We have seen examples of this plenty of times. Steve Jobs got kicked from Apple. He himself described it as one of the best things that could have happened to him. Michael Jordan didn't get into his school's basketball team. Then he was one of the most famous players (if not the most famous player) of all time. IdrA got kicked from Evil Geniuses. Is he now a better player? Could it be that he has improved in the span of a couple weeks?
In his commencement speech, Steve Jobs says how, when starting over with Pixar after being fired from Apple, he was once again "unsure about everything", and how "the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again." He said it freed him to enter one of the most creative periods of his life.
Could this be what is happening to he who once was the capital ship of foreign e-sports?
I tune into IdrA's stream and I see him beating everyone. I see IdrA losing, and, just as he did when he was in Evil Geniuses, IdrA getting mad; he does still care. I see IdrA playing Arcade games with his stream viewers!? Maybe I'm hallucinating…
So what has changed? I know I'm not the only one who believes IdrA is playing better now than when he was in Evil Geniuses. He is now a free agent, and, as its name suggests, he is free. He can practice whenever he wants, try new stuff, all without pressure of losing. If he loses, he won't be pleased. But it doesn't really matter to anyone but himself. The pressure is much lower, just like Steve Jobs said.
I believe that IdrA as a caster won't be too great in the beginning. But he will improve. I think casting can only be good for him. After watching ToD's interview with Definitive eSports, where he clearly says that watching and casting is good for him as a player, because he knows more about the game and its timings, we can only conclude that this could be beneficial for this highly controversial, yet unavoidable followed, figure in e-sports.
I only hope this lightness of being a beginner again sticks with IdrA this time, that his casting will improve, and that he will keep on playing. Having great analytical casters is always great for any game or sport, and the community will always benefit from the shared knowledge.
Decent blog but I think the comparison falls off after the firing of either individual since Jobs reclaimed his position as CEO of Apple later on which means that Greg must reclaim his position as a player for EG if he is to mirror Jobs. Having said that, it's quite possible that Greg feels freed now that there is less pressure to perform but I also think part of it is that he realizes that he needs to be in touch more with the audience thus he's making an effort on interacting with his viewers etc... since he's planning to do this for a living so he had to change to a degree to do that.
I think people are being too harsh on the comparison. I don't think the article was meant to do anything with IdrA being similar to Steve Jobs, but rather using it as a creative way to talk about IdrA current state.
I personally hope that IdrA keeps on casting because pro gamers who are also casters are very rare, and offer so much in terms of analysis. As far as playing goes, he'll always have a major fanbase, so even if he doesn't improve much (which is what I expect), he'll be a solid bracket filler for any tournament.
On June 06 2013 05:45 YouthSC wrote: The whole point is how I'm not comparing IdrA and Steve Jobs, but rather how his experience applies in IdrA's case.
No. No, no, no.
You imply that Idra's creativity will somehow be unleashed now that the shackles that bound him to EG have been broken. This would require Idra to have a creative flair that was stifled in the first place. He doesn't. The only thing that was stifled by the EG contract was his ability to express his BM freely.
If you listened to the SotG episodes that featured Idra his standard reaction to new strategies is: "that's cute. won't work." until it's tournament proven and he might adapt the strategy.
Idra tests, he doesn't experiment, he's an analytical and mechanical player, not a creative one.
The Jobs effect might apply to someone like TLO and the release of HotS - the benefits of approaching something as a beginner again.
Just because Steve Jobs was freed and he went into creative mode, it doesn't mean IdrA will go into creative mode. Never do I say that IdrA will go creative, or that Jobs went creative because he was free.
It just happened that Jobs started to be very creative after being freed. IdrA might start to do other things, not necessarily creative, but good for the community. In this article I talk about how his casting might become good, and his interaction with the community is increasing.
I don't know why people keep associating the creativity of Jobs to IdrA when the article does not say that.
On June 06 2013 05:36 YouthSC wrote: Steve Jobs says how, when starting over with Pixar after being fired from Apple, he was once again "unsure about everything", and how "the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again." He said it freed him to enter one of the most creative periods of his life.
Could this be what is happening to he who once was the capital ship of foreign e-sports?
I don't know what other conclusions to draw.
Anyways, the quote: "the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again.", don't you honestly think that applies much more to a situation like TLO's? Or even Jinro, though he never saw a renaissance. Lowered expectations, a new beginning. The coming of HotS.
I really, really don't see a Jobs effect in Idras life, he'll do very well living off of past achievements, he's a very sought after personality so won't have to be "unsure about everything" at all.
Edit: wtf, NonY. Let's talk Tyler here - that's another much better example. Left TL, much less pressure, creative freedom, better results, new username and beginner again. I just don't see it with Idra and don't know why you do.
This is pretty thin dude, the piece of writing isn't poorly done, but the decision to compare the two, even under the guise that it is one following the other's footsteps, falls through when one considers idra more objectively. Thrill has a point here.
Steve Jobs made billions by putting an MP3 player on a portable hard drive, Idra makes thousands by insulting people while being inferior to basically every Korean in his career field.
I think that Idra can do something else for a living, but he want to stay in SC2. Doing what you love for a living means that you can do it well. That's the case with Steve Jobs and surelly there are many other people you have done the same. Surelly Steve Jobs have done something remarkable, but this doesn't mean that a failure wont make you better. And this is the point that YouthSC is trying to make here.
Well, maybe Idra will get better than he was before, maybe not. The point here is that he has change in a better way after leaving EG, not that he will definately become one of the best again.
On June 06 2013 08:16 LightSpectra wrote: Steve Jobs made billions by putting an MP3 player on a portable hard drive, Idra makes thousands by insulting people while being inferior to basically every Korean in his career field.
Goes to show...?
You can claim, that they didn't do anything worthwhile, but you can't claim, that they didn't do anything. In other words: It goes to show, that people can play a role in their respective fields, even if there are other people who don't like it at all.
i like idra but your comparison is absurd. why compare him to two of the most successful people in their respectful fields?? how about all of the people who got canned and never recovered??
im sure idra will be just fine but yeah man that just dont make sense
On June 06 2013 05:36 YouthSC wrote: Steve Jobs says how, when starting over with Pixar after being fired from Apple, he was once again "unsure about everything", and how "the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again." He said it freed him to enter one of the most creative periods of his life.
Could this be what is happening to he who once was the capital ship of foreign e-sports?
I don't know what other conclusions to draw.
How about the release of pressure from all the expectations of them after being fired by their employer leading them to getting back to their roots and rediscovering why they enjoy doing what they do, and being better at it because of this.
For jobs this was creativity, for Idra it's whatever idra enjoys... probably playing less and not being "the great white hope".
Michael Jordan wasn't picked for his high school VARSITY team, but he played JV ball his freshman year. He made varsity the next 3 years though. As an avid fan of basketball since 1990, your comparison of idra to MJ is the most insulting thing anyone can/has/or would say about MJ.
What a sensationalist title and comparison just to draw eyeballs.
I am not comparing Michael Jordan and IdrA, or IdrA and Steve Jobs. If you had read the article fully, understood it, and then read the thread maybe you would've reached this conclusion, like a few others have.
Truth be told, pretty much the same thing happened to the three of them, and in two cases, they did better after being shut down from what they were expecting. The article is how about IdrA might be similar to that.
I don't really get how you people don't understand this, or how you get offended, for that matter.