Interviews

My interview with Legionnaire (Australia)



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rpf289: Okay, I'll start with the usual: age/sex/location?

Legionnaire: 23 Male Seoul Korea

rpf289: when did you first pick up Starcraft?

Legionnaire: pretty much when it first started (i was a fan of war2) but only a little, and i quit for a long time until about a year after bw came out for university, but i went home and met an old friend who got me back into it playing on the private australian server.

rpf289: wow

rpf289: so youve got a lot of experience =)

Legionnaire: yeah

rpf289: what first got you to try out sc? was it because of war2, and it being another product from Blizzard?

Legionnaire: i always liked strategy games, i was in europe for a month travelling around and i did a home stay in norway i think it was.

Legionnaire: The family had a computer and they had warcraft 1 on it

Legionnaire: it was so revolutionary it was amazing i loved it when i first played it, unfortunately i only saw a glimpse and i forgot about it for about 2 years

Legionnaire: then my friends started talking about warcraft2 being a great game, and it reminded me

Legionnaire: so ever since then i was hooked on blizzards strategy games

Legionnaire: but war2 was the main reason

rpf289: i think a lot of ppl picked up sc because of war 2 =)

rpf289: what did you think of sc coming to it from war2?

rpf289: better/worse?

Legionnaire: way better

Legionnaire: war2 wasn't balanced at all, it was great fun (i liked the mushroom trees of the expansion pack) and starcraft was revolutionary as well just took everything to a higher level

rpf289: thats true =) much more AI was integrated, and it was breathtaking at the time

rpf289: well, as everyone knows (or should know) you are a protoss progamer in korea. how come you chose protoss?

Legionnaire: i sucked at zerg, and protoss was the easiest to play decently at

Legionnaire: hey i was newbie once too!.. still am actually

rpf289: lol =)

rpf289: how long do you think you played before you became decent at the game?

Legionnaire: i considered myself decent at the wcg2001

Legionnaire: i went to korea as #3 representative for Aus and i had played for almost a year to get to that

Legionnaire: i wasn't around for WCGC i dont think

rpf289: ahh

rpf289: in the wcg 2001, what did you place?

Legionnaire: no idea

rpf289: (i wasnt playing then so i dont know T_T)

Legionnaire: i won 2 games

Legionnaire: best ever for an Australian!

rpf289: rofl

Legionnaire: i went 2-3/2-4/2-5 or something

Legionnaire: not sure

rpf289: =|

Legionnaire: only think i'm proud of was my triple tech vs zerg on LOC

Legionnaire: everything else sucked badly

rpf289: ahh T_T

rpf289: what did you do in the game you triple teched?

Legionnaire: sair rush, dt drop then reaver drop, or maybe it was sair reaver dt

Legionnaire: do that nowadays and you will die to 1 hatch anything

Legionnaire: hee hee

rpf289: hah, so true.. T_T

rpf289: so in korea it seems like there arent as many protoss players as there terran and zerg. do you ever feel outnumbered or overshadowed, or like youre an underdog?

Legionnaire: no not really, it has its advantages as you almost never have to play any PvP so it saves you a lot of practice.

rpf289: good point -)

Legionnaire: I think its a lot harder to be truly good with protoss then the other races, that sounds strange since protoss is the easiest race to pick up and be average at.

rpf289: you do make a good point though. protoss doesnt usually decide the pace of the game and is forced to counter and react to the opponent

rpf289: isnt always easy =|

Legionnaire: yeah but then again i'm biased

rpf289: your most recent accomplishment is the 3 game series vs soo[s.sir] where you came out on top 2-1.

rpf289: ive only seen games 1 and 3, and game 3 you made some great moves involving probes, and you also killed two shuttles with reavers in it, totally crippling his offensive.

rpf289: did you plan those or was it luck?

Legionnaire: i planned it of course, well i didn't the MBC directors did, as we spend hours rehersing it to make it beleivable for a tv audiences

rpf289: >_>

Legionnaire: the strats i planned except game 1, game 1 i was meant to fast expand but i got nervous and went on the defence, game 2 i messed up i didn't have scarab damage and i was supposed to kill his nexus, game 3 i didn' practice much on as i was pretty confident on that map

Legionnaire: but other then that it was all planned, you can't plan killing hsuttles and other things like that, you just have to take advantage of any situation that presents itself

rpf289: good point. what i meant was, were you thinking to yourself to shoot his shuttle just as he loaded the reaver? cuz that would be art~

Legionnaire: i see a wayward shuttle, i kill it, i send a billion probes to attack then of course i'm going to abuse the gather pathing and trap units if i can

Legionnaire: well yeah

Legionnaire: he picks it up so of course i'm going to shoot

rpf289: the probe thing was gosu...

rpf289: what was going through your mind that game? were you nervous, or scared, etc.?

