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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40

Title: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40: Hey guys, murdercore here and I just wanted to share my story with you. Even tho I am kinda inactive in here nowdays because of the amounts of work i have I feel very connected to this place so I wanted to make this post. Prepare for a wall of text :D

So some of you might know, other might not but I am just a regular 24 years old boy from the beautiful country of Bulgaria. This is a country in eastern Europe that has really low level salaries and tons of people that are below the poor level. In this place ~9 months ago I decided to quit my job and follow my dream to pursue a career in the esports industry. I knew that It is going to be hard, almost impossible even but I knew that I had this dream since I was a little boy and I had to try out if I can make it or not. So around the time that I decided to quit my job and go full time gaming I asked my best friend if he wanted to join me in this quest. That day the DOTA 2 casting duo OgreCast was born and we have been casting every Bulgarian DOTA 2 tournament since that day. Some for free some for amount of money that Is so low I am ashamed to share with you but we did not give up and pushed ourselves to the limit. We even had days that we wake up 4am to cast 18+ hours of tournaments. Our record was two day with 21+ hours of casting EACH day. It was crazy :D. We had to make a lot of sacrifices for our dreams, like living with parents that are always angry at you for not working a regular job like the rest of the people, finding little to none time to spend with your friends and even worse. The cost that I had to pay was also my GF leaving me after almost 5 years together in the hardest moments of my life. It is crushing to see your efforts going to waste and then instead of having the support of the person you want to spend your life with to see her go. But life goes on and so do we.

Slowly but surely me and my friend started creating a name for our duo and the long waited day became a reality. On the 7th on march we were the DOTA 2 casters at one of the biggest LAN events in our country. I can express how that felt to be infront of thousand people that are screaming with you when the fights break out. This is the moment we live for. Here is a picture of us on that day: (i am the one with the beard btw :D)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11025758_10203908968387370_7902618195088649585_n.jpg?oh=c1596b98caa14b2505d342fe3bf0de7b&oe=55BC8B64&__gda__=1434718928_5ddbd575d2562ed45af088467542a5d2)

The sad part is that we are still not making even remotely enough money with this to be able to live out of it and the time we have given ourselves as a test period is running out so in the end we might be forced to quit chasing wind (a.k.a. our dreams) and become just like the rest members of our society – working on minimum wage slaves tired of living. But it is not over yet we might succeed (I hope we do) and start making some money that we can live with (we actually need really a low amount each month considering that the life here is not that expensive but still). Until that day we will continue making sacrifices and doing our best to expand the community.

Thank you for your time <3
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: iri on Thu, 12 March 2015, 06:13:49: i thought you moved to sweden.

also,
Quote from: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40
my GF dumping
Quote from: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40
to see him go
contrrrrradiction!
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: Candyflip on Thu, 12 March 2015, 06:35:30: Living in the same part of EU I know how hard can it be especially with pursuing a non conventional career like this one. But it can be done thats for sure. One thing to consider is to try casting in Englsih so you can attract viewers from the whole Balcan since there is quite an audience here for it but not so many 'mutual language' casted tournament/games, and I doubt the big names in the idustry will cover this region as the lans are not happening that often.

Maybe you can link some future tourneys here, I'd like to check them out as I can understand some Bulgarian. Best of luck! :thumb:
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: vivalarevolución on Thu, 12 March 2015, 07:23:39: I'll never forget those keycaps I sent you and only took four days to arrive. Our respective postal services were working hard that week.

By the way, nobody says that you have to work a regular job and be tired of living. There is still plenty to live for.
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: drewba on Thu, 12 March 2015, 11:04:28: I'm happy for you and your glorious beard! I'm not a dota player but often watch the major streams and have a lot of respect for those casting the game. I'm sure all of your hard work doesn't go unnoticed and wish you the best at upcoming events!
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 12:57:10: Thank you for the positive replies guys <3

@iri Woooops i am fixing this right away :D
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: foxer on Thu, 12 March 2015, 15:17:25: Good work, buddy. You and your beard look fabulous!
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: paicrai on Thu, 12 March 2015, 15:36:30: pigeon 4 support
(https://36.media.tumblr.com/3f292fa6e1967c0b5d3210af674e8842/tumblr_nl42hnt1gO1rvtr2fo1_540.jpg)
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 15:49:05: Quote from: paicrai on Thu, 12 March 2015, 15:36:30
pigeon 4 support
Show Image
(https://36.media.tumblr.com/3f292fa6e1967c0b5d3210af674e8842/tumblr_nl42hnt1gO1rvtr2fo1_540.jpg)

