at big competition was Counterstrike. Same goes for Call of Duty. Counterstrike has been used in big competitions for years and it`s THE “team” game that will be hard to replace. No one has ever tried to take the shot beside a few tournaments in the past. I personally don’t really see Quake Live not being used just because it`s free. I believe Quake Live will get tons of support, ID software is spending a lot of effort in it and I also believe it`s also a test for something bigger in the future. If Quake Live will be the 1v1 game, I am sure tournaments will use it and the game will be ready for it.


What would happen, do you think, if Quake LIVE can not become the next competitive, fast first person shooter? 

We`ll definitely have a problem. Right now we don`t really have a good 1v1 game with so much potential beside Quake live... So if it won`t make it big, then you will probably see me playing as the lead singer of a guitar hero band or something, (-_- lol ).


Do you want to see the old Quake III maps again in Quake Live or do you want some renewal?

New maps, for sure!


In the ideal world, the Quake LIVE matchmaking system should allow you to play games against people of your own skill. Do you think this system will work and more importantly do you think it will contribute to the success of Quake Live?

Right now I believe it doesn’t work as good as it should be.

Let`s say player A and B started playing QL not long ago, they can both join a duel server and have fun playing without getting destroyed. That works.

However, these players soon enough will reach higher ranks but still not have enough experience/skill to compete versus the big guys and just get demolished.

There should be better separation between the “competitive” players and the ones who are just trying to have fun, maybe adding some more skill tiers or even a different matchmaking system.

As it is right now, a player who just started playing the game can already find himself to play on a duel server versus a pro after only few weeks, without wanting to.


If you could change or add one thing to Quake LIVE, what would that be?

I like Quake Live right now already. I would add all the OSP/CPMA features for players like better in-game stats, GTV, coach slot and so forth. I would add things on the website that gives the possibility for teams to create their own page, adding players, stats for their clanwars and all these little things that will DEFINITELY help the game grow and the community.


Could you give an advice for all new players to Quake who still have to learn everything? 

I would suggest to learn the game step by step. My advice would be to start learning the basics and the gameplay first, so you have an idea of what to do and what`s going on in the game. When that`s done, then you have to skill up. Find the right equipment (mouse,keyboard,mousepad etc) that fits you better and then work on your game settings. Find the perfect balance that works well for you.

I would suggest to play a lot of Clan Arena and Team Death Match at first to increase your skill, learn weapons balance and situations. Tactic will come along and perfect timing has to be one of the last things to practice. Your mind has to be focused on the game and on you at first.


Thanks for your time Alessandro, any shout outs?

Thanks for the interview as well. Big thanks to all the people who have been supporting me. If you have any questions, just visit www.stermy.com. I always answer every message as soon as possible, I made that website for that reason. Ciao!