EPTIt never gets easier when we have to announce a player will be leaving the Fnatic family. Sadly, Ziefeng "HelloKitty" Wang will be retiring from StarCraft 2. Ever since Zifeng joined the Academy he has been an incredible teammate. It has been a pleasure to watch him grow and develop into the Starcraft II veteran we know him as today. Zifeng played a huge role in helping develop our Academy players as well as representing Fnatic on the international stage as a player.
![[image loading]](http://www.fnatic.com/filestorage/imageupload/I5WGHoX5v0oHSmg.jpg)
Dear Starcraft II community, I am sorry to inform you that I am going to retire indefinitely. To many of you it might be joyful because another “Cheeser” has finally retired. I’m not going to bother explaining or defending against that title since I was known for that style ever since I started playing SC2.
To me, it has been my dream to become a professional gamer since I was little. This past year being in the public’s eye has been a wonderful experience for me. I didn’t realize that my life was going to be completely changed the moment I signed with Fnatic. To me Fnatic wasn’t just a team; it was a family where Elroy took care of us in every step possible while big brother Harstem continues to motivate all of us to become better players and better people.
I want to thank all of you for being there for me. Whether you’re a hater or a lover, in the end, we are all enthusiastic about e-Sports and Starcraft II and I think that’s the most important part, being Hella passionate! It was you who has cheered for me, talked shit about me, and being there for me when I needed you the most. Without my fans, I would have lost faith in myself as a competitor long ago. You really made me feel special from the bottom of my heart. I will cherish this part of my life along with the memories of you, your faces, your kindness, and your bad smell (jk).
Why would you retire!? Some may ask. I retire from professional gaming because of many reasons. Family pressure has always been a key factor. Long before I started playing SC2 I used to get yelled at for not doing something “productive.” Honestly I think making units and macro/micro is pretty productive my family has always been half-hearted supporting me in playing SC2 competitive. Now that I’ve graduated it’s become increasingly hard to keep their influences from affecting my decision in life. Since I’m not a student anymore I have to find my own way of living and bills don’t just pay themselves.
Many of you may ask, why can’t you just ask Fnatic for a salary, or stream for money? To me, salary is one thing, success is another. My manager Elroy has always told me that I will be an amazing player if I become a full-time and I know that. I ask myself if that’s really what I want and the answer is No. The game is increasingly become boring to me. Playing on NA server and get to top 5 GM isn’t nearly as fun as playing on Korea server and barely manage to beat top 75 GM with massive lag problems. Why don’t I play on EU or Korea more often then? For one, Protoss requires a lot of micro (lol yeah I know that sounds funny to many of you). If you ask any good Protoss player they’ll tell you the same. So the lag difference between NA – KR vs NA – NA is different in a LAN or even online competitions, hence missing one or two forcefields or stalker shots can cost you the game. The second and the more important reason to my retirement is the NA attitude. Suppy and Kane released a video a few days ago that accurately depict the currently NA scene. To be brutally honest, it’s pretty garbage. No one practices consistently and everyone just sit around on their Skype chats ready to start some flames. Each group has its own cliques resembling some shit from high school. We are much divided on many fronts in NA compare to Korea or Europe. This disheartens me so much; it led me to quit this game.
I love Starcraft just as much as I love all of you guys. This is not necessarily a goodbye rather than a new beginning for all of us. It saddens me to leave this community. I will miss the people who have made this journey of mine fun and eventful. I will always cheer for my friends in tournaments. Special shoutout to Elroy, Harstem, Miniraiser, Fnatic, Kane, Suppy, Xenocider, Jim, Macsed, XY, IG, and many others for the wonderful memories this year. This is Hellokitty, signing out from SC2. Best wishes to all of you.
To me, it has been my dream to become a professional gamer since I was little. This past year being in the public’s eye has been a wonderful experience for me. I didn’t realize that my life was going to be completely changed the moment I signed with Fnatic. To me Fnatic wasn’t just a team; it was a family where Elroy took care of us in every step possible while big brother Harstem continues to motivate all of us to become better players and better people.
I want to thank all of you for being there for me. Whether you’re a hater or a lover, in the end, we are all enthusiastic about e-Sports and Starcraft II and I think that’s the most important part, being Hella passionate! It was you who has cheered for me, talked shit about me, and being there for me when I needed you the most. Without my fans, I would have lost faith in myself as a competitor long ago. You really made me feel special from the bottom of my heart. I will cherish this part of my life along with the memories of you, your faces, your kindness, and your bad smell (jk).
Why would you retire!? Some may ask. I retire from professional gaming because of many reasons. Family pressure has always been a key factor. Long before I started playing SC2 I used to get yelled at for not doing something “productive.” Honestly I think making units and macro/micro is pretty productive my family has always been half-hearted supporting me in playing SC2 competitive. Now that I’ve graduated it’s become increasingly hard to keep their influences from affecting my decision in life. Since I’m not a student anymore I have to find my own way of living and bills don’t just pay themselves.
Many of you may ask, why can’t you just ask Fnatic for a salary, or stream for money? To me, salary is one thing, success is another. My manager Elroy has always told me that I will be an amazing player if I become a full-time and I know that. I ask myself if that’s really what I want and the answer is No. The game is increasingly become boring to me. Playing on NA server and get to top 5 GM isn’t nearly as fun as playing on Korea server and barely manage to beat top 75 GM with massive lag problems. Why don’t I play on EU or Korea more often then? For one, Protoss requires a lot of micro (lol yeah I know that sounds funny to many of you). If you ask any good Protoss player they’ll tell you the same. So the lag difference between NA – KR vs NA – NA is different in a LAN or even online competitions, hence missing one or two forcefields or stalker shots can cost you the game. The second and the more important reason to my retirement is the NA attitude. Suppy and Kane released a video a few days ago that accurately depict the currently NA scene. To be brutally honest, it’s pretty garbage. No one practices consistently and everyone just sit around on their Skype chats ready to start some flames. Each group has its own cliques resembling some shit from high school. We are much divided on many fronts in NA compare to Korea or Europe. This disheartens me so much; it led me to quit this game.
I love Starcraft just as much as I love all of you guys. This is not necessarily a goodbye rather than a new beginning for all of us. It saddens me to leave this community. I will miss the people who have made this journey of mine fun and eventful. I will always cheer for my friends in tournaments. Special shoutout to Elroy, Harstem, Miniraiser, Fnatic, Kane, Suppy, Xenocider, Jim, Macsed, XY, IG, and many others for the wonderful memories this year. This is Hellokitty, signing out from SC2. Best wishes to all of you.
For the official announcement visit Fnatic's website.
As someone from the team who spoke with Zifeng and got to know him, I'd like to wish him the best on all his future projects that he pursues. It was a pleasure knowing him and he certainly won't be forgotten by the team.
Good luck, have fun dude!
