The End and the Beginning

Final Part from http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=285174

The battle is over, and I'm one again. I walk the quiet ruins in search of somewhere to begin, but the search is in no avail. I decide to stop in my place, and let the wind calm my mind. Have a seat and drink some tea while I tell the story of how I came to this Land of Liquid:

***

It all started when I was very young, maybe at 5 years old. My grandparents gave(well my dad bought it and packaged under their names) me and my sister a Sega Genesis complete with two controllers and Sonic the Hedgehog #2.

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That was the birth of my video game life. The game was so horrifyingly difficult as a child. I would sweat and shiver whenever I would reach the Death Egg Zone only to keep dying. It wasn't even until a year ago that I beat Robotnik (saying Eggman vs Robotnik...Eggman just seemed weird). All in all there was some great gameplay, and some of the best music I've ever heard especially for a video game.

Over time I got a few other favourites, including the worst game ever made (batman). World Series Baseball was strangely addictive, even though all you had to do is either throw the ball or press C twice to bat. There were curveballs, fastballs, and sliders to mix it up a bit. Alomar, Fernandez, Carter... that was back when the Jays were, well, better than today let's just say. In fact on my birthday I went to Fernandez' last game before he retired and he scored two grand slams, it was the only time I got excited about baseball. A bit later I got Virtual Bart, which helped build the foundation for my relationship with my sister and cousins. The four of us would each have a special role to play-I'd play 'baby' because I was the youngest, and sometimes 'motorcycle' because it was insanely monotonous but gets so terribly hard near the end. The last noteworthy game I played on Genesis was Sonic 3 which, not surprisingly, had even better music than #2(except the super sonic music). I only made it to the Carnival Night Zone. You know, the one with the barrel? I never figured out there was an entire second half to the game, let alone what was after that barrel.

Throughout the following years I played on friends' systems: Mario on SNES, some baseball game on playstation, ...I was fortunate enough to get a hand-me down black & white see-through Gameboy with...I think Tetris or something.

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I was so excited to get Pokemon Red. I chose Charmander to go with my red hair, and always went for the fire types (Moltres, Magmar, Flameon etc.). My sister got Blue and would always try to take good care of her pokemon. I had this obsession of never letting my Charmander die, a friend told me my Charmander wouldn't like me anymore or something. I went through red and yellow, and some others including Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Harvest Moon. I finally decided to collude with my sister and ask for a Nintendo 64 for Christmas. The Nintendo 64 was a fine machine. A new level of graphics, but more importantly a new level of gaming. Unlike most people, I chose to get Banjo-Kazooie to start my Nintendo gaming instead of everyone's favourite, Mario 64.

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Something about Mario just didn't seem amiable or special. Maybe it was that Banjo and Kazooie were animals, and I always liked animals more than humans. He also had a strange gaze. I should also note this was during the great age of renting games: when places like Blockbuster and 99 video were doing great (in fact Blockbuster just went out of business). I rented many games from Turok to Mario Party (for my sister and cousins) to F-zero racing. One game in particular that I rented, well, I just knew I had to own.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This was the first game that really got inside my head. I started to really believe in everything in the game. I thought the elements of life (great time to make a shameless mention of DJ Tiesto here (+ Show Spoiler +

) were really best divided into Light, Shadow, Spirit, Forest, Fire, Water. Now, I thought the music in Sonic was great, but OOT was like transcendence to another plane of existence. Where to begin! Who couldn't love the youthful, bright and nymph-like music of Kokiri Forest? Of course there's the general Hyrule Field music which is also emboldening, and the peaceful, home-some Lon-Lon Ranch music. Kakariko village, Hyrule city, Gerudo Valley, and heck, all the dungeons had great music and they all have a special place in my heart. Whenever I hear their songs I feel a little like a kid again, and the world seems warmer and more malleable. There's something about the Spirit Temple music that is especially chilling and so powerfully sobering.

Ocarina of Time was more or less the first time I immersed myself in an RPG, and got a chance to face fears and anxieties. The first few dungeons were fairly light-hearted, although the death of the Tree really saddened me. With a bit of regret, I entered into adulthood and found I had left safety far behind. Before even leaving the town of Hyrule I had my first encounter with those pseudo-sado-masochistic zombies that freeze you in place when they see you. Those things made me so scared I mashed the joystick relentlessly as I screamed in an effort to escape their shrieking gaze and their indomitable grip.

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But, with the master sword in my hand, my confidence rose as I shredded through ghouls and Poes and wolves. The first big wall in the way of my quest was the Forest Temple. Now that place was just downright scary. First of all, the freakin music is just people making sharp, chilling yells and the sound of bones rattling.

Then the whole dungeon is pretty well in shadows and you've got wolves popping up everywhere and witches watching you through portraits...*sigh... damn place...still gives me nightmares. The worst of all was the boss, the Phantom Ganon. You walk up a flight of stairs and come to a room full of portraits. You go to the center of the fenced off circular room, and get charged by Ganon on his horse who then runs off through the portraits and you're left to gather your wits and find where Ganon is coming from next. Might I say the piano in that fight is intense. In retrospect nothing can match the Shadow Temple in its frightening aspect, though I never really considered that place a real dungeon for some reason.

