See also:
* the [[Fridge/QuakeIIIArena Fridge]] page
* [[AwesomeMusic/{{Quake}} the series-wide Awesome Music page]]
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* AbridgedArenaArray: The so-called "Big Four" in ''Live'': Aerowalk, Asylum, [=BloodRun=] and [=Campgrounds=].
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** [[ArtificialLimbs Visor]], [[CyberPunk Anarki]] and [[RollerbladeGood Slash]] are some of the most used characters in the game, to the point where all three of them make a return in ''VideoGame/QuakeChampions''.
** Orbb is popular due to his unique design, one of the main reasons he's quite requested for ''Champions''.
** Crash is up there in being one of the more popular characters in this game, mainly due to being a DistaffCounterpart to [[Franchise/{{Doom}} the Doom Guy]]. With many fans clamoring to see her again, either in another Quake or any kind of Creator/IdSoftware game.
* FandomRivalry: With ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament''. To this day, debate rages on over which is/was the better game. Basically it came down to whether people liked the gliding, fast-paced, artificial play of ''Quake'' or the more gritty, slower (complete with head-bobbing and footsteps) shooter with weirder weapons. While ''Unreal Tournament'' got [[https://unreal.fandom.com/wiki/Unreal_Tournament/Reception better reviews]] and helped popularized certain tropes (AnnouncerChatter, CaptureTheFlag, even [[OneHitKill Instagib]] as a gamemode) and ''Quake III'' did win in the CompetitiveMultiplayer market (no wonder, with help of ''Quake Live''), neither game aged well in the long run, though ''III'', FromACertainPointOfView, got the last laugh. ''Quake'' lost its title as king of multiplayer FPS first to ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' and, eventually, to ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', as the realistic modern warfare trope started to develop, and the attempted comeback with ''VideoGame/QuakeChampions'' didn't work as it should, while ''Unreal Tournament'' tried to reinvent itself as a ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' style vehicle-based game but didn't get anywhere near the popularity of ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'' which was released several years earlier, and eventually got [[VideoGame/UnrealTournament4 a failed reboot]] whose mismanagement and poor reception led to Creator/EpicGames themselves [[FranchiseKiller shelving]] ''the whole series'' and [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes retiring it from all stores]]. At least ''Quake III'', ''Quake Live'' and ''Team Arena'' are still being sold. Still, it's a [[FriendlyEnemy friendlier rivalry]] than most though, and many of each game's players also frequent the other, and both parties (along many more parties outside of both fandoms, definitely consider both games as strong contenders for "best FPS/multiplayer game of all time".
* FollowTheLeader: Alongside ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'', ''Arena'' started the multiplayer-focused craze.
* GameBreaker:
** The {{BFG}}, changed from an imposing, slow-charging superweapon in ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' and ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' to a Plasma Gun + Rocket Launcher on Steroids. It's little wonder that the weapon was not added to ''VideoGame/QuakeChampions''.
** The three new weapons from ''Team Arena'', when taken outside of the pack: the Nailgun, the Chaingun and the Prox Launcher.\\
The Nailgun is a Shotgun with heavy-hitting nails which are guaranteed to destroy you unless you have the Guard rune.\\
Like ''VideoGame/QuakeII'', the Chaingun is a faster (thus ammo consuming) and even more heavy hitting Machinegun. Also, the same deal as with the Nailgun, in that you need the Guard rune in order to survive this weapon.\\
Finally, the Prox Launcher's mines can be blown but are hard to spot and players can even shot mines directly to their opponent, who will suffer "Spontaneous combustion" at the end of the timer, and cannot be removed by any means except death. To add insult to injury, these are the only weapons whose shots can trespass the Invulnerability shield, insta-fragging the shielded player after the explosion who had the bad luck of having a Proxy attached to it.
** The Runes themselves in some maps, with the exception of the useless Ammo Regen rune:\\
The Guard rune saves the player from almost any hit and regenerates health to the very top.\\
The Scout rune favors HitAndRunTactics, especially in non-frag based gametypes. Not even the fact that it doesn't allow armor carrying will stop a very smart player who can and will steal flags before the defense knows there's an attacker in their base.\\
The Doubler rune can be coupled with the Quad Damage for 8x the amount of damage. Think of the disaster someone can do with weapons such as the Plasma Gun (which now is on par with the BFG), the Chaingun, the Nailgun and the BFG itself (enjoy your easy "Excellent" awards).
