DetonatoR: Hey Chance! Thanks for taking the time out to do this interview with us. Could you please introduce yourself for our readers?

Chance: Hello, I'm Chance Lacina, I'm 26 years old, and I live in Iowa. I'm being interviewed today because I've played Quake at the highest level for the last 5 years. I play for the multigaming megateam known only as Evil Geniuses.

DetonatoR: So, tell us a little about what you've been up to these days with Quake.

Chance: Well, I just got back from an MSI shootout in Colombia with my teammate Sabian "clampOK" Hayblum. I had a really great time working with MSI and playing with all of the nicest people on earth. I discovered there's a great market there for competitive gaming and lots of enthusiasm for technology in general.

Before that, I played in the EG masters cup and placed something like 4th. Before that, I qualified and competed for the Electronic Sports League world finals in Germany.

Since this morning I've been writing up a much abated new Quake article.

DetonatoR: Can we expect a new Quake Bible then?

Chance: Haha, if I recall correctly, you were the one that titled it that. It'll be much shorter, and much cleaner than that, but yes, in essense, a new Quake guide.

DetonatoR: The ESL just announced recently its expansion into America with the National ESL. What did you think about this when you first learned of it?

Chance: I'm thrilled about it. I've been developing my game and I cannot wait to compete. Of course thats my standard mental state, but when announcements like this happen I get especially excited at the chance to test my skills in a tournament setting :D (Especially from ESL!)

Since they launched, they've proved themselves to me as the best Quake League I've ever had the pleasure of competing in. The fact that the first qualifier is in Iowa is an added bonus. By sheer coincidence, I planned to move in with my cousin to Ottumwa this summer, then I heard about the Big Bang 2010 and the potential for a QuakeLive tournament in the very same town.

Should be pretty awesome. I'll have clamp, destrukt, and dahang staying with me during the event :) Sabian is gonna fly in early and practice with me for a few weeks prior, then Quakecon is right after the Big Bang.

DetonatoR: As a player who has played in a tremendous amount of tournaments yourself, what are you expecting out of this announcement?

Chance: I'm expecting a format that enables the best players to compete comfortably and produce the most exciting matches. I'm very confident it will deliver. Personally, I want to reach new heights as a player. I want to find a way to win every event I participate in.

DetonatoR: We all know that eSports is booming on the other side of the world, but with ESL getting more involved in America, how do you think this will affect eSports on our side?

Chance: I'm not sure what they're planning, but I hope that whatever they do they can get as many players involved as possible. If they offer up some strong incentives, the players will come, no doubt. There's a new era of Quake coming, provided that the scene can stay healthy enough to nurture it's rising stars. I think there should be a strong ranking system in place to keep players moving upward.

The best thing I think ESL could do is emulate the Korean Starcraft scene or the International Go scene. Their business models are like perfectly designed, well oiled, competition generating machines. They're produce interest at every level of the game. They take the hardest and most inaccessible of the hardcore games and crack open the mainstream like an fragile egg. It's really pretty incredible.

Competition is rife in every culture in the world. It's part of human nature. USA was founded in part on that idea. In my eyes, it's certainly not a cultural aversion or economic weakness that leads to the failure of Esports leagues in America, it's just a failure to recognize and understand the demands of supporting such a community.

DetonatoR: A lot of activity in the Quake scene has been from online leagues showing up. How would you see the scene as a whole progressing in terms of leagues and events? What would have to be done for Quake to sort of get back to its glory days, as many would say?

Chance: I think its glory days are a weak ambition. Sure there was a lot of money up for grabs, but how much far were we reaching in terms of sustainability? Not far, obviously. Thats why we're sitting where we are 10 years after Quake3 exploded onto the scene. QuakeLive is a huge step in the right direction in terms of the design and accessibility of the game, but we still need more support from ID like Blizzard is doing for Starcraft 2. What would have to be done is ID would have to put a healthy emphasis on ranking, matchmaking, replays, and stats, and begin working with all of the popular leagues to help establish QuakeLive as the premiere professional FPS game.

The leagues in turn have to follow a sustainable business model along the lines that I just mentioned in the last question. Copy, paste, and modify the Korean Starcraft, and Japanese Go pro scene models.

DetonatoR: Alright, thanks for the quick interview Chance. Any last words or shoutouts?

Chance: I just wanted to thank all of the sponsors of Evil Geniuses including Intel, MSI Notebook, Kingston HyperX, Bigfoot Networks, and GIGABYTE Motherboard/VGA for all of their support! Thanks for the interview <3