The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [6-9]

A better love story than — oh, fuck it. Yeah. As far as I’ve figured out, this is autobiographical. Respect to him for pouring it out for all to see, and what an amazing window into the life of a Chinese progamer it is that he’s shared with us…

Note that, if you read the entire thing, it is possible to figure out which teams and competitions he is talking about, to give yourself an even deeper view into the progamer side of it all. He covers the time between roughly 2010 to 2013, and mentions teams and competitions, along with how they affected him… For further background reading, directly related, see his response last year from the ACE/EHOME controversy.

Send LanM your wishes and support: http://t.qq.com/guoercwh

This is part 6 through 9 of LanM’s 9-part series. Part 1 through 3 have been translated and are available on Dotaland here. Part 4 and 5 can be found here.

The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [Part 6-9]
by LanM

6. Story III

Ever since the girl tore up the marriage agreement and broke off all relations with her parents, the boy had became enamoured, infatuated, hungry for money. He put everything down to his own inability — if he had the money, then things like age, profession, would all not be barriers. He thus drifted away from the ideals of chasing after your dreams, and settled into patterns of  temperamental outbursts. He’d burn in anger out of nothing, throw things, even hurt himself… But despite the fact that it was her entry into his life that changed his once carefree lifestyle, he never directed his anger towards her, because she was the one he had promised to stand by for life.

Since the girl left home, for good this time, the boy had seemingly been gripped in a madness in his work. And even when she came to him with sweet words and kind gestures, he’d at most give it the bare minimum in response before burying himself back into the world on his computer. Angry, she would ask, “Exactly which is more important, me or your work?”

“Without my work I have no money, without money how do I marry you, what will I have to love you?” were the words in his mind, but not on his lips. Instead, he would respond, “Stop bothering me, go away and be quiet.”

Hurt, she went into the room, shut the door, and cried — oh how she must’ve hoped that he would push the door open, come in, and give her a hug. But he was too far focused on his computer, and by the time he realized his words in those moments had been too harsh, it was late. When he went in, he found that she’d long since fallen asleep, and because of his own fatigue, when he went to lie down for sleep he never noticed that half her pillow had been soaked through in tears, and that was the first time they slept with their backs to each other.

What is it, really, that constantly pushes life in directions away from those we desire?

For the Lunar New Year that year, the girl did not go back to her own parents’ home, and instead went with the boy back to his home. They dared not tell his elders the details between them. Over the past two years, the boy had ceased being seen as that naive youngster, and at the dinner table he conversed freely and fluently with them all while she sat to his side and quietly listened. In the relatives’ eyes, they were seemingly a good match; she was faithful and pretty, he was smart and hard-working. The two of them felt this way as well, and that night, with her arms around his neck, she said, “Let’s name our child in the future Xiaofan, okay?” He asked why, and she replied that it was the name of the main character in the books she was reading at the time, a great character. On an average day, in order to not get in the way of his focus, she’d just sit at home and read on her phone; sometimes for a day at a time, and thinking of this, the boy’s determination in being with her grew ever more, and he kissed her deeply……

His team, because of problems with finances in the past year, had disbanded. He then signed with a newly formed team, but the new team’s progress was slow, and wouldn’t be able to pay him well in the short term. Without pay, how could he prove to her parents, what would he have to show? He ate little and slept fitfully. She saw all of this, but every time she went to console him, to tell him not to worry so much, he always misunderstood her intentions. He faulted her, thinking that she wasn’t dedicated to staying together, that she was blaming him for his inability, his lack of money. And so she took it all, soaked it up like a giant sponge, while he piled it piece by piece upon his own shoulders to carry, each of them alone in their collective worries. Yet, love is like that — once worries cannot be shared, burdens be carried together, then even the smallest of things grow to unmanageable proportions.

7. Story IV

His chance was finally here: his old team was re-forming for a high-prize pool competition, and with many promises to the boy, he unflinchingly made the decision to break contract with his current team to join this team again. What he needed was money, because there was only a year left to the time he had promised to be able to marry her; there was no more time for him to waste. The insults, criticism, character attacks… would all be worth it as long as the two of them could stay together. Finally, he was reunited with teammates of past days, and even though some promises the team made never did come true, by this point he had no retreat. He put practically everything he had into it, even ignoring the girl when she was by his side: all he wanted was to win, win this tournament, take her home. In those days, the girl felt that he had almost changed into a different person, and even the smallest of requests from her would spark him into wrath.

One day, she got sick and ended up having to stay in a hospital far away from his training house. With training every day, he had no way to visit her, so she spent each night alone in the hospital, tears streaming in hope, then despair, all as the boy never showed up. She heart-breakingly wrote a letter to him, a letter of break up. She called him and told him that if he still wouldn’t come see her, then she’d leave. At 4 in the morning, he finally made it there, visibly exhausted, but she still gave him the letter she’d written. He read it, then tore it into shreds in a flurry of his own tears, and from that day on, he’d go and spend the nights after training by her side. In that period, the boy, who already looked sort of goofy, took on the looks of a drug addict in all his exhaustion; but he could not fall, because he had promised.

The day after the tournament, he stared blankly at her QQ avatar on his screen. Despite all her consolation, he still felt he’d lost. Lost everything, lost the tournament, and lost her; he was a complete, through and through loser. In the days afterwards, he struggled… he feared losing her, and lacked the power to face reality. Sometimes he thought to himself, there’s no way to give her what she deserves; he should just stop holding her back. Even though she’d chosen him, he ultimately bowed to the reality of it. He became dark and moody, his actions were as if he wanted her to leave. She’d long since replaced the flashy designer logos in the past with cheaper, wholesale items.

One day, the girl mentioned that she wanted to go back home to grab some of her old clothes, but the boy interpreted this to mean that she had thoughts of giving up on it all, on them. He became irritable, but she was one with great patience, and went on absorbing it all, bit by bit, despite the fact that he’d been getting more and more out of hand. In a flash, another Lunar New Year was upon them, and this time she insisted on going back home to visit her ageing parents. She wanted him to come along, but he was afraid. He was afraid that his pitiful self-respect and dignity would be trampled again. She was upset, but with no other alternative, she went back home for the holiday herself. Just before parting, she said to him, “You promised to marry me this year…” He had nothing to say…

After that, he lost himself. He told her, “Let’s break up.” She thought it was just another episode of his antics… But after he ended it, he went on QQ and began adding all sorts of females that he would’ve paid no heed to beforehand, flirting with them all. He himself wasn’t clear on why he was doing this; he thought no one would care about him, he wanted to forget about her and all of it, their life together had been so much work… But he simply did not see the girl’s side of it at all. She had persisted for two years in the face of pressure from her family, pleading, arguing, trying to convince her parents. Over two years, they had almost relented to the stubborn girl, yet at just this time she was shown chat logs of his interactions with all these new people, and in her heart it was as if a thousand ants tore at it at once, piercing pain. Was this him? Was this really the one that had promised to love only her for eternity?

8. Story V

When her text arrived, questioning whether it was really him, the boy was blank. They’d been together nearly three years, and he’d never hurt her like this before; he’d always tried to keep her safely protected within the palm of his hand. She had always been so easily satisfied, not spoiled at all; during the Mid-Autumn Festival, they’d gone out together and she didn’t want to buy anything, only stopping at a mooncake shop and picking a few of the cheapest ones. They were the best she’d ever had, she had said. But now, now in his chats he was telling these other girls that he’d been training over Mid-Autumn, erasing all of this; what a monstrous thing for him to do. He immediately called the girl, and mired in feelings of both fear and shame, he deleted that other woman’s QQ, hoping to just run from it all like this. From that day on, the girl had nightmares at night, waking in tear-soaked fits — that half a month passed slowly as if it were half a year instead, and he never once called her again during. Finally, she couldn’t stop herself anymore, and dialled in that string of familiar digits on her phone. It was 3 in the morning, he should be sleeping, and she feared that she’d hear the other woman’s voice on the other end.

