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IPL 4 took place this weekend and promised to bring a "new age of eSports"
I talked to IGN Pro League General Manager David Ting about his vision of IPL4 and eSports in general. We talked about his deeply personal motivation behind founding the IPL, monetization, co-operation and the eSport around StarCraft II as possibly challenging the likes of FIFA and NFL in the future.
If you want to know more about the idea and workings behind IPL and get to know the man behind the scenes. Follow me into a 30minute one on one interview with+ Show Spoiler +David Ting"I believe the traction that we have with eSports, there's really no ceiling
because of the accessibility of it as well as entertainment value of it […]"Interview by Jojo from SC2NewsThere are minor sound issues at 01:15. They will only last 30 seconds.
Timestamps:
+ Show Spoiler +The quotes do not represent the entirety of David's replies. They are merely excerpts.
Just click on the desired timestamp to see the full reply with video.
00:30 Personal Background
University
Jobs
Early love for StarCraft
Convincing IGN to build up IPL
01:25 Previous Job and the skills he picked up
For example:
IBM
Yahoo
03:00 Esports is not a job, it's a passion
Back when I was at Yahoo, a life changing event happened, I got into a near death experience on a car accident and at that point I am determined I am not going to budge anymore, you know, life is too short. I have the skills that are required to earn a good living and it's really about doing things that are meaningful and that I enjoy. […] I want to do something that people will remember me by […] and hopefully that's something that is great and that will benefit a lot of people. That's what I have been working towards ever since that accident.
04:00 What do you do at IPL
I am the General Manager so this means I manage all aspects of IGN Pro League, at the beginning I started off […]
What I have been working on is getting the Casino deals done, I think that's a differentiator […]
A lot of leagues are notorious for losing a lot of money […]
06:00 The functional realities of organizing an event like IPL – Tell us about IPL from your perspective.
08:55 Will IPL go back to Atlantic City and a vision for the future of eSports
In partnership with GSL, one of the things we are aiming for is to really start delivering the traditional sports numbers. A lot of the times people say IPL competes with MLG. For me, I said it many times, that's not interesting to me. If I started a business basically to take out existing competitors, that's not the way to run it.
The real thing to look at here as a community is how do we build up the fan base to basically rival the NHL, Major League Soccer here in the United States and eventually the NFL or FIFA, over time. [...]
I believe the traction that we have with eSports, there's really no ceiling because of the accessibility of it as well as entertainment value of it […]
If we can set viewer-ship numbers like the NFL […] then any venue in the world will be open for us to host our event and that's what we are shooting for!
12:00 IPL4 – “A new age of eSports has arrived” What is that new age?
If you are there in person, it is absolutely stunning. [...] It is about bringing the high level of the quality of the venue itself, the high level of quality of production and also treating the players right, as they are stars. Doing everything at the highest possible level of standard.
IPL4 – our goal is to raise the bar […] getting people spoiled.
14:30 Comparing IEM and IPL – Conventions bring in a lot of new viewers, what is IPL doing to bring in viewers that aren't familiar with StarCraft or the eSports scene?
SXSW – The event organizer said “Next year, I'm going to give you the entire hall.”
17:15 Global reach of eSports. Doesn't that require partnerships and co-operation between leagues? IPL/GS(T)L deals for the future
[…] The only one that we had trouble with right now is MLG. [...]
19:25 What kind of role does StarCraft play within the ensemble of games in the IPL? (e.g. regarding the increase in popularity of LoL)
In terms of viewership League of Legends, for us, looks like will surpass StarCraft II. […] I personally love StarCraft II, that's why I started IPL. And I think that Blizzard is doing quite a few things that will help the community like […]
There is a huge opportunity ahead for StarCraft II being like the soccer of eSports. [...]
I know Blizzard is working on improving battle.net and they should set goals to make it easier to use and make it easier for eSports as well because I believe a lot of their growth is going to be dictated by eSports.
21:08 LoL Viewer numbers – Players directly linked to live streams of major events from the game. Is that something for Blizzard to look into?
Absolutely and then on top of it I think that the growth in Asia is something to look at too. That's why we are looking for partners in Asia first […]
It's really about creating a global presence for eSport and making sure that the barrier is gone between different languages as well as different regions in the world. […]
23:00 Streaming feature in game – Co-operation with Blizzard in improving the game for eSports.
24:20 With regard to the interview with Kennigit – Streaming within the twitch.tv/justin.tv box. The possibilities are endless, it's the internet. Is it time to think outside the box?
