FMI: Episode 1 (feat. Maddude)
Posted: March 27th, 2015, 10:47 pmHello everyone! I am gado, FM's new interviewer, and this is the first episode of my new segment here on the forums, FMI (Feed Me Interviews).
My guest this week is none other than, Maddude! Co-founder of Feed Me Haxball, two-time Feed Me Haxball League Division 1 champion, one-time Feed Me Haxball League Division 2 champion, and player in the national team for United Kingdom.
In this episode he talked about his background in Haxball, the Feed Me Haxball league, and his views on the game.
- Hello, Maddude! How are you doing today?
- Hello gadoson, i'm good thanks, already had one drink!
- Brilliant, I am already enjoying this interview! To start off, most of the readers know you already.. But how about giving a brief introduction of who you are and where you are from, to the readers who don't know you?
- Haha you are a cutie! Well as you said most probably know me already so i'll keep it short. I'm Maddude to most and I will soon be twenty-one years old. I co-founded the feed me community with aeRo back in July/August 2011 and started up the league as the sole administrator for the first season. I'm from the south of England in between two cities most will heard of, which are Portsmouth and Brighton.
- Yes, you are a very important person indeed! How did you come up with your current nickname Maddude, and have you ever had other nicknames before?
- Haha, well I think its a bit of a boring story but it's based on my old e-mail account name which I also used on xbox live back in the days but with a 3 instead of an 3. I started playing with Maddude and use it the most with variations on it during friendlies and such but other than that I've only used other names like scs for say the UK 3v3 leagues galaxy and haxleague to go sort of unknown.
- As you said, you are one of the co-founders of Feed Me Haxball, alongside aeRo who you also know in real life, which grew to be one of the greatest communities/leagues in Europe.. How did you meet with aeRo, and how did you guys get the idea of creating a community together?
- One of the greatest huh? Haha, ah yes this story is a good one! It was back in late 2010 when I was first starting college, aeRo was in my physics class with me and we happened to sit next to each other. I was chatting to some mates I knew in the year above and they were telling me about this guy who they had physics with the year before, as it turns it out this was aeRo and he was a year older than me but just re-doing his classes again. So once I knew this we sort of chatted a bit and eventually we realised our humour is quite similar and he obviously knew some of my mates already as well which helped. Somehow at one point I just dropped a hint or phrase which would be associated with e-sports/pc gaming and it turned out that he played them too. We then started playing together on games like call of duty 4 (on the pc) and I had already found Haxball one day whilst bored in about Febuary. I introduced him to it in early summer time and I eventually came up with the idea to create a community so we could have a meeting place for people we regularly saw on hax in the rooms i hosted. This eventually led to the decision to make a league once we had done enough advertisement and well here we are today
- You started to play Haxball very early compared to the playerbase of today, alongside very few others. What do you believe has changed about the gameplay in Haxball over the years, and what do you think hasn't changed?
- Yes indeed, just over 4 years now and there isn't many else that have been around for that long haha. Well I think there is a lot more focus on teamplay rather than individual skill of player as most players know the skills people will use, this leads to the team needing to be able to pass together and open up gaps. Well what hasn't changed is that the game is still dominated by boring defensive styles that work well so nobody really wants to try mixing it up out of I guess fear, defensive styles are used more often as it's easier to teach to newer players and generally it's the safer bet to just rely on the striker to score by himself in a 1-on-1 situation or for the team to score on the counter. Fear and doubt is the main problem people have in this game and I don't get why, not like it all matters in the end but oh well.
- Here on the Feed Me Haxball website, there are no records from pre-season 5, meaning Season 1, 2, 3 and 4. How would you describe the organisation and gameplay of the league's seasons, before Season 5?
