Australian Quake 2 Clan Oxygen

O2: What is the Australian Online Quake Scene? (for the Absolute Newbie)

So you’ve installed Quake 2? You’ve found a program called GameSpy, and you’ve heard all about things called message boards, clans, mods, servers.. What is it all about??
The online quake scene, in its simplest form, is a bunch of people who all like playing the same game against each other (or with each other) over the internet. Multiplayer games started on LAN’s, where people get a bunch of computers in the same room, hook them all up and play against each other. With the introduction of the internet, the online scene is sort of like a LAN, but millions of times bigger. The internet has allowed us to play on games servers against other people across the city, state, country, and hell, even across the other side of the world.

So what are clans?
Clans are really just a group of people who get along well together, frag well together, and share a common interest. For this reason, they decide to form a “group”, or “clan”, give their clan a name, give themselves a tag, and play on the server with that tag – getting their clan name known by others. Clans have “wars”, or “matches” against other clans, to see who has the most skilled players and the best teamwork. Clans usually have a “message board”, or a “forum” – a place where the clan and the rest of the scene can post messages, organise wars, have fun and muck around.

What is a mod?
A mod is a variation to the standard Quake 2 game, where different strategies are involved, different weapons, different maps, and sometimes a totally different game play. Some popular mods include: Capture The Flag (CTF), Rocket Arena 2 (RA2), Instagib, Team Deathmatch (or GX), Lithium and Action.

How do I get into the game?
Well once you’ve installed Quake 2, you need to find yourself a server query program like GameSpy or Server Query. These programs find the servers for you, and you can filter them by connection speed, mod, etc. Find some local servers that give you the best connections that are running the mod you like to play, and away you go! For a list of the servers that O2 members play on, check out the about us page.

Proper Conduct in the Scene

Ok, getting in the game is one challenge over with. You should’ve mastered that by now. But how should you act now? How do you get people to like you? What are the “rules” of playing online? Is there some sort of “quettiquette” (quake ettiquette) that I should know about? The simple answer is YES – unless you want to be an outcast on your first week in.

Well the simple fact about online gaming, is that the majority of people who play these games are teenagers. They seem to range in age from 13-19, but you also find some more mature folks playing. There’s plenty of interest still from people in their 20’s and 30’s. But they are definitely in the minority. These older folk sometimes have to contend with the immaturity and brattish behaviour of their less-worldly counterparts, while the youngens seems to fight amongst themselves, slag each other off, call each other all the names under the sun, but then are happy to get back into the server again to try and prove their dominance.

There are 2 main areas where your behaviour will be judged – in the game, and on the message boards.

In the Game
A couple of simple rules to follow which will ensure you are well respected and well liked by the others in the server:

Learn as much as you can about the game before you jump into the servers. Practice on your own local server, read some websites. The more experienced players get very frustrated by people who just stand there shooting the blaster and falling in the lava. Of course everyone has to start somewhere, but give yourself a chance by watching how others play – spectate them for a while; download some eraser or gladiator bots to your computer to play AGAINST locally; read the “deathmatch 101” guides on places like Planet Quake.

Never, ever use an auto-aim bot (like a ratbot) or a speedbot. They might seem like fun for a while, but there’s no quicker way to get yourself alienated from the scene, and get yourself a reputation that sticks like shit on a bears backside.

Don’t camp. Camping is where you stay in the one area, guarding a popular weapon (like the railgun) or item (like megahealth), or spawn pad (where people appear after dying). Camping can be a legitimate tactic in some mods of the game, but if you’re playing the standard deathmatch (which most newbies do), then camping is most definitely frowned upon, and you’ll find yourself targeted by the more skilled players and don’t be surprised if you start wearing some abuse.

Try and be mature and friendly. A simple “good game”, or “nice shot” said at the appropriate time works wonders in building a relationship with your fellow fraggers. But don’t go overboard – no one likes a suck-up either.

