The 2014 Kick-Off
This will be a long but thorough update post to let you know what was up, what's going on now, and what to expect from me and this blog in the future.
So this week is really the Kick-Off week of 2014 for me. I know that might sound just as ambiguous as my activity the past few months so let's start from now and work backwards.
I am staying in Korea for another year (and hopefully more!) with Ongamenet (OGN). OGN became my home in e-Sports last year, and I am honored to work with the brilliant PD's behind the spectacle we all see on screen. The difference in 2014 is that I will be with OGN as a full-capacity Caster/Host. Last year I was here as a Creative Director + semi-Caster + host + interviewer + translator + producer...you kinda get the idea. I was doing too much. I loved it, but my regret is that by stretching myself too thin, I wasn't able to deliver the goals I had in mind to the fans. After much thought I accepted the fact that things had to be taken one step at a time, and I'm going to start with Casting. Everything I do here has a focus on bringing the Korean e-Sports scene to the West. In Casting/Hosting, it is my goal to combine the best of both the Korean and American style and habits in on-air presentation. I am grateful to be able to fully understand and appreciate the charisma, humor and professionalism of shows in both Korean and English, so why not use that gift to help discover the next step in shoutcasting development!
That does not mean I am done with all interviewing/translating/interpreting, nor producing. I'll just be taking a step back from investing my time directly into all these avenues. OGN was happy to still keep a door open for me to offer my two-cents at all time by allowing me to remain as a OGN Global e-Sports Advisor, and I'm thankful they're willing to listen. As much as I want to pour my time into doing that, if I want to contribute to discovering the next advancements in shoutcasting, I just need more time to sit and research casts, speech patterns etc. so I can't invest my time to being in the office everyday. Any feedback fans give me will surely be considered and submitted, let alone any things I see that OGN could improve upon or innovate will surely be discussed. As for translating/interpreting, again the issue is that it becomes simply too demanding for me to stand in for every full global broadcast + translate any interview subtitles. I know the call from OGN Global for a new translator set off some alarms, but not to worry. I intend to offer the insight I've gathered over the past 1.5 years in e-Sports translating to help select, and if needed, train the new translator that would help us with global productions at OGN. Any event I'm already present for I will definitely be there to give voice to the Korean players. I'm thankful that so many of you thoroughly enjoy my translating/interpreting work, and it was touching to see people concerned that I would no longer take part in any of that out here. It's just unfortunate that I am a mere human being! Translating is how I got started in e-Sports, and it's something I want to pursue in any field for the rest of my life, but it's just taking the passenger seat for now. And like I said, it's also something where I can pass on the insight more easily than say...casting (in some ways).
I'm also not tied only to OGN. OGN is my home, and OGN productions always take full priority, but as a freelancer, my heart is still with all of e-Sports so if I can find time and place, nothing would make me happier than being able to greet fans from more stages and screens.
That's the basic gist of it. As many speculated, I will be the Caster for LoL Masters at OGN (starting this week!). Monte will be joining me as the Commentator. Please note: nothing happened to DoA. He's alive and well. The duo of DoaCristo will return with Champions, but hey, I want someone to discuss game insight with too during Masters! I am also already in meetings with the global team out here to discuss possible Hearthstone content, and hope to bring you some new shows with that =]
Some of you will be bummed to have not read a single mention of Starcraft 2 above. I am too. 2013 went from great to amazing for me when I had the chance to help present Starcraft 2 and the community accepted me with loving arms. I still enjoy the game (watching at least! I suck but I'm competitive so it's hard for me to enjoy playing it anymore haha), and I plan to watch lots of it this year as different titles offer different casting styles. If I am given the chance to participate in any capacity for one-off SC2 events (Finals, show-matches, international tournaments etc.), man I'd do everything to find a way to make it work barring schedule conflicts. For now though, there isn't any immediate SC2 work coming up for me so we wait.
Thankfully, I get to satiate my hunger for over-working by having picked up work in Dota 2. A month ago fate brought the attention of William "Blitz" Lee to none other than myself as a potential manager of his new team, Zephyr Dota. They needed most of all an interpreter, but so much of it would involve admin work that the position would double as a manager. It started as a temporary volunteer position, and in one month I've gone from talking about Zephyr in third person to first person. In our most recent talk the team and I have decided to stay together post-NSL Season 3, and I'm very fortunate for that opportunity. The guys are great, I enjoy Dota 2 (have you guys noticed yet that it's ok to like several games AND have work in different titles too? It's a beautiful world), and we get to play a part in the development of Korean Dota 2. We have the NSL Final coming up this weekend, and then jump straight into the KDL Tier 1 Season 1 that we qualified for a few days ago. Shoutouts to my boys Blitz, Purge, Bamboe, Eosin, and upstate-NY homie Corey.
Thought I was done did ya? Well not quite. Since I have decided to channel most of my focus into shoutcasting/hosting improvement, I was offered a chance to go with OGN to China for the Crossfire Stars tournament 2/22-2/23 as the English Host and Caster. Well gee, I don't survive well in China but I'll be darned if I miss a chance to work in First Person Shooters. (I used to play amateur CoD on PC before...the scene kinda disappeared on PC for apparent reasons).
This all came through as a result of me having the great chance to have gotten hands-on experience on so much in 2013. It was tough to make some choices, but it was a decision I was thankful I had to make. I have tons of wishes and goals for e-Sports production too, but that will have to wait at least another year. For now, they all go in the passenger seat (not the backseat though, backseat is filled with music stuff), and on-screen work takes the wheel.
That actually explains what I was up to for the past 2 or so months. Decisions and discussions about my 2014 plans. That meant no stream, no blogs nothing as I hadn't been able to do anything concrete. Now with this all set, I'll have, if anything, too much to talk about on blogs, and lots of different titles to stream. Stream has to wait for a new gfx card though since I have my desktop now =P You know where to find me for that, twitch.tv/chobralol
Keep the questions coming again too! I know I left the last few on hold as I was inactive since...again, everything was in uncertainty, but I'm back on track again. I'll also be doing a full AMA soon so keep your eyes open for that if you got some questions.
In fact, I know exactly what I want to write about in my next blog and it's going to be about how casting has evolved, partly affecting the community's perception of casting itself. Lots to talk about there. Next week it is!
Ah, I wanted to write more, but I must head out as today is the profile shoot for Zephyr's NSL Final. Engine's running, and I'm back on the road for e-Sports starting this week. See you all from OGN on Thursday for LoL-Masters, and with Zephyr on Saturday for the NSL Final.
Thanks for all the support in 2013, see you all soon <3