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This goes a bit off topic, but ...

As far as gameplay goes, nobody play's the Quake 3 Arena standard game either anymore.

Oh, that's a bit harsh thing to say, there are numerous active leagues out there. Take barrysworld
for example. Even the ctf league alone consists of 9 divisions with about 10 clans each, and there are a lot of clans in queue just to get in.

Quake3 is still widely played among serious gamers precisely due to it's gameplay that seems to suit really well for expert players.

And the reason why I'm pointing this out is that it's still just about one of the very best games available for Linux! Some of us don't have pirated M$ crap, not even for games...

Barrysworld in the UK have recently introduced a pay-to-play system restricting access to their gaming servers based on IP address. Users on dynamic IPs need to run a (closed-source) app (or login to a website) before they can play. It's resulted in a massive drop in use of their servers.

All of these are ISPs, but specifically geared toward gaming -- that is, low ping, ample game servers, admins available to kick cheaters, etc. Most of them have a presence on QuakeNet, for those IRC-inclined.

Someday the States will have a gaming ISP as well.

I remember a friend (or two or three) of mine went to the Arena in London for the Barrysworld Quake III European Championships last year with the Irish Team.

In the original format, the organisers were going to provide the mouse of choice for the compeditors (the machines being standard - I think they were AMD Athlons about 500 MHz). This was fine (most people going for the standard intellimouse) until the Swedish teams request was seen. They were looking for Razor Boomslangs with the spring at 32 (don't ask me what it means either, it's something to so with the spring tension :o) ) and the standard was 34. The cost would have been exorbitant (circa £40 - 60 per mouse), so the organisers decided that compeditors would bring their own mice.

As expected the Swedes got into the final. Unexpectedly, the Russians also got there. They were so used to playing with crap machines apparently (and even worse mice - theirs were £2 versions) that playing on the modern LAN was too easy! They beat the odds and the Swedes, and won the Comp!

No real point to this post, just like that story.

There was also a humorous episode involving an unnamed member of the Irish team and a transvestite, but we'll leave it at that!

I've been on QuakeNet IRC for a few years now and I can certainly say it's a proper community. Others have mentioned IRC however, so I'd like to concentrate on something tied to that community which is Barrysworld. Barrysworld is a UK based gaming service provider which has been the heart of UK online gaming for a few years now. They started off being run by a few people in their part-time and recently got proper funding and became a company.

Whilst I'd like to go on and on about them, it's late so I won't. However, I would like to draw your attention to recent happenings at Barrysworld. Basically, their second round of funding is due, and the backers have decided to pull out. Unless someone steps in before a week on Monday (Feb 5th), Barrysworld will close forever. Read the announcement and official press release.

This came as a huge shock to all of us who are part of that community. I think there was a future for Barrysworld as a company and it's a real shame that investors are too scared with all the recent .com failings to make that happen. People have worked very hard indeed to run Barrysworld and they've got to where they are by respecting their community and vice versa. When the news hit IRC noone could believe it. People are truely upset. Take a look at some of the comments on their forums.

The Register has a good article, and the BBC has one too.

It means more than the loss of a few game servers, a nice gaming dialup, and a website... Barrysworld also host the main UK servers for QuakeNet which is going to cause big problems when they go down (although I've been told there are plans to relocate those). Barryworld was the centre of the UK Quake3 scene without a doubt. No one else is in a position to take that on. The excellent leagues they ran will be no more. The community is broken. We're upset. If you've got a few million quid to spare, you know where to send it.

I've been on QuakeNet IRC for a few years now and I can certainly say it's a proper community. Others have mentioned IRC however, so I'd like to concentrate on something tied to that community which is Barrysworld. Barrysworld is a UK based gaming service provider which has been the heart of UK online gaming for a few years now. They started off being run by a few people in their part-time and recently got proper funding and became a company.

