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| GoldeN: First person from the left |
All good things must come to an end. Yesterday afternoon, Khing 'GoldeN' Mun announced his retirement from the League of Legends competitive scene after leaving the Kuala Lumpur Hunters 2 months ago after TLC Grand Finals.
And again, I got lucky - and had the opportunity to interview him to see what he has to say about himself, Kuala Lumpur Hunters and also the eSports scene in Malaysia. Read up!
Hi GoldeN. You've left Kuala Lumpur Hunters for a period of time after TLC ended. Just awhile ago you announced your retirement from the eSports scene. Do you mind bringing the readers through it? Why the decision?
Well, the main reason was actually due to Kuala Lumpur Hunters itself. Kuala Lumpur Hunters was a part time based pro-team; 2 players could only train 3 days and we could only train 3 days a week as a full team. Also, Taintedones – who was one of the core players of KLH had to focus on his studies and couldn't commit full time. Monkey, on the other hand was actually working and Redhotrayz was working on his degree
Secondly, it was due to myself. I did not want to continue playing in a team that consisted of part timers. However, I did not want to look for new players too as it would have taken too much time to train everyone up to the same level again. Rather than starting everything from scratch, I decided to call it quits and leave KLH.
I see. So it was actually a collective decision from all of the members of KLH that resulted in you leaving the scene. What about you as a casual player? You stated that you would quit the scene entirely, but would you still be playing League of Legends and perhaps join some small tournaments?
Nope, I have actually lost my passion in League at the moment. This is because I’ve always had a target to achieve when I was playing as a professional gamer. As I am now a casual player, I do not have any target to achieve in League – and I do not really enjoy casual gaming. I am more inclined towards professional gaming. Thus, when it comes to the retirement from pro-gaming, I guess I won’t be playing much.
[Laughs] I agree with that GoldeN. I’ve lost my reason to play League too ever since I stopped playing for KTHXBAI. Since you were in the competitive scene for such long period of time, how did eSports change your life?
eSports made a huge change to my life. As a pro-gamer, I was always very focused and I did everything that I could to succeed. I spent most of my time training, learning and analyzing replays. Also, as the team captain, I spent a lot of time figuring out strategies, coaching methodology, arranging of scrims and also led team discussions. It simply made me a better person and leader.
In addition to that, I also got to travel to various countries around the world for international tournaments – which obviously was awesome and was a great experience for myself. Being interviewed by the media in foreign land and having to play on a big stage is of course something not everyone can enjoy. Most importantly, I got to know a lot of other great players and friends overseas.
Perhaps the only bad part of being a pro-gamer was that I couldn’t spend more time with my friends and family.
Wow, that seems really fun! Too bad I din't get to try it since I’m getting old already. Moving on, what's your most memorable moment as a pro player up until now?
My most memorable moment was during WCG Busan 2011 – my first international tournament. It was also the first time I got to meet up with many friends. Also, did you know that Korean food is AWESOME?
After having so many memorable moments, was there any period of time you regret something that you did or didn't do; and given the chance, would you go back and change the outcome?
Yes, there were definitely regrets and wrong decisions in the course of my pro-gaming career. However, I prefer to keep those regrets to myself.
Sure, it’s all yours to keep [I tried]. Is there anything you feel that you'll miss in the Malaysian e-Sports scene after stepping down/retiring?
Yup, I believe that Malaysian teams have potential (Editor’s note: CLG POTENTIAL) in the future. If I was a few years younger, I would definitely continue to fight for my dreams. [Laughs] At the same time, I also feel sad that I cannot contribute more for the eSports scene in Malaysia anymore.
Alright. Since we're on this topic, when you mentioned ‘potential’, do you mean the current KLH squad? How do you think they'll fare?
To be honest, I do not really know much about the newer players in KLH other than Ozora Veki and Jae Yoong. That being said, I feel that both of them are decent players and definitely have the ‘potential’
I see. Now that you're leaving the scene, what do you plan to do for your future?Have you got any plans?
Well, I will be starting my job next month (March). It is nothing related to eSports or gaming though. I can’t really say where am I going to be heading towards, but we’ll see. Life is never predictable anyway! =)
Ok, last question! Any final words you want to say and address the Malaysian League of Legends community; and what are your hopes towards the Malaysian eSports scene?
Thanks for everyone's support towards me when I was a professional gamer. I sincerely hope that both the eSports scene and gaming community in Malaysia can continue growing in a healthy manner in Malaysia. I also hope that there would be more major tournaments in the country, as it’s the only thing that keeps eSports alive!
Thank you for your time GoldeN! I wish you all the best in your future endeavours and your life.
Any other players/managers you want us to interview? Send it to use at our Facebook page and we will try out best to get them in the near future!
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