EPT
Mynock: Greetings! Ready for some internal viewing?
Peter: Kk
Peter: Gogo!
Mynock: Fine, let's start with some questions about your persona first...
Peter: Kk that sounds difficult :p.
Mynock: I figure since this might be one of your first interviews neither of us can escape the boring formalities, huh.
Mynock: So shoot you name, age, etc pls -_-p.
Peter: Peter Neate, 22, from Aussieland, currently residing in Seoul, South Korea.
Mynock: Btw, is my assumption correct (regarding first interview that is)?
Peter: Not really, had a few small ones.
Mynock: Well then: first off, since when are u in Korea, and how did it happen in the first place?
Peter: Okay, last WCG i got first for Australia, which took me to Korea, since the asian airlines are cool - you can cancel and transfer tickets extremely easily (except had to pay a small fee as it was originally booked in bulk). So we extended our stay (us being me and Razor, also from Aussieland) for full visa (being 3 months) which we were
hoping to play a few sc games on itv or what not in, but mainly used it as holidaying.
Then a friend of ours hooked us up an interview with iVenture who were hoping to
sponsor some more players besides ElkY. They said yes but not for a few months (and
since our visa at that time was running out we had to decline). Then 2 nights before our
flight they changed their mind (which i wont go into in detail about) and thus we stayed
longer for StarCraft. Basically lots of luck, a little
bit of charisma and a touch of putting out to big bosses at companies gets you a long way
.Mynock: Haha, "putting out" - let's not go into that either for the sake of minors
reading this one...
Peter: Hahaha! Let's just say it was painful ^^. Haha.
Mynock: Ah, I can imagine (even tho I try not to) T_T.
Mynock: So, basically u guys then changed your visa's again and decided to become pros officially, correct?
Peter: Yeah so to speak. It was difficult as we didn't have a training team like everyone else, but it was mainly a new experience (uhhh that can be taken in a few ways) so it was quite fun.
Mynock: A "new experience"? Watch out, u might end up being quoted on some, or a lot of these things
.Mynock: So you live as an official progamer in korea, is that correct? And this is
the main (and only?) sort of activity u pursue over there, and make your living of?
Peter: Ummm official progamer - no, progaming - yes. I'm classified as a semi pro since i acheived top 8 in MBCgame 512 player amateur tourney. I'm also teaching english 3 times a week to a nice couple who cook me lots of tasty food stuffs
.Mynock: Ah, I thought so
. Guess leeching off other ppl's foods while teaching them is a great idea basically.
Peter: Yes the food leeching is definitely an advantage
.Mynock: Seems like it must be hard for anybody who does progaming to live off
of it unless they're really up there with the big guys?
Peter: Yep. I'm lucky, as i am no longer with iVenture - i joined POS which
provided basically the same deal (all food accom, training comp etc) but now i get a
training team too, and the teaching provides me with the much needed cash.
Mynock: If that's not an all-too-private quiestion, how much money do u make off
the leagues u play in, and what is that enough for in terms of korean prices?
Mynock: Or do u basically live off of your teaching, and progaming is just a nice
experience for you?
Peter: Money i make from leagues i play in? Well let me get the calculator out...
Yes, plus that... Umm... Round it up, say... And that makes it about Zero so far!
Mynock: Oh :o. Not even a kind of sponsorship? Attendance fees? No nuttin'? T_T
Peter: Only money from games are appearance fees for MBCgame or iTV, and
when I was with iVenture we went to cafes and did tournaments which we got paid for.
Mynock: Ah, the harsh reality, hum hum.
Peter:
Mynock: Tho it looks like otherwise life in Korea isn't that expensive since u
manage to cope with the expenses anyway. Where exactly do you live?
Peter: Guro, Seoul, at the POS apartment place/office thingy. That's South-Westish
from Seoul.
Mynock: They provide u guys with an apartment?
Peter: Yeah. 3 ppl live here, some stay the night if they game too long.
Mynock: 3 ppl, lemme guess, humm... 6 computers in the house?
Peter: 8 comps set up in the lounge room is the training area.
Mynock: Oh, 8 ^^. Who are the 3 steady inhabitants?
