Quakeweek
August 1, 1997


Archives

'Quake the Most Popular Mac Game Ever,' MacSoft Says

Unreal Ad Campaign Sparks New Controversy

Exclusive LAN Party for 'L33t' Gamers Only

MNM Creations Announces the SpouseBot

id Software Scraps Quake 2 Due to Copyright Violations

Quakeguy to Star in Upcoming Barney Episode

New Client-Side Bot Discovered in Quakeworld

Quake Website 'Pirated' From Former Host

Pauly Shore Joins id

Microsoft Announces MS Gun 98
TEN Launches 'Quakeworld-Crushing' Strategies


TEN LogoTHE INTERNET - The Total Entertainment Network announced today that it has set three new plans in motion to lure gamers away from free multiplayer networks.

"While we're very pleased with our userbase of more than 30,000 subscribers, we are by no means satisfied," said Mark Peterson, PR spokesperson for TEN. "Our new marketing strategies are sure to bring in even the most loyal Quakeworld and battle.net users."

The first of TEN's plans of action has been dubbed the 'Friends and Family' scheme, due to its similarity to MCI's marketing methods. TEN's F&F variant involves having salespeople join random Quakeworld, Diablo, and Warcraft games to tell other gamers about how much they can save on long-distance charges when they play on TEN instead of the Internet. Discounts are also offered to players who give them the e-mail addresses of five other gamers they know.

The second strategy involves setting up special displays in CompUSA branches across the nation. The displays feature performance comparisons of TEN's Quake client to Quakeworld, with operators proudly demonstrating how QuakeTEN with a 10Mbps connection runs up to 15 percent faster than Quakeworld with a 9600bps connection.

AFT LogoFinally, to further hype the upcoming All-Female Quake Tournament, TEN has decided to allow males to enter the contest as well. The change in the AFT's rules are expected to 'bring gamers in by the truckload.'

Though TEN subscribers fear that adding so many new customers to the service will cause bandwidth problems, the company reports that it has already addressed these concerns:

"There is no cause for alarm," assured Peterson. "We've added hundreds of Sun Sparcstations and Ultrasparcs to our network. Lack of bandwidth will not be a problem on TEN."