□ We write the year 2006 – the youth is stuck in cyber worlds and the adults are too blinded to see what’s happening to their next generation. It wouldn’t shock you if I’d say that we spent almost as much, or even more, time behind the computer than we sleep. But would it shock you if I’d say that the death-rates are growing and growing the moment you read this? I’m not talking about the death-rate of traffic-accidents, no. I’m talking about people (teenagers but also adults!) that die ‘cause of dehydration or starvation. People that neglected their friends and family for weeks until even they didn’t know anymore whether their friend/child is doing good or bad. It’s a sad death. Most of them are being found days or weeks after they’ve died. That’s due to neglecting their surrounding as I’ve mentioned before, but also because they didn’t show up anymore at work or at their school. Is that our future? Is this what we call “improvement”?
□ How do I see that I’m addicted? There is no certain way to see if you or someone else is addicted or not. Sometimes you really can’t see the difference between someone that is simply enjoying a game and someone that is being consumed by the game. But there are certain points you can follow to see if someone is addicted.
First of all, addicts, as mentioned before, neglect their surroundings and even their self. Not showing up when having a date, not answering the phone or opening the door while playing or not showering nor shaving. Things that are not that important are being ignored. Simply because they take away precious time which could be spent playing.
Secondly, most of them start to change. Not only their look changes but also their personality. Most of the games that are addictive are games in which you play a different character and see as it grows and improves. The player controls this so-called “avatar”. He’s the personality. You can put those personalities in two categories: “good” and “bad”. A good player usually helps his fellow players and is very nice to everyone. This isn’t that bad (though you’re still addicted and neglect and ignore things, don’t forget that!), but the really bad part is the bad side. The evil player is very rude against other player and tries to annoy them as good as possible. Such a player can easily start to reflect his character into the real world. You can imagine what kind of impact such a change would have on some ones social-life. Still, don’t be too fast with your conclusion. As I’ve said, there’s just a small gap between fun and serious problems within this topic.
□ What can I do against it? The amount of places where you can go to for help is growing by the day. There have been opened “hospitals” in China (and probably somewhere else too) that are specialized in game-addiction. But you can most probably also go to a psychologist to talk about your problem ‘cause it’s a problem within your head. You can also talk to your friends about it and ask them if they could keep an eye on you. One thing’s for sure; you need someone to pull you out of that hole.
□ So why are you writing all this? I don’t know for sure why, but I think it’s mainly because I’m scared that this “illness” spreads out. For now, the “illness” has its roots in Asia, but it has the potential to spread out all over Europe and America as well. I’ve been in that hole and it took me too much time to realise that I’m too far in this to get out alone. Together with friends, that played the same game as me, I’ve decided to spend more time outside with friends than playing the game.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad at all to play a game more serious. But just take care and know the limits. It’s all I’m asking for.
Again, take care.
As the first season of the EPS Benelux is quickly approaching its beginning, Nick Reys found it was time for an interesting preview. To give you an insight on what you can expect from the first season.
I entered the scene around winter 2002; like everyone as 'green as grass'. I barely knew a person in the scene. Today, I’ve the fortune to known and meet hundreds of people throughout the wonderful world of e-sports. Electronic sports is without a doubt, a very special community driven by the people’s nature: desire, the hunger for competition.
In the last few years, several initiatives to start up a national competition were announced with big words. Weeks passed and everything went smooth; the community was thrilled to play in the national competition and followed their favorite teams. Week after week, the competition was the glue behind one tight group. But… fairy tales haven’t been written in our world. Call it bad luck or a lack of persistence and motivation to keep things going, but all initiatives had one thing in common, and it comes down to three words: rest in peace.
As the EPS Benelux is walking down the lane, things look good. All the necessary ingredients are there for a successful recipe: a strong background in likes of Turtle Entertainment – owners of ESL – and Wsquared Media – organizers of three Dutch ESWC Qualifiers and one KODE5 Qualifier – guided by Machiel De Klerk and Camille Versteeg (qX, red.). De Klerk is known for his amazing shoutcast capabilities, but recently turned into a psychological master – blame his study. Versteeg became the light in a dark LAN-world without decent tournament-rules. He introduced a new way of tournament guidance. His talents are recognized by Turtle Entertainment, as he will probably work soon for them in Germany. A logical choice for him, a lucrative deal for us. Who dares to say that this isn’t good for our community? If you do, you should be ashamed of yourself. He’ll come back with tons of experience, bringing wealth in our tournaments.