- Ah well the data isn't completely lost as this http://feedmehaxball.leaguerepublic.com ... 54570.html still works and shows it all. It was a lot different of course where in the first few seasons we ran it so each match was streamed so your game times would be a bit different each matchday but other than that there isn't much different to now except it being a lot more polished and less kinks. The gameplay has obviously changed a lot because seasons 1-3 were played with the 3v3 format so therefore season 4 wasn't our greatest as it was the first time we were running with 4v4. The 3v3 gameplay was pretty much not that different to the pubs we played in as we never really thought to friendly against other teams and it was impossible to do on matchdays due to the match times conflicting. Season 2, 3 and 4 we saw lots of changes in styles and such as the foreigners started joining the league. We also got onto teamspeak during season 2 thanks to attaxsh0t on the Your-eSports teamspeak server which meant we started playing other countries in 3v3 and adapting to more attacking styles of play. I also found the zaqhax 3v3 videos which showed the goalkeepers getting involved in attack and it led to us using this a little bit. It was all just learning new things constantly and gathering knowledge. Some of us also got invited to join the YeS 4v4 league in a team that attaxsh0t set up which was a great experience even though we were pretty garbage. I also used to almost always to 4v4 in my pub rooms from around the time i started hosting as I preferred it much more. So yeah gameplay changed slowly and when we got better we switched format haha just to shake things up!
- Later on in Season 5 you played in two different teams, TI SPARTA! that ended up placing third in Division 1, and Soccerettes that ended up placing sixth in Division 2. How did you feel about your own gameplay in that season, and what resulted in the change from a Division 1 team, to a Division 2 team?
- Well I actually only joined Soccerettes for the last match which didn't make a difference so I basically only played with Sparta, the change was to prepare for the next season were aero/me was taking captain from socrates and changing the name to ACDP. I joined Sparta officially as a goalkeeper as I had sort of retired in season 4 due to a few reasons, I then got to play with some of the best players at the time and eventually ended up playing as am/st/gk for them. It was mainly just a cooled down season for me so my play wasn't amazing but I was just trying to learn as much as possible from the players around me in the team.
- Afterwards, Season 6 rolled along and you joined the team that most of the playerbase today associate you with, ACDP, that was founded by the player "Ghost". How did the team look like at that point, and what changes made you go from placing sixth in Season 6, to placing first in Season 8?
- Yes we re-created ACDP in season 6 with some of the best guys in the community not just skill wise but personality wise which is something I always tried to do as a captain and I feel not enough captains do now. The team was looking good but during the whole of season 6 we used to never really practice except before matches as we were too busy playing other games together which were much more fun, so season 6 we didn't focus on winning we were just playing for fun. Going into season 7 saw a couple of members depart and some new members brought in with some picking up in activity and some going a bit less active. This means we had some chemistry problems and things of the like so we ended up coming mid-tableish I believe.
Season 8 was a good season though where we managed to sign a DM late season 7 to allow me to go into the AM or ST position which was maybe one of our weak points, Seedstitch had a stacked lineup compared to us and we managed to squeeze in front of them towards the end of the season which made it all the sweeter! So yes our gameplay was better, we started training more, I wasn't playing DM, and we were focused on getting that title. Without Seedstitch or a team like them we wouldn't of strived to beat them and get the title I feel and instead played a little bit poorer and came second or missed out on the promotion.
- As most of the community knows, ACDP placed first in Division 1, during Season 10 and Season 11, that made you to be the only team to win the league back-to-back. Was this the most memorable moment of your career in the league?
- First time in the 4v4 format but not overall, Arriba! won the first two seasons in 3v3 but I'll take it as a new record
! This was a great moment in my career and I felt i've played some of my best haxball this last year alongside my teammates stepping up. Pre-season 10 I managed to sign Isco and we then had two funcups before the season started, during both of these we got to the final each time to only just lose sadly but it was all looking good! Season 11 came around and before it started we weren't sure if Isco would carry on playing so I was trying to think of players to sign to replace him or be forced to go to DM again myself. But in the end he stayed and with a little less activity we rotated our players around a bit more and won again.
- In the end, your team, ACDP, disbanded before the current season, Season 12, begun. What were the reasons behind the team being disbanded, and will you continue playing?
- Well during season 11 most of the UK players were fairly inactive so my plan was to change name and cut the inactives, then I would of signed some otherelites and dominated. Maybe even tried to play box style on big to make it more fun and also have a rule where if you turned up on a matchday and played at least one fs then you would play for at least a half, which I feel would of been a good experience.
