Thorin's closing argument:
The debate topic was "The state of CS 1.6", that's the state, not the game 1.6 or the games that are played within 1.6 in relation to those played in Source. The worst part of this debate has been the number of teams digression has occured into areas which ultimately have little to do with the topic at hand and more to do with divulging personal agendas. To address to the topic selected and from the side I am representing here, namely that of being against it, can be done a lot more easily than some of the previous rounds where I went into greater detail on specific points.

The gist of the problem that makes the state of CS 1.6 bad is this: Counter-Strike is not what it could be, not where it should be and if things continue along these lines then it never can be either. The game the legends took up playing all those years ago has been diluted over and over until we're no longer drinking a dry martini, it's a glass of water with a drop of martini in it. There may be those who have focused on the present for so long that they are fine with what they currently have and are utterly thrilled by the number of tournaments being held, the prize money still generated and the group of teams who vy for every big title. Those things are well and good, just because something continues to progress on some levels does not mean it has progressed much as it could and also does not mean it has not regressed in certain areas. Everytime I see a huge tournament with names like aTTaX, fnatic, SK, NoA in it I am as happy as the next spectator to see that there are still good players and teams willing to play the game and battle it out in what has become a much more limited gaming discipline. I am also saddened at the fact the only things stopping the environment these great players duke it out in being the best it could be or even just as good as it once was is lazyness and pandering to assault 24/7 newbs. If Counter-Strike 1.6 as a general game has to make jumping a chore or walking as slow as an elderly aunt then fine, in that case someone needs to cater to the professional community. That could mean a mod but in that case it needs to be done properly and with real funding.

Everytime we pretend the state of CS 1.6 is great, the best it's ever been then next time a compromise comes along we have to accept it because a slight compromise from great is still ok isn't it? Then along comes the next, you might see the pattern emerging but this pattern began half a decade ago now and has been gradual and rapid in the various parts of its progression. Everything that is good about 1.6 now can still be had in a world where everything that is bad is improved upon. The fact Counter-Strike becomes a more skilled game does not mean the prize money dries up tomorrow, it's that skilled game which brought the prize money and players in the first place. Every time you think of a mouth watering tournament on the horizon, maybe one where there are 5 teams who would win and 10 who could place top 5 just stop and imagine you had all those players and then 10 more teams of players who loved some of the previous states Counter-Strike has been in. Some quit, some got bored, some grew up sure, but there were also a lot put off, run out and just unwilling to put up with the bullshit anymore. The state of CS 1.6 now is ok at best and when you consider everything that is good could easily be translated into a better state those really stop becoming excuses and just become even more reasons to do something about it and stop pretending everything is peaches and cream.

People may dislike CGS and Source because of the game itself, it's worse than 1.6 sure and that's unacceptable if you have 1.6 on offer as a choice to play. The key people need to understand though is that the most outrageous thing is the compromises, having to play different rulesets or designing things for TV first and the player last. These are the things which you should really be afriad or mad about. Apply the same kind of logic to the current state of CS 1.6 and are you really so happy over having 5 majors a year instead of 4 that suddenly it doesn't matter that Medion would rather play dark age of camelot than his previously favourite game? What about the fact there's qualifiers everywhere for the WCG now and all the top countries attend, is that enough to ignore the fact we can barely move through the air anymore and the game has been reduced to a horizontal spraying competition between enemies pinned to the earth. Is top teams being able to place 1st through 9th on any given day due to the reduced skill gap and lack of places for the game to develop worth it for 10,000 more people on HLTV?

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Mutechno's closing argument:
First off, you cannot talk about the state of CS 1.6 without talking about CS:Source, that's like trying to talk about Bill Gates without Microsoft. I can't believe those words came out of an august man like Mr. Shields over here.

• Counter-Strike 93,40966,4507.216 billion
• Counter-Strike: Source 28,71837,3411.907 billion

The stats are patented information that CS has CS:S by the neck even after 3-4years and the CGS boom, an astonishing 3:1 ration meaning for every 3 CS players, there is only 1 CS:S player. The money is still here in CS 1.6 and the tournaments are still here... WSVG 07, WCG 07, CPL 07, WEG 07, ESWC 07, GameGune 07, SHGopen 07, Intel 07, Extreme Masters 07, KODE5 07, Dreamhack 07 just to name a few, and most of these organizations/tournaments have already confirmed CS 1.6 as their game for 2008.

CGS has always been seen as the "easy way out", I hate to get morbid but CGS is like suicide, switching from CS 1.6 to CS:S has been the easy escape for non-successful CS 1.6 players. Players just can't take it anymore, and CSS is their only way out, hence, CGS contradicting themselves of their "big money" glittering generosity, CGS brings a game almost into the real world, but in the real world, would you want to hire someone that will just give in into submission? You know what they say, when the moment gets tough, the tough gets going. Would you want to hire someone that will get take the easy out of a problem? Or do you want someone that will grind it out? Submission is a sign of weakness. When I came over here from Saigon, Vietnam in 1994, I had nothing but I kept my head and high and now 13 years later, I'm living in a single family house with 3 other brothers and sisters and in school, I currently have a 3.8 GPA.

