SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

It’s 5 o’clock on an Australian winter’s night. I’ve just arrived home from work and eager to do final preparations for my biggest gig yet: Team ToR vs Carnage eSports. I suit up, the first time I have in my professional casting career, click on Maynarde (a prominent SEA caster) in Skype and click call.


Who am I and what do I do?
For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Bradley “Baldie” Baldwin and I currently reside in South Australia, Australia. I am a qualified Event Manager completing my degree in the field in 2011. Gaming has been a part of my entire life. I have a brother 10 years my senior and I recall many memories growing up of watching him playing various games, sitting in my chair next to him amazed at what was happening. Now at the age of 21, that passion still lies strong within me.



Picking the Seed
For a long time I have been reserved about expressing my love for eSports. People often asked me what events I wanted to run when I finished my studies to which I would reply "something big like a music festival." The issue was every time I said that I wasn’t lit up and inspired by it. Something was missing I couldn’t put a finger on it until I saw Blizzcon 2011. When the crowd roared with cheers as the GG landed (spoiler alert) from Nestea I realised one thing. THIS is what I want to live for. This is what I want to run.

My dream is to run the biggest eSports event in the world.


A Harsh Reality
It was one thing to realise running major eSports events specifically around Starcraft II was what I wanted to do, however being able to express that to people who for the majority think gaming is just about sitting in front of a computer for prolonged periods of time going "duuuhh" and losing brain cells was quite a big challenge for me. I’ve had a generous upbringing one filled with love and care. My dad however has always wanted me to follow his footsteps in engineering. After many conversations and a gracious heart, he eventually accepted I was going to choose my own path. However he never has been thrilled by the idea of PCs and games and how long I have historically spent on them. I can’t even count the amount of conversations I have had to have with him to attempt to get him to understand what I am doing.

Not having full support from Dad was one thing. The other was the fact I’ve always grown up with a natural desire to have people around me, to be accepted and to fit in. It all stemmed from my childhood filled with being bullied at school – as I am sure many of us had a taste of. As I am sure you could appreciate somebody who wants to fit in with the majority has a tough road ahead by being interested in gaming. In the end I had to put a stake in the ground and that I did. I told myself “this is happening.”

Planting the Seed
It’s Tuesday 13th March 2012. I think to myself, “I am nobody to this industry at the moment. How can I make my mark and start my journey?” I come across a site by the name of SC2SEA.com, a site I had briefly heard about in the past. I decide I might as well start somewhere so I create an account. I spend the next week sussing out the website and eventually make my first post. “Here goes nothing” I say to myself.


Sourcing the Substance to Grow
After getting no reply from my post I quickly realise unless I make something of this I will just be another stat on the site, another number. “What’s missing in this community? How can I fast track myself?” I ask. Nothing comes to mind. Days pass and I notice a bit of resignation sink in. Then one day a gentleman by the name of sPo0k private messages me on Facebook and asks if I would like to cast a clan war between ToR (Time of Rising) and another clan having seen footage of a single cast I had done in the past. We knew each other through a Facebook page I co-ran called SASL (South Australian Starcraft League). For those of you unaware what I mean by casting, it is simply commentating as you would see in traditional sports.

I thought about the offer. “Casting. Casting? CASTING!” I said to myself. That’s it! In that instant I realised I couldn’t see any casters doing clan wars regularly. Perhaps this was my opportunity. Needless to say I took up the offer straight away. I knew I would be terrible in fact I expected to be laughed at and mocked. To put it bluntly, I was petrified. What if no one liked it? What if I made a mistake? What if this? What if that? All my fears and concerns came up but I took a deep breath, pushed them to one side and took it head on.


Building the Foundation
I can’t recall how my first official casting event went. It must have gone well otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today. However I do recall falling in love with the ability to see and cast players exceptionally better than me, many of whom I already had a lot of respect for. Each cast brought with it new confidence, new experience and new opportunities to learn and grow.

Long story short opportunities continued to present themselves. Within two clan wars I had people private messaging me on SC2SEA.com requesting I cast their clan wars. My foundation was starting. I now knew this was my fast track. I took on every opportunity that presented itself regardless of if I thought I was worthy or not. I started to make overlays for my stream and watched international events such as the GSL and MLG religiously trying to learn casting techniques and current builds.


