Talking to son, BANG!

Q. Tell me a little about yourself son, name, age, location, etc...

I just turned 28 years old, and I live in Amish Country, Pennsylvania. Just call me son ;)

Q. What sort of things do you like to do for fun outside of gaming?

My go-to has always been gaming, and I even managed to find an hour here, or there, when I would work crazy hours (80+ per week). But outside of gaming I enjoy hiking, sightseeing, and traveling.

Q. How did you get your alias?

It derived from my first Urban Terror alias which was "[+]SnIpEr_GuRu[+]," as at one point I may have been more fond of sniping than I am now, my memory of that time is fuzzy. That name turned into Son_Guru which was meant to reference the Japanese honorific "san-" but I fucked that up. I eventually dropped the "guru" part after some time as I realized the best first-person shooter players tended to have three letters to their name. The "!" I stole from a long time buddy of mine (Clan DOGGUS mike) in order to pay homage his greatness. So that gives son! which is my main alias I have used since like 2002-03. That turned into sonBANG (! also is called a bang) as twitch.tv does not allow special characters in your username.

Q. Tell me a about your gaming background, how did you start with online video games, what games have you been you been competitive, how long have you been competing for, and what are some of your personal accomplishments?

I started with online games back in 1997 with Ultima Online. I'm pretty sure I was playing the beta with my brother, which I played way too much, up to the release of EverQuest, and Unreal Tournament. I didn't play much of Unreal Tournament but rather I played Nerf Arena Blast, a first-person shooter based on the Unreal Engine 1, which was really my introduction to genre. It was an arena shooter with strictly FFA-like game modes which made quite the impression on me, and to this day I prefer the spastic style of play you find in FFA. I didn't start competing until I started playing Urban Terror, which I played on and off from like 2001, until 2004. If someone were to recognize me it'd probably be from my time competing in Urban Terror, during which, I played for some of the best teams that game has had. We won some championships and forfeited as many, or rather we were forfeited. During one particular championship I remember my teammates all changed their alias to match mine, and the admin, who happened to be a player on the team we were competing against, didn't approve, so he forfeited us, and then banned us from future competitions, despite me not changing my alias. Good times. After Urban Terror I played in a couple leagues for a season in Call of Duty, with the guys from Urban Terror (Team Ataraxia!) who quickly lost interest in it. I didn't compete much after that, I played a little bit of Challenge Promode, and Quake 4.... I entered the odd tourament here and there for Challenge Promode, and played a season in the Global Gaming League for Quake 4, but mostly I just casually played whatever flavour of the month first-person shooter was out at the time, until Team Fortress 2 where I played with zero five zero. We did part of a season of CEVO which we did okay in, but apparently not good enough as people wanted to play Call of Duty instead, so the Team Fortress 2 squad dissolved. After that I didn't compete anymore as I focused on my undergraduate degree, and then graduate school for the next eight years, I still gamed, casually playing Battlefield, Planetside 2, Team Fortress 2.

Q. Of the games that you have played competitively, which one has been your favourite?

Of those games, I enjoyed competing in Urban Terror the most as it was the one I was the best at, but from a team-play perspective it's hard to beat Call of Duty. That game had the best competition of any shooter I've tried to compete in, and asked for the most out of your team.


Q. I have seen you compete in duel games like Challenge Promode, and Reflex, as well as team-oriented games like Dirty Bomb, which of game-modes gives you greater satisfaction, and why?

I've never really been a duel player. If you were to add-up all the time I've spent playing first person shooters, I've probably only spent around 100 hours dueling. I've always preferred team games for the reason that you can be in a position where you can make team-mates look better than they are by performing very well, or put another way, your teammates typically do the best they can to make you look bad, and the only way to not let them get away with it is by making plays ;). But really, I was always drawn to team games mostly by the social aspect of it, as I made buddies through team games and decided to continue playing with them. I would rather not cut out the friendly back and forth banter/flame you get with teammates, with the friendly back, and forth excuses/whine you get in duel. But on a strictly mechanical level (movement, and weapons), the duel games I played win out by a mile. They are the closest thing to a complete first person shooter for me in that they demand the most in terms of syncing thinking, movement, and aim. The bullshit is also minimal as the mechanics are extremely reproducible, so things like how a weapon behaves, or what movements you can perform are minimally context-dependent as opposed to most team shooters, where shooting is typically stance-dependent, or movement can be penalized with additional RNG elements.


Q. Speaking of Dirty Bomb, what attracted you to the game? What are the things you like about the current game, and what are some things you are looking forward to?

