The whole idea of racking up kills ala quake was completely useless - sure, we all loved stomping all over each other, but the point was to grab a flag and take it back to yours while yours hopefully stayed right in its nice warm place. I can honestly say that of all of the engagements I ever had when going after the flag, I almost never waws in it to kill - I was there to knock people out of the way or get them to chase after me to waste their resources.

It was about OUTTHINKING the opponents more often than not - Tribes was always a much smarter game than any other FPS I had ever played or have played since, with a perfect mix of motion and resource management along with all the adrenaline I’d ever need.

I still remember my first flag cap, on Scarabrae - this was before skiing was well-known…

I was in one of the HPC’s with 3 heavies, me in medium, and a pilot. We set up base on their roof, deployed a turret or 3, and suited up in shields… 2 heavies led the way up that small chute while the third went into the main room to wreak some havoc and distract from that direction. The heavies threw mortars all over the flag room, clearing it out before I ran in and grabbed the flag. One led the way back out the roof, handling all opposition while the guy behind me walked slowly, popping grenades and mines around corners and making sure anyone following us would have a very bad time of it.

We got up to the roof and the rest of the other team showed up, basically stomped all over the 2 heavies and I. In the chaos, I jumped over the side and started WALKING.

WALKING.
ON SCARABRAE.

I went the long way around, purposely avoiding the center, slowly creeping around the hilltops and watching for incoming, taking at least 2 people down who came after me by sheer luck. I finally spotted my base and worked my way up to the front of it to go up the step platforms when I saw the HPC come over the hill, throwing mortars onto our roof and ledges. I was down to a sliver of health and tried to patiently wait for my energy to recharge enough to get up to the next platform when I saw the mortar looping down right toward my feet. I jumped and jetted, and somehow barely made it to the next platform which shielded me from the blast - by this time, my heart was moving so fast I thought I’d pass out… I jetted up to our base and ran into the vehicle entrance just as 2 of the other team’s heavies lept down from our roof after me, plasma slamming into the walls in the entryway.

I dropped the rest of my mines behind me in what I knew was a futile attempt to slow them down, and made it just barely into the main room as the heavies caught up. That was when the shitstorm hit - all of our turrets were set up, and there were 2 mediums just waiting for this. A hail of energy and discs made short work of the 2 heavies, clearing the way for me to stop off at the inventory station, heal up, and then saunter into our flag room - where, of course, the other 2 heavies and a light from the HPC were waiting for me. I dropped backward, throwing disks up into the room before switching over to my grenade launcher to bounce them into the flag area. The ensuing fight is a complete blur, with my guys engaging and throwing discs and grenades and mortars from their heavies dropping at us…

Somehow, when the blasts cleared, I was still alive - again, at a fraction of my health, but that didn’t matter. I jetted back up to the flag room and hopped over our flag stand, scoring my first ever capture.

The thing that MADE that capture work, though, was the communication. I spent some time writing up some stuff in the Y chat, but much more of the talking was through fast 3-key combos (VAH!!) which triggered preset yelps for help and other quick commands as well. The fast, easy team communication along with the incredible command map facilitated better teamwork than I’ve had in any other game before or since.

I could go on for a while, but this is your blog… good to see you online man.
:)

Have a good one….