Update: Contest Winner! Hey everyone, first of all I want to thank every one of you for all your replies! It was really inspiring reading through it all, and it really is heart warming hearing about how your family and friends keep your passion going.
I really really wish I had unlimited resources and have all the tickets in the world to give to everyone, but unfortunately I don’t have enough. Towelie I’m really sorry you can’t make it to DC for the weekend, your writeup was definitely the most touching to read personally and I would’ve loved to given you the ticket.
With that said, the contest winner this time is hdk703. I want you to be with your little brother, and thank him for your win because he’s the reason you got into SC at all! I don’t need your balcony seats, but maybe work something out with someone in this thread that has no ticket at all like protagonist777? I think what hit home with me is the day j daily #100. That’s pretty much how I got into the sceen as well, watching dailies, and especially that episode. He just has a charismatic way of getting to you, doesn’t he?
HDK please PM me your email so I can send you the ticket PDF to print.
A9arnn- I’m sorry you didn’t get a response fast enough from RB. Maybe the messages didn’t send to the right person? Maybe try their social media outlets and ask next time? They’re pretty responsive there. It seems odd that there’d be no response at all :x
AgaveOtter – Seems like there’s a lot people that have balcony but want to trade up, I had to pick HDK because I don’t want to split a family up ><. Thank you for your understanding, and I’m sorry!
Hello there my beautiful TL! Meru checking in again!
Hello handsome/beautiful, hope your day is going great so far.
As the title states, I got an extra ticket (possibly two, pending on needs) for this weekend's redbull battlegrounds finals in DC for both Sat. and Sun. Come meet your Day J, Nate, Rotti and all your fav. players IN PERSON!
As of now, all the FLOOR tickets are SOLD OUT. But You can win one right here! No strings attached. I gave away a ticket for last year's RBBG in NY too, i guess this is an annual thing that I do, giving back to the community :p
Get Down to Business. All you have to do is tell me this: What do you love most about StarCraft? The game & the scene. That simple! Post below and tell me why you love SC2. Tell me about your games, how you got started, how you started following/watching tournaments, and what you love MOST about it all.
Feel free to answer it even if you don't want tickets. Just please, be sure to indicate if you want to enter the ticket contest!
A winner will be picked on Friday the 19th at 5PM EDT. You then have the option of meeting me Friday night in DC to claim the printout tickets, or I can email you the PDF so you can print yourself.
Claim these for free!!
I'm super excited for it and will def. see everyone there! Spoiler alert, wax & monk are temporarily coming out of retirement and are going too! Expect great coverage right here on TL!! I'll be sure to pack my pokeflute in case grumpy saintsnorlax falls asleep mid-job.
IEM Toronto Ah, what a learning experience IEM Toronto was! It was my first time doing video interview coverage for TL, and it was both terrifying and fun. I definitely learned that audio is super important and difficult to manage at events like this, especially when they are inside a large expo like FanExpo or ComicCon. Moving forward for the future, I will definitely not skimp out on audio equipment and bring proper recorder and mics. You live and learn and improve on your mistakes!
Aside from the technical difficulties, I got to meet TL strat staffers Jer99 and ZeromuS who were based in Canada, as well as a good number Team Acer staff. What they say about Canadais are so true, everyone is so nice! We had a great conversation wtih Drekkonis talking about American health care, and we blew everyone's mind with just how TERRIBLE the system is in the states.
Wishful Thinking I quickly learned how difficult it is to do all this on top of having a 9-5 day job. I'm an interactive designer with an agency during the day, and design responsive websites/apps/UX/Information architecture. I'm completely tired by the time I come home on the week nights, sometimes it's a bit hard to kick myself to do additional work like editing interview videos. I love my day job and I love TL projects, I just wish there's more than 24 hrs in a day, or I didn't need sleep ever.
Last Thoughts I usually include some of my fav. shots from the event in my post-event blog post, but you can just refer to the existing posts for now since they are all out. But, in the spirit of tradition, here's some random photos taken with crappy cellphone camera while we were out :D
I made polymer clay charms of the ESL logo for my ESL crew friends before the event ^^ I think they liked it.
]
Apollo & ESL Honke hitting on girls at the bar... No they didn't get their numbers sadly.
