Finland drops some knowledge as Team Dignitas' sensational soldier goes under the spotlight
Tempus fugit! Those Romans weren’t half right. It’s been over a month since we first cajoled you in to cross-examining community champion, Rauli ‘Darn’ Savela. Ever the professional, Mr Savela answered every last question I sent his way and with even a day to spare before the Winter Assembly tournament got under way... and the rest I don’t quite remember.
The details aren’t important! No one cares about the exploits of James ‘Admirable’ McDonnell, it’s Rauli who’s name the people chant... even though I did once beat him in a round of Mid-Air Mod... I mean just saying like...
Good things come to those who wait, so you better fucking enjoy the magnificent discourses of Finland’s favourite son, but do bear in mind that he responded back at the start of February prior to Winter Assembly. Sorry, my bad!
Why doesnt it work to launch anymore? Fag scouts or gay defensive game style? (Sneis)
Everyone has gotten so much better that you should actually think before jumping. Scouts definitely play a big part in it, also every demoman has turned to how hymzi was in 2008-2009. You shoot your rocket in his head, take 100 damage from magic. Demoman goes flying with laughter whilst getting more HP midair, lands on your medic, plants his seeds, stickyjumps to your cp2 and triple gibs with 1 pipe which is the size of Texas. Pipe gibs are in no way impressive!
How do you keep interest in tf2 after playing it for so long? (historic)
The community and always when we disappear in inactivity a good tournament appears like a wild Pokémon. The competition also has picked up which has made the game much more interesting for us. I could see myself playing for a year or two if TF2 suddenly were introduced to big events.
Can going back to vanilla really better the game or will it take a full on competitive update for TF2 to make its players more enthusiastic about playing it again? (mrMENACE)
I’m not aware that people have gotten less enthusiastic? If you ask me I would say the scene is more enthusiastic than ever.
If you consider how much competition we have, all the tournaments that are being announced, coverage, etc. everything is bigger and better.
To support that fact we have gotten paranoid about cheats and started getting posts from 15 year old kids on forums and that’s something you get with numbers.
We have played with vanilla rules pretty much all the time and it’s the only way to play and introduce the game to outsiders.
Rauli tastes gold at Assembly 2009 (Picture: coolclan.eu)
Does Dignitas pay for your alcohol? (Extremer__)
I have tried to add it to my contract, still under negotiation.
Do you think shotgun is overrated in TF2? (hocz)
All the scouts tend to overrate it. Against any heavy classes its better than 70 ping rockets, situational of course… so yes/no :P
@ WASM 2010 u said next year will be awesome cus i will be 18, c u @ bar? (JackieBoy)
I might regret that.
Best album 2010? (Fanva)
Electric Wizard - Black Masses or Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons. Those are the only albums I’ve bought in 2010, in general all the releases today are bad and there is still so much stuff to find from the good days of rock n roll.
Would you make sweet love to dunc if he would suddenly start touching you at night @ your hotel room? Or has this already happened? Would you rather have Agron or Dunc touching you? (And I don’t mean the way medics touch soldiers, pure man 'o' man real life shit!) (iSEPPO)
You must understand when you travel the world together, man can get lonely… That said, I would take puny dunc.
Dont want to get dominated by agron, that image is bit too disturbing.
Have you taken steps towards realising your dream of becoming a novelist? What is it about writing that appeals to you? (JimmyBreeze)
Sadly no, will you take me as your student oh master of words, bringer of ABC? Writers are the rockstars of today; online bull is so overwhelming that you appreciate actual writing that much more. Taking a sip of whiskey, in a smoke filled room, lighting a new cigarette and a badass typewriter… Guess the drinking appeals me.
Is it tough to be the only giant-balled rockstar in the e-sports world of Asperger's suffering, basement-dwelling hoverhand nerds? (aDouglasHome)
All the events I have been only handful of them have been basement-dwellers, but I am just an attention whore. People seem to enjoy my shenanigans and I enjoy being drunk so it’s a good deal.
When you changed from scout to soldier back when Diggy first picked you up, what was the hardest aspect of playing soldier for you to get used to and why?
Which class do you enjoy most out of the two? (Oggy)
I started as a solly actually, but maybe the hardest part was the positioning which I’m still learning today. Where not be as a soldier and that’s pretty much 90% of the map.
Soldier when I hit something. Scout is not that much affected by ping and it makes it more enjoyable to play against 10 pingers. HI GEAR, EXFANE AND THE WHOLE UK!
