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Thinkin of taking a semester off school to go pro? - Page 2

Blogs > Nizzy
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Shana
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Indonesia1814 Posts
January 03 2012 11:06 GMT
#21
I don't have problem for those who aims to become a progamer. If that is really your dream, by all means go for it. What I hate is 99% of those who write blog/post about it lost motivation/interest in like 2 weeks lol.
Believing in what lies ahead. | That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
January 03 2012 11:29 GMT
#22
i like this post a lot

there have been a crapload of "I'm going pro" posts/blogs, but really, if you can't make very high M/GM part-time, then even if you quit w/e you are doing, you probably still can't become "pro"
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
nttea
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
Sweden4353 Posts
January 03 2012 12:11 GMT
#23
Dreamcrushers! all of you! rawrrr.
opsayo
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
591 Posts
January 03 2012 12:38 GMT
#24
basically if you have to make a big decision to go pro then you're not good enough to go pro

unless you are an amateur prodigy you won't go far

reality is hard to handle when the people who play this game and post on this forum are barely 18
Longshank
Profile Joined March 2010
1648 Posts
January 03 2012 12:39 GMT
#25
I don't get the point of this post. No one obviously tries to be a progamer for the money, that goes without saying.

Secondly, I don't get this rush to get on with education that everyone seems to have. When you're retiring at 65 it doesn't mean shit if you've worked for 40 or 37 or 35 years. Seriously what's the hurry? There is no race. Blanket statements like in the OP are stupid an narrow minded. It all depends on the maturity of the person and how responsible he or she is.

I wish I had taken some time off before I started at the university, to mature and find out what I really wanted in life.
fabiano
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Brazil4644 Posts
January 03 2012 13:08 GMT
#26
On January 03 2012 19:23 Xeris wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 03 2012 18:48 HuK wrote:
a lot of this is sad but true, dont give up on life to become a progamer basically, especially if you aren't already doing pretty well while juggling other things in life. I mean if its your dream and thats all you want in life, then go for it; but be wiling to pay the consequences when you sit and realize 10 years from now that it got you nothing. Up until about 2 years ago I bet thats how some BW players felt about it, but they played because they loved it and didn't care about money; then just luck boxed in sc2 and now can do it as a job ( idra).


also, no foreigners made money in BW, getting $50 per month to play was sick-awesome. Top foreigners like White-Ra and IefNaij were making a whopping $300-400 per month. DAMNNNNNNNNNNN


That is because foreigns suck really hard compared to Koreans and never really had the chance to be on the same level. With SC2 everything is easier, so its easier to have a foreigner in the spotlight making (relatively) insane amounts of money.

If SC2 ever gets to the same level as BW (hahaha, doubt that, maybe in the next 20 years), we might see foreigns incoming decreasing considerably if players don't start taking Korean training standards soon.

And yeah, formal education is really important, no one should drop it.
"When the geyser died, a probe came out" - SirJolt
Nizzy
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States839 Posts
January 03 2012 13:17 GMT
#27
On January 03 2012 18:18 Xeris wrote:
- IdrA was in Korea for over 2 years.

- Fenix does NOT live in Korea, he was only there for about a month, he's back in Peru now

- Gatored is as white as you can possibly get (his name is Ben Brewer)

- KiWiKaKi's main focus is SC2, Poker is his side hobby.. except that he makes more money from his side hobby than his main one

fact fixing!



Thanks, totally forgot about Gatored. Guess you're right about Kaki too.


On January 03 2012 18:49 Jedclark wrote:
"however his English is extremely poor grammar." - Curious if that was a joke?

Not everyone is intelligent enough to be a University student, and perhaps they can't afford to either. This idea of yours "Fuck the dream, go to Uni" only works in an idealistic world.

And why can't they spend a year or two playing SC2 in their youth if it is their dream? You have like, 70 years on this earth. Spending 2.8% of that trying to chase your dream and make it a success is worth it. At least you can tell yourself you tried.


Wasn't trying to disrespect him at all. I've seen some of his posts on here when explaining his wrong doings and it sounds like he's a 12 year old. I don't believe he's 18, he should probably go back to school. I don't know what else to say?