Nathanias repping TL in the bar!! :D
The lovely Canadian Acer staffers made goodie bags for all the players. I got lucky at the end and got one too!
So I made a promise with Snute before his series vs. Flash. I promised him I'd buy him that Yoshi if he beat Flash, and everyone in staff chat was yelling "PREPARE YOUR WALLET!" when Snute went 2-0 in the beginning. I was so sad when I couldn't spend that money afterwards D:
But we made it up and got Snute a smaller yoshi instead. :D Next time Jens! Win and I'll get you the huge yoshi!
As usual, here’s my Flickr for the event photos, and buzz me anytime you want @misayi Cheers!
Argh, no way I would be able to go to DC even if I got a ticket and I'm sure my dad/brother are too busy to do this on short notice :\ Nice blog though. The yoshi story is funny :D
I grew up playing Blizzard games my whole life, but I never really knew about the competitive side to Starcraft until SC2 was announced (I was only 4 years old when the original Starcraft came out). The day that I heard Blizzad announce Starcraft 2, I immediately started scrambling to find every scrap of information I could about the game. I wanted to know all about the new units and see footage of what the new game would look like. And as I was looking for information about Starcraft 2, I stumbled upon videos of professional Broodwar games. I started watching hour after hour of the best players going head to head against each other in awesome matches of pure mechanical skill. "How can their fingers move that fast?! How can their brains think that quickly?!" I thought to myself. I was amazed. I knew that when SC2 was released I would dedicate the majority of my time to becoming as good as I possibly could at the game.
The beta for Wings of Liberty finally launched, and I ended up preordering the game to get a beta key so I could play earlier. As soon as I got my key, I was glued to my computer (even more so than I usually was). I spent hours playing the game and getting a feel for the different races and units (I started out playing random, and then eventually switched to Zerg). When I wasn't playing the game, I was watching videos of the pros playing in tournaments or searching forums for ideas or strategies that could help me improve. I became obsessed with the game. Not the bad kind of obsessed though. The kind where your obsessed with something because you care about it so much and you're so genuinely intrigued by it that you just can't help but push yourself to try and understand it further. No, obsessed doesn't quite describe how I felt about the game... I was in love with Starcraft.
Finally the time came for the actual launch of the game, and I was able to go to the midnight launch with some of my friends. I bought the game, came home, and immediately got online to play with them. We started out playing team games, but after they got tired and went to sleep, I continued playing 1v1s on my own. I began to grind out ladder games endlessly, trying to improve as much as I could as fast as possible. I rose from silver to gold to platinum, and finally joined the ranks of the mightiest of them all, Diamond League! (There was a time before Master/Grandmaster when diamond was the highest league, in case some people didn't know).
As time went on, a lot of my friends began to lose interest in the game. I had risen all the way to diamond, and many of them were still stuck around gold. They began to play less and less often, while I became more and more interested. I would watch every episode of the Day9 daily and stay up all night to see the amazingly talented Korean players duke it out in the GSL. I would come home from school and sometimes "forget" to do my homework before getting on the computer to play Starcraft. I loved the game. But if you asked me then what I loved about it so much, I don't think I could really have given you a solid answer. At that time, I didn't even realize I loved the game so much. I couldn't explain what it was that fascinated me so much, all I could do was continue to learn and improve, because that was what I craved. I wanted to become better. I wanted to understand the game on the level of the professional players. What made them so good? Were they just inherently better than me at this game? Were they smarter? Faster? Did they know some secret to training that I didn't know? What does it really take to be the best at something so difficult? I had no idea...
So, here I am 4 years after the release of SC2. I still love the game, and I still play it religiously. I've played thousands of ladder games and finally achieved Grandmaster a few seasons ago and have been able to maintain it since then. I've taken breaks for extended periods of time when I was busy with school or other things, but I've never completely "left" the scene. I always somehow find myself coming back to Teamliquid to look at who's streaming or what big tournaments are coming up, and then one thing leads to another and I'm back on Starcraft, grinding out ladder games again. But why? What is it about this game?... I think for me, it's the challenge and satisfaction of winning against your opponent. Starcraft 2 is by far the most difficult game I've ever played, and even after thousands of games, I still get a feeling of satisfaction from winning. There's nothing quite like engaging an opponent one on one in a battle of wit, cunning, intelligence, and speed. There's no teammate to carry you when you make a mistake. There's no one to blame for "feeding" when you lose. It's all on you. Some people can't handle that pressure, but I thrive on it, because that same pressure turns into enjoyment and satisfaction when you win. You won on your own. You may have had help from someone to get you to the level of play that you're performing at, but nobody helped you inside the game itself. Whether you out smarted or just out played your opponent, you single-handedly overcame them in one of the most difficult things I can think of.
