EPTWhy wasn't Xello's victory in the Olympus OSL 2003 mentioned?
Because NGC is very irritating when it comes to mentioning commercial entities. The footage of Xellos crying when he thanked his mum is from the Olympus OSL. The shot has actually been cropped. In the original shot, the word "OLYMPUS" was a the top in large letters. You know, Olympus paid goodness knows how much money to sponsor the OSL. This is the moment they've been waiting for, when their brand name gets beamed to millions of households worldwide on the National Geographic Channel... and the NGC commissioning editor says, "ooo... Olympus. Cut out Olympus. It's product placement. Can't do that."
"But they're SPONSORS." I said.
"No," she said.
So that's problem with Olympus. The problem with mentioning the OSL is that it would again take time to explain to the layperson who doesn't know about the Korean progamign scene. We had a lot to squeeze into 47 minutes!
Plus, that would raise the question: why the hell are you making me watch a documentary about the WCG if the OSL is so great? and everyone would switch to Discovery =(
So all we could do was say that, "he won his first major championship."
Why didn't you interview other progamers and ask what they thought of Xellos?
That's something I really wish I had done, but to be honest, I wasn't entirely familiar with the pro-gaming scene at the time, so I wasn't sure who to ask. We did, however, have a handful of names we considered: Julyzerg and Boxer, especially.
The second reason was the problem of getting these people to actually talk. Their coaches were understandably reluctant to have them come on camera and say that they were scared stiff of Xellos =)
The third reason was time constraints. We went to Korea twice. The first time, we were shooting between 13 and 17 hours a day for 10 days non-stop and barely finished everything. So we found it hard to squeeze in one more interview.
And the fourth reason was we couldn't squeeze those interviews into the 47 minutes we had. Actually, a lot of international players said that Xellos was a fearsome player. Even Grrr said it. But we didn't have space for those soundbites.
Overall, this is one of those things I really wish I had done. Let's see if I can can pressure NGC to do a part two!
Why didn't you say that the Korean WCG is a lot harder than the WCG Finals?
Because then nobody would watch past the middle of part 3. Like I mentioned, NGC docus these days are like Hollywood movies. Would you watch a movie where the main bad guy is defeated 3/4 into the film, and his weaker side kick takes up the last 1/4? That's why Peter Jackson cut the last scene of LOTR from the movie =)
You got something against old people?
No... With regards to the retirement thread, it is true that many progamers retire young. I think it's partly like any sport: a young player like Tiger Woods comes on. His style is different, he pwns everyone. Two years later, everyone starts adapting. If the original player doesn't adapt as well, he'll start losing, and losing bad. Some players don't want to adapt and they retire. Like Grrr.
But also, I think it does have to do with speed and reflexes. fOru, for instance, told us that there are some things he just can't do anymore because he isn't fast enough. The difference is slight, by itself it doesn't guarantee a loss, but it does mean that you're "past your prime".
Boxer is 27 and still doing very well. But in general, that doesn't happen. How many 27 year old progamers are there on the front line?
What's with the point 0000005 seconds?
Okay, we didn't say that, the doctor did =) And he just sounded so cute going "woah woah woah woah woah woah farrrrv seconds" that we just had to leave him in =)
What's with the gazillion fighter planes?
Well, there were a lot of them...
Why is Xellos considered World Champion just because he won the crummy WCG?
Because that's the name of the title. Does it mean he's the best in the world? No... but does it mean he gets to call himself World Champion? Yes, though he doesn't, so nobody laughs at him. It's like the World Series being called the World Series even though there's nothign "Worldly" about it.
If silent_control beat xellos he'd be an overnight sensation?
Well, he DID become an overnight sensation after he beat Xellos, though not quite in the way he thought he would...
Okay, I admit, it was exaggerated in order to show what was at stake, and we based it on the fact that Xellos got a lot of fans when he beat Boxer on TV. But yes, it was exaggerated. No doubt he would have got a lot of publicity for a week and then disappeared.
If the top players only win 60/40, why is losing to silent_control such a shock?
Wasn't everyone shocked when Xellos lost to silent_control? =)
I appreciate these comments, guys. I hope to do a sequel and all this helps me plan for that day and make it better. So criticism is welcome. =)
