Competitive Gaming Interview

[Bebo]

Ever wondered about being a pro-gamer or at least an unstoppable force amongst your friends or at a local LAN? How many hours should you practice? What does it really take? I've interviewed a few of the best FPS gamers in North America and Canada and Europe to see what they had to say. Some say being pro requires that your gaming winnings to cover all your life's expenses, others believe that any money won from gaming makes you pro. These guys are some of the best so lets see what they have to say.
Boots
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Boots: Unreal Tournament.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Boots: Unreal Tournament 3, Unreal Tournament, and I dabble in a few Counter Strike: Source PUGs on ESEA.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
Boots: Depends on if anything is coming up. If a tournament is coming up I will train about 6 hours per day.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Boots: Discipline, Quick to Adapt, and reflexes/hand-eye coordination.

Gebs
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Gebs: Believe it or not World of Warcraft. My 5v5 arena team went to San Diego for the US finals sponsored by blizzard.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Gebs: Well I'd want to say UT3, but unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of competition.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
Gebs: There's not a whole lot of training to be done on UT3 and I never look at my playtime as "training", but I usually play around 1-2 hours a day.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Gebs: I'd say the cliche: hard work, perseverance, and a passion for the game you're playing.

Zyphen
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Zyphen: It's kind of hard to say, I've been competitive in a lot of different games but I guess that would be Unreal Tournament 2004. Since that's the first one that had a lot of tournaments.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Zyphen: Unreal Tournament 3.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
Zyphen: Currently, probably less than 5 per week. >.< For UT2004, I spent probably over 40 per week for 2-3 years.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Zyphen: Hmm...passion and/or self-discipline would be #1. #2 would be uh...a lot of free time initially, I guess just " a lot of free time" would work. #3...Hmm, attitude. Positive attitude / friendly personality.
So:
1: Passion and self-discipline.
2: A lot of free time.
3: Positive attitude / friendly personality.

[Bebo]

Rythem
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Rythem: Yahoo! Towers was my first online competitive game. Since I didn't have any Internet or computer capable of running anything else. I got an Internet connection for the first time in college in 2002 where I started playing UT2003. I was also very competitive in Halo, winning every tournament held at the University of New Mexico during the 3 1/2 years I was there.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Rythem: UT3 and Day of Defeat: Source.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
It varies. During the week I'm on a good 2-3 hours a night, weekends more or less depending if I'm around.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Rythem: Passion, dedication, and practice.

Rythem: I'll give a shout out to everyone on pure.gaming, our sponsors, Nuclear Fallout, Toydrum, Stercus, and those crazy ostriches!

De'Pain
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
De'Pain: Unreal Tournament (Original).

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
De'Pain: I'm only playing UT3 competitively at the moment. However, I'll surely jump on the next game that delves into the 1v1 or TDM scene.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
De'Pain: I spend too many hours at this **** computer. If I'm not playing games, I'm knee deep in Microsoft Office; fricken school. Ultimately, I probably spend about 50 hours per week on the PC. 10-12 of those hours are dedicated to gaming.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
De'Pain: Fitness, practice, and persistence. A good diet and exercise can truly go a long way in the realm of gaming. You're more alert, you're hand-eye coordination becomes much more steady, and the level of confidence in yourself greatly improves. Practice is pretty obvious.
However, I do believe that if a player wants to get that mean & nasty mad-dog hunger for victory, he or she must develop a real love for the game.

Epitaph
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Epitaph: I suppose you could say it was Warcraft II, since before that I never really considered gaming "competitive" in the sense that I would be comparing my skills to other people and striving to improve. First competitive FPS was UT2003, but I wasn't very good at it. My experience with the Unreal series prior to UT2003 was limited to just shooting friends in assault maps in UT99. My first competitive team-based shooter was RTCW:ET and I had the amazing experience of playing it primarily with friends from real life.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Epitaph: I play Call of Duty 4 on CAL. The rest of the time I spend on gaming is spent playing CPM.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
Epitaph: I don't train, I play for fun and I do it about 3-4 times a week on average and each session averages around 1-2 hours.


Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Epitaph: In my youth (not so long ago) and in the early days of UT2004 I may have possessed the romantic idea of being a "professional" at gaming. I no longer hold that idea, and I believe that gaming is not an avenue that will lead me to anything substantial or meaningful in my life. Gaming is not viewed as a profession, but a hobby. Inside I am a competitive individual and I enjoy playing games on the highest level possible, I compete online and go to LAN events to play in tournaments, but I let go of the fantasy of playing games for anything more than recreational satisfaction some time ago. If I were to list three things that I would say are important on the path to becoming a skilled gamer I would choose:

3) Time. There are no magic mice, keyboards or headphones that will suddenly create a well-rounded competitor. Most people who are viewed as highly skilled are experienced and adept at the games they excel in.

2) Exposure. While the Internet can be a tempting material to fill in the void of our lives with, getting out and going to LAN events and gaming conventions is a necessity to be respected in the online and offline community.