But what's really unique about this game to me, is that even when I lose, I still find myself content with the game. I'm not frustrated or angry or upset, because I know exactly why I lost. There's always a reason, always something I did wrong, or something I could improve. That is what makes this game so great. No matter how good you think you are, you will always lose, and you will always find holes in your game that need to be fixed. Never in my life have I worked so hard at something only to still fall so short. When I first got to Grandmaster, I was playing 8-10 hours a day trying as hard as I could in every game, and when I finally got that promotion... I literally (not figuratively) jumped out of my chair and started screaming. It was like my brain was malfunctioning! I had worked so hard to get that promotion, that I wasn't even sure how to react when it finally happened, haha! It's like when you ask that that really cute girl out to prom that you think you'd never have a shot with in a million years, and for some reason she says yes! You're not quite sure how to handle it. Is she joking? Am I dreaming? Is this real life?
I've put so much time and dedication into this game to get to the point that I'm at now, and only after getting to this point have I realized just how far away I am from the actual "pros." This game is so mentally exhausting that it would take a crazy person to try and do this for a living, and that's exactly what makes it so incredible. These gamers who are able to compete on stage in the biggest tournaments in the world are absolutely insane, in the best possible way. What they are doing is a combination of competition and art. This isn't something that just anyone in the world can decide they want to do. It takes an unbelievable amount of commitment to get to the highest level. There are so many intricate complexities to the game that can only be learned through countless hours of practice, and not just mindless practice either, practice where you are 100% mentally focused and engaged with what you're doing. This isn't a 9-5 desk job where you can zone out for 8 hours and still be okay (unless you're Protoss, am I right? Just kidding!). It's impressive enough just to be able to force yourself to play this game for 10 hours a day, but to force yourself to play for 10 hours a day and be completely focused in every single game takes an ungodly amount of discipline. Playing Starcraft at a competitive level is one of the most difficult things I can possibly think of, and that's why I love it so much...
/EndWallOfText
Edit - I would like to enter to receive the tickets please T_T
Actually, there's a good chance I won't be able to go even if I win the tickets unless I can get a ride with someone... I live about 2 hours away from DC :/
On September 18 2014 23:10 SC2Towelie wrote: Actually, there's a good chance I won't be able to go even if I win the tickets unless I can get a ride with someone... I live about 2 hours away from DC :/
On September 18 2014 23:10 SC2Towelie wrote: Actually, there's a good chance I won't be able to go even if I win the tickets unless I can get a ride with someone... I live about 2 hours away from DC :/
Hmm idk if I could get a bus there. It's like $50 to get there and then another $50 to get back, and I'd have to do that both days unless I get a hotel which would be even more expensive :/
Starcraft is more than just the games, more than the players. Its about the community. My love for the game re-flourished in highschool when sc2 was announced to be in production. It wasn't until i meet aS_magnum, sentenal, Luckyfool did i really start find out about Competitive Broodwar. Leading to Team Liquid. I have a long history with Friends, and the community in Broodwar and eventually on to StarCraft 2. Probably my favorite thing about StarCraft 2, isn't the game itself or the players. It is the community. Having DC events with fellow nerds is such a blast, talking endlessly into the night at nerd dinners about our favorite players, who we want to win the next OSL, Proleague wcs it didn't matter. We could always find something to talk about. Small dinners, turned into the dream for mlg. To watch the pros live, To play vs the pros.
The events are also such a blast, the games are fanastic, but the community really shines. I really got into Mafia because of these events. Its something special being able to play a party game with players, casters, twitch staff, mlg staff, fellow liquid nerds. Just chilling I'll link tofucakes pictures. http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/363312-raleigh-day-1-mafia-photos
This is why i love StarCraft. The joys the memories the friendships. I wouldn't change this for anything.
