Interview with #DIGRL player Turtle
We caught up with Isaac 'Turtle' App to chat about his time playing with Team Dignitas.
After a disappointing start to their RLRS campaign, Team Dignitas won 'The Proving Grounds' tournament sweeping Light's Out 4-0 in the finals. We caught up with Isaac 'Turtle' App to chat about his time playing with Team Dignitas and what the future holds for competitive Rocket League and his career.
So you’ve been around the Rocket League scene for a while now. How does the team dynamic on Team Dignitas compare to your previous teams?
Turtle: I think the team I'm on now has a quieter dynamic, which isn't a bad thing. Most teams I've been on have had a lot more energy, which can sometimes create conflict when results don't go the right way. We focus a lot on keeping comms relaxed and focusing on what we're doing.
Dreamhack Leipzig was a great success with the team securing a Top 8 finish, what were your expectations going into the tournament?
Turtle: Going into Leipzig we had pretty much no expectations. I knew we were a killer team just based on scrims, but that was our first showing. Had no idea how we would compete with pressure.
The team’s performance in the RLRS this season has been a little less successful than your results in the offseason suggested. Do think that this is due to the competition upping their game, or other factors?
Turtle: Honestly RLRS was incredibly frustrating. I think there were a lot of great teams competing, including us. Scrims and tournaments outside of league play always seemed to go better than game day for us, meaning we just need to figure out a way to convert the way we practice into the way we play. It always sucks going into something as one of the favorites only to come up short.
Out of the teams who are likely to go into the promotion-relegation tournament, which one do you think would have the best chance of making it into the RLCS?
Turtle: I think the teams with the best chance of making it are Allegiance and FlyQuest. I think both of those teams have great players with humble spirits. When we play them, I can always feel a sense of hunger for RLCS, which is awesome.
Last season the RLCS setup was changed to include the rival series and promotion-relegation tournaments. Are you a fan of the current setup and what would you want to change about it?
Turtle: I think RLRS is great, but I would really love either a longer season or a playoff tournament for the top 2. RLCS has a tournament to see who goes to LAN, and I 100% feel as though RLRS should have the same format. League play results are very important, and it would show in the seeding of the regulation tournament at the end of the season.
There was some talk of non-standard maps perhaps returning. Did you agree with the decision to remove them entirely from the game?
Turtle: I agree, considering I can't stand non-regular maps. I wouldn't mind something that doesn't affect the physics as much, but maps like old Neo Tokyo are something I never want to relive.
There has been lots of frustration in the community about servers and game performance etc... especially compared to the volume of in-game items being released. To what extent do you agree with this sentiment?
Turtle: Servers have been the most frustrating part about the game hands down. Not only do we have inconsistent servers with horrible connection, we also have no central servers for west players. This automatically puts people at a huge disadvantage simply because we can't get central servers in North America. I remember there were several ghost hits even in RLRS. Mix all this in with inconsistent internet and you have a game that can often times be unplayable.
What would you say is your favourite moment of your Rocket League career so far and why?
Turtle: My favorite moment would probably be Season 3 LAN and running up on stage with the American flag. Just an awesome feeling to stand in front of the crowd like that.
How much longer do you see yourself playing Rocket League competitively, and what factors do you think will impact how long you choose to play for?
Turtle: It depends on the direction of the game and, for me right now, servers. I have a passion for this game and I still want to get back to the highest level of play. Hopefully things will go our way within the next upcoming months and off-season.
Any words you want to share with the fans at the end of this interview?
Turtle: I just want to apologize about our lacking performance in RLRS, and fans to know we aren't taking this under-performance lightly. We appreciate all the love and hope to come back stronger than ever. Also shoutout to Team Dignitas and our sponsors!
A huge thank you to Turtle for taking the time to answer a few of our questions. Be sure the check him out on his social media:
