So, first of all, I'll tell you if I like the game or not. The answer is, yes, I love it.

It isn't perfect but already near perfection and better than QL/Q3 for quite a lot of aspects.

Keep in mind that QL, altho being an excellent Quake, is still a poorly optimized version of Q3+MODS, current Q3 CPMA is actually smoother than QL,
That said I do prefer vq3/cq3/vql gameplay over CPM considering the fact that it's less extreme, a bit slower, more accessible and slightly more tactical overall.
In term of skillset, both vq3(cq3/vql) and CPM requieres an insanely high skill at sub-top to top level. CPM is still slightly harder tho, but as I grew up (and also right when I started Q3 back in 2001), I actually do enjoy more the guns play, the balance and the pace of vq3(cq3/vql); it's kind of like music tastes, some people enjoy adhd music style, others like slow paced with strong beats more, etc.

All that to point out diabotical gameplay. It... is... the evolution of vq3, we can call it vq3 in 2020, which means a lot. View height is shorter, RL is slightly stronger (which is a good thing considering the fact that RL was already the dominant weaps in many situations at QL, and has always been the most iconic weap of quake), LG has a faster firerate but is harder to play it defensively with highest effectiveness, and very very risky in close range against a RL master. The new idea/approach towards the rail is a nice and refreshing one. Rail is still very strong, rewards high risks/cluth play more, but you gotta think first if you'll chose it in difficult situations, with a lot of tension etc, whereas in Q3/QL, the rail was still a high risk high reward weapon, but much more consistent and predictable, and usually to "easy" at long range.

So yeah, I can see diabotical as a slightly more offensive version of QL/Q3, which is what people usually want from an AFPS in 2018+.

Now let's talk about the performances, graphics, smoothness/responsiveness and features of the game.
Performance: nearly perfect, nothing to really complain about, runs faster than QC and... Fortnite ;P.
Graphics: cartoon art design is needed in 2020, it looks less brutal, more approachable for new players, will prolly bring younger players into the game, doesn't look crap after 5 years (cartoon gfx are lifetime gfx for an e-sport game), and the overall design is simple as fuck, visually very easy to understand, etc. I like it.
Smoothness: I would never have expected saying that so late, but the 125 tickrate coupled with 250+fps, multithreaded inputs and so on, actually makes the game feel so accurate (90% of the time) that sometimes you feel something is wrong... Seems like for so many years we got used to 30 tickrate and rather low fps and "average" netcode etc, so when playing diabotical it feels... too accurate/responsive.
Actually will take time to adapt at 100%.
The features: crosshairs are dope, huds are dope, and no needs to nerds the cfg cvars/commands in order to make the perfect config. All you have to do is to either set it up to default or just put everything to low, maybe import a hud you like from someone else if you're too lazy to make one, set enemies/teamM8s colors, and you're basically done. Kind of like a "plug & play" game, or let's say an "install and play" game.
And the menu looks sexy as fuck, so clean, no bullshit, simple; Perfect.

Last but not least, I do not like neither overwatch nor fortnite, for various reasons, but I actually do love the engines of both games. Having diabotical to be some kind of "in between" feels extremely right to me, there again, smoothness + cartoon = future of e-sport (and actually already present, too).
And having MMR and many other cool features to facilitate a lot the players experience, is obviously something we have to expect in 2020, but it's at FN/OW level, whereas QC, for instance, has it too, but put in a rather "unprofessional/aborted" way, so to speak.

______________________________________________________________________________________


Now let's talk about HEARTLESSS THE FAGGOT MENTALLY ILL DRUG ADDICT ATTENTION WHORE.

My plans remain the same, practicing 6-8 months straight, either be it arena 1v1 or a teammode that isn't TDM (not because I don't like TDM, but just because I'm more than shit and untalented at it, I'm too bad at keeping track of so many informations at the same time and focus on aim, too elitist for me, and too much brain I won't bother learning, I still do understand why so many people love it deeply tho, it's prolly one of the most difficult gamemode ever, altho at the end all gamemodes at top level requiere so much practice and dedication, even instagib), and then setting up my stream with my dope as fuck setup and internet connection :>. And play regularly while streaming and talking/interacting with viewers (if I ever got some ;D, we will see).

This week-end I played approx 90 games of MMR arena 1v1, and... Holy fuck I'm baaaddddd ;D. Not THAT bad but nothing you would expect from a thunderstruck nerd.
I was at peak 1980 SR, top11 the 1st night, then top25 the next day and... 46th at the end of my 2 days practice session.
Yes, this is something to be ashamed from, considering all that cocky and arrogant talking about myself being this or that etc.
I lost to serious obviously, with a significant skillgap between him and me. I lost the fayefps aswell, my rox didn't connect as I wanted them to. I lost to ins. I lost to busdriverx. I lost to... stermy, even tho it was barrow's gate map and I played rail to rail near perfection the 1st minutes but then literally made mistakes over mistakes. And nitrino... dominated me with rox 5 times in a row (we did rematch etc) :D.
That said, I still do beat 1950+ SR rather comfortably.

Now the part that's going to be ego-driven and mindset strengthen.

I am actually not going to give up AT ALL, it is only the beginning, And losing games won't affect my dedication aswell as my motivation and fun having to play. Arena 1v1 has always been my favorite gamemode right when I discovered Quake, and will prolly forever be. It's still so much fun to play to me.
I'm now a 31 year old grown up alpha male (;DDDDDD), as odd as it might sound, my mindset is actually close to perfection atm (except from time to time when I do rage, but I'm a human after all). I've got this kind of raisy's dedication coupled with cooller's arrogance/xp and cypher's comeback abilities.
Losing is part of my practice method. Fearing noone even if currently large skill gap between some players and me. Will play anyone, anytime, whatever the outcome, nothing to lose, everything to learn. People will hate me or support me, but at the end it's a fight against me and myself (not in the evil's way tho :p).
I know that, especially at past 30 year old, I won't improve as fast as I did when I was 10 years younger, but I noticed one thing these past years: as long as I keep enjoying what I'm doing, as long as I play regularly, I tend to improve "naturally", means that it's some kind of sub-conscious improvement(s), you might not notice it even after 2 weeks, but if 1 month has past and I'm still dedicated, this is exactly where I can clearly see an improvement, even if it's a 3-5% improvement, means that the next month will be another 2-4% improvement and so forth. I'm like this kind of an atypical dude that improves endlessly if playing regularly, unlike most players that get stuck to same level after a while. Might sound pretentious, but this is actually how my psychism and hand-eyes coordination as well as xp gain, work :O.

"what matters is when you win when it does really matter" (c) toxjq

I'd say for me: "as long as I keep my serotonin level slightly above average, as time past I'll get better and better, just like a good froggy wine" :D

Once I'll adjust 110% to short viewheight, faster rox, overall slightly diff weaps def, new maps (even tho arena 1v1 maps are easy to learn), weeballs mastering, the man in the shadow for so long will rise again and make himself the true Heartless.

END OF /RANT AND FU ALL LMAO WTF