When the RTCW multiplayer demo (Beach) was released in late 2001, Zohar and GuySmiley were immediate fans and they played constantly. Over time, and after the release of the full game, they began receiving offers to join clans. To avoid these sometimes uncomfortable situations they decided to put on their own clan tag. They had no idea what to call this new clan, and Guy jokingly suggested that they use the initials of the street they live on: thus, QAW. Guy and Zohar began wearing the tag. About this time, Zohar talked Slaughter and Aelfwen into trying RTCW. Although neither of them were big fans of first-person shooters, they enjoyed the objective based play and became big fans of the game as well, although they did not wear the QAW tag.
It was also around this time that QAW had its first server. It was a small lan-based server that the founding four used to learn maps and to try to hone their skills. This was an important server in retrospect, since it gave Zohar the opportunity to learn how to run a server, and served as a starting place for future QAW servers.
Im May 2003 Zohar and GuySmiley began playing Enemy Territory. It is funny to reflect back on those first experiences now. For example, Zohar was convinced that Covert Ops could become invisible because they could run amongst the enemy unnoticed. They also spent a lot of time lost wandering around on Battery.
One fateful afternoon, Slaughter and Aelfwen had their QAW “tryout.” The two teamed up against Zohar and played through each of the ET maps. They enjoyed the different classes and the ability to gain experience and were hooked. They donned their QAW tags and a clan was born.
The four members spent their initial time online surfing through various servers trying different settings. They spent considerable time on Terminus Est, FunnyFarm.net, Phoenix IX, Devnull, Beards, and SOH.
Zohar and GuySmiley played a lot on Terminus Est, and were well on their way to being indoctrinated into the competitive community. Meanwhile, Slaughter had found SOH - Soldiers of Honor. She was pleased with the fact that there were no panzers and talked everyone into visiting there. Zohar at first hated the settings and even refused to go back for two days, but eventually the claims of fast recharge and good clan members won out, and QAW became SOH regulars.
Around this time, QAW nearly doubled in size as GunHoo, Lemming, and Texican joined the ranks. They were all friends of the founding members in real life and enjoyed playing on various servers together.
This went on for some time, with QAW playing on SOH and leaving from time to time to visit Beards when original maps got old. However, Zohar was learning more about running a server, and was more convinced than ever that he wanted to try running custom maps. So after about a year of playing, QAW got its first public server.
This was a transitional time for QAW. The new server brought added responsibility because each of the members was adamant that the server should be a place where people of all ages could come to have fun. However, this often required an admin and as the server gained popularity, it developed a set of regulars who quickly became true friends. QAW decided to recruit new members. Wheel was the first recruit the clan members did not personally know. The server was gaining popularity and the ranks began to swell: Yekoms, Toke, Crapnel, TomFury…
Of course, things did not always run smoothly. Some of the original members will remember an empty server when QAW tried to run custom maps the first time. Others will remember nights spent walking around taking screenshots and defining spawn killing rules so that the server was a more organized place to play.
As the clan settled into its new found place in the ET community and the server gained popularity, QAW decided to expand by adding a dedicated Customs server. This server changes custom maps on a regular basis and every Friday is home to our Customs NIght which is a tradition going back several years.
Despite a few trials and unsuccessful attempts, QAW has succeeded in creating a clan based on teamwork and camaraderie. They still strive to make the servers a place where people of all ages can come to have fun and hope that this trend will continue for years to come.