Peter: Well it was the korean holidays up until this week, so almost everybody
(everybody being Bejjang, Shark[gsp], Terato, Pro.Nt_Junitoss, Bluek (aka Joyo),
Sinji_NT, Pro.Nt_Fantasy and Julyzerg) was here during that time, but now its just
Shark, me and Bejjang i think. We haven't really gone into a new schedule since the
holidays have finished
.Mynock: Haha, I c... Btw: how is it with the POS internal order? I know some
teams' management require steady working times. Does POS have any of that system
implemented?
Peter: Kk, when the bosses are here, everyone plays non-stop ^^. When they
aren't, we often do whatever we feel like. The only real schedule we have to maintain, is
an in-house tourney to select the top 4 players for a team league that is coming up - you
have to play everyone everyday over 4 maps (1 map a day) for a month. I'm currently on
a 13 winning streak
. But that's to make up for 3 bad days i had, so i'm back in the race baby!
Mynock: Which means that hopefully we might see u in the next team league then?
Peter: Yep, should do. And if i get 5th... Well we are on the 4th floor and sometimes tragic accidents do tend to happen.
Mynock: Do I even need to ask? Elaborate pls -.-a.
Peter: Well officer, it was a terrible tragedy. Terato was just going to the window and slipped on this puddle of water and lost his balance and just flew right out of it!! *Sniff*. It was such a shame, *sniff*, such a joyful life extinguished so soon.
Mynock: Oh I c - divine intervention to help Peter thru to his teamleague spot.
Peter: Divine.. Yes ... Yes that sounds good
.Mynock: Great going and nice companionship with ur teammates! GJ! ~_~. Ok, tell me a bit about the bunch - how do u get along with the guys? Daily use of babelfish is an integral part?
Peter: Progaming is a dog eat dog world... Only the fittest... or nastiest players survive
We all get along good; Bejjang speaks pretty good english, the 2 bosses can speak some, and Shark knows a tiny amount. I know a few korean words so i can make fun of them at certain times, but it's quite a friendly atmosphere.Peter: Oh, and Terato's GF knows some too, she turns up every now and then - we were talking for a few hours after the MBCgame tourney. Koreans are scared of talking in english as they are all afraid of others judging their abilities. But once they get passed thinking of it they can often talk fairly well
.Mynock: Haha, that's nice to know for ur average public gamer; Random Dude:"TALK to me!! U can do it, I know!!" Korean Guy: "k". Well... what about spare time activities? How u spend it with other ppl there - any particular places of interest, hobbies, etc?
Peter: Most of the time is just spent in and around this place, we've gone out and played basketball 3 nights this week (being 6'3" around midgets... i mean koreans, has certain advantages ^^... HEY! It was them who asked for the game!) We head out and over to COEX mall everytime someone has a game on or do whatever we want. They go to the library every second day to pick up a truck load of this korean comix, half of which you read in reverse like japanese books. They take about 20 mins to go through (so i'm told), so that keeps them entertained when they are bored and dont feel like playing. I just dload books off kazaa.
Mynock: So I guess if we take a closer look in the COEX crowd, we might just spot Peter lurking there in a shadow, crafting an "accident" on one of his team-m8s...
Peter: There are certainly possibilites there
.Mynock: Watching TV? Any favourite shows? Don't mention OGN league -_-a
Peter: Korean ones?! There's some bloody weird but nonetheless entertaining gaming shows which you don't need them to be in english to understand. I don't mean PC sort of gaming, just trivial stuff, a bunch of people have to do certain things, etc etc...
Peter: Kk, I'll explain a bit; the other day i watched one, first show was a group of
ppl and they have to do memory work stuff and it slowly gets eliminated till theres a winner. After that they had a group of guys doing these sporting things, like they had 2 volleyball pros with them and they bumped the ball up and they had to spike it and try and knock over "ten pin" (ie.: the pins from ten pin bowling), which were set up on this stand in the other area, and they had teams and stuff and everyone cheats and it's a good laugh
.Mynock: ...
Mynock: It is probably ^^.
Peter: Haha.