I am looking at the big ones. Google has Youtube, they are working on Youtube live. For example, we have guests from Youtube live at IPL4. I am trying to get them really interested in eSports. There are guests from Microsoft. Microsoft is building what is called the cloud. The cloud is very very vague in definition but part of the cloud is video transcoding, encoding as well as distribution. For me it's about spreading the love to the enterprises.
I have a great relationship with Owned and Twitch and they are constantly improving their platforms so we are sitting in a really good spot, being content providers, that the technology is evolving very quickly because there is no one dominant platform yet.
27:52 How will IPL monetize eSports? PPV, Season passes, Freemium, etc. where is IPL heading?
We want to make things simple and affordable. That's basically the doctrine I have, I remember when I was a student and I only had $20 to spend for a whole week. So we want to make it so that more people can access it if they really want it. We will definitely stick with the Freemium model, anybody can get up to 480p for free so it's again more about growing the size of the community versus really trying to monetize them right now.
Our HD plan is really simple. We are not going to charge Pay-Per-View. If you love our stuff, you just pay $5 a month and you can cancel any time. You get to view all IPL content in HD for the entire month.
The challenge is on us to create engaging content so people will want to pay for an entire year.
Just to address the Winter Arena a little bit, I know Sundance said the sky is falling if people don't support Pay-Per-View [...]
31:20 Shout-outs
I am just one of the fans, I am just privileged to be in a position which could influence a company like IGN to do the right things for the community.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated either here or on twitter/facebook/youtube!
@sc2channel
facebook.com/SC2News
youtube.com/SC2News
Most importantly, If you like the interview, let David know on twitter
@dting888
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I hope you make more so good and vey interestening videos.
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On April 07 2012 01:49 DvKRazoR wrote:
I hope you make more so good and vey interestening videos.
Thank you for your kind words! I am happy to be the choice for your first post on TL. I can tick that one off now.
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Such hype...id be comparing its high level of standards to ogn
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Ares[Effort]
DEMACIA6550 Posts
Fantastic interview JOJO, David Ting is awesome!
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On April 07 2012 02:09 Ares[Effort] wrote:
Fantastic interview JOJO, David Ting is awesome!
Thank you Ares! David Ting was a great interview partner and I really enjoyed it. It was very personal and insightful.
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Fixed some typo's and added David Ting's twitter (at the bottom of the OP).
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Like my boy Micky D once said: I'm loving it.
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On April 07 2012 04:13 CaptainAmerica wrote:
Like my boy Micky D once said: I'm loving it.
I had to google Mickey D to make sure it means Mc Donalds... wasn't sure. Thought it might have been some insider reference that I am not getting.
So, now that I know, thanks for the kind words! David Ting is very passionate about what he is doing so I it really was easy on my part.
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On April 07 2012 02:06 jinorazi wrote:
Such hype...id be comparing its high level of standards to ogn
I am looking forward to Day 2 and 3. Day 1 was definitely incredible. I am interested in seeing the integration of the GSTL finals into the event.
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thanks for doing this!
I'm always surprised as to how you get so many famous people on your show lol
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On April 07 2012 12:19 JOJOsc2news wrote:Show nested quote +On April 07 2012 02:06 jinorazi wrote:
Such hype...id be comparing its high level of standards to ogn I am looking forward to Day 2 and 3. Day 1 was definitely incredible. I am interested in seeing the integration of the GSTL finals into the event.
incredible from what point of view? there been many issues with stream throughout the day...
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Thanks JoJo! Bringing some real insight into the heart of IPL.
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On April 07 2012 12:35 ninjamyst wrote:Show nested quote +On April 07 2012 12:19 JOJOsc2news wrote:On April 07 2012 02:06 jinorazi wrote:
Such hype...id be comparing its high level of standards to ogn I am looking forward to Day 2 and 3. Day 1 was definitely incredible. I am interested in seeing the integration of the GSTL finals into the event. incredible from what point of view? there been many issues with stream throughout the day...
I agree, there were technical hick-ups and they weren't always minor.
I am looking forward to Day 2 and 3 because I hope to see more of what was missing for me today. I hope to get more of a feel of the venue and the crowd. The content I got to see today was very engaging and entertaining despite the hick-ups. Great stories were told today. I thought today was incredible entertainment.
You don't think so?
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On April 07 2012 12:33 GenesisX wrote:
thanks for doing this!
I'm always surprised as to how you get so many famous people on your show lol
Me too 
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You totally reeled me in with your interview with Kennigit. Thanks doing this interview Jojo
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On April 07 2012 12:37 Slardar wrote:
Thanks JoJo! Bringing some real insight into the heart of IPL.
Thank you for your feedback and that's exactly what I was hoping for.
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Your interviews are always great.