Dirty Bomb is the first non-indie game that has come out in long time that plays, in some way, like the games I used to play in early 2000's, where both the high time-to-kill, and high move speed, and acceleration, rewards good movement over good aim. So initially I was drawn to it because it was pleasing to move around in, and frag in. I like the depth in the loadout, and merc system, which leaves lots of theory crafting/experimentation with respect to determining how to best utilize my teammates in their roles for each map and objective, especially with the additional constraint of three mercs/loadouts per map. As for what I look forward to? If it's okay to look forward to a fantasy... It would be that this game embraces the 5v5 Stopwatch game mode, and that mercs are balanced around it. That the necessary TLC is put into competitive match-making to ensure the games are actually competitive i.e. that players know the objective with sensible loadouts, AND are not cheating. So I look forward to a day where only three out of ten games are spoiled by spawn camping, and cheaters, rather than the eight or so we have now.

Q. From what I have seen, you play a lot of Fragger. What is about your play-style that sets you apart from the other Fraggers? Any tips, or secrets, you'd like to share with some of the newer players?

I actually don't like Fragger, I'd rather be playing something faster, and something that isn't as medic-dependent, at least in the way we decided to play Fragger. But considering the multiple versions of our team, it has always performed best with me as Fragger and kudochop as a medic, so we'll stick to that for now. My style of Fragger was mostly based on the revive mechanic we saw prior to the Sparks patch: I adjusted my play-style to be a very aggressive because I trusted that kudochop could dive in for a revive, and give us an opportunity to pull off a good revive train. That style won't work now with the repeated nerfs to revives so we'll have to adjust, which means less paddle time for kudochop, which helps the team, but now I need to re-learn how to play 5v5, which hurts the team.

In general though, what sets good Fragger apart from poor Fraggers are their use of nades. There are also things about positioning, and timing, but that's higher-order. If you can't nade, then you can't Fragger. A tip for new players is to never throw out an un-primed grenade, always prime it to explode exactly where you want it to explode, accounting for whether it bounces off a wall or is an air-burst. After you learn to prime then you can dick around cheesing with un-primed grenades.


Q. Excluding Fragger, who is your favourite merc, and what about them do you enjoy?

Fletcher, as he plays the most like Fragger without the baggage of a medic, and the slow move speed. Unfortunately the lack of single-nade gibs make it so that he can't completely replace Fragger.

Q. You're currently playing for team zero five zero, arguably the best team in North America, and one of the best in the world. How did that come about? What separates you guys from the other North American teams? How are things going there?

I've known members of zfz since my days in Urban Terror, but only played on a team with them in 2007 for Team Fortress 2. After that though, I had little contact with them as I was neck deep in research, and had no time for awesome internet friends. I only became 're-introduced' to them through Planetside 2 when I happened stumble onto kudochop's stream. For those who don't know, kudochop was an extremely passionate Planetside 2 player and streamer, he accomplished several rare feats in-game which I doubt anyone will reproduce due to absolute lack of want. Some people may consider what he did the equivalent of walking into a playground a grown-ass man assailing toddlers, and while true, he did it fairly, only occasionally using a tank. Anyway, I never played with kudochop before but I respected his game because we were in a similar position early in Call of Duty, where our five nearly comatose team-mates (actually my team was full veggie) relied on us to carry them. I wasn't a shoe-in based on our past though, I wasn't even invited to join the zfz outfit in Planetside 2, so I just played public games with them during alpha/beta of Dirty Bomb, and after what must have been a lot of talking shit about me behind my back, kev promised me some donuts, and said tag up, so I did. I have now become un-choppable despite my many throws due to what I assume is a form of battered woman syndrome.

Not sure what sets us apart, probably because we bitch at each other to not do stupid things, and what we identify as stupid is actually stupid, and not a red-herring, so we quickly correct ourselves for the better. As for the current state of zfz... we just wait for competition that fits our schedule. We'll be inactive, and forever roster shuffling until then.

Q. Speaking of the other North American teams, which teams do you think are the biggest threat to zero five zero currently, and which teams do you foresee being a threat to you guys in the future?

I don't know much about the North American scene as it has been inactive since DirtyCups.gg wrapped up.

Q. Now, the latest patch brought in a new merc, Phantom, and the community as a whole seemed to have a very negative reaction to it. A recent poll on the official Dirty Bomb forums indicate that 90% of respondents thought the character required a heavy or major nerf. What are your thoughts on the merc? Do you see Phantom as a competitively viable merc? Why, or why not?

So in competition I think Phantom would take the place of a Nader, or fire support like Kira, or Skyhammer. He might be able to take the spot of a Nader if someone is particularly effective at killing with bullets, but less so with grenades. Generally Nader is going to have more utility as she can quickly take out generators, as well as make space on the map.