“Why aren’t you speaking?” his question broke a long silence.
“Who is next to you?” came her response, her voice giving away that she’d cried recently.
“Teammates. You cried?” piercing pains thrust into his heart. He had once been so afraid of seeing her cry; no matter how heated an argument would be, once her tears dropped, all his anger would fade and he’d go to her and hug her for forgiveness… But now he’d let her cry by herself for so long. She hung up. She didn’t know why she had to call him, he was just a lying piece of shit anyway.

When he learned that she often woke up in the middle of the night crying, that her parents were on the verge of agreeing to them being together, he practically wanted to kill himself — because it was by his own hand, his own doing, that he destroyed all of their happiness, their future. Regret came, and he went to her and asked forgiveness. Soft-hearted, the girl eventually accepted, and everything seemingly went back to before; only that, now, she felt there was something different about this person before her, the person who had once promised to only love her was no longer the same person now.

Valentine’s Day, 2013, she gifted him a set of clothes. She’d always liked to buy him colorful, bright clothes. She would cheerfully explain to him, “You’re dark-skinned and ugly, so you should wear colors to brighten yourself up a bit.”

And he’d happily reply, “If I’m ugly then why do you like me?”
“I’m afraid no one else will want you,” she responded, patting him on the forehead.

Except, this time it wasn’t the vibrant colors of before, and in its place was the lifeless tone of black. She said, “The North is cold, take good care of yourself.” And the boy, as usual, was careless and didn’t pay enough attention to notice all the pressure she was under.

A few days later around noon, the boy called her as usual after getting up, yet he never though that this would be their last time speaking. He asked if she’d be online later, and after a long silence from her, the response came, as if she was busy and couldn’t answer conveniently: “Just go and find something to do with your friends,” and then she hurriedly hung up the phone. Feeling something wasn’t right, he dialled her number back, but all he got was the busy signal, and then she sent a text over: “Mom and dad are taking me to go meet someone.” Angered, he felt she shouldn’t be going, but no matter how he called her, she wouldn’t respond again. In her lowest days, she had told her parents that she’d been discarded by the boy, and her parents, already lacking any good impressions of him, took the chance and flooded her in a new deluge of lecturing. You’re not young anymore, you should go and find a proper partner as soon as possible. She never wanted to accept any of it, but this time even though they had gotten back together, she dared not confront her parents with it again.

In madness, the boy called, sent texts, begging her to give him another year, to believe in him one more time. But she only responded once, “Sooner or later you’ll meet someone younger and prettier than me, who will make you love her even deeper. You must work hard to do better for yourself. Our love has been the greatest time of my life, but this time I cannot wait any longer, I don’t want to hurt my parents any more.” No matter how he begged, she never replied again.

9. Story VI

In the following days, he drank, wasted away online, and even went without eating entire for entire days, returning home only after night had passed and daylight came again. At home, he could only fall asleep after exhausting himself from crying. In his waking hours, he still dialled her number, but there never was an answer. Though he put on a different face in front of friends, he wasn’t normal. Every time, going downstairs, at the bottom of the stairs he’d habitually stoop down to let her piggyback along… but she wasn’t there anymore, wasn’t there anymore to tell him to grow some meat on those bones, or else you won’t be able to carry me anymore…

Half a year later, that familiar number appeared at the head of a text message. This past half year, he’d been in a haze. Once in the past, upon meeting her, he had a drive to life, that she was his dream. But everything’s gone now… “May 1st I’m getting married, will you come?”

“Oh, okay.”

That day, the boy tidied his by-then shoulder-length hair, shaved. Long since stored away, he dug out the leather jacket, jeans, and green sneakers they had once bought together. When they’d bought it, he had been a little timid in accepting a gift from her. She told him, “Eh, don’t be afraid to accept gifts I buy for you!” Somehow, now, she was about to step into her wedding gown, into a marriage with someone else. He watched as they exchanged rings, kisses, vows. He didn’t feel pain any longer. These past three years of struggle ultimately lost out to reality, and now he had no more regret, no well-wishes, just numbness. As the new bride and groom went around toasting the guests, he stepped onto the stage and picked up the microphone…

Once ago, now, things past will not come back
Bright red, falling leaves, rest long in the dust and dirt
The beginning and the end, ended up never changing
At the edge of the heavens you drift, away from the clouds
A sea of pain, in its waves stir love and hate
In this world, difficult to escape from destiny
Matchmaking, an untouchable boundary
Or I should, just believe this is fate
Lovers, upon farewell, will never, return (a disappearing love)
In silence, solitude, gazes on the world beyond (hopes of continuing on in days to come)
Fresh flowers may wither (only wish) but they may bloom again (for you)
A life’s love hidden (with you) on the other side of those clouds (waiting)

After that, it was as if he’d set down a lifetime of burdens as he peacefully walked toward the door. The crowd, stunned by this stranger’s exit, had no response; only the girl, seeing his soulless shadow departing, her tears quietly fell within her heart…

If you all don’t like this story, this ending, then I’ll tell another one.

It’s been 11 days. Tears, pain, heart rendering yells. All unable to fill all this emptiness in the heart. Remembering back our bits and pieces together, everything seemingly like it happened yesterday. He still promises that, in this life, it’s her or no one. Only this time, what he needs are witnesses, what he needs are well-wishes. If he fails, then just let the love of yesteryear be sealed up with this unfinished story. If he succeeds, he will keep his promise for life, and come back to put another ending to this story.

By the time you’ve read this far, he’s already started out. He hopes that, for each of you that has perservered and read his story to this point, to be generous in your wishes and support for him, to be his witnesses. And help him face reality, so that he may never bow his head down again.

Send LanM your wishes and support: http://t.qq.com/guoercwh

Previous: Part 1-3 — Part 4 -5

Update 2015: LaNm has gotten married with his girlfriend, and has a daughter with her born in the summer of 2015. It’s a happy ending to his stories of yesteryear!

The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [4-5]

A better love story than — oh, fuck it. I don’t even know what to say about what LanM has shared with the world here. As far as I’ve figured out, this is autobiographical. Respect to him for pouring it out for all to see, and what an amazing window into the life of a Chinese progamer it is that he’s shared with us…

Note that, if you read the entire thing, it is possible to figure out which teams and competitions he is talking about, to give yourself an even deeper view into the progamer side of it all. He covers the time between roughly 2010 to 2013, and mentions teams and competitions, along with how they affected him… For further background reading, directly related, see his response last year from the ACE/EHOME controversy.

This is part 4 through 5 of LanM’s 9-part series. Part 1 through 3 have been translated and are available on Dotaland here. Parts 6 through 9 are here.

The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [Part 4-5]
by LanM

4. Story I

The girl is 26 years of age now. Over the two years of time since graduating college, she’s only held a job for half a year of that time. Back home, her family had been rushing her to get married, but in her heart, her ideal marriage would be to one that she herself truly loved and shared the promise of a long life together with. Still, her family remained unrelenting, and the countless arranged dates grinded on her, such that she finally just randomly settled on one of the prospective suitors in order to quieten them. Only, from that day on, she found herself falling further than she ever had, into the depths of the deeps. Each day, facing the prospect of spending the rest of her life with what amounted to a stranger, she grew annoyed, then restless, and made up an excuse that she was going to Beijing for work, then packed her bags and left for the city.

In Beijing, there had been a boy; he’d never been in a relationship before. A simple kid, dusty, unrefined, even. Every day, when she’d get bored or lonely, his QQ avatar was always lit up online. In their chats, she never mentioned that she’d already been promised to someone, fearing that mentioning this would scare the boy off. Finally, when the pressure from her family became unbearable, while the caring from the boy grew ever more warming, she ran.