I think we all hope that this becomes one huge success; to become the mainstream competition for Benelux Counter-Strike players. We can’t look in the future, but we can help them in their mission to succeed. If things don’t go the way you planned, stay the supportive guy wherever you can. Only if we all pull at the same cord, we’ll succeed in developing and maintaining a national competition. In this preview, we’ll take a look at the eight participating teams. Divided into three categories, those are the:
Favorites
Logic.MadMouse
tempclan (CNO-Gaming)
Challengers
TEK9
LowLandLions
Dark Horses
EDiT.BenQ
oneway (nuc-stars)
ethereaL
Motivated (DCC-Gaming)
Can you honestly believe that I didn’t have any inspiration to write this preview? I swear it…
CyberNetsOnline (tempclan)
Qualification: Invitation
Class: Favorite
 |
DOUGLE, Daniel (dDd)
VAN ‘T HUL, Jody (Skire)
VAN DOORN, Dave (roachZ)
VAN LEEUWEN, Ferdi (ferrid)
VAN MAURIK, Dennis (muh) |
| |
KUNST, Marc (delor) - team manager |
| IN |
OUT |
| VAN MAURIK, Dennis (muh) |
BOOMEN, Bart (triks) |
CyberNetsOnline’s run for gold succeeded in the summer of 2007, defeating the successful DigitalMind easily at the Dutch WCG 2007 Qualifier in TGS Rotterdam. Many people thought that their first big victory would also be their last. They – the community and the team itself - expected a strong comeback from DigitalMind, but who knew that this team would fell apart after a disastrous ESWC – the dreams of epic clashes between two top notch teams got scattered. This move made the road to fame and fortune wide open… A chance, they took after a very promising performance at the grand finals of the World Cyber Games. A new hero was born, called CyberNetsOnline.
DreamHack Winter 2007 was their next goal; a tournament enabling them to develop themselves even more as the competition featured several international star teams. Looking back to this event; we come to a conclusion that it wasn’t bad, but also far from good. The expected evolution in their team play wasn’t there at all. They played decent but weren’t able to push their boundaries. They got stuck at the same level…
It became really silent, the weeks after. The community started to have doubts about the activity of the team itself. D. Dougle (dDd, red.) was often seen on local LAN’s with some friends and his team mates played now and then some mixes with Logic-players. That was it for CNO in these last months. Now, with the EPS in the waiting line, we see that their status goes from Shooting Blanks to the Eagle’s Cream – if you know what I mean; you got to love the steam community. As B. Boomen (triks, red.) decided to study in Spain for a while; they searched for a suitable replacement in likes of ex-Logic-player D. van Maurik (muh, red.) He is surely one of the greatest players in the Benelux to attract in your team; showing his talents on KODE5 for Logic at that time – he played outstanding. He definitely isn’t a step back for CyberNetsOnline, but is it possible to integrate for him in a group who played for more than six months with the same roster? Time will tell.
At the end, their challengers will have a hard time. Even without practice and the integration of a new player, they are a deadly force to anyone. Logic, LowLandLions, TEK9 and the others are warned.
