EPT
Hello Teamliquid family, my name is Kim Sun Moon, my English name is Harry. I was born in 1977 and I am a freelancing journalist for Fomos.
So you are a reporter for FOMOS progaming news site. How did you get involved in the esports scene, were you a BW player?
I wanted to become a pro gamer in 1999 when my military service ended and the Broodwar expansion just came out. A roommate of mine showed me Starcraft Broodwar at school and it was so much fun that I didn't even go to school for one week, I was just playing.
At this time Starcraft was still not that big but there were tournaments like the PC bang league of Pusan where I participated. I was majoring in Theater and Movies and my dream was to become an actor. Because I studied hard for that I didn't have that much time for practice and that is why I didn't make it as a pro gamer.
In 2002 other games became big in Korean e-sports and I played competitively in a game called Artrox. But since I was 24 already I felt like I was too old now to become a pro gamer. Nevertheless I still loved e-sports so I got into e-sports media. Back then I was working for MCBGame as a commentator for lesser known games.
Xeofreestyler with HarryI used to work for MyDaily for 2 years, and after that I went to ESWC league in China for 7 months to stay with the Counterstrike team. When I came back from China I was looking for a job and asked friends I knew at Fomos so this is how I ended up there.
What do you think the best part of your job is? What is the most challenging/difficult part of your job?
It is fulfilling to inform the people and the community and I really appreciate their feedback and I like to read their comments. The difficult part is that as a freelancer you have to invest a lot of time on your own. For example I wanted to learn English but I was so busy with work I had to quit my classes. Also the pay for internet based news could be better.
So you are here at the world cyber games to report for FOMOS. How has your experience in Germany been? Any highlights?
I really really like the beer. In Korea I went to all the German bars to try out all the beer and to come here now to try all the different types of beer makes me really happy.
The funniest experience was when I was trying to find Silvanos house but I was so lost. I was on the phone with Silvano, but he was trying to talk Korean and I was trying to talk English and we couldn't understand each other at all. In the end it all worked out though and I was really relieved to see him.
Recently there have been many good players rising and defeating each other - it is much harder to win multiple titles now.
Do you think we will ever have another Bonjwa? Who do you think it will be?
Let's see, in 2006 Savior was Bonjwa, then in 2007 it was Bisu and now in 2008 it is Stork. You can see from this pattern that it is very difficult for one player to be dominating for more that one year. I don't think there will be another player who can do that in the future.
Stork won his first OSL after many 2nd place finishes. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think he can maintain this current domination?
He has the potential but it depends on his own determination and he will also need a little bit of luck, but in times like these with so many good players you can't really predict anything anymore.
At Blizzcon, Ma Jae Yoon said he would make a comeback in 2009 and has been winning more games. Do you feel he is out of his slump? Do you think he can rise to dominance again?
It's about 50-50. Looking at the Proleague games Ma Jae Yoon played I have mixed feelings. His opponents weren't among the best players but you could sense that some of Savior's old fire was back.
But the reason why I think a Bonjwa can't last anymore is because when a player is at the top, everyone will start studying and analyzing his play. So if Savior wants to be at the top again he really has to reinvent himself.
The press in Korea thinks he will be able to come back though.
Many of the WCG Broodwar games were not broadcasted, did you see any offstage matches and did any foreign players impress you?
I saw the foreigners play and I could tell they were imitating the pro gamer builds, but their execution is always a little slower. For example I watched Draco and his gateways and build was always a couple of seconds behind the execution of a Korean pro gamer.
Recently GOMTV started broadcasting matches in English with English commentators. Do you think more Korean companies like MBC, OGN, Fomos will follow along with this in the future?
No, I don't think it will happen. It takes a lot of money to broadcast internationally so the companies are afraid of losing their investment because they don't think it can be profitable in the end.
Have you had a chance to try Starcraft 2 yet?
Yes I did. The game reminded me a little of Warcraft3. I played PvP against Garimto and the score was actually 1-2.
I think it will be a great game and when it comes out I won't leave the house for 2 months.
How do you feel about the changes that have been made to the mechanics? MBS, Automine etc
It is not necessarily a bad thing because players can focus on strategy and the game is not as mechanical. There could be a wide variety of play styles rather than the purely mechanical style of Starcraft Broodwar.
Naruto and Snowbird have shown you the foreign community and what we do, what do you think about the foreign fans?
They are very passionate about Starcraft. Back in the days of Boxer the Korean fans were like that, they were fans of the game. Now there are many fan girls and casual fans who just come for the stardom.
Any final words or shoutouts?
I hope Teamliquid fans will keep their passion and will keep cheering for Starcraft. Many Korean journalists don't know how passionate the foreign fans are and I see it as my task now to get the word out to them. I really like to learn English too, so if there is a nice girl out there who wants to teach me English .... kekekeke.
Everyone thank Naruto for setting this up and Snowbird for translating please!