Sadly though I felt I could not carry on as a captain due to work and nobody else wanted to do it so I decided to just disband the team in the end and let people go their own way.
Currently I am taking time out of playing leagues as I don't want to feel committed to a team and the time it takes, for now I will just play friendlies with friends and having fun. If I were to join a team now I'd like to move to the GK position as I feel their isn't that many top tier GK's currently due to the nature of them not having to do as much on big, however though I don't feel a team would give me the freedom to play how I'd like and maybe try to force me into a different position. Moving to GK would be fairly easy as well as I wouldn't have to play too much to keep it up at a high level.
- Season 12 is beginning this Sunday, March 29th. Does this season look promising with the amount of new teams joining, and how do you think the season will play out?
- Ah yes this season certainly looks very interesting indeed. I can't even predict any winners except maybe in division 2 but even then I wouldn't want to say right now haha. Of course you have MD who can put a solid lineup, Pablo are of course still in it and even though they lost a key player in Formiga I feel they can still do well as shown in the pre-season cup win, then you have Quickswans who are training all day every day and now naho is looking set to play for the season, then again he might quit after a few weeks but if not then they can definitely contend I feel, and finally Aston Birra could surprise a lot of teams here as they will hardly practice against anyone here so there'll only be match replays to base their play off of. Both divisions have teams new to each division so wild things can happen.
- Many players in FM regard you as one of the best, if not the best, player from England, as well as being able to play all positions in Haxball on a high level. What do you think are your strengths as a player, and how are you able to play several positions on a high level?
- Haha I don't know if most do but thats due to knowing me for so long and I feel the same way about most players too that I've seen through their careers. Hah well yes I like playing all positions to be honest, I tend to be very adaptable which I think most aren't these days even though playing other positions make you understand better how your players would want you to play and the like. Experience is obviously another main factor as I am probably up there in most haxball matches played due to me sometimes playing in about 4-7 leagues at one time haha. I also used to watch a lot of replays to understand how the best played and emulate their play. Lots of players even ones who have been playing for long get stuck in one frame of mind or playstyle, it's all about mixing things up and looking at the game from different views. If you doubt yourself you will play bad so you have to be confident in yourself and be able to trust your teammates to do their job.
- United Kingdom has seen very little, if not any, success in international competitions. Why do you think that is, and what is your view on the current international scene, in terms of skill level?
- Haha yes UK in internation tournaments, I think its mainly due to conflicting styles and personalties in the handful of good players we had, and also maybe due to some grudges/arguements from before back in the days. Recently this last year we have had some success but nothing majorly note-worthy, I think one problem with UK is the lack of depth we have, there is too much of a gap between the best players and the next level of players. Currently internationally I feel theres a a lot of teams that can win a tournament due to none being stand-out because of the big easy format, however if it was big I would imagine it would be a lot more clear-cut.
- As for my last question I like to ask a hypothetical one.. One day, you wake up and realize that you are back to the beginning of Feed Me Haxball, meaning the year 2011. You see that the Nations Cup of 2011 sign-up is soon past the deadline. Somehow, you are able to get ahold of all Haxball players from the United Kingdom in one TeamSpeak. Who would you choose to play for the United Kingdom, excluding yourself, in the bracket of 4v4, to participate in the 2011 Nations Cup?
- Hah for 2011 damnn thats tricky! Probably jonny, Bluebird, socrates and deerhaunter I guess, this is very hard haha. As a bonus I'll give you a team I'd pick for UK all time: Jai-socrates-ogre-aeRo
- Do you have any shoutouts or final words to conclude this interview?
- I don't really want to do shoutouts as it will just be too long but thanks for the memories and fun my teammates + mates! All I have to say is ss ez no gamble no glory and everyone is either garbage or a donut r.i.p haxball
- Thank you for the interview, Maddude!
- Thanks gado, good luck have fun!
(Maddude)
Teams: Season 1-2 Cathletico, Season 3 Masterchefs, Season 3 AC Dead People, Season 4 AC Dead People (Retire), Season 5 TI SPARTA!, Season 6-12 AC Dead People
Achievements: Feed Me Haxball League's Leading Assister (76), and goals scored all-time (96) from Season 1-12.