Why didn't you win WASM 2011? (ViQun)
Power was not supposed to field vallone, it was against the rules! FUCKING ADMINS!1!
How to counter denial scouts that wait on you on top of granary crate? (cubeth)
Either demo to spam or scout to chase him away, not really anything you can do with a solly?
What’s your favourite hat?
and favourite memory from gaming, in and out of the game? (SkiddY)
Towering Pillar of Hats "A-ha-ha! You are as PRESUMPTUOUS as you are POOR and IRISH. Tarnish notte the majesty of my TOWER of HATS."
CPL Mindtrek 2002 comes to mind. Me singing "Den glider in" every time we got a round against SK-gaming and after they dispatched us Heaton did not shake my hand.
You have to ask some Finn or a Swede about that song. Got a lot of good memories from TF2 but time has not yet made them golden. Humm this was some semi-important game in an EuroCup against a better opponent and since it’s the only clip I have.
Best upcoming soldier? (WAR)
From DM abilities it’s the kid Mike, but after playing against him I’d say he still has few things to learn from us old hacks.
Haven’t been following lower divs that much but naMu has played quite well lately.
What do you think about Team Fortress 2 at Dreamhack? (Cure)
I know a thing or two about it, it’s close to becoming a reality.
Ship full of drunken Finns would attend and make it the craziest and most fun game to watch.
Hopefully it could lead to something.
When I read there was an: Ask Darn, on Cadred I said: ah-oh, is/was there a reason to be scared? (Smofo)
Every time I see you posting a YouTube link I get the same feeling.
TF2 cocks were tad bigger than CS ones.
Your dream team? (huhy)
I’ll try and make a proper team without picking the top fragger of each class, not including anyone from my team.
Soldiers: Punpu & Sneis. Both are very good being sneaky and aggressive, pocket soldiers are for yanks anyway.
Scouts: Cookye & Skinnie. Since soldiers being so aggressive, tad more defensive scouts and Cookye to snipe if needed.
Demoman: Would pick numlocked but him being English he would ruin the harmony in calls. So have to go with Thy since Extremer has gotten enough attention.
Medic: Byte to heal and call.
Darn surveys the crowd at i39 (Picture: coolclan.eu)
In your match against Epsilon (ETF2L Semi-finals) one person said that you are like Beckham, you had the "touch" but you've lost it. Do you think you are playing poorly in comparison to your teammates? (glongas)
It’s true I guess. I just go in a routine mode, keep doing the same stuff till the match ends. More of an attitude problem, not having enough interest in online games.
Got nothing to prove, not a title to defend. It’s not just me who has been playing far from his potential in our team, but Assembly around the corner hopefully we can bring the Dignitas back that people remember.
Team Dignitas hasn't really been winning any tournaments lately. Do you think that the other top teams are just better or is it Team Dignitas that is the problem?
Are you planning to start training more, or at least in a different way? Maybe planning try or try to invent something new?
Is everything Torden's fault, somehow? Everything. (nevah-efas)
I have a big list of excuses which we keep to ourselves.
We are still very even with the other top teams, like I said above I think it’s very much to do with our attitude towards the game.
The way TF2 is going at the moment I am hoping that assembly will give us the spark needed to have a successful 2011.
Obviously that means a bit more practice to get to a level where we can go inactive again.
We have been discussing few chances to our game already, had a nice routine to practice them with a good rate of success.
Have to see how it works and will it deliver gold at assembly. Torden’s fault, always.
What do you do in real life? (Evokje)
Rockstar without a band or an ability to produce anything you could even call music.
Going in between random schools and jobs which slowly but surely drain my soul. Till I finally give up and end up in McDonalds.
Do you play better at LAN or at home... do you think the atmosphere actually helps to motivate you or does it put you off?
Best LAN for you so far? (Foster_uk)
LAN and helps to motivate, I think we have a pretty good track record to back that up. Best LAN is either the first Assembly with TF2 or i40.
Why are there so many good players in Finland compared to other countries? (CommanderX)
Finnish players came from better games, not tfc :P Big part of success goes to reve for hosting hugely popular #gather.fi due to that Finnish community is very solid and gets to play against top players. In a perfect world all the other countries would have one also.
Agron said in the post-match questions of the ETF2L Bronze match that Dignitas had been playing like shit in the week before. Have you pinpointed the leaks? What process do you go through as a team to overcome these temporary dips in performance? (Admirable)
Confidence is the key man. I think we have pinpointed the problems and have been working to correct them.
Basically listened Mel Gibsons speech in Braveheart daily.
