Like the phoenix, the Sneaky Beaky Blog will return. Soon.

Dear Readers of my blog,

While my life had stirred itself into a kaleidoscope of familiar faces and nostalgic places this past week or so, something else was brewing in the background as well. A dream come true, some might say. Some meaning me.

I received my first offer for a blogging contract, writing articles for a site named High Ground Gaming. As I will be getting paid, I’m going to pour 100% into my work for the site, which means that our time together has come to an end.

I’m very thankful for each and every one of you who read my posts, and commented on Reddit. Whether simply opening discussion, or telling me why my article was “just bad”, I’m just appreciative that I created something that others considered worth the effort to comment upon.

Look for my work on High Ground Gaming starting soon, and if anything should change, I’ll be right back here to hang with y’all.

Stay awesome, and until next time . . .

Keep fragging,

Mitch “supersoup” Gentry

Dear readers of the Sneaky Beaky Blog,

Starting today is a week long hiatus for the blog, during the Christmas season for myself and my family. There will be no new articles until next Wednesday, December 31st, at which point we will begin a new Wednesday article series.

Thank you for your readership. It is one of the most meaningful presents I have received this year, and I sincerely hope that this holiday season is a wonderful time of festive fun for you all!

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

-Mitch “supersoup” Gentry

EDIT: As I’ve been off the grid for so long with family, the hiatus is extended until Monday, January 5th.

Valve is more than happy to oblige

It’s as though the voices of thousands of AWPers cried out all at once, and were suddenly silenced—the C-Zed has been brought low from it’s mighty perch. While the community was previously rife with dissidents who despised the initial form of the almighty pistol, they have since been replaced by a chorus lamenting how ineffectual the gun has become. There seems to be no middle ground, as far as Valve is concerned—either the CZ-75 is to be the best eco weapon Counter-Strike has ever seen, or it is to be forgotten for lack of situational uses.

Is this what we asked for?

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From the top to the bottom

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To be certain, it continues to pack a punch. The fire rate means that it’s still a force to be reckoned with, but the reduced magazine size and slower reload animation means that you have to be more cautious with your sprays. Thankfully Valve saw fit to maintain the total ammo count for the CZ, which means that you now have three clips instead of two, for the same total of 24 shots. The animation for drawing it has been slowed as well, which means that its use as a “pocket rifle” for AWPers to defend themselves with in close quarters is no more.

The nerf is nearly two weeks old as of this writing. The metagame has had plenty of time to shift in response to the change, and as for me personally, the CZ-75 has gone from a common feature of every match to a mythological beast. Sightings are few and far between, with only a few blurry photos remaining which claim to be proof of it’s existence.

Oh, there’s one right up there. You saw it here first, folks!

But seriously, as often as I found myself at the wrong end of a CZ-75 rush that completely decimated my fully equipped stack of teammates, I’m still a little disappointed. The Desolation of AUG was an entirely separate matter, but the end result of that debacle was that a formerly underutilized gun was given new life. The CZ nerf means that there are really no winners, except for those profoundly frustrated by it’s presence.

Professional players like JW and the members of team LDLC are going to have to rethink key strategic purchases without the CZ-75 to fall back on. Props to Valve for keeping a finger on the pulse of the community, but unless the CZ emerges from this cocoon with a few more tweaks under its belt, then the nerf may ultimately prove to be a step backward in balancing.

Come back next Monday for another editorial on e-sports!
Articles posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Until next time, keep fragging!

No, not that kind of Tick

Have you ever stopped to consider the technical wizardry inherent in computer networking? Ones and zeroes—slung hundreds, if not thousands of miles across countries and continents to deliver data packets from one computer to another. It’s near miraculous that it functions at all. When you come to realize that those simple packets of information can represent opponents, actions, and game states, it seems to embody the nearest thing to magic that the modern world may ever know.

Or, if you’d rather, it can ensure that your sorcerer’s spells find the enemy’s army of trolls.

Synchronizing this complex web of electronic infrastructure is no easy feat. Just as time zones were developed to assist in scheduling for the transcontinental trains, video games have come to rely on their own method of synchronization to ensure that all of the client machines keep pace with the server.

For Valve’s Source engine, they use “ticks” to coordinate game states between all of the machines involved. You can use the console command net_graph 1 to see a swath of stats including your current server’s tickrate for yourself.

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net_graph provides useful information, including the server’s tick rate

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Any given Counter-Strike server’s tickrate represents how often snapshots of the game are passed between server and client. With higher tickrates, the accuracy of the simulated actions between players improves. So why don’t all servers use high tickrates, some instead often opting for the Source standard 64 ticks per second?

