Desko, reporting in

[Desko]

Hey guys.

I know it's been awhile, again. I had a brief reindoctrination to the community probably approaching a year ago now. I wanted to let you guys know that even though I don't game with you much anymore, I still think about you all the time.

I can't count how many times I find myself telling stories about, "that clan that I used to play Unreal Tournament with" to all the gaming companions I've had over the years. I got the feeling that most of them felt like I was talking their ear off, but despite this, I couldn't stop myself from fondly reminiscing about the community that I still consider to be the best that I've ever gamed with.

The roster of Death Warrant, which I took time to catalogue during each of my resurrections, has undergone a steady, inexorable transformation. Browsing the forums, I am beginning to notice that the names that I recognize are registered in distinct minority. Despite this, or perhaps necessitated by this, I'd like to take a moment to give a shout-out to the Death Warrant of my teenage years.

KarmaKat - You were almost a maternal figure for me. Your presence made a compelling argument against nature and her untenable theory of Bad Days. It was impossible not to have a good time when you were in the room. I created an objective out of supporting you and Cheapshot in Spam Vikings and Monster Mash, and although I rarely saw you in Infamous, you were startlingly adept at using the rocket launcher. And by startlingly adept, I mean I can count several occasions where I literally jumped a foot in the air after getting Freon'd by your rockets from out of the blue.

Cheapshot - You somehow managed to demolish my image of authority. You were such an amiable guy, yet, nobody even thought of taking advantage of you. I feel like I respected you more than my own parents, and for more than just the reason that my parents are not cool enough to play Unreal Tournament, let alone consistently outperform me and most of the other regulars in Spam Vikings, Monster Mash and Infamous.

ACY - What a TEAMMATE. In Monster Mash, you were the guy to look out for if we hit a rough wave in SpaceJunk or Kotam. Back when wave 7 Warlords could fry anybody in a matter of seconds, and it looked like "The Invasion" would "Continues..." you were always like, "It's cool guys. I got this" like some kind of madwicked superhero. I always experienced a little surge of satisfaction when I was the one to give you an energy weapon. I miss mashing with you for sure.

Wraith - It always surprised me how diligent you were in your goal to improve Monster Mash. When it's me, I can't stick with a project for any duration, and I end up goofing-off until even the simplest objective turns into a crisis. Because of this, I had IMMENSE respect for you.

Nutcracker - You were always a force of personality to be reckoned with. You were energetic as a person, and it manifested itself beautifully in game, as you were always ricocheting around the map, racking up kills with your Mine Layer. Speaking of Mine Layers, I'd like to register a formal apology, although I don't know whether you're even around to read it. Years ago, when I unconsciously hurt your feelings by remarking on your pronunciation of the weapon in question. I had no foreknowledge that my actions would provoke such a hurt response, and I felt extremely guilty afterward. I regretted deeply that I never got a chance to apologize to you. I'm sorry, Nutcracker.

Snaggle and Wail - My apologies if you guys feel like I'm giving you short shrift by condensing you into one paragraph. I didn't know either of you personally well enough to give an account of our relationship. All I can say about you two is that when I was aspiring to the computer science field, it was really inspiring to see how both of you could take a critical approach to the weak areas of the RPG system and implement your own ideas in ways that could be tangibly experienced by dozens of players.

ChocoCake - If there's one thing that I can say about you, it's that the maps you made captured my interest for far longer than I can say for most maps. There's one puzzle at the back of my mind, wasn't it... a binary string that decoded into hexadecimal values which revealed a color sequence which corresponded to buttons on the map which you pressed in order to unlock a secret room that held a super redeemer? Something like that. I know you played it off as a casual hint, but be honest, how long did you spend working on that puzzle for us?

Hornet and Badr - You two were terrifying opponents in TAM, and I won't deceive you by trying to say that I wasn't more than a little intimidated by you both personally. I saw you two do things with a Shock Rifle that were, frankly, more impressive to me than any exhibition of athleticism that modern culture has to offer, and watching you two play was what inspired me to take a more active interest in TAM.

Bomzin - You always struck me as a bit of a renegade. I seem to recall that your Monster Mash character was an adrenaline master, yet, as far as I remember, I rarely if ever saw you with an Energy weapon. Despite this, you always seemed to manage in the middle of the action, and consistently dominate the scoreboards. You were also pretty crafty in TAM, and my most common memory of playing with you was trying to chase you down when you would mysteriously end up above me...

