IAm Destiny. I quit my job to play Starcraft 2 for a living. I also hate Terran. AMA.

why are you so bad?

Because I love you.

Why do I keep beating you on ladder? You jelly bro?

Very jelly. <3

At what point did you feel comfortable making the jump from "guy who is really fucking good at Starcraft" to "Professional Starcraft player?"

At the point that I realized I could make more off of the ad revenue from JTV than I ever could working a conventional job.

I appreciate the response! This one is for all the SC2 acolytes out there who ladder constantly and secretly dream of becoming a "pro" and having their replays slavered over by thousands: How do you get your name "out there" as a player?

All I did was play and stream a lot. =b

How much do you make?

I've answered this in a few other places on here,

"At the moment I make about $3.5/month from the ad revenue I receive, then I make ~$1.5/month from lessons. Hopefully once my youtube channel is partnered I can generate some more money from that. There's also the occasional showmatch win/tourney placing, but those don't generate too much."

Have you had sexual relations with Bluetea?

Not going to answer this. :b

JIMMY NOOOOOOOOOOO

:)

No questions, just thank you for providing such an entertaining stream. <3

You're very welcome, but you can exist without me, the entertainer. I can't exist without you, the viewer.

So instead I say thank you, good sir. I hope you continue watching.

=)

How you like yo eggs? Fried or fertilized?

I'll scramble your eggs, fucking dog-eater.

What is it that makes you hate Terran the most?

I don't think the race punishes nearly enough for mistakes. Marines and hellions are far too cost-effective, and there's no tech that you really have to go "out of the way" for. I also feel like it received way more attention from Blizzard in the creation process than the other races. Admittedly, it was the Terran version of the game (Wings of Liberty), but still. :(

You are my density.

<3

STEVEN, Y U NO STREAM?!?

Because I just posted an AMA!

Does it bother you that most pro's don't think you're very good, don't take you seriously, don't believe you should be in ROOT and only think you're popular because of your personality? Or in other words... Think you suck because you actually have real interpersonal skills as opposed to being a complete nerd?

A little bit, but I understand why.

I became popular in this game, more popular than a lot of players who are MUCH better than me, due to my personality/humor, not because of my level of skill. Over the past couple of months my personality has remained more-or-less the same but I've improved vastly in skill. That being said, I'm still way more popular than a lot of people who are far far better than me, so it's easy to try and discredit my popularity due to the fact that I originally became popular just because of my personality, despite me still being not-the-greatest at the game.

Sorry, that was a little oddly worded, but it should make sense, right?

I get what you're saying. Unrelated follow up if thats alright, What does your baby mama think of your career choice and are you on good terms with her?

She's incredibly jelly, I think. We're on shaky terms at the moment.

This is something i've found so very interesting. I think you are what's needed for professional gaming to ever become more popular then where it is now. The game needs polarizing personalities that attract attention from people outside of that specific medium. The one thing that all esports have in common is that the competition is taking place in an environment built not necessarily around competition, but entertainment. For a league like this to get started I believe you need more entertainers and less professionals. This is coming from someone that doesn't play Starcraft and doesn't even play PC games, but I watch your stream occasionally (though I watch your highlights on youtube more often then not) because it's interesting to watch you as a person playing starcraft.

On that note, someone else said it, but you need to get to work on your own YouTube channel. You are missing out on lots of income being generated by other people posting your videos. There are lots of youtube personalities that generate enough money to live off of merely through their youtube videos. You would have more then enough income through your stream ad revenue, lesson revenue and youtube revenue to live quite well off of. I'd actually work on getting a nice youtube base set up before you started your professional starcraft career. Build a nice enough base now and it won't matter how well you do as a professional starcraft player.

You could crash and burn at whatever tournaments you decide to play in, but if you can cash in on that crash and burn then does it really matter how well you did at the tournament?

I'm very close to the guy who does my youtube channel, actually. We're going to be splitting the revenue 50/50.

Destiny, you could sell nude pics for like 5k a piece.

Possibly, I'll consider this if I get super desperate.

I quit my job to play Starcraft 2

What was the job and how much were you making? Is SC2 providing you with more money?

Also, how much do you play per day? You seem to be streaming pretty much non-stop.

I was a professional carpet cleaner. Before that, I worked in a casino for 3 years as a restaurant supervisor. I made about $2k/month from cleaning carpets, but that was working about 60 hours/week. SC2 provides me with way more income at the moment.

I play quite a bit per day, maybe 6-12 hours, depending on the day.

Lets talk about your personal life, since I've heard all the shit you say about your SC2 career constantly.

1. Why did you and your ex-wife split up?

2. What is your relationship with her now?

3. Got any women-lovers?

4. Are you living at your means or below your means currently?

5. You really haven't been streaming as much lately, I don't know if you realize it. Why is this?

It's a long story, but she started to head down a road that I didn't agree with. She got into drugs/partying and dropped school because of it. We entered an open relationship since I was never home (between working/school) and after she found a guy, she started getting super paranoid of me finding someone. This started to drive us apart, etc...etc..., and instead of staying with her to work through her problems, I bailed because I thought she was too crazy to salvage. Lots of physical violence ensued, including but not limited to: smashing her car door against mine, throwing a vacuum cleaner at me, and screaming at me while I'm at work.

