EPT
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Manifesto7/ScreenHunter_9.jpg)
Recently TL.net participated in the Sandlot Tournament hosted by Blizzard. Apart from being a fun tourny, it also provided the opportunity for the heads of the major starcraft sites to get together and talk shop. Today I want to introduce one of the sites which took part in the tournament, and in many ways, is the Korean brother to TeamLiquid.
PgR is a progaming fansite in Korea that features an active forum, game reports, and rankings, not unlike TL. Hangzri is one of the main administrators at PgR21.com, and recently we talked about some of the interesting things happening at the site, some of which affect the BW world outside Korea.
We started out with some basic information on the site itself...
Manifesto7: So how old is PgR, and how long have you run it?
Hangzri PgR is the site master, and he started it in 2001. He is very busy these days though. I joined in Fall 2001. Now we have five admins, and some weird rules.
Manifesto7: Oh yeah? Give me some examples.
Hangzri Posts in the forums should be over 15 lines, to prevent trash posts. We are also strict about spelling, and emoticons. They are rarely allowed.
Manifesto7: Ahh, and you hae to be a member for a long time before you can post right?
Hangzri Yes...
Manifesto7: have* (spelling TT)
Manifesto7: emoticons TTTT
Hangzri haha. Yes, you need to be a member for two months and reach level nine to write.
Manifesto7: Wow. Maybe TL can learn some lessons from this. So what is the specialty of the site? Why is it different or special?
Hangzri Well, most online communities are focused on Liberty rather than Order. But we think being polite to others is just like offline. Communicating carefully with each other is the most important thing because we cannot see faces or emotions. Misleading and misunderstandings are so prevailing online.
Manifesto7: I agree with that.
Hangzri We don't want a jewel in the chaos, we want a small, sound cafe with some manners. (Actually we are big now;; too big.)
Manifesto7: How many members do you have?
Hangzri More than 20,000. We are the biggest SC community in Korea.
One of the reasons we did this interview, was because of some developments that have been happening on the PGR21 boards. Recently, they have opened a translation board where articles produced by their members are translated into English for the foreign community to read. It is their hope that the relationship can work both ways, and that some of the best articles produced by the foreign community can be translated to Korean....
Hangzri Hey check this out: http://www.pgr21.com/zboard4/zboard.php?id=translation
Manifesto7: Very nice work on that article.
Hangzri Thanks, we are still aggregating that post. [note: it is finished now. Click on the thread by Forgotten_]
Manifesto7: So why did you decide to do this?
Hangzri We wanted to communicate with SC fans outside Korea
Manifesto7: Do you want English speakers to make accounts on PGR?
Hangzri This is our goal, but we have some technical problems to work out first.
Manifesto7: What kind of material are you going to translate?
Hangzri We will translate some statistical analysis of Mania, opinions of fans, and some professionals in the industry.
Manifesto7: How many of your forum members can speak English do you think?
Hangzri Maybe many of our members can read English (regardless of speed), but writing in English is so much more difficult.
Manifesto7: Do you think the people on your forums have much interest in BW outside Korea? How about foreign tournaments?
Hangzri Sure. If there is enough explination in Korean and replays, I think many people would be excited.
Manifesto7: Well, I will try to find someone on TL who can be a bridge between our site and yours, and hopefully suggest some TL threads to translate.
Hangzri Sure go ahead, as long as that person is a pretty girl.
Manifesto7: haha.
Hangzri
As if the translation board was not enough, PGR21 is set to announce that they are hosting a tournament featuring the players of the Sandlot. This will be a large tournament, and I am really looking forward to it...
Manifesto7: So this is a tournament featuring the players from the Sandlot tournament teams? What is the format like?
Hangzri Yes, we are looking for all the mannered players from the Sandlot. It will be a single elimination tournament, with best 2 of 3 for the last 16 (maybe).
Manifesto7: What maps will you use?
Hangzri The map choice policy will be thumbs down and randomly picked. [Note: I gather this to mean out of the pool, both players can refuse one map, and then it will be randomly chosen from the remaining ones.] The map pool will be discussed on our site with the fans.
Manifesto7: How about the prizes?
Hangzri First prize will be about $2,000. The total prize pool will be about $3,000.
Manifesto7: Wow, good money. I am Liquid`Nazgul, sign me up. I beat In_Dove.
Hangzri Naz you there now? How?
Manifesto7: No, I just want to play myself so I'll take his ID.
Hangzri Haha, the replays will reveal it, don't take that chance.
Manifesto7: I think the game play would reveal it first...
Looks like PGR is a busy place, and I hope that TL can be more connected with the site as time goes on. Time to wrap up with a few final questions...
Manifesto7: Ok, a few more questions. Who do you think will win the proleague, SKT1 or MBC?
Hangzri Heh, I haven't thought of it, but I will say MBC this time.
Manifesto7: What will the score be?
Hangzri 4:3 I hope!
Manifesto7: Ok. If you could have one player in the world play a game to save your life, who would it be?
Hangzri Hahaha, that was a dino-Old question to SC fans!
Manifesto7: :p
Hangzri My answer was TheMarine that time... (in BW.com). This time it will be SaviOr.
Manifesto7: Good choice. I think you live
Hangzri haha GOOD!
Manifesto7: Thanks a lot for your time, and I hope we can work together and keep the translations active. Good luck with the tourny too.
Hangzri Thank you, next time I will interview you with your pics.
Manifesto7: Haha, ok I will find some handsome pictures.
Hangzri Of Midian?
Manifesto7: Haha, I think all of PGR is in love with Midian. [He was on their Sandlot team, and kicked ass as always with manner and skill.]
Hangzri Haha, yes.
Manifesto7: Thanks again.
Hangzri Bye.
So, big news indeed. I hope that everybody will bookmark the PGR translation section and take a moment to read. The articles produced there really put ours to shame sometimes, and I think they are a great example of what could be accomplished here too. Our forums share so much in common, that I hope we can become closer and work together. Here is a quick summary of what to look out for in the near future:
- PGR's Translation Board, the first post was translated by Forgotten_, SeeY, and Qck mini.
- The Sandlot Tournament v.2, PGR21 style
- A TeamLiquid ambassador who will find high quality TeamLiquid articles to translate into Korean, furthering the relationship between the two sites.
Thanks again to Hangzri, and good luck.
Mani
