SUCCESS: Sustainable Happiness

SUCCESS SUCCESS SUSTAINABLE HAPPINESS:

BY NICK DISANTO

LANGE Alex Van Camp, or Lange on the internet, believes sustainability may serve as the key to unlocking success. This dedicated developer and computer scientist maintained a prominent position in several internet communities for almost a decade. Most notably, Lange once dedicated himself to the video game Team Fortress 2; in addition to his achievements in Team Fortress 2’s early competitive scene, Lange has had a substantial impact on the game through his development of various training mods like the MGE mod or SoapDM. These mods, or modifications to the game allow players to practice and get better at the fundamentals of the game.

In more recent years, Lange has worked the most out of everyone in the Team Fortress 2 community to contact Valve, the game’s developer, and several sponsors to gain support for the game. All of his contributions combined earned Lange the title “The Father of Competitive TF2”. Unfortunately, in 2015, support for the game dwindled and many sponsors and organizations became less interested in supporting tournaments; thus, due to the lack of sustainability the game could provide, Lange moved on to more rewarding endeavours (Van Camp). Even today, nearly everyone who plays TF2 knows and respects Lange for his contributions to the game.

Now age 26, Lange makes his living developing Support Class’ NodeGC, a powerful program that allows livestreams to create dynamic, professional looking broadcast graphics. In other words, Lange’s program handles any animations or overlays that increase the

production quality of live shows (Hanel). Lange has a large role in the development of many large charity livestreams like Games Done Quick. This livestream brings in the best professional gamers from all around the world to put on a show that has raised over 14 million dollars for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and doctors without borders (Good). Through this amazing event and many others like it, Lange found a way to combine his passion for computers and helping others all while making a living.

In addition, Lange uses his current talents to pay homage to Team Fortress 2.

Co-founded, developed, and produced by Lange, the yearly charity livestream Tip of the Hats serves as the pinnacle of Team Fortress 2’s community gatherings. This three day event brings the TF2 community together to celebrate all that they have achieved while raising money for Camp One Step, a camp for kids with cancer that allows them to have fun childhood experiences ("TotH 2017"). Through Tip of the Hats, not only has Lange combined his career

Image credit: Ness Delacroix

and his passions, he has also maintained contact with his past friends and community.

Although Lange faced many obstacles that have forced him to move onto new careers, upon reaching sustainability, Lange can revisit all his previous passions indefinitely. No matter what Lange currently focuses on in life, he works hard to mold that passion into a sustainable endeavors.

INTERVIEW WITH KOHL WOUTERS Kohl Wouters, a 16 year old student at Chagrin Falls, has recorded high levels of achievement in both athletics and esports competition. He competed in the highest division of a Team Fortress 2 league for many years and now focuses on his physical fitness.

What specifically would you like to do to make a living?

How do you define success?

I would like to be a personal trainer or teach a strength training class. My dad is all about anything health related and it’s nice to have his support. He didn’t really support my original plan to play video games professionally.

I feel like success is becoming the best at the things that matter most to you. Effort and success go hand in hand.

Were you willing to sacrifice the friendships you’ve made in TF2 to pursue your interest in fitness?

Can you recall a proudest memory from your time playing TF2?

I don’t really feel as if I’ve sacrificed them. I still keep in touch with all of the people I was close with and I’ll have time to play on a casual level from time to time. Competitive TF2 didn’t really make them my friends. They are just good guys. The only thing I’ve sacrificed by leaving competitive TF2 is competitive TF2.

Nothing in particular. I suppose I am really proud of the way I performed at the Rewind LAN and I guess in ESEA playoffs too. My performance never went down when I was under pressure.

What influenced your decision to stop playing TF2?

Fitness matters more to me. I’m training for a half marathon and two hours of TF2 scrimmages is too much to handle on top of everything else. Also, it’s going to be much easier to turn my fitness knowledge into a real career.

Why did you feel like you couldn’t create a sustainable career out of TF2?

The video game scene is just so inconsistent.

You have to be the absolute best to win enough events to sustain yourself. I love video games and fitness equally so I guess I just picked the one that I knew I could turn into a job.

What would you consider your greatest fitness achievement thus far?

I specialize in weight lifting so I was amazed with myself when i was able to break 6 minutes in my fastest mile. That has to be it as of now but I’m hoping that it will become the completion of a marathon in a couple months.

Do you regret your time playing TF2?