Upon receiving news of the girl’s arrival in Beijing, the boy was beyond himself with excitement. He washed up, put on what he felt were his most presentable clothes, and went to the airport. Even though in other people’s eyes he might still seem like that dusty-faced kid, but the smile that shone through on his face was effervescent in its joy. Later on, the girl would say that that period of time was the happiest of her life. They lived on the eighth floor. Going downstairs together, for each step down, he’d turn back and give her a kiss. The two of them squeezed together on one single-sized bed, no more than 1 meter by 2, the boy holding tightly onto her, even as half of his body hung out over the edge. Because the boy’s family wasn’t ever rich, on his own modest 3000 RMB salary, they would only eat 10 RMB meals of meat and potatoes over rice in order to save money. And even if there were only potatoes, the girl never had any complaints.

Every evening, she would go and buy some watermelon, bring it home, cut it up, and feed pieces to him. Although simple, they still felt blessed in the moment nonetheless. Then one day, a call came from home, and she snuck out to the balcony to answer it. Her mom asked her how her work was going, and told her that the marriage preparations had all been set and were in place for the end of the year, and asked her to go back and get married. She tried to keep things from surfacing in her words, yet in her heart she’d long since become lost, fluttering. She dared not tell the boy, that his profession was something that her parents wouldn’t ever understand… And plus, in a few days there was a very important competition, so she mustn’t distract him. That night, she fiercely bit down on the boy’s wrist and said to him, “Without me, you must still take care of yourself.”

The boy held her tightly, not understanding, “What nonsense are you talking?” The girl didn’t answer.

On the day the boy headed out, the girl left too. He went through security at the airport first, happily waving back at her, yelling for her to wait for his return. Because of his weak eyesight, he never saw the tears in her eyes. Her family had always been quite well off, and she knew that they would never accept him. Not this kid, whose parents had separated, whose job was hard to describe, and so this time, heading back, she had no idea what to do anymore. While overseas competing, he took the limited free time he had to chat with her, and she would wait in front of the computer for each snippet, sometimes falling asleep that way. On the day of his return, he was excited… excited to let her know that, he’d achieved good results, and with the prize money he’d won, he’d be able to buy her new clothes, a new bag, now.

5. Story II

But she just couldn’t cheer up. The pressure from her family back home mounted with each successive day, and it was already October, drawing ever closer to the marriage date of January 1st. The groom — her groom — repeatedly asked her to go out, meet up, and she could only excuse herself with her work, saying that she was busy. Instead, she just stayed inside, on the computer, chatting with the boy. Finally, one day, her parents said that they needed to go back home and prepare for the marriage. Filled with anxiety, she went to her friends and asked, “What do I do?” Her friends told her, stop hiding it, just tell him… you’re going to need someone to go through this with, so you don’t get crushed by yourself. That day, the boy had just taken a 5AM flight back to his hometown. Just as he arrived back home, he got a call from the girl, asking him to get to Chengdu as soon as possible. The distress in her voice left him distraught, and without another word he booked an afternoon flight to Chengdu.

Upon arriving in Chengdu, as they sat together eating, the girl told him. This being his first relationship, the boy suddenly felt that the world, after all, wasn’t such an open and free place to be, out of one’s own control. She repeatedly said to him, it’s alright if you don’t want to go meet my parents, yet he’d already come this far, what could make him give it all up so easily? And despite the fact that they’d spent time going through scenarios, ultimately the boy was blocked by the girl’s parents’ questions — he was speechless in the face of their querying and demands, unable to fulfill the type of material wishes they had.

Yet, beforehand, they’d agreed — no matter how hard the path may be, they would support one another and be there for one another in passing through it together. The girl’s mother’s expressions were unpleasant throughout, and upon seeing the pair’s hands tightly gripped around one another, she even hit her. Though he put himself between them, her arms still bruised. All the way to the point where the parents ran out of steam and retired for the night, their hands remained as one. She went to bed to get some rest too, and he lovingly caressed her bruised arms. The girl, reciprocating, asked him to lie down too, get some rest alongside her, but even though he was tired as well, he couldn’t…

The next day, her parents were up and about early. Different from the past day, there were fewer insults and scoldings directed at the girl, and in their place were lessons and lecturing for the boy. He was relatively younger, only 22 that year. The girl’s father said, “Even if you two get married, you’ll still be strong and healthy when she’s gotten older. Plus your parents are separated, so all this means that you haven’t got an idea of home and family. You can’t even take care of yourself, how can you take care of our daughter?” Though the father’s words were gradually becoming more grounded in reality, they still pierced the boy’s dignity. Yet, he did not waver, because he had promised, so he would not give up. They stuck together even more firmly, with seemingly nothing that could come between them.

But when the girl’s mother threatened to cut off all contact with her, at that moment, she suddenly let go. Tears that he had held back all night, strugglingly, finally betrayed him and cascaded one upon the other. Their eyes met then, brimming with longing, and within that, tears — tears that he knew held meaning, that he was just about to lose her. The helplessness in her eyes finally broke him; he picked up the fruit knife on the table, and in a flash of fury, swung it down into his thigh. The bright red of blood quickly inundated his jeans, the flow of the liquid following the weight of gravity down his leg. The girl wailed fearfully, fitfully, as she held him. And, between sobs of emotion, the boy said to the parents… “For her, I am willing to do anything.”

Too impulsive, too emotional, too young… too dumb. Nothing here can be too harsh of a judgment, because in front of elders, this display could only serve to further alienate; how could they give their daughter to someone like this?

The mother threatened her own life to force the girl; the girl’s eyes had been cried out, and then some. Seeing all this before him, the boy’s heart was on the verge of shattering, shattering into a million tiny pieces… and while the girl was trying to stop her mother, the boy quietly stepped out of the room. Let it be, I shouldn’t have disturbed what was originally a harmonious family. He hailed a taxi on his own, went to a nearby hospital; the doctor asked him what happened, and he just said that it was an accident, he’d bumped into something. As he was picking up medication, the girl’s voice rang through the hallway, calling his name. Crying, she ran over to him and grabbed him. Shaking him, “How could you be this dumb? Why would you hurt yourself?”

“For you…” he couldn’t stop his tears from falling once again, but he stopped himself from speaking those words.

Next: Parts 6-9 here.

Dotaland weekly recap: The two-week “not much is going on” version, Feb 14 — 27, 2013

Missed DOTALAND? Worry not — in the interests of keeping things, well, interesting, last week’s recap was skipped in favor of consolidating recaps in the face of a general lack of news and pieces to report on and translate. In the span of the past two weeks, with everyone still recovering from the once-a-year Lunar New Year holiday across Asia, happenings haven’t picked up much, but nonetheless, the world of Dota has provided just enough to keep us all on our toes.

A preview of G-League has us looking forward to March 9, SGamer brings us some humorous critique of the average Dota player, ZSMJ pops up again with rumors of his team joining VG, Perfect World continues their efforts for Dota2 in China with rumors of a TI3 qualifier, and finally, LanM pulls us into his world with some well-written accounts of his path so far.

Feb 18

Gamefy G-League preview, hype piece, by BBC

Not only does BBC appropriately hype up the upcoming G-League finals, but he also does so while giving some insight and reflection on esports as it has grown from his point of view.

Feb 19

SGamer’s Top 10 Factors Holding Players Back

A bit of a humorous take, this nonetheless covers many relevant topics in things to improve on for the average Dota player. Lots of good advice here, and some jokes, this makes a good read in case you’ve got half an hour and want to read something.

Feb 24

ZSMJ and team join VG? Perfect World to host TI3 qualifiers?

The rumors suggest that ZSMJ’s team will become VG’s second official competitive squad, following the breakdown of ZSMJ’s previously lined up sponsor. Perfect World is rumored to be planning qualifiers for TI3, to come complete with a substantial prize pool.

Feb 26

The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [part 1-3]

A nine-part series penned by LanM himself, this is a sentimental, detailed, and personal accounting of his own path in esports. It touches on his struggles, where he’s coming from, and more. Another classic piece in esports insight, Dotaland will bring parts 4 through 9 in the next few days.

