UKTerrorist

noc|-Rigs-: Noc came about around 3 months ago when oZ were looking for another CS clan to merge with - as it so happens, in the middle of oZ's search for a clan, SLDR had collapsed. So we took Renegade, SaVaCe and Blaze from SLDR and founded the clan "nocturne". We became the UK section of nocturne thus creating 2 sections to the clan, noc.de & noc.uk.

noc|-Rock-: When we won the CPL qualifiers, people said we were the best in the UK. It took us about 2 months of training, but we were all very determined.

noc|-I3laze-: I began playing CS in beta 6.5. It was the first online FPS I'd ever played and I really got into it. At around beta 7.1 I joined my 1st clan (SLDR) and it just went from there.

noc|-Rigs: Before CS I played TFC, and before TFC I played worms 2. That was back in about February of 1999 - both games were a lot of fun but I got bored of both after a while and I found CS in around October of 1999 when it was in the beta3 stage and have played it ever since.

noc|-Rigs-: The only secret to success in CS is practice. Lots of practice. We only have 6 members so it makes it a lot easier for us to practice regularly without other members being left out and getting bored, as often happens with a lot of UK clans. We're all determined and we practice hard whenever we can.

noc|-Rock-: Short term I want noc.uk to win the next UK CPL Qualifier. Long term I'd like us to become consistent and one of the top 10 European CS teams.

noc|-Rigs: We want to become Europe's best. And more realistically we want sponsorship that will send us all over Europe fully paid, for the CPL events - as money is a problem for us, having an average age of 17. Also I'd like to recover from our horrible CPL performance that saw us throw away about 2 months of effort.

noc|-I3laze-: Member trouble before the CPL left us with an incomplete squad between the qualifiers and the actual event itself. We didn't practice at all, and just got rusty. I'd really like to go to the next CPL in Berlin and do better, even if it's just for myself, because I know we can do better.

noc|-Rigs: The prospect of being a real "pro gamer" is very slim. I think Sujoy has been the UK's only successful pro - and he made a bit of money out of it, which is what we're all looking for, however it's not likely to happen any time soon, wait a couple of years though - things might pick up then.

noc|-Rock-: We left the UK ladder due to various reasons. When we entered the ladder we wanted to get to number 1. However, this goal became impossible when no clan would play us. They either ignored our challenge or re-scheduled them every month.

noc|-Rig-: The UK CS clan scene is terrible. Compared to virtually any other country in Europe it truly is bad. There are very few clans in the UK that are good on a European scale and I'd say that no UK clans are yet good enough to beat the big Scandinavian clans. I've always thought that the UK is so bad at CS because we're so far behind in terms of telecommunications, whereas countries like Germany can provide great connections all over the country.

noc|-Rock-: Another reason why the UK CS scene is in shambles is because all the major leagues use out-dated, primitive rules. Such as 6v6 non-CO. Only recently have UK clans started playing 5v5.

noc|-Rigs: My views on the UK CS team is simple, the UK doesn't have the players to beat the other teams like Germany. Secondly I think some of the correct players were chosen, but if I had a say I would definitely change some of the players. We'll see how well the UK team does when the time comes.

noc|-Rigs: I think foreign teams in UK ladders have slowly improved the UK-CS scene, good rules have finally been introduced like 5v5 CO, but clans like SDU who get to the top by playing all the lesser UK clans, and then refuse our challenges receive no credit from me.

noc|-Rigs-: Good question, the "complete" CS player in my eyes is someone who is both strong individually i.e. someone who has tremendous dm skills, but also has a good sense of team-play and tactics at the same time. The UK is lacking in these players though, they're a true rarity.

noc|-I3laze-: I would say you need both - understanding the game and acting differently in different situations can help you stay alive longer, as well as improving your team's chances of winning the round, although individual skill is always needed in any sort of FPS.

noc|-Rigs: I haven't really had the experience of other countries' players, but I'd say that b0b and (in his time) wh00pass, were godlike - they seem to have a natural talent for the game and the rules of CS don't apply to them. They're certainly the best public death-matchers I've ever seen. Although watching demos of the top Euro players shows that they bring their dm skills into the clan game, and it becomes much more exciting as they rarely miss.

noc|-Rigs-: There are a few clans I admire, namely NiP, sk and mTw - they've all proved that they can compete on a European level for a while and I think it's something that UK clans should aim towards. However the amount of time and practice required to become that good is a hell of a lot.

noc|-Rock-: I used to admire CSA a lot. Especially when a lot of their players left to form GG or whatever. Gid and Muzz just kept going and look at CSA.eu now. However, now I'm not so sure after a few CSA members claimed that noc cheat. Despite the fact we won the CPL Qualifier.

noc|-Rigs-: Hard to say, I think that CS has at least another year in it before it will start to become properly outdated by other games. Games like TF2 and Doom3 look promising but they're at least a year away from production. I think CS has remained in its "top spot" for so long because it's always changing (not so much now though), and the team-play element is fantastic for clans. I couldn't say at this current moment though which game will replace it.

noc|-Rigs-: That's impossible to say DeC, I think every clan is made with a 'death sentence' - in that, every clan will eventually die. Although the lives of clans seem to extend longer than they used to with the introduction of sponsorship. In the olden days when things got bad and you lost your best players, it was really hard to recruit new ones. Now though you can tempt the better players with your sponsorships from various companies.