[FaDeHellfyre]

Perth, Barcraft's and Providence by Hellfyre

Perth and the hero

So for those of you that live in the big cities, the great parts of Australia where everything happens, you would assume Perth is the same. Bustling with activity, a hive of like minded souls coming together to enjoy their lives in one of the capital cities in a great country...

But seriously, Perth isn't all that bad

Perth isn't all that bad, because every now and then, someone comes along to give us something great.

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No not CHOGM... though that was a blast [/sarcasm]. I'm talking about something we've all been waiting for and hoping for, in every city and every place around the entire SEA region. Singapore had one, Sydney had one, and now it's come to WA. 3 TIMES! How did I miss the first two? I'll never know, but now i've been, and my gosh it was amazing.

It's all thanks to a man named Timothy Harrison, and I had the pleasure of picking his brain for a while on how he got it started and what he did, so maybe you'll be able to do the same and organise the same experience for your town/city! The Barcraft was held on Sunday 20th November at the Basement on Broadway, a bar in Perth, just across from the University of Western Australia Campus.

+ [Interview with Tim] +

The Hero

Me: Hi Tim, I'm Hellfyre, i spoke to you towards the end of the barcraft, because i'm writing an article for sc2sea. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions.
So firstly; How did you get into starcraft 2 (fair to assume you do play the game? ) and did you play any rts's before sc2?

Tim: Got in to starcraft 2 because I played SC1 and Broodwar. Didn't play much ladder in the first ones, but loved playing it at lans against friends. I've also played almost every other RTS you can think of, from the C&C series, Age of Empires, even Warcraft 1 and 2.

Me: Warcraft 1? Nice, back to the old school games haha.

What gave you the idea to start organising barcraft's and how did you go about it?

Tim: Like others, I sat around seeing these events pop up in the US and even saw Mana bar host one over east thinking "I wish someone would do that here in Perth". Then I remembered when Day[9] said we gotta stop asking permission to do things, just go and get them done. So I thought "I'm someone".

So I started with a facebook group so I could gather all interested members in one place and have an idea of numbers. I hit up reddit, team liquid and many other popular websites, begged and pleaded with friends to help advertise the group as much as possible.

Once I had a decent number of interested parties, I started searching for a venue that not only had what we needed, an internet connection, decent display set but most importantly, a willingness to support our event.

Me:And you found The Basement on Broadway, just across from UWA. How responsive was the management to hosting an event like that? Did you get a good reaction?

Tim: The Basement was originally suggested by someone in the Facebook group but I don't remember who. I was initially trying to get support from the Carbon Bar at Burswood but they didn't quite understand what Barcraft was and weren't very helpful.

When I called them (basement on broadway), someone else had approached them before me regarding such an event. So having multiple requests didn't hurt. In addition, one of the employees there was really in to Starcraft 2, so he was encouraging management to help us out too. From the first call, they were quite eager to have us come down and trial the event. Little did I know, I would only have 36 hours to organise and advertise the first Barcraft in Perth, as I got the call to go-ahead on Thursday night, to host GSL Code S Finals on Saturday.

Me:Wow, pretty short notice. Was the first one a success? How do you think the event is progressing, is it getting larger? Or are you seeing the same people come to all of the events?

Tim: The first one was amazing. We had over 100 people show up on such short notice. To be honest, I was expecting 40 or 50 people but it kind of just blew up. The Facebook group is still growing as we now have almost 230 members. I've been getting a lot of support from the guys over at GosuGamers, they managed to get us a heap of DOTA2 Beta keys and also got the prizes from Razer for us. Even powershield, a Perth based company is lending support in the form of prizes.

I go around the Barcraft events and ask people if it's their first time or if they've been to one before and I get a good mix of regular attendees to newcomers, we even have quite a few Grand-Master level players showing up which is awesome that we have hardcore players mixed with people who prefer to watch than play.

I've even seen people walk in to the bar just to see what the big fuss is about and sit down for a while just to watch the games. They might not even get what's going on, but the fact that it's had that effect is amazing.

