EPTI never heard about TL back then (only when SC2 was coming out), and I was pretty much only interested in the release of SC2. But after being forced to play games with my fellow coworkers...and losing every fucking game to my Terran CEO...a fire erupted in me. I still remember the conversation I had with him.
It went like this:
After losing a bunch of mutas and losing the game to my boss
Golgotha: Damn, this game blows. We should play SC2, it is so much better (it wasn't even out yet! Yes, I was retarded).
Boss: Let's see what you are doing wrong, I will help you, let's both watch the replay.
We turn on the replay and he starts to give me all sorts of strategies and tips that I never knew existed. How to control mutas, what BO and unit composition I should use (I was refusing to go lurker tech).
Boss: See here, if you stack the mutas like this, you could have killed all my marines and been unstoppable.
Then he told me something that really blew my mind.
Golgotha: Eh, it's just a game. Who cares.
Boss: Golgotha, in everything that you do, you should do your best. Give it your 100% no matter what you do.
It was then I found this dull boring game to be much more fascinating than it's simple graphics and old date of birth. Not only that, the rivalry and competition was insane. Even my boss, who is a successful CEO of a 200+ SCV defense company was taking this game seriously. He was telling me that even though BW was just a game, I might as well try my best if I was going to play it. And, that is the magic moment when I realized that my "best" at the game could dramatically increase because of the high skill ceiling and beauty of BW. All those strategies and tricks, the competitiveness...all told me that this was more than just a game.
Oh, and I just HAD to beat my boss. My ultimate goal.
Alas, that was three years ago and I have been on and off BW. I still have not taken a single game off him and I probably owe him a car (Yes, we bet on a car). I stopped my internship and I moved back to the States and since there is no real scene here, not too many friends who play, I lost interest and forgot about the game.
However, that is all changed now! I am currently in Korea, the land where Brood War was truly born! So good to be back. I am now a full member of the company I interned at, working with the aviation division. I actually have interns working under me now, so weird.
Being back has sparked the fire of BW in my heart once again. In due time, I will have a showdown with my boss when we meet. Thus, for the past 3 months, I have been watching TLS like crazy and nagging Bakuryu to spill his secrets. TLS is awesome by the way, so many zergs (my race). Sadly, the gaming scene has definitely changed. Some of my interns have never even played Brood War (wtf) and the only game they know is LoL. The age difference is really apparent.
It is funny because back then every computer in the PC Bang has Brood War and the Korean gateway launcher. Ha ha, not the case anymore. I specifically had to ask the owner of the PC Bang where the Brood War computers were (off in a distant corner), and I had to manually download wlauncher for them because the only gateway they had was the generic Blizzard ones.
I am sorry that wasn't that funny, it is downright saddening.
But do not be dismayed! There are many still who fight the good fight and keep soldiering on! I have been practicing a lot since there is no lag here and my coworkers play. They can only play BGH but it is still a lot of fun. I used to be the worse back then, but not anymore! In our small division, I am the Jaedong
It is crazy to think that they are even asking me for help now. I cannot do much but I teach what I can so that BW lives on.When I go back to our HQ, I will be facing the big dogs. Please keep helping me and encouraging me for my great battle ahead. I feel like I am fully prepared to meet this challenge and finally take down my rival. Well, I am still D- but now I know that lurkers are good, which will make a profound difference ;P
Good news is that I have been regularly beating Terran opponents on fish and after 70 games, I have finally taken down a Toss player on Fighting Spirit. My god it was glorious. The bastard 2 gated me while I went 12 hatch, then he had the gall to have a fully up and running hidden expo against my 2 base. So for awhile I was 2 base to his 3 base.
I had never used mutas before in ZvP, but after seeing TLS zergs do this, I went for it. I showed muta and he immediately started massing sairs. But he was getting a critical mass of sairs so that even my scourges could do nothing, I went for a mass hydra switch and rolled him. All his sairs could do nothing as they just watched idly as the main went down. I liked that victory because I adapted and knew what was going to happen.
Big key. I knew what games should look like (after watching so much TLS) so I felt more confident. So if there are any new BWers out there, watch the pros because the less the game sneaks up on you and surprises you, the more confident you will be in your play and your opponent's capabilities.
Bye for now, I will post battle report when the great battle of all battles in my BW life has occurred. Now, time to get back to my other life
