Posted by Thorin @ 18:52 GMT, 1 November 2016 - iMsg
In the 90th episode of my "Reflections" series I interviewed Johnathan "FATAL1TY" Wendel, legendary Quake 3, UT2003 and Painkiller dueler.
FATAL1TY discusses his approach to becoming a duel champion, the rivals he battled across eight years of competition and the challenges of adapting to different FPS games.
I haven't watched it (yet) and I doubt to do so...
But at which time are the hard questions concerning "Toxjq vs Fat Q4 match (the match that was just a day or so before Toxjq got sponsored by the Fatal1ty brand)" asked?
i despise your csgo videos (my NA bias) but really appreciate your quake vet interviews (post DHW 2013 rapha interview was when i started following your channel)
"People picture me as this cocky arrogant guy but if they get to meet me in real life they can see i'm actually a very humble and modest guy."
+1.
I met Fatal1ty at QCON 2014 and we were sitting at the bar discussing a little and I can tell you it struck me how cool and easy-going he was, especially in contrast to how a part of this community treats him. He was also nice enough to spend some of his free time to help me not so long ago.
I think it's not weird at all when a person is not living in any illusions and realizes well the perception that people have about him through various online mythology.
Basically it can go both ways. People that say they're humble and modest usually means they are not. But in Fats situation I believe it is most likely true just because of the various accounts of people meeting him confirming it and if your image was ruined amongst a community wouldn't you want to repair it, especially if it turns out most of what people think about you has been stretched from the truth.
The only reason some people think Fatal1ty is arrogant is because of some stuff he said when he was pushing his name as a brand, which was always going to be perceived as arrogant in the first place (take any advertisement of anything, a vacuum cleaner to a perfume or a movie, it's always exaggerated and arrogant, because apparently that is what works).
I've never heard anybody say anything bad about Fatal1ty outside of that, so it's definitely a very safe bet to assume that he's an alright guy.
This escalated quickly, but I have to admit, I'm a bit disappointed how many people here misinterpreted my question, so I break it down for you:
1, I do not know Fatality at all, so I have no idea if he is cocky, arrogant, humble or modest, none whatsoever. I think I once made a joke about him when he was advertising gamer food while getting overweight, but even that wasn't anything close to serious, more like an attempt on a funny take about the context. I never doubted or disputed his talent or achievements, nobody gets world champion title accidently or because of luck only, one needs to earn it, which deserves respect.
2, I did not ask about "I'm really humble and modest.", but about the whole sentence, which is not the same.
3, The sentence implies that he cares about what others think about him, which is already weird on its own perhaps.
4, With that being said, it’s also notable that while an interview is a very good opportunity to be yourself and prove character traits like modesty and/or humbleness, but not by announcing those out loud, imho.
That's all fair and reasonable but you may be overthinking his choice to say that. I haven't listened to the interview, so not sure what the context was, but I suspect it was something about his "legacy" or reputation. He may be cognizant of what his reputation is and instead of being idle and letting the opportunity pass him by, he wanted to say something about it, which I think goes to your #3 point: He apparently cares (at least a little) what people think of him.
Anyhow, your question wasn't bad and clearly sparked some conversation. Nothing wrong with that.
Fatality is a cool guy definitely, met him at IEM a few years back. Can't say i've ever watched him play but was not around in the quake 3 days. But 2 hours 22 minutes ? no thanks
yeah but it's also thorin.. I can't really stand him in some environments like in his personal blog rants. he can do okay on a desk where they control his speaking a bit more
I think this applies to a lot of people. Not to take anything away from fat.
As a current example, go to Trump tower. All of his employees love him. Even the grounds crew. Not an accident. The group impression usually given by hive minds that don't know a person, is usually utterly inaccurate and false.
I like how Fatal1ty loves random spawns cause they are freaking fun and balanced for both you and the enemy, hope they implement this in QC instead of a system that might break the game......
Thorin in an igloo as usual, fatal1ty in a Vegas apartment (not watched yet but I am assuming he still lives there), such a variety of life in the gaming industry lol.
It seems the focus of this interview was more about providing the story which is fine.
However, it would be awesome if a separate interview was conducted where fat would go somewhat in depth comparing competitive aspects of the games he played. For instance, who really knows what is really important in high level UT 1v1 and can compare that to q3? What aspects could be borrowed from said games to maybe create a superior game? Or perhaps entirely new concepts are needed?
lol. Good to see you're still around here bud, yours is one of the only names I recognize on this thread. I still click through this site once every few months or so.
Have you seen Chronicles of Czm, an interview made I think in 2011 by Thorin ? It's not quite as long as a reflections episode, but it is similar in concept.
Another one for the history books Thoorin. Love all your content and this one is no exception. Only the last 20min were a bit annoying, when Fat advertised his company nonstop there. Still gotta give credit to him, for building his own empire and winning so many tournaments on different games. There's nobody quite like him in that respect.
It's so awesome to see old legends like fatal1ty doing good and still being involved with esports after all these years, nostalgia levels are through the roof.
There's so much good stuff in this interview - things that we always wanted to know and some things we needed to know because it redeems fat on some levels. (not for me , but for others)
The most important part is where he champions and embraces the nature of esport in a very realistic way. He wants it to succeed, and he IS DOING THINGS TO HELP IT. Unlike unspecified elite members of this community that cried and whined about having no future and esport being a joke. He's a great leader and a role model for many. I wish people would get their heads of their asses and see the world beyond q3 and want more than a platter with french-fried potatoes.
Fatal1ty always claims to be a UT2k3 champion but not many people know this.
I remember back the CPL tournament when UT2k3 just came out. As "the american progamer" he was allowed to make the rules for this tournament. While the european players practised the old UT1999 standard rules he practised on inappropirate maps for duel with amp on. Just right before the tournament these rules were released making it impossible for the european players to adapt. He even forced them to play with weapon model on and on high details, which was unusal for UT players at this time.
That way fatal1ty was able to take his one and only UT throphy.
he might be not the best in every single of them, but i assure you, he is more skilled than 99,99% players, and he would be top contender in any of them if he put enough time into practice, practice, practice
Edited by TUMULT Dealer at 23:17 GMT, 4 November 2016
Cooller was yet another one of his Q4 victims. From memory, this was done repeatedly towards the end there. Toxic was as well, and nobody thought he could be beat. He beat Vo0 in the finals in PK.
These things are not possible if you're skill isn't through the roof.
He's damn good.
I still think Cypher was the best so far in terms of pure skill, with Rapha being a nice second place. But this is arguable obviously.
yeah that might be true, but have you seen cypher recently? the guy doesn't look the same anymore and he positions his mousepad in front of his keyboard.
The problem with that statement is about 1.2 billion people play video games, which means if my math is right (and its often wrong) that means he's in the top 1200 by his own words.
Yea man, i was aware of that one, but a "reflections" episode with him would be perfect now that QL is finally dead. For example i'd like to know what he thinks of evil as a rival after all these years, what did he think of his fragmovie, what are his thoughts about retiring avek and all that other stuff that he has never been asked before.