Mynock: Do u guys get out somewhere at night? Like disco/clubs/bars, that stuff?
Peter: Haven't in a while, but I've been out a quite a number of times before. Missed out going to "The Boss" once, when I had just gotten home after being out all day and was asked by ElkY and Razor if I wanted to go later that night, so I grabbed a few hours of sleep, woke up before the scheduled time and they had left without me T_T. The bastards
.Mynock: Hahaha. Mean, yes ^^.
Peter: "The Boss" is the biggest, or best nightclub in korea, Giyom goes to it like every other night or something... But fortunately they said it was shit that night... So thats Karma for you.
Mynock:
Mynock: How's the female part of the korean population? U guys often go up to girls and go "hey, I'm a progamer, seen me play last night?", and then she goes "oooh, shag me!"?
Peter: Girls are girls, lots of cuties, a few non cuties., But, haha, no that would be Giyom or ElkY, they are famous ^^.
Mynock: I c
I heard they have a generally raised attention towards foreigners?Peter: Yeah for some, not so for others. I think everyone believes that the place where they want to go at the girls have generally raised attention towards foreigners
.Mynock: Maybe, hehe, good point...
Mynock: Hey, u have any cute StarCraft merchandise at home?
Peter: No.
Mynock: You should buy some to look l33t at the TV shows. Put a zealot figurine near the keyboard next time u play on TV?
Peter: Uhhh sure =]. But the only SC memorabilia I have would be a SC CD.
Mynock: Ok hum hum... Different things... Feed me with some gossip from the korean scene: is ChoJJa really switching to terran now?
Peter: So the rumours say. His manager apparently wanted him to go random but he thinks Protoss sucks too much, so Terran it is.
Mynock: Sux too much? Have a feeling he'll learn his lesson rather soon...
Mynock: A burning question! Do chopsticks improve ur micro?
Peter: Yes young padawan, yes they do. The day I managed to catch 2 flies in a single chop stick motion was the same day I managed to micro 2 archons vs 20 wraith and kill the wraiths by attacking the supply depos below them
Mynock: I knew it!
Peter: Chopsticks are the way of the future my young friend... prepare for the new age
Mynock: *Puts on some water for the noodles*. Here we go...
Peter:
Mynock: Wana hear some honest opinions from u... BoxeR a no-go for WCG - sad? :/
Peter: So everyone's been saying, (including Korean players) And yes it is sad... I'm sure all the foreign WCG players will be crying from the loss. -_-
Mynock: Yeah, I'm sure they will
. WCG is kinda weirded up so to say... What's the korean scene's reaction to how all the bigger players dropped the hell out in this extravagant single elimination process?Peter: The few koreans I've talked to about this don't really think much of it, I'm
sure there's a few with strong opinions against it, mainly because whoever they wanted
to win got owned
. The tournament structures are set up beforehand, ppl knew about it and strange things happen - sure it was a silly set-up, but hey - they won, so that's that
:/.
Mynock: True, even tho initially I thought there must have been a turmoil there
with cries like "lynch all WCG organisers!!", etc... But whatever. What do u think about the foreign gaming scene, especially now, with the WCG finals coming towards us. Especially what do u think about humm, maybe some newcomers being able to make the leap into korea this year?
Peter: Progaming might pick up - or it might fade - who knows, War3 certainly
seems to be goign along smoothly outside of Korea. There's a big difference between the
skill of Koreans and most foreigners; sure, foreigners can win a number of games, but
koreans are still numero uno. Having said that, this WCG should certainly be interesting -
the foreigners have a much better chance to place well, and it will be interesting to see
who ends up where.
Mynock: Time will tell... TLT - hope to win it all? How's the competition, what do
u say?
Peter: I hope to get top 4 TLT.
Mynock: Who's the top 3 then?
Peter: Dunno. ElkY, Naz will be there. Rek probably will as well. But anything can
happen, so who knows. My goal from the start was to be top 4, so i can get some cash
(Since 5-8 is just $50).
Mynock: Burning question time! What's the brand of the chair u're sitting on?
Peter: Ummmm wow... You sure know the tough questions... i hope theres a age
restriction on this interview
It's a grey cushiony oldish chair - no idea what the brand is...