If you see someone standing against a wall with their back turned, or you see someone who has just spawned and hasn’t moved, or you see someone lagged out in mid air or running on the spot, don’t kill them. Just pass them by and find someone else to kill. There are a lot of people who will kill the lagged out or inactive players, and you may even find people do it to you – and when it does happen to you, think about how awful it was – and realise why you shouldn’t do it. The players who are lagged will see your good deed, and will hopefully thank you for your kindness, and may even return the favour the next time you’re lagged up. Most importantly, you can hold your head high and know that you’ve played the game fairly, and there’s no doubt it will earn you respect.

Don’t constantly type messages while playing the game, and don’t spam messages like “I am the King” every time you’re lucky enough to get a kill. Some people get very annoyed by constant spamming – and while you’re typing and reading messages, you’re not doing what you came here to do – improve your Quake skills and get some frags!

On the Message Boards
A couple of simple rules to follow which will ensure you are well respected and well liked by the others in the scene:

Don’t spam. Spamming is where you post heaps of meaningless or useless messages, usually only 1 line long. If you’ve got several things to say, put it all in the one post, or if you remember something later, edit your original post. Repeated spamming will most likely get you banned from the message board in question, not to mention disliked by those reading it.

You don’t have to reply to every post on the message board. If the post isn’t directed at you, or you haven’t really got anything meaningful to add, it’s best not to post anything. Repeated posting to every thread will give people the impression that you’re a try-hard who’s craving attention and wants to be “accepted”.

If you’re going to post nudie or offensive material, include a warning in the subject, or better yet, don’t link to the image directly, but have a link in the message which people can click on if they wish to view the image.

Use lowercase, or mixed case. Never type your messages in all UPPERCASE. There’s nothing that shits people off more – and it is usually means shouting, or emphasising.

See, it’s really not that hard. Following those simple guidelines will ensure that firstly, you’re not hated, and secondly, that you have the best chance possible of being respected and well liked by your peers.

So how do you get into a clan?
Well you can start your own clan, which is always an option. That’s how most clans start, but unless you’ve got someone else lined up who wants to be in the clan with you, a clan consisting of one person (you) is hardly worth the effort. The other option, is to try and join another clan. The best way to get this working for you, is to become friends with some members of the clan, before you point-blank ask them “can i join your clan?”. If they don’t know you, the likely response will be NO (unless you’re an absolute cain0r in the game). If you become friends with them first, find out where they play, how they play, go and visit their message board, and in the meantime try and enhance your skills as much as possible. After doing this for a while, if you become very good friends with this clan, you may find they ask you to join their clan, or then, if you feel comfortable, you should ask if you can join. But every clan may have some sort of recruitment procedures. You may be required to beat one of the members in the game, you may be required to divulge some personal information, you may be required to sacrifice the local town virgin and deliver her naked body to the clan leader… But not everyone wants to be in a clan. There’s nothing wrong with “flying solo” either, so don’t feel like you HAVE to be in a clan.

I don’t understand what you’re saying!?!?

Feeling more comfortable now? You know about clans, you know how to act in the servers and not get yourself hated, you know how to behave on the message boards…. But what kinda language is everyone speaking? The online scene (internet and email), plus the latest SMS mobile phone messages has introduced a whole new language that you need to learn if you want any hope of being able to converse with your fellow fraggers.

Smilies

The last thing you need to know, is how to express your emotions – be it in the game, on message boards, in email or sms – from now on, smilies will be the tool you use to show your heartfelt pleasure, absolute disgust, indifference or sheer joy about the goings on in your world.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060823051611if_/http://o2.ausgamers.com/main_index.htm

O2: Quake 2 Tweaks

https://web.archive.org/web/20060823054323fw_/http://o2.ausgamers.com/tweaks.htm

About Us: What is O2?