My guest this week is none other than, Maddude! Co-founder of Feed Me Haxball, two-time Feed Me Haxball League Division 1 champion, one-time Feed Me Haxball League Division 2 champion, and player in the national team for United Kingdom.
In this episode he talked about his background in Haxball, the Feed Me Haxball league, and his views on the game.
- Hello, Maddude! How are you doing today?
- Hello gadoson, i'm good thanks, already had one drink!
- Brilliant, I am already enjoying this interview! To start off, most of the readers know you already.. But how about giving a brief introduction of who you are and where you are from, to the readers who don't know you?
- Haha you are a cutie! Well as you said most probably know me already so i'll keep it short. I'm Maddude to most and I will soon be twenty-one years old. I co-founded the feed me community with aeRo back in July/August 2011 and started up the league as the sole administrator for the first season. I'm from the south of England in between two cities most will heard of, which are Portsmouth and Brighton.
- Yes, you are a very important person indeed! How did you come up with your current nickname Maddude, and have you ever had other nicknames before?
- Haha, well I think its a bit of a boring story but it's based on my old e-mail account name which I also used on xbox live back in the days but with a 3 instead of an 3. I started playing with Maddude and use it the most with variations on it during friendlies and such but other than that I've only used other names like scs for say the UK 3v3 leagues galaxy and haxleague to go sort of unknown.
- As you said, you are one of the co-founders of Feed Me Haxball, alongside aeRo who you also know in real life, which grew to be one of the greatest communities/leagues in Europe.. How did you meet with aeRo, and how did you guys get the idea of creating a community together?
- One of the greatest huh? Haha, ah yes this story is a good one! It was back in late 2010 when I was first starting college, aeRo was in my physics class with me and we happened to sit next to each other. I was chatting to some mates I knew in the year above and they were telling me about this guy who they had physics with the year before, as it turns it out this was aeRo and he was a year older than me but just re-doing his classes again. So once I knew this we sort of chatted a bit and eventually we realised our humour is quite similar and he obviously knew some of my mates already as well which helped. Somehow at one point I just dropped a hint or phrase which would be associated with e-sports/pc gaming and it turned out that he played them too. We then started playing together on games like call of duty 4 (on the pc) and I had already found Haxball one day whilst bored in about Febuary. I introduced him to it in early summer time and I eventually came up with the idea to create a community so we could have a meeting place for people we regularly saw on hax in the rooms i hosted. This eventually led to the decision to make a league once we had done enough advertisement and well here we are today
- You started to play Haxball very early compared to the playerbase of today, alongside very few others. What do you believe has changed about the gameplay in Haxball over the years, and what do you think hasn't changed?
- Yes indeed, just over 4 years now and there isn't many else that have been around for that long haha. Well I think there is a lot more focus on teamplay rather than individual skill of player as most players know the skills people will use, this leads to the team needing to be able to pass together and open up gaps. Well what hasn't changed is that the game is still dominated by boring defensive styles that work well so nobody really wants to try mixing it up out of I guess fear, defensive styles are used more often as it's easier to teach to newer players and generally it's the safer bet to just rely on the striker to score by himself in a 1-on-1 situation or for the team to score on the counter. Fear and doubt is the main problem people have in this game and I don't get why, not like it all matters in the end but oh well.
- Here on the Feed Me Haxball website, there are no records from pre-season 5, meaning Season 1, 2, 3 and 4. How would you describe the organisation and gameplay of the league's seasons, before Season 5?