These events mattered so much to me, that i brought it home. I host StorrZerg BBQs, and invite all the local nerds. I bring the flat screen out to play SC2 WCS, or what ever esport event is going on, we play games, we hang. We enjoy ourselves. (any one local to dc/mdva area is welcome to come) Just something about StarCraft that brings people together.
Small dinners lead to people perusing their dreams, in one case my friend and fellow liquid nerd, Caucasian Asian went off to korea to study. One night watching with some friends after a bbq something magical happens.
There's so many reasons I love SC2, but the main reason I'm going to DC this weekend is to see my friends that I've made the last few years going to events. DC is home to a large amount of my internet friends, and it would be awesome to have a floor seat to hang out with all of them. I am only going to be at the event on Sunday, but having a seat not on the balcony would be great. I purchased a balcony seat after I failed at getting a press pass for the event, apparently being the editor-in-chief for Solaris isn't important enough to warrant a response haha.
My brother introduced me to Brood War back in fall of 2008, by showing me Cholera and Rise cast on YouTube. I never really followed conventional sports or competitive gaming at all back then, but I thought those two together were some really funny guys that really knew what they were talking about (although they might not have been experts, to a complete noob like me they were incredible). This naturally transferred to SC2 where I became a lot more involved than he ever expected.
I started out in 2011 by helping out with the New England SC2 League, and at MLG Providence met a bunch of my good SC friends of today, including Koibu of SC2Ratings. I didn't really have many opportunities before that to contribute to the SC2 community (1st year of college really doesn't give much time for it ><), but he let me help out with the website that he had built. It was great going out to events with a purpose - promote the website and try to get the fans to come our way. I got to go to Raleigh, Dallas, Toronto, and Anaheim representing the site and got the chance to meet the event regulars (they know who they are - players change, but press is always the same). Also, we all love our Mafia games, and wouldn't miss out on a live event for the world!
I even went to a couple of DC LANs to just hang out and help with the tourneys. I had a lot of aspirations about getting to go to DC, and hang out with all of my friends that I've met throughout the years. About a month and a half ago I applied for a press pass, since I really wanted to get some interviews with both the players and the production staff at Red Bull. Since the owner of our team has done graphics for RB, I asked him if it was possible to get a pass. Unfortunately my emails received no response, and he couldn't help with contacting anyone to help. I tried my best to contact Red Bull multiple times but I just got silence from the other end for weeks, but still kept up the hope. I couldn't get a floor pass before they could sell out, and had to settle for a balcony pass. I also picked up a shift at work this Saturday, so I am only going on Sunday; so much for my grand interview plans haha!
I was hoping that some floor passes would come back on sale so I could hang out with the wonderful people of DC, like LuckyFool, Peter, Storrzerg, NanMan, Minny, Looknohands as well as represent the New England crew with Temp0. I only get to see these guys a few times a year, and I really want to have the chance to catch up with 'em and watch some fun games!
If you are willing to trade a Sunday orchestra pass for a balcony one please pick me!
PS: I've made foodforevents before. Even if I don't win this, find me, I promised Kwame I'd make more eSports cupcakes; I'll give you one too!
PPS: Didn't see Bob's post above this til after I wrote it. If he needs a ticket, totally give it to him, I wanna see him in his traditional Oz jacket this weekend!
Sorry for the noob web programmer question, but...you write all the HTML in your comment from scratch, or you have templates and such? It looks like it'd take a long while to write it all out...
I love SC2 because it has become the biggest passion in my live. I've experienced many ups and downs with SC2 during the past 4 years, but even when I took extended breaks from playing I never stopped watching tournaments or frequenting Teamliquid.
The first esports competition I ever watched was IEM Cologne, in August of 2010. I didn't know any of the players, but by the end of the competition, with the help of Day 9 and Apollo highlighting the players and relaying the story lines of the tournament, I was already in love in idra and TLO. Overall, I view the first 2 years of SC2 as the happiest period of my life.