Best. Supporter. Ever. 8/8 :D
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: Lastpilot on Thu, 12 March 2015, 16:24:53: That sounds like an awesome moment - except the part where they take your picture with those keyboards! ahahahaha, they didnt allow you to bring your own equipment because of sponsors?
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: katushkin on Thu, 12 March 2015, 16:29:19: Interesting to hear your story. I am a big fan of Dota 2 (watching more than playing) and it's interesting to hear how casters start off. The fact that you have made a name for yourself as a pair is great, and getting recognition in your country is an awesome start.

I'm sorry to hear you may have to give up, but I'm curious if you have a studio in Bulgaria that shows all these tournaments like Beyond the Summit in the US?
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: intelli78 on Thu, 12 March 2015, 17:55:36: also,
Quote from: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40
my GF dumping
Quote from: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40
to see him go
contrrrrradiction!

lololl
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 18:14:25: Quote from: Lastpilot on Thu, 12 March 2015, 16:24:53
That sounds like an awesome moment - except the part where they take your picture with those keyboards! ahahahaha, they didnt allow you to bring your own equipment because of sponsors?
They were terrible indeed.... but we did not care as we were there for only one best-of-3 so the struggle with this rubber dome thing was not long. Sadly the mouse was god terrible too and i was mad that i did not consider bringing my own for the cast (i am the observer) but i will have this in mind for the next LAN :D

Quote from: katushkin on Thu, 12 March 2015, 16:29:19
Interesting to hear your story. I am a big fan of Dota 2 (watching more than playing) and it's interesting to hear how casters start off. The fact that you have made a name for yourself as a pair is great, and getting recognition in your country is an awesome start.

I'm sorry to hear you may have to give up, but I'm curious if you have a studio in Bulgaria that shows all these tournaments like Beyond the Summit in the US?
Sadly a studio cost tons of money and we can't even afford to buy proper microphones at this stage but having a proper studio is a goal we are chasing after for the future. Right now we are discussing if we should make a kickstarter campaign to buy 2 decent microphones but we will see if there will be anyone interested in donating money for this cause :D

Quote from: intelli78 on Thu, 12 March 2015, 17:55:36
also,
Quote from: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40
my GF dumping
Quote from: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 05:48:40
to see him go
contrrrrradiction!

lololl
I am damn sure that i fixed that :D
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: katushkin on Thu, 12 March 2015, 18:50:51: Quote from: AGmurdercore on Thu, 12 March 2015, 18:14:25
Quote from: katushkin on Thu, 12 March 2015, 16:29:19
Interesting to hear your story. I am a big fan of Dota 2 (watching more than playing) and it's interesting to hear how casters start off. The fact that you have made a name for yourself as a pair is great, and getting recognition in your country is an awesome start.

I'm sorry to hear you may have to give up, but I'm curious if you have a studio in Bulgaria that shows all these tournaments like Beyond the Summit in the US?
Sadly a studio cost tons of money and we can't even afford to buy proper microphones at this stage but having a proper studio is a goal we are chasing after for the future. Right now we are discussing if we should make a kickstarter campaign to buy 2 decent microphones but we will see if there will be anyone interested in donating money for this cause :D

I didn't mean like a recording studio, I mean like a production company that organises the casting for all the Bulgarian events. In the English speaking dota world you have Beyond the Summit and JoinDOTA who sort of split the casting between them, with BTS doing quite a lot more, but both have regular casters and co-casters they keep on a retainer or something. I was just wondering how you got the job casting the tournaments, and how you manage the streaming.
Title: Re: The story of a boy and his dreams
Post by: AGmurdercore on Fri, 13 March 2015, 07:40:08: Well in the begging i just asked Dota 2 Bulgaria if me and my friend can cast their current tournament and they said yes. After a few days they saw that we are seriously tryharding and liked us, so they "hired" us. After that we casted every tournament made by then, which so far has been every Dota 2 tournament in Bulgaria. It started super impulsive and i am glad that we managed to make it this far.