|
The First Month
About 1 month ago, I began a break from Starcraft II at least until Legacy of the Void (the next expansion), possibly to last forever. It's been a big change in my life already.
I was a full time Starcraft 2 professional gamer for close to 3 years and part time for about 2 years before that. While studying at Harvey Mudd College and getting my computer science degree I spent most of my free time practicing and playing in tournaments. Most of my spending money came from doing coaching and eventually from doing well in various tournaments and showmatches.
To suddenly no longer be a progamer has been a big change in my life in that I find myself with an abundance of free time, but while the specific activities have changed significantly, I'm still mostly doing the same sort of thing. I'm a competitive person by nature. Rather than playing Starcraft and looking for tournaments I play a smattering of different games with friends.
I even joined a Heroes of the Storm team called ESV Tempest for a few weeks. I still feel a bit lost in regards to what I should do now. Starcraft has been my entire life for such a long time that there's a tremendous void to be filled. I imagine it would feel similar to when an important person in your life is no longer there. Each day I had my regiment and goals to strive for. My friends, my work contacts, and the sites I visit are all completely starcraft centered. Besides my few real life friends, I have few contacts or experience with 'not Starcraft'.
So, with no real direction, or anything but a vague idea of what I wanted to do I dabbled. I tried streaming a bit but found long periods of streaming to be both unproductive (I get almost no viewers if I do anything besides Starcraft) and incredibly draining. As an introvert, the prolonged social experience of streaming is very taxing. I tried writing a bit, but after outlining the basic story and writing some pages I lost interest.
I left my Heroes team earlier this week because the practice times weren't working with my real life schedule as well as to free up additional time for the one project that's held my interest since retiring.
I'm designing my own board game and it's going great so far. The game is based heavily off Dominion but has a much greater focus on interactivity between players. For the unfamiliar, Dominion is a deck builder which basically means that you start the game with a small and weak deck and buy cards to add to your deck to make it stronger in an effort to get the most victory points.
More on the board game coming soon...
I'm going to be releasing at least one blog post a week every Tuesday starting next Tuesday for the forseeable future. Next week I'll be going into more depth about the game I've been working on and what makes it so interesting and engaging.
  
|
I played a pretty cool board game, I forget the name. But it went like this; each player picks 2 races, robots, aliens, dinosaurs, etc (there were like 5+ more) and then you play out a minion or an action card each turn iirc. And the goal is to put damage on these battle sites or something and control the board. It was pretty cool. You should check it out,
edit - yea this one http://boardgaming.com/games/card-games/smash-up
|
Considered studying something?
Most good sc2 players must be at least decently smart, and being introvert isn't really a problem. You will even be in good company if you go towards natural sciences. 
Maths potentially a good place to start, as it'll help you with almost anything else you want to do afterwards.
|
On March 13 2015 16:07 Cascade wrote:Considered studying something? Most good sc2 players must be at least decently smart, and being introvert isn't really a problem. You will even be in good company if you go towards natural sciences. Maths potentially a good place to start, as it'll help you with almost anything else you want to do afterwards.
Yeah I second that suggestion. If you have free time and are even just mildly curious/interested in some subject, take a look at what you can find and learn ! You can find all sorts of things on the internet, some even for free (I remember watching some theoretical physics course videos from Harvard or another good Uni on youtube, there's also wide ranges of MOOCs that require a more active participation, etc). And it's always a nice plus on your CV ! So if you have the time and interest, there's really no downside to go learn stuff and broaden your knowledge :-)
Anyway, I hope everything goes well for you man. Looking forward to your next blogs !
|
It is great that you stay in touch with strangers aka fans  .
I'm going to be releasing at least one blog post a week every Tuesday starting next Tuesday for the forseeable future. Next week I'll be going into more depth about the game I've been working on and what makes it so interesting and engaging.
Why? This feels forced, If you don't feel like sharing don't. I'll always be happy to read from you whenever you feel like you have something to share!
|
Hi kevin. Im on the Taipei mrt as I write you this. I want you to know that you are one of the few people that has had a positive impact on my life since arriving here.
|
You're getting a degree in computer science?
Might I recommend that you take up programming as a hobby on top of whatever programming you do professionally?
It will hone your skills, it's easy to create goals, and you can actually do things with it that have a huge impact on the world and potentially make more money than you ever could from sc. Also if you have the right mindset it is a very competitive challenge, though of a different nature than what you are used to.