I really love that you put these timestamps in. It makes it a lot easier to navigate the interview. I don't know why everyone doesn't do that 
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On April 07 2012 12:35 ninjamyst wrote:Show nested quote +On April 07 2012 12:19 JOJOsc2news wrote:On April 07 2012 02:06 jinorazi wrote:
Such hype...id be comparing its high level of standards to ogn I am looking forward to Day 2 and 3. Day 1 was definitely incredible. I am interested in seeing the integration of the GSTL finals into the event. incredible from what point of view? there been many issues with stream throughout the day...
also they didnt stream tons of great matches in the open bracket...
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On April 07 2012 21:30 MentalGNT wrote:Your interviews are always great. I really love that you put these timestamps in. It makes it a lot easier to navigate the interview. I don't know why everyone doesn't do that
It's tedious. I'm glad you like it! (Will add the timestamps to the Youtube video as well. There you can actually jump right to the desired section )
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If you do what you love and earn money for it, you are living the dream. Since I follow esports I have seen bright people who do what they love no matter if they can earn more money elsewhere due to their skills. But they purposely have chosen esports, because they love it. If you have these kind of people around you who do it for the cause and not for the money doing night shifts to put together amazing events, you are destined to succeed.
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On April 07 2012 21:36 JOJOsc2news wrote:Show nested quote +On April 07 2012 21:30 MentalGNT wrote:Your interviews are always great. I really love that you put these timestamps in. It makes it a lot easier to navigate the interview. I don't know why everyone doesn't do that It's tedious. I'm glad you like it! (Will add the timestamps to the Youtube video as well. There you can actually jump right to the desired section )
You don't need to do that. You can declare time markers in the link address itself:
Just add "#t=" behind the video id followed by the desired target time given "h", "m", "s" for hours, minutes and seconds.
i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[video id]#t=10m0s
would take you directly to 10min and 0sec of the video
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On April 07 2012 21:56 rotegirte wrote:Show nested quote +On April 07 2012 21:36 JOJOsc2news wrote:On April 07 2012 21:30 MentalGNT wrote:Your interviews are always great. I really love that you put these timestamps in. It makes it a lot easier to navigate the interview. I don't know why everyone doesn't do that It's tedious. I'm glad you like it! (Will add the timestamps to the Youtube video as well. There you can actually jump right to the desired section ) You don't need to do that. You can declare time markers in the link address itself: Just add "#t=" behind the video id followed by the desired target time given "h", "m", "s" for hours, minutes and seconds. i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[video id]#t=10m0s would take you directly to 10min and 0sec of the video
Yes, I was actually thinking of making the blue timestamps in this thread direct links. I am working on that right now. Will be updated soon and then you can just click on the blue timestamp in this thread and jump right into the desired section.
Edit: Thanks for the tip with the extension. It makes things much easier. I didn't actually notice that. I was doing it with the sharing option of the Youtube video.
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The interactive OP for the busy bee is now done!
If you are on the run (from whatever) or simply don't have enough time to listen to a 30min interview.
SC2News brings to you the INTERACTIVE INTERVIEW THREAD for those who know what they want.
How does it work you might ask? Simply scroll through the thread to see what topic you would like to listen to. Once you have located it, simply click on the heading in the thread and it will take you to that exact point in the video interview.
Just click back and choose the next topic in the same simple and convenient fashion.
This technology is brought to you by the internet.
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Can you interview MLG Sundance and IEM Carmac next?
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David Ting, you're the man
Thanks Jojo for this interview! Well done ^^
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Damn you're good at interviews. Good job!
edit: Whoops, should show credit where it's due, David is a fantastic interviewee!
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Thanks for the interview! Good questions posed and I found this really meaningful.
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This is really informative, but isn't the NFL a little much to shoot for O.o
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On April 07 2012 22:51 docvoc wrote:
This is really informative, but isn't the NFL a little much to shoot for O.o
Somebody has to dream big
The world would be a very boring place if no one had big dreams
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You're great JoJo ! (Araki could be proud of you )
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I really hope they dont cut off SC2, because Ting said, they'll expand LoL in a big way for IPL5.
I love IPL
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On April 07 2012 22:51 docvoc wrote:
This is really informative, but isn't the NFL a little much to shoot for O.o
I think David said it very well. You don't start a business to compete with the existing competitors but to aim for something bigger. So shooting for something that seems a little too much is a great idea. I also like the idea of investing in growing the community (and hence the customers) rather than trying to monetize them immediately.
