EPTThe beginning
I came into Starcraft 2 after being a 5 year veteran of World of Warcraft. I absolutely loved that game. It changed me and defined my life in high school and freshman/sophomore year of college. I was never a weird kid but everyone knew I was a gamer. I still went out and had lots of friends/a girlfriend but I defined myself as a gamer first.
All good things must come to an end
My time with World of Warcraft was running out towards the end of the fall of my Sophomore year of college. I was playing more than ever and had tentatively been accepted to a top 100 world guild. I had time to spare to be one of the best raiders in the world. Unfortunately, I had (and still have) one of those things called "girlfriends" that like you to "spend time with them." Now don't get me wrong, I love this girl and I plan on spending the rest of my life with her, but she demanded that I give up my lifelong passion because it was detracting from our relationship. This was in November before Thanksgiving break. So, sadly but correctly, gave up my life-defining game for a girl; this was the best decision I have made in a long time.
Trying to fill a hole...
So what does a life long gamer do after he is no longer going to be playing his favorite game? Try to find another one of course! I was looking quickly for a game that would be perfectly suitable for a casual but that wasn't easy. I remembered my buddy dragging me to the midnight release of Starcraft 2 at Best Buy. I had bought the game but only played it long enough to beat the campaign and do a few custom games with my friend. I never once touched the ladder and I had long forgot about it because of my dedication to WoW. Over winter break, I loaded this game on my laptop and my love affair with Starcraft 2 began...
Forever bronze...
I HATED this game. I went 0-5 in my placement matches and got placed 100 bronze. I didn't win any games for the longest time. I thought to myself "man RTS's are so different than MMO's." And I was right. There was much more to take into account when playing an RTS, OK well maybe not more but certainly different things to take into account. I had no idea about basic strategies, key terms, or the three M's (macro, micro, marines LOLOLOLOL). I played terran, not because I was noobsauce, but because I was the most familiar with it because of the campaign. I had no idea what I was doing and bronze 100 was reflective of that. However, I was determined to not suck at this game and I began to dig through the internet for sources to help me play better.
Then I met this guy:
This build allowed me to start winning games without hating my life. I didn't know how to really play starcraft (and I'd contend that most really don't), but I was winning and that was all that matters. I thought it wasn't long until I mastered this game like I had mastered World of Warcraft.
Then I met my hero
Have you guys ever heard of Day[9]? Oh, you have? Well this man became my hero, both in real life and in this game, in the month of January with this video:
He is the reason I fell in love with Starcraft. I began watching his show and during the month of January he showed me that no one truly masters this game, you only get better thane everyone else. Like most sports, there isn't a skill ceiling - there is only how well you play in comparison to other players. If he said to do something I did it; and it is from this that I began to watch the ever infamous GSL:
After I watched the first set of some random matcup, I tried to watch "set 2" and the website informed me I would have to purchase a season ticket. Originally I thought, "Who the hell would purchase the ability to watch someone play a video game?" Well, I soon realized that I'm the guy that would purchase the ability to watch someone play a video game. Through my internet stumbling I found this wonderful site, Teamliquid. I have no idea when I started lurking here but I remember I only made an account originally was just so I could get rid of the stupid notification that kept asking me to register. Best decision I've ever made. Here, I realized that people LOVED this game and talked about not only their games, but games of the pros as well. It was here I realized how much money one could make by playing this game well. That's when I sucked it up and bought GSL January pass.
I watched every...single...game...both Code S and Code A. I remember spending about an hour trying to discover how the league worked and who the good players were. This is where I was introduced to the Gorilla Terran Liquid'Jinro:
![[image loading]](http://www.gamereplays.org/community/uploads/post-68310-1298227194.jpg)
He quickly became my favorite player. I learned about the cultural bias that Koreans were (note: were) innately better than foreigners at this game. Because of this, I fell in love with Jonathan and rose and fell with his every win and lose. Hell yeah I got up at 4 AM (EST) to watch him play! And when him and Idra played in the RO8 I almost cried because I realized there would have to be a foreigner team kill. It was win I was waking at 4 AM regularly that I realized that this was my new game and I was proud of it.
This game provided me with the ability to play on my own schedule (so I didn't have to cut sleep, classes, or time with girlfriend) to get practice in. Additionally, it gave me something to watch. Don't have time to play a match on ladder? There's always time to watch a stream or catch up on some VODs or Day[9]. I like watching pro-Starcraft more than I enjoy watching football or basketball now and I have always LOVED football (American) and basketball.
The current era...
I attended two MLG's this past season: one in Columbus (where MLG had its big "boom") - where I live. I didn't get to go often because I didn't call work off in time, but I went enough so that I felt like I was part of the experience. ESPORTS was in my hometown, and damn was I proud. I also flew across the country to watch my faovirte players battle it out in Anaheim and I had the time of my life. Remember when Boxer came back and won that huge bo3 series that included an hour long match? I cried. Remember when Jinro nuked the shit outa that protoss army? I cried. ESPORTS was real and alive. The crowds were erupting and there were constant murmurings about how many people were watching the live streams. I even got a picture with the two men who were there for me at the beginning at all of this:
(insert pic of me and Day[9] here, I left my camera at school TT)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3T7h2.jpg)
I'm currently a platinum zerg player (yeah, I switched from being tired of being called "OP") and have no plans to leave this game. I play this game when I have time, and always make time to watch the biggest of events. My girlfriend watches games with me and takes an interest in my play because she realizes the importance of this for me. She's a true keeper.
In the end, I wanna be know as a guy who loved God, his girlfriend (future wife), and games. I wanna be known as the guy who, despite how unpopular ESPORTS is among his friends, stood up for his passions. Yeah, I left out some things from my one year history, but I figured my thoughts and memories would guide me in the writing of this blog and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing and reflecting.
I want to leave my one year anniversary with the following "ESPORTS Manifesto" from my hero, Sean "Day[9]" Plott,
"We are more than stereotypes. We are adventurers and doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs, journalists and lawyers, scientists and students. We are smart, ambitious, and competitive. We are gamers.
We believe society has forgotten how to play.
Play keeps us sane in our daily lives. Play keeps us curious, imaginative and directed. It teaches us to learn from our mistakes, to constantly improve, and to stride forward – battling through failures on our road to success.
Play develops relationships and communities. We have fond memories of growing up playing games with our friends and siblings. The gaming experience bonds us together now, as it bonded us then. We discover friends, partners, and spouses while gaming. We game with our children. We transcend international borders when we play.
We believe that our game, StarCraft, is the chess of our generation. StarCraft requires the dexterity of a pianist, the mind of a chess grandmaster, and the discipline of an Olympic trainee. We believe that our game, StarCraft, is as dynamic and exciting a spectator sport as any other. We fill auditoriums to cheer on our favorite gamers. Most of all, we believe our game, StarCraft, is a beautiful platform for play. Whether you’re a veteran, a newbie, male, female, a parent, a student, or a total nongamer, you too can join in the fun.
Our community is smart, supportive, funny, irreverent, international, insightful, and intolerant of bullsh*t.
We think you should be one of us." http://day9.tv/manifesto/
-Jordan
![[image loading]](http://i41.tinypic.com/21n4fiw.jpg)
