Interview with the man in charge of LBC

This is the latest re-post of my LBC (London Barcraft) blog. Enjoy and comment if you like it

Many of you know Florian as the annoying Frenchman who keeps on turning up to your otherwise wonderful Barcraft events, but I looked past his terrifying zerg exterior and delved deeper to try and find out what the nerd king of London Barcraft actually does behind the scenes…

Vive la France!

For those un-familiar with LBC could you let us know who you are and what you do at LBC?

I come in a little before you guys show-up and hook-up the hardware for the stream, check that the sound/video/internet works and fix anything that needs fixing. I also make sure the pub manager is kept in the loop or how many guests he will have to accomodate and try to work with him so that your stay is the most enjoyable. I think after 12 events we finally found a table layout that works for the bottom bar! Yay!

I also make sure the streams play correctly during the event, and whenever there’s a pause, I try to keep you entertained with VODs/Youtube vids that are SC2-related, and will rickroll your sorry ass.

I also promote/moderate our live twitter feed so members of the audience can see their tweets on the main screen and maybe win some goodies from our sponsors (EG, Dignitas, IPL, Twitch) by garnering as much laughs (or groans, more often it’s groans) as possible.

Between events I’m the twitter/facebook cheerleader, and I coordinate with the other LBC dudes what needs to be done (benevolent dictator for life – style apparently) and sometimes chase/beg sponsors for free stuff. I don’t keep-up that much with SC2 as a whole, David and Adam do this very well for me.

How did you first get involved in London barcraft?

At a very low point in my life I was reading Reddit, and on r/sc I noticed the thread Jason and Zak started about organizing an event. I was really impressed by the courage they had getting that many rejections from pubs before finding a proper place, and as I’ve always been extremely geeky since a tender age, I have always attended conventions and such. I needed to see what a brit geek looked like, and was curious to see what crowd would be attracted. I was not disapointed

On the first LBC, clearly Jason and Zac were on top of things with SC and the tech aspects, and as I’m just sligtly older than the rest of the group, I realized it was easier for me to be the proxy with the pub manager. The event was very small and I was blown-away by Zak’s knowledge of the SC2 scene, and by Jason’s BM.

Our second event was extremely successful as well, I was playing the role of The Face (but with a much more pronounced beer belly), but this marked the end of Jason and Zak’s holidays, so in order to not compromise their studies, they handed me their baby, and I am very grateful to them, I would never have had the determination or passion required to call pubs and sell Barcraft (which was an unproven concept at that point) to managers. Also, LBC is the first Barcraft to happen outside of the US, so Jason and Zak should be proud of their baby!

Since then I have done horrible, horrible things to this baby.

What is your favourite kind of cheese? Both food and starcraft

Food: I am quite partial to Epoisse<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89poisses_de_Bourgogne > I really like strong, pugnent cheeses.

SC2: Worker harass. Send 1-3 workers and pick stray workers/prevent buildings/spawns. Zelkia introduced me to this, but the eternal master of this craft is still Kwanny who, in his assholishness, managed to block a Zerg from dropping his pool for 30 seconds in the Barcraft ESL League.

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Works like a charm

How did you first get into SC2?

I played in the beta after reading a thread about sc2 on Ars, I am not a blizzard fanboy and have taken great care to avoid their games since The Great WoW Addiction of 2002.

Can you remember what happened in your first ladder game?

I believe I won my first placement match thanks to a very clever 2 gate zealot rush I saw on Husky’s channel… Yeah, I played toss AND watched Husky, no shame!

Favourite player/team? (that isn’t French )

I guess Moman’s disqualified then. Although he’s half Spanish…

I would go for Idra. I like how boneheaded he is. He’s a bit like the Gaijin MC: he’s trying to make strats that are 2 patches old work in a high-stake game, no matter what. The main difference is that MC does not fail miserably (sure, those mutas will do a lot of good against mass blink stalkers! What? Mass Ultralisk you say? Sure will lay waste to this MMM)

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Just finished watching Idra…

I hear since the queen patch you’ve been for-going queens and baneling busting everyone?
Queens? Nope, that’s for DJRico and Zelkia.

