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by Mike Schramm 
Jan 12th 2009 at 3:00PM
Say what you want about Fatal1ty and his endless selling out (we know you will), but the guy is a recognizable face, something that's a little hard to find in the world of professional gaming. Allakazham caught up with him at CES last week, and in between talking about how awesome he and his products were (sigh), they did get some good Warcraft talk out of him.He's been taking advantage of Recruit a Friend, so he's got a Warrior, Rogue, and a Death Knight all to level 60 (unfortunately, I didn't hear him say which faction he plays). His Death Knight's "get over here" "grappling hook" have captured his imagination -- hopefully he'll stick with playing with his brother and get up to level 80 so he can see some of the endgame PvP. Unfortunately, he says he's not into PvE at all, which explains why he's going slow, but if he can push the last 20 levels, there's some fun stuff to be found..
And then it's back to the selling -- he says he's looking forward to sponsoring some players under his brand later this year (though he has no plans to play WoW professionally), and he pimps some equipment, too. It's not exactly a hard-hitting interview, but it is interesting to hear one of professional gaming's biggest names talk about his time in Azeroth.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, PvP, Quests, Death Knight
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Evenruder Jan 12th 2009 3:27PM
Slow news day?
Fuseitana Jan 12th 2009 3:31PM
I wish I could find the file that Creative installed in the last driver update that randomly plays 'fatality' in a childs voice whenever I do something.
It's mighty irritating to be reminded that I bought a Creative soundcard when I'm trying to hear the raid leader call out strategery.
DigitalRonin Jan 12th 2009 3:40PM
Umm...that "Fatality" sound has nothing to do with a Creative sound card...it's the default sound for when Bugsack reports an error.
Fatal1ty actually has done a ton for E-gaming and bringing the whole gaming scene to a worldwide audience. Although his stuff has been more around the 1v1 deathmatch FPS type games. Personally I think it's kinda cool that some up and coming arena teams might get a chance to make some cash playing the game.
Zalvi Jan 12th 2009 3:35PM
Damn WoWinsider hit rock bottom by posting this
/sigh
grelk Jan 12th 2009 3:40PM
And you're still coming here, so I wonder who's winning?
silverdragon Jan 12th 2009 3:39PM
FIRST! .... oh wait
SimpleSurvival Jan 12th 2009 3:47PM
also, note the extremely classy Spray Paint printed T
Lab Monkey Jan 12th 2009 4:17PM
Worse! It's a faux-spraypaint screenprint.
Frago Jan 12th 2009 4:10PM
Cant even level without RAF cheat, and even then cant get past the cutoff for that. Interesting and informative post about a Quake player who is unable to grasp WOW.
Slow day at the wow insider offices eh.
Claidic Jan 12th 2009 4:42PM
For those who don't know who Fatal1ty is, he's a PROFESSIONAL gamer who made a name for himself destroying everyone at fps tournaments. Then, he started getting sponsorship deals so that companies could slap his name onto their video cards/motherboards/etc... Some people seem to have a problem with this, which I think is ridiculous. I put the word 'professional' in caps earlier to emphasize that played video games is this guy's job. He does it for money. To earn a living. If someone offers you $20,000 to put your gaming alias on a video card box, are you seriously going to say no? Does anyone fault professional athletes for doing endorsements? Get real.
btw, why is this on wowinsider? The only reason I know who fatal1ty is is because I used to be go to FPS tournaments and I've had my ass stomped by him a few times. Maybe 1 WoW player in 50 is going to know who he is. He doesn't even have any 80's yet, why do we care?
Nick S Jan 12th 2009 4:24PM
You're telling me douchebags like Death Knights?
NO WAY.
Charlie Jan 12th 2009 4:25PM
He's trying to make a living playing video games.
I think people are just envious of him.
He's not the greatest, but, like the great one one said, "if he got an image and a gimmick That he could make money".
Hyp Jan 12th 2009 4:29PM
"It's not exactly a hard-hitting interview"
An interview about another twitch gamer who burned all the way to 60 with RAF and then stopped. At what point did you think this was an actual interview at all
I can imagine the dicussionn
Reporter (heh!) :So will you go to Naxx one day?
Fatality: What's Naxx?
nolfclvr Jan 12th 2009 4:41PM
big woop... cause lots of people care about this goofball.
Time to be known for something other than crappy peripherals and an ancient FPS.
Naix Jan 12th 2009 4:35PM
I met him at the cpl quake 4 champion ship and he is a nice guy. I had a friend of mine go to Korea back in the days of quake 3. My friend dominated q3dm13 and the next day no one else wanted to pick that map when they played him.
ahh good times.
Ed Jan 12th 2009 4:37PM
Wow, he leveled a Death Knight all the way to 60.
Jagoex Jan 12th 2009 4:45PM
In all reality, Fatal1ty is probably stressed out of his mind right now. With the collapse of the Championship Gaming Series, the model of competitive gaming at a professional level is put into serious question -- which makes faces like his quite rare, and, to be honest, unnecessary.
Remember, there is a reason Blizzard has put so much work into Wrath PvE, leaving something to be desired on the PvP front. I wonder if Fatal1ty recognizes this, and maybe hoped to do some PR for his own behalf at CES. He needs support, and he needs a lot of it and fast. I mean, lets face it. Time is running short on the guy. He isn't a young gamer anymore... and no one wants a gramps to be the poster boy of their generation.
DigitalRonin Jan 12th 2009 7:38PM
You got some good points on this one...BUT...
Fatal1ty was making money and big WAY before the CGS...sure the CGS was an easier gig for him than having to practice his butt off to win tourneys...but he's got a lot more pull and brand cred than a lot of people give him credit for.
In fact he just was tapped by Microsoft for their "I'm a PC" campaign. If you search that on Google you'll see the ad.
Pro gaming isn't going to go away...it's just going back to where it started from. Smaller competitions and smaller paychecks...where you only make SERIOUS money if you're the best of the best.
Like I said in my earlier post...I really don't see how it's bad that a famous face from the FPS world is giving props to the MMO world. If anything that shows he's got the savvy to recognize where PC gaming is going.
Bravo Jan 12th 2009 4:58PM
Actually there isnt much fun at 80 as far as pvp goes.
carthorian Jan 12th 2009 5:00PM
Putting your name on every piece of hardware you can and selling it for +$50 more is sick (would do it myself if I could), but I had to chance to work with him for a few days (hardware/gaming related) and I must say, this guy is truly a professional. He says what he wants, how he wants it (and not just what it should not be). For that he got my respect and is not a poser in my book.