My fall from Eden, as I imagine it happened with many fans, happened in June of 2011, when MLG flew over some Korean players and they went on to dominate the tournament. Things were never the same following that moment, as I slowly began to lose interest in the foreign SC2 scene, and I reached my all time low with SC2 shortly after the infamous queen-range patch, but over the past 6 months I've experienced a surge of renewed passion for the game. I am looking forward to WCS 2015, and I have a revitalized interest in the NA scene. Even during the extended breaks I took from playing, I never stopped watching SC2. The pro players have become part of my family, and I know nearly every single one.
I've never had the opportunity to attend a SC2 event, though it has been one of my biggest dreams since the first MLG I watched. I remember the awe I experienced the first time I saw Justin Wong in person, and I can't imagine what it would be like to see some of my favorite players like Polt, Bomber, Drg, and Scarlett-- players that have been part of my family for years.
edit: I'd like to clarify that I am entering the contest
Just got this message from the contest runner on reddit:
Didn't see anything that says you can't transfer tickets, I bought mine for $55+tax and all that junk on ticketfly. Like I said in the original post, I'm running a mini contest asking people to tell me why they love SC and winner gets the ticket for free, or would you rather just buy it? Since contest is not a guarantee win
I paid for my train AND arranged to split room costs with someone, so I desperately need a ticket, but this is messed up and I have to let you know that this dude is an ASSHOLE
I revoke my "contest" post. I'd rather not go than to associate with an asshole like you OP.
On September 20 2014 02:35 Wasaru wrote: Just got this message from the contest runner on reddit:
Didn't see anything that says you can't transfer tickets, I bought mine for $55+tax and all that junk on ticketfly. Like I said in the original post, I'm running a mini contest asking people to tell me why they love SC and winner gets the ticket for free, or would you rather just buy it? Since contest is not a guarantee win
I paid for my train AND arranged to split room costs with someone, so I desperately need a ticket, but this is messed up and I have to let you know that this dude is an ASSHOLE
I revoke my "contest" post. I'd rather not go than to associate with an asshole like you OP.
goodbye
It's your own fault for the lack of planning. You asked to buy my ticket & asked me how much I paid for my tickets and I answered.
I have two extras, one is guaranteed for the winner of this thread, and the other could've been yours if you weren't such a jerk on the internet. How am i being an asshole now?
I love the game and the scene because of the community. I love the inside language we can all use that others have to decode. I love bringing new people into the game, I love seeing the passion and excitement of people at live events. I love that the game is not taken too seriously like many traditional sports are. I love that the players for the most part love each other, have fun with each other, and seem like great people.
I also hope you select me because I pledge to pay it forward. I have balcony seats for both days but my mates are all on the floor. If selected I will immediately do as you have done and donate my balcony seats to a deserving member of the community.
On September 20 2014 02:35 Wasaru wrote: Just got this message from the contest runner on reddit:
Didn't see anything that says you can't transfer tickets, I bought mine for $55+tax and all that junk on ticketfly. Like I said in the original post, I'm running a mini contest asking people to tell me why they love SC and winner gets the ticket for free, or would you rather just buy it? Since contest is not a guarantee win
I paid for my train AND arranged to split room costs with someone, so I desperately need a ticket, but this is messed up and I have to let you know that this dude is an ASSHOLE
I revoke my "contest" post. I'd rather not go than to associate with an asshole like you OP.
goodbye
Dude Meru has 2 tickets, but only 1 was promised to be given away for free to the winner. She was so kind to offer you to buy the other ticket, so that you can go 100%, since you already booked everything and she felt sorry for you. How stupid can you be, to call her an Asshole and miss the opportunity :/.
Very cool thing you are doing Meru and nice blog, keep it up .
I traveled to Korea just to learn the sound of a Zealot's foot steps. My playlist is the same as Huk's. The only beverage that can sustain me is Nestea. Both of my parents are Flash.
...on a more accurate note, a ticket would be amazing! Other than the SC2 club at my school, I've never been to a Starcraft event and would love the opportunity.
Brood War was the first RTS I fell in love with. My big brother, Ben, got me into it (for anything he was into was THE COOLEST THING EVER). He gave me all the tips and cheats to slaughter the single player campaigns (I felt like a vengeful god with each entry of "there is no cow level"). StarCraft without cheat codes and CPU opponents proved to me more daunting. I was never very good at multiplayer in those days. My strategy was primarily based around the two C's: cannons and carriers. My victories generally came from a game of "hide the pylon until they leave" after having my production decimated. Yeah... I was that guy.