There are certain pros and cons to the two main tickrates used by most servers. Higher tickrates provide more precise gameplay, but they also require more powerful hardware serverside and have greater bandwidth requirements. Lower tickrates mean less strain on the server and more inclusive bandwidth needs for a variety of internet connections. We aren’t here to debate the availability of broadband, just to analyze the facts.

Valve’s Official Matchmaking servers utilize 64 tick across the board, while community-run leagues like ESEA use 128 tick servers as an additional value proposition for their paying players. Rather than present a subjective perspective for the different “feel” to play with different tickrates, I would encourage you to seek out higher tickrate servers for yourself and take them for a spin. Under the “Community Server Browser”, most 128 tick servers advertise it directly in their title. Other options include FragShack servers or CEVO, which has a free-to-play league.

Objectively, higher tickrates mean less situations where the strobe-like snapshots thrown to and from the server would declare a hit on a player who had already taken cover or moved out of the enemy’s line of sight. Such discrepancies between what was seen and what the server recorded can be mitigated by the increased volume of data they have to work with. As thousands of players across multiple alternate leagues would agree, it’s a better way to play for all.

Come back next Friday for another article on tweaks and lifehacks for Counter-Strike

Articles posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Until next time, keep fragging!

 

Grab the pizza and Dr. Pepper, LAN party tonight!

When compared to the lengthy history of traditional sports like football and baseball, any game that falls under the e-sports banner is still clearly in it’s infancy by comparison. But for as long as people have come together in the spirit of healthy competition, there has always been that special group of competitors who are unwilling to settle for anything less than mastery of their art.

Video games have long been a social tool, bringing friends together, both old and new, in the same fashion that a mutual appreciation for sports has fostered conversation for centuries. Many of us today grew up in a world where a fresh gaming console was released every few years, and summer weekends would be spent either flocking to our friend’s homes or welcoming crowds into our own to share in the unrivaled excitement of a new game. Multiplayer games, like Goldeneye and Super Smash Brothers for the Nintendo 64, provided the opportunity for throwing down the gauntlet, and challenging others to test your skills. The soda and junk food would flow freely, as the dawn would break to find many still clutching their controllers—their friends of lesser stamina sleeping around them.

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The good old days

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Computers would come to lead the charge for e-sports as we know it today, with the introduction of the LAN party. Congregations of eager gamers would descend on the chosen location for a day or more, grappling with countless networking issues to play a few matches of Age of Empires or Unreal Tournament.

Simple as it was, it was a glorious time to be a gamer.

If something is worth doing, it is worth doing in a big way. LAN parties increased in size and complexity, until events like DreamHack began to spring up worldwide, fostering the growing movement. Money began to change hands, both for event fees and tournament prize pools, and the gamers who sought to become acknowledged masters of their craft began showing up to the biggest arenas, eager to showcase their talent.

One thing led to another, and DreamHack Winter 2014 saw over an estimated 500,000 viewers for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive finals.

The History of E-sports is being continually written, every day. We all have a role to play in shaping the next step of it’s long journey, so shoulder that responsibility with pride—and remember . . .

It’s all fun and games until somebody wins six figures.

Come back next Wednesday for the beginning of a new series!
Articles posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Until next time, keep fragging!

It’s about sending a message

Since Counter-Strike: Global Offensive went live to the public in August of 2012, Valve has adopted their usual stance of radio silence on all future updates. This has proven to be both as blessing and a curse, as it results in fewer unmet expectations, while ensuring that each new patch arrives as a pleasant surprise to the legions of fans. But some fans don’t want surprises- they want results.

Especially when the integrity of the game is on the line.

It wasn’t long after launch that the many heads of the hydra-like hacking subculture reared forth from the dark abyss where they reside. Where there is money or acclaim to be had, there will inevitably be ne’er-do-wells searching for the easy route to the top of the pack. The community would cry out to Valve for respite from the waves of blatant cheaters that crashed around the genuine players, but Valve continued to keep mum on the issue. All we wanted was to know that we had been heard, and that Gabe Newell would ride in at dawn on the fifth day to rescue us from our peril.

Valve shouldered the criticism that the desperate public levied against them and continued to work against the malefactors in the shadows. Hindsight is 20/20, and Valve eventually explained the lack of communication: the more obscure their efforts, the better.