In some situations, where you don't need the ammo, so more often attacker-side on some objectives, you could swap him in for a fire support for greater killing potential. He should see some play though, but he just won't be a bread-and-butter merc like Fragger, Sawbones, Skyhammer, and Vassili.

The melee I don't expect will be too strong, you can easily get a pick, but it will likely just turn into a trade, which is often not favourable for a 'fragging' merc.

Q. Many players have suggested that regardless of balance, an invisible, shielded, melee merc, is just "not-fun" in a fast-paced, competitive first person shooter? How would you respond to that, and if you could play devil's advocate, how would you respond to yourself?

I would say pay better attention to what makes the merc un-fun. Shields, and invisibility aren't inherently broken, and un-fun. If designed well it could be perfectly fine, and the spy from Team Fortress 2 is one example. The problem with Phantom is the synergy between the very low skill, high damage, melee (both primary fire and alt. fire), and the invisibility plus shield ability that lets him get in melee range. It's near impossible to dodge his melee attack due to its frame time, and range, you can even walljump over a Phantom's head, as he strikes, and he still get the hit as he swings 180 degrees, which means simpler strafe-dodging just won't work. It's similar to Vassili in that there is no good play that prevents you from getting gibbed out, but I guess that's the nature of super high damage, hit-scan weapons, except with Phantom it is much easier to pull off, and it occurs in melee range. Counter-point could be that the Phantom in melee range is meant to play less like in a first-person shooter, and more like a MOBA, in that you click to spend a high damage ability without needing to worry much about aim, and there are plenty of other abilities like that in this game, so it fits.

Another aspect of the game which was changed with the most recent patch, was how the "aim punch" mechanic works. This image shows that aim-punch works over a shorter period of time, making the effect more pronounced. What do you think of aim-punch? Do you think it has a place in Dirty Bomb? Why or why not? Do you think the most recent change was beneficial, or harmful? How would you like it to behave?

I think the patch notes just made people aware of it, rather than the flinch changes technically effecting the outcome of fights. I think it does have a limited place in Dirty Bomb, for scoped weapons, and weapons in aim-down-sights (ADS), but not in hipfire. Reason being is that ADS would likely be overpowered with better iron-sights, as the move-speed reduction isn't a drawback when you can jump around for mobility/dodging, and at the same time retain perfect accuracy for near max ranged-damage-per-second (limited by the random recoil/view kicks).

In hipfire you're battling the random spread of the auto which is controlled only by not firing to let the cone settle, taking you even further from max ranged damage-per-second. As for scoped weapons, the reason is pretty clear; if you're landing shots on a sniper, especially head-shots, he should need a miracle to get his cross-hair on you for a hit. Sniper should not rambo, and be on the front-line tanking shots, and dishing out instagibs, which is how he is frequently used. A good sniper should be good because of their reaction time, and positioning, not because he can spam land 50% of his shots, with 50% of them being head shots, at a high rate of fire.

In hipfire the flinch is not as significant as it was in CS:GO, or Planet Side 2, so it's not a huge reward for he-who-clicks-first, but it does add an element of randomness to each engagement which takes away from the affability of the gun play. So my opinion is that it has a net-negative effect, but not so much that it ruins each engagement. Whether or not to keep it depends on how much some people value the aesthetics of it because it doesn't really add to the mechanics.


Q. Where do you see Dirty Bomb in one, two, and five years? Do you think it has "the stuff" to carve out a space for itself in a competitive e-sports community?

From the competitive side, its success a year from now largely depends on how quickly the community can get involved in making the game (merc balancing, maps, spectator mode, etc...), private server solutions, and which leagues decide to get involved, which at this point would be out of charity.

The pace of progress that we've seen since closed/open beta leaves me with low expectations, especially considering similar titles by similarly strong studios, such as Overwatch, and Bluestreak, are coming in the next year, or two.

The casual side of things does not look good either given the current state of the game is not good for experienced players. The public games are only good for reminding yourself how to aim, and dodge, and the competitive match-making is more often than not, non-competitive. At the moment this game is only worth playing if I'm playing with my team, which boils down to playing organized 5v5 Stopwatch that is competitive, where players know the objective, have sensible loadouts, and are very likely not cheating. It's in this sort of environment where this game shines but unfortunately it's an experience you rarely get outside of pick-up game, and organized league play. So again, considering pace that issues get addressed, and the titles that will be here in the not-so-distant future my expectations for Dirty Bomb's future are low.


Q. There are still a few mercs that are not released, which one are you looking forward to the most?

Redeye will be hilariously broken if he's like he how was in alpha, so that should be fun to play for some time.

Q. Any last shout-outs?

Shoutout to my Twitch channel, my YouTube channel, zerofivezero, and to Reflex because Play More Reflex!

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Links: Official Dirty Bomb Website