[center"In partnership with GSL, one of the things we are aiming for is to really start delivering the traditional sports numbers. A lot of the times people say IPL competes with MLG. For me, I said it many times, that's not interesting to me. If I started a business basically to take out existing competitors, that's not the way to run it."[/center]
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David Ting seems to be a very nice guy, really like him. David Ting > Sundance because David Ting really gets it! :D
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That was a really great watch, thanks for posting.
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This jojo guy is suprisingly good at asking questions! very insightful
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On April 07 2012 23:29 firehand101 wrote:
This jojo guy is suprisingly good at asking questions! very insightful
This Jojo guy is wondering why it is such a surprise to this firehand101 guy
Thanks though!
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On April 07 2012 23:06 OrbitalPlane wrote:
David Ting seems to be a very nice guy, really like him. David Ting > Sundance because David Ting really gets it! :D
I think both of them get it.
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Now that is a thread to present an interview, didnt listen to it yet but this looks really good.
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On April 08 2012 09:36 marcesr wrote:
Now that is a thread to present an interview, didnt listen to it yet but this looks really good.
Thanks for the kind words. Have a look at the interview, David Ting is an impressive personality of the SC2 scene.
Remember, you can jump to any desired part of the interview through clicking on the topic in the OP. It'll take you right to that exact part in the video interview (even though I think you should watch all of it )
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Another great interview, dude. Awesome job!
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On April 08 2012 23:13 Noobity wrote:
Another great interview, dude. Awesome job!
Thanks for the kind words Noobity!
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1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
Awesome interviewer, awesome interviewee!
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On April 08 2012 23:27 lichter wrote:
Awesome interviewer, awesome interviewee!
Thank you! You can let David Ting know as well by tweeting at him. The link to his twitter is at the bottom of the OP.
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United Kingdom28 Posts
Another great interview as usual
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Thanks for the interview, interesting as usual. Only "complaint" I have is the HUGE sound level difference between the interviewed and the interviewer.
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On April 09 2012 07:15 exia33 wrote:Another great interview as usual
Thank you exia33. I'd be interested if people think IPL4 brought a new age of eSports.
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On April 09 2012 07:42 Akta wrote:
Thanks for the interview, interesting as usual. Only "complaint" I have is the HUGE sound level difference between the interviewed and the interviewer.
Yup. Mic issues have been fixed for the upcoming interviews. Thanks for the feedback
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Nice! I love this guy
![[image loading]](http://s15.postimage.org/pzr8tm20r/LFmm3.jpg)
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Whoever made that took the picture from this OP. I remember going to reddit and seeing the picture in the thumbnails and was like "What, who submitted the interview?" and then I was slightly disappointed.
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On April 10 2012 04:06 JOJOsc2news wrote:Whoever made that took the picture from this OP. I remember going to reddit and seeing the picture in the thumbnails and was like "What, who submitted the interview?" and then I was slightly disappointed.
oh sorry I didnt know that
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On April 10 2012 04:40 Sup3rior wrote:Show nested quote +On April 10 2012 04:06 JOJOsc2news wrote:Whoever made that took the picture from this OP. I remember going to reddit and seeing the picture in the thumbnails and was like "What, who submitted the interview?" and then I was slightly disappointed. oh sorry I didnt know that
Don't be sorry I was just adding some history to the picture.
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Greeat job. The most i like is spreading the awareness level on things that could improve esports. The blizz and linking of streams of events is spot on! Keep it up. Hopefully, you can get someone from blizz to take it seriously some time around.
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On April 10 2012 04:48 JOJOsc2news wrote:Show nested quote +On April 10 2012 04:40 Sup3rior wrote:On April 10 2012 04:06 JOJOsc2news wrote:Whoever made that took the picture from this OP. I remember going to reddit and seeing the picture in the thumbnails and was like "What, who submitted the interview?" and then I was slightly disappointed. oh sorry I didnt know that Don't be sorry I was just adding some history to the picture.
ok =)
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On April 10 2012 04:50 NightOfTheDead wrote:
Greeat job. The most i like is spreading the awareness level on things that could improve esports. The blizz and linking of streams of events is spot on! Keep it up. Hopefully, you can get someone from blizz to take it seriously some time around.
Thank you! I think it's important to keep asking these questions. I truly believe that feature would increase the popularity of StarCraft II as an eSport and get StarCraft II can build on that and further grow. I was quite excited about what David said about getting companies like Google and Microsoft in on eSports. Really ambitious and great vision for the future of eSports. I hope the representatives of these companies enjoyed IPL4.