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Always watching

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Tell me, who’s watching- who’s watching me

Behind the scenes, Valve pushed out several “silent” updates, which is to say they changed how the game is run server-side. Baby steps- but any news is good news in the battle for fair play. Like I said last week, e-sports is still struggling to be taken seriously by the mainstream, but Valve is taking the occasionally difficult but necessary steps to earn credibility.

We still have a long uphill climb ahead of us as a community. Coming up in January, X Games Aspen has teamed with Major League Gaming in a major play for bringing e-sports into the spotlight. Lots of eyes will be watching, and it will certainly prove to be a litmus test for bigger and better events down the road. Tune in, and show future sponsors that the viewership exists- if we don’t take our majors seriously, how can we expect others to?

Report the suspicious while matchmaking, and let Overwatch sort them out. Rampant public accusations could prove more toxic than they’re worth, and we have many tools at our disposal for reviewing match demos and self-policing.

Above all, don’t stop playing.

Valve will continue to stand sentry, waiting for the opportune moment to strike at the heart of those developing and using hacks. In the meantime, we have a responsibility to continue to support these tentative steps toward a brighter future for gaming.

Come back next Monday for another editorial on e-sports!
Articles posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Until next time, keep fragging!

Get Psyched!

As with anything in life, you can only perform at your best when you’re adequately prepared. There is another game that every CS player must learn to triumph over before they ever set foot in a server. One that no one else can help you with. A game that even the professionals struggle with, after years of competing in world-class Counter-Strike.

For this particular match your mind is the battleground, and your opponents can be anything.

Bad day at work? Stressed about something? Perhaps you’re hungry, or tired? Even small mental burdens can become a competitor, shutting you down before you begin, or simply ensuring that you aren’t able to offer your very best.

This might sound a bit melodramatic, but it’s a fundamental principle of life. The professionals and experts within any field have learned to confront and mitigate the negative influences on their performance, and if you want to improve, so will you.

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Warm-up routines can make all the difference

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Some players jump straight into pick up games, entrusting their warm up to random teammates and any number of variables. Sometimes it works—but after you reach a certain level of play, it becomes imperative that you spend some time refining the particulars. Here are some popular ways to help set yourself up for victory:

Create your own private match, clear out the bots, and spend some time practicing grenade placement or rotations. Maybe you’ll discover something special, and earn that competitive edge.

Once you’re feeling it, step up to Deathmatch or Gun Game servers. This can give you the chance to wake your senses, and get your mind working. Crosshair placement, wrist and arm movement—this is where you can exercise some of the techniques you’ll need on point when you hit it proper. Aim maps are also an excellent way to work on your accuracy and headshots under pressure.

Depending on which rank you’re worried about more, you can spend some time working the other matchmaking system to cap off your warm-up. Want to improve your ADR in ESEA? Finish your warm up in Valve’s Matchmaking and then transition over to ESEA Pugs. Vice versa if you have some work to do in making your rank reflect your skill level.

There are no rules with your warm-up. It’s all about getting your head in the game, and preparing yourself to win. If it gets you pumped, do it. Build a playlist. Watch professional players stream. Watch Youtube tutorials. Whatever it takes.

But no matter what, take each match in stride. Discouragement is the biggest enemy that you must learn to conquer.  You can be as warm as possible, and still find yourself in a losing streak if you let yourself slip into a defeated mindset. Consistency will come with time, and it can’t be forced.

Come back next Friday for another article on tweaks and lifehacks for Counter-Strike

Articles posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Until next time, keep fragging!

Let’s party like it’s 2004!

Heading into the holidays, Valve had a lot on their plate. Fans of both Half-Life and Counter-Strike had reasons to be especially thankful during the winter season of 2004, as the shiny new Source engine ushered in a new era of graphical fidelity, interactivity, and realism for gaming. Leading the charge were two games that whipped legions of enthusiastic gamers into a frenzy: Half-Life 2, bundled with Counter-Strike: Source.

Though it was certainly a step in the right direction, Counter-Strike: Source struggled to find acceptance within the professional gaming scene. It would see only a fraction of the success, major tournaments, and prize money that testifies to Counter-Strike‘s popularity in the realm of e-sports. Many gamers saw it as the awkward middle child of the series- endearing once you came to know him, but somewhat lacking in focus and without the driven attitude of his brothers. Nonetheless, it was beloved by many, and alongside the launch of Steam secured Valve’s position as the figurehead of the “PC Master Race“.

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Still fun, ten years on

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While the e-sports community wavered between the latest iteration and the classic, Valve soldiered on.  Innovation was what Valve did best, and so they sought to bring the Counter-Strike world to consoles during early stages of development on the next title, encouraged by their experience with console ports of their other games and controller support for their PC titles.  However, a member of the development team saw the potential for a full installment rather than a simple port of Counter-Strike: Source, and the focus changed to include the hopes and dreams of both casual and competitive gamers alike.