Me: The recognition it brings is definitely great for the community.
So do you have any great idea's for the next barcraft? Any special things that you might want people to know about? When is the next one, and what will be cast?

Tim:I'm aiming the next one to be the GSL Code S finals on December the 3rd but the Basement on Broadway has another function on the same day. So at the moment, I'm looking for other venues. I'm hoping to have more stuff to give away yet again, but as always, if people want up to date information on what's happening, they should join the facebook group or follow PerthBarcraft on twitter. (links at bottom of page).

And a short few questions about the game

What race do you play and why? I play random for fun. But my favourite is definately zerg. It mostly comes from playing zerg in the original, but there's something about a massive swarm of biological destruction that simply overwhelms your opponent that I quite enjoy.
Which is your least favourite race to play against? As zerg, I dislike playing against another zerg player. Probably because when they win, I can't say it's because their race is too OP.

Finally, who's your favourite player in SEA and in the world? and who do you think are the best players, in both SEA and the rest of the world? In SEA, I'm a fan of mOOnGLaDe, despite his short time with FXO. As for the rest, I enjoy watching matches with any of the pros from GSL. It's hard to ever have a favourite, but it's the rivalries between players that I enjoy more than anything. It makes the matches feel like there's more than just a placement involved, it's their pride.

Me:Nice. Well thanks so much for your time. Hope the next few barcrafts go well for you and the host, and I hope you find a venue very soon! I'll put a link to this on the facebook page for you.

The Event

The barcraft was a huge success in my opinion, with around 100 people attending. The few regulars that were there just sat outside and enjoyed the sunlight, but inside it was mayhem. Drinks were flowing freely, and the big screen was lit up in high def (mainly with zvz's, thanks MLG haha).

I was impressed with everything. How well set up it was. Admittedly I did arrive fashionably late, as all amazing people are expected to do

When I got there, this is what I saw.

A group of the most avid gamers in the entirety of Perth, Yang excluded (try to remember your id next time when you leave from interstate, ok Yang?), all grouped together to enjoy the greatness of starcraft 2!




It was the highlight of my week, I must say. From the people I spoke to (all of whom were nice, polite people), everyone was having a blast. The staff were great, the manager an SC2 fan himself! Food was available and the entire event was a huge success. Congratulations to The Basement on Broadway and Mr Harrison for the event.

Providence

The MLG finals were great. Quite a lot of Zerg vs Zerg in it, but who am I kidding? I'm a zerg player, and seeing the best Zerg's in the world play each other is a great boon.

Something I was extremely happy about was the amount of Protoss players in the competition that we got to see compete. We never see enough...

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zealot bears?

We never see enough toss at high levels. But there was a good mix, the great play, and some interesting builds executed to perfection.

By the end of the event, I had probably had a little too much to drink, I was cheering along with everyone else. Then as we left (I went along with LordByrnsy), after many times moving to leave and hearing the next games players and then staying to watch the epic-ness. As we left, we heard two names called. “Next match is HuK v HerO” the announcer (MrBitter?) said. Byrnsy, a Protoss player, and a fan of both HuK and HerO, proclaimed some profanities I will not repeat, for we had just walked up the stairs outside to the carpark, and I was in no mood to go back inside, after having run out of money and being denied my alcohol.

+ [I probably looked like this... warning, big picture] +

The Ending

Congratulations to all the winners of the prize draws and I hope to see all of you starcraft 2 aficionados at the next Perth Barcraft. I'll leave you with a small piece of advice.

Sentry drops are the scariest thing a zerg player on 3 base will ever see. 4 sentries, continually FFing the ramp, while you warp in an army right inside the zerg's base.... winning.


It's been my pleasure to write this (my first article), hope it helps you all start your own barcrafts!

GL and HF
ESLHellfyre

+ [links] +

http://perth.barcraft.tv/
http://twitter.com/perthbarcraft
http://www.reddit.com/r/barcraftperth
Facebook group: Perth Barcraft

Quick Comments

	LordByrnsy:	Awesome :D
	:	goodjob!
	ZergGirl:

[NvPinder]

lmfao at the "this is perth" video, so good.

[LordByrnsy]

Very nice =) gj on ur first article