EPTI get bored as hell so might as well translate this. I'm not that good at translating but you'll get the gist of it
http://www.fomos.kr/board/board.php?mode=read&keyno=93428&db=issue&cate=&page=1&field=&kwrd=
Live Interview] Two commentators who dream of e-sports of the world Daniel Lee and Nick Plott
Year 2009 March 3rd
March 1st, World's best PvZ'er Bisu and current bets Zerg player Jaedong finished with Jaedong taking the match 3:2.
During the interview scene in the Gom Tv Station, however, I was able to recognize an old face. It was Daniel Lee, (Pre-Estro Coach) who had become a English SC commentator for the Gom TV League.
Commentator Lee joined the Gom TV League team a month ago, and started commentating with Nick Plott, who was already commentating before him.
After the match, Daniel and I decided to go to a Hof (I have no idea what the hell this is u can think of it as a bar) to talk about things, and luckily I was able to interview the good looking western gentleman Nick and Daniel Lee, who still had strong aspirations and love for the e-sports scene.
For my interview with Nick, Daniel was great enough to translate the english for me, and due to Nick's great personality, we were able to end the interview on a good note.
- Short Introduction Please
▲ Nick=My name is Nick, full name Nicolas Plott. I was born in France(1984), grew up in the U.S.
- How did you end up commenting in Korea
▲ Nick=I was a gamer in America, and I dropped out in the 2005 WCG. During the competition I found out the commentators were not very well informed with SC, so I told them I wanted to help, and that was the start of my commentating career. Since then I've worked a little with TV Network, and luckily got in touch with Gom TV. This was when I was close to graduating college, and I thought this was a one in a life time chance and went to Korea. Originally I was a philosophy major and thought I would become a college professor, but looks like I've found a new dream.
- How did you become to like SC?
▲ Nick = I started playing SC because of my two year younger brother. My brother was good enough to own the American scene. My brother once lost to Xellos in the WCG Finals.
- How is life in Korea. Is it as good as expected?
▲ Nick = I didn't really expect anything, rather than expect something, I just wanted to gain experience here. But the people here are very kind and the food is awesome. (At this point Daniel comments on how Nick eats Kimchi and Ssamjang better than Koreans)
- What was the reaction when you decided to go to Korea?
▲ Nick = the reaction was half half. My family helped me economically, but now I've repaid them. Now I think I've found my place, and my family is very happy for me. My friends helped me the most, and I've gotten a lot of help from my Korean friends.
- Besides commentating, what do you do on your free time?
▲ Nick= I read a lot of books and study about commentating through looking at other sports commentaries. I play Starcraft a lot and workout routinely.
In Korean Age, Nick is 26 years old (So he's 25). Athough he young he is a person who has a humorous personality, and is able to withstand living in a foreign country. After the quick self introduction, when I switched the topic to commentating, I realized Nick, like a young 26 year old, really enjoyed doing his job. But when I asked Daniel Lee about commentating, I almost felt sorry for asking him this question so lightly, because I felt this kind of seriousness and love for his job.
- Whats the difference between commentating alone and together?
▲ Nick = When I commentated alone, I often lost my concentration. Now during commentating I have time to think, and because we can give each other feed back, its become very comfy and easy.
- You've joined Nick about a month ago, how did this happen?
▲ Daniel= I was managing a site called SCforALL at IEG, but in the end i quit my job. It was then Gom TV gave me a call and asked if I wanted to join them. I've always had a lot of interest in commentating in English, so I accepted their offer.
- Now that you've commentated, how does it feel like.
▲ Daniel=I look at games and study about them as much as I did when I was a coach. I use a lot of techniques the Korean Commentators and use their "know-how's." For example, a thing we call "nogada drop" in Korea -- foreigners call this an "elevator drop." I instead translate "nogada drop" directly and say "manuel labor drop." Many people like this. When I also said Bachanic, X thought (doesn't come out here) I pronoucned Mechanic wrong, but when I told him its a combination of Bionic and Mechanic, he really loved it. I thank the Korean Commentators.
- Then How do you express "Mutal JjalJjaRi?" (A Korea way of saying Mutal Micro attack)
▲ Daniel= There is no special saying. I just say Muta Micro.
▲ NIck= Muta Micro is one of the hardest micro controls in SC
- Nick, were there any funny episodes during commentating
▲ Nick= In Gom TV season 1, I was not captured in the camera. Once I had to go to the restroom real bad so I went to the restroom with my mike and commentated there.
- Any hardships during commentating?