"""Not everyone is intelligent enough to be a University student""" At some university's all you need is a pulse. If you're not, then you won't make it as a pro gamer. They need to know timings with their eyes/ears closed. Counters without thinking, many maps, building positions, etc etc. Basic stats and memorization. If you can't hack a University there's a good chance you're just not good enough at Starcraft.

Because youth = best time to educate. Your brain is still like a sponge soaking in all the information. You can go back to college when your 30, 35, 40. However if you don't have a career or any experience in the workplace by then, then good luck. Sure maybe he can get a job in esports. Oh wait, he gets kicked off or leaves every team for various reasons.

I see your points though, I think we both were looking at things some what differently. Thanks.

On January 03 2012 19:38 Sporadic44 wrote:
As realistic as this thread is and while the advice is sound, its still complete horse excrement. what if all the people you listtened to the OP's viewpoint. Yeah, obviously dont throw your life down the drain for a miscalculated dream of being a pro gamer. You should work toward whatever you think you'd be great at in my opinion.


Thanks for the response. Look at the stats/data again. Nobody besides the top 2 NA players could make a living on their own just with tournament money. A few others like CatZ, Drewbie, etc do with their stream. I'm sure some others can with coaching. However beyond that 99% of others will fail.

I'm not even mocking them like 'ha I went the school route and won' or anything dumb like that. It's just illogical with the current state of NA esports to attempt. Dreams can come true but NA esports isn't even set up in the way to make it possible yet. 2 years? Very possible. However there's never a negative side to finish your school.

On January 03 2012 19:47 munchmunch wrote:
Totally disagree with your post. The thing about taking a semester off to "go pro" is that it is just that, one semester. Four to five months out of your life, where you will devote yourself to something you like. If you want to do something out of the ordinary, and you have the time and the means, go for it. You won't have many opportunities like that in life.

Replace "semester" with "five years" and I'd agree with the OP entirely.

Edit: And the reason I know five years is too long is because I spent five years in a phd program making 20k a year so that I could do what I (thought I) loved. So there's lots of ways to get into this trap.


Was going to ask if you went to Uni or not but then I saw your edit.

For someone like me college was a huge stress. There's simply no way if I took a semester off that I could get right back into it. Taking a full semester off to me makes no sense. You could at least drop down to 6 creds (2 classes), take 2 blow off electives. This would do a few things:

-Keep your student loans frozen if you have them so you don't burn your 6 month period after graduating.
-Probably keep you motivated to continute the degree.
-Probably also keep your parents happier that you are still continuing you degree, but just focusing on something more atm.

It's not about taking off a semester to devote 4-5 months to "something" it's about how trying to go pro in NA right now is just a failure move. There's so many people trying to make it, and over the last 18 months only a hand full of pros have/are. Only 2 are really making 'super star' type money doing it. Well maybe a few more but... yeah.

To be honest with you. I bet if IdrA enrolled at any average college, he could pass while still being a top 3 NA player without a problem. You have it or you don't. Quitting a job, Stopping your education, getting another free 40 hours a week might help, however you're not going to be in GSL in 4 months. lol...
Thanks.


On January 03 2012 19:06 GosI[Terran] wrote:
jesus suddendly we have people that know how i have been educated.... ya ok


The floor is open to anyone and everyone in my blog. Please don't be scared to explain anything. I'm just at techie, I'm not even that great at English haha.

On September 04 2011 19:46 GosI[Terran] wrote:
ok, first of all the only wrong thing i remember i did was doing the SEA Event and the WBC insident of MLG was more because he started trash talking in a middle of an active game,even tough its wrong and i shouldnt had done it , i did it and i cant change it, it was a mistake and wont happen again. Also i want to clear up some stuff they said i been asking for being realesed for over a month maybe longer since the first day i signed with sixjax they promised they would send me to korea as fast as possible, they apparently had a deal with IM about 2 months ago but it felt down, so i was dissapointed by that but they tried to find a new deal with another team , aka TSL which they basically said were inches to complete and felt again , made me to start doubting about ever making their making their promise right , the thing that made me the most mad was Last MLG when they send 0 players to MLG i asked for a reason and Evoli(team manager) asked the owner of sixjax but he apparently responded with wait a few days we have an annoucment to do, so i was kinda piss at that time than by my self i got in contact with NshoseoSAGE and after test games i was accepted in NSH house so i asked sixjax if they would willing to send me to korea and me staying in NSH for free(no food to pay rent or anyhthing), they said no and at that point i decided to leave and dont play for them anymore i told em i wouldnt accept anymore payments.




