LP: First, give us an overview of yourself.

Nonduc: I'm from St. Petersburg, Russia. I am a few years older than the OnGameNet trio of Jeon Yong Jun, Kim Do Hyoung, and Um Jaek Young.

I played Starcraft back in 1998, but my gaming was quite limited and I did not participate in the ladders or in LAN competitions. I actually play very few computer games at all, except for StarCraft. However, I have a lot of experience as a fan. For many many years I watched football, boxing and other sports. I have been interested in the Korean pro-scene since the days of Lim Yo Hwan in WCG, but not as closely as in the past two or three years. The overall level of play has risen significantly (as it has for me). VODs are also of higher quality, something which is important to the fans, who do not have access to Korean cable TV.

LP: How did you find Teamliquid and Liquipedia?

Nonduc: It was not difficult, considering how few good news sites and forums there are devoted to professional StarСraft outside of Korea. It is hard to pass Reps.Ru when you want to read something in Russian, and you can not get past TL.Net if you are interested in the opinion of the international community or in fresh translations.

I watched Liquipedia from the moment of its foundation. Generally speaking, I look at wiki projects with a fair amount of distrust when it comes to science, art or history. StarCraft is significantly different. It requires a certain level of preparation on the part of the audience — the higher the understanding, the better one understands not only the subtleties of play, but the overall game picture. It is a mixture of joy, fear, hope, wonder and a million other emotions which create the miracle of "good game". But knowledge without knowledge of emotions is meaningless. I am always annoyed to see a disparaging assessment of some mirror matchup because it shows the limited culture of fans. Thus, knowledge is needed. However, the forum is not suited to make this knowledge easily changable and conveniently accessable.Liquipedia deos what the forum and the database can not do separately, i.e. provide general, special or statistical data and their interpretation together.

LP: Why did you decide to work on the Jaedong article?

Nonduc: It was by accident rather than intentional. On the one hand, I have had some statistical compilations, which I used in the OP “501 Games: Jaedong vs. Progamers”. On the other hand, I was greatly troubled that the section “Rivalries” has not even a hint of Song Byung Goo. And I add something… and then another… and a little bit. That’s all.

LP: Do you have any other projects in mind on Liquipedia? Other players, perhaps?

Nonduc: I think that Jaedong’s article would be a good starting point for me in order to improve the other articles, no matter whether they are devoted to the players, maps, strategy, or tournaments. In any encyclopedia everything is interconnected. As in the game, all the constituent parts interact with one another, beginning with the skills of players and finishing with the reactions of the public. If I think of something new for the article, and it receives support and approval from the Liquipedia team, then it can be used to develop the project as a whole. And I hope that this will not only attract new readers, but new staff too. Liquipedia is doomed without development and success.

LP: What advice do you have for new users looking to contribute to the wiki?

Nonduc: All you need is attention and the desire to improve. If you like Starcraft, then try to make articles more accessable to new fans. If you see that on any page, something is missing, just add this. Just do it. Hmm, I have not turned out advice, but appeal.

LP: And that concludes the interview. Do you have any final thoughts?

Nonduc: Only that the project is just beginning and we have a lot of work ahead.