Mynock: PG-13. 'Least I'm not telling u to smash ur face into the keyboard and
post the results, huh? What a nice bloke I am! A few technical questions: who do u
mostly practice with? Any favourite opponents, matchups? Maybe some ppl u hate
playing against?
Peter: (Ok, actually I looked - there's no tag on it
.)Peter: Hate playing against Zerg faggo... I mean Zergs. POS players are all fun to
play vs. Especially in tough games and someone makes a mistake, or when Junitoss is
storming away with 500 APM swearing his head off.
Mynock: Oi, must be a funny sight ^^
Mynock: How big is yours? (Yes, I mean his APM)
Peter: 210 highest, 170-180 is average for proper games, 150-170 mostly on
B.Net or TLT. Dont really try to improve it, you just click away doing things, I did try to
pick mine up a bit, and it helped. 200 average would be good for me, i always lose
interest half-way through the game though and it drops off
.Mynock: Chopsticks dude, chopsticks... -_-;;
Mynock: So, with your zerg hate (which I share 101% - u can count on me here) I
guess ur favourite must be PvT then... Any favourite maps to play it on? Thoughts on
current OGN/MBC maps in use?
Peter: Jim Raynor's Memory is MY MAP! There's a few maps I hate which are good zerg domination maps, which are well known about, but other then that, maps are maps, and they derve their purpose
Mynock: Ah, hence that Leg vs ElkY rep on tl.net
.Peter: Ahhh, that was 2am in the morning, and ElkY had a game the next day
(which I didnt know about then), we were going to play on all the MBC maps, but I was
tired, so took off after that game - didn't realize his match was the next day else I
would've played more.
Mynock: Is it YOUR map, or do u actually think it's a GOOD map overall?
Peter: It's MY MAP BITCH!
Mynock: Ouch, scary t_t.
Mynock: What were some of the recent games u've played on TV/bigger leagues?
Peter: Well, in leagues I got kicked out in the prelims - lost to GGoma[30dom]
(KOR team) 2-1 (stupid gay zergs), and the league before that I beat Heaven[30dom]
from KOR team, then lost to Crystal[inca]. All but 3 losses overall in competition games
have been to zerg
.Mynock: Omg zerg so have to die. Were those OGN, MBC games?
Peter: MBC was first one, OGN was 2nd one yeah. And I agree :/.
Mynock: Burning question! What stuff does your Winamp currently struggle to put
thru the soundcard's circuits and into your speakers with?
Peter: My HD I carry around isn't plugged in (haven't been bothered enough to do
yet, since i moved to POS) it's got a few gigs of mp3s on it... So maybe i should.
Mynock: U should - music keeps u going!
Peter: So that means i'm stuck with a few Avril Lavigne, a few Sting and I also
DLoaded some Evanescence when i saw the thread on tl.net... Bring me to life i think.
And lets see... City of Angels by Red Hot Chilli Peppers... Some Aussie singer Delta
Goodrem and that's it.
Mynock: Aaahham. At least you show some stability in your music taste there.
Mynock: Well, Alrighty then, our interview time is running out, soooo... I won't give you an opportunity to any shoutouts btw, since that would be so typical and boring,
and I'm trying to maintain originality here.
Peter: Awwwwww, and FroZ!, uT)Rome and Nazgul will be so disappointed
Mynock: Hey!
Mynock: No such thing! Asadsf!
Peter: Btw, uT)Rome you're not getting back on my MSN list.
Mynock: OMG! Spoiling the whole thing!
Peter: What? Of course not! I wouldn't do that.
Mynock: T_T, now I'm ruined.
Peter: 'Least you tried!
Mynock: Still, thanks for ur precious time Peter ^^.
Peter: NP! So when can i expect payment, is that cash cheque or money order?
Mynock: Yeah payment, well, just as promised... Next Friday 13th, 2 AM, under
the bridge, my man will meet u there. Might be a bit stormy night but I'm sure u'll find ur
way just fine and without accidents.
Peter: Kk
Peter: NP, HF!
Mynock: GG and cya! ^^
-Mynock
!!
