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motbob
United States12546 Posts
Ever since you heard about this magical world of professional Starcraft, your life's been a pile of shit. Admit it. Your GPA plummeted, your social life's been basically non-existent except for a few close friends. Hell, at least when you were a Halo 2 junkie you had buddies right beside you when you played split-screen. You got your B.A., at least. Congrats. Now you have no chance of getting into grad school, and you have no job one month out of college. Has it been worth it?
I want you to draw up a costs/benefits chart of this "hobby" of yours (more like a very enjoyable full-time job. Sound familiar?) We already talked a bit about the costs (such as the ruining of your life) but what about some of the benefits? I know that watching 8 hours of Dreamhack leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, but I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that the time was better spent than reading Churchill's memoirs on WWII, something you never got done, or shoring up your almost non-existent skill in chess. Read a book, man! Learn a trade. Fix up the deck. Help out your parents, who, as you might recall, still live with you. Perhaps you should focus on moving out, and not on whether PvZ is imbalanced.
What happened to all your other passions, man? Chess, history, politics. Reading in general. All the things you used to spend time on have been sacrificed to the insatiable appetite of the Starcraft God. Your life could be fulfilling and great if only you could let this addiction go.
It is not as if you haven't accomplished anything in the Starcraft community. Your R&S threads were a useful resource back in the early days of GOM, and at around the time of MLG Dallas 2010 you started to bring the art of well-made LR threads into the SC2 portion of this site. You removed "confusing format" from the laundry list of complaints that spectators had at MLG Dallas 2011. And NASL... let's not get started on all the work you did for them.
But let's not kid ourselves. If you think TL still needs you , you're very wrong. Do you know what WoW syndrome is? Everyone in WoW thinks, "The guild needs me. I heal the other members of my party. They couldn't raid without me. I'm useful."
Wrong. The guild needs a healer, not you specifically. It's the same here on TL. Sure, people are grateful for the work that you do, just like they're grateful for the work of every member of staff, from the TSL organizers to the liquibet adders. But the SC2 community is chugging along, man. There's more manpower than ever before. If you're not updating results and standings, that's OK. Other people can take up the mantle and make threads of their own, or they can just go to Liquipedia. There has always been someone to fill the gap in the Starcraft community, and there always will be.
You're still a child. The other night, you watched someone play Portal for four hours. You're unemployed, man! What are you doing with your life? Reconnect with the things that are important. Family, friends. Knowledge. Get a job. Get a life, and I mean that in the most positive way. Your life used to be awesome. Now it isn't. I think we both know the reason why.
A man pays the first month of rent, instead of buying a new computer or a smartphone. A man hangs out with his friends, instead of sitting hunched at his computer. A man starts a family. You don't even have the slightest idea of how you're going to do that. It's time to grow up.
Follow your passions. If you can't do that, find new passions.
Yeah, you say you'll quit TL. But you'll be back, in a year, six months, or a week. I just hope that when you do come back, you load up this blog post and press alt-f4.
 
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I used to watch ProLeague and OSL religiously- then I got a job... Now I feel like I have to wait for the weekends to watch it. =0\
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But...but...what about ESPORTS?
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Why do you feel bad for spending time doing what you love?
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On June 26 2011 17:23 Vequeth wrote:
Why do you feel bad for spending time doing what you love?
At won't point is "doing the things you love" worth it? Wouldn't everyone love to play and improve at SC2 constantly. Wouldn't everyone love to have the free time to keep up with every event and every tournament statistic? There are a lot of things that can make someone happy, but not all of them can lead to a stable life or even a happy one in the long run.
Just like SC, it's just about balance.
PS: gl motbob <3
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On June 26 2011 17:23 Vequeth wrote:
Why do you feel bad for spending time doing what you love?
He said addiction, not love.
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the Dagon Knight4015 Posts
Reading that post, I have never been gladder I made the decision a long time ago to only watch a few games here and there. I'm still watching DreamHack games when I get a chance, because they're in my iTunes.
I am sorry to ask, but how much of this is based on a mythical average TLer, and how much on your own experience?
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Good post. I think theirs a lot of people, myself included, who would benefit from taking another step back from Starcraft for a while. I don't know if this is mostly self-talk/reflection or a general impression of a particular poster, but its very well written and would probably be helpful for a lot of people.
Although I wouldn't say that its even come close to being as damaging as it was from the POV of the narrator for me, the amount of time I've been devoting to this game recently is certainly reaching the absurd. Thank you for the motivation to take a break and smell the roses.
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This seems correct I guess I'm giving up Tl and sc now thanks for the kick up the ass lets see how long I can last 
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On June 26 2011 18:48 Eviltoast wrote:This seems correct I guess I'm giving up Tl and sc now thanks for the kick up the ass lets see how long I can last
See you on Friday then? 
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Estonia4644 Posts
most depressing blog post ever D:
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Hey motbob good luck in whatever you decide to do. Your lr threads have been great. I hope you take some pride in knowing most forumers on tl know who you are. Sure someone will fill your spot but that doesn't mean what you were doing is useless. The same can be said of anyone doing anything (almost) but that doesn't mean they were wasting their time doing it. Sure this is a little hypocritical coming from a guy who just leeches off what forumers like you bring to tl, but thanks for all the great work you've done. Fighting! I'm sure given the dedication you've exhhibited here you'll do well.
If only everyone who is so eager to devote their life to sc2 all of a sudden (streaming, going 'pro', etc.) could read this and see how thankless a passion they're getting into.
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Seems to hold very true to my own heart; SC2 is a natural place for many to gather, alot of us whom have weak self-discipline and love to procrastinate. Me = Definitely one of those, thanks for this wakeup call motbob, though knowing me the motivation will probably only last for the next 4 hours, then I'll sleep and wake up in the morning and it'll all be back to normal. >.> Probably destroying my future prospects, but yes, the prospect of watching/playing professional Starcraft 2 is simply too alluring a lifestyle. Definitely something a lot of us need to be aware of 
Thank you Motbob
P.S. Haha, just realised your message is the one my parents have been trying to send to me for months/years now >.<
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And this is what it means to be casual. A much more enjoyable experience, on the whole. Of course, the hardcore players is what keeps the scene interesting.
But lets not romanticize having a "real" life. I have friends who never play games, they just date girls and play sports, and they are no happier than me, their lives are no more worthwile.
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Canada13413 Posts
Slowly I watch less and less starcraft tournaments and just watch the truly epic moments. Also, once I fulfill my goal of master league in SC2 I can go back to seriously doing my homework as I had end of August as my Master's league goal
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Good luck in the future, be strong during withdrawal!
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You're hurting esports!
I hope to see you back soon? Or maybe necro to ban like Plexa loll
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motbob i love you <3
GL HF
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EPT
