Daniel "Artosis" Stemkoski, SC2 commentator for GOMtv, is the star of the 61st episode of my 'Grilled' interview series.
Some of the topics discussed: - How balanced BW was. - The BW and SC2 players who stand out to Artosis, in terms of innovation, historically. - Why he thinks many pro players are "stuck in their heads". - His context on the careers of HuK and IdrA. - The process of taking ideas down into thoughts and finally expressing them in words. - The difference between player knowledge and caster knowledge, in terms of strategical breadth and interaction.
The entire 1h23m video interview can be watched at Team Acer.
I don't neither Thorin nor Artosis really understands the issue with the Sc2 economy. The problem is that with the current economy of Sc2, the army value/active bases ratio is too high which makes it impossible to make defensive oriented units such as tanks/swarm hosts too good as turtling is too easy with them.
Whether you have 50-70 workers is in it self irrelevant. What matters is how thinly your spread out and a weaker economy will force players to spread them selves out over more bases.
On July 29 2013 07:23 Kamakiri wrote: One of the best interviews I have seen, awesome questions. Sat through the whole thing with pleasure!
Indeed, the questions for one were awesome and on top of that you have Artosis answering with a passion and a look about him like only a child on christmas eve will be equivalent to.
On July 29 2013 06:32 Hider wrote: I don't neither Thorin nor Artosis really understands the issue with the Sc2 economy. The problem is that with the current economy of Sc2, the army value/active bases ratio is too high which makes it impossible to make defensive oriented units such as tanks/swarm hosts too good as turtling is too easy with them.
Whether you have 50-70 workers is in it self irrelevant. What matters is how thinly your spread out and a weaker economy will force players to spread them selves out over more bases.
The thing I'm concerned about is the lack of a natural counter to turtling kind of play at a high, strategic/economic level when factions have been abstracted away. It's at that level where the core issue with the deathball style is, and it's there where it should be fixed. Faction/unit level counters will ultimately prove either futile or unnatural and awkward.
On July 29 2013 06:16 Nerchio wrote: I heard thorin more than artosis
Thorin usually has long-winded questions, but they usually get very, very good answers due to the details he provides.
Yeah I agree, I really liked the answers he got out of artosis, but he did come off to me as a bit pretentious here and there.
Heh listen to any thorin interview or his infamous slasher rant on that show they were on together. He's as pretentious and arrogant about the quality of his own work as they come.
On July 29 2013 12:31 Hok wrote: Artosis mentions a guy named "UUV""? anyone have reference pages for this guy? I don't know how to spell his name and I'm rather new.
On July 29 2013 12:31 Hok wrote: Artosis mentions a guy named "UUV""? anyone have reference pages for this guy? I don't know how to spell his name and I'm rather new.
Probably IloveOov.
Oov was largely credited for the gameplay shift from micro-based builds to a largely macro-oriented play with his greedy builds, and mass production facilities that is so common today. Before then it was common for a lot of 1 base play to occur.
He also innovated a whole lot of Terran builds as well as gameplay. With his guidance, Fantasy became a top-tier Terran in BW.
Really nice interview. Thorin, I really like your questions. You really get some actual answers out of your guests, and you aren't afraid to ask hard / uncomfortable questions.
On July 29 2013 06:16 Nerchio wrote: I heard thorin more than artosis
Thorin usually has long-winded questions, but they usually get very, very good answers due to the details he provides.
Yeah I agree, I really liked the answers he got out of artosis, but he did come off to me as a bit pretentious here and there.
Except that when he speaks with Koreans it is surely get lost in translation, because translator usually cant go into such detail/complexity of the Thorin's question. At least the answers are usually off.
This guy is more interested in voicing his verbose "theories", than hearing and understanding Artosis answers. Concision is not incompatible with profundness.
I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter." (Letter 16, 1657)”. ― Blaise Pascal, The Provincial Letters
I will never understand people complaining about questions being too in depth or long. There's a person who's famous for having a deep understanding of the game, getting asked really good questions and providing a really good interview, and you guys are getting mad because of verbose questions? Seems a little pathetic.
Good stuff. I like the questions much better than the bread and butter we get, well, virtually every other time anyone anywhere is interviewed by anyone. Might as well use the lengthy format and ask some deeper questions!
On July 29 2013 22:26 bo1b wrote: I will never understand people complaining about questions being too in depth or long. There's a person who's famous for having a deep understanding of the game, getting asked really good questions and providing a really good interview, and you guys are getting mad because of verbose questions? Seems a little pathetic.
Don't get angry because people want to actually hear the person being interviewed throughout most of the interview.
On July 29 2013 22:26 bo1b wrote: I will never understand people complaining about questions being too in depth or long. There's a person who's famous for having a deep understanding of the game, getting asked really good questions and providing a really good interview, and you guys are getting mad because of verbose questions? Seems a little pathetic.
Don't get angry because people want to actually hear the person being interviewed throughout most of the interview.
95% was Artosis talking... This was a great interview since it felt a little more like a discussion and encouraged Artosis to think and talk through each topic. The interviewer did a good job encouraging him to do that, and allowed Artosis to explain himself.
This interview covers a huge range of aspects and give us not the usual PR crap, I really liked it. I particularly love how you manage to ask questions (not only in this interview) that would be potentially controversial while being at the same time very polite and never forcing drama.