I realized that the week following a major broadcast event, the playstyle of low leaguers changes completely and mirrors the build *du jour*. So since WCS UK where Tastosis deemed that mass-expanding, mass-queening Zergs the de-facto standard, and DeMuslim stated that ‘The only way to beat Zerg is to out-expand them’, I had a revelation: I would metagame the fuck out of the 1v1 ladder and prove my point.

So yeah, turns out that from silver to plat (and now occasionally diamond), people don’t pay attention to what Z does with his gas. Hint: if he’s getting speed AND getting more gas, you’re gonna get busted. There’s a South Park ski instructor meme somewhere in there I feel…

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Clearly chilling in the Assembly House

Are you expecting the Korean metagame to mirror your exploits soon?

Artosis actually said on SOTG that only EU players abuse the macro zerg/queen combo because they haven’t figured-out that early pressure builds can destroy this style, whereas the Korean Terrans already had hyper aggressive openings lined-up after a day.

How does your wife feel about your love of starcraft?

My wife is also an addict. She a semi-professional dancer and spends 16 hours a week practising, so there’s not much she can say about me constantly playing. I will draw the line at playing in her presence. I outright quit games when I hear her at the door. Conversely, there’s a very
strict NO DANCING rule in my presence.

She’s happy that I am helping with Barcraft and often is regaled with tales of the nerds I fool into making new friends with the promise of booze and games! Barcraft also helped create more than friendships. WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!?!

Worst technical problem encountered whilst running a barcraft? (Ed. not that Im going to understand it)

Would it be when Zak’s laptop wouldn’t be coerced into outputting audio on any other interface than HDMI when there was a perfectly serviceable line-out to be used during our first event where we ended-up having no sound? Or would it be when a very cute girl drew the ire of the entire pub because she stepped on the main power switch mid game?

Maybe this could be when we didn’t have backup internet and had to reboot the WIFI router three times, or when we eventually had some CAT5 running up to the 3rd floor and we ripped the RJ45 connector while pushing the cable through a floor, and it constantly popped-out? Although, a
strong contender would be when the HDMI splitter we use to feed both the TV and the projector started having problems with loose HDMI female connectors and we had to tape everything together, and put it underneath a box full of malt vinegar to keep it in place…

Now that I think about it, the barmaids cutting the volume and flooding us with music and having no clue on how to put it back into place was kinda fun. Not as fun as when we had to hunt another sound outtage due to an overheating USB soundcard. Or the audio leads being actually just pairs of cables that were spliced without any soldering, and held by duct-tape… or when the DJ blew a fuse on the mixing table and we did DHSW without the left channel.

Nah, that’s kid’s stuff. The biggest problem we ever had was never felt by the audience during a live event, because @LaboresLuna kicks major ass and he’s got our back. Always.

Here’s the deal: we have a 30mbps cable router on the 3rd floor. Have you noticed we run on the ground floor? So yeah, RJ45 is running from the router to us, gloriously duct-taped to the staircase all-the-way through the hole in the wall under the tv. Now, on the 3rd floor, something very rare happened: Someone decided to vacuum the appartments and clean-up the place. The hoover wheels got caught in the RJ45 cable, and the cleaner just pulled harder on the hoover.

I would never had suspected that an RJ45 connector would be actually more solid than a doubly-welded Coax connector. The cable modem burst
open, and the Coax connector was teared apart. That meant no interwebs for MLG Arena 1…

I managed to get the modem going by combining my understanding of gravity, friction, duct-tape thermodynamics and sheer motherfucking luck. Here is what the modem looked like once I had my ways with it

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Florian fixing the internets – ‘@EssexBarcraft We are peachy, this is our main router as of 1
hour ago…’

(about 2 minutes before the start of the stream…) Notice the Blue light? Blue is good.

Now, this couldn’t last long, so during an MLG advertisement, I whipped-up VLC and started rickrolling the audience as a diversion tactic. Meanwhile, @Laboresluna – aka Jason2, despise having a broken ankle (or leg, or arm, I don’t know, each time this guy shows-up to Barcraft he’s
either in crutches or in a sling) managed to solder the damn thing back into working order in less than 5 minutes – Jon had prepared his working area, somebody else had all the cables ready to plug/unplug, the whole room looked like a F1 pit, and in the middle, this dude with a tophat was soldering a piece of taiwanese crap that we needed to work for the enjoyment of 200 nerds currently screaming ‘JIMMY, NOOOOOO!!!!’