CNO’s EPS-road:
W1 06/04 – 21:00 vs EDiT.BenQ (de_train
W2 13/04 – 21:00 vs ethereaL (de_inferno)
W3 20/04 – 00:00 vs LowLandLions (de_nuke) – played on The Party 6
W4 27/04 – 21:00 vs DCC (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 20:00 vs oneway (de_nuke)
W6 11/05 – 21:00 vs TEK9 (de_train)
W7 26/05 – 21:00 vs Logic.MadMouse (de_inferno)
Logic.MadMouse
Qualification: Invitation
Category: Favorite
 |
DE WINTER, Bart (cOiL)
DEGGER, Mike (trx)
NIJENHUIS, Tom (tommeh)
PEETERS, Eric (slaYn)
SEESING, Dennis (seezung) |
| |
MOMBERG, Danny (Chasin) - team manager |
| IN |
OUT |
DE WINTER, Bart (cOiL)
PEETERS, Eric (slaYn) |
VAN MAURIK, Dennis (muh)
VAN GINNIKEN, Ralf (rAlf) |
After the line-up of DigitalMind felt into two pieces, R. Gerritsen (r0y, red.) and D. Seesing (seezung, red.), the two leaders of the successful dM-formation went their own ways. Gerritsen stayed in DigitalMind and Seesing tried his luck elsewhere, with his longtime comrades M. Degger (trx, red.) and T. Nijenhuis (tommeh, red.), both known and feared for their insane skills. This trio became the core of Logic, a team that underwent some changes with the coming and going of current CNO-player D. Van Maurik (muh, red.) and ex-lvl-up player R. Van Ginneken (rAlf, red.). Nowadays, they play with two fresh princes – no, not from Bel Air – B. De Winter (cOiL, red.) and E. Peeters (slaYn, red.).
It’s clear that they won’t repeat their superb KODE5-performance soon – where they pushed the legendary SK Sweden to the maximum. The integration of two young players is a way with heights and lows; a continuously learning process. The participation at The Reality was a success for them, beating EDiT with clear scores. The final of the i3D-cup was the opposite as they never had a glimpse at victory; CNO just played too strong for them.
If you would ask the crowd to name one team that could beat CyberNetsOnline, they all would yell: “Logic!” Even in form crisis, people expect up to par performances against LowLandLions and TEK9. A win against the top favorite is additional, but would still be very welcomed by them. Who am I to tell something different? Logic is ready to break out of their cocoon and become a big beautiful butterfly. If that will occur in the EPS; only time knows that answer.
Logic’s EPS-road:
W1 07/04 – 21:00 vs oneway (de_train
W2 14/04 – 21:00 vs DCC (de_inferno)
W3 20/04 – 00:00 vs TEK9 (de_nuke) – being played on The Party 6
W4 27/04 – 21:00 vs ethereaL (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 21:00 vs EDiT.BenQ (de_nuke)
W6 12/05 – 21:00 vs LowLandLions (de_train)
W7 26/05 – 21:00 vs CNO (de_inferno)
TEK9 Networks
Qualification: Invitation
Category: Challenger
 |
VAN HOUDT, Dries (ciseta)
VAN PEER, Dimitri (sFx)
SINGH, Michiel (Flex0r)
STERK, Thomas (hybrid)
WYDOODT, Jules (nookbrid) |
| |
REYS, Nick (vgas) - team manager |
The Counter-Strike troopers of TEK9 Networks are one of the most active teams in the Benelux with three events in two months: OutPost Tryouts, MIAGE 2008 and Ordened Computer Chaos 24. Two victories and one respectable tournament in France is the end result; a good and interesting prospect for the future. The Belgian LAN-events weren’t as hard as MIAGE, but still very interesting to find their weak spots. OutPost Tryouts was one of the hardest Belgian events they have played, but that was basically because of huge pressure on their shoulders to perform for the very first time under the TEK9-brand. The desire for a win and to place your organization in the spotlights can struck you down; even if you know that you are the better one. As team. As player. To recover is a very important task in our daily lives, and also in the world of electronic warfare’s. Not being afraid of changing your set-up and by that, to improve your style at all times is a very important part in leveling your team. Even if they aren’t satisfied with the amount of training hours in the last weeks, they still belong at the top of the rankings in that category, that’s for sure.
MIAGE 2008 meant a higher step at the ladder of trust; putting up some good performances against dimension4 and Millennium but also, making clear that they still have a long way to go after a grief loss against WCG-winners emuLate. This event surely added an extra block in the experience-bar, and that was clearly visible at Ordened Computer Chaos 24. Their only struggle was against herotiC in the grand final on de_dust2 (16:14, red.) – a thorn in the eye for TEK9. When they lost round after round, things didn’t look good. Still, they kept their heads cool and changed the momentum to their side, winning for the first time two occ-events in a row. It’s clear that OCC 24 changes into the TEK9-homebase and that they are able to overcome a loss situation.