 

 

The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [1-3]

Original: (LanM’s blog, posts agglomerated on SGamer)

Dotaland note: Written by LanM himself, this is a look back at his roots, his journey, and his reflections. A great read. This is part 1 and part 2 of a 9-part series. Stay tuned for parts 4-9 in the next few days!

Note that, if you read the entire thing, it is possible to figure out which teams and competitions he is talking about, to give yourself an even deeper view into the progamer side of it all. He covers the time between roughly 2010 to 2013, and mentions teams and competitions, along with how they affected him… For further background reading, directly related, see his response last year from the ACE/EHOME controversy.

The Chronicles of LanM: “Stories of Yesteryear” [Part 1-3]
by LanM

Preface

As someone with a relatively lower level of education and no inherent talent in writing, composing stuff like this isn’t necessarily an easy thing for me. My goal is to faithfully reproduce and represent the livelihood and lifestyle of a professional gamer’s place in the real world and society. The hope being that not only will this bring more mainstream recognition and acceptance to the profession, but also to serve as a record of those trailblazers in esports that once led the charge from the forefront, fighting for their families, their dreams, and their love of the game.

1. A Youth Without Energy

In the fog of a mild headache, perched stomach-first on the edge of the bed to hit the power button on the computer case, I finally took the majority of my blankets to block out the rays of light sreaming in from outside, and shut my eyes again. About an hour later, as the sound of the fans in the computer case rotated ever more resoundingly, I finally got up and out of bed. With only one foot clad in a slipper, after hopping over to the computer chair and sitting down, I started up QQ, and clicked on the notification, represented by an avatar of a pretty girl.

“I’m up, let’s play.”
“Wait, almost done, already took a set of rax,” the response came a few minutes later.
“Fuck, still not done, I thought you’d broken a lane already,” my impatience shortly afterwards.
“Damn it, these dumbshits won’t push the rest of the base, all they do is fountain dive, I can’t even stop them.”
“Hurry up, if you can’t then just Alt-QQ.”
“Fuck off, those are my ladder points.”

This was Li Haigui. On the VS ladder, he was the one that snatched the renowned ‘SKY’ ID. I, in the hopes of making friends with a hero of Chinese gamers, had originally added this ID thinking that it would get me closer to that goal. After realizing eventually that it was not the real SKY behind the ID, I came to find that, in reality, this fun-loving character behind the ID was in fact just another passionate, fiery gamer, with a side of youthful naivete.

“How’s it going between you and the girl in your avatar, Sea Turtle? (Haigui is the same sound as the phrase for sea turtle, thus a joke is born)”
“Don’t ask, I’ve been all over her QQ space, and haven’t even successfully gotten a friend add.”
“You should just give it up. I’m gonna go brush my teeth.”

This kind of lifestyle, these kinds of mornings, were the norm for me from the time I finished high school all the way up to age 20. My father, after losing everything gambling, had left, leaving my mother to float around to this day. Since then, my father had long since re-established himself with another family. As for myself, living at my grandmother’s house, whenever relatives and family visit, I’d always lock myself in my room, to avoid all their lectures and advice. Sometimes, even from inside, I could hear my aunts and uncles and their words of pity and sympathy for me. Perhaps it was because over time I’d heard too much of this, and perhaps because of my naturally rebellious nature, from then on I gradually became more and more invested in building and realizing my own value and dreams. Sometimes, one of my closer uncles would knock on the door and come in, and tell me, “Get out there and look around, don’t always just stay at home. Even waiting tables can get you 800RMB a month.” And even though somewhere inside I thought, “Only 800?”, I still understood that 800 was money anyway, and it’s not like my parents had good conditions or anything. My proud mother would never ask my dad for a single cent of money or help, and so I relied on my grandparents’ 1500 RMB monthly pension to finish middle school.

In high school, in the face of many ‘fail’ marks, I rode an uncle’s connections into a specialized high school art program. As someone who had never had any interest in art, plus coveting more time to play, I gave up on school and dropped out on an impulse, rationalizing it by noting the program’s high fees and costs. Because my parents weren’t nearby, and my grandparents couldn’t really stop me, over time it became accepted in the family. After soaking in the internet cafe for a month, mom feared me falling in with the wrong people and influences, and so she borrowed money to buy me a computer, knowing that I’d always loved playing games. From that day on, I officially began my recluse lifestyle (otaku-style). It was precisely this kind of quiet, low-key entertainment, that accompanied me through what should be a person’s most vibrant, energetic years in life.

2. Dreams I

Even though dreams are made of the stuff of our desires, they also hold within them our passions, responsibilities, as well as the purest of our original intentions. Joy is nothing more than fulfilling our dreams, and sorrow is nothing more than having to give them up.

Our elementary school teacher asked everyone in the class what they’d like to be when they grow up.

“Like mother, a doctor…” the responses came one by one, in all forms, undoubtedly emulating their parents, relatives, or a hero of theirs.

Watching others say that they’d like to be like their parents, I always felt very out of place. During that period of time, I lived at my teacher’s house, only going back home over the weekends to my parents’ house. All I remembered was that every time back home, once evening came, the space would be filled with all kinds of people, the atmosphere filled with their smoke. Father loved gambling, and oftentimes after a session there’d be huge arguments, escalating occasionally to violence. In summary, I really hated being at home then, and especially hated the nights, because at least in the daytime I had schoolmates and friends to play with. At night, sleeping by myself in my room, I was afraid of the dark and the monsters that might get through the window, but then… it was so noisy and boisterous out in the main room, at least it served a purpose in making me less afraid.

“Zhang Zhicheng, what do you want to be when you grow up,” the teacher asked.
“A scientist,” I picked a term I was familiar with.

In truth, I didn’t know what I wanted to be, what kind of person I would be, and maybe I never had an idea before I was 20 years old. But at the time, I knew I had to have a textbook answer for the teacher, to prove that I wouldn’t be a bad kid. Thinking back now, my skills in fabricating lies on the spot have their roots in practice from all the way back then. In this society where many things are out of one’s own control, this skill has seemingly proven to be quite useful.

“LanM, why aren’t you following up, what the fuck?”
“My bad, I just dazed out for a second,” I typed out to Haigui, with a tinge of embarrassment.

My (Chinese) ID, “国土无双” was what gaming friends came up with to call me. We had played a game previously, based on Three Kingdoms lore, that had a text indicator saying the same, displayed in a way that we all felt was quite cool, so I ended up using it as an ID. In reality the original version was 国士无双, yet, with mistakes in typing and earlier Chinese keyboard input software, it ended up becoming 国土无双 (difference being in the 土 and 士).

Those days were full of fun, and quite relaxed. We endlessly pursued First Bloods, exalted every Beyond Godlike, cheered for every brilliant counter maneuver a teammate pulled off, excitedly celebrated every death-defying comeback. Though once we took off the masks of our gaming identities we were still just students, kids, what we truly loved was those masks and what they allowed us to be.

3. Dreams II

They wondered why we were so into a game, said that we played too much and lost ourselves. Because they didn’t understand that this was our outlet for the pressures of the world, and this was the place where we learned teamwork, cooperation, forgiveness, determination in the face of defeat. It was here that we made friends, true friends, without the worries of real-life profit and benefit.

They all say that this is a world where the strong eat the weak, the fittest survive. From childhood I’d been cooped up, put to work on solving the questions presented to me in my books, yet books wouldn’t teach me the rules of survival in the real world — reality would. After growing up, we’re taught that we must still follow the path laid out for us by our parents, and once we veer from this path, we get the label of ‘unfilial’ tagged onto our heads. In the face of relatives, our love and respect for our parents, we finally relent and agree, because without their support, we have nothing, we are nothing, to the point that we don’t even have anything to survive with. So, like this, we do our best to follow our parents’ plans for us, our parents’ finally satisfied gaze follows our shadows as we gradually follow this path further and further away from them. Sometimes we look back at those stifled dreams of ours, reach out a hand to give them some life, and yet, we’re pushed further ahead and away by countless pairs of hands.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, I myself do not belong to this group of people amongst my peers. Even still, from the day this reality emerged, it has exerted its force upon me and my dreams, crushingly, to the point of shatter.

