QuakeCon 2008 was an embarassment for id Software.
"When John "ZeRo4" Hill and Alexei "Cypher" Yanushevsky showed up in the
ballroom for the final, they were told that there was not enough time
to play a full final. They were given the option to either play the
final in a one-map system (where ZeRo4 needed two maps to win) or play
best of threes with a time limit of 10. The players agreed to neither
so a possibility of finishing the grand final back at the BYOC area was
considered should it take too long.
But while watching the closing ceremony of QuakeCon ran by id CEO Todd
Hollenshead and QuakeLive producer Marty Stratton you would never have
guessed that time was an issue.
The ET: QuakeWars and the QuakeLive CTF finals opened the closing show of QuakeCon 2008. CTF was done at 21:20.
Then we sat through over an hour of Guitar Hero 3, a Quake tattoo show,
a quick draw match, a Bawls drinking contest, about an hour or more of
t-shirt throwing and contests for the first people to bring a bra / a
pokemon item / whatever else to Marty Stratton for a Corvette lottery
ticket. The list is longer but I would rather forget than remember the
items on it.
The finalists sat tired and hungry, and jetlagged in the case of
Cypher, as this dragged on for three hours while Hollenshead and
Stratton took their sweet time entertaining the public.
The time for the final came after the Corvette was given away and the
largest door of the ballroom was opened so people could leave. When
they tried to announce the match, Hollenshead and Stratton had a
difficult time figuring out the names of the players. It was 12:20 am."
The hosts, Hollenshead and Stratton didn't even know the names/handles of the finalists, referring to them as "those two dudes back there." Way to regard some of your most important fans, fellas. Obviously giving away free stuff was more of a priority than showcasing some of the wonderful talent that the Quake community thrives on. id Software took a hit with this shameful showcase. Carmack can't be pleased.
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