Despite my lack of skill and the tenacious time wasting, I was having a blast. It was a great way to interact with my brother too. An involuntary cringe accompanies any memory of our 2v2 matches. I refused to deviate from the double C build and for some reason I couldn't quite rap my 10 year old head around, it usually didn't seem to work out (which made NO sense because cannons shoot laser balls and carriers are freaking awesome). He had the patience of a saint for which I will be eternally grateful (though I will, admittedly, be unable to fully emulate).
We still played together for time to time when he went off to college, but the frequency of games gradually waned. I still enjoyed the game and would play at the occasional LAN party, but the same magic wasn't there that initially entranced me.
That all changed on July 26th, 2010 at approximately 10 pm. My girlfriend, well aware of my nostalgia for StarCraft, showed up to my doorstep with a copy of SC2. It was like falling in love all over again. I logged game after game after game with friends, squeezing out every drop of enjoyment from the game from the ladder to the most obscure corners of custom (my favorite was always Fastest).
Unlike with Brood War, I became increasingly invested in the professional scene of SC2. It started with videos posted by Husky, then to Day[9] (man, his site was ugly 4 years ago), then to TL and its bounty of streams and strategy discussion. I have no way of measuring how much of my life I invested in StarCraft: falling asleep to Catz or Idra or Huk (with the stream muted for him, of course) or any of the dozens of others that frequented my laptop screen, playing on my college's team (no longer solely relying on cannons and carriers... more so marines and marauders), and even getting the opportunity to work for the mag GL;HF and collaborate with guys like Axeltoss.
While I would love to get this ticket (and will thankfully be in DC this weekend regardless), I feel like my experience with StarCraft isn't exceptional. To clarify, I mean that in a very, very good way. This game and this community has provided so much joy and meaning for so many people. I'm very grateful to have been a part of that and hope to continue to share and reap all the great aspects of SC2 for a long time to come.
On September 19 2014 14:35 soon.Cloak wrote: Sorry for the noob web programmer question, but...you write all the HTML in your comment from scratch, or you have templates and such? It looks like it'd take a long while to write it all out...
This is Meru, I bet she gets all excited by doing stuff the tedious way. I mean, why else apply for a volunteer Gfx staff position at TL?
On September 19 2014 14:35 soon.Cloak wrote: Sorry for the noob web programmer question, but...you write all the HTML in your comment from scratch, or you have templates and such? It looks like it'd take a long while to write it all out...
This is Meru, I bet she gets all excited by doing stuff the tedious way. I mean, why else apply for a volunteer Gfx staff position at TL?
TT Rude Zealously!
Anywho, for the purpose of this blog it's all inline styles ._. (i know, im sorry!). Will probably do an overall external style for all future posts, cuz it'll be much easier ^^ Just haven't gotten there yet cuz no time!
On September 19 2014 04:41 SC2Towelie wrote: Hmm idk if I could get a bus there. It's like $50 to get there and then another $50 to get back, and I'd have to do that both days unless I get a hotel which would be even more expensive :/
Just confirming towelie withdrawing right? cuz cant get there?
On September 19 2014 04:41 SC2Towelie wrote: Hmm idk if I could get a bus there. It's like $50 to get there and then another $50 to get back, and I'd have to do that both days unless I get a hotel which would be even more expensive :/
Just confirming towelie withdrawing right? cuz cant get there?
On September 20 2014 02:48 StorrZerg wrote: a9arnn hi friend :D
Bob we better be playing Mafia this weekend, I'm gonna be there Saturday night and hopefully will make it in time for some games! Sucks I have to miss most of Saturday cuz of work, but I'll be bringing cupcakes to make up for it!
On September 19 2014 04:41 SC2Towelie wrote: Hmm idk if I could get a bus there. It's like $50 to get there and then another $50 to get back, and I'd have to do that both days unless I get a hotel which would be even more expensive :/
Just confirming towelie withdrawing right? cuz cant get there?