It’s very hard to predict where this team will end; even with their invitation next to the two Dutch teams, another Belgian force is on the look-out. LowLandLions, eager to tear them apart and showing that they belong at the top of Belgium. Where CNO and Logic will fight for the gold; TEK9 will probably fight for bronze with the lions. If you know that these teams will face each other in the last match week, things will be intense from start till end.
TEK9’s EPS-road:
W1 06/04 – 21:00 vs ethereaL (de_train)
W2 13/04 – 21:00 vs EDiT.BenQ (de_inferno)
W3 20/04 – 00:00 vs Logic.MadMouse (de_nuke) – being played on The Party 6
W4 28/04 – 21:00 vs oneway (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 20:00 vs DCC (de_nuke)
W6 11/05 – 21:00 vs CNO (de_train)
W7 25/05 – 21:00 vs LowLandLions (de_inferno)
LowLandLions
Qualification: Winner of the EPS Master Cup
Category: Challenger
 |
DE THAEYE, Jannick (duncan)
GERRITSEN, Roy (r0y)
ÖFKELI, Kenneth (Ofkeli)
PINTO, Decio (deci)
WUDDHISUKHIM, Ivan (Apollo) |
| |
LANGEROCK, Filip (dusty) - team manager |
LowLandLions’ birthday is still a long way to go, going live in February 2008. The birth of this Counter-Strike team find its roots in the last line-up of DigitalMind – ooh boy, this name is very popular. After D. Seesing (seezung, red.) and R. Gerritsen (r0y, red.) said goodbye to each other, last one mentioned received a task from his former management to form a new team. Gerritsen took the majority of Defusekids – they played one event under RedCode, but that name wasn’t a very lucrative deal for them – and choose to drop K. Ofkeli so he could take his place. Things didn’t go the way they planned is a polite way to close the historical dM-chapter. KODE5 was mediocre; almost beating Alternate aTTax (14-16, red.) and on the same day almost losing to the Belgian side 4DFX (16-14, red.) A continuously struggle was visible throughout the entire KODE5-tournament and they never recovered. They choose to hang up their mouse for a while… AGAIN!
Two months later, LowLandLions engaged talks with I. Wuddhisukhim (Apollo, red.) to form a new team. Their failed pad of destruction under DigitalMind, offered LowLandLions the possibility to open conversation with Wuddhisukhim. He decided once again to dust off this gear… and to start his search for a suitable line-up. As the bond with his former team mates was still strong; it was rather an easy choice for him to recruit his old friends K. Ofkeli and Gerritsen. The remaining voids were filled in by youngsters J. De Thaeye (duncan, red.) and D. Pinto (decio, red.), back-upped by one of the finest players in the Benelux Y. Bindo (luce, red.). The latter hasn’t played a single match under the L3-brand, but everyone expects to see him again on national tournaments where five Belgians is a requirement.
It’s not hard to understand why this team didn’t receive an invitation. There wasn’t a LowLandLions CS-team when ESL Benelux announced the EPS. Eager to qualify themselves for this league, to represent their brand, they set their hopes on the Master Cup – a cup between two late night cup-winners. At the other corner stood Rodcad Gaming who got totally destroyed at what saw many as one of RCG’s strongest maps, de_dust2 (4-16, red.). If you had a penny to place your bet on RCG on the second map at that moment, you would be rich today. After the first map, many people thought that the second map was a formality. But… Rodcad surprised friend and foe by revenging their lost map and thus winning de_inferno with an amazing 16-9. L3’s playbook got changed. The last map (de_train, red.) was close, exchanging round after round. Only when an RCG-player dropped due to PC-problems, the game was over for Rodcad. Their faith in victory got ‘lost in Tokyo’. LowLandlions took the advantage and shifted into higher gear; securing their entrance for the EPS Benelux. Harder then anyone had ever expected…
It’s still a mystery what this team will bring in the EPS Benelux. If we look forward to a well-oiled team with star players and young skilled rookies; they are able to overpower anyone, even the untouchable CyberNetsOnline. Let’s see if they get their act together on time.
