Interview with Delhi CS Clan “Stooges”

As WCG approaches, CS clans all over India are practicing day and night to win the tournament and gain a chance of representing India at the main event in Singapore. Although Delhi does not boast of a gaming community as big as Mumbai, there are a number of CS clans here that have proven their status. I met up with four members of the reigning clan of Delhi christened “Stooges” and found about them, their life and what makes then tick.

IceFusion: First of all, tell us about yourself and how long have you been playing CS?

[D1v1ne]: Hi, this is Abhishek, I have been into CS for almost a year now, and I was basically a Quake 3 player, till I shifted to CS.
[wooo_the_slayer]: I am Kartikey and it’s almost over 9 months that I have been playing CS.
[Sh@ol|n Monkey]: Hey, I am Anand and I’ve been playing CS for over a year now.
[Pyth0n]: Ali popularly known as Ali Bhai, I have been into CS from over a year also.

IceFusion: How many clans have you been a part of, and what’s your role in your clan?

D1v1ne: My first clan was “Der Hass” and then I joined “F5ive” and later formed Stooges. I am the captain of the clan and play as an assaulter.
Wooo: I have been into “Xe” and then later joined into Stooges, and I am the sniper of the team.
Sh@ol|n: None, stooges is the first clan I joined . I am also an assaulter
Pyth0n: I have played in the clan F5ive but that was only for last year WCG. As for position, I am an assaulter, but I snipe sometimes depending on the map.

IceFusion: Interesting, how do u practice CS, and for how long?

D1v1ne: We practice almost daily for over 6 hours; mostly we play other clans over L.A.N or by playing on public servers online. We practice in Reliance Web World; South X

IceFusion: How will u say that the game has influenced your normal life, as you spend 6 hours playing it everyday?

D1v1ne: Well it has affected the normal life, especially at points when gaming life creeps into one’s personal life and creates problems in terms of time and communication.
Wooo: It has affected me in many ways. Through the game I have made friends in various states of the country. But, I try to balance my game and personal life.
Sh@ol|n: It certainly has affected me, my concentration on studies has reduced drastically, at least that’s what my parents say. : P
Pyth0n: I work in Reliance web world as a game jockey, so as far as I am concerned, Playing CS is somehow totally into my life.

IceFusion: Alright, then what do your parents and friends say when you spend so much time playing games.

D1v1ne: I don’t think they even understand it. My friends outside the gaming circle don’t have any knowledge as to about what hardcore gaming is. As for my parents, all they have to say is, “its fine that you like killing people and all, but do get focused about your life also.”
Wooo: As far as I am concerned, my friends think I’ve become a geek playing games all day long but after achieving so much, I wouldn’t like to leave it. My parents, on the other hand, are very supportive as they think that I am going in the right direction, because they believe that I am the best man to choose what’s right for me.

IceFusion: That’s nice. So which one is your favorite CS clan and Player?

D1v1ne: Favorite Clan is Eolithic, and as for the CS player, I would say gmaal.
Wooo: My favorite CS clan is NOA, and the best played I think is Heaton.
Sh@0l|n: CS clan, I like Eolithic and, my favorite CS player is Element.
Pyth0n: I don’t have any particular clan as favorites, and as for player I like Xeqtr the most.

IceFusion: What has been your clan’s greatest success till now?

Pyth0n: That would no doubt be the Reliance National Gaming Tournament 2005 which was held in June.

IceFusion: Which is the next big event you would be taking part in as a clan.

D1v1ne: As there is no news of CPL happening, the next big event will be WCG 2005.

IceFusion: Speaking of WCG, it will be featuring CS Source this time, what are your views about the latest version of CS?

D1v1ne: I don’t understand why Valve even came out with this version. It sucks.
Wooo: As far as I think CS Source sucks. It seems like a plastic game. According to me Condition Zero 1.2 is the best version to date.
Sh@ol|n: Source Sucks big time, I would prefer CS 1.6 anytime over it.
Pyth0n: I believe its ok, it’s not that bad, but it requires a decent comp to play, and that’s its down point.

IceFusion: So you won’t play WCG if Source is there?

D1v1ne: We will definitely play WCG, although it will feature source, we won’t miss WCG for the world.

IceFusion: There has been a lot of shuffling of players in your clan from some time, what is the reason for that?

Pyth0n: Nothing much, it’s just that we are trying out new people to put them in as replacements in case any of the main players are unavailable for playing. Till now we haven’t found one. ?

IceFusion: Last question, why the name Stooges?

D1v1ne: Last year when Reliance was holding CS tournaments that had 3 vs.3 players, I made up this clan, and as we were three at that time so we came up with the name Stooges instantly, and that’s why the name.

IceFusion: Thank you for your time.
Stooges: It’s been a pleasure