I already have a ticket, but Id be willing to give it up if it meant I could be there sitting with my little brother. This is the sole reason I'm writing this now and hopefully there is a way I can be with my bro in the Orchestra and still award my extra ticket to someone who is without one.
Unlike most people in the community, I got into the scene very late...around the release of Heart of the Swarm. At the time I was in and out of WoW and dabbled a bit with consoles, most of these things just didn't do it for me. My little brother was already active in the scene, played a lot of games and was a big fan of guys like Husky and Day9. I wanted something new, so I bought Wings of Liberty and decided it was time to get my feet wet with this game. I fired up this game without a single clue of what to do, let alone the differences between Bio and Mech, the counters to Mass Stalkers and Ill the other strategies and meta discussion that I would soon come to love about the game. My brother sat me down, showed me something I had never seen before, a professional Starcraft match. It was a GSL match between MVP and Squirtle, I was amazed at the speed, the intensity the skill that was being showcased. From there he steered me down the similar path of most fans; he introduced me to Day9 and more specifically the Day9 Daily: #100. There I was 30 minutes in, finding myself cheering for a guy I had no clue about, but it was from that moment that my desire to learn more about this community hit a new level. In the beginning I latched on to the popular figures in the community, adopted EG as “the team I would root for” and started following guys like EG Incontrol, Idra and some other of the really well known NA guys. As I learned more and more about the scene, I found myself completely immersed in the community. As my knowledge of the game and community figures grew, I started following the other regions and now had players from each region that I was fan of and followed. Growing up, there was a little gap in age between my brother, I’d like to say we were fairly close, but Starcraft cemented that bond…it was something we were both equally passionate about and no matter what might have been going on the world, us living away from home and each other, we always came together to talk about how much we loved Starcraft. I went from catching an occasional match that was on Twitch, to waking up at 5AM EST, call my brother on Skype and we would watch GSL together…it may sound ridiculous to some…but those are moments I wouldn’t trade away for anything. It’s something that I’ve reflected on before, but the countless discussions about tournaments, players, meta, talk shows, and yes even the drama, we’re all moments and times shared with my little bro. We had always, talked about how if there was a tournament that came close to us, we would go without question. Like many others, this has become more than just a frustratingly fun game to play, I’ve met so many people…traveled the other side of the country, met some of my favorite players, watched beautiful and intense games and throughout all those times, my little brother was right there with me.
Unfortunately, my dumbass procrastinated far too long on getting my ticket. So now I’m stuck in the balcony while my brother has floor seats. I don’t expect much sympathy as this is my fault and something that could have been avoided, but perhaps there’s a situation where everyone can win. If by some chance, I’m awarded a 2 day FLOOR pass…I will relinquish my ticket to someone else, preferably a worthy person in this thread who is in need of a ticket. I wouldn’t have written this up, if I wasn’t ready to trade up or I guess in this, trade down
On September 20 2014 03:20 protagonist777 wrote: + Show Spoiler +
I traveled to Korea just to learn the sound of a Zealot's foot steps. My playlist is the same as Huk's. The only beverage that can sustain me is Nestea. Both of my parents are Flash.
...on a more accurate note, a ticket would be amazing! Other than the SC2 club at my school, I've never been to a Starcraft event and would love the opportunity.
Brood War was the first RTS I fell in love with. My big brother, Ben, got me into it (for anything he was into was THE COOLEST THING EVER). He gave me all the tips and cheats to slaughter the single player campaigns (I felt like a vengeful god with each entry of "there is no cow level"). StarCraft without cheat codes and CPU opponents proved to me more daunting. I was never very good at multiplayer in those days. My strategy was primarily based around the two C's: cannons and carriers. My victories generally came from a game of "hide the pylon until they leave" after having my production decimated. Yeah... I was that guy.
Despite my lack of skill and the tenacious time wasting, I was having a blast. It was a great way to interact with my brother too. An involuntary cringe accompanies any memory of our 2v2 matches. I refused to deviate from the double C build and for some reason I couldn't quite rap my 10 year old head around, it usually didn't seem to work out (which made NO sense because cannons shoot laser balls and carriers are freaking awesome). He had the patience of a saint for which I will be eternally grateful (though I will, admittedly, be unable to fully emulate).
