Point of View
Prologue
First, one must recognize that Point of View is comprised primarily of people who know eachother in real life, have known eachother in real life, or have at least met eachother in real life. The reason i'm composing this history is because we finally passed a single year of being together under the name "pov" while playing Enemy Territory and I thought it would be wise to reflect back and have everyone remember why we're still together.
The following Point of View members all live(d) in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area: ep1taph, implode, TheKoV, bworld, Mrt0m, meZolithico, esseff, Bmulley. Other members live extremely close and have attended numerous lans with the base NKY members. Goda lives in Michigan, which isn't even a full day of driving away from the local members. toast lives near Lima currently, lived in Dayton for some time which is only an hour with change from the Cincinnati area.
Enjoy the history of "the pov" from my, ep1taph's Point of View.
1998 - 1999
Remember the "old days"? Days where listening to the radio was still cool, school wasn't such a drag and y2k was a "threat"? Jesse "ep1taph" Amundsen and Chad "implode" Berger met in a tech-ed class. Way back then, we spent a majority of our time playing RTS games like Warcraft II, Starcraft and plenty of AoE at small lan parties. Mrt0m, who was once an active pov member, was also in presence for lots of this RTS madness. This time period is the earliest making of what's now known as "the pov".
1999 - 2000
Filler time. The first making of the good ol' lans. Games of AoE, Unreal Tournament and Serious Sam ruled this time. Alex "TheKoV" Povkov makes his introduction into the black hole of gaming. Some people pass in and out of the group, but this is still pre-organization of any official team or single unit. First year of any notable FPS developments. Mrt0m was still part of the group, as he still lived in the area and played games. Others came and gone, but the core group of people constantly playing games and wasting money on more games was set at ep1taph, implode, TheKoV and mrt0m.
2000 - 2001
The base group continued most of the lan traditions and online RTS traditions. Interest dwindled, to be honest. I believe it was now that implode and I first discovered preview images of Unreal Tournament 2003. It must have been later in 2001, or maybe in early 2002. It looked... well, badass. We knew that playing original Unreal Tournament online was futile, people were way too good already and it wasn't even fun to get trashed that hard. We just kept playing with ourselves and our friends. Online gaming was almost always out of the question, as ep1taph was the only member that had a broadband connection. Dialup still ruled most of the members' lives. It was never decided, but the interest in Unreal Tournament 2003 was the initial bonding agent of the earliest official team.
2002 - 2003
Unreal Tournament 2003 is released. Within a few days after it comes out, both ep1taph and implode own it and are playing in public servers. Thus started one of the darkest times of the Point of View history. I setup game servers for UT2003 and TheKoV purchased a copy of the game. Still the only member on a broadband connection, it was a struggle to get much going. One lan comes to mind, where we all played from my home connect together for a few hours. It was really fun, and TheKoV had a great time running it on his celeron 700mhz and geforce 2 mx200. It was in this time that implode ended up moving away from me (he used to live in walking distance down the street) and Mrt0m moved all the way down to Georgia. As you can imagine, this took apart the small group we had. There were positives. High speed internet was obtained by implode.
Side story: TheKoV had a dialup connection, as you know. The location of the old school UT2003 servers was right near our home town, Cincinnati. They were hosted at a level3 datacenter. The same datacenter TheKoV dialed in through when he used his elite netzero account to connect to the internet. This allowed him to manage a 90-110 ping with dialup to our own UT servers. While the rest of us pinged a good 30-60.
Continuing in this time period, I started to try and play all types of modes in UT2003. I ended up focusing on normal DM and LGi CTF (Low Grav Instagib CTF). While most people consider instagib a waste of time and just a dumb way to play DM games, the LGi CTF made my aim considerably good. I knew that implode and I weren't just normal players, but we weren't anything special. The first officialness was born. The two of us started running around public servers using PoV=>name. There is still debate, to this day, whether or not the pov name was taken from TheKoV's last name (Povkov) or whether it was an independent idea. It was decided that we'd call TDM our main gameplay mode. This requires a four person roster. One day on a public server, I ran into Scott "endless" harris. We got to know him on voice, irc and in some random inner-team matches. We put him on the roster and we were four.
I'd have to say our attempt at a UT2003 team was weak and meager. The point was that we had started a team. We knew we weren't a strong team, but liked playing together. I have put up a link to what the first pov website looked like, click here. Some time was spent with implode mapping out some levels. His most famous a DM-Seraphim remake. It appears in my first UT2003 movie (there are three). During the mapping time, we met John "Pondscum" (don't know last name) and Aaron "Goda" Jagoda. Once a member of SMS, Goda was a strong UT player. Pondscum was also. At this time, both were dedicated to other teams. Only after much time of forcing and coaxing did the two begin to play regularly with the team. Goda ended up being an official member, and has been since. Pondscum moved on with another team that was near his home town, much like pov for us. It's been forever since anyone has seen him. Good luck John!
