You got the first hint when Hafu was caught getting jiggy with Celex at MLG San Diego (in Chinese terms, it is called a "green hat" for Glickz to wear).   You saw it coming when Glickz and Rhaegyn replaced Hafu with Greenranger for CGS.  You can almost smell what MOB Godfather is cooking after he condemned Hafu's behaviors and vowed to never send her to a MLG event again. 


And it is all clear as sky when Glickz finally pulled the trigger and transferred to an unknown location under a secret name which will soon be revealed on WOM.  Perhaps he learned from Serennia-sama's war path and realized in order to measure his "container", he must cut off all emotional ties.  Perhaps May Wang's tears of pearl did convince Glickz to take her with him aa she too disappeared from BG9.  Maybe Hafu finally ran off with the mysterious "prince", a very wealthy man who owns a gladiator character of every single class and paid thousands of dollars to many famous players to maintain his collection. 

Either way, e-romance takes an incredible amount of strength and dedication to maintain.  Only the hokage himself has the iron will to turn it into something more than a side quest, setting the ultimate example for younger ninjas to follow.  Still, looking back, I am sure both Hafu-chan and Glickz would always remember the time they spend in San Diego, and going forward, they will get a better understanding of true love.

The Korean Difference

The Chinese armory is finally open, and I expect SK100 to be filled with Chinese flags two months from now (see the Chinese rogue with 8200+ combined ratings, highest rated player worldwide!).  The big money competitions from this point on will all be international.  WWI Paris is worth as much as three MLGs combined.  And Blizzard's 2008 tournament grand finals is worth as much as six MLGs! 

I am not sure if Koreans can justify sending teams to MLG events, as they will have to place second just to break even on travel expenses!  In fact, due to financial issues, Nihilum's sponsors are reluctant to send the team to MLG Orlando, despite their second place finish at San Diego!  It is a shame, because MLG presentation is far and away the best we have ever seen in Western world.  But after WWI Paris, American arena lost a lot of prestige although watching Serennia-sama never gets old.

Like everyone else I was very impressed by GOM TV presentations.  The intro of players and characters, the professional stage works, instant replay in slow motion, and oh, the 1v1 duels!  Wow, can you imagine Azael vs Neilyo 1v1 for the first match point before actual 3v3 action begins?  That will make the matches so much more personal.  I really hope they add this to MLG matches soon, perhaps use it as a tie breaker for the fifth and final match similar to penalty kicks in soccer?  Watching GOM TV made me realize how much I would love a KOF style 1v1 arena, how about Tekken Tag style 1v1 arena? 

At end of the day, no other country has the environment Korean players enjoy.  A famous Chinese player said "In Korea my ping is single digit and I can play while downloading from bit torrent, in U.S. my ping is double digit and I can play while browsing web pages, in China my ping is triple digits and I lag even with nothing in the background!"  Not only Korea's fiber optic network is way ahead of everyone else, as Inactive-chan would put it "In korea, being pro at video games is pretty much the equivalent of being a movie star in America." 

This is the type of environment that breeds champions.  Chinese parents will always preach academic success, American parents will probably kick you out of the house if you try to become a pro gamer, Korean parents will probably be 100% supportive.  That is the Korean difference.  Let's face it, once you hit a certain age and reach a certain level of income, pro gaming is just way too risky.  Most pro gamers start out in their parent's basements and there is nothing wrong with that. 

Inactive-Chan, The Korean Killer?

When I watched Koreans talk trash at WWI Paris, I really wanted an American player to step up to the plate and go all gangsta on them.  Neilyo-kun is just nowhere near his nerd raging e-persona in RL.  Serennia-sama is actually very confident in front of the camera, but he didn't come from the hoods either.

The player who fits the bill is Inactive-chan, the Allen Iverson of WOW players.  Coming from a traumatic childhood and growing up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in America, Inactive has seen it all.  The demeanor he carried at MLG San Diego was straight out of And 1 mix tape.  I would love to see him show these Koreans that they know nothing about American gamers.

In all seriousness, Inactive held a very low opinion of online ladders and simply refused to practice hard, and like Iverson believed in the fallacy of "playing into shape".  After his CLC fell apart at the hands of nerd sponsors at San Diego, they went back to the drawing boards and finally started playing serious games again.  Money make the world go round and if there is money in 3v3, Inactive and his boys will go after it like a bag of cocaine.   200 games on TR and it has been a night and day difference, Inactive is finally back on his rogue and he was ahead of Neilyo-kun before he went warrior for 5v5.  I can't wait to see what this talented club can do at Orlando now they have worked out the kinks.