- Ah well the data isn't completely lost as this http://feedmehaxball.leaguerepublic.com ... 54570.html still works and shows it all. It was a lot different of course where in the first few seasons we ran it so each match was streamed so your game times would be a bit different each matchday but other than that there isn't much different to now except it being a lot more polished and less kinks. The gameplay has obviously changed a lot because seasons 1-3 were played with the 3v3 format so therefore season 4 wasn't our greatest as it was the first time we were running with 4v4. The 3v3 gameplay was pretty much not that different to the pubs we played in as we never really thought to friendly against other teams and it was impossible to do on matchdays due to the match times conflicting. Season 2, 3 and 4 we saw lots of changes in styles and such as the foreigners started joining the league. We also got onto teamspeak during season 2 thanks to attaxsh0t on the Your-eSports teamspeak server which meant we started playing other countries in 3v3 and adapting to more attacking styles of play. I also found the zaqhax 3v3 videos which showed the goalkeepers getting involved in attack and it led to us using this a little bit. It was all just learning new things constantly and gathering knowledge. Some of us also got invited to join the YeS 4v4 league in a team that attaxsh0t set up which was a great experience even though we were pretty garbage. I also used to almost always to 4v4 in my pub rooms from around the time i started hosting as I preferred it much more. So yeah gameplay changed slowly and when we got better we switched format haha just to shake things up!
- Later on in Season 5 you played in two different teams, TI SPARTA! that ended up placing third in Division 1, and Soccerettes that ended up placing sixth in Division 2. How did you feel about your own gameplay in that season, and what resulted in the change from a Division 1 team, to a Division 2 team?
- Well I actually only joined Soccerettes for the last match which didn't make a difference so I basically only played with Sparta, the change was to prepare for the next season were aero/me was taking captain from socrates and changing the name to ACDP. I joined Sparta officially as a goalkeeper as I had sort of retired in season 4 due to a few reasons, I then got to play with some of the best players at the time and eventually ended up playing as am/st/gk for them. It was mainly just a cooled down season for me so my play wasn't amazing but I was just trying to learn as much as possible from the players around me in the team.
"Maddude from his time in TI SPARTA! during Season 5"
- Afterwards, Season 6 rolled along and you joined the team that most of the playerbase today associate you with, ACDP, that was founded by the player "Ghost". How did the team look like at that point, and what changes made you go from placing sixth in Season 6, to placing first in Season 8?
- Yes we re-created ACDP in season 6 with some of the best guys in the community not just skill wise but personality wise which is something I always tried to do as a captain and I feel not enough captains do now. The team was looking good but during the whole of season 6 we used to never really practice except before matches as we were too busy playing other games together which were much more fun, so season 6 we didn't focus on winning we were just playing for fun. Going into season 7 saw a couple of members depart and some new members brought in with some picking up in activity and some going a bit less active. This means we had some chemistry problems and things of the like so we ended up coming mid-tableish I believe.
Season 8 was a good season though where we managed to sign a DM late season 7 to allow me to go into the AM or ST position which was maybe one of our weak points, Seedstitch had a stacked lineup compared to us and we managed to squeeze in front of them towards the end of the season which made it all the sweeter! So yes our gameplay was better, we started training more, I wasn't playing DM, and we were focused on getting that title. Without Seedstitch or a team like them we wouldn't of strived to beat them and get the title I feel and instead played a little bit poorer and came second or missed out on the promotion.
- As most of the community knows, ACDP placed first in Division 1, during Season 10 and Season 11, that made you to be the only team to win the league back-to-back. Was this the most memorable moment of your career in the league?
- First time in the 4v4 format but not overall, Arriba! won the first two seasons in 3v3 but I'll take it as a new record
! This was a great moment in my career and I felt i've played some of my best haxball this last year alongside my teammates stepping up. Pre-season 10 I managed to sign Isco and we then had two funcups before the season started, during both of these we got to the final each time to only just lose sadly but it was all looking good! Season 11 came around and before it started we weren't sure if Isco would carry on playing so I was trying to think of players to sign to replace him or be forced to go to DM again myself. But in the end he stayed and with a little less activity we rotated our players around a bit more and won again. - In the end, your team, ACDP, disbanded before the current season, Season 12, begun. What were the reasons behind the team being disbanded, and will you continue playing?
- Well during season 11 most of the UK players were fairly inactive so my plan was to change name and cut the inactives, then I would of signed some otherelites and dominated. Maybe even tried to play box style on big to make it more fun and also have a rule where if you turned up on a matchday and played at least one fs then you would play for at least a half, which I feel would of been a good experience.
Sadly though I felt I could not carry on as a captain due to work and nobody else wanted to do it so I decided to just disband the team in the end and let people go their own way.