▲ Nick=The American Fan base is very diverse. From people who know nothing about SC to those who know the very specifics. To commentate for both these kinds of people is a very hard task.
▲ Daniel=If you say something wrong in Korea (as a commentator) people are very harsh to you, but foreigners are very lenient about what you say.
- Did you gain popularity with your job as a commentator
▲ Nick = I get e-mails cheering for me almost every day. I feel this also when I sometimes go out of Korea. I'm very thankful, I am a lucky guy.
- Who do you is the current best player
▲ Nick = I learn a lot from Stork, but I think Jaedong is the current best.
After receiving this question, Nick suddenly cried out STORK!. In foreign countries, it is typical to call Korean progamers by their nicks, not their names. He said Stork's play is great to study, but the best player is Jaedong. I became curious to how foreigners think about the Korean e-sports scene.
- Did you meet a lot of Korean progamers?
▲ Nick=I've met a lot, and I've met Nal_Ra once outside of Korea, and I remember him being very kind.
- Who's your favorite player
▲ Nick=I prefer single progamers than a team. And although I won't say I'm a fan, I think that that progamer has a lot to teach. And I like games which aren't mechanical, but tactical. There is a saying called 'Think out of the box,' and I want to talk about that. You must use your own color and win. Nal_Ra was is the most famous one, and although I don't know right now, Juy used to show styish games.
- Which progamer do you think has the sickest ID.
▲ Nick = Foreigners mostly like Savior, and personally I think Reach is cool. Its cool cause it gives u a feeling of reaching up as a progamer. Oh, and when I heard of Nal_Ra I thought Ra stood for Egypt's sun god. Since the nexus looks like a pyramid I thought Nal_Ra's ID was really cool. When I told Nal_Ra this he couldn't understand this. I later realized Nal_Ra simply is the Korean way of saying "flying."
▲ Daniel= foreigners do call progamers by their nicks, but a lot of them don't know the meaning of the nicks. So I often explain what the nick means when I commentate. For example, Bisu's nick stands for 'a blade ninja's use for assassination.' and JangBi is hard to explain because you have to know the book "romance of the three kingdoms." (A Chinese novel based on historical fact)
Commentator Lee once again shone with excitement as he talked about the foreign fans. Because Gom TV goes live in foreign countries, he told me (I'm not so sure if I'm translating this part right) he was very overwhelmed by the fans. Commentator Lee told me about the foreign fan base, and how popular Korean progamers our to them.
- I've heard Korean progamers are very popular
▲ Daniel - I've always been looking at foreign sites for feed back, and in someways they are more into SC than the Korean fans. It is natural to wear the clothes of the player. Naturally they also want to wear what the Korean progamers wear. There is a fan base out their we can absolutely not ignore but our efforts to "globalize e-sports" are not enough. We can not make this same mistake with SC2. We must render our tactics and make an e-sports where anyone, everwhere in the world can participate in. One day there could be a Korean star coming out of this. When this happens, I also have many things I want to do. "The globalization of e-sports,' is something I am definitely willing to put my life into.
- If SC2 comes out can it succeed as a global e-sports
▲ Nick = since the game isn't finished its hard to say. At first I thought the game was just so-so, but after I went to the recent BlizzCon, it was really fun. The important think is what Blizzard intends to do with their game, and how they operate it. I also hope that SC2 goes well.
▲ Daniel = I want to make this one of the best internet contents, and I have the certainty that I can.
- Do you want to say anything more?
▲ Nick= I'm a fun person. If I have a chance I would also like to do a comedy show based on games. So I'm also studying Korean right now. Thank you for the interview - I'm a nice guy so visit me anytime and pretend you know me (This is probs not what he said a problem arising from direct translation from Eng -> Kor -> Eng) Using this interview, I would like to thank Guillaume Patry, Dan and Spunky who helped me a lot when I first came to Korea.
▲ Daniel=I never thought about commentating in Korea. There is too much competition (haha)<-- not me lauging peeps its on the official interview. But as a e-sports person I think one of the things I can do to help the e-sports scene is English commentating. I have a lot to say. I always have this desire to show off our country's e-sports (how great it is). This is why while managing SCforAll for 6months, I tried to get foreign friends to work (not sure this is the right way to translate). It is very painful to see a great content like this only being used inside of Korea.
I've been thinking about this since I was a coach - the things I can do is limited. But although a little late, I know how much foreigners are into the e-sports scene, and I am happy that I can contribute to the advertisement of e-sports. I will put all my energy into e-sports, to show people what a treasure this is. (once again, not completely accurate trans)
-Done
Shit that took me long.