Whilst I'd like to go on and on about them, it's late so I won't. However, I would like to draw your attention to recent happenings at Barrysworld. Basically, their second round of funding is due, and the backers have decided to pull out. Unless someone steps in before a week on Monday (Feb 5th), Barrysworld will close forever. Read the announcement and official press release.

This came as a huge shock to all of us who are part of that community. I think there was a future for Barrysworld as a company and it's a real shame that investors are too scared with all the recent .com failings to make that happen. People have worked very hard indeed to run Barrysworld and they've got to where they are by respecting their community and vice versa. When the news hit IRC noone could believe it. People are truely upset. Take a look at some of the comments on their forums.

The Register has a good article, and the BBC has one too.

It means more than the loss of a few game servers, a nice gaming dialup, and a website... Barrysworld also host the main UK servers for QuakeNet which is going to cause big problems when they go down (although I've been told there are plans to relocate those). Barryworld was the centre of the UK Quake3 scene without a doubt. No one else is in a position to take that on. The excellent leagues they ran will be no more. The community is broken. We're upset. If you've got a few million quid to spare, you know where to send it.

I've been on QuakeNet IRC for a few years now and I can certainly say it's a proper community. Others have mentioned IRC however, so I'd like to concentrate on something tied to that community which is Barrysworld. Barrysworld is a UK based gaming service provider which has been the heart of UK online gaming for a few years now. They started off being run by a few people in their part-time and recently got proper funding and became a company.

Whilst I'd like to go on and on about them, it's late so I won't. However, I would like to draw your attention to recent happenings at Barrysworld. Basically, their second round of funding is due, and the backers have decided to pull out. Unless someone steps in before a week on Monday (Feb 5th), Barrysworld will close forever. Read the announcement and official press release.

This came as a huge shock to all of us who are part of that community. I think there was a future for Barrysworld as a company and it's a real shame that investors are too scared with all the recent .com failings to make that happen. People have worked very hard indeed to run Barrysworld and they've got to where they are by respecting their community and vice versa. When the news hit IRC noone could believe it. People are truely upset. Take a look at some of the comments on their forums.

The Register has a good article, and the BBC has one too.

It means more than the loss of a few game servers, a nice gaming dialup, and a website... Barrysworld also host the main UK servers for QuakeNet which is going to cause big problems when they go down (although I've been told there are plans to relocate those). Barryworld was the centre of the UK Quake3 scene without a doubt. No one else is in a position to take that on. The excellent leagues they ran will be no more. The community is broken. We're upset. If you've got a few million quid to spare, you know where to send it.

I've been on QuakeNet IRC for a few years now and I can certainly say it's a proper community. Others have mentioned IRC however, so I'd like to concentrate on something tied to that community which is Barrysworld. Barrysworld is a UK based gaming service provider which has been the heart of UK online gaming for a few years now. They started off being run by a few people in their part-time and recently got proper funding and became a company.

Whilst I'd like to go on and on about them, it's late so I won't. However, I would like to draw your attention to recent happenings at Barrysworld. Basically, their second round of funding is due, and the backers have decided to pull out. Unless someone steps in before a week on Monday (Feb 5th), Barrysworld will close forever. Read the announcement and official press release.

This came as a huge shock to all of us who are part of that community. I think there was a future for Barrysworld as a company and it's a real shame that investors are too scared with all the recent .com failings to make that happen. People have worked very hard indeed to run Barrysworld and they've got to where they are by respecting their community and vice versa. When the news hit IRC noone could believe it. People are truely upset. Take a look at some of the comments on their forums.

The Register has a good article, and the BBC has one too.

It means more than the loss of a few game servers, a nice gaming dialup, and a website... Barrysworld also host the main UK servers for QuakeNet which is going to cause big problems when they go down (although I've been told there are plans to relocate those). Barryworld was the centre of the UK Quake3 scene without a doubt. No one else is in a position to take that on. The excellent leagues they ran will be no more. The community is broken. We're upset. If you've got a few million quid to spare, you know where to send it.