* HarsherInHindsight: Wrack can say "You're making it harder for me to go through airports" in a game released two years before the founding of the TSA.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII'' includes a slightly modified version of ''Team Arena''[='=]s "Harvester" mode called "Greed"[[note]]Although it is [[AscendedFanfic inspired]] by [[http://www.moddb.com/mods/greed the eponymous mod]] for ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'', the idea behind the mode is the same. The only thing that changes is that the skulls spawn right after the enemy's corpses instead of a central area, and there are several types of skulls which grant higher scores and in ''[=UT3=]'' also powerups.[[/note]]. As an answer of sorts, ''Live'' includes [[VideoGame/UnrealTournament Domination]] as a gamemode, as well as Instagib versions of "Free For All" and "CaptureTheFlag"[[note]]''UT'' was the game which popularized Instagib thanks to the eponymous mutator[[/note]].
** [[VideoGame/QuakeII The previous installment]] had a secret EasterEgg room with a Tank having a lovely time with two Iron Maiden. Along comes Tank Jr. being the offspring of such love!
*** Also from ''II'', this isn't the first time that [[SelfInsertFic the authors insert themselves in the game]].
** Your first fight in the demo (second fight in the full game) takes place against Ranger in a map which also has a statue of Visor (whom you meet later in the game). Ranger and Visor were the first two playable characters announced for ''VideoGame/QuakeChampions''.
** Sarge claiming to be in his bio ''"a master of [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare modern warfare]]"''.
* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: The Steam version of ''Live'', as it's basically just ''III Arena'' in all but name due to going from matchmaking-based multiplayer to more traditional server-based play.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
** The [[LudicrousGibs gib splat]] sounds chunk-tastically satisfying.
** "Impressive!"
** "Excellent!"
** "[[QuadDamage QUAD DAMAGE!]]"
*** Also, each weapon sound [[{{Pun}} four times beefier]] when you collect this powerup. This was intentional.
* NauseaFuel: Several of Cadavre's quotes reference maggots, bodily fluids, and his own curious status as a living corpse.
--> '''Cadavre''': ''I let you hit me because I like to watch the pus run.''
* NightmareFuel: Picking the (aptly enough) "Nightmare" in the difficulty select screen (not the skirmish screen) is pronounced with the sound of a spooky demonic groan.
* PolishedPort: Each of the console ports for the game have proven to be pretty good in running the game smoothly and capturing it's feel. The main (and sometimes only) criticism these ports face is how the game plays with a regular controller.
** The Dreamcast version is often considered to be the best among them, with there even being servers for that version up to this day. With the right patches, it's technically even crossplay compatible with PC players altogether, albeit at obvious performance handicaps and PC players having far better controls if you don't plug in a system-compatible mouse and keyboard.
** Most of the time, the ''only'' criticism ''Quake Arena Arcade'' faces in reviews is... [[SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove "Not enough people are playing it"]] (and its elevated price). Which says a lot about this port, as well as the fact that some of its content found its way back to ''Quake Live''.
* ThatOneBoss: Xaero. To summarize, he takes the Railgun and [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard ALWAYS HITS]], and if he's close to you, he can simply waste you with the {{BFG}} or the Rocket Launcher. Oh, and did we mention that he's hard to hit? Try playing against him on Nightmare.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Every single change made to ''Live'' inevitably leads to dozens of forum posts complaining about the change.
** Until the Steam release, fan-favourite and TournamentPlay mainstay maps such as Blood Run, Wicked and Aerowalk being limited to subscribers.
** The Steam preparation update has the addition of loadouts, weapon-independent ammo, in-game item spawn indicators, the addition of the Heavy Machinegun, and single-button-press strafing, among other polemic changes. Paradoxically, most of these changes were accepted when ''VideoGame/QuakeChampions'' was developed.
** The game going from a Free-to-Play game with optional paid subscriptions to a Buy-to-Play $10 game with sub services retired.
** The game going from a browser-based game to a Steam-based app.
** The {{BFG}} being changed from a slow firing super weapon that does massive damage with each hit to basically a souped-up plasma gun was disliked by many, which is likely why all the future incarnations of it (such as in ''Videogame/Doom3'' and ''Videogame/Doom2016'') it was changed back to its original functionality.
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