We still played together for time to time when he went off to college, but the frequency of games gradually waned. I still enjoyed the game and would play at the occasional LAN party, but the same magic wasn't there that initially entranced me.
That all changed on July 26th, 2010 at approximately 10 pm. My girlfriend, well aware of my nostalgia for StarCraft, showed up to my doorstep with a copy of SC2. It was like falling in love all over again. I logged game after game after game with friends, squeezing out every drop of enjoyment from the game from the ladder to the most obscure corners of custom (my favorite was always Fastest).
Unlike with Brood War, I became increasingly invested in the professional scene of SC2. It started with videos posted by Husky, then to Day[9] (man, his site was ugly 4 years ago), then to TL and its bounty of streams and strategy discussion. I have no way of measuring how much of my life I invested in StarCraft: falling asleep to Catz or Idra or Huk (with the stream muted for him, of course) or any of the dozens of others that frequented my laptop screen, playing on my college's team (no longer solely relying on cannons and carriers... more so marines and marauders), and even getting the opportunity to work for the mag GL;HF and collaborate with guys like Axeltoss.
While I would love to get this ticket (and will thankfully be in DC this weekend regardless), I feel like my experience with StarCraft isn't exceptional. To clarify, I mean that in a very, very good way. This game and this community has provided so much joy and meaning for so many people. I'm very grateful to have been a part of that and hope to continue to share and reap all the great aspects of SC2 for a long time to come.
Reading throught the list of entries, it seems like most people have balcony seats and would release their tickets in order to gain the floor seat. protagonist, are you in the same boat? Or would you be okay if you got someone's balcony seats?
I wouldn’t have written this up, if I wasn’t ready to trade up or I guess in this, trade down
Update: Contest Winner! Hey everyone, first of all I want to thank every one of you for all your replies! It was really inspiring reading through it all, and it really is heart warming hearing about how your family and friends keep your passion going.
I really really wish I had unlimited resources and have all the tickets in the world to give to everyone, but unfortunately I don’t have enough. Towelie I’m really sorry you can’t make it to DC for the weekend, your writeup was definitely the most touching to read personally and I would’ve loved to given you the ticket.
With that said, the contest winner this time is hdk703. I want you to be with your little brother, and thank him for your win because he’s the reason you got into SC at all! I don’t need your balcony seats, but maybe work something out with someone in this thread that has no ticket at all like protagonist777? I think what hit home with me is the day j daily #100. That’s pretty much how I got into the sceen as well, watching dailies, and especially that episode. He just has a charismatic way of getting to you, doesn’t he?
hdk777 please PM me your email so I can send you the ticket PDF to print.
A9arnn- I’m sorry you didn’t get a response fast enough from RB. Maybe the messages didn’t send to the right person? Maybe try their social media outlets and ask next time? They’re pretty responsive there. It seems odd that there’d be no response at all :x
AgaveOtter – Seems like there’s a lot people that have balcony but want to trade up, I had to pick HDK because I don’t want to split a family up ><. Thank you for your understanding, and I’m sorry!
I just wanted to send a big thank you to Meru and hdk703. I'm very grateful and incredibly stoked to be able to go to Red Bull Battlegrounds this weekend. I'm not usually one to throw out this expression, but "nerd chills" is the most accurate summation of my current feelings. At the risk of being melodramatic, this is all a little surreal in the best of ways.
tl;dr - thank you guys, I'm really excited and I hope to see you all there!
On September 19 2014 14:35 soon.Cloak wrote: Sorry for the noob web programmer question, but...you write all the HTML in your comment from scratch, or you have templates and such? It looks like it'd take a long while to write it all out...
This is Meru, I bet she gets all excited by doing stuff the tedious way. I mean, why else apply for a volunteer Gfx staff position at TL?
TT Rude Zealously!
Anywho, for the purpose of this blog it's all inline styles ._. (i know, im sorry!). Will probably do an overall external style for all future posts, cuz it'll be much easier ^^ Just haven't gotten there yet cuz no time!
Lol, don't want to know how long it took you to do that, then.
EPT
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Expect great coverage right here on TL!! I'll be sure to pack my pokeflute in case grumpy saintsnorlax falls asleep mid-job. ![[image loading]](/staff/Meru/misc/blog/charm.jpg)
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