Legionnaire: the last game or all 3?

rpf289: game 3 specifically

rpf289: as it decided who proceeded and who didnt

Legionnaire: i did a big write up on tl.net you can find that somewhere for all of them. Game 3, i wasn't nervous, only strong emotion i felt that game, was when he was pushing towards my base, and i realized my third gate hadn't built and i had over 1000 minerals in the bank and i thought i was so annoyed because i was sure at that point i was about to lose, and to lose to something so silly when i had playe

Legionnaire: d so well before that just pissed me off

rpf289: ahh, that would annoy anyone T_T

rpf289: well i wont make you talk about it too much, so ill provide a link to your post when im editing this

rpf289: so, congratulations on making it to the MSL =)

Legionnaire: thanks

rpf289: so take us through an average day for you as a progamer..

Legionnaire: wake up at the ungodly hour of midday to 2pm depending on how lazy i am, eat, jump on a comp and see what has happened while i've been napping. Play some games. Eat. Go and sleep.

rpf289: and you get payed for that?

Legionnaire: But of course we go out a bit just to do whatever, and then we have tournaments, then we have events, meetings, and last week i had a 30 min radio interview, and this week i have a tv show i am going on as well

Legionnaire: yeah

rpf289: you must really enjoy life =)

Legionnaire: Oh no, its really hard

Legionnaire: haha

rpf289: psssh =P

rpf289: the night before you have a televised game, or even the day you have it, what do you do to prepare yourself mentally for the game?

Legionnaire: not too much, you've already got everything planned you just have to wait until you start, you just blank your mind and focus on what you have to do

Legionnaire: the only time that stuff doesn't work

Legionnaire: is for a tournament like the OGN pro league (team league) as you dont find out your opponent until the hour before the match so there is a lot of worryign going on for it, and you spend the last hour rushing around making sure you have everythign right and finding out your opponents playing style and everything

Legionnaire: surprise matches are so much more hectic

rpf289: T_T so when youre finding out who your opponent is, what players are hoping you WONT be playing?

Legionnaire: i dont know, maybe only qoo)max and a few others that i've threatened with physical violence

rpf289: lol, really?

Legionnaire: yeah i pretended to attack him with a chair before my match with soo

Legionnaire: haha

rpf289: rofl thats awesome

rpf289: so youre not really scared of anyone then?

Legionnaire: he didn't think so, he had to go and change his pants

rpf289: >_<;; lol!

Legionnaire: nah not really, iloveoov looks like a ganster and he is tall

Legionnaire: probably the tallest gamer apart from me

rpf289: hah

rpf289: how tall are you?

Legionnaire: i am a giant in a land of midgets

Legionnaire: only 193

rpf289: hah

Legionnaire: inches

rpf289: ..lemme get my calculator =P

Legionnaire: whats that like 5m tall ?

rpf289: dunno

rpf289: stupid american system of measurement

Legionnaire: nah i'm 193, dan/rekrul beat me though, so i had to get him readdicted to poker to get him out of the way

Legionnaire: so i could reclaim my title

rpf289: lol

rpf289: so thats why he didnt make it. sabotage =P

Legionnaire: its a cut throat business

rpf289: hehe

rpf289: so what are the interactions between you and other progamers like?

Legionnaire: not much, unless i'm good friends with them i never see them unless its at a tournament or some event of some sort

Legionnaire: everyones pretty friendly, but i cant speak korean and a lot of them dont know any english

Legionnaire: the ones that do know english are always nice and come up and talk though

rpf289: well thats good =)

Legionnaire: i remember one event, it was one of my first it was for OGN preliminaries into the challenge league. I had to sit next to yellow and even he said a few words to me, of course i was new and chobo back then so i was really amazed I almost advanced through that too, lost in the final round to crystal[inca] 2-1

rpf289: T_T but its good that he was friendly

Legionnaire: yeah

rpf289: have there ever been any instances of bm between you and another player during a game or after?

rpf289: or tempers getting out of control?

Legionnaire: only person i disliked in progaming is ggon

Legionnaire: as in the tournament i gained my semi progamer licence in, it was MBC amateur tournament, 512 players started and i got to the top 8 and i had to face ggon.

Legionnaire: Now he had written down that he would be protoss, yet on the day he changed his race to zerg (within the 5 second count down too)

rpf289: O_O BM

Legionnaire: after the first game he apologized and said to make it up to me he would go protoss next game

Legionnaire: then during the 5 second countdown he chagned from toss to zerg again

Legionnaire: and i had done very little practice vs zerg, and this was a televised game

Legionnaire: but i dont care too much anymore as he hasn't done anything and he has been progaming for so long

Legionnaire: so kharma is sweet

rpf289: =)

rpf289: did you say anything to him after the second game?