As the year continued, my personal skills in the game improved while I felt that many of the other players' skills were limiting my own development. I tried to make everyone play as much as possible. In doing this, I made a mistake by making implode and Goda both dislike UT. One of the largest mistakes I made, ever. UT2003 was, honestly, a failure as a game. It's community was small and full of idiots and assholes. UT2003 is also a very frustrating game in general. Ask Goda and implode. implode spent most of his time trickjumping, and some of the tricks he performed on maps like Antalus live on today into UT2004. No one gives him much credit, but implode and Pondscum were truly two people ahead of everyone else in trickjumping in UT2003. Somewhere in this mix, Brent "bworld" Allen made his membership towards the group official. We had a notable sized roster now, at least large for 4v4. XyBeR and Tye "oby" Bell made a few appearances and were good friends with the team.
It was at a local lan party, SOGA (Southern Ohio Gamers Association) where TheKoV, bworld and I first got exposure to Enemy Territory. At the same lan event was where we first met Tom "toast" Christopher. He and his friends were playing some UT2003 instagib, and were impressed by my skills. Later on, toast found the pov website through a google search for his name and hopped on the old pov ETG irc channel. He socialized with the team and eventually ended up playing ET. His natural skills at FPS games were noted by all of us in the team, and we love toast as a person. We took him in and have enjoyed having him around ever since.
Back to the current times: Having only seen RTCW on either console, or a crappy demo pub for it on PC, it never had really appealed to us. There was a tournament for it at the lan, but all we did was watch. We all downloaded it, though. A few weeks after the lan had been over, TheKoV and I found ourselves immersed in it. None of us knew a thing about it in a competitive sense. We played default settings, using the slider bars to take care of things like brightness and sensitivity. What's a config? Following suit, everyone in the group started to check it out and become interested. We started wearing our tags in public servers, which led to the inevitable forming of a team. Of course we had our own public server, but it was hardly used. The original ET players were myself, implode, TheKoV, Goda, bworld, Mrt0m and santeri. Santeri was just an online friend that we needed, because back in 2003, ET was still 7v7, remember? We ended up starting out by just playing the TWL SW ladder. Rob "meZo" Arshonsky started to screw around with us, and played a few matches for fun. We were 3-0 from forfeits before we hit a team that actually played. They raged us. Our default configs and pub style gameplay just were no match for the made men.
At this time, the only person left playing UT was me. TheKoV played sparingly, but still had dialup and a very bad computer. I just putzed around in UT2003 until UT2004 made it's debut. Originally, it was decided that we would also play UT2004 when it came out. There was a little ruckus about Call of Duty, but it wore off fast and the only time any of us touch it is at lans. UT2004 came out, and we were one of the first teams to have every member own it and start to scrim. The UT2004 scene was never strong, and still isn't. The top teams that were together, strong and played well were continuance and kaizen. Everyone except TheKoV and I lost interest almost instantaneously. UT2004 just wasn't the game for our team. As we gained more experience on the TWL SW ladder, I realized that I was wasting all of our time keeping the UT2004 team going. It was killed, and I was left in the middle of nowhere with the game. I almost dropped it, but at the last minute I asked xeno if they wanted any new players. My skills in UT2004 were very strong, and I was taken in and that's where I cultivated and became the UT player I am now. Point of View was now solely a RTCW:ET team, and nothing else. We picked up oby for ET as another player. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game, and we just kept playing our matches. Signing up for TWL Season two was another wakeup call.
2003 - present
I'll start off by talking about where I ended up with UT2004. I played for xeno for quite some time, but ended up quitting. I already was leading the pov ET team, and I had slowly fell into leading xeno also. I can't lead two different teams, nor did I want to. I left xeno when the west xeno UT players went to check-six. I went through the summer without a team. I played at MML3 and got fourth (both bracket losses to stryfe), I qualified for WCG in Dayton later on in the summer too, but could not go. Currently, I left check-six and went back to xeno with my old friends Frenzy, GiMiX and YDP. We'll see how that goes.
Back to ET. esseff (chooses to have name hidden) had joined us and was responsible for teaching us about the very basics of configs, strategies and gameplay. While he was only active for a short time before he went off to Violent Revolution, then to college, he really helped pov get on a competitive path. Joe "Bmulley" McCormack was brought in as a strong engi, which we really needed. With the switch to a 6v6 format, our team became much stronger and we all found it easier to rely on teamwork and less spam or individual skill. We went through TWL season 2 and 3 and made both seasons' playoffs. We were eliminated first round each season, but we still kept coming back for more. Without esseff, our main strategist and one of our strongest guns, we hesitated to join CAL, but at the last minute Goda and I decided we would regret it. We joined CAL and that started our run. We picked up Zeev "ZeAvIs" Tochterman, who was a close friend with implode and oby, which guaranteed we could field at least six for every cal match.