Right now, we're basically just people who talk to each other every now and then.

What is a woman-lover?? I'm not in any relationships at the moment.

I'm living well within my means at the moment.

I stream quite a bit still, I'm not sure if maybe we're just missing each other or what. As of lately, having my child born caused me to miss a bit, but otherwise, I still stream quite a bit.

How often do you go outside?

Very rarely. It took me ~10 hours one day to realize it had snowed outside. Opened a curtain because I heard some noise, then saw the ground covered in about a foot of snow.

I know, I'm pretty sad. =b

Do you ever wish you were a mildly attractive woman?

Sometimes. However, all of the reasons for wanting to be a woman would disappear if I actually were one.

Such is life.

So CatZ was online BMing you with drewbie while you were going mass queens, and it sounded like you were about to say something insightful about teaching SC, and then CatZ keep going.

The video's here.

Tell me if you remember what you were talking about.

Btw, that accidental hard-counter against that 7pool last night was really funny =D.

"I've ran into people like that, I've given a lesson to a diamond one day...[who's mechanics were absolutely terrible. He would float 2k resources if he tried to play 2 bases for more than a couple of minutes. The only reason he was diamond was because he had cheesed his way there, but he hadn't learned the mechanical aspect of SC2 at all.]"

That's what I would have said next.

[deleted]

My personality. I think I come across as very genuine, and I'm fairly witty, too. /arrogance

Are you BM IRL?

Sometimes. I'm genuine and honest in real life, and that can come off as pretty BM sometimes.

Steve, how much?

At the moment I make about $3.5/month from the ad revenue I receive, then I make ~$1.5/month from lessons. Hopefully once my youtube channel is partnered I can generate some more money from that. There's also the occasional showmatch win/tourney placing, but those don't generate too much.

could you get off to ultralisk porn?

Definitely not.

You should cast with Debo and Cella again.

I'll try, haha.

What do your friends/family think of your current career choice?

I only have 1 close friend left atm, Kyle, never really got close to any other people. Family is supportive of pretty much anything I do, they're all amazing people.

Love you, mom. <3

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No, but I like to think that I'm a very well thought out person who tries to be as rational and consistent as possible in all areas of life.

If I say anything that sounds remotely philosophical/political on my stream, it means I've spent a great deal of time thinking about it.

I've watched your steam, Good work. Now go work on your Youtube channel, shit give away a copy of SC2 and you'll see a boost of 10k Sub's easily.

Haha, working on it as we speak, I promise.

Destiny I got banned from your stream cause one of your mods thinks terran being OP is an excuse to not try to get better-- Question: Y u mod dicks?

Because I mod way too many people. E-mail me your JTV name and I'll unban you. :b

If you end up in a tournament at a fairly high level, will you scream out "YOU CAN'T LEAVE" as you baneling an entire army?

Pretty please?

rofl, I'll think about it.

Will you act like you do on your steam in live tournaments? I understand the whole tradition to act proud and humble, but I think that I and other North Americans would love to see some passion and fun introduced into the competitive scene.

I'm an incredibly passionate and genuine person. I will never drop a "GG" to someone who all-ins me with SCV's/marines 5 minutes into the game, etc..

That being said, I am well-mannered when it comes to tournaments. I believe that respect is very, very important, in any scene.

Also, on a side note, saying "gg gl hf" in every single game on the ladder is not respect. In actuality, it's the opposite: it's meaningless/baseless/hollow.

What RTS did you play before Starcraft?

Never played an RTS before SC:BW.

What are your long term plans? Do you plan to continue to make a living off SC2 when the sequels come out, or to pay off your debt and then go back to college?

I want to earn my living doing this for as long as possible. This has been an amazing experience and it's given me a chance to do something I only ever dreamed about. I still wake up every day waiting for something catastrophic to happen that would end of all this; it seems too good to be true.

I plan on paying off my house/car, hopefully, with the money I earn from this, and I'd like to grab a degree sometime soon as well.

You mentioned you "know things about music." I've also heard you play a mean sax. As a music major and Starcraft 2 player, I am very interested in finding out as to what exactly you know about music. Please tell us, in depth, about your relation to music.

I majored in saxophone performance in college and intended to minor in composition.

To try to keep it short/sweet, I grew up with anime/video games being my primary interests. I played RPGs and people like Nobuo Uematsu made me fall in love with music. Also, watching animes, Yoko Kanno (namely COWBOY BEBOP!) got me into the saxophone (see: Goodnight Julia as the song that inspired me to start playing sax). I joined the high school band, and the rest is history, I supposed, until I dropped out of college my junior year because I was working too much at that casino job.

I'm a relatively cold/rational person and music gives me an opportunity to be emotional, so it's fun to be able to improve on the piano/saxophone. It's probably one of the things that drives me to it the most.