Legionnaire: nah

rpf289: or just...punch him?

rpf289: lol

Legionnaire: at first i thought he didn't mean to say that and it was the language barrier but i was convinved it wasn't

Legionnaire: It was from those games, and the prvious (top 16 round) that i got on such good terms with the POS team, and later on they offered me to join and i jumped at the chance. So it all worked out for the best

rpf289: so it still had a good outcome =)

rpf289: how did you come up with the ID of

Legionnaire:?

Legionnaire: back before i quit sc to go to university i used the id shadow=ss= (=ss= was a guild)

Legionnaire: but it wasn't very original as there were a million shadows around

Legionnaire: so i wanted something new, i like history and in particular the roman era where the

Legionnaire:s and Centurions were the main fighting force for them

Legionnaire: and noone had the id so i became

Legionnaire:

rpf289: ah, so theres a story behind it =P

rpf289: so about your fans/supporters

Legionnaire: what are they ?

rpf289: do you ever get to talk to them after games, or do you get stopped on the street?

Legionnaire: i have some?????

rpf289: lol T_T

rpf289: <-- number two fan (someone claimed #1 spot on tl T_T)

Legionnaire: i dont get stopped ont he street, it has happened but rarely, unless its somewhere were lots of young ppl hang out like coex mall (where all the gaming studios are, worlds largest underground shopping mall or something) or a university

Legionnaire: my cafe has about 900 fans signed up now

Legionnaire: but we are changing to a new website so nothing is happening with it atm

Legionnaire: best thing about fans is they make ltos of good photos about you and stuff

rpf289: haha, like the ones on tl and gosugamers.net

rpf289: so besides me, do you have any creepy stalkers or anything?

Legionnaire: yeah did you see my wallpaper?

rpf289: oh yes, i did see that

Legionnaire: haha i really liked that, they call it absoute stylishness, as the korean comentators called my style "kanji style" or something which is like "stylish"

Legionnaire: there were a couple of other pics they did about kanji toss and stuff which tl.net and other sites haven't seen

Legionnaire: the fans are pretty dedicated it certainly adds another side to the gaming in korea that not many ppl know baout

rpf289: man i wish i was in korea =( sounds like a lot of fun

rpf289: do you ever get wierd requests from fans? i.e. interview =P

Legionnaire: not really they ask me heaps of question on my fan site which i try to respond to, i dont really know how koreans do things but i visit it and try and respond to everyone when i can

rpf289: i only have a few more questions

Legionnaire: righto!

rpf289: i remember you statin that within the next 2 years or so youll retire from sc and return to australia to continue with your education

rpf289: what field do you plan to go into?

Legionnaire: i've done 3 of 4 years of a bachelor of information technology

Legionnaire: major in computer science and software engineering

Legionnaire: total geek!~

rpf289: =P sexy toss tho

rpf289: when youre done with your education do you plan to stay in australia?

Legionnaire: yeah pretty much

rpf289: gonna make the next RTS? ^_^

Legionnaire: I miss riding my pet kangaroo to university every day

Legionnaire: probably not

rpf289: o.O lol

rpf289: aww

rpf289: kangaroos are cute

Legionnaire: i'll give sc2 a shot but not seriously

rpf289: i think i will too =P

rpf289: so outside of sc, what do you do for fun?

Legionnaire: movies, night clubs, drinking the usual

rpf289: ahh, nice

Legionnaire: oh and i work for the ISA as an international sleuth on weekends

rpf289: O_O

rpf289: not bad =P

rpf289: got a girlfriend or anything like that?

Legionnaire: not atm

rpf289: =(

rpf289: so what does your family think of you being a progamer?

rpf289: (sorry for the delay my friend called me =))

Legionnaire: lies you were fighting to keep zia from giving me her contact details!

Legionnaire: i know the truth

rpf289: hah you wish =P

rpf289: (dont we all T_T)

rpf289: so anyways, yeah, what about your family?

Legionnaire: my brothers finished engineering at uni, then he joined the Australian army SAS (australian special forces) my mother does enviromental impact studies for the government and does a lot of community grant work etc (big greenie)

rpf289: SAS = gosu

rpf289: what do they think about you being a progamer?

Legionnaire: they dont mind at all

Legionnaire: my bro keeps all his army buddies up to date with what i'm doig, they all think its the greatest job in the world

rpf289: it is. =)

rpf289: so they follow your progress?