What do you think of the all aim no brain soldiers i.e. the soldiers that hang around on MGE and midair mod for 6 hours a day? (WAR)
Still waiting for one of them to come through and play in a prem team.
If you could improve the soldier class, what would you do? (WAR)
Without breaking the fine vanilla balance we have. Rockets to fire from middle of the screen, and a bit of added FOV.
Who do you find the hardest medic to kill 1v1? (n0vaaa)
1v1 all are easy do´h? Hardest medic to kill would either be F2 or kyynel when he is not emo.
Would implementing your weapon restriction proposals have made any difference to your below-average performances of late? (Crasp)
What weapon restriction proposal? I have been for vanilla since the day one. Argh I’ve been so bad, hope I’ll get better.
Do you think Dignitas will come back to form in 2011 and dominate, or do you expect a tough contest to remain a Top 4 team? (tikcus9666)
If we decide to go for it, I truly believe we can take the titles again. Dominate? Probably not, and hopefully tough contest remains.
More exciting games and better for spectators.
If you quit tf2 will you play any other completive game? (Sneis)
No. Too old, too cold.
Dignitas frag movie? (MxDaleth)
Many have tried and welcome to try again. Usually falls on not giving any ticks for the demos and generally being lazy.
Would love to have one if someone is up for the challenge to bug us every day, all day without responses.
In terms of deathmatch, who is the best Soldier in prem?
Same question but in terms of intelligence? (MxDaleth)
Tough one. I think Coinz is very solid when it comes to deathmatching. Hocz does good decisions usually, keeps the medic safe.
Who's your favourite player of all time in TF2? (Byte-me)
Mick.
What's your favourite alcoholic drink? (Byte-me)
Alcoholic drink.
What in YOUR opinion would be the best option for TF2 to be accepted globally? Or will it never be accepted? (with respect to HUGE LANs etc) (Byte-me)
There is only one way to do it, force TF2 to a big stage and show people why we are so enthusiastic about it and why it deserves a global acceptance as a serious competitive title.
I’d rather not speculate, but if given a chance I bet it would be an eye-opener for lot of people in the world of greyish shooters.
And lastly (an honest + serious answer please), who do you have the most respect for in this TF2 community for all the years you have been playing? (Byte-me)
I really can’t pick just one; the community has been so awesome. People pulling together, making things work.
Quadv, Vanillatf2.org, ETF2L, mentor progs, even nVc with his levelup, etc.
Having recently won an Asus 120hz Monitor at I41 (assuming you have received it) Do you believe this can now see people forget the old CRT days for good? (BBeettaa)
I am using this 120hz now just to look cool.
CRT still beats this but it’s not far off so I wouldn’t be sad if I were to see CRT screens to disappear.
Do you believe that the TF2 is continuing to grow and progress forward?
P.S. When can I expect a drink in return from you? (BBeettaa)
We are in a turning point it will either break through or start to wither.
We have all the basic stuff what a successful title needs, only thing missing is some big event to give us a chance to push the game forward.
Vallone upstages Darn at Assembly Winter 2011 (Picture: coolclan.eu)
How do you feel about the ETF2L playoff system? Do you think it’s fair that your performances later on in the season pushed Dignitas to 4th place after only finishing 1 point behind Epsilon before the playoffs? (Sparks)
I don’t blame the playoff system, it could have been done a lot better for sure.
They decided to use that format no can do, we got beat fair and square.
Olvi, Karhu or Karjala? Or do you drink reindeers piss? (Julmari)
Olvi gives me gas. I’d go for reindeer piss.
With your fame as an agro solly do you now find it harder these days to get picks by going agro, because people are expecting it? (ske7ch)
Today if a soldier doesn’t jump is unexpected so it does involve all the soldiers. Simple answer would be yes, but it doesn’t mean you still can’t be successful doing so, it just needs a different approach. In the olden days the dm abilities of teams were so much worse that pretty much everything worked you did. Now you have to be very sneaky and involve your teammates to it to work.
Why is there an increased number of boring games these days? As a spectator sport tf2 has always been great, but recently it seems that teams are too scared to take risks and it results in dull uber play-offs and slow play. (ske7ch)
This is a problem we saw long time ago, it’s a map specific but if TF2 goes big there is a definitely a need for an update or a rule change which would punish the attacking team after a while. Maybe something like if you have CP3 capped and you don’t use your uber in 2-3min it would start to disappear.
There are probably more efficient ways to deal with the problem but that’s just something from top of my head and actually it should be addressed now and dealt with.