“You going? If you’re going, let’s do it,” Haigui said.
“Where are we going? Is it legit?” I only half trusted this.
“Shanghai. Their team was the champion of the WCG Shanghai 3rd region. Some of their members have left to go to school, the remaining ones want to create a pro team.”

In my mind, images of Sky’s triumphs in WCG floated to the top, and it was from then on that my dreams began to sprout. But afterwards, I didn’t go to Shanghai, and neither did Li Haigui. The reason being that we feared going there and finding it was all just a scam. He said if I didn’t go, he didn’t want to go either; he likes to play with people he can get along with. Nowadays, I really regret not going, really regret not getting into this scene earlier. Because if I had gone, I wouldn’t have at first lost my dreams, and then lost her too.

For those chasing your dreams, when an opportunity visits you, don’t hesitate. While you’re still young, you can still take failure.

The next opportunity would be two years later. In June of 2010, DK was founded, and through a friend’s recommendation, I unflinchingly accepted their invite, and officially stepped into the professional scene. At that time, Li Haigui had been gone from Dota for a long time. He told me, he had graduated university, his dad had gotten him a job, and it was time to look towards settling down in a career and getting married.

The day before I set out on my new journey, I opened up my QQ and flipped to that old account of his, one that had been grey (offline) for so long now. I quietly reminisced about those days we fought side by side. His QQ had been hacked before, and it was a long time after that that he finally got it back. After that, the avatar was never again respresented by all kinds of pretty girls, and instead was just that default penguin. He’d only talk a bit before seemingly hurriedly rushing offline. He said to me “Dumbass, while you’re still young, go and fight for it, give it a go. Remember to bring a championship back for me too.”

Shamefully, I’ve let his hopes for me down so far, and haven’t won a title for myself yet.

I’ve said so much, and some readers might feel like I’m full of blame for people and things around me. Well, let me tell you a story then.

Next: Parts 4-5 here

[rumors] ZSMJ’s team joins VG? Perfect World holding International qualifiers in June?

Original: http://bbs.sgamer.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=11173329

Dotaland note: Nothing has been confirmed by the parties said to be involved as of yet, and all our sources are forum posts from random people, both in English and Chinese.

ZSMJ’s team, with Show, Ran, Li, and Ch, has joined VG club. The truth, as many had said, was that YaphetS’ team joining VG was ‘only for fun’ and not a serious thing — however, ZSMJ’s team joining VG is supposedly serious. Other Chinese forum-goers have suggested that the reason ZSMJ is joining VG is that recently, his previous sponsor cancelled their involvement.

Additionally, it is said that in June of this year, Perfect World will hold Chinese region qualifiers for the next International, and the prize pool for these qualifiers will be 80,000 USD.

 

SGamer’s Top 10 Factors Holding Players Back in Dota

Original: http://dota.sgamer.com/201302/news-detail-163763.html

Dotaland note: SGamer presents this opinion piece, from one of their writers, on the top 10 factors holding players back in Dota. Fairly tongue-in-cheek, Dotaland has translated it and taken some liberties in reproduction in English for the flow of the piece. A good read, with some true gems of wisdom for anyone looking for some introspective reading, along with some humor — keep in mind it is an opinion piece and all opinions are of the original SG writer.

SGamer’s Top 10 Factors Holding Players Back in Dota

10. Your friends’ questionable advice

Countless people first came into contact with Dota via some classmate, thus beginninng the cycle of building up key items, blinking in with a shout, and leaving the win or loss to fate; dreams all gravitate towards images of streaks in Dota, memorizing item builds, skill builds, ability usage, playstyles… Because of friendship, here we’ll be lenient, and only rank the shady advices of school-age Dota friends as our 10th in terms of things holding you back in Dota.

9. The so-called invincible, all-purpose strategy

From the early years where it took extensive Baidu searches, a translation, and some luck to find a usable guide to today’s fingertip availability of a myriad of styles for every single hero, Dota’s metagame and strategy has been like a calling card for those of this generation. All the advertised guides promising dominance over high skies and heavens as long as you built X item by a certain time, skilled X at certain levels, went into the jungle with X starting items, pushed with this, or that… After all is said and done, is it really that simple, that if your opponent happened to follow one of these guides to the dot, that your only remaining option would be to type out GG and then follow it up by tossing your keyboard out?

The chase for the mythical ‘unbreakable’ strategy, number 9 in things holding you back in Dota.

“I told you to not fucking rush Radiance naked… it’s been 50 minutes, dude”

8. Everyone wants a cup of the soup

The creators of first person vods documenting flashy plays and top level dominance are not necessarily showing anything spectacularly new or brilliant. Instead, what they are doing is creating a product — geared first and foremost at gaining views and clicks. So when you click on that vod link and see the multi-million number in hits, remember, at car shows it’s about the models, in movies it’s about the celebrities, and in gameplay vods it’s about style. Without that, where would the views come from? Those who create these vods are fine, but those who blindly seek to reproduce what they see in these vods are in trouble — the 8th greatest thing holding you back in Dota.

7. An outdated, out of place nostalgia for past trends

As my late language teacher taught me, the ideas of “non-mainstream” and “counter-mainstream” are greatly different. “Counter-mainstream” is a derogatory term, commonly used to refer to those blind adherents to a certain bland, crude humor associated with a certain Korean culture (insert applause here). “Non-mainstream” is a neutral term, just as name brand Meters-Bonwe’s slogan declares: “Walk on the un-taken path, gain the feeling of flight”. “Mainstream” refers to those things that everyone knows, everyone understands, and everyone follows. This is why there are so many noobs and newbs on the servers perpetually, because they’re all following some outdated formerly mainstream style. With each patch version, Dota changes and shifts, yet people’s playstyles remain often unchanged. Only accepting the mainstream style, and thus becoming sealed in a cycle of non-innovation, ranks 7th in things holding you back in Dota.

6. Rebelling for the sake of it, impulsiveness

Since the mainstream isn’t working out for us, why not go opposite of it. In the minds of young people, things are black and white — if not A, then it must be B, thus mixing and ignoring the importance of certainty and uncertainty. The mainstream, despite any flaws that may arise with changes from each edition, is still the mainstream for a reason in that it must still have useful lessons within. There are still times when the mainstream style can be the strongest, and with some adjustments it can be a good starting point for any success. Yet, the complete rejection of the mainstream in favor of whatever isn’t mainstream is a sign of immaturity. Those that cover themselves in tattoos and piercings just to display how different they are from others are in actuality displaying only a lack of depth. “Oh, no one else goes Vanguard on Tidehunter? Then I will. Others don’t go HoD on Ursa? I will, then. Everyone else’s Tinker goes BoTs? Then I absolutely must go Phase Boots and Midas.”

What’s even scarier than this blindness it the loss of direction it rbings about. Such is in life, and the same is in Dota. Making strange item choices for the sake of being unique, number 6 in things holding you back in Dota.

5. In defeat, your opponent is your best teacher

Even though you’re beyond beastly, your teammates are of course simultaneously shit beyond belief. But a loss is a loss — your opponents showed that they knew how to avoid the tough bone that you presented, and instead go for the weak joint that was your teammates, and thus caused your teammates to drag you down with them. When things are going well, when everything’s going as planned, these are the types of games everyone knows how to play. Everyone can stomp noobs and feel good, flashy, and dominant. It’s the attitude that goes into playing those tough uphill games that is key — and it is right within these tough games that countless people miss out on their best learning opportunities. Dota’s greatest joys: mega comebacks is top, flashy play is second, long satisfying sessions being next, with going beyond godlike rounding out the top joys in Dota. And in order to pull off said mega comebacks, the sky must fall before it can be put back into place beyond all odds. Sadly, most people completely lack the guile, strength, and determination and thus the legend of the second Sacred Relic solidified its role in history.

