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TL.net, Advice would be great.
As I grew from sprout to man, videogames have been part of my spare time, I have dabbled in music, dabbled in writing, dabbled in boxing (and martial arts in general), dabbled in bodybuilding but for what its worth after about a year or so I always returned to the reassuring light of the video gaming experience.
But I have never played for the sake of being globally competitive; I played for escapism, for the lulz or simply to snap the necks of my friends in competitive pc and console games.
I finished mandatory military service before summer started, Im currently without a job, living with my parents and playing starcraft 2. I saved up a lot of money in the army, even ventured down to Somalia, had a great experience with people in general and now live off social benefits that this country developed but life must move on and I am standing at a crossroads.
Im now 22 years old, these years are golden and I feel the need for these years to account for something.
At 7-800 or so diamond league Zerg player (top 50 in my country) I am not great but I have faith that I will given time and dedication transition between average and better than average. Recently I entered in a only Norwegian cup and "ghasp" qualified.
I don’t expect to win. But it brought with it some semblance of competition, I was shell-shocked by a nice sample of adrenaline every game always loosing the first game, playing sharper and more intensely I ended up finishing both of my slightly worse opponents 2-1.
Following day9s advice, Sticking to the builds I have practiced and almost Omni potently finding their proxies. (Why do people try to cheese when you are 1-1 in a best of 3? It’s very predictable)
To be frank I have had the time to practice 8-12 hours a day every day. I instead used it for other things (working out, forum trolling, reading, watching movies, drinking, tinkering, Use map settings turret defence).
I know I also have the determination needed to rise above top 3000 in Europa (according to some site i was 3120 on EU ladder).
I find myself lacking in overall knowledge because I do not come from a hardcore RTS background but given enough practice time I can catch up and perhaps one day be great enough to take gaming to the next level.
However sc2 will grow and I can only grow so much before I need to get a job, to avoid reality completely would be outright boneheaded. This is where input from other gamers is nice.
Either I take this more seriously NOW and play video games with a more competitive mindset, while putting work at a more secular position in my life.
Or I skip the entire video game thing and follow the line of though that my parents have time and time again reminded me about. I can always troll forums, laugh and follow the scene as it goes on, I would still be able to own my friends in sc2 and get a GREAT job in the military or elsewhere.
I simply refuse to try doing both at the same time as i do not like to split my passions in halves.
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If you decide to become a progamer:
You will need to practice a lot (8hrs/day at least) and you need an income of your own. Socially I don't think it's a popular career choice. It might make it hard finding a girl. In the long run the SC2 scene will evolve. Probably just like in Korea the youngsters will take over with their superior APM and faces full of acne. They don't have a worry in the world, meanwhile when a guy is getting close to 25 he needs to know a lot about himself and his role in the world. If you do make it big, you still need to practice to maintain your edge and think about the days when you won't be part of the scene. Maybe become a trainer/commentator. Money probably is rubbish after you give a share to your team, pay the rent/food etc. And you always have to worry about the next months rent unless you belong to a team. Also, competition probably is fierce with everyone trying to make it big, just like the poker-craze a while back.
If you decide not to become a progamer:
In the short term you need to find what you want to work with. Norway has low unemployment rates so I assume it's easy to come by jobs. You'll get a salary at the end of the month meaning you can pursue interests outside of video gaming (or you can visit SC2 tourneys around the world). However - you will need to adjust to being around new people and they might give the new guy a hard time, so you might have to change jobs. In the long run, you will have a job you like and taking care of yourself, maybe starting a family, with more money in the bank then you know what to do with.
+ Show Spoiler +
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Personally, I think that with SC2 the e-sports market is too untested right now but a lot of people are just ignoring that and jumping right in, throwing everything else like education, financial security, etc. away. It is possible that given the Starcraft namesake and how much money is currently being pumped into it that SC2 will become a legitimate, profitable e-Sport for pro-gamers but there's no certainty to it at all. BW was only feasibly profitable in one country (and if you look at pro-gamer salaries outside of the top 5 or top 10, they suck). Halo and other MLG games are the same; IIRC if you are signed you can make a great paycheck but very few are ever signed.
This seems to be against the general TL mindset though, I find a lot of people are talking about becoming "pro-gamers" when they don't actually know anything about how difficult it could be and how unlikely it is to achieve anything remotely resembling success in that field. You are not the only nerd who think "hey new game I will become the best ever and be better than the koreans ho ho ho". It doesn't seem feasible to devote your life to play a video game that isn't even guaranteed success, and even if it does, the chance to become one of the highest paid and having a salary that can support a decent life for you is just so small. In the meantime you are 22 and probably don't have the time to waste on flights of fantasy like that.
It's nice to entertain these fancies but at some point you need to get back down to earth. Maybe if you were 14-16 I would say to go for it, but no, not at 22 imo. Just my two cents.
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Be a progamer now.
What will you do in 10 years?
20 years?
How will you sell yourself on the work market? Sustain your family?
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On August 27 2010 05:11 Murlox wrote:
Be a progamer now.
What will you do in 10 years?
20 years?
How will you sell yourself on the work market? Sustain your family?
to be frank i have a letter of apprenticeship and a year of experience in the field of industry as well as high referances for performing well in the military. Its not hard to get a job should i so be inclined.
I was entertaining the though off atleast spending a good five (arbitrary number) years of my life taking work that lets me practice atleast 8 hours aday, maintain a decent shape in the gym and we norwegians get to take 5 weeks of vacation a year so id use that on events and make ends meet that way.
I dont need sponsors in the same way teens do. I am certain that i am capable of making ends meet myself and then maybe as years of experience start showing for themselves win some event or two.