What are your 2 favourite custom maps and how would you go about improving them for faster, more aggressive play styles? (ske7ch)
I’ve played only few but I liked snakewater and mainline. There’s one suggestion above but I would design the maps to favour the attacking team.
Do you think anyone in the premier division cheats? (Extremer__)
No, and if someone does I don’t really give a damn. There’s really nothing to gain from it, if someone is desperate enough to cheat to get 50 euros or a headset and ruin other players fun, go for it. I see it this way, since we aren’t getting big bucks from playing it’s just a game and fun, don’t want some program to play for me.
I wouldn’t want to go snowboarding just to sit on the damn board and finish the run my eyes closed.
Do you think the CBA attitude of most top teams is bad for the scene? (Extremer__)
I am not sure what CBA attitude you are referring to, but yes? :D It just comes after a while of downtime, offseason etc.
What do you think about the Golden Cap rules @ ETF2L regarding holding the middle after 10 minutes? (Koei)
There’s probably is a better solution for it, not a big fan.
Is it a must for a roaming soldier to bomb the enemy medic in every possible situation? (GeaR)
It’s part of my routine play, at least it speeds up the game instead of holding granary mid for 9min. Serious answer would be; no.
There is two things roaming should be always focusing. Either get all the attention on him, or at least most of it, make room for your team.
All the kills you get and damage you do is just a bonus. Second one is to be sneaky and get those picks, block flanks, etc.
What is your sensitivity? (Vazzan)
Uh 5-7cm/360.
What do you regard as your biggest achievement in TF2? (SoniXzR)
Beating hocz in ammomod. Guess only losing by few seconds to the best yank teams with a 100+ ping in the middle of night was pretty great.
They even forced us to play in Texas.
What can people do to help TF2 grow? (WAR)
Start streaming like StarCrafters, analyse, blog, spread the word. Power in numbers they say, so spectate and attend tournaments.
On the ETF2L forums you made a post saying that we should just play with cheaters and ignore the arguments around them. Do you think that teams would play in a league that has no anti-cheat system and doesn't ban anyone? (9mSnowiE)
Obviously it’s not that black and white. What I mean by that it’s the paranoia which is bad for the scene.
I remember when I was a young kid everyone was polite and friendly in Counter-Strike. First cheater arrives and suddenly the player who got lucky or is better than you is a cheater.
Creating this bad atmosphere where kids can’t accept defeat and instead of admiring someone playing good they download cheats to get that fucker.
The witch hunt TF2 has going at the moment just because of few guys is just mind-numbing. I’m afraid that the same thing will happen and we will get a big flow of actual cheaters just because people keep feeding the troll if that made any sense.
Do you think that one of the reasons Dignitas has fallen behind some of the other teams is that you never seem to off-class anymore? Do you think that the surprise of Epsilon dropping a soldier for a spy halfway through rounds has been key to their success and something that other clans will try and replicate? (9mSnowiE)
We do off-class now and then, it’s just the success rate Epsilon does with spy people think it’s a good choice.
It hinders your team shitloads if you fail, guess we just baaaad at spy checking.
Off-classing in general, we are a push-happy team so when you throw in a pyro/heavy to defend last, it delays your counter-attacks.
Who would you pick for the UK national TF2 team? (9mSnowiE)
Byte, numlocked, fisshu, shintaz. Mike & Fragga better win with that one.
Why do Dignitas rarely use Kritzkrieg? (9mSnowiE)
We are so bad with it, we give agron the choice. It really doesn’t matter for us in the end.
Which map(s) would you like to see taken out of regular league play? Which map(s) would you like to see added to regular league play? (9mSnowiE)
Freight is horrible. I’m bit so-so about Obscure, have to see how the new changes Byte has done work. I’d give Snakewater a chance.
Do you think it's better to have a clan of largely self-sufficient players such as Dignitas (where players ryb can survive on their own without requiring masses of heals), or a clan with very heavily specified pocket classes that deal most of the damage, such as PwR with their two soldiers or Epsilon with Extremer? (9mSnowiE)
In an ideal play pocketing is not the best choice in my opinion. Whole team getting healed needs more teamplay to work, but when you get all the pieces to hit in the right place it will shit over pockets. That’s not to say pocketing is a bad option, its way more safer.
A mutual respect - Darn & cube at i40 (Picture: Multiplay)
Are you still confident that European clans would smash US clans on LAN? (9mSnowiE)
Have not seen them play nor played them in an even server.
I’ll say yes simply based on the activity, they have 3 teams playing whilst EU is filled with competition and players.
Like Icelanders saying they have the best soccer team in the world and will destroy premiership, you never know maybe they do?
Does anyone in Dignitas rage when losing, or do you have players that go into silent mode to express their frustration? (9mSnowiE)
Just me.
What music do you listen to when warming up for a game? (9mSnowiE)
Sadistik Exekution.
Best and worst memories of a match you've played online and offline? (agron)
Best game online/offline: Finland vs Sweden nations cup game. Dig vs Power i-series Grand Final.
Worst memories you yelling "push!" and then I only see a glimpse of you running in with an Ubersaw.
Who SHOULD be team Finland? (CommanderX)
I’d give the newcomers a shot, rather than having Power & Dignitas mix. Let’s keep it a secret so for the next nation’s cup it will be a surprise.
Can you imagine life without TF2? Is it a life worth living? (JimmyBreeze)
I wish Sega Megadrive would have been the last gaming platform ever invented. Would be a professional something else instead of a gamer :P
Do you have real life friends playing TF2 too, do they play other games, or no games at all? Ever fucked a girl because you said you make money playing videogames? (ViQun)
Maybe only one if you don’t count the people I have met through TF2. I rather do other stuff than talk about gaming with my friends.
Works every time, try it.
What do you think about ac team on ETF2L; is it enough to catch cheaters, or should we have some anti-cheat program like on ESEA and ESL? (Blondie)
I went into detail about my opinions about cheating above and I don’t think anti-cheat programs are necessary. I have seen em all and not one of them has been successful.
Have you tested the new turbine_pro and should it be included on ETF2L S9 map pool? (Blondie)
No I have not. Seen the screens and it looks good. Also heard good feedback, I’d be willing to play it in S9.
Favourite team to play against? (Evokje)
Power Gaming, they kinda share the same mentality as us how the game should be played. Wish they could finish their praccs thou :D
If you had to replace one of your teammates with someone else, who would you replace and who would you replace them with, and why? (antyy)
Ryb for not playing more than a 1 hour a week.
Rebeli for yelling help me on cp1 while we are capping cp3.
Bybben same as ryb.
Me for being Beckham, unacceptable.
Agron for getting more kills than me.
Would not let anyone else tarnish the diggy name so haza to carry.
How do you feel your team will perform at WASM, do you have any new strategies that you have been saving for the event, or will you be running your tried and tested strats, including your epic Gravelpit tactic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HtuV2K8E7w) (If these are answered before WASM) (Greg-)
We are aiming to be in the Grand Final and as always hoping it be a great game, not caring who wins.
We do have few new tricks to use which we are eager to try.
If the camera is still in our possession I’m hoping agron will do a new tactic, he has had a lot of good ones lately actually.
"Let’s take kritz, no one goes mid. Wait till they are capping. I will ask them something, and while they are typing we strike!" being one of them.
Might have ruined our Assembly by telling you this...
There has been a rumour of another Nations Cup being run by ETF2L, do you enjoy this style of event?
How do you think the teams should be picked? Do you think the teams should be limited to 3 people per comp team, or should it literally be the best players available, so that way BB and Mister can play their full teams?
Do you think Finland should be allowed to field 2 teams, as they easily have the numbers and could make an all Finland final? (Greg-)
Yes nation cup has been a great and successful event every time; I enjoy playing them and it seems spectators like them too.
It definitely should be limited, bb/mister fielding full teams negates the point of nations cup. Should be a place to see up and coming players.
Could probably field even more teams but one should be enough.
What other events are Dignitas as a team looking to attend? (Greg-)
Of course we would love to attend maXlan, i-series, etc. but nothing is decided.
Is "Team Dignitas VBLOG" making comeback to WASM? (Blondie)
I hope so, got agron back and he is far more interesting than dunc in front of the camera.
Would you quit TF2 is ETF2L forced some of the new unlocks onto the premier division? And do you not think that teams that do quit, will just be replaced with new teams that are open to changes? (WAR)
ETF2L needs the top teams more than the top teams need ETF2L.
If everything goes as planned vanilla will be introduced to the premier division. I am willing to drop from the league if a "strike" happens.
The unlocks has been discussed so many times, it’s not about being open to changes.
It’s about balance, and simplicity how to present our game to an outsider spectating.
I have made my point more than once, which is vanilla better fokin happen or else... (shakes fist) :D
Originally published on Cadred.org on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:11:35 +0000 by James J. McDonnell.
Archived from You Asked Darn as part of tf2esports.com's preservation of Cadred.org's TF2 coverage. All rights remain with the original author and Cadred.org; reposted for historical reference.