Well anyways, I kept moving through the game at a decent pace and I wish to just make special note of the Spirit Temple again. I always loved the desert and that strange, intoxicating music made this my favourite temple by far. The whole atmosphere was thrilling and invigorating. I also fancied the Gerudos very much. A whole group/race of rogues, thieves, and, I think with the exception of Ganondorf, women. They were elegant, decisive, cunning and beautiful. And they liked to be in control of things (I'd come to understand this fancy later on in life with women I'd met). The Gerudo Fortress also represented a new level of critical thinking and problem solving; getting outside that prison, taking down the guards and freeing the carpenters. Once I befriended the Gerudos I felt I had gained a family and sense of belonging.

Of course the final battle with Ganondorf was epic, frightening, and exciting. I can remember my heart palpitating as I fought through the flames to the bottom of the castle and the exhilaration I felt as I ended my long journey after finally slaying Ganon.

Ah, I almost forgot about Commander Keen on my dad's old ThinkPad laptop! Remember the days when your dad would bring home his laptop and let you play those wicked new games like Doom, Hocus Pocus, Yukon Trail, Monster Bash, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Chip's Challenge? Many hours of fun were had, with great challenges that provided ample opportunity for my mind to develop its problem solving abilities. This of course leads me to the great new age of computer gaming.

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Since my dad worked in the IT department, he would go to conferences and they would hand out free Microsoft software. The first game he brought home was Age of Empires. This game was the start of my love for RTS, but as well my love of studying history. I have to admit, I wasn't great at the game and would usually play 4v4 games, building up my forces, and before my side would win I'd unally someone and take their territory. Rise of Rome came, and gave me more fun times.

Then I discovered Age of Kings, and with it came a wealth of historical knowledge. I played the Celts, Franks, Saracens, Mongols, Teutons, as I learned about the lives of William Wallace, Joan of Arc, King Saladin, Genghis Khan, and Frederick Barbarossa (with his great red beard). There was also a history book feature that had each civilization and a great telling of their story. More importantly, these games really built and strengthened my strategic sense. I would later come to find out my sister envied how knowledgeable I was due to the game and that she regretted never having those kinds of games for herself. The Conquerors only built on the awesomeness that is Age of Empires. I easily spent the majority of my time as a kid figuring out strategies and learning history.

Me and my dad spent hours upon hours playing that game together. One game would last an entire weekend of endless slaughter and siege as we'd team up against 4 to 6 computers on hardest difficulty, or go head to head either with our own computer teammates or both solo.

Another couple of games my dad brought home were Homeworld and Starcraft. I'll just say that Homeworld had an awesome end-theme with spectacular graphics and story for its time. The first time I played Starcraft I had no idea what was going on. I thought the game was cheap and the lore awful. I mean, how can a civilization live off of only minerals and vespene gas?? Where does all the food come from? I only played the campaign and had to use cheats for most levels. Once I finished the campaign I put the game away for a great many years...

I eventually came to Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos, and later The Frozen Throne. Now there was a good world for a game. Not minerals and gas...Anyways. TFT was probably the pineacle of RTS for me. The campaign was one I'll never forget, and keep replaying. Playing with heroes and armies was something that really set the game apart from every other game, and the world editor let the game and community live for years and years. I was drawn to the magical aspect of TFT as well as the ability for heroes to become stronger over battles and gain new spells. Many a night were spent on battlenet playing Tower Defense, X Hero Siege, Helm's Deep, Footman Frenzy and so many others.

Of course as I played Warcraft, I, through some means or others found out about the upcoming World of Warcraft. As much as the game ruined my life, it also breathed the life into me. It was my eternal escape. Somewhere I could hide. Someone I could be. Everything in that game was so important...but I'll never know why. For example, I had the impulse that I had to memorize all the stats on my gear, or the zones in the world, and the list goes on. I would stay online just because others were online. Over just the first 4 years of vanilla WoW I gained many friends and so many memories. It'll be something I'll never forget, as it consumed and enshrouded my entire high school life (something so many baby-boomers look back to as the prime time of their life, and I'm starting to myself).

These games were my life. My love. My heart and Soul. I don't know what I would have done without them. They seem so integral to my development and I owe them my eternal respect and gratitude.

Finally I come to how I discovered TeamLiquid. Once upon a skipped school day, I lay in bed, bored. I looked through videos of World of Warcraft when I somehow found the TSL. I was amazed how the casters could find such interest and complexity in a video game, and I loved watching strategy unfold. From there, through Chill's ever present plugging, I found TeamLiquid.net. For a long time I didn't have an account, but eventually I created one. The name I chose is my mantra: I am the unborn, the nascent, and my father's name cut in half.

Some awesome and hilarious old-style day9 commentary with Artosis

***

Well I don't really know why I keep posting here. Nobody really reads my posts and they're probably not worth reading anyway. I don't know what I'll do now. I'll bet no one read through this post either. Others seem to gain much more interest. I don't know what it is that they have. I leave you with something Chef told me:

Believe me, I feel exactly the way you do when I read good writing. Writing is a skill which takes immense dedication, almost the same way Brood War does (except that it's less clear who is a winner and who is a loser). So many times I think 'wow, this does so much more than I've ever done in my writing.' That's usually inspirational for me and makes me see that I can expand the limits of my own writing. However, when I read back my own writing sometimes it is just depressing how far away I actually am haha. This is the greatest challenge of anyone who undertakes a skill in something very competitive... Having the humility to know that it will take a long time to become good and being able to deal with disappointment.

The End and the Beginning

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