I’m very proud to say nobody even realized we were this close to a catastrophe which could have led us to cancel MLG Arena 1 alltogether… apart from the MLG network guys who now want to hire us because they like the way we work with duct-tape

So yeah, I enjoy things going bad during a live event, it’s less stressful than what I do for work!

What do you do for a living?

I make the world a better place by replacing noisy traders with very small programs. To get a better job description, please refer to the lyrics of Noir Desir’s “L’homme Presse” (Ed. Does anyone understand what Florian does from this ??)

There seems to be a long rivalry with a certain Jason Yma Li, what is the current head to head score between you two?

Aha… Well, let’s see.
- I have 1 embarrasing picture of him savouring a very girly cocktail (complete with umbrella) and he doesn’t – Florian 1, Jason 0

- We played a ZvZ BO9 when I was silver and he was Diamond and thanks to my coach Javier, I managed to metagame him and push him to cheese me, still, he won 5-4- Florian 1, Jason 1

-Jason just got ranked 1v1 Gold in season 1. I just made Plat. Florian 2 – Jason 1 (Ed. Hmmm not sure it works like that…)

I think this is a clear demonstration of how I am a superior human being in all aspects over Jason.

Favourite Barcraft moment?

There are lots, always a good memory, even from the worst event… I guess my favourite event alltogether was the War of The Roses, where we organized the whole thing 3 days before the event and still managed to get 100 UK geeks pumped and cheering for Demu and Bling! The brits are very patriotic, and love competition!

Favourite game of SC2 you’ve ever watched?

MLG Orlando 2010, Winner Bracket, Bomber vs Idra, game 3.

I think it’s fair to say all of us present during that game had a sore throat from shouting so much! Jon the manager was even in the street arranging deliveries for more burgers when he heard the shouts 3 blocks over, and had to tell the cops all was fine, it was just nerds cheering at videogames…

Future plans for London barcraft? You managed to get Sir Scoots to the last one for example

Yes, we plan to synergize more with social media agencies and leverage the mindshare of pro-active post-tween consumers by monetizing our revenue streams.

We want to do more EU-centric things, and see if we can plant the seeds of a sustainable sc2 community in London. FPS LANs in the UK ruined the RTS scene, so we’re so far behind… Even Paris is more organized. But whatever happens, LondonBarcraft is a non-profit, the events are free, and it will stay that way because we do it for the Lulz.

That said, I’d give my right arm to see a drinking contest between Jon the manager and @follow2gd during a barcraft!

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Florian with Sir Scoots at the latest Barcraft

Do you prefer the Saturdays or Sundays of a weekend barcraft?

Ah… Well, Sundays are quieter for US events thanks to the wonderful synergy between timezones and TFL closing the northern line at stupid early times, but I prefer Sundays for two reasons: 1 – My wife doesn’t dance on Sundays so if I were to stay at home I’d have to play perfect husband and I can’t beat the final boss. 2 – I hope you realize we are the only barcraft in the world that follows the ENTIRE tournament. Most US barcrafts only happen for the 5 final hours of the tournies. So, Sunday, for me, nicely ties-up a story that I have been following all week long. The ambience is more relaxed and the average age of barcrafters tend to be slightly older on Sundays, so it’s more… different

That being said, I apologize for cutting NASL short last event, but the pub was invaded by 200 hipsters and well.. NASL is not the most popular event in Europe right now. I still want to continue running over two days, as some people work on Saturday and even a quieter event (with ‘only’ 40 attendees) is worth it. Our first event only had 12 persons showing-up and it was still a blast (dat Jinro nuke!)

What is your favourite strategy (any match-up)?

[QuadDamaged]: Has left the game.

Any plans to sign up for the UKSC2 league?

This league is for UK nationals only, I am not British yet… Although I will apply for a UK passport soon. That gives me the right to wear a top-hat, right? (Ed. Actually you just have to live in Britain to play )

Were you always a gamer, or just SC2?