L3’s EPS-road:
W1 06/04 – 21:00 vs DCC (de_train)
W2 13/04 – 21:00 vs oneway (de_inferno)
W3 20/04 – 00:00 vs CNO (de_nuke) – being played on The Party 6
W4 27/04 – 21:00 vs EDiT.BenQ (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 21:00 vs ethereaL (de_nuke)
W6 12/05 – 21:00 vs Logic.MadMouse (de_train)
W7 25/05 – 21:00 vs TEK9 (de_inferno)
EDiT.BenQ
Qualification: First in Amateur Series Ladder
Category: Dark horse
 |
FILE, Andrew (bCx)
FLIPSE, Danny (xabre)
KWARTEN, Wilson (SNOOPEH)
VAN GEMERT, Osmin (sickonE)
WILMS, Jeroen (myxo) |
| |
WARNAAR, Jordi (collapse) - team manager
|
| IN |
OUT |
| WILMS, Jeroen (myxo) |
MAINTZ, Tommy (snakeye) |
What’s in a name? In case of EDiT, we think of classic battles between them and the legendary mySOD. They gave home to some pretty good players, but unluckily they never were able to take away mySOD’s crown. Nowadays, they are far from the shine that the former team carried along their way. EDiT qualified themselves through the ladder; losing and winning against other qualified ladder teams as oneway and DCC.
D. Flipse (xabre, red.) is the center of this team and known by the community for his wars in another era. Who remembers Defusekids against EDiT on prodigy at NWD 2003? Defusekids chose prodigy to surprise Flipse’s team, but that didn’t happen. EDiT won and Flipse played an undeniable role in that match – he’s not from the stone age but the difference is small. A lot has changed in these years, but one thing remained the same for Flipse. He never gives up. It’s a fact that the return of oldschool players is a very bumpy road, but with the announcement of the EPS Benelux; his motivation got only higher. Flanked by his ex-Shadows-friend W. Kwarten (SNOOPEH, red.), his plans to step out of the dark got quickly executed; adding O. Van Gemert (sickonE, red.), A. File (bCx, red.) and the stand-in of Logic at The Reality 6 J. Wilms (myxo, red.), The latter replaced T. Maintz (snakeye, red.) who didn’t had enough time to play as much as his team mates.
If they don’t take things for granted and are willing to train hard, they are able to bring some real shockers in the EPS. Otherwise, the favorites will play with this team like they are the childhood’s puppet.
EDiT’s EPS-road:
W1 07/04 – 21:00 vs CNO (de_train)
W2 13/04 – 21:00 vs TEK9 (de_inferno)
W3 20/04 – 00:00 vs DCC (de_nuke) – being played on The Party 6
W4 27/04 – 21:00 vs LowLandLions (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 20:00 vs Logic.MadMouse (de_nuke)
W6 11/05 – 21:00 vs ethereaL (de_train)
W7 26/05 – 21:00 vs oneway (de_inferno)
ethereaL
Qualification: Second in Amateur Series Ladder
Category: Dark horse
 |
ANGELINI, Lorenzo (Naghokez)
DE DONDER, Matthieu (Hsr)
GUILLEMAERE, Jerome (Xenar)
HAUTIER, Pierrer (OThanatos)
ROBERT, Antione (To) |
| |
None - team manager |
A few friends who wanted to play at a more serious level, that’s the reason for ethereaL’s rebirth. They thought that when they would play under the ethereal-tag, they could attract more serious practical clan wars. Still, fun was and is the most important factor of this group and that’s why ethereaL became a success – EPS-qualification. A good atmosphere between good friends; enjoying to play a bit of Counter-Strike. No pressure, just having fun. What do you want more in life?
As time passed by, they attended the OutPost Tryouts – the OP Tryouts is a one-day event, organized by OutPost where the winner receives 250 euro. It wasn’t a success as they failed to pass the group stage – surely below their capabilities. In the weeks after, they kept playing in order to make a chance at qualification for the EPS Benelux. Everybody likes to play in a good national competition and so does ethereaL. They tried their luck at the ladders and also participated in the late night cups, but weren’t able to reach far in those cups. So, they concentrated themselves more on the ladder. After adispute with Shadows – a dispute that decided qualification or not – they played an deciding war against each other where the Walloons managed to crush Shadows with an amazing 16-6 on de_dust2. A derserved win!