Not at all. Clearly I don’t think it’s a good use of my time at this point, but I love the game and everyone I met playing it. I set out to become great at the game and I made playoffs every season so I achieved exactly what I wanted to.

ADVICE FROM NICK HIMSELF Hi Nick: I’ve played Overwatch since its release and I consider myself a fairly skilled and consistent player. I always try to communicate with my teammates in random matchmaking competitive games, but I become extremely frustrated whenever my team fails to reciprocate my level of effort. What can I do to practice Overwatch in a consistent environment with people who want to achieve at the same level I do? Also, I find that I play exponentially worse whenever I play with people who will not cooperate or attempt to coordinate with the rest of the team. How can I avoid losing my temper whenever I encounter players who do not take the game seriously?

Hi friend: Seems like you got yourself in a bit of a pickle here. Unfortunately, you can only ensure you never encounter players like this by completely removing yourself from all random matchmaking games. Use more of your time playing on PUG or pick up game websites.

These communities generally host much more drivin players who familiarize themselves with the current competitive strategies. In addition to this, you should absolutely consider forming a competitive team to compete in ameature leagues.

While random matchmaking and pick up games serve as a slow, effective route to success, forming a team is by far the best way to rapidly improve. Forming a team will allow you to form bonds and friendships with a consistent group of teammates. Not only will team cohesion vastly improve your gameplay experience, the friendships you form will foster

an even deeper passion for your hobby. All this said, you may still want to play random matchmaking when not all of your teammates can play at the same time. So in addition to limiting the amount of time you spend with unreliable players, here are some strategies that will help you keep your cool when you encounter them. Separate your time playing to improve with your time playing for fun. At the end of the day, in Overwatch, you must depend on your team. Resultantly, as long as you struggle to win despite your uninvolved teammates, rage will inevitably ensue. Thus, I suggest you combat this by completely allowing your mind to separate the hours you play to improve, and the hours you play to have fun. As you know, to improve in any game, you have to take the game seriously. However, never allow yourself to forget that the game can also remain your hobby.

Passion and drive are both necessary to becoming a top player in any game. If you ever find that you fail to have an enjoyable experience, immediately reconsider how you spend your time. Good luck improving your mental state. I hope my advice serves you well.

THE OWL Those foreign to esports may not yet comprehend the enormous amount of support the industry receives. In reality, this extremely successful industry grows at an unparalleled rate. In the span of a mere four years from 2016 to 2020, the industry is projected to double its yearly revenue from around 600 million dollars to nearly 1.5 billion dollars (Warman). Of the many esports that make up the industry, titans like Blizzard’s League of Legends and Valve’s Dota draw the vast majority of fans. That said, new esports always seem to appear out of nowhere; most notably, Blizzard’s Overwatch has had extreme recent success in becoming one of the industry’s most innovative and dazzling esports ever.

Most developers design their video games as fun, casual experiences. Despite this, players hungry for a competitive experience often develop their own competitive formats in these games. Due to the lack of official backing in games like these, they almost never increase in popularity. In contrast, Blizzard designed its most recent title Overwatch as a competitive experience from the very start. As the first game to have a global league organized by the developer, Overwatch has innovated on every aspect of the esports industry. Featuring impressive, professional production, top tier players from every nation, and a nine month regular season played live, the Overwatch league draws an average of 500,000 viewers per match. Furthermore, stage playoff matches draw up to several million viewers at a time.

After the first five stages of play, the league will

have its inaugural season finals with a 3.5 million dollar prize pool (Esqueda).

Not only does the developer reap the rewards of this wild popularity, every player in the Overwatch League must have a minimum 50,000 dollar salary, health care, retirement savings plans, and provided housing. Blizzard states that they aim to provide every player in their league with a sustainable career that celebrates their passion, dedication, and skill.

Although it may seem like paradise, every player in this league must scrimmage and practice anywhere from eight to twelve hours every day; that said, these players have also enabled themselves to enjoy almost every moment they spend making their living (Esqueda).

The Overwatch League features twelve prestigious teams from around the globe. Each slot in the league demanded an unprecedented buy in of 20 million dollars. With this money, Blizzard intends to continue widening the horizons of their already gargantuan esport.

Their most notably goal consists of constructing a stadium in each of the team’s home cities. Currently, all of the league’s matches occur in Los Angeles, where all of its players live. As long as the massive number of fans continues to expand, Blizzard will undoubtedly continue to innovate the world’s newest premier esports community.

