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Well before i go into detail of the stuff i actually wana write about, I would like to take a moment to congrats to who ever just got the 'SC2 division manager' for quantic gaming. Hope he/she will help quantic on the way to become one of the top sc2 teams in the foreign scene. QuanticLefty was an extremely nice guy to me even though i pretty much failed the interview horribly T_T.
It sucks that was not chosen  but oh well... It is, however, a good news seeing teams started using an undiscovered force among NA sever: the top 1000 master players. These are, for the most part, extremely talented individuals. Some of them can become the best casters that you could find in the market, some of them can make the best coach on the team. Others could be practice partners, tournament organizers etc... All they need is training and a bit of time. Imagine a NASL where the people who pick the map pool actually play the games, a camera guy who actually want to see the face of players instead of a blurry out focused picture, an interviewer that actually play the game and know its PvZ not PvG... Its so funny when my friends bragged to me on how they beat dayvie, LiquidRet, even oGsMC but then what? You are still a nobody while the person you just defeated earn money playing the game.
It sucks... Lot of us are trying to get our names out there one way or the other but the market is already saturated. The moment coL decided to pick up ROOT including destiny, the streaming network is already dominated by pros players and there is absolutely no way for an 'up and coming' player to hop in. YouTube has already saturated half a year before that with all the contents coming out from Husky, day9,..etc. The worst part is, among us 1000, most are college students who cant even afford our own tuition fee. How could we afford a high-speed internet connection and super computer to produce HD contents that could top out what are already available and easily accessible? It is SO hard...
Some of us went to websites such as... I dont know, try google 'sc2 coaching' and you could find bunch of example... But you know what I mean: We know how to play the game better than majority of the people in the scene and there is no actual profit from it. Mean while with a bit of money, you can buy stuff and do a give away, have people subscribe to your channel and eventually got a job at IPL even though you dont even know how to hold off a 6 pool... It is irony but yet, true.
The saddest part about this story is, the talent pool is running dry. Other day i got a message from my friend that he is quitting sc2. He is extremely talented in RTS and he was so passionate with the game that he had hosted so many clan war among top clans on NA sever. Yet there is no way he could get his name out and eventually playing the game will just kill your real life productivity. And i remember he was the one asking me to stay with my clan back in July, what a pity...
Starcraft is no longer the same. TL 2011 is no longer a lovely family like TL 2009. Esports has grown into a hungry wolf, not like the cute puppy from the past. Day9 daily no longer sucks and day9 stopped thanking his viewers when it actually reach 1000 views... Sometime i even ask myself, do I really belong here? In this side of the world? I thought being good at the game will earn me a pass to the VIP lounge in the back but it turns out i still belong to the commoner seat at the Esports show.
Am i worried? yes, that i will eventually give up and leave esports. My family, friends, no one even know that esports exists. There is an offside when you watch BW in a closet back in 2009 or secretly stayed up until 5 AM in 2008 to watch a DotA final... I was all alone and live up to my passion. Now the clock is ticking. Day by days I know that soon i will have to leave and start a real job, work and support my family. But for once, if Santa exists, if god exists, if any magical power in this world exists, I would wish that I could stay in this magical land for the rest of my life. SirScoot, DJWheat, Slasher, Hotbid, R1ch,... you have no clue how much I am willing to give up to be in your chair in the next 2 years.
For now, I will keep on playing and hope for that magic to happen. Naive, one might say but to me, it is hope. Oh and ofc i will keep blogging too, my next Protoss notebook blog will come out sometime this week talking about mechanic training and such. For now, I will remains, prevail. For now, I will stand strong.
Waterloo, the day after 2011 Xmas.
NB.
Follow me on twitter @uw_NB (and please do tweet at me :D)
My stream is at http://www.teamliquid.net/video/streams/NB NA high master P 
Add me on BNet if you wana be friend: Channel UWaterloo, nick NoBodyOD.
P/s: here is a kitten so you could forget about my QQ
  
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Braavos36393 Posts
You sound very bitter about something that you shouldn't be angry about.
First, it's not easy to make a career in ESPORTS as a progamer or caster or admin. There are very few viable positions where you can make a living and even if you can, only the very best can excel. It's like that in any non-mainstream field. Everyone faced the challenges (internet, computer, no-nameness) when starting out. The field is saturated because some people, through a combination of talent, skill, and luck, got ahead of the field. But don't pretend like Husky was banking money before he bought his first SC2 streaming computer or something. Everyone had to start somewhere.