Lacking the ability to properly accept and assess defeat, the 5th greatest thing holding you back in Dota.

4. Attitude, mentality

The fear is not godlike opponents, it is pig-like teammates. The fear is not pig-like teammates, it is the teammates that show off and play for attention (could be analogous to the Western concept of ‘tryhards’ who talk trash).

“Wang Mazi’s (ancient Chinese paper-cutting artist — hence the pun about cutting noobs) Divine Rapier, perfect for cutting noobs!” The next day on the forums, a thread crops up detailing some Radiant hero having a good game, building a Rapier, then losing to the Dire that held out for 70 minutes to come back.

Trying too hard to impress or express are signs of an incorrect attitude. Even if you’ve got high skill, with this attitude all you can achieve is to beat on some noobs; you’re bound to lose when facing strong opposition. Mentality, 4th in things holding you back in Dota.

3. The search for the ultimate solo

The search for the ultimate solo brings with it a plethora of conditions under which any given hero may be the best: at a distance of 900 units, no autoattacks, and see who wins — Necrolyte. With 6 Hearts of Tarrasque, an ult, and no movement allowed, who wins — Skeleton King. The point being that every hero in Dota can be number one in certain contexts. Dota, ultimately, is a tower-pushing game, the first to push their opponent’s base into ruins wins. In that process, a Crystal Maiden can carry, while your big late-game carry does nothing. You could get destroyed by Furion, or Techies, or insta-gibbed by a Vengeful Spirit. Dota is not all about finding that perfect hero, and when you’ve lost again with a seemingly ideal team composition, you should reflect on that.

The search for the ultimate hero is a production line for creating noobs, yet it only ranks 3rd in things holding you back in Dota.

“With this Quelling Blade, my dream of stomping ZSMJ is no longer unachievable”

2. Gods

What are gods? Gods are the main characters, the higher quality players in this game universe that IceFrog has created. The rest of us, we’re just the leftovers, the low quality toys. Countless people dream of one day becoming one of the gods in this game, yet something as miniscule as a small change in mechanics made by the creator, IceFrog, can strip away a god’s right to their power. In this game, there is only strong and weak, and anyone can be defeated at some point. Yet strength is a quality that cannot be defeated or brought down in itself. So those that can only copy, emulate, can thus never become the directors in their own act.

Even still, as long as there are enough people willing to be the subjects, there will be gods and kings. Mindlessly following the gods of this game, not finding one’s own style and skill — the aforementioned search for the ultimate hero creates noobs, while this adherence to god-culture creates puppets; the 2nd greatest thing holding you back in Dota is an over-reliance on the gods and trendsetters to direct your own play.

1. More overlooked than introspection is hard work, more overlooked than hard work is passion

Perhaps you’ve grasped countless mechanics, read up on thousands of tactics, techniques, and other posts. Perhaps you’ve even formulated your own comprehensive framework of understanding for the world of Dota, and coolly learned from and analyzed thousands of replays. Yet one thing remains true always: without practice, you can only go backwards.

The drop in quality of play from 2009’s first vods to currently is something that all can see. It’s not only limited to retired players — from when 820 switched between carry to support back to carry, he gradually found it hard to replicate his abilities of yesteryear. For many people who have gradually faded from Dota, what they’ve lacked is not technique or skill, more so it is time. For someone who lacks time to train, the stage of Dota is one that perhaps no longer suits them, or, at least for them it cannot any longer be a competitive game. Why do they play on, then?

Their reason is one that is different from many that still spend all their time and focus on Dota — or rather, grinding in Dota, on various platforms, for ranking and matchmaking points. The point score becomes the goal, and whatever playstyle guarantees the most points is the one that is pursued. Those that play Dota just for Dota are few and far between, and those that display true skill absent the judgment of an arbitrary matchmaking score are even rarer. How many can say they play Dota purely for the passion for the game itself?

Once you’ve achieved a high ranking score somewhere, does this mean you’re a pro, or high skill player? Since you aren’t, then what is the point? Number 1 in things holding you back in Dota, a lack of true passion for the game itself.

 

 

Gamefy commentator BBC hype piece: Previewing the upcoming G-League finals

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_29228.html

Dotaland note: Gamefy commentator BBC writes a long piece hyping up the upcoming G-League. He previews the finals matchups while also reminiscing on what has brought him this far in esports.

To succeed is to give your all.

If one knows one’s own interests, then no matter if one has luxury in food and clothing or has to settle with the simplest of provisions, one can be at peace.

For everyone in childhood, there are dreams, and for each and every one, the answer to the question of what those dreams may be is a different one. Yet, almost surely, for the majority of people, what they’ve achieved in the twenty years following childhood must result differently from those original dreams. Those that successfully stand on their own and achieve success in their dreams undoubtedly are the strong ones in life. Still, those that manage this much are rare; more commonly it is those who, like me, have been constrained, worn down, by time, and ultimately followed the flow of life to settle into whatever average, normal, everyday life we have now.

I remember, before my high school college entrance exams, I got hooked on playing Command and Conquer. As someone who had always seen the days leading up to major exams as the best times for gaming, even I had to retract that preference a bit and bury myself in studies in the face of the final hurdle of high school. And so, immediately following that, in the summer days, I fanatically contributed my savings to a nearby internet cafe as I awaited letters of notice from colleges. It was Starcraft, and then Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Diablo 1 and 2, Baldur’s Gate, Warcraft 3, DotA, all the way to today’s Starcraft 2, League of Legends, and Dota2.

Computer games grew up alongside many a kid, especially boys. Instead of talking about what makes games so interesting, the focus should perhaps instead be on how enticing it is to strive for victory for gamers who viewed winning with such desire.

On the other hand, everything in moderation, and if one gets too hooked on something then the joys of victory no longer remain joyous, and instead become an agonizing trap. The taste of struggling between balancing gaming and studies is one that I have experienced before, wandering between a steady path and the fork in the road, and it’s something I’d never wish to experience again.

Luckily for me, today I can do something I love as my career, even in the face of all the hard work I’ve put in for it. So here I present a soundbite as wisdom and a warning for all my fellow gamers: “If you pursue gaming as a career, then there is no need to have a care about other’s words to you no matter how invested you are. Can those outside understand you? But if gaming is just a game for you, then remember to indulge in moderation; happiness forever exists only in the realm of moderation.”

I remember, in the internet cafe across the street from school, back we were still fighting in Warcraft 3 with ball-mice as our equipment, at the cost of sleep and food, I could always re-create the experiences of pro players such as Shomaru, Magicyang, and briefly feel at the top of the world. Each and every battle, regardless of the outcome, left me pumping with adrenaline, and I was obsessed. Yet, ten years later, my Warcraft 3 is still so noob, and against Magicyang I’m still winless. Still, recalling the memories, those were beautiful times.

Every basketball fan has fantasized what it’d be like to be Michael Jordan, every football (soccer) fan has dreamed of being Ronaldo. And even though we may not be able to achieve that much, still no one can take the beauty of those dreams away. So, even though today we cannot return to the wild days of our youth, we’ve still once had dreams and ambitions, and those won’t fade so easily with time.

For those that like basketball, they have the NBA, the FIBA World Championships; for those that like football (soccer), they have the European Championships, the five big European leagues, the World Cup; then, for those that like esports, is the only thing we have the dubious tag of “video game addicts”?

We must thank those sponsors that support us. Even more so, we must thank those fans that have been following G-League since 2007. Over these years, people have come and gone, time rushes on, yet you fans remain. We remember your praises, your criticisms, and all your warm applause.

