Crimsix: The Interview

Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter is one of the most renowned and admirable members within the Call of Duty community. Known by many as the ‘Crimbot’ for his machine like accuracy, Ian Porter was the first competitive player to achieve the impressive feat of professional status upon Call of Duty as well as Halo. Within the Halo franchise, Crimsix secured several respectable placing’s, most notably finishing 4^th at MLG Columbus.

Unfortunately with the low popularity of Halo Reach, it was swiftly dropped by the Major League Gaming Professional Circuit in 2012, resulting in Crimsix returning to his competitive gaming origins; Call of Duty.

It is here, on Black Ops II, that Crimsix truly came into his prime, achieving a staggering amount of successes instantaneously as Crimsix secured his first championship, Machinima Frag Cup IV, alongside his teammates Patrick "ACHES" Price, Tyler "TeePee" Polchow and Damod 'FEARS' Abney. This legendary line-up went on to dominate the rest of the season switching out FEARS for Tuquick and then Clayster, cementing the BO2 section of the ‘compLexity’ dynasty within the history books. 

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Next came Call of Duty Ghosts and thus begun a legacy that will remembered for as long as competitive Call of Duty exists. Clayster had been dropped in favour of world champion Damon "Karma" Barlow, in an attempt to create the ultimate ‘god squad’. This new star-studded line up proceeded to go on the longest win streak ever in CoD history, earning Crimsix the coveted title of Call of Duty World Champion. However, unfortunately the situation quickly took a spiral downfall as the entire Complexity squad was bought out by eSports powerhouse Evil Geniuses.

Initially, business continued as usual, with Crimsix and co. securing a championship within their second event as representatives of the EG brand. Nevertheless, the acclaimed ‘EG curse’ eventually kicked in as tournaments were lost and personalities clashed, leaving the team rattled.

At this moment in time, Evil Geniuses heads into the launch of Advanced Warfare with a roster that appears to be in turmoil. Several rumours have recently been circulating stating the iconic roster may have reached their expiration date, as Crimsix, Aches and Teepee look elsewhere for a fresh opportunity.  

Now to speak to the man himself. I got the opportunity to hop on Skype and conduct an interview with the Crimbot. Here’s how it went!

Pugster:  To begin with, tell me a little about your background in gaming.

Crimsix: My name is Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter and I’ve been gaming and playing FPS titles since I was nine years old.I got into competitive gaming seriously when I had a Baseball injury and I basically had nothing to do for an entire season so I started playing Call of Duty 4. I started on that GameBattles grind back in the day, you know CoD 4, there were millions and millions of teams.

That’s kinda how it all started for me, I discovered competitive gaming, MLG and all that good stuff back then.

P: What was it like discovering that there was such a thing as eSports?

C: It was kinda small back then, it was for fun, nothing serious at least not in the console side of things.I saw MLG Halo 2 on TBS, that’s what really got me interested because it added a serious element to what I  was doing. I saw that and was like ‘this could actually be a thing’ and that’s when I really got serious.

P:  What was it like making the switch from Halo to Call of Duty?

C: I played CoD first, then I went to Halo then came back to CoD. Halo is an amazing game, it’s really fun to play. It’s probably more fun than CoD but I think CoD is more suited/catered to my play style.

Back when I played Halo I was kind of a noob. I was good with a sniper but you don’t spawn with one so you have to go pick it up, I’d go out of my way to pick it up and that was pretty detrimental for lack of a better word. Back in the Halo days I would screw over my team a lot by trying to get the Sniper because that’s what I was good at.

In CoD you don’t have that aspect, you spawn with a your loadout and whoever kills more is usually going to win.

P: With the release of the Master Chief Collection and Halo 5 early next year, do you think you may ever return to Halo?

C: You know, I might, it’s gonna be interesting to see.

I’ve played MCC and I’ve been playing AW and I’d put them on the same level. I’ve had so much fun playing both games. I could see the Master Chief Collection really taking off but what I’m worried about is the amount of tournaments and prize money involved.