Currently I am taking time out of playing leagues as I don't want to feel committed to a team and the time it takes, for now I will just play friendlies with friends and having fun. If I were to join a team now I'd like to move to the GK position as I feel their isn't that many top tier GK's currently due to the nature of them not having to do as much on big, however though I don't feel a team would give me the freedom to play how I'd like and maybe try to force me into a different position. Moving to GK would be fairly easy as well as I wouldn't have to play too much to keep it up at a high level.
- Season 12 is beginning this Sunday, March 29th. Does this season look promising with the amount of new teams joining, and how do you think the season will play out?
- Ah yes this season certainly looks very interesting indeed. I can't even predict any winners except maybe in division 2 but even then I wouldn't want to say right now haha. Of course you have MD who can put a solid lineup, Pablo are of course still in it and even though they lost a key player in Formiga I feel they can still do well as shown in the pre-season cup win, then you have Quickswans who are training all day every day and now naho is looking set to play for the season, then again he might quit after a few weeks but if not then they can definitely contend I feel, and finally Aston Birra could surprise a lot of teams here as they will hardly practice against anyone here so there'll only be match replays to base their play off of. Both divisions have teams new to each division so wild things can happen.
- Many players in FM regard you as one of the best, if not the best, player from England, as well as being able to play all positions in Haxball on a high level. What do you think are your strengths as a player, and how are you able to play several positions on a high level?
- Haha I don't know if most do but thats due to knowing me for so long and I feel the same way about most players too that I've seen through their careers. Hah well yes I like playing all positions to be honest, I tend to be very adaptable which I think most aren't these days even though playing other positions make you understand better how your players would want you to play and the like. Experience is obviously another main factor as I am probably up there in most haxball matches played due to me sometimes playing in about 4-7 leagues at one time haha. I also used to watch a lot of replays to understand how the best played and emulate their play. Lots of players even ones who have been playing for long get stuck in one frame of mind or playstyle, it's all about mixing things up and looking at the game from different views. If you doubt yourself you will play bad so you have to be confident in yourself and be able to trust your teammates to do their job.
"Maddude showcasing his ability as a ST around Season 7 with ACDP"
- United Kingdom has seen very little, if not any, success in international competitions. Why do you think that is, and what is your view on the current international scene, in terms of skill level?
- Haha yes UK in internation tournaments, I think its mainly due to conflicting styles and personalties in the handful of good players we had, and also maybe due to some grudges/arguements from before back in the days. Recently this last year we have had some success but nothing majorly note-worthy, I think one problem with UK is the lack of depth we have, there is too much of a gap between the best players and the next level of players. Currently internationally I feel theres a a lot of teams that can win a tournament due to none being stand-out because of the big easy format, however if it was big I would imagine it would be a lot more clear-cut.
- As for my last question I like to ask a hypothetical one.. One day, you wake up and realize that you are back to the beginning of Feed Me Haxball, meaning the year 2011. You see that the Nations Cup of 2011 sign-up is soon past the deadline. Somehow, you are able to get ahold of all Haxball players from the United Kingdom in one TeamSpeak. Who would you choose to play for the United Kingdom, excluding yourself, in the bracket of 4v4, to participate in the 2011 Nations Cup?
- Hah for 2011 damnn thats tricky! Probably jonny, Bluebird, socrates and deerhaunter I guess, this is very hard haha. As a bonus I'll give you a team I'd pick for UK all time: Jai-socrates-ogre-aeRo
- Do you have any shoutouts or final words to conclude this interview?
- I don't really want to do shoutouts as it will just be too long but thanks for the memories and fun my teammates + mates! All I have to say is ss ez no gamble no glory and everyone is either garbage or a donut r.i.p haxball
- Thank you for the interview, Maddude!
- Thanks gado, good luck have fun!
(Maddude)
Teams: Season 1-2 Cathletico, Season 3 Masterchefs, Season 3 AC Dead People, Season 4 AC Dead People (Retire), Season 5 TI SPARTA!, Season 6-12 AC Dead People
Achievements: Feed Me Haxball League's Leading Assister (76), and goals scored all-time (96) from Season 1-12.