Second, what is wrong with simply being an SC2 fan? You seem to aspire to be a top pro, but it didn't happen for you. This is something that you seem to blame on systemic problems but really it's just a difficult thing to do. You aren't HuK or Ret or MC, you're a player not on their level, and thus you get treated that way. It's harsh but it's the truth. Very few people are able to make a living as a pro without winning tournaments. Destiny is good example of this, to a lesser extent Incontrol and TLO are as well. They have extremely charismatic and entertaining personalities and styles, and you absolutely cannot blame it on "not enough opportunities for up and comers." You either have the talent or you don't.
Third, what does skill level have to do with getting a job in ESPORTS? Nothing. Let me tell you that Joshy (the guy you're talking about in your IPL example) is extremely good at what he does. It does not matter if he's bad at SC2, because he's good at whatever IGN asks him to do. How is this ironic? It's pretty obvious you don't need someone who is good at SC2 to be a good administrator or coder.
Lastly, the talent pool is what it is. Your friend did not quit because he "couldn't get his name out." He quit because he was not good enough. If it didn't happen for him yet, I doubt it will ever, because risk/reward for becoming a progamer is so harsh. Even HuK has said that he'd advise kids not to become a pro because it's just so hard, and you have to be the very best to "make it." I believe your definition of talent is quite different than the talent that is needed to be a successful progamer. My friend is talented at basketball, but Lebron James is talented at basketball. The question your friend should ask himself is "Can I win MLGs? Can I be Code S?" not "can I perhaps make a name for myself among top NA clan wars?" If the answer is "no" to the first questions, then it's probably the right decision for him. There's no injustice here that he is not "noticed" yet. For him, moving on was probably the right decision.
As for your stuff about ESPORTS and TL community, or about Day not thanking his fans or this line:
Sometime i even ask myself, do I really belong here? In this side of the world? I thought being good at the game will earn me a pass to the VIP lounge in the back but it turns out i still belong to the commoner seat at the Esports show.
Do what you want, what makes you feel good. Don't do something if you don't like it. But to me it seems like you are disappointed or frustrated with the entire scene because you couldn't make a living from it. You want it to be a vehicle to be special and earn a living instead of a hobby you enjoy, and when that didn't happen you took it out on the scene instead of just accepting it.
Ask yourself: do you enjoy playing or watching Starcraft? If the answer is yes, treat it like a game and be a fan. You are not treating it fairly, which is why you hear a ticking clock and feel so disillusioned. I know it's not exactly the same, but when I play basketball or watch the NBA I don't constantly feel disappointed or angry or frustrated that I'm not playing in the league or working for an NBA team. I just watch as a fan and I'm happy for the experience, and you should do the same with SC2.
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Dont get me wrong hotbid, I am totally not angry. In fact, esports being here, at this stage, to me, is a magic itself. Thinking about the possibility of telling my future son to go play some starcraft just like my dad told me to learn material arts just excited me.
I have thought of most of your points before considering to make this blog. I am very sorry if i sound angry at anyone in the blog because i have a lot of admiration for them. AskJoshy is one of the only people i actually subscribe to for starcraft content on youtube because he provide great videos coverage from live event such as MLG or NASL since the days he with complexity. However i just find it extremely unfair that being good at the game simply have 0 gravity in the scene in general.
I will shall forever remain a starcraft fan. The clock ticking that i mentioned is more of a personal problem than something people will generally seen or experience. I dont wana go into detail but lets say i might have to go to the army where sc2 is simply inaccessible. Currently i have the knowledge on the scene, i have youth, i do have talents in some certain field in some degree why cant i be able to help out? Because of the lack of money to travel and buy equipments?
Yes i know thats a part of life, it is unfair. But I mostly blame myself for being unable to foreseen my own situation. Thank you for the great feedback in such a short amount of time. Love <3.