• coL gets rolled by zEx during CPL Winter 2006 (Switches to Soyrce)
• 3D gets rolled by Pandemic during CEVO Finals (Switches to Source)
• Pandemic gets rolled by JMC/Turmoil during CEVO Finals (Switches to Source)
• EG gets rolled by NiP during WCG 2006 (Switches to Source)
• JMC gets rolled by Turmoil during CEVO Finals (Switches to Source)
• Red cant keep a 1:5 kills:deaths ratio (he switches to Source)
• eSTRO gets rolled by Turmoil during ESWC 2007 (Switches to Source)
• wNv gets rolled by defusekids during ESWC 2007 (Switches to Source)
• x3o loses to like 5 pugs in the 2 last month (Switches to Source)
• MiBr gets rolled by g3x and misses WCG 07(Switches to Source)

It has been seen many times that CGS/CSS is the easy way out, "the great escape" like "The Boys Like Girls" like to say it. CGS please stop with the gimmicks, we're on TV! Yeah but on some random Direct TV package, CS 1.6 was on MTV Truelife and SpikeTV. Im not even going to begin stating how much viewers those haul in. SpikeTV's WCG edition was featured on primetime airings, it wasn't aired 1pm in the after noon on a Monday, it was aired on Saturday night at 8pm est.

CGS puts it's players under tight contacts, gotfrag.com/cs/story/40475/. In short, star player of the east coast Kevin "aZn" Wang was fined $5,000 for participating in a CS 1.6 tournament. CGS is trying to ADVANCE the game right? This sounds like they are trying to do the opposite and trying to move it back. Let's go back to the civil rights, women rights (ex. Belle), black rights movements in the early-mid 20th century, what have we been fighting for? The civil rights movement was to insure equal rights for everyone, blacks, whites, yellows, reds, blues, it doesn't matter. What have people died for? What have people immigrated to USA for? Religious persecution or for the sake of "living the good life" like Kayne West likes to say it. Freedom, and yet CGS comes back with it's regulations. By putting it's players under these regulations, it is taking us back to the early 1900s. CGS is like a peeping tom watching your every move and holding you back but isn't today's society all about the humanism and praising the individual, "Don't Hold Back" like the Chemical Brothers say it. We are in the 21st century for crying out loud, CGS is worst than the BCS formula, routines that lead no where.

gotfrag.com/cs/files/401/ (aZn: Unleashed)

How can this man be unleashed when he's on a leash?

"Of all the modern economic theories, the economic system of Marxism is founded on moral principles, while capitalism is concerned only with gain and profitability. Marxism is concerned with the distribution of wealth on an equal basis and the equitable utilization of the means of production. It is also concerned with the fate of the working classes—that is the majority—as well as with the fate of those who are underprivileged and in need, and Marxism cares about the victims of minority-imposed exploitation. For those reasons the system appeals to me, and it seems fair. . . The failure of the regime in the Soviet Union was, for me not the failure of Marxism but the failure of totalitarianism. For this reason I think of myself as half-Marxist, half-Buddhist."

—The Dalai Lama

We all have inner demons to fight, we call these demons, fear and hatred and anger. If you do not conquer them then a life of one hundred years is a tragedy. If you do, then a life of a single day can be a triumph.

LONG LIVE CS 1.6

• HeatoN's clutch v. 4Kings will never be forgotten.
• Holden's enchantment of being a top CS 1.6 player to being MLS World Champion Houston Dymanos will never be forgotten.
• Ksharp's awp clips on dust2 by big box will never be forgotten.
• Mutechno's ak tuscan ace will never be forgotten.
• neo's 3v1 v. NoA will never be forgotten.
• walles awp ace v. d2x will never be forgotten.
• tr1p's 2v1 clutch will never be forgotten.

The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.

CS 1.6 is like an art, it allows you to express yourself, unlike CS:S where I see people spraying at the feet and hitting headshots. Be formless... shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, and it can crash. Be like water, my friend.

SpawN v. Lunatic-Hai @ CPL 05, A smoke is thrown, SpawN cannot see anything, SpawN plays for the jump and aims above the smoke.

Warden v. zEx 3v1 (Warden takes down two T's, fakes a defuse, runs out of bullets and holds the defuse, an amazing showcase of wisdom by the man they call Matt Dickens)

Cogu v. EG 4v1 (After taking out 2 CTs, cogu goes and plants for b site, a risky but elusive play by the Brazillian, taking the other 2 out)

Jungle v. EG 4v1 Pistol Round clutch (After taking out 3 CT's with a superb form of glockage, he picks up a desert deagle, a heads up play by the Chinese pride, and kills the last guy)

Those are just a few examples of a mere untouchable amount. When the defining moment comes, are you going to define the moment, or let it define you?

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The thoughts and opinions expressed in Master Debater do not represent E-Sports Entertainment.