From Starcraft, Counterstrike, to today’s Warcraft 3, Starcraft 2, League of Legennds, and Dota2 — from a tiny studio to a finals stage in the center of Shanghai’s Century Plaza, Oriental Pearl tower, all the way to this year’s Mercedes-Benz Center. Every year, every iteration of competition has its own stories and unforgettable moments. How will the brilliance manifest itself this time?

In Warcraft, there are three Orc Kings: Grubby, Lyn, Fly. Each of them has their followers, debating amongst each other who truly is the king of kings. Nowadays, Grubby has switched, and this last finals may be the last time we ever see a battle of Orc Kings. As I recall it, Lyn is a graceful assassin, under a handsome exterior lies a determined soul and heart. In a past G-League match against Ted, with only two heroes left after losing his base, his mesmerizing micro steadfastly brought him back from the brink, leaving us memories that are unforgettable to this day. And Fly gives us a much more direct, aggressive impression, from his early inspired play to his peak performances of straight back and forth fighting. A bit shy in person, he attracts quieter fans. March 9, these two kings of orcs face one another once again, and we look forward to finding out the king of orcs!

In Starcraft, it’s always been dominated by Korean players. In today’s age of Starcraft 2, the best success for Chinese players so far has been second place at WCG — belonging to Xigua. Being able to snatch a second place from the grasps of the Korean players can be considered a great achievement, yet fans will always hope for even better. For Starcraft fans, that thing that they’ve always hoped for yet never dared to truly hope for is for a Chinese player to be world champion. Jim says, Xigua’s playstyle is too easily countered. Well, for 17 year old kids, they may not quite understand tact in their words, yet within those words is confidence gained from so much dedicated practice. March 9, the hope of Protoss challenges our Zerg King, and we hope for a world-class battle!

The explosive popularity of League of Legends is undoubtable. In LoL teams, the explosiveness of team WE is even more obvious. Ever since they appeared, their performances in taking most every domestic competition, ending in their taking a world title in the end of 2012, WE have firmly established themselves. “Beat WE? S2 might’ve been a bit harder, but in S3 it’s more up in the air”, iG’s PDD replied in an interview. To become the alpha, one must defeat the alpha, such is the world of LoL. March 9, iG brings the challenge to WE, and we anticipate a great fight!

Dota2, as the official successor to DotA, has long since been China’s strongest esport. In 2012’s TI2, just as NaVi looked set to sweep all Chinese teams out and take the title, iG stood up. In the music hall in Seattle, in the waves of cheering for NaVi, all of China, from spectators, commentators, to fellow players yelled their voices hoarse in support, just to let the exhausted iG know that they were not alone. And iG finally proved themselves with a world title, in the process defending the honor of Chinese Dota. Afterwards, LGD.int was formed with players from five different nations, and gathered in China to train. Today, their ability pushes them close to the NaVi of TI2. March 9, iG faces the challenge of LGD.int, what promises to be a battle for the ages!

This time, there aren’t only matches. G-League has also, for the first time, invited supporting guests, and they’re ones that most everyone will know — singers Zhang Zhenyue and MC Hotdog. I personally like Zhang Zhenyue’s “Missing you is a sickness” and MC Hotdog’s “Mr Almost”. Nine to five everyday, the days just sort of pass by like that. Yet, a life without passion is unbearable. Sometimes a week goes by with over 60 hours of live broadcasts, and so when my work has me drained, I hope for some passion and change. Every G-League finals becomes just that type of passion and change, giving me an outlet. This time, we’ve mixed esports, rock and roll, rap, for what is certain to be a passion-filled party!

March 9, 2013 will only appear once on our calendars. On that day, in Shanghai’s Expo District, at the Mercedes-Benz Center, there’ll be a grand finals for a certain G-League. In your heart does there still burn the fire of esports, or perhaps are you still youthful?

Who will ascend to the heavens of victory; how many more people will join us in our love of esports? We give it our all, if only so you can enjoy yourselves fully.

March 9, G-League, the Battle of Mercedes-Benz Center, we invite you to witness it together!

 

Dotaland weekly recap: Feb 7 — Feb 13, 2013

This week saw the Lunar New Year holiday kick off all across Asia. News has been slow. We had iG wishing us all a good holiday, a very well-written analysis piece of BurNIng, and the highlight of the week undoubtedly goes to the iG.YYF documentary. A sparse week in terms of quantity, but absolutely not lacking in quality. Read on and take a look…

Feb 9

iG wishes a joyous Lunar New Year to all

In this video, iG’s players, from every squad, wish all their fans a happy Chinese New Year.

Feb 10

DK.BurNIng playstyle and skills analysis

Following the iG.YYF playstyle and skills analysis (also translated on Dotaland, here), Gamefy brings us another in-depth look at a renowned player, this time in the form of one of Dota’s greatest carries.

Feb 11

The life and times of iG.YYF

For the holiday, and in anticipation of his appearance at the upcoming G-League finals in Shanghai, Gamefy produced an exquisitely-made video looking into YYF’s past. This was the highlight of this week, and rightly so.

The life and times of iG.YYF — Gamefy G-League Documentary [video]

Original: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTEyODU2MjQ0.html

iG’s YYF takes us home, talks about his past, and gives us all an intimate look into where he’s come from and the people that helped him on that path… really, really cool.

MAKE SURE YOUTUBE ANNOTATIONS ARE ON! Be sure to give the original at Youku a click too, for views!

 

 

 

DK.BurNIng playstyle and skills analysis by Gamefy

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_29171.html

This is following the previous analysis by Gamefy of iG.YYF, translated here

Xu Zhilei (徐志雷), renowned Dota player from Anhui province. Ever since making a name for himself, he’s been under the intense bright-white of media lights. From his first achievements with  7L, then an explosion in fame during his Ch time, to ten titles with EHOME, nine titles with DK, and four finals appearances in the re-formatted G-League — with two resulting in wins — this steadiness in his performances and results have brought him the formidable title of being “Number 1 carry in the world”. In 2012, with the meteoric rise of iG, BurNIng’s star has faded somewhat, yet he still remains within the top echelons of professional Dota players by virtue of his exceptional individual ability, even earning the greatest of honors in the form of IceFrog naming Anti-Mage after him in-game.

Overall ability:

Awareness rating: SS

For a carry player, economy and space to farm and grow provided by teammates’ protection are the most important aspects influencing a team. While your teammates go to great lengths to provide these conditions for the carry, it is the carry’s responsibility to best make use of the conditions and turn them into effective items and resources to in turn contribute to the team; this is something that every carry must learn and practice. BurNIng is a prime example of a carry that has this ability — he very rarely makes the wrong choice in itemization, has great laning ability, and possesses deep knowledge in the details and key points of the heroes he plays (for example, getting Quelling Blade at start on Alchemist in order to play aggressively in lane). Additionally, he has the ability to adapt item choices in accordance to what is happening on the battlefield: for example in 2010 with EHOME, his choice to go Diffusal Blade on Alchemist in order to help Dai’s Sniper escape from the powers of Sheepstick was heralded by viewers everywhere. In that same year, his full-agility Morphling with Ethereal Blade wiping PIS’ Nevermore in mere seconds, can be said to be a highlight of his career.

Rhythm rating: A

BurNIng has never been a great one when it comes to dictating tempo and rhythm in a match. In matches, he rarely is the one to direct the entire team’s actions, and as such he is more of a legendary warrior than a unifying general. His style leans more towards focusing on his own growth and farm in early and mid game rather than pressuring the opponent. His is a safe playstyle: if the chances of failing a tower dive are more than 20%, then he will pretty much not go for it. Since going pro he has rarely played a number 2 position, instead it is the norm that when he does finally emerge from farming to fight, he is able to dictate the entire match. His mega-fat Anti-Mage was caught on camera at TI2 and surely left a great impression for fans all around the world.

