EPTI have had a good life. I have had close friends. I have shared deep moments. I have been madly in love.
If I were asked, “What are some of your most memorable moments?”, these things would certainly be in there, but they’d be up there alongside NASL Season 1 and MLG Anahiem. Yes, NASL and MLG may not have been the most significant moments in my life, but they are among the more memorable.
Yes, these are good places to get involved, and I will go over that further down, but let me take a moment to explain why else one should attend every single one they can. Like many SC2 fans, I’m a bit of a nerd. I played Magic, tons of video games, read scifi/fantasy novels, was strong in math, weak in social skills, and watched a ton of anime. With the exception of a few special places and people, I’ve been a bit of an outsider and loner my whole life. When I’m not an outsider, I’m still usually the only one getting psyched over MC being knocked out of Code A, or listening to the FF6 soundtrack (in midi or flac). Maybe that’s not the situation ever SC2 player/fan is in, but it’s mine, and I’m sure it sounds familiar with some of you.
From the moment the doors at NASL1 opened, I felt I was at home. I felt I belonged. It’s strange, standing outside the doors in line with people is fun, they’re your comrades and you chat a bit – but when the doors open and you step inside, those same people you were just standing with in line now feel like brothers and sisters, the staff feel like parents, and the players like beloved grandparents. For three days, you’re part of a huge family, and the SC community is a damn good family to be part of.
About getting involved in the community – these events have been instrumental in getting to where I am now (which, granted, is not very far). Lets start with a quick recap of which event’s I’ve attend. Day[9] Countdown (I had no idea who Day[9] was at the time), NASL 1, MLG Anaheim, MLG Orlando, Blizzcon, MLG Providence, NASL 2. Lets recap each one:
Day[9] Countdown: This, for those of you who don’t know, was a party Day[9] organized for the release of SC2, and also the finals of the King of the Beta tournament. I went with a few friends (Hob and PianoForte), and had a good time. Got my ipod touch signed by Robert Clotworthy and Neil Kaplan, and chatted to Day[9] and QXC for a while afterwards, having no idea who they were. Well, QXC had a sign saying, “I’m QXC. You might have heard of me”. I hadn’t. There wasn’t anything significant about this event, other than getting my excitement up, and encouraging me to do more Starcraft.
NASL1 Finals: My first day at NASL1, I did the fan boy thing. I've got a shirt covered in signatures. I went overboard with it, just to get it out of my system. Since then, I've always tried to talk to players like equals, and have avoided all fan boy actives and language. I had met Rus (founder of NASL) before, and had brought a camera to do interviews , both of which turned out to be super useful. My friends Hob, Jeekers, Elsa and PianoForte were all there, with the later two helping out with stuff on day 2. Day 1, I did an interview with Artosis which was terrible – so terrible I can’t even watch it. Artosis was a total pro about it though. At any point he could have just walked away, saying his time was better spent telling somebody on the internet they were wrong, and he would have been right to do so. Elsa showed up and saved me, thankfully, by taking over the interviews (not after I had also made Gretorp, iNcontroL and Ret suffer). At some point during the event, Gretorp and I got into a sparring match – where he went super easy, thinking I was just some noob that had taken a single judo class. I totally kicked his ass. :D We ended the weekend at some super exclusive after party (I’m still not sure how we got there), where we just had normal conversations with people, and had a good time. While walking leaving the party, we happened to be walking next to Tasteless and Artosis, and I hardly remember how it happened, but I threw Tasteless as well. He was a little freaked out.
MLG Anaheim: Again, we had a camera, and did some interviews, most notably an amazing interview with Sir Scoots. We made more friends, and this is where we really started to found some of the lasting relationships, and some of the more potent ones as well. There’s not much to note here, other than because of the friends we had started to make, we got invited into some semi-exclusive parties, and got some really good interviews. Anaheim was an amazing event as a spectator, and while there were no events that really stood out as critical, a lot of groundwork was laid, relationships started, and drinks bought. Gretop and I sparred again, but this time he actually tried, and it was a tie.
MLG Orlando: Oh man, Orlando is when I knew that what I’m doing was more than just a hobby. I live in San Francisco, so flying out to Orlando for a weekend Starcraft event is a HUGE deal. Since Elsa wasn’t around, in fact I was the only SC2Ratings staff around, there were no interviews, but I would swing by and chat for a few moments with people I had met before. Long enough that they’d pay attention, but not so long that it looked like I was trying to cling to them. We’d say, “hi”, exchange some pleasantries, I’d remind them that we met before, and explain to them what it is I was trying to do: SC2Ratings.com. Then I’d go my way. Maybe wave and say, “hi,” if we ran into each other again. Again, I ended up at semi-exclusive events – this time with a friend of mine spilling drinks all over SirScoot’s shoes (which he remembers and gives me shit for to this day). Some relationships started to develop better than others. It was good to go to Orlando, because those that recognized me from Anaheim knew I came a long way to at least one of the events, so I wasn’t just a casual fan of the game, but somebody that was really trying to get involved.
BlizzCon: Blizzcon was fun, but mostly as a spectator. It was good to see the same people over again, and get that facial recognition, but mostly I just wanted to watch some really good games, and play HotS. Gretorp and I spared – this time he didn’t hold back, and although he didn’t get any throws off, he was the clear winner.
MLG Providence: Another trip to the other side of the country without my staff (It’s been since Anaheim since we’ve had any interviews, although Elsa did stop by for dinner and drinks after BlizzCon), but I had a great time. I made a lot of new contacts, started to shore up some older ones, and had a bunch of pro players call a very sick friend of mine, leaving get well wishes on his voice mail. Post. Most importantly, I really started to feel comfortable hanging out with those who are already in the community.
NASL 2: What can I say? I’ve gotten to know the NASL staff pretty well, or at least some of them, so while waiting for HON to be over with each day, I would sit around and chat with whoever was manning the front desk, and they’d text us when there was a player who was ready to give an interview. This really confirms my initial suspicions: if you want to get into the community, you don’t need to make friends with players nearly as much as you do staff, and hosts of shows. Let me be clear, I’m not saying my relationships with these people exist to further my cause in the community, but staff and hosts have been more helpful and available than players or casters. NASL was so good for networking, because the live crowd was so small. The only real problem is that because I was meeting so many people, my budget for buying drinks for people (super useful tool BTW), got exhausted very quickly, and had to be increased by an additional 75%. It was also great to get to see the SC2Ratings staff again – at least Elsa and PianoForte.
This turned out much longer than expected, but there’s been a lot going on. It’s fair to say that I had to leave a lot out, but this should be enough for now. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I have been very lucky at these events. Soooo lucky.
Lastly, I’d like to give a shout out to a very special contact. I met him at NASL1, he really helped us out at MLG Anaheim, and proved wonderful at NASL2. This guy tries to keep a low public profile, so I’ll leave him be, but you know who you are. I am in your debt.