Our run in the season lasted us all the way to a goldrush win against pubstar which placed us at 6-0. Our 7th round was against excel, a team we just cannot compete with on an individual skill level. We managed to scrounge a point, and were proud we could at least do so against such a team. Our 8th round was lost against Evil Cadre. We blame that on multiple mistakes on our part. Glitched nades, suicide panzers on lights and over all ignorance left us with a complete defeat. We had been on ETTV and shoutcasted multiple times, which was never even thought of for most of our players. Our roster has simplified, and esseff and meZolithico are merely extras. The starters are dedicated players now, and we still enjoy ET and are glad we picked it up. We look forward to a good TWL Season 4 and we want to leave a mark with CAL playoffs. We don't plan on getting "burned out" or quitting anytime soon, as so many teams have.
Epilogue
Next year, most of the core members will go going off to their first year of college. While Goda and toast already attend school, it may represent some difficult times for the team with the majority of the localized members having a change in lifestyles and schedules. We hope to keep the flame alive and will give it our best not to fall apart or let go of the deep friendship that we have placed in the team. Thanks for reading.
Update on July 15th, 2005
Time has passed quickly since when I composed this epic account of the team. One could say much has changed with the team, or little has. Our roster still has the base core, but many other people have come under the blanket of the team. I'll try to give a semi-accurate account of the time since the history had ended.
After I had written this, our team actually became much stronger. Season 4 for TWL and 3 for CAL were both decent seasons, we made playoffs for both but didn't do anything notable after. Just didn't have the strategy or individual skill. All of the time spent playing Enemy Territory was welling up inside most of us, we were ready to make a big move. In TWL season 5 we went completely undefeated in the normal season, and received the highest possible seed in playoffs, barely sneaking past the highly favored beta favorite: unfaithful. We have a lot of respect for unfaithful in teampov, as they do a good job of playing the game, playing it well and not having a lot of asshats on their team. We're in TWL season 6 and CAL season 5 at the current moment. We had a rocky start in CAL, but what many may not know is that I haven't been able to show for the matches we lost. The reason? Next paragraph!
If you've read the history previously, you may recall my own (ep1taph) adventures in Unreal Tournament. Specifically UT2004 at the moment. After the game had become stagnant and stale with lack of competition, tournaments and leaders, GGL announced that it would be holding a grand event: Americup. My first instinct was to return to my last known competitive team: Check-six. This wasn't to be. Check-six didn't want the old players back, they wanted the team that would win no matter what. They picked up every top dueler in NA, plus old TDM players from kaizen. This made a single team that was so powerful that almost none could dethrone it. After this, I was a bit put aside by my dilemna. Where should I go? Suddenly, out of the blue, a new team popped up out of the woodwork: Gravity. This team had a few good men that I knew well and had met in the past. I inquired about playing, and was smacked down. Hard. So both of the teams that I had relations to had denied me. Once again, I was confused and disoriented. It happened by chance, but, some crazy frenchies from Montreal pmed me about merging my 2v2 team with their 2v2 team to create a 4v4 team. My 2v2 team consisted of me and TheKov, theirs of zyth and MxX. They were good players, but I didn't know how great they would become. After the merger, the team was named Deus Ex Machina, or Machina for short.
So I had a TDM team. It was time to get to work. We practiced often, tried to play the game at a high level. We didn't have trouble beating the casual teams, but when we started to take rounds from teams such as Continuance, Short Bus Passengers and even Gravity, we knew we had something special on our hands. The team had picked up DamageD, who was another french player from Montreal. He didn't last, and was kind of voted out in favor of UZi. UZi is an amazing player all around, who gets nearly no respect for his skills. With UZi, ep1taph, zyth and MxX, we destroyed our way through the GGL season. Part of the way through we picked up thrice as an extra in case one of us couldn't show. He's a cool dude, but is a CTF man moreso than TDM. The only match we lost was to Check-six's allstar team. We are currently in the GGL Americup playoffs competing for a spot in the top two, which would ensure us a free trip to LAN finals with european teams. We are playing for third/fourth on the 18th of this month (see date written for comparison) with continuance. We hope to win and face the loser of Check-six/Gravity (probably gravity, damn games are predictable).
Another tournament for money was announced: The UT2004 3spn TAM tourney. While we all hate tam, money is seductive. We decided to go for it when we had Sidefx agree to join us for both TDM and TAM. This was an awesome move, as Sidefx is one of the strongest players any of us have seen in the scene for a long time. We hope that we can prevail even further next GGL Americup season with our improved friendships and now roster. People wrote us off as in the bottom 6-8 at the beginning of the season, which made us laugh. We knew at that time how much we could do, and we were looking for cash. We're already guaranteed at least $500, and we're playing for more soon. This concludes the update. I'd put more detail, but the only other thing that matters is that TheKoV and implode play WoW.