On January 03 2012 21:39 Longshank wrote:
I don't get the point of this post. No one obviously tries to be a progamer for the money, that goes without saying.

Secondly, I don't get this rush to get on with education that everyone seems to have. When you're retiring at 65 it doesn't mean shit if you've worked for 40 or 37 or 35 years. Seriously what's the hurry? There is no race. Blanket statements like in the OP are stupid an narrow minded. It all depends on the maturity of the person and how responsible he or she is.

I wish I had taken some time off before I started at the university, to mature and find out what I really wanted in life.


You don't get the point of this blog post?

Well I disagree with your opening line. I don't know HuK at all, even though I believe that's really him that posted in this thread. I have to imagine from his interview tones that he really does miss his family/friends to the point that the money is the only reason he's still going as hard as he is. Might be a total assumption, however mind you he's the 0.0001% making that much from NA.

You don't have to be a pro gamer to make the big money, however you still have to eat, live, etc.

The rush on education is simple. I didn't understand it either but my accounting professor told me the faster you finish the faster you get a ROI. A return on your investment which is you.

When your 65 and it does matter if you've worked 35 or 40 years. Those extra 5 years when your older, and deeper into your career, could be 100,000's more. Bigger beach villa, retire few years earlier. All this is dumb talk and we are getting away from the point.

The point I was trying to make is there's no long term benefits right now for some 18-21 year old to stop college to try and go pro at this game. Define PRO however you want. Everyone in like the top 20 of that list was already really sick before the game even came out.
teddyoojo
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
Germany22369 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-03 13:32:21
January 03 2012 13:23 GMT
#28
nvm, prolly shouldve read the whole thread before posting.
didnt think it would be neccessary to make a whole blog about how stupid it is to try go pro when ur bad, but i didnt know about all these threads ;D.

my thoughts: when ur really good theres no problem taking a year/semester off to try go big.
when ur bad dont make false hope.
Esports historian since 2000. Creator of 'The Universe' and 'The best scrambled Eggs 2013'. Host of 'Star Wars Marathon 2015'. Thinker of 'teddyoojo's Thoughts'. Earths and Moons leading CS:GO expert. Lord of the Rings.
Longshank
Profile Joined March 2010
1648 Posts
January 03 2012 13:34 GMT
#29
On January 03 2012 22:17 Nizzy wrote:
You don't get the point of this blog post?

Well I disagree with your opening line. I don't know HuK at all, even though I believe that's really him that posted in this thread. I have to imagine from his interview tones that he really does miss his family/friends to the point that the money is the only reason he's still going as hard as he is. Might be a total assumption, however mind you he's the 0.0001% making that much from NA.

You don't have to be a pro gamer to make the big money, however you still have to eat, live, etc.

The rush on education is simple. I didn't understand it either but my accounting professor told me the faster you finish the faster you get a ROI. A return on your investment which is you.

When your 65 and it does matter if you've worked 35 or 40 years. Those extra 5 years when your older, and deeper into your career, could be 100,000's more. Bigger beach villa, retire few years earlier. All this is dumb talk and we are getting away from the point.

The point I was trying to make is there's no long term benefits right now for some 18-21 year old to stop college to try and go pro at this game. Define PRO however you want. Everyone in like the top 20 of that list was already really sick before the game even came out.


I can almost guarantee you, money was not a (big) factor when HuK decided to give progaming a shot. It could be now in his decision to stay as a progamer or not, but that's not what we're discussing now is it?