Given that you possess the traits required to be successful at something like starcraft, there is no doubt that you could become very skilled at whatever you choose to pursue. So why not choose to pursue something that is very productive?
|
United States2095 Posts
GL Qxc. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your board game.
|
Good luck with the board game, qxc.
|
Dude! I wanna be a play tester for your Dominion game! I love dominion!
Getting your autograph at MLG is still one of my favorite pro meetings. GL HF dude
|
Back in high school, my buddies and I would always talk about your matches and strategies the day after they happened. You've had some really great runs.
Not to mention all the neat things you've created for SC.
You've always been one of my favorite people in the scene, and I wish you success with whatever you pursue!
|
On March 14 2015 02:36 travis wrote:
You're getting a degree in computer science?
Might I recommend that you take up programming as a hobby on top of whatever programming you do professionally?
It will hone your skills, it's easy to create goals, and you can actually do things with it that have a huge impact on the world and potentially make more money than you ever could from sc. Also if you have the right mindset it is a very competitive challenge, though of a different nature than what you are used to.
Given that you possess the traits required to be successful at something like starcraft, there is no doubt that you could become very skilled at whatever you choose to pursue. So why not choose to pursue something that is very productive?
I have to disagree on taking up programming projects on the side of a programming job. Me and several of my friends, all doing jobs that involve a lot of programming agreed that it distracts you from your actual job. In general, of you like your job so much that you want to have it as hobby as well, then you may just as well do something that relates to your work.
|
On March 14 2015 15:28 Cascade wrote:Show nested quote +On March 14 2015 02:36 travis wrote:
You're getting a degree in computer science?
Might I recommend that you take up programming as a hobby on top of whatever programming you do professionally?
It will hone your skills, it's easy to create goals, and you can actually do things with it that have a huge impact on the world and potentially make more money than you ever could from sc. Also if you have the right mindset it is a very competitive challenge, though of a different nature than what you are used to.
Given that you possess the traits required to be successful at something like starcraft, there is no doubt that you could become very skilled at whatever you choose to pursue. So why not choose to pursue something that is very productive? I have to disagree on taking up programming projects on the side of a programming job. Me and several of my friends, all doing jobs that involve a lot of programming agreed that it distracts you from your actual job. In general, of you like your job so much that you want to have it as hobby as well, then you may just as well do something that relates to your work.
Well he doesn't have a job yet right?
But I see what you are saying.
|
For right now, I'm working on my board game close to full time (30-40 hours a week) so I don't have much time for other projects. I got my CS degree a few years ago and I don't have any strong interest to return to school. Tuesday's blog is written and ready to go and has much more detailed information about the board game as well as some sample cards.
I will release at least one blog every week on Tuesday as a way to force myself to be consistent and hopefully generate attention around what I'm doing. I work on my project with the eventual intention of publishing it (self or with a company) so letting people know about the project early on is important.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, see you guys again on Tuesday
|
Why don't you try give programming a shot ?
i meant it's very entertaining , helps you become productive and you don't have to go back to school. You can just learn programming on your own like what travis. Not as something academically related but rather as a hobby.
Maybe you get interested in game development and if ever you wanted to your boardgame a software.
|
On March 16 2015 17:25 goody153 wrote:
Why don't you try give programming a shot ?
i meant it's very entertaining , helps you become productive and you don't have to go back to school. You can just learn programming on your own like what travis. Not as something academically related but rather as a hobby.
Maybe you get interested in game development and if ever you wanted to your boardgame a software.
I agree with Goody. Even picking it up as a hobby will take up a good chunk of your time while at the same time help you make your game into more than a board game, or a virtual board game. It will allow you to focus on a task that is less creative more logical which to me sounds like your biggest problem. Creative tasks are fun - Take it from someone who is a musician. I probably pick up my guitar at least once or twice a day to write. But what I've found is that if I pick it up more than that, I start to stagnate. I balance my creativity with programming because it's much more logic based but still creative. Solving problems requires you to attach all the pieces together in your mind, but allow you to do so in plenty of different capacities.
You seem like a smart dude QXC, but with intelligence comes responsibility (thanks Spiderman's grandpa!). It's easy for smart people to get bored with things when they lose their fancy first taste of flavor - But it's as easy to make these things feel fresh when you're not forcing yourself into tapping ONLY into your creativity or logic.
|
Katowice25012 Posts
Do you still have your jedi robe from when you all-killed IM?
|
@heyoka yea I do. it's nice and warm
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