Damnidge, Ifondlesweaters and Pixie - The Infamous crew, so to speak. Activity on Infamous could hardly be called consistent, but you three were certainly my most consistent adversaries (and teammates) on that server. And Damnidge, although I got the feeling that I got on your nerves more often than I would have hoped (certainly more often than I intended,) I still greatly enjoyed all the time I spent gaming with you, and Fondles, and Pixie.

Toxic Waste - I don't have much to say, given that I rarely got to see you in game, but I can tell you and everyone that you are every bit as important to me as the other clan members, because you are directly responsible for manufacturing such a magnificent assemblage of individuals as Death Warrant. I am grateful to you beyond words.

Honorable mentions: they weren't actually IN Death Warrant, but I feel like I should bring up Kabuki and Rob. Kabuki was far and away the most entertaining individual that I ever had the pleasure of Mashing Monsters with. The infamous temper which I found so delightful got him a bit of flak from the community, which he responded to with some thoughtful, if angry, prose, that found its way into my principles, and has yet to be dislodged.

Rob was a highly skilled player, and managed to teach me more about TAM than my dignity was willing to acknowledge that I learned at the time. Without his direction, I probably never would have learned why I constantly found myself under Hornet's crosshairs and never found him under mine... He was also responsible for the Monster Mash wiki, which was a brilliant idea that I had a lot of fun working on with the rest of the community.

At any rate, I've been doing well, in my absence. I recently moved out of my parents house, and I'm going on 21 years old, (I think Damnidge always suspected me of being like, 14 or something, but I actually wasn't lying about my age.) Now that I'm settled in at my new location, I'm thinking about re-installing UT2004, though these days I've been occupying my time with a MOBA called League of Legends (the spiritual successor to DOTA,) and a smattering of other video games, notably the Guilty Gear/BlazBlue series, which I have taken quite an interest in. I am not attending college at the moment, as I have been occupied with the wanderlust that accompanied vacating the residence of my parents, but I fully intend to finish once I've determined where, exactly, I want to end up.

I hope you guys have been doing well in your corner of the internet. If anyone could give me some indication of who is still active from my high school years, that would be great. My interest in Call of Duty diminished significantly after Modern Warfare, but I would be honored to play with you guys again, when I can find time.

Regards,
Desko

[DW_Bomzin]

Hey Desko nice post.

Most are actually still around or atleast poke their head in from time to time.

Who's this Badr you speak of btw ? :geek:

[Desko]

That was your alternate name, wasn't it? That was always my suspicion, but I didn't actually talk to you all that much, haha. Sorry, man.

[DW_Bomzin]

I think someone is on to me!

[DW_BrainPan]

Hey Desko, our paths seemed to cross more often in forum debates than on the servers, but they were enjoyable debates. Glad you stopped by to check in and update.

...seeing your sig (and if I am remembering correctly)...

Was said "lung equipped creature" perhaps submersed in a liquid to extinguish the flames that some "unnamed" individual may or may not have inadvertently (but quite probably knowingly) immersed them in in a cross-entangled proverbial attempt to keep said creature "warm for the rest of it's life"?

Just wondering.

-BP

[DW_Damaged]

Desko,

Nice post and very kind words regarding members of the community.

As for that BADR character I think he hax :sbigsmile:

[DW_KarmaKat]

I am..... MomKat!!! :sgiggle:

Desko!!! Most excellent to hear from you again, my friend! Delightful to see that you're out in the wide, wide world...tho' that can often be frought with perils...it's exciting, yes?

We're still whomping stuff in UT: monsters, people, vehicles...all the usual mayhem! There's been some divergence...TF2, L4D, Black Ops, Guild Wars...since your last appearance but nearly everyone's here at one time or another. Ventrilo, however, is waiting for YOU! ;)

And yeah...that Badr guy hacks...oh and you can add that Ant fellow to the list too! Single digit pings in Infamous will leave you chillin' your heels. :srofl:

By the way...UT runs beautifully on any computer that's not an oversized paperweight! Reinstall!!!!

Hope to see/hear you soon!

KKat

[DW_FrankyTheFly]

Glad your back Desko! I've been doing my homework to keep MM alive and reform a new TAM Team :P. Come see us there if you wish, Both MM server lack good player and we haven't succeed in winning the hardest map ever made by Ant called DM-AbsoluteHell (a master piece hehe).

[DW_Ant]

Hey Desko.

A pleasure to see you around again. Lately I've been recovering from school. Now that it's over, you'll find me more active around here.

[DW_ChocoCake]

Hi Desko,

It's good to see you around again! I think the last time I saw you on the DW servers was like 3 or 4 years ago... it's been so long. I hope you find some time to play some UT again.