Legionnaire: a little

rpf289: thats good.

rpf289: my mother says broodwar is the devil (or something to that effect)

Legionnaire: lies, BW is gods gift to gamers, your mother has been possessed by satan and is tryign to keep you away from the good lords work

rpf289: you make a wonderful point there =P

rpf289: its okay though, i play this game religiously =)

Legionnaire: tell her i said that and if she flips out and gets angry its obvious that i'm right!

rpf289: haha, will do =)

rpf289: hmm, it seems that ive run out of questions T_T

Legionnaire: good as its past 4am!

rpf289: anything youd like to say to your fans?

Legionnaire: so last thing, who is going to win blizzards MMI ?

rpf289: lol, are you asking me?

Legionnaire: nah justenjoy and hf!~

Legionnaire: yeah

rpf289: hrm

rpf289: i honestly havent been following it

rpf289: id vote you if youre in it =P

Legionnaire: i'm the leader of team Asia

rpf289: oh

rpf289: GG everyone else.

Legionnaire: i got JulyZerg, Xellos, and Zeus to join the preselected PJ and rrb[rush] to take on Mondragon, Zelotito, Breakdown, Fisheye and beast

Legionnaire: Eriador and i are captains and only play if one of the players doesn't show

rpf289: wow, thats a nice lineup...

rpf289: hmmm, id go with xellos. apm monster

Legionnaire: going to be played ont he 26th

rpf289: i will make sure to keep tabs on that!

rpf289: mondragon could be a problem, isnt he considered the best non korean?

rpf289: testie is all talk =P

Legionnaire: i guess

rpf289: as the captain, what are your responsibilities?

Legionnaire: well i got the korean pl;ayers to join, other then that i just have to get them all together at the right time to play

Legionnaire: else i'll call in a few favours from my brother and i'll MAKE them play or else.

rpf289: lmao

rpf289: your brother is a badass i take it? =)

Legionnaire: thats classified

rpf289: haha, good answer~

rpf289: so who do you think will win the MMI?

Legionnaire: Asia!

rpf289: ^_^

rpf289: hah

Legionnaire: They had better, those blizzard approved golf balls and the razor mouse have my name written all over them!

rpf289: hahah wtf

Legionnaire: prizes

rpf289: ooh, what kind of equipment do you use?

Legionnaire: you are damn right we are, those blizzard approved golf balls and the razor mouse is as good as mine!

rpf289: wait, golf balls as a prize? cool.

Legionnaire: i use logitech mx300

Legionnaire: ktec jean pad mouse

Legionnaire: white samsung keyboard

Legionnaire: i used to use ktec 6100 pro i think it was

Legionnaire: but the mouse drivers for it sucked

rpf289: T_T

Legionnaire: so i had to switch T_T

rpf289: one time i lit my keyboard on fire =| numpad is still melted together.

rpf289: just figured id share.

Legionnaire: ahhhh a pyromaniac in the building

rpf289: oh no, i AM a pyro.

rpf289: tehe

Legionnaire: not a good idea to scare me before i go to bed, i'll have nightmares O_O

rpf289: oh, i actually forgot a question from before: do you have any superstitions or good luck charms or the like?

Legionnaire: yes good luck charms are terrans, bad luck ones are zerg

Legionnaire: other then that no

rpf289: haha

rpf289: well if theres anything else youd like to say, go ahead =)

Legionnaire: its 4:20am and i'm going to bed! so no!

rpf289: haha

Legionnaire: have fun all, take it easy!

rpf289: sorry to keep you up =(

rpf289: good luck in the MSL Peter.

Legionnaire: no worries i normally go to bed aroudn 4am anyway

Legionnaire: i'm so lazy its horrible T_T

rpf289: hah, crazyness

Legionnaire: thx heaps

rpf289: lol

rpf289: np

rpf289: thank you for the interview!

Legionnaire: yep np that'll be $200

rpf289: O_O!

Legionnaire: =P

rpf289: Uhhhh

rpf289: yah about that..

Legionnaire: in the mail ?

rpf289: lol god i hope youre kidding

Legionnaire: i'll look out for it no doubt it will arrive any day!

Legionnaire: hahaha

Legionnaire: no i'm being serious O_O

Legionnaire: you thought i was joking ????

rpf289: hmmph.

Legionnaire: man i'm doing you a favour i get paid by the answer, and this has been a huge interview

Legionnaire: i took my commission off!

Legionnaire: haha

Legionnaire: gn

rpf289: lol

rpf289: goodnight.

~*rpf

Contacts
AIM: rpf289 | MSNM: rpf289@hotmail.com | YIM: rpf289@yahoo.com | GMail: rpf289@gmail.com
Battle.net: rpf289@USEast/USWest/Europe/Asia/PGTour/nG-i