EPT1. Being harassed/trash talked into playing on USEast by people in channels such as x17, ~nohunters, motel etc. usually these people were of low-moderate skill but made things interesting by their incessant nattering and attempts to instigate entertainment or irritation. From time to time you would see the top non-Koreans that we have come to love and respect ({88}incontrol, rS.Tasteless, Mondragon,Day[9]) as well as the lesser known fathers of the foreign contingency (Tsunami, elky, Yosh, Froz, X'ds~ players like cherry, even an insane frog was spotted in his earlier days.)
2. Getting stomped on USwest in one of the various korean team channels (clan -sg, clan namonamo (sp?)). The top foreigners often tried to hang in these channels, in the hopes of garnering games with the best of the best; some even succeeded and began some of the first non-formal (read here: not tournament play) interactions between the two communities. Without a proper understanding of Hangul however one was never sure who one was playing or if those koreans were placing bets on how quick you were about to get owned.
3. Logging on to Asia, joining the wrong game 5 times due to your lack of Hangul then getting a game vs a hacker or a godly 12 year old from Pusan; both of which proceed to trounce your white ass as if it were cake at a fat camp.
4. Finding a dedicated server with anti-hack and grinding yourself into a bloody pulp on its ladder system. It probably should be mentioned at this time, for the younger or later arriving readers, that every bnet sc or sc:bw ladder since the beginning of time had quickly imploded upon itself within seconds of opening the season due to hacks and bots. The resultant programs (such as heat, gamei, and iccup) were a godsend for both the foreign and korean communities providing a safer, more competitive practice environment. It was in the aforementioned environments that many gamers in the foreign scene rose from obscurity to become known as the dominant player in their respective regions. (I'm looking at you Sen, 2 days after the iccup season opens and this guy is guaranteed to be A- with like a 316-7 record. No joke, like every season. I'm not even exaggerating it was always like 316-7. I honestly thought the dude was some kind of super starcraft playing computer program from MIT or something.)
Ahem, Lost my train of thought there. It suffices to say however that regardless of my various interpretations of the experiences of the dedicated sc:bw player on bnet they all left me motivated to stomp face. Today I logged onto bnet, with its sterile azure veneer, in the hopes that something would incite that old primal teenage need to curb stomp a newb with simple mechanics. After 5 minutes of sitting in silence I decided to come here. I need your help. I need you to motivate me.
So next time you see me on the ladder, please call me a noob. Tell me how good you are, how bad I am and how I have no chance. I need you to laugh when I lose, and to get angry when I win. Help me rediscover that motivating rage and exultant superiority which was produced by the original bnet and my younger self.
Bnet has changed; the community and myself just as much, but I think I can find it.
Praxis from bnet