1) Diversity. Most people will disagree with me on my final point. Truly experienced gamers can play and compete in many games. Those who believe that their game is simply "superior" are ignorant. Those who don't delve into other games because they are concerned that they will be disadvantaged due to inexperience are lacking in competitive spirit. Most of all, the best gamers need to be willing to let go of a game that no longer has an adequate competitive base to support healthy competition.

[Bebo]

Stryfe
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Stryfe: The first game I took seriously on a competitive level was UT2003. This was after having played Unreal 1 and UT99 from day one however.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Stryfe: I've only ever focused on one game at a time, right now it's UT3 despite it's comatose state of activity.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
Stryfe: Right now it's slim to none due to job focus and other responsibilities. In UT2003/2004 I would play at least an hour a day, to about 2-3 nearing tournament time. Now it's 0-30 minutes every few days, but I do LAN for 2 full days or so before a tournament to prepare.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Stryfe: Well I am no “pro-gamer”. Pro-gamer implies living and breathing based off of tournament winnings and revolving around it. I just happen to be at the top of my respective game and known in the community as one of the best. Being sponsored helps but "pro-gamer" isn't a term I would ever use on myself or any UT player. If you were looking to be one a pro-gamer the 3 things would be, focus, dedication and sacrifice. Dedication meaning you are sure you want to do it, as with anything in life. Focus, meaning you can drive all your attention into it. And sacrifice meaning you are willing to give up other things in your life to pursue whatever dream you have.

Tewic
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Tewic: In some way CS was my first competitive game, as it was the first game I did actual clan wars and practice games in. On the other hand, UT2004 was the first game where I got really dedicated and serious about playing competitively.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Tewic: Right now I am playing Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and trying to get good at that before the Kane's Wrath expansion is released in a few months.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
Tewic: It depends a lot on my mood that given week and how much school work I have to do. It can vary between 2-3 hours and up to 30 hours. I'd say in average I play around 10-15 hours a week. It's mainly because I'm prioritizing my school much higher than gaming as I only got half a year left of high school.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Tewic: The right mindset. That is the most important thing in my opinion, as having the right mindset includes being extremely competitive by nature, it includes being dedicated about what you do. Sure things such as talent etc. is a factor, but there's plenty of examples of people with the right mindset who went all the way, even if they had no talent and thus had to practice insane amounts of hours just to get good, but because of their mindset they pulled through and got to where they are today.

Zaccubus
Bebo: What was the first game you started playing competitively?
Zaccubus: UT2k4.

Bebo: What game(s) are you playing competitively right now?
Zaccubus: Just UT3 at the moment.

Bebo: How many hours a week/day do you spend training?
Zaccubus: 20, maybe more.

Bebo: What would you say are the 3 most important things to become a pro-gamer?
Zaccubus: Always be willing to learn new things, play games that you enjoy, and try to play as much as you can.

To sum some of this up: you must really enjoy the game you're playing, practice, and be dedicated. Competitive PC gaming wants you, reader! It may not be as far out of reach as it appears and the best way to get started is right at your PC. Get and IRC client and join the game community online for organized matches against skilled players. The best players won't be found in public servers (often) and getting involved in the online community for the game you want to play is the best way to find out about tournaments which sometimes have small cash prizes. Don't get discouraged and if your a noob just admit it, someone will help you out. No matter what skill level you are head out to your local LAN and meet new people. Well I hope you see PC gaming a little differently now and good luck!

[Pser]

you should have asked, or add, their actual achievements, coz i dont know any of them 'xcept Stryfe. (and heard remotely of Zaccubus).

[Lillien]

I think the professional gaming (ie play games to live) only works for the top few people. The ones that win the tournaments.

Those that attend the tournaments, but dont win... no matter how good they are, will always need a job

but nice interviews

[Rob.JW]

zaccubus is a noob <3

[mega_d0peman]

Havent seen any of them on, wonder if I can catch one of them to see how badly I get whooped (or not?)

[Slippster]

very nice Bebo, thank you for contributing .

always nice to know whats in the hearts and minds of the "pros".

[Tweakd]

If you haven't seen them then come to IRC.

I played Zaccubus in a 2v2 a while ago when i was still in a clan. Needless to say we lost but we made up half the kills which was quite an achievement!

I take it Rythem is PureRythem? I saw him play (very well as you would expect) in a UT3 beta tourny. Made for a very interesting game!

[D2F[Leo]]

Nice idea, thanks. :>

[MegadetH]

Yea, he's pure rythem, he lost to 51|de pain in that tourney also interviewed here, i think stryfe lost to de pain in the finals. If you want to meet or play these guys they hang at irc.gameradius.net in irc, channel #ut3tdm.

[Bebo]

Glad you guys like it! I may be adding a few more interview later! Hopefully I could get Lauke or Fatal1ty!

[SpineShanK]

you can see many of those guys on pownage tv.

De'Pain was camping at 1v1 final on shangrila. was funny

[AFG34]

if you want to play these guys or just improve at UT3 then head over to #UT3TDM on irc.gameradius.com

[rythem]

I take it Rythem is PureRythem?

yep, that would be me.