EPT
It’s a feeling of abandonment, but an abandonment of something different. StarCraft has been a massive part of my life for about 3 years now, and it has only grown in importance over the past 13 months or so. Writing for TL has been easily the best experience I could have ever asked for. While that does say a lot about how much I enjoyed it and how beneficial I think it has been to me, that also says something about how fucking lame everything else has been. So hell yeah, I’m ready to go to Rice. Houston is a big city with lots of cool shit I’m sure, and there are so many great things to look forward to. But the time required to adjust to a new life, to reprioritize and fully embrace all the opportunities in which my parents so generously invested (and that I wanted), I need to take a step back from my involvement in writing for TL. I’ll be honest, it fucking sucks. I love StarCraft: watching, playing, discussing, every bit of it. It has been far and away the biggest commitment of my time, energy, and emotions outside of school. I got into a routine of incentivizing myself to finish my homework so that I could catch up on the Proleague games in order to write for the week’s coverage. I played Twitch mobile on “audio only” mode to have a radio broadcast of GSL and S2SL on the way to school in the mornings. I took “study breaks” every 30 minutes to check Twitter, Skype, TL, reddit, anything to make sure I wasn’t missing anything in the StarCraft world. All the people I’ve met along the way, even if it was purely through virtual communication, have impacted my life positively. It’s a shame most of them have more important things to do than shoot the shit with me about a video game and play it every once in a while.
I don’t want to walk away from all that for something as uncertain and distant as an academic future and some bullshit everyone calls a “social life”
. I want to keep doing what I love while pursuing new passions at school, but my subpar time management and some realistic expectations tell me that that’s just not going to happen. But I’ve begun to wonder if the great disappointment this voluntary hiatus brings is only because of what I mentioned earlier about an uninteresting extracurricular life. Maybe it hurts so much because I’m accustomed to writing for TL being my only source of true satisfaction with and genuine enthusiasm for a hobby; a true escape from reality. Maybe when I get to college I’ll find new things to do and I won’t feel so bad about precipitously reducing my involvement with TL, because I’ll have moved on from what could just be a phase in which I’ve got nothing else that interests me the way StarCraft does. I guess we’ll have to see. Since I don’t have any sponsors, I think it’s time to give some shout outs to the people who have made writing for TL so great.
Zealously: I’ll never forget the thrill of getting a contact request from the only TL writer I knew by ID at the time. I also won’t forget thinking you were a 40 (or maybe 24, sometimes both) year old man who was somehow old enough to still compete for a spot on the national swimming team until February of this year. You have at times been like the awesome big brother I wish my bitch of a sister would be instead, other times a knowledgeable and helpful editor, and although infrequently, but not of least importance, a trusted “adult” to whom I could reach out for personal issues. You weren't kidding when you said you're a great listener.
DarkLordOlli: You have the best Snapchat out of all the writers. You’re also a bit of a big brother to me, but more in the way that you like to play games with me, and even though you beat me every time you’re willing to help me out. It was also nice to have you around when everyone else seemed to disappear, and when you weren’t around at least I got to see passive aggressive Snapchats about public transportation in Austria. And out of all the writers I think I have clicked with you the most on some shared sentiments, from life in general to widow mine drops.
lichter: Although I am more than just a little bit disappointed that you will forever remain a mysterious 55-year-old purple-haired midget to me (assuming I can’t make it to Blizzcon, which is more than likely), I am thankful that your ambiguous but still old age has translated to your maturity within the group. As an angry (but funny) father whipping his
stuchiu: I think you’re a wildly creative and funny guy, and easily the speediest writer. For that I admire you a lot, even if the depth of your analysis, storylines, or imaginative scenarios either predate me or are just too esoteric. Your sharp tongue, like licther’s, has not only been refreshing to see in the Skype chats, but has offered insightful, straightforward, and constructive feedback. You add a quirkiness to the writing staff that contributes greatly to the overall quality of our work, and you too have pulled immense weight when necessary, for which I can say on behalf of all the other writers has been a
CosmicSpiral: At first I was intimidated by you, because you’re by a thousand miles the smartest person I’ve ever talked to. But I’ve grown to thoroughly enjoy every conversation you’ve participated in because of the way you choose your words and think so critically and extensively about things. Your analysis of everything from writing and movies to people’s relationships has given me new perspectives on all of those subjects, and you have been so patient with taking the time to talk down to me when even multiple Google searches does not clarify what your last sentence just meant. Your writing itself is what I have looked up to the most in my time with TL, because of your absurdly large vocabulary, ability to come up with and complete appropriate literary devices, and eye for revision. Beyond all that, I can’t begin to describe how helpful you have been with your personal advice and guidance for the private matters we’ve discussed.
The list goes on for all you uncolored writers I’ve gotten to know, but I’d feel bad if your bits were all shorter and less consistent in length than these. I can honestly say that every single one of you has given me more reasons to be happy than any other emotion, and is a valuable member of the group of people I have had the pleasure of calling my second family.
So for now, except for maybe a Road to Blizzcon piece, this is goodbye.