 I’m basically gonna compete in whatever offers the most money. If CoD offers less money but the team I’m on is winning every event, then I’ll stick with CoD. There are a lot of factors coming into play, the possibility is there but do I see it happening? Probably not.

P: Is Advanced Warfare the best Call of Duty title released to date, in your opinion?

C: I definitely need more time playing but I’d say Black Ops 2 is the best Call of Duty to date.

CoD 4 and MW2 were both good but they were both so nooby in their own way and Black Ops 2 was better at rewarding the better players.

AW seems like a great game in concept and everything is fine but there’s a few things that don’t ruin the game, but need fixing. For example, the BAL is the first gun you get and the best gun in the game. I’m going through ranks and I’m not even looking at what guns I’m unlocking because there’s no point for me to use a sub and no point in using any other assault rifles.

Sniper rifles are fun. With hitmarkers I didn’t get what people were complaining about, but then I got into situations where I was hitting people in the chest and getting hitmarkers, I think it’s to do with range. When I was up close I didn’t have problems.

P: Do you have any favourite game types and guns?

C:  I definitely think SnD is gonna be a lot of fun to play, I know everyone was very questionable about it. I don’t even think the mute thing is a problem, I can barely ever hear footsteps anyway. You might be able to hear people online but at events on LAN you probably won’t be able to hear it.

Definitely the Exo Suits are going to make things really fun. The Hardpoint spawns are a little random but they should be able to fix that. Once they fix that, Hardpoint is going to be a lot of fun to play.

CTF looks pretty sick. I’d honestly say Uplink has no chance of being competitive. I’ve had fun with it but the only game types that seem solid are CTF and Hardpoint to me.

P: Do you have any predictions on players and teams who will stand out for AW?

C: I’d have to look at the final rosters but you obviously can’t make a prediction, the rosters don’t really matter it’s just how the team plays on a given day and their attitude going into an event.

Noble got second at a major LAN tournament, I don’t care if it’s Call of Duty Ghosts they beat like everyone!

 It shows the way you think is really key to success in CoD. You just have to have positive vibes and take people down!

P: Do you think the EU scene could grow itself to the level of the NA scene?

C: Yeah for sure.

I don’t know what’s going on with you guys because the French love CoD and have like two or three teams which go to major events. What’s up with that?

How is there not like 10 or 20 teams? Because the amount of French support when I went to ESWC and the amount of people that love CoD there is insane.

I don’t know if the French just care about the French and don’t want to branch out. If they practice and take it more seriously I don’t think at this point it’s a question of skill. It’s a question of how many people you have in the scene.

The reason North America is better is because with any eSport there’s a certain area where people are better. That’s because those teams constantly one up each other and want to better themselves against the people they practice with.

 The problem with the EU is they don’t have enough teams to do that. For me, the only two teams I see are Epsilon and TCM and if they’re not scrimming each other then I don’t know.

P: If you had to give one pro tip for AW what would it be?

C: I would say set some goals and think about everytime you get on you should be setting out to achieve them.

Call of Duty is a game where it’s skill based but if you wanna be great, you can be great. That’s how I usually describe it to people.

If you put in the time and stay dedicated you can do well. You can’t give up or put doubts in your head. You’ve just got to keep going. When people complain about the game it’s not the game, it’s the fact they don’t understand the game.

P: How was your experience of the UK when you came over for G3 and are you looking forward to this year’s tournament?

C: I’m actually one of the North American players who actually enjoys coming over to Europe. I know a lot of people complain about your horrible food but I can endure it for a weekend.

I love going to the EU and I know that the French have put together a major tournament and I think that’s in May. I think whatever team I’m on I’ll want to go to that.

I enjoy the diversity, I mean for example UMG is Infamous for the ‘Hotel Lobby Venue’ and those events are great and I love the support but can we get out of hotels?! Like please, I want to play in stadiums!

Don’t even get me started on League of Legends venues.

P: Can you shed any light on the rumours of you leaving and, if so, where might you go?

C: I can definitely say that you guys probably won’t see me in an EG jersey ever again.