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i was about to join the military before i got picked up by millenium back in beta, but i won a few esl's which was the thing back then. i was extremely broke and before i joined millenium i was so sick of losing becuz my cpu was bad and laggy that i was going to rob a convenient store. idk who remembers this or not but at the time i was in VT, a team without sponsorship and only promises of the future being bright; i could of joined another team for some support but decided to stick it out with vt until the team made it. luckily for me fayth took pity on me, knew i was good, and offered to help me out with his old computer and it all worked out
honestly most progamers count themselves pretty lucky as far as how things have turned out ( at least me and idra do i know)
edited: grammar and such
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On December 27 2011 10:26 HuK wrote:
i was about to join the military before i got picked up by millenium back in beta, but i won a few esl's which was the thing back then. i was extremely broke and before i joined millenium i was so sick of losing becuz my cpu was bad and laggy that i was going to rob a convenient store. idk who remembers this or not but at the time i was in VT, a team without sponsorship and only promises of the future being bright; i could of joined another team for some support but decided to stick it out with vt until the team made it. luckily for me fayth took pity on me, knew i was good, and offered to help me out with his old computer and it all worked out
honestly most progamers count themselves pretty lucky as far as how things have turned out ( at least me and idra do i know)
edited: grammar and such
I was the kid watching your stream back in the day and told you to go to UWaterloo and chill with us ... it was a good time.
Why do i feel like you are so far away now?
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Things will be all right NB (:
We always have good times at CSL meet ups.
None of us except Wasif are making money off the game yet everyone still plays and loves it.
Look at like, Kirk. He's never gonna get out of silver but he enjoys the game despite his lack of understanding of really anything that goes on. There's a simply joy of being a fan that i think you've forgotten. Look at like, Jenny or Eureka. They're not exceptionally talented players either but they make opportunities for themselves to enjoy it.
When I get back to 'Loo we shall meet up and discuss this at length (:
<3
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Don't follow the "oh if I can't enjoy E-Sports while making money out of it i'm out" type of thoughts or you'll end up like me. I have absolutely no passion for anything I do. I have lost all interest there could be in life. Because I looked at things that way.
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On December 27 2011 09:27 NB wrote:
Starcraft is no longer the same. TL 2011 is no longer a lovely family like TL 2009. Esports has grown into a hungry wolf, not like the cute puppy from the past.
I can definitely agree with this sentiment. I was originally grouchy about the advent of SC2, and still think it's inferior to BW for a multitude of reasons. I've managed to come to peace, however, with the fact that I've always wanted eSports to be recognized as a growing movement, and it finally has. While I wish that it didn't come at the loss of the greatest game I've ever played, it's for the best in the end. I can see shades of myself in the modern SC2 fans, marveling at the current pros the way that I oooh'd and aah'd at sAviOr and Nal_rA only a few years ago.
This is from someone who joined this site 5 years after its creation. I can't speak for those who have been here longer, some of whom have embraced SC2 and have naturally moved on, and some of whom still play BW on iCCup and reminisce. Either way, I feel that as a community Teamliquid stands out from every single other similar entity, because it is genuinely founded on a love of the game. Maybe it's a bigger family now, with estranged cousins and that weird uncle that huffs glue and doesn't get invited to the family reunions, but it's a family nonetheless
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infinity21
Canada6683 Posts
That's just the way it is. Sure, I picked up the game in beta and was in NA top 200 list a few times but I realized that I wasn't going to become a top player doing what I was doing back then. That combined with my backlogged rl responsibilities was the reason I quit sc2. Now I have play catch-up so I don't have time to play even casually for the next year or so.
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Ugh. Just be a fan of the game. Make it a hobby, not a life.
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Katowice25012 Posts
In general I think you (everyone, really) should focus on doing things in ESPORTS because you enjoy the activity itself, not because it is a means to an end. I've never had any motivation to do what I do (writing mostly, some "assorted admin stuff") aside from gaining pleasure from engaging in the activity itself. The journey is the most enjoyable part. Occasionally through the years I've felt burned out, usually from trying to do too much at once and taking on more things than I actually have time for. What has always brought me back is that I have fun doing it, I enjoy being a fan, and I like taking part in ESPORTS as a whole and what TL does as an organization. It's entirely internal, if no one reads my things or notices me I don't really care because I am spending time with something I love.
I think, in general, when you look at the famous people you list, you will find the same thing to be true. Day9 was killing himself doing the daily on top of a million other things, even when no one watched him, because he liked doing it. Husky was casting BW when there was absolutely no audience, he did it because he found enjoyment in making videos and goofing off. HotBid tried to quit TL, only to find out he couldn't, even when law school took up the majority of his time. Focus on doing things you enjoy, because you enjoy doing them, not because you're trying to have HuK's life.
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On December 27 2011 11:19 Complete wrote:
Ugh. Just be a fan of the game. Make it a hobby, not a life.