Mechanics rating: S

Dota is definitely not a game where mechanics are everything, but without a solid base of fundamentals in mechanics, you will have nothing to play on. At BurNIng’s peak, he was an absolutely ideal carry player, with superb laning, top level last-hitting, quick reflexes, and perfect late-game team-fight decision making. His experience playing Chen during his time with Ch, plus his early experience in competitive Warcraft, gave him a great base in terms of micro and control. To put it in simple terms, BurNIng is a giant farmer that can effectively perform in teamfights, but some major mistakes and lacks of communication in 2012 are worth further consideration, because the small details determine everything.

Heroes diversity: S

As a top tier carry, hot picks in the current version include Anti-Mage, Faceless Void, Lone Druid, Phantom Lancer, etc, and these are all heroes that our man Xu Zhilei is closely familiar with, and can unleash all of the potential of. But if his own team fails to grab any of these carries for him, and instead gives him mid-game heroes such as Naix or Luna, his performances betray an obvious unfamiliarity with the styles required to play these team-fight centric carries. His Naix falls in fierceness to YYF’s, his Luna makes her presence less felt than either Zhou’s or Sylar’s, in the first half of 2012 his Chaos Knight was weaker than Hao’s. And so these are all places where the “universe’s number 1 carry” can make improvements. In the increasingly fast, increasingly team-fight oriented modern Dota versions, strictly afk-farming for a super late game carry is a very easily countered strategy. Finally, his understanding of Anti-Mage’s core item choices nowadays also seems to have fallen behind Zhou by a little bit.

Playing uphill: SS

BurNIng in 2010 and 2011 won 19 different titles. Amongst those wins, how many times did we see him ‘save the world’ in situations where his team were at a large disadvantage in early game, utilizing his amazing late-game ability to come back. No matter if it’s an online competition with thousands of viewers or an online tournament, BurNIng has always been calm and serene, in both ways: he can not only ignore massive pressure and harrassment in times of being behind, but also ignore a huge advantage for his team. What this means is that he never allows the big picture of what’s going on around him to affect his individual performance and execution, and thus very rarely fails to recover from a terrible start. This makes him the most mature, stable carry player. As for his latest three competitions since Anti-Mage was named (G-League, G-1 League, and WCG) where he has yet to use Anti-Mage, whether the reasoning behind this choice is because his team has never needed it or he is afraid of the pressure behind it, if you’re reading this BurNIng, I would like to know too.

Individual skill:

Last hitting: 97

For the universe’s greatest carry, his last hits are something that you need not worry about at all. Even though it isn’t as impossibly amazing as ZSMJ’s farming, BurNIng’s last hitting regardless of under tower, free lane, or under lane pressure, can and does always satisfy. In terms of fundamentals, when given free-farm he’s even more reliable, so if you want to practice last hitting, please peruse BurNIng’s vods, it’s beyond worth it! Taking a popular saying, BurNIng belongs to the class of players that “can be outplayed, but can never be out-farmed; can be pressured, but can never be stopped from farming”.

Laning: 95

B-god’s laning is absolutely first class. Amongst the big three carries, his solo ability is undoubtedly the strongest, and he rarely allows the opponent to control him. Fast reflexes, lots of experience in using vision and positioning, he’s a scarily reliable all-around carry player. His Lone Druid, especially, regardless of whether he’s on the safe lane with support or solo mid, can always reliably farm out core items and levels. BurNIning plays very aggressively in lane, yet rarely gambles his own life — if the chances of him dying while getting a kill surpass 30% then it is certain that BurNIng will choose to back off and ensure his own growth.

Decisions: 91

BurNIng has always been good at making decisions based on the situation in-game. His timing in entering the fray as a carry has always been seen as a textbook example for other players to learn from. With such perfect timing in each teamfight, Burning Show Time is thus born. Yet, going into Dota2, BurNIng has been repeatedly tripped up by tiny details in items and execution, sure to be a lifelong regret. The greatest example of this was in G-League versus LGD, in the second game DK had taken a comprehensive advantage and BurNIng’s Phantom Lancer was six-slotted, yet failed to consider the cooldown on his Boots of Travel and thus he was forced to walk back to the fight after buying back. But all was too late as in the time being, his teammates, Cheese and Aegis in hand, fell one by one to the might that was Anti-Mage, who had himself bought back and rejoined the fight faster. At that moment, BurNIng’s fans must’ve been shocked beyond the point of words. One TP scroll, a 12 second cooldown, all of BurNIng’s short-fallings and regrets of 2012 embodied within.

Positioning: 96

Positioning is a Dota player’s most basic action, achieved by only moving and clicking the mouse. But truly understanding the intracacies of positioning is not something that every player learns to the same level. Over-extending and getting picked off, staying too far back and missing out on combos, these can be seen in almost every match. Using positioning to take the least amount of damage, or using it to bait the opponent, these are all basics for every player yet some of the hardest things to get right. BurNIng’s positioning as a carry could be said to be one of a kind during his peak, rarely ever showing any mistakes. Always in the right place to get kills, always perfectly getting into or withdrawing from a fight, thus fully projecting a carry’s strength. Especially worth mentioning is his control of blink heroes, on those heroes B-god indeed has practically no weaknesses.

Ability usage: 90

Perhaps because of his role, BurNIng is not a player centered around his ability to use abilities. More often, it is by his farming, laning, experience, and reliability in his role to influence matches. It seems that he rarely appears in flashy top 10 compilations. Heroes like Naix and Chaos Knight that rely quite a bit on technique and abilities usage, BurNIng has significant room for improvement. Still, his understanding of how to use the ults of Faceless Void and Anti-Mage is exceptional, always effective.

Counter-gank: 98

Top, top-tier counter ganking sense. He very rarely ever gets caught in a gank; it’s almost as if BurNIng has a gank-radar installed inside him. Once the opponent disappears off the map he can pretty much figure out where they’ve gone, what path they’re going to take for a smoke gank, where he should blink to safety if they do find him, and whether his teammates can come support in time. These are all things that require greast amounts of practice and training. With Smoke becoming an ever more important item, experience becomes all the more important, and his talent becomes the separating factor for players looking to be the best.

Current version Carry scores:

Anti-mage: 98 — IceFrog honors him, a B-god named hero. Understanding of the hero is practically watertight.
Lone Druid: 97 — DK’s 9 title run in 2011 had this as their signature hero. Steady 16 minute radiance, IceFrog personally praised
Faceless Void: 95 — Lots of spectacular plays, excellent usage of the ult
Phantom Lancer: 92 — A new-age carry, not many examples of success. BurNIng had a chance to make a name with this hero, but one mistake with Boots of Travel, and the result is sadness.
Luna: 90 — Not many uses, solid performances.

Overall: 96

Overall BurNIng’s main strengths are reliability as a carry. Aggressive, tempo-dictating plays are relatively rarer compared to other carries. Teams that BurNIng has played for basically all revolve around him as the core in their strategy. His style leans toward helping himself over the team early on, and he certainly possesses the skill to go 1v5. All the titles over the years have said more than anything else. Compared to his old rival in Zhou, B-god has more attributes as a carry, and whenever he’s played as a super late-game role he usually performs excellently. Zhou instead has transitioned into more of a team-fight carry, sacrificing more of his own growth in games. Both carry players have their reasons for their styles, but it is clear that in current versions, having more heroes farmed up provides more room for error. In 2013, when BurNIng once again meets his old rival in Zhou, whether he can regain old glory and break iG’s current dominance will depend on whether he can cut out key mistakes, whether he can escape from real-life issues, whether he can play his Anti-Mage of old again. 2013’s G-League, TI3, we look forward to BurNIng’s answer.

Transfer value estimate: 150000-200000 RMB (considering his age, plus rumors of retirement, his estimated value is lower than his actual ability would otherwise dictate, plus he’s currently steady with DK and chances of a transfer are miniscule)