What can we expect from their side? Nothing much, except a few good matches; it’s undeniable that they don’t have the wealth of other teams. For them, it just means a free pass to experience and more fun.
ethereaL’s EPS-road:
W1 06/04 – 21:00 vs TEK9 (de_train)
W2 14/04 – 21:00 vs CNO (de_inferno)
W3 21/04 – 21:00 vs oneway (de_nuke)
W4 27/04 – 21:00 vs Logic.MadMouse (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 20:00 vs LowLandLions (de_nuke)
W6 11/05 – 21:00 vs EDiT.BenQ (de_train)
W7 25/05 – 21:00 vs DCC (de_inferno)
Oneway (nuc-stars)
Qualification: Third in Amateur Series Ladder
Category: Dark horse
 |
BECKERS, Romain (kouby)
E., BRAHIM (Danak)
GODDEERIS, Florian (gReat)
HAUTIER, Pierre (OThanatos)
MARRES, Lionel (aToz) |
| |
None - team manager |
Who would believed that these youngsters could qualify themselves for the EPS? I think nobody! The former nuc-stars team now plays under the oneway-brand for a simple reason: to show that they want to play at a higher level than before. The EPS-qualification is the first step in that process, where they’ll try to end as high as possible. They know that they aren’t the best team in the EPS, but they want to experience the feeling of playing at high stakes. If you really want to perform at your best and you train hard, everything is possible. Dedication is very important when you start a search for a higher level and that must be a sign for other teams to take the wars against these blokes serious.
In the Amateur Series Ladder, they already won against EDiT. You don’t hear my saying that they’ll win every map against the Dutch, but it’s a sign that they are capable off overpowering the better teams on any giving Sunday.
oneway’s EPS-road:
W1 07/04 – 21:00 vs Logic.MadMouse (de_train)
W2 13/04 – 21:00 vs LowLandLions (de_inferno)
W3 21/04 – 21:00 vs ethereaL (de_nuke)
W4 28/04 – 21:00 vs TEK9 (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 20:00 vs CNO (de_nuke)
W6 12/05 – 21:00 vs DCC (de_train)
W7 26/05 – 21:00 vs EDiT.BenQ (de_inferno)
Motivated (DCC Gaming)
Qualification: Fourth in Amateur Series Ladder
Category: Dark horse
 |
BURGER, Finmar (FINMAR)
DECHENE, Steven (dech)
FAKKELDIJ, Martijn (Smartie)
MARLET, Domi (doo)
STEIN, Jorrit (KaasJ)
VERSTEEG, Pascal (Duckie) |
| |
VAN DEN HOEVEN, Kees - team manager |
The former DCC-Gaming Counter-Strike team is now called Motivated. A name that represents their thoughts. Since a few days ago, they have been released from the organization due to an internal dispute about a lack of financial resources. The team itself isn’t happy with this move as they have been playing properly these last months and succeeded in their goal: qualifying for the EPS Benelux.
It all started after KODE5 – they attended that event with a mix – for this team, when they attracted F. Burger (FinM, red.) and S. Dechene (dech, red.). The core of DCC: M. Fakkeldij (Smartie, red.), D. Marlet (doo, red.) and P. Versteeg (duckie, red.) had the wish to play at a more serious level and therefore attracted two new talents. As time passed by and training hours increased, Versteeg wanted to spend more time with his girlfriend. Thus, the five blokes added J. Stein (KaasJ, red.) to their line-up in order to give him more breathing space; making the team rotate on a six-man roster.
Motivated is surely a team who can’t be underestimated as they have a lot of potential and the core already plays for a long time with each other. Combine this with vengeances and you get… a deadly mix. The answer: ‘Watch out!”
DCC’s EPS-road:
W1 07/04 – 21:00 vs LowLandLions (de_train)
W2 14/04 – 21:00 vs Logic.MadMouse (de_inferno)
W3 20/04 – 00:00 vs EDiT.BenQ (de_nuke) – being played on The Party 6
W4 28/04 – 21:00 vs CNO (de_dust2)
W5 04/05 – 20:00 vs TEK9 (de_nuke)
W6 12/05 – 21:00 vs oneway (de_train)
W7 25/05 – 21:00 vs ethereaL (de_inferno)
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