Once you love a girl so much then got put into the friend zone, its not like i could pick up another girl and go on a date on the next day. Well at least im not that type of person :-/
Before i entered university, they asked me what will be my major. I said i dont know and asked how could i find out. People just told me to do the things i love. I love esports and i picked computer science just because of it. Later on knowing that computer science has a very least amount to do with gaming, i seriously regret my choice. I did topped out advance math/CS courses, academic and strength is not a problem to me, its about interest and passion. My mom and my teachers often described me that i could do anything as soon as i pay attention and focus on it. Without love, nothing will go right no matter how hard you force it to be.
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Some awesome points made by hot_bid and huk.
I think you're viewing this in the wrong way; in Football (the real one  ), there is a tiny skill difference between the premier league teams players, there's tiny differences between championship players and premiership players and so on and so on. In reality most players in premier league teams could be swapped with a player in the lower league teams and not be noticed. There are few players who have the spark and flair to truly set them selves apart, the Messi's, the Ronaldo's et al.
This analogy extends to all sports and the reason I bring it up is this: Starcraft has relatively few people actually trying to make it big and so the fact that you're within 200 players but a million miles away will obviously seem desperately unfair. However if you think of the thousands of kids across the world who try and fail to make it big at football each and every day I hope you start to see that this isn't an unfair system, a place with disproportionate reward to input ratio. It's the same as every cut throat business.
Maybe football was a bad analogy for an North American but I'm sure you'll see my point if you scale up becoming a professional basketball player having to compete with the rest of the world and not a few countries
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Starcraft is a journey and not a destination. I work full time as a civil engineer and I long to be a pro-gamer, but as any person with any sense it is just way too volatile of a career choice so I didn't pursue it. Keep doing your thing NB and start focusing on how to make yourself better and better. I use my free time so carefully as to make sure that I maximize my skill level increase with the little time given to me.
Due to working hard at work at my first job out of university I received a large xmas bonus this year. I bought my GF a wonderful amazing gift and also bought myself a gaming keyboard and mouse. I have never been able to afford any sort of luxury like this due to my parents not having funds to spend on something "useless".
Try to treat SC like a journey and enjoy the evolution of the game and yourself.
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In some ways, TL is suffering from an influx of the typical meme-toting, expletive-bursting, insult-slinging Youtube/Reddit/4Chan types, and their awful, angry, aggressive threads and responses makes TL lose some of that nice place where nice people get together and watch and enjoy Starcraft back in the BW days. But TL, thanks to mods who never seem to sleep, still have the diamonds amongst the coal, and that's why I keep coming back.
I understand your frustration, and it happens in all walks of life. I'm having a hard time finding a job or a good graduate school despite having a degree from a good uni. It sucks being good but not quite good enough, but you have to make a decision whether it's worth your time and effort or not. You won't get rich and famous (in the general society) from ESPORTS (and if you have the talent/charisma then you wouldn't be writing this blog anyway), so it may well be a wise move for you to just enjoy Starcraft and the scene but take a step back and focus more on other pursuits in life. I would definitely agree it's pretty difficult to set yourself apart in the current scene, but it's not impossible if you are talented in something, although it may still not pay well.
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It's okay NB. I'm still your fan.
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On December 27 2011 11:38 DKR wrote:Some awesome points made by hot_bid and huk. I think you're viewing this in the wrong way; in Football (the real one ), there is a tiny skill difference between the premier league teams players, there's tiny differences between championship players and premiership players and so on and so on. In reality most players in premier league teams could be swapped with a player in the lower league teams and not be noticed. There are few players who have the spark and flair to truly set them selves apart, the Messi's, the Ronaldo's et al.
Lol, no dude, there's a HUGE difference. Maybe you just don't understand football beyond kicking the ball around and getting it in the net.
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Starcraft is developing like any other profession where there is a disproportionate amount given to the very top but because of the scene being so small, if you're just a bit lower down you won't make very much or just nothing at all. Even though I love the gaming and pro gaming scenes, I know that it'll just be a hobby for me as I'd prefer a job with more stability and opportunities to earn a good income. You just have to swallow your pride I guess. I also don't believe in your statement that the talent pool is running dry and all these talented people aren't given a chance. What about people like Stephano who just explodes onto the scene? If you truly are talented, there is still recognition for you.
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even though I will be working one day and it will be hectic , I will find ways to watch proleague , broodwar forever in my heart <3 !!!!!
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EPT![[image loading]](https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/387677_2652227632411_1457381252_2785643_576927426_n.jpg)