And sure, you should rush your education if you wish to maximize your income and retirement fund. You should also never have kids or take vacations. There is more to life than the size of your beach villa.
Nizzy
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States839 Posts
January 03 2012 13:48 GMT
#30
On January 03 2012 22:23 teddyoojo wrote:
i strongly disagree. whats the big deal pausing ur study for half a year/a year to try follow your dream/passion? what can you lose? the worst thing that can happen is you fail and continue studying. if you really want to do it and believe in yourself you can keep up practicing 8+ hours a day i say go for it.

of course saying "im plat but if i play serious i easily get imba!!!!!!11111" is just plain stupid. you have to be real. ask other people what they think (not your parents but friends that also play sc2/are good at it) and if they think you can do it. better try and fail than ask yourself your whole live what wouldve been.

prime example: grubby.
he was really talented in wc3, in his christmas holidays he found at that hes really really good if he does this fulltime. so after he finished school he didnt go study but took a year off to see if he has what it takes. now hes married and lives off esports. if he failed he wouldve just went studying. i dont see any problem.


Your example, actually proves my point more. You brought out Grubby on me bro? Grubby is either 1A or 1B with Spirit Moon in WC3. I guarantee you 100% before Grubby actually sat down and said, 'wow I'm fucking good at this, I'm making a ton of money' that he was ALREADY WINNING A TON OF MONEY before pausing his schooling.

You're talking about Grubby who is about one out of ten? Who truly made a large amount from WC3, and is now carrying over into his own brand name. He's the only one that it happened to.

There's so many former WC3 players that took off school to try and go pro and now you can't even remember their names.

I don't think people realize how hard it is to just "take a semester off" and pick it right back up. You kind of need the right attitude and mind set. Can you image some 19 year old kid who fought with his parents to allow him to take a semester off, fail at SC2 hard, then try to go back to school with the mindset of you just failed at your dream? It would be tough.

Thanks man.
Nizzy
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States839 Posts
January 03 2012 13:50 GMT
#31
On January 03 2012 22:34 Longshank wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 03 2012 22:17 Nizzy wrote:
You don't get the point of this blog post?

Well I disagree with your opening line. I don't know HuK at all, even though I believe that's really him that posted in this thread. I have to imagine from his interview tones that he really does miss his family/friends to the point that the money is the only reason he's still going as hard as he is. Might be a total assumption, however mind you he's the 0.0001% making that much from NA.

You don't have to be a pro gamer to make the big money, however you still have to eat, live, etc.

The rush on education is simple. I didn't understand it either but my accounting professor told me the faster you finish the faster you get a ROI. A return on your investment which is you.

When your 65 and it does matter if you've worked 35 or 40 years. Those extra 5 years when your older, and deeper into your career, could be 100,000's more. Bigger beach villa, retire few years earlier. All this is dumb talk and we are getting away from the point.

The point I was trying to make is there's no long term benefits right now for some 18-21 year old to stop college to try and go pro at this game. Define PRO however you want. Everyone in like the top 20 of that list was already really sick before the game even came out.


I can almost guarantee you, money was not a (big) factor when HuK decided to give progaming a shot. It could be now in his decision to stay as a progamer or not, but that's not what we're discussing now is it?

And sure, you should rush your education if you wish to maximize your income and retirement fund. You should also never have kids or take vacations. There is more to life than the size of your beach villa.


You have some good points. We kind of took that kind of far in the opposite direction, as the point is kind of just right now.

In theory, if some kid just takes off just 1 semester, does "ok", and goes right back in the long run its just a hiccup or less. However does that really happen like that? It's usually a lot worse of an outcome. Its usually longer than 1 semester off. There are rare cases though were players/kids have the discipline.

thanks.
igotmyown
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States4291 Posts
January 03 2012 14:16 GMT
#32
I'd like to see a teamliquid/EG/other SC2 80's style public service announcement, with a cheesy vanilla ice beat, and each player posing and delivering one line a time.

Jinro: You want to be cool?
Sheth: Stay in school!
TLO: you may think you have it all figured out
Idra: But reality might make you angry
Huk: when sometimes your dreams turn out to be hallucinations
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25996 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-03 14:27:35
January 03 2012 14:26 GMT
#33
On January 03 2012 19:47 munchmunch wrote:
Totally disagree with your post. The thing about taking a semester off to "go pro" is that it is just that, one semester. Four to five months out of your life, where you will devote yourself to something you like. If you want to do something out of the ordinary, and you have the time and the means, go for it. You won't have many opportunities like that in life.