Growth
It’s Monday 16th April, a month after joining SC2SEA.com and I find out a weekly tournament called the “wT Weekly”, an event which attracts some of the big names in SEA and many up and comers, is being stopped. I had been searching for weeks for the next step. Constantly asking “What’s my next opportunity? How can I expand myself further?” I looked at the thread on SC2SEA.com and saw the sadness by the community for its termination. Before I knew it I was private messaging Petraeus (a New Zealand Grand Master), a previous admin to the weekly and someone I had met through a clan war between his clan at the time, wT, and SPR. My proposition went along the following lines, “I would be happy to cast this every week and admin it as well. This tournament is too important to lose.” My fears of rejection were ever present as I pressed send but they seemed to be having less grasp over me now. A few minutes later a private message pops up and reads, “Make it happen.” So I did.

Flourishing
My first week of wT Weekly brought with it many challenges. I had never completely administrated a tournament let alone casted it as well and soon realised I had jumped into a pretty big responsibility. Bless this man’s soul for out of nowhere Flamga (a prominent SEA caster) approaches me and asks if I would like some assistance. I hold a lot of respect for this man and credit a lot of my success to his support.

Ever since restarting wT Weekly it has only been up for me. Being able to cast games from names such as Mafia (only the second SEA player to reach Grand Master on Korean ladder), PiG (a pillar of the SEA community about to compete in Germany), Light (considered one of if not the best Protoss in SEA) and many others on a regular basis has been amazing both for learning and exposure. Every cast has brought with it new challenges but always more rewards. Within such rewards lied an opportunity to be a caster for an upcoming professional team called Team ToR.


Joining a Team
A team in SEA is very different to that of a team in NA (North America) and KR (Korea). It is fair to say the upper tier competitive side of SEA is catching up and expanding at an inspiring rate. This is not to say it is anything but professional and requiring serious commitment.

When approached by Spartaz (considered one of the biggest contributors to New Zealand Esports) to join Team ToR, a gentleman I had many interactions with in the past and a person who had always believed in me, I was taken back.

When I first started casting my main goal was to provide content previously not available to the community whilst starting to create a name for myself. I would have never thought that within 3 months of making a decision to pursue a career in eSports that I would be considered in the top tier of player management. It was a serious decision for me to take but equally one which felt right. Not only would it bring opportunities to cast with my idols such as Maynarde, as well as being able to cast more top tier players of SEA but also was a clear fit with the brand I was and still am creating for myself.

My heart has and always will lie with the community as a whole. My success is directly proportionate to the success of those around me and I will never put myself in a position where I feel I am the only person benefiting. It is only when those around me are looked after and appreciated will I ever take the next step. Team ToR in my mind fits very closely to this. It is why I have a lot of respect for Spartaz as a manager, as a member of the Starcraft II community and as a human being.



A New Chapter
August is now upon us. I am now into my 5th month pursuing my dreams and a new chapter is about to be written. Opportunities are continuing to open up, my passion is stronger than ever and I am ready to break the international market. This last week has been monumental for me. I have seen an increase in my Twitter following by 44% (@BaldieSC2), an increase in my Twitch following by 30% (Twitch.TV/Baldie24), I was awarded SC2SEA.com’s “Quality Member of the Month” for July and have been recognised as one of the top 10 contributors to the SEA Scene for 2012.

I am humbled by how supportive the SEA scene is and the Starcraft II community as a whole. Although the road so far has not always been rosy and will continue to challenge and push my boundaries I can credit my success only as a result of those who support me and believe in me, especially Reere (a Taiwan Grand Master SEA player) and Spartaz who have been of monumental support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everybody who has been a part of my journey thus far. It is only the beginning.


What’s Next?
WCS Oceania is this weekend and with it comes my biggest opportunity to be able to meet many of the people within SEA I have directly or indirectly worked with. I also look forward to meeting many new faces. I’m a strong believer in the concept of making your own opportunities.

Thank you for those of you who have taken the time to read my blog. It is something I will continue to write over the months. This journey is as much mine as it is yours.

International Market, here I come.