EPTDon't call me boring.
It's just 'cause I like you.
Terran Emperor Lim Yo Hwan.
Genius Terran Lee Yun Yeol.
Hero Protoss Park Jung Seok.
Storm Zerg Hong Jin Ho.
Six years ago, there was no value or fame associated with being called a progamer. Six years later, these four have made the title of "progamer" something that is truly admired and envied by many.
[ReD]NaDa - Like a tornado, the intensity grows a little bit more with each attack he makes. The collective blood of the audience is palpitating at a fever pitch as his units stream across the map to seal a victory that was written even before the game started. What was once a shy and snaggle toothed boy is now a confident veteran.
[Oops]Reach - They say that even the fans who don't like Reach actually like Reach. Throwing away conventional strategic thinking, he embodies Protoss for what they are - Tough. Strong. Dependable. Storms that shouldn't hit with such accuracy, Zealots that shouldn't fight at such lengths, Gates that shouldn't be standing in such numbers, this is why he's called the Hero.
[NC]...YellOw - Over and over again, he shows that there are Zerg players and then there is Hong Jin Ho. As ominous as a darkened sky yet as gentle as pebbles falling against a ballroom floor, his storm is something that even he himself can't help but admire.
SlayerS_`BoxeR` - Simply, he is StarCraft. Just as the moon continues to shine no matter what happens in the night, Lim Yo Hwan will always be hailed as an Emperor regardless of who is grasping the trophy or winning the Starleague.
Is this the end or just the start
Of something really, really beautiful
Wrapped up and disguised as
Something really, really ugly?
Lee Ki Seok (SSamJang) and Shin Joo Yung (Honest). These two were considered to be the earliest superstars of progaming. Before Starleagues, before Proleagues, they were the forerunners of StarCraft players in Korea, regardless of being a progamer or an amateur.
Announcing that they could live comfortably by playing StarCraft would have been meaningless had it not been for four boys who would grow up to epitomize the concept of progaming.
Had they not thrown everything away and moved to Seoul, this modern generation of progaming wouldn't exist. SSamJang and Honest paved the road, but The Big 4 were the first to truly cross it.
I don't care if you saw,
I watched every inch of film
Flash across your Roman features.
And I loved it, loved it
Lights, cameras, make-up, uniforms and commentators. These things form a thin line that seperates sports from hobbies to the viewing public.
Fan placards, cheer cards, hand-made cushions, boxes of sweets - all gifts from an adoring female crowd. A camera that's situated in the middle of a studio set up in a PC room broadcasts their faces to the world. Each and every one of the 150,000 members of each of the player's fanclubs are there with them in that moment.
This is a fame that could only have been born out of constant effort.
Those who decide to follow them won't be turned away. But those who run won't be chased. The fans decide who they cheer for and who they support.
The progamer can only decide one thing: That, without fail, he will play this game again tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. That from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, every fiber of his being belongs to the game.
Fame is never an easy thing. But the willingness of BoxeR, NaDa, YellOw, and Reach to play to the expectations of their fans was a trait that they were the first to express.
Inside your room, you said
"You never really live until your back's against the wall."
Oh, did you really mean it?
New players with more dazzling strategies, more refined techniques, and faster reflexes - They're everywhere now. The next generation of progaming has already made it's mark.
The sponsors are bigger. The teams are bigger. The leagues are bigger. The stage is bigger. The prizes are bigger. Everything has grown exponentially. Of course, it's generally agreed that it's the new faces which are the biggest source of the fan's excitement. If Ma Jae Yoon or Kim Taek Yong or Song Byung Ku is playing on TV, then that's all that will be discussed for that day among the fans.
But I wonder ...
Why is it that the audience and the commentators hold their breath as an old gamer takes to the stage?
Why is it that the applause is louder when an old gamer wins?
Why is it that one bows deeply to an old gamer after the game is finished?
And I wonder ...
When the Emperor was hiding from his father so that he could play StarCraft, when the Storm Zerg was lying to his mother so that he could play games, when the Genius was sitting in a smoke filled PC room with his school friends, when the Hero was waiting in the cold to be able to sign up for a Big Game Hunters tournament ...
Did they know what they were doing? Did they know what they were starting?
After six years, I think I finally know the answer. The answer is that it doesn't matter. They were following a very definite passion during a time in their lives when nothing was definite.
Because of that, they were truly ...
The start of something.
Marianne, let the ghosts sleep.
Just shut your eyes and burn the past away.
- Voxtrot, The Start of Something