Replace "semester" with "five years" and I'd agree with the OP entirely.

Edit: And the reason I know five years is too long is because I spent five years in a phd program making 20k a year so that I could do what I (thought I) loved. So there's lots of ways to get into this trap.

Taking a semester off for a hobby is dumb. You can play Starcraft and go to school at the same time. It's really not that difficult.

Edit: I think that's my summarizing statement: Starcraft is your hobby, not your career - Treat it like you would any other hobby.
Moderator
Lw247_
Profile Joined December 2011
38 Posts
January 03 2012 14:27 GMT
#34
School's way more important and honestly, even if it's just one semester, you shouldn't do it. I personally am going to uni first, for my bachelor AND my masters & then just going to work & play starcraft as much as I can & if I see the opportunity then I might consider giving it a chance but still, rather have my bachelor & my masters degree under my belt before trying something like that.

I personally know I'm capable of waking up at 6am, start practicing 'till 10/12pm, it's basicly what I do during vacations & yeah okay, being a pro gamer might be really fun but it might also turn out to be completely repetitive & boring & blablabla, basicly just not what you hoped for so.. That's why I personally think that kids should give priority to school & college/uni after high school and then they can try whatever they want to try.


If it doesn't work out, you still have your bachelor & masters degree to fall back on so.. At least, this is how I think about it.
Nizzy
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States839 Posts
January 03 2012 14:32 GMT
#35
On January 03 2012 23:27 Lw247_ wrote:
School's way more important and honestly, even if it's just one semester, you shouldn't do it. I personally am going to uni first, for my bachelor AND my masters & then just going to work & play starcraft as much as I can & if I see the opportunity then I might consider giving it a chance but still, rather have my bachelor & my masters degree under my belt before trying something like that.

I personally know I'm capable of waking up at 6am, start practicing 'till 10/12pm, it's basicly what I do during vacations & yeah okay, being a pro gamer might be really fun but it might also turn out to be completely repetitive & boring & blablabla, basicly just not what you hoped for so.. That's why I personally think that kids should give priority to school & college/uni after high school and then they can try whatever they want to try.


If it doesn't work out, you still have your bachelor & masters degree to fall back on so.. At least, this is how I think about it.


Total side note, but I think its really smart of you to continue to grad school as well. Bachelor degrees are becoming the new HS Diploma and a lot of people in some majors can't even get jobs with a BS.

Even in 5 years or whatever WC4 might be out, SC2 might be a way better game with all the expansions out, could be so much better. So much time.
ComaDose
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Canada10357 Posts
January 03 2012 15:10 GMT
#36
On January 03 2012 23:16 igotmyown wrote:
I'd like to see a teamliquid/EG/other SC2 80's style public service announcement, with a cheesy vanilla ice beat, and each player posing and delivering one line a time.

Jinro: You want to be cool?
Sheth: Stay in school!
TLO: you may think you have it all figured out
Idra: But reality might make you angry
Huk: when sometimes your dreams turn out to be hallucinations

The last two lines would have me in tears laughing.
I agree with the sentiment that if your not already almost there; quitting to take the last step wont work.
BW pros training sc2 is like kiss making a dub step album.
ZeromuS
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada13405 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-03 15:25:59
January 03 2012 15:25 GMT
#37
On January 03 2012 23:26 Chill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 03 2012 19:47 munchmunch wrote:
Totally disagree with your post. The thing about taking a semester off to "go pro" is that it is just that, one semester. Four to five months out of your life, where you will devote yourself to something you like. If you want to do something out of the ordinary, and you have the time and the means, go for it. You won't have many opportunities like that in life.

Replace "semester" with "five years" and I'd agree with the OP entirely.

Edit: And the reason I know five years is too long is because I spent five years in a phd program making 20k a year so that I could do what I (thought I) loved. So there's lots of ways to get into this trap.

Taking a semester off for a hobby is dumb. You can play Starcraft and go to school at the same time. It's really not that difficult.