...wtf with this nitpicking, guys? Take a look around, and see what the usual sc2 interviews are like.
At first I thought the interviewer was talking too much. But his questions, long as they were, actually made for a great interview.
Could you please interview David Kim now Thorin? I'm still struggling to understand how he thinks Widow Mines require more skill and Siege Tanks, and I'm hopeful you could pin him down and have him fully explain this among other issues.
On July 29 2013 19:55 StarGalaxy wrote: this was probably the best interview of sc2 content i have seen and i watch most of content. Really great questions and answers. great stuff!
Thanks, it's nice to see other people find them interesting too.
very good interview! I would love to see some more with eSF and Kespa players. Because we hardly get any insights on them. the only koreans we get to know are these on international teams.
I had no idea that Artosis didn't really intentionally transition into being an analyst. Awesome to listen to at work - is there a list of the other 'Grilled' interviews in one place that I can hear?
The best two people I have had the pleasure of experiencing during my lifetime, when it comes to gaming. No matter what game, Thorin really delivers from cs 1.6 to sc2 HoTS!
And Artosis.. what can I say.. not one shoutcaster comes near his expertise in a game (not even other games) and bring it to me in a laidback funny way (partially thanks to tasteless ofcourse!)
Great interview. Artosis is and has always been one of the most passionate and knowledgeable people in starcraft. You could always tell he does it for the love.
His 3 "revolutionary" BW players were fine but I can't believe he didn't mentioned Savior. Even though we all know the story he has still been a bonjwa. 3 hatch muta vs T pretty much changed the game at the time.
On July 30 2013 04:42 Crownlol wrote: I had no idea that Artosis didn't really intentionally transition into being an analyst. Awesome to listen to at work - is there a list of the other 'Grilled' interviews in one place that I can hear?
On July 29 2013 19:55 StarGalaxy wrote: this was probably the best interview of sc2 content i have seen and i watch most of content. Really great questions and answers. great stuff!
Thanks, it's nice to see other people find them interesting too.
Ya, you are doing an amazing job. Keep them coming! Never heard of "Grilled" before this and noticed a lot of my favorite players. I like how you pose your thoughts into intricate questions. It becomes more like a discussion than a cut-and-dry interview. Refreshing to see an intellectual Q&A. The one with Naniwa was interesting, too. I feel like I saw the real side of Naniwa we never get to see.
It was extremely refreshing to listen to that in-depth discussion of the game, player psychology and the evolution of the way people play and view the game. Very well done, and a big thanks to Dan for sharing his insights in this interview
I think this was the best one yet. Very insightful and refreshing to hear Artosis' thoughts on player mentality and the subtleties of gaming in general.
Great questions from you as well Thorin. Honestly I might watch it again when I have time
On July 30 2013 10:53 scDeluX wrote: Great interview. Artosis is and has always been one of the most passionate and knowledgeable people in starcraft. You could always tell he does it for the love.
His 3 "revolutionary" BW players were fine but I can't believe he didn't mentioned Savior. Even though we all know the story he has still been a bonjwa. 3 hatch muta vs T pretty much changed the game at the time.
You could even argue that his fall also was pretty "revolutionary" on its own ^^.
Thank you Thorin for this interview. I enjoyed it a lot. It is pretty obvious that you and Artosis are very VERY passionate about Starcraft and it seems you could talk for day. Especially the part concerned with depths of mind was very interesting and it certainly makes this interview in particular very original. I dont remember any interview going so deep inside
I really love how passionate Artosis is about the game and how deep the interview tried to go in prying out details about how Artosis feels about things and in trying to get into the minds of the best players. It seemed like Artosis had a hard time conveying his thoughts surrounding some of those things and I'd love to have him take some time out to really just figure out how to convey his ideas by writing a book about Starcraft.
On August 08 2013 17:04 Xyik wrote: I really love how passionate Artosis is about the game and how deep the interview tried to go in prying out details about how Artosis feels about things and in trying to get into the minds of the best players. It seemed like Artosis had a hard time conveying his thoughts surrounding some of those things and I'd love to have him take some time out to really just figure out how to convey his ideas by writing a book about Starcraft.
Despite the fact that I don't think he would write a book due to the fact that in the interview he mentioned exactly how much of his life he dedicates to it and how much that means to him, if he ever DID write one, I'd fly out to get it autographed by him on release day and have it read and finished by the time the plane landed.
FWIW i would watch an interview with khaldor as well. He was apart of the wc3 scene right? I'd be interested in listening to him shoot the shit about sc2/wc3
On August 18 2013 10:44 dutchfriese wrote: FWIW i would watch an interview with khaldor as well. He was apart of the wc3 scene right? I'd be interested in listening to him shoot the shit about sc2/wc3
I'm glad Artosis will never be regarded as someone who's shooting the shit.
I noticed this guy doing those Grilled interviews for quite a while now and he is my favourite interviewer! The amount of insight you get is enormous. Keep it up good man!
On August 18 2013 10:44 dutchfriese wrote: FWIW i would watch an interview with khaldor as well. He was apart of the wc3 scene right? I'd be interested in listening to him shoot the shit about sc2/wc3
I'm glad Artosis will never be regarded as someone who's shooting the shit.
shooting the shit may have been the wrong term to use, but he talked for over 1 hour so... yeah
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/XKcz7Cx.jpg)
HuK and 
IdrA.