The result became a Global phenomenon, the history of which is still being written.

After almost a year in beta and an impressive cinematic trailer, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was released across all platforms on August 21st, 2012.

Come back next Wednesday for part 3 of my series on “The History of E-Sports and Counter-Strike” – Part 1 can be found here

Articles posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Until next time, keep fragging!

 

Spoilers ahead if you have yet to see the results of Dreamhack Winter/ESEA S17 LAN Finals.

It’s been a crazy month for the members of Team Fnatic.

First came rampant hacking accusations, following the announcement that several professional players had received bans from the anti-cheat systems used by Valve and ESEA. The community began combing over demos and VODs from past matches in the search for the next likely “banhammer” candidates. Several members of Fnatic quickly fell under suspicion, alongside other professionals throughout the scene. There was a palpable cloud of tension surrounding Dreamhack Winter, with viewers voicing their opinions on Twitter and Twitch streams after every play they deemed to be suspect. Finger pointing and cries for justice ruled the day, instead of the usual enthusiasm for favorite teams and beloved players. An eruption of Vesuvian proportions simmered beneath the surface, waiting for an opportunity to burst forth.

That opportunity arrived in the form of the Quarterfinal match between Fnatic and LDLC, and the infamous boost which carried Fnatic to victory.

After the public backlash following the match, Fnatic made the decision to forfeit and drop out of the tournament, rather than carry on due to the hostility surrounding the disputed boost. They found themselves on the ropes before the ESEA Season 17 LAN Finals last weekend, with some members of the team expressing that they “would rather quit than […] keep playing in this situation“.

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“Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”

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Don’t call it a comeback.

Despite the pressure, Fnatic showed up to the ESEA LAN with their A-game in their carry-on. They played some of the best Counter-Strike this year, with Fnatic dominating Virtus Pro in the finals 4-0 to secure first place. Hacking accusations notwithstanding, Fnatic decisively defended their title as one of the best CS:GO teams in the world.

This piece doesn’t aim to dispute the results. Rather, let’s dig deeper into the controversy, and why it represents healthy growing pains for e-sports as a whole.

Are e-sports a valid enterprise? It’s a legitimate question, frequently bandied about online and offline among e-sports fans. It’s the reason we often remain quiet when confronted with discussions on favorite sports or teams. It’s the voices of thousands, all shouting together: “Stop gaming and find another hobby worth pursuing!”

It’s certainly an argument that’s been heard by many, who were struggling to turn their wild-eyed dreams of becoming the best in the world at their chosen pastime into a reality. I wonder what these people would have to say about it.  Household names today, because at some critical turning point during their foolish young lives, they determined to take their passion further than their peers.

They all have something else in common—being players of physical sports which have an extensive history and a robust culture to support them. There is a precedent for traditional sports, as people worldwide have grown up watching sports with their parents, or attending games at local stadiums. The eager chaos surrounding game time can seem like a magic spell, as crowds of people cheer and fill the arena with unbridled excitement.

And so we e-sports fans crane our necks to catch a glimpse of the peak from the base of the mountain, atop which sports titans battle for prestige and jubilant victory. That peak is getting easier to see though, with every major gaming tournament across the board. Now that prize pools are growing steadily, and spectators for gaming championships are selling out stadiums, it’s evident that people are beginning to sit up and take notice.

Unfortunately, as any sport grows, it will attract the attention of unsavory competitors and others willing to work the scene toward their own ends. Traditional sports are no exception.

The recent hacking scandals which shook the e-sports community are certainly despicable, but they should not have been unexpected. With so much on the line, any competitive edge might seem favorable, regardless of the potential consequences. The fans’ response across all forms of social media is just one such consequence, which also illustrates a fundamental insecurity about our fledgeling culture—though that fear may prove to be misplaced. The e-sports scene is growing by leaps and bounds, and obstacles like this will be a natural result; I’m certain that this is not the last we’ll hear about professionals cheating or hacking their way to victory, but it shouldn’t temper our fervor for whichever game we follow. Mindlessly spouting accusations against this player or that team will only hurt our community overall, as new talent or bigger sponsors may be driven away by reckless words. The truth will come out, but in the meantime, there has to be belief—faith in good sportsmanship, and that most players are involved for the right reasons.

Just like a “real” sport.

Come back next Monday for another editorial on e-sports!
Articles posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Until next time, keep fragging!