Edit: I think that's my summarizing statement: Starcraft is your hobby, not your career - Treat it like you would any other hobby.


Agreed. But if SC starts taking up way more time than it should get some help there might be something underlying causing you problems.

Im coming out of depression and I did no work on my thesis for about 6 months because I was masking my problems with SC2. Didn't even do well on ladder just watching streams and youtube and movies etc etc. Filling time to distract myself and what not.
StrategyRTS forever | @ZeromuS_plays | www.twitch.tv/Zeromus_
Nizzy
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States839 Posts
January 03 2012 15:29 GMT
#38
On January 04 2012 00:25 ZeromuS wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 03 2012 23:26 Chill wrote:
On January 03 2012 19:47 munchmunch wrote:
Totally disagree with your post. The thing about taking a semester off to "go pro" is that it is just that, one semester. Four to five months out of your life, where you will devote yourself to something you like. If you want to do something out of the ordinary, and you have the time and the means, go for it. You won't have many opportunities like that in life.

Replace "semester" with "five years" and I'd agree with the OP entirely.

Edit: And the reason I know five years is too long is because I spent five years in a phd program making 20k a year so that I could do what I (thought I) loved. So there's lots of ways to get into this trap.

Taking a semester off for a hobby is dumb. You can play Starcraft and go to school at the same time. It's really not that difficult.

Edit: I think that's my summarizing statement: Starcraft is your hobby, not your career - Treat it like you would any other hobby.


Agreed. But if SC starts taking up way more time than it should get some help there might be something underlying causing you problems.

Im coming out of depression and I did no work on my thesis for about 6 months because I was masking my problems with SC2. Didn't even do well on ladder just watching streams and youtube and movies etc etc. Filling time to distract myself and what not.


You're last paragraph is how I got through my last 18 months of college dude. Fuck, I enjoy watching streams, forums, youtube vlogs of pros, more than even playing the game now.

It was all: do a question, watch a rep, write another paragraph, watch a stream, MLG weekend? Sweet, doing homework slowly, study this chapter, check the forums, etc.

Its so great to have something that your interested in like Chill said, a hobby, to take your mind off of the riggers of college. SC2 really helped me get past it.
TheSwamp
Profile Joined November 2010
United States1497 Posts
January 03 2012 15:34 GMT
#39
What I don't understand is why people can't just make this effort during the summer. I guess all the pretty weather makes it hard to practice at a computer for 12 hours straight. That's why Huk and IdrA spent last summer in the Bahamas. Oh wait....

This blog should be sent to everyone that makes a thread about taking time off of school.
MLG: How is your Protoss? Idra: I make Blink Stalkers, so really, really good.
LuckyFool
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States9015 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-01-03 15:45:55
January 03 2012 15:39 GMT
#40
Nice post Nizzy I agree with almost everything. Looks like you did a lot of research for this.

Like Huk said, most of this is sad but true. Money in general in the scene is top heavy I feel. Tournaments usually only pay out the top 3 or top 8. If something like IPL3 origins (32nd got 1k) was more regular I think things might start to change a bit. But that was an exception, a one time thing. That kind of event isn't happening once a month.

I consider myself someone who invested enough time to get to a fairly competitive level (clearly at least a tier below average top foreigner) but I never actually put sc2 ahead of school or work in my life to really try to close that gap. Now sc2 is purely a hobby which I love playing/being part of, but I work a regular job and make quite a bit much more money than I would be had I tried to close the gap and be an average pro.

Some people who know me better or see the level I'm at ask me why I never wanted to "go pro." pretty much for reasons I just said.

Dignitas.Merz spoke about it recently in a really nice blog he posted, living the life of an sc2 pro isn't all fun and games either. It's actually REALLY hard work and you could be putting in a ton of time without getting much results. Which is the case for many average pros like him aren't top top foreigner (huk/idra/nainwa etc). My "real job" is much MUCH easier in my opinion than having to practice sc2 to compete consistantly with top players or koreans.

I have huge respect anyone who legit tries for it in sc2 though (guys like Merz) It takes an insane amount of dedication and work.
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