Oxygen is a Group 16 element. While about one fifth of the atmosphere is oxygen gas, the atmosphere of Mars contains only about 0.15% oxygen. Oxygen is the third most abundant element found in the sun, and it plays a part in the carbon-nitrogen cycle, one process responsible for stellar energy production. Oxygen in excited states is responsible for the bright red and yellow-green colours of the aurora. About two thirds of the human body, and nine tenths of water, is oxygen. The gas is colourless, odourless, and tasteless. Oxygen is very reactive and oxides of most elements are known. It is essential for respiration of all plants and animals and for most types of combustion. O₂ is the chemical symbol for Oxygen. We need Oxygen to breath. That’s why the Oxygen clan is a breath of fresh air to the online gaming scene!

The History of Oxygen

he Oxygen clan was formed by O2.iceman on the 1st February 2001, and our members have many years of experience. The leaders of Oxygen are O2.iceman and O2.keeper. Oxygen was formed when Iceman left the Soul Collectors {sC} to start his own clan. Some other {sC} members soon followed and joined Oxygen. We are historically a Q2 clan, but in Sep-Oct 2001 it was decided to move O2 into other games as well, such as Q3 and CS. We’re a friendly bunch of guys (and one gal) who like to frag together, chat together and generally have a good time on the servers. We try not to get involved in flame wars, and our members have a reputation in the scene as being nice friendly guys who are easy to get along with, and fun to play against. Look out for us on the servers we play (find below), and come and say g’day at our message board, which you can find linked on the navigation frame on the left.

Servers We Play

How to Join O2 – Recruitment Procedures

Oxygen are always on the lookout for new members, but we don’t take just anyone in the clan. We pride ourselves on our maturity, our friendliness, and our ability to have fun in the servers without taking this game all too seriously.
To ensure that the clan isn’t brought down by members that don’t fit in with our culture, we have a recruitment procedure which must be followed before any new members are allowed in the clan.

Firstly, we need to get to know you as a person. Post a message on our forum, telling us a bit about yourself. How old are you? Where (abouts) do you live? What mods do you play? What servers do you play on? Your contact details (ICQ/Email)

Secondly, we need to get to know you as a player. You must join us for at least 2 sessions where O2 members are playing. This can be a morning session, an evening session, it really doesn’t matter as long as there are at least 2 Oxygen members in the server. If you don’t know where or when we play, ICQ me or other members and hook something up with them. This part of it isn’t a test – you don’t have to BEAT other O2 members; it’s to get to know your skills in the game, your attitude in the game, and how you conduct yourself around the servers

Thirdly, it will be put to a vote. From the information gathered from point 1, from the reports given by the players who played with you in point 2, and from our general feeling about you, all members will vote on whether you should be let in the clan.

All that might sound like a lot of effort, but we think it’s worth it. When you’re in Oxygen, you’re guaranteed to have fun on the forums, have fun in the servers, have fun fragging with your clan mates and you can be sure the O2 tag will earn you respect around the servers. If you think you’re the right person for our clan, then contact one of our members, or post on our forum, and we’ll take it from there.

Web Site Credits

https://web.archive.org/web/20060823054323fw_/http://o2.ausgamers.com/aboutus.htm

Members

https://web.archive.org/web/20060823054323fw_/http://o2.ausgamers.com/members.htm

Screenshots

https://web.archive.org/web/20010419095158/http://o2.ausgamers.com:80/screenshots.htm

Diversions

You know how sometimes, you’re playing a game, and you pull out an absolutely awesome rail and think “shit, I wish I was demoing that” or “shit, no-one saw that”. Or sometimes the game is so tense and it’s down to the last frag in overtime? Well this section is for those frags. If you’ve got a demo of yourself, or even of someone else and there’s a kickass frag in there, something out of the ordinary, then this is where they go. Send me the whole demo, with a description of the frag and why it is so special, and I’ll snip out the classic frag and put it in here for downloading.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060823060044fw_/http://o2.ausgamers.com/diversions.htm#CLASSICFRAGS