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On April 10 2012 04:51 Sup3rior wrote:Show nested quote +On April 10 2012 04:48 JOJOsc2news wrote:On April 10 2012 04:40 Sup3rior wrote:On April 10 2012 04:06 JOJOsc2news wrote:Whoever made that took the picture from this OP. I remember going to reddit and seeing the picture in the thumbnails and was like "What, who submitted the interview?" and then I was slightly disappointed. oh sorry I didnt know that Don't be sorry I was just adding some history to the picture. ok =)
Glad we resolved that =)
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David Ting.. such a boss!
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great stuff jojo, well done
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Can someone tell me where this 'Take a step back' thing came from? I know it was from IPL4 and I know it had something to do with Gretorp during the poster contest, but my stream was playing up at that time so I don't really know what happened...
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they were voting on sign winners and if the particular person didn't get enough applause he'd tell them to take a step back
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Good interview look forward to more!
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On April 10 2012 14:28 cmgillett wrote:they were voting on sign winners and if the particular person didn't get enough applause he'd tell them to take a step back
Thanks. But what did Gretorp have to do with it?
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Another awesome interview jojo. I love the timestamp breakdowns lets me easily weed out the fluff
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Very interesting. Thanks for the effort!
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On April 10 2012 15:30 ThisWillBEz wrote:
Another awesome interview jojo. I love the timestamp breakdowns lets me easily weed out the fluff
Thanks! And I'm glad you like the INTERACTIVE INTERVIEW THREAD. It's the new black.
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I did not know David Ting before IPL 4 but he's a really awesome and intellectual figure in esports from the looks of things, some really great questions, wish the interview had more views :D
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On April 10 2012 20:10 Rwatkins wrote:
I did not know David Ting before IPL 4 but he's a really awesome and intellectual figure in esports from the looks of things, some really great questions, wish the interview had more views :D
Thanks for the feedback. I am interested in shining some light on the people who work a lot behind the scenes. There's a lot more to StarCraft and eSports than the players and shoutcasters.
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On April 10 2012 21:03 JOJOsc2news wrote:Show nested quote +On April 10 2012 20:10 Rwatkins wrote:
I did not know David Ting before IPL 4 but he's a really awesome and intellectual figure in esports from the looks of things, some really great questions, wish the interview had more views :D Thanks for the feedback. I am interested in shining some light on the people who work a lot behind the scenes. There's a lot more to StarCraft and eSports than the players and shoutcasters.
Nice, I look forward to your future interviews dude ^^
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On April 10 2012 21:08 Rwatkins wrote:Show nested quote +On April 10 2012 21:03 JOJOsc2news wrote:On April 10 2012 20:10 Rwatkins wrote:
I did not know David Ting before IPL 4 but he's a really awesome and intellectual figure in esports from the looks of things, some really great questions, wish the interview had more views :D Thanks for the feedback. I am interested in shining some light on the people who work a lot behind the scenes. There's a lot more to StarCraft and eSports than the players and shoutcasters. Nice, I look forward to your future interviews dude ^^
Next one is actually with a player. It's Empire.Kas. I will write up and edit the thread for that some time this week.
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On April 10 2012 21:12 JOJOsc2news wrote:Show nested quote +On April 10 2012 21:08 Rwatkins wrote:On April 10 2012 21:03 JOJOsc2news wrote:On April 10 2012 20:10 Rwatkins wrote:
I did not know David Ting before IPL 4 but he's a really awesome and intellectual figure in esports from the looks of things, some really great questions, wish the interview had more views :D Thanks for the feedback. I am interested in shining some light on the people who work a lot behind the scenes. There's a lot more to StarCraft and eSports than the players and shoutcasters. Nice, I look forward to your future interviews dude ^^ Next one is actually with a player. It's Empire.Kas. I will write up and edit the thread for that some time this week.
Oh, nice, should be interesting  I'll check back, good work though
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Not exactly the same doom and gloom of Sundance lately.
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On April 10 2012 21:14 Nimic wrote:
Not exactly the same doom and gloom of Sundance lately.
What do you mean?
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He`s an awesome guy. Doing a great job at IPL.
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I support David Ting's esports business model a lot more than the MLG PPV.
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On April 12 2012 08:47 synaptik wrote:
I support David Ting's esports business model a lot more than the MLG PPV.
It's quite a compelling model I think and the idea behind it is one to support in my opinion.
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Amazing questions! Really enjoyed the interview.
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Great interview--I am happy to have David Ting on our side! He seems to have a really great outlook on eSports, and it was very refreshing to hear it. I feel this is an interesting to contrast with the Sundance interviews recently.
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On April 12 2012 23:00 SecondSandwich wrote:
Great interview--I am happy to have David Ting on our side! He seems to have a really great outlook on eSports, and it was very refreshing to hear it. I feel this is an interesting to contrast with the Sundance interviews recently.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Epe32.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFSjArveibw)
