From: Oxygen Thief
Subject: "Q3 Arena drug"

"Id might as well have invented crack"

-Oxygen Thief

From: Trent Pancake
Subject: boxes.

Music CD's, Playstation Games, Dreamcast Games all now come just as jewel boxes with the manual as the insert. When will PC/MAC games follow suit? I'm not a tree hugging freak, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize how much paper/cardboard is being wasted with these boxes. I personally keep my box around for about 2 weeks, then recycle it. They are more of an annoyance and get in the way than anything else. It sure would be nice to see publishers go this route. The only box I still have is my original quake1 and that's because it didn't come in a box, but a nice tri-fold paper case. More of this!!!! Less waste!!

I may annoy a few people by saying this, but I really like game boxes. I grew up playing Infocom games (which I still think are some of the best games ever made) and those games came in elaborately designed boxes that were crammed with all kinds of great junk. Most boxes these days are pretty bland, and could probably be gotten rid of altogether, but you have to admit that the Quake III Arena tin box ruled (and so did the Dragon Edition of Ultima IX).

In the end, the real reason for game boxes is that jewel cases aren't really well suited to PC titles, since A) they're really easy to steal, and B) PC games often have manuals the size of novels (take a look at any Sid Meier game for proof).

From: R. Maude
Subject: Q3A - Back to Wolfenstein 3D

As you may remember, all the objects in Wolfenstein 3D were actually 2D objects. As you moved around an object, it appeared to rotate with you.

In Q3A, there is an object that does the same thing. In the map Q3Tourney6, take a good look at the red dot used to activate the crusher. It appears that Id has returned to their roots.

[RM]Sniper

From: Alan Eisinger
Subject: About.com

OK, I understand banner ads. I don't mind banner ads. I HATE BAD
BANNER ADS.

Putting aside the whole "banner that looks like a window so you click on it" cheap trick, the about.com surveys that your advertising host runs are AMAZINGLY poorly edited.

There is the "Are MP's the future of music?" question, missing a key number, and there's the question about "Pokeman," containing what some would say is a pretty serious typo. Who makes these things, and why haven't they been shot? Oops, violent thought. Must be from all that quake.

And why does the infamous blackspace at the bottom of the news page now have a NUMBER? What does it mean? Who put it there? If I collect them all, do I win a prize?

Yours truly,
gnfnrf

Ignore the number at the bottom. Its digits are meaningless. You will forget you ever saw them. Don't make me hurt you.

From: James Hall
Subject: quake 1 source released!

This has got to be the most exciting news I've heard in awhile. The Doom source release last year was pretty exciting, since I thought people might add level-over-level capabilities to Doom (but it never happened) but this recent release is verry exciting. I remember playing quake1 when I first got my p2 computer, slightly over two years ago, I played quake1 religiously every night, I even had dreams of rocket jumping and grenade bombing players on the internet.. I've seen some of the stuff that people have done with the quakec mods, I cannot wait to see what people do with the complete source.

someone could add new graphic options, like lens flares (hehe), I only wish I had some 'leet mad coding skills so I could exploit this! So I've been to www.doomworld.com who's going to be the person to open www.quake1world.com
:P

I have a few guesses...

From: Gilbert Giroux
Subject: Q3A addon pack?

Hey i don't know if this was already suggested or what but is ID planning to make an addon pack for q3 that has converted maps of all the levels in previous Quake games? If you would, please put this on your site to see if we can get them to do it. Thanks alot.

Adam Giroux
(THE MEATCLEAVER)

It's not completely impossible, but it is extremely unlikely that anyone at id will convert old maps to Q3A. Remakes from fans are inevitable, but id has always said that they prefer to move on with each project.

From: Mattd D
Subject: What do you do????

Hey,

A question that haunts all the minds of Blue readers across the world.

Mr Blue, Do you have a job and if so, what is it???

Just wondering

Sneak-E

During the day, Blue is a mild-mannered reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper...but at night, he dons his costume and prowls the city in his Blue Mobile.

From: Gemstone
Subject: I know you are busy... but

But I have one question.

I am a female gamer and have been playing Quake since the beginning of NetQuake. I moved (quite happily) onto Q2 and remained a faithful addict. I didn't play Q3Test because of problems I heard about. Now, I am at a crossroads. I don't want to dump $ on a game that doesn't play well, or have an enjoyment factor.

I haven't heard a positive thing about Q3 since it's release. I have only heard about problems, and the lacking quality in the game. I have tried to read different sites, get a general opinion from msg boards, but to no avail - everything seems negative.

I want to know a general opinion if Quake3 is worth buying, and if so why.. I just got UT and so far, I am greatly impressed. Any comparisons? or insight you can offer would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Gemstone
Gemmy{PRIME}

Well, simply put - of course it's worth getting. Whenever a major new release comes about, everyone focuses on the negatives. Heck, I may insult the Ultima IX to death because of its bugs, but that's still worth getting as well. :)

From: Martijn Zantinge
Subject: cant you

cant you guys talk about anything else the Q3? Its not like its the best game ever. UT is much better (dont get my wrong it isnt the wurst game either).

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the other side effect of a new game release. The few weeks surrounding the release of any major new title are filled with relentless news. When UT was released, people wanted to know why we didn't print more Quake III Arena news. And of course, the answer is simple: we print all the news - just after a major release, there's bound to be more news about that game.

Hey, who knows...in a month or so we could be getting mails wanting to know why we only talk about Daikatana, Messiah and Soldier of Fortune. :)

From: Christopher Crossen
Subject: ID Nicknames

The other day I jumped online to play a little Quake III Arena. Well I connected up to one of ID's servers and some dude named Mr. Elusive was kicking everyones ass.

Anyway, a couple of days later I found out that Mr. Elusive was none other than ID's very own Jan Paul. I felt quite honored to have played with one of the creators.

So I got to thinking, the next time I get on an ID server it would be nice to know if I was playing against any of the creators. So here is my challenge to Blue's News: Think you guys could find out all of the "handles" of all of the ID guys and post them on the site?

I also jumped on a server called "(ID)Donna's world" or something like that. There was only one female player on at that time, I can only speculate that it was Donna Jackson.

I play through a 56K connection (DSL isn't available in my area) and was wondering if when the ID guys play, they are playing through a LAN connection to the same server that we connect slow on.

Now I am a damn good player but Mr. Elusive just seemed move WAY to fast to be playing on a slow connection. At the end of most matches he had 20 frags when the second place player only had 12.

It kinda makes you think, skill will win you the match but when you are playing against seasoned veterens who have been playing deathmatch since the days of Doom, you've gotta have one hell of a good connection to win by that big of a lead.

Just my two cents,

Topher

Oh, sure why not. I can't name them all off the top of my head...but I can give you a few:

John Cash = Hellrot
Dave Kirsch = Zoid
Christian Antkow = Disruptor
Graeme Devine = Zaphod
John Carmack = Carmack

Just a quick warning - chances are if you see them online, it's someone else using their nick (especially on IRC, where appearances are extremely rare).

From: Mitkin
Subject: Sorry Im dumb

this is self explanatory. If you post that I am dumb in your news,
that would be amazing.

I'm amazed we don't get more requests like this. :)

From: Colin Kawakami
Subject: Just For The Record

I may have missed an update that explains this, but who is Frans? I have been seeing his byline next to updates for awhile, and the best guess i can come up with is Kevin Nealon in an overstuffed grey sweatsuit flexing his muscles over the keyboard while gazing lovingly at his desktop image of Arnold as Mr. Universe.

--colin

Frans is Frans de Vries, who joined our staff a little while back. He's a news animal. :)