Image credit: Turner/ELEAGUE

MOVIE REVIEWS Ready Up Ready Up, directed by Alex Pylyshyn and Ness Delacroix, tells the story of the Team Fortress 2 community’s undying struggle to become a popular esport. The documentary gives a close look into the experiences of both players and producers in the competitive scene.

Overall, the documentary claims that TF2 failed to become a prosperous esport because it lacked developer support and could not raise the money to host live events (Pylyshyn and Delacroix). While I agree with this and believe that TF2 deserves more notoriety, the documentary’s implication that the scene has failed to grow will deter potential players. The documentary carries a dismal tone when addressing the competitive scene’s ability to grow, but then redeems this point by noting that the tight knit, friendly community does not need a prosperous competitive scene. Although I recognize that a friendly community has extreme value, the documentary further characterizes the community as pre established; thus, potential players would once again feel unwelcome or overwhelmed by the seemingly elitist player base. The conversation among the TF2 community has long been focused on the declining support for the competitive scene; resultantly, this documentary feels repetitive and like a missed opportunity to expand the player base. Had they focused on the small, meaningful success that the community has achieved instead of its large scale failure, viewers would have become inspired to involve themselves in the TF2 community.

The Princess Bride The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, tells the tale of a simple, but skilled farm boy named Westley. Westley sets out to reunite himself with his one true love, Buttercup, who he has not seen since the powerful Prince Humperdink arranged a marriage with her.

Along with his two companions, Inigo and Fezzik, Westley must overcome a series of inconceivable obstacles to succeed in finding Buttercup. The seemingly cleshay, fairytale story appears as nothing more than a damsel in distress story like the dozens before it. That said, lovable performances along with witty, humorous writing turn the simple story into a thrilling, enjoyable experience. Viewers will become deeply invested in the intricate motives of each character. Westley must take back his true love despite insurmountable odds, Inigo must slay the man that murdered his father, and Fezzik desires companions who value him.

All three charismatic protagonists attempt to succeed in their own endeavours while helping the other. Overall, I believe this timeless classic should appeal to everyone due to its rich plot and lovable characters (Reiner).

WHAT DO I PREFER? I prefer to view The Princess Bride of the two films I have critiqued. Although both tell intriguing stories about underdogs gunning for success, I feel as if The Princess Bride worked to inspire viewers to overcome their obstacles instead of contenting themselves with their current status.

ABOUT NICK Author Nick DiSanto has lived his entire 17 years of life in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. In this comfortable, quiet Cleveland suburb, Nick has attended the Chagrin Falls schools throughout his whole academic career. Throughout these 17 years, he has prided himself on always devoting himself to spending as much time doing whatever makes him happy. Pouring time and effort into his interests ranging from competitive video games to computer science, Nick has always made it his goal to achieve a level of mastery in his passions.

For many years, video games served as Nick’s primary interest. He has spent 3500 hours over the last 4 years playing his favorite video game, Team Fortress 2 (TF2). This first person shooter, released in 2007, has served as the focus of Nick’s life ever since he discovered it in middle school. The game’s competitive scene receives little to no official developer support, so the game’s community must organize and fund every event. Despite this disadvantage, Nick, along with the rest of the Team Fortress 2 community, has worked tirelessly to promote competition in the decade old game he loves. The highlight of his time playing Team Fortress 2 came in January of 2017 when he attended the inaugural ESA Rewind LAN where he met some of the teammates and friends he played with for years. Those unfamiliar with video games believe video games provide nothing more than entertainment, but for Nick, video games foster the very community he feels most at home with.

Initially, Nick focused on becoming one of the best players in the competitive scene, but now he devotes his efforts to introducing inexperienced players to the game to foster a healthy influx of new players. He also advocates for charity events like Tip of the Hats that keep the community thriving. Video games like this provide a wealth of amazing career opportunities that he hopes to pursue later in life.

In addition to video games, Nick’s main interests include physics and computer science. He also finds fulfillment in helping others. Given his fondness for physics, computer science, video games, and helping others, developing first person shooters would allow Nick to incorporate his passions within his everyday life. Furthermore, he also hopes to involve himself in the technical production of livestream charity events. Not only does Nick want to weave his interests into his life, he wants to do this in a way that he can sustain for years to come. He claims that if one devotes themselves to mastering his or her fields of interest, he or she can create a sustainable life for themselves doing what they love. Now, in the final stretch of his high school career, Nick hopes that if he continues furthering his knowledge of the things he loves, nothing could possibly prevent him from achieving success.