Because tbh i will play sc2 regardless of what jobs i take the issue is more about how far do i intend to take this hobby rather than. ZOMG ILL GO PRO FOR LIFE and then die of sleep deprivation inside some korean pc bang.
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I would recommend not pursuing a career in pro gaming.
1) Not the smartest financial option
2) Not the best idea in terms of a social life. I mean how can you play for the amount required per day and establish any kind of meaningful relationship with a girlfriend say?
Look I know its a bit harsh but I was looking at Idra at the IEM recently and I just thought what on earth is it your doing with your life. Your playing a game a ridiculous amount of hours, outside of that your probably thinking/talking about the game but I mean what about meaningful relationships, what about setting up for marriage and a family, what about having a good career, helping people or looking at the deeper things of life and growing as a human being (instead of just increasing apm and your strategic mind). I don't mean that in an angry or bitter way at all but I am kind of sad to be seeing people in my mind ruin parts of their life.
Playing SC2 professionally is never going to be like a 9-5 job. It's going to take up everything you have and then at the end of it you wont even have enough money to be supporting a family, starting a marriage, getting a mortgage and you'll need to ask yourself what was it all for? The rush, the excitement of a few games or a reputation on teamliquid.net or if your lucky in korea?
I know my views will be pretty contrary to most on this forum, but you should have a balanced view of this before you go making decisions.
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On August 27 2010 06:24 TechniQ.UK wrote:
I would recommend not pursuing a career in pro gaming.
1) Not the smartest financial option
2) Not the best idea in terms of a social life. I mean how can you play for the amount required per day and establish any kind of meaningful relationship with a girlfriend say?
Look I know its a bit harsh but I was looking at Idra at the IEM recently and I just thought what on earth is it your doing with your life. Your playing a game a ridiculous amount of hours, outside of that your probably thinking/talking about the game but I mean what about meaningful relationships, what about setting up for marriage and a family, what about having a good career, helping people or looking at the deeper things of life and growing as a human being (instead of just increasing apm and your strategic mind). I don't mean that in an angry or bitter way at all but I am kind of sad to be seeing people in my mind ruin parts of their life.
Playing SC2 professionally is never going to be like a 9-5 job. It's going to take up everything you have and then at the end of it you wont even have enough money to be supporting a family, starting a marriage, getting a mortgage and you'll need to ask yourself what was it all for? The rush, the excitement of a few games or a reputation on teamliquid.net or if your lucky in korea?
I know my views will be pretty contrary to most on this forum, but you should have a balanced view of this before you go making decisions.
What is so meaningful about relationships or family or a good career or helping people. People attain happiness is different ways which don't always align with your idea of normality.
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i guess it was the way i wrote the op that makes everyone confuse it with pro gaming. I do not intend to pursue a hobby so relentlessly that i lack the founds to support transitions into later stages of life.
it might come as a shocker but people have things they like to do in their spare time, video games and working out have stood the test of time and i would consider that as my hobby.
My entire thread can be summed up with. I got back from the military during beta have been living off welfare founds for jobless people since release. I have no problem getting a job but was more enjoying the welfare while playing sc2, should i get a civillian job that allows me to practice enough to participate in future events? or do i get a more hard core job that fills this gap, so that i can only follow the scene and play during weekends, vacation and holidays?
I think my answer is probably as easy as the time when i wanted to become an author. The market for pro gamers / aspiring authors is already saturated with hardworking and talented people that wish to compete in it.
I will most likely fall flat on my face in the prelims for years but at the very least i will have challenged myself in something i enjoy the shit out of.
hmm why i blogged this in the first place? i guess input is as good as any, nothing too dream shattering though i tend to do that myself the instant something comes up. Writing helps me center my mind and input helps speed up the process. thanks for the replies.
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Hmm, if you do not have a clear answer, you have the luxury of choice A (Civilian job that allows you practice time). Even if you are not playing for tournaments, you can always return to the other stuff you dabbled on or even learn new skills. New skills will help improve your versatility in life, your gaming mindset / skills or even improve your appeal to employers.
If you find financial problems, then it might be the time to switch to a hardcore job. Do note that not all hardcore jobs pay well and not all more kickback jobs pay are bad. (It really depends on the job your applying for) so do some research.
Just my 2 cents.
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On August 27 2010 07:03 PokePill wrote:
What is so meaningful about relationships or family or a good career or helping people. People attain happiness is different ways which don't always align with your idea of normality.
I agree (beside the helping people part, you should always help people  ). Why exactly is having a relationship or starting a family so important? I often have light meals and spend the time playing video games; no one says that that's 'unnatural' because as animals we're programmed to eat or something like that. Obviously for most people social interaction is more important than video games, and I respect that. But why does it have to be more important? It's not like the world desperately needs more children or more CEOs lol.
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Personally I think you should just keep gaming as a hobby and get a good job, as lets be honest, everyone wants to be a pro-gamer and you're not going to be able to live comfortably as a pro-gamer, unless you get into the very best of the best.
Its going to be much easier and more secure for you just to get a proper job and a career, playing SC2 as a hobby in my opinion, but thats just what I would do. If you think you're up for it, and you have the savings to take the hit if it fails - Why not try and live the dream?
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Get some sort of part time job and mass game during your free time.
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my intuition says that if you have significant doubt about becoming a progamer then you shouldn't commit to it. it sounds like you have those doubts; you could have been training but you were playing turret defense and stuff instead?
if it's something you really want to do, and you are willing to risk what you'd be giving up (money, time, other support), then go for it. but otherwise your primary passion ought to be somewhere else.
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even if you're top 1000 in <region>... That's basicly nothing. That means there are 900+ people better than you, trying to get in in the same tournaments you are trying to get in.
Play 3 hours a day (sacrificing some trolling time), be a very good amateur, have a fun life.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/7/11956181_ecade765cd.jpg)
