Written by Nova.ShuiGuo Sunday, 15 July 2012
Nova.Shuiguo from ECAL.tv brings an interview with the Chinese ex-professional carry ZSMJ, a household name in the Chinese scene. As a player, he was known for his consistency in getting a fat hero regardless of the space he has to farm. He was a founding member of FTD which later evolved to LGD, and made his name as China's top three carries along with Zhou (iG) and BurNing (DK) until retirement in early 2011. A subtitled VOD is available at the end. Arguably the best match of 2009, it is a recap of a game between FTD and Kingsurf commentated by the captain of FTD (2009).
Hey ZSMJ, welcome to the interview, please start by introducing yourself to the foreign fans!
Hello. hope all you guys are well, I am rather nervous taking my first interview from outside China.
Right now dota2 is creeping into the spotlight in China, have you tried out the game?
A couple of days ago I heard that the prizepools for competitions are higher than last year so I asked Icefrog for a betakey. I have never played Dota 2 prior to that and completed one game yesterday. Used Anti Mage and got quite lucky with good teamates so I won that game.
You're still so humble by crediting the victory to your teamates. How do you feel about Dota 2? What separates it most from Dota?
What I'm getting is that the animations are still not as smooth as Dota 1, and sometimes I don't grasp the feel when I last hit creeps. However I don't seem to be spiking and wonder whether it's the lag that's causing issues. Still Dota 2's animation styles are more appealing than Dota 1's. the shop looks better managed and accessible. There are some small details that have been improved upon, for example players can now see how much damage they take, and from who, when their hero is killed.
I trust you have been up to speed on Dota 2 news, now that you know the game will be free to play, will you get your hands on it more often when a Chinese distributor has been confirmed?
If it's free then a lot of players will definitely join up, should I have the chance I will definitely play some myself.
As you play Dota 2 do you have anything in particular that you are not used to?
As I said in the beginning, creeping animations are smoother in Dota 1. Right now I do not know which parts need improving, and need more time with the game to be sure. I am also not familiar with the videos that are already available.
Players outside China have almost fully converted to Dota 2 and no one plays Dota 1 anymore. Do you think the same will occur for China when the game is distributed?
As long as Icefrog continues to work on the game and be responsible with it, I'm sure he will be able to capture the Chinese market.
What do you think about the relative capabilities of Chinese Dota 2 teams and their foreign counterparts?
Right now foreign teams definitely have the advantage, we Chinese always seem to cling to the past no matter what we do. There is no way to beat the foreign teams if we do not fully devote ourselves to the game.
However, the current situation might not hold after some time.
Fans all over the world are concerned as to whether you'll be coming back to the competitive scene. If you choose not to, will you go into VOD creation or first person streaming? Your fans are waiting to have a taste of your skills and marvel at the extreme gold-per-minute numbers.
I do not have much talent going into games, I just put in more effort than other people. Moreover I am not very eloquent when it comes to speaking. So if I want to get to the level for me to do FPV streams I need to back to play professionally. But if I don't play and just want to stream my age does not allow me to hit the skill level needed anymore.
What aspects of Dota 2 do you really like and which heroes do you think look the best?
As for this, I think Shadow Fiend looks very sharp right now. There are heroes that I have never seen before nor am aware of. When it comes to the game I am in general not very familiar with it. I know you can bind keys in the game, but haven't had the time to check it out.:)
Do you feel that Dota 2 is getting enough marketing in China, or does the game need to be promoted better?
The only advice I can offer is that advertising in China requires the content to be repeated many times for the campaign to be effective.
Steam allows multiple players to use the same ID. Do you feel this will bother many of the famous players?
In China there are already a lot of platforms that allow this, I think steam should try a certification system or disallow the practice altogether. Personally I prefer the former.
Many thanks to ZSMJ for taking time to participate in this interview, and we wish you the best in your future endeavours.
Thank you all, and may ECAL.tv bring eSports closer to all the fans worldwide.
Links
ECAL.tv - Original Chinese article
youtube.com - FTD vs. Kingsurf