If we’re all going to Columbus I think all have our own teams in mind. I can’t speak on behalf of EG but I know they weren’t happy with how everything turned out. I wouldn’t blame them.

P: What do you think of the new Impact line-up?

C: I think they’ll be solid.

It all depends, this game is not like Black Ops 2 at all. I think the only that relates to Black Ops 2 is the gun battles. Just like the ‘stock on stock’ gun battles, I love that style of play.

Thank God Quick Draw is back also!

P: What are your thoughts on the Noble squad getting dropped?

C: I thought there was a rule that you had to have two qualified players on a team. So that’s against the rules, that doesn’t make sense.

I was looking at certain possible moves and that rule shut that down. It’s so orgs can’t screw over players, I think it’s a good way of balancing power. If that rule wasn’t in place the Org could basically just wipe you if you placed like 8^th and you’d end up an amateur again.

P: What are your plans for the future? Could casting be something you may do?

C: Aw, hell no! I spoke to Sundance and I was casting at Columbus but personally, I’m a player and If I wasn’t I probably wouldn’t be in the scene.

Maybe I’d do event work or something like that. I probably wouldn’t start a team/org because it’s too much of a pain in the ass!

Definitely not casting though, if I’m not playing I’m out basically. That’s how I look at it.

Pugster: Finally let’s end with a silly question, who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman?

C: Superman, no question! Honestly though, Goku would probably kick both their asses.

Let’s be honest in any fight question Goku wins. Period. Even if he’s not included, think about it. He’d beat Chuck Norris!

Community Questions

@oathbreaker87: If you leave Evil Geniuses will you start to stream on MLG or will you stay with Twitch?

C: MLG. 100% sure.

@LilmanTLFGamer:  What was your favourite gaming event memory?

C: Winning Gfinity 1 in a skyscraper, I just think that was the coolest venue I’ve played in by far. I think it was the Millbank Tower.

 There was not really any space for spectators but it was incredible. That was my second event I won and it gave me the confidence to realize I was capable of winning multiple events.

@Telfotho: What is the hardest part about getting used to the Exo Suit?

C: Definitely the jumping but I don’t think it’s getting used to the Exo Suit, it’s more getting used to the maps.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been gaming for so long that the Exo suit comes naturally to me. I keep bumping my head on walls and just random stuff. I think once I know all the little bits of crap the designers put om then it’ll be solid.

@Staclk: What is your favourite food?

C: Favourite food is probably steak. Just like a nice, expensive, well cooked one. It doesn’t even have to be big, just an extremely nice steak.

Pugster: I have an ongoing debate with my girlfriend about whether it should be served rare or not. She’s on the rare side of the fence. Where do you stand?

C: I’m going with her man, I love it straight rare. I like it rare or medium rare, I’m a savage!

@banannerz: Is your favourite colour green?

C: At the moment my favourite colour has to be purple and there aren’t any teams that have purple so keep on guessing! I don’t think the CoD community is ready for a purple team, not just yet.

@theonlysero: How would you describe the feeling of winning an event?

C: The feeling’s great, you know I’m always sitting up there with a straight face…my usual ‘I’m bored face’. I think the feeling afterwards is actually better than the feeling when you win and come home. For me, the reason why I do all this because I want to feel good about what I’m doing.

I spend probably twelve hours a day doing this and at the end of the day when I’m trying to get to sleep I want to think ‘I’m good at what I do’ that’s what I’m going for.

That’s why I like winning events so much. It makes me feel warm inside and I love that feeling.

@Enhxnce: Do you put cereal then milk or milk then cereal?

C: Cereal then milk. Who the hell puts milk before cereal?! I feel like this a sexual troll question because there is no way there is a real life human that puts milk before cereal. That is just weird!

Special thanks go out to Rahul Uppal and Ben Chalk for helping with the community questions.

If you enjoyed this article then feel free to follow me on Twitter: @jameslilley_EU

Make sure to follow Crimsix if you don’t already: @Crimsix

Also follow Gfinity: @Gfinity