I started at 3 with a Commodore PET 8032 playing space invaders, then graduated to a kitted-out Apple //e with 8k of Ram and an extended graphics card, where I learned English playing Pool Of Radiance. I kept on gaming until 1999 where I was a severe quake3 ctf player (clan Barbuchu, the funniest French Q3 clan) and… well there’s a personal story behind my nick now, but let’s just say I earned the right to be called
QuadDamaged. Still, I carry my scars proudly, another rocket dodged

Since then, I’ve been mostly working so my LAN days are over, but I still play way too much for my own good. I just suck more and more, so
I pretend I’m more into 4X games or single-player. In reality, only Gamdo is a worse gamer than I am. I tell you kids, getting old is not easy. Still, I’ll rail your ass on Q2DM1.

If yes, what games did you enjoy in you youth and now?

Uh… I am not good at reading documents until the end.

Run us through the typical process of organising a barcraft event, how do you decide which SC2 events are chosen for example?

Deciding the events is a black art, which has to strike the following balance:
- Big-enough to attract people’s attention
- In a favorable timezone (no-more West-Coast events ever again, sorry) – Must not be within 2 weeks of another potential barcraft
- This is because we want to protect our barcrafters’ wallet. Since we ran DH and MLG back-to-back and saw the audience drop from
200 to 30 we learned our lesson.

- The pub must be available on that date
- There must not be a big event in Camden that might flood us with hipsters (I forgot to check this for NASL and regret it bitterly)

-Stephano must be in it.

For the rest, please refer to the guide I wrote for other Barcrafts (and now the budding @LondonPustomp for DOTA which I am helping bootcamp but won’t ever ever attend as watching DOTA2 for me is as fun as playing another BO9 vs Jason) :

http://londonbarcraft.com/web/wordpress/archives/2012/02/21/how-to-barcraft/ (Ed. A really good read!)

For those tech minded amongst us, could you explain the hardware set-up you use/to run London barcraft?

Dang, I did blow it again didn’t I? Readin’ ain’t so easy…. Long story short, we never had a MacOSX crash…

Are there going to be any opportunities for us to see you casting again in the future?I particularly liked your joint casting with MasterJay…

Thanks! I have to say since the incident where MasterJay and I ended-up casting Demuslim in front of 4000 viewers I consider that achievement unlocked and I have a newfound respect for casters. MasterJay and Jorosar have all my admiration, and it is best for all if we leave casting to them.

Although, at some point, it’s not out of the equation we’d do a drunk-cast but… there are plans within plans… The stars must align first!

Protip: ignore the chat when 4000 nerds are raging at your accent, and Luke Cotton saved my ass that day.

Any thoughts about your monobattle loss to me…?

I don’t know about that, I’m pretty sure I could have destroyed your Marauders with my infestors… Or was it brood lords?

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I take it personally when you call GG for yourself against me Florian

Shoutouts?

I’d like to thank Jason and Zak for creating this thing and letting me reap all the glory, also Adam, David, Gamdo and Jason2 (@LaboresLuna) who
are always around to run the show when real life calls. My boss for giving me money to blow on videogames, and the fine folks at the Laphroaig distillery for giving me a reason to live.

Jon “This Is Printed Type Motherfucker” Matthews, manager of assembly house for being awesome and putting-up with me in Diva mode. – Jorosar
and MasterJay for their help in the very fun LondonBarcraft Awards, andtheir general pimpage of LBC (and Jorosar shall henceforth be known as
‘He Who Brings The Loot’) – Luke Cotton for getting the ESL Barcraft league up and his help promoting WCS and making a huge success of this event – Odee and Team Dignitas, these guys rock! – RetroGT who I always forget to plug, their doom oyster cards are awesome, thanks for all the loot! - EvilGeniuses for the avalanche of shirts! And Scoots for being awesome in his old age!

Also my wife… I mean, she doesn’t suspect anything between Jason and I, and it’s been going on for a year now.

Lastly, thanks to all the attendees that ever joined us, without you there’s no Barcraft.

Thanks for doing this Rob,
Cheers,
Florian

GG

Rob (aka Furtle)

Interview with the man in charge of LBC

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