It's also an amazing way to pick up girls. If you act like a dick/stoic person the entire time you're with someone and then can sit in front of a piano and call forth beautiful progressions from the keys, the stark contrast with your personality is quite amazing. :)

Hey Destiny. I respect beyond a doubt your choice.

I play, but only I am only a measly Plat league (terran too, dont hate haha)

My question: I can only play 3 or 4 games until I need to relax and take a brain breather. How long does it take for you to have to take a little break? or could you game all day, if allowed?

I can play for 10 hours straight, it's just the kind of mentality I have, I guess.

whats the contract with ROOT like? is there a contract? do they promise anything in writing or is it done by trust and agreement at the time?

No contract or anything in writing at this time.

I know you avoid drugs because you don't like what they do to you, but have you ever tried any? (Not a rhetorical question)

Have you ever had a couple of drinks? Would you ever smoke pot, etc.?

Which drug(s) do you find most interesting?

I've tried mary, molly, tobacco, gotten wasted, and oxy.

I'm uncomfortable altering my current state of mind because I usually like my current state of mind and I don't feel like I "get anything" out of being under the influence of another substance.

How go your plans on re-making the NASL video?

(For those who don't know, there's a large SC tournament where you have to make a video of yourself answering questions to apply for a spot in the tournament. Destiny has made a video, but he didn't film himself because he doesn't have a webcam, and so it didn't count.)

Ah, apparently the NASL people announced that the videos weren't an integral part of the application process. I still plan on making one, soon. I've gotten a hold of a professional video guy and I plan to meet him soon so we can finally shoot the thing.

What do you foresee for the future of competitive gaming in America?

No clue. I stick away from big topics like this and I just do my own thing, heh.

I love it whenever you play music to your streams.

March of the Valkeryie and Rocky Theme always make me laugh.

Haha, thanks, I try to keep it fresh. =b

You think you could play in some Korean tournaments?

I don't think Koreans are very far ahead of the rest of the world in SC2, not yet, anyway. So maybe?

Will you be playing poker tonight (Jokerstars!) ? I really hope you do!

Probably, haha.

Why must you say "MANNER!!!" so much? My only complaint.

Blame Catz. Or Minigun.

What talent do you have outside of starcraft? Meaning, if you couldn't make money from this, what would you do?

P.S. I love watching your stream, keep up the good work.

I enjoy arguing, and I enjoy music. Aside from that, I'm smart enough to assimilate information fairly quickly via reading/studying, and I have a huge array of interests (microbiology/genetics, astronomy, anything to do with computers, etc...). My passion lies with music, however.

I'm not sure what I would do, if given the choice to pursue any career I wanted.

Do you have less fun playing Starcraft when it has become your job? How do you prevent it from getting stale?

No.

I'm very competitive and I still love this game. :)

It would only get stale if I became the best player in the world and no one was able to offer me any challenge.

Do you ever play any of the custom games? If so, which ones are your favorites?

Nah, not really. Playing ladder competitively kind of kills my desire to play customs, for some reason, heh.

I know this is super late and im not expecting a response as this is so deep into the IAMA but,

1. At what point did JTV say "Hey we will pay you for bringing in so many viewers." Are you required to maintain a certain amount of viewers to maintain receiving a bit of the profit?

2. I stream a lot myself at HQ settings, but when I fullscreen your stream, it looks like I am pretty much playing the game, minus the skill. I also see you use FME 2.5 with a command line. Is there a chance at you posting your settings?

3. How often do you do funny things on the stream? Such as the vortex + nuke combo. Do you do these for the viewers or just because it sounds like fun?

1. One of the developers actually e-mailed me because I was pulling in a decent number of viewers (about 500, peak) while I was streaming over at ustream. After talking with them initially, they asked me about a lot of things that could improve the streaming experience. I rattled off 4-5 different ideas, and they said they'd do their best to implement them. I didn't think much of joining them until a couple months later when I looked at JTV and I saw a whole boatload of new features had been coded (better chat rooms, ability to watch transcoded streams, auto-saving VODs from stream sessions).

After I saw all that, and I heard they were offering partnerships to some high-profile streamers for switching, I told them I was interested and made the switch. The JTV staff are amazing, and I'm glad I did. :)

1. I use FMLE 3.2, 24fps, 1920x1080, 4500kb/s datarate, 5.1 main h264 encoder.

2. Ah, I dunno, it's random, heh. I really can't say. :b

That Alienware troll was legendary, even I was 50/50 on you being serious. (as apparent by me telling you ATX is a standard and you calling me a troll) Also every time cella opens his mouth is just comedic gold. Thanks for being awesome! I saw on TL that ROOT is a Canadian based team, is it?

HOW U MAKE A "CUSTOM" COMPUTER WHEN EVRY PART IS DIFF SIZE GOOD LUK GETTING EVERY MOBO TO FIT INSIDE UR CASE LOLOL

<3

Why don't you scout more mid-game?

Because I'm bad and need to work more on my scouting.

[deleted]

Army on 1-3, queens on 5+. If my hands were bigger, hatch would go on 5, armies on 1-4, queens on 6+.