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New Esports Director, Phil The Thrill, grilled on HoN Tour, “cash-grabbing”, and Dota 2 in hard-hitting interview

 

1. So Phil u are the new Competitive Director for Hon and we already know you’re going to be a big hardass on the forums.  You used to be in the marines, have you ever killed a man?

They don’t call me Phil The_Kill for nothing. I used to roll deep in the humvee, drinking Rip It energy drinks and swallowing bottles of Ephedra filled Hydroxycut. I’m the most dangerous man in eSports.

 

2. When is Hontour fucking happening?  A big money tournament series like this conflicts with Maliken’s famous grassroots marketing approach (spend nothing), is that why it’s stuck going nowhere?

HoN Tour will happen when it’s ready, which will be sooner rather than later. HoN Tour was actually conceptualized by Maliken over 2 years ago, and if anyone is to be blamed for HoN Tour’s inactivity it is certainly not him.

 

3. Seems like the pros are packing their bags for Dota 2, even if they like Hon better, maybe because there is more hype and money there.  What plans do you have to retain players or bring in new ones?

I think the best way to approach the competitive scene is with a fresh mind. It’s been great having some of the competitors out there that we currently have, but we need some new blood as well. I really hope that the current players stick around, but if they decide to leave I wish them the best of luck. HoN will continue without them, we just have to focus on building an actual foundation for the scene, instead of catering to the very few who are already at the top. HoN Tour was developed with that purpose in mind.

 

4. You once called Raven a fat slob with a Count Dracula haircut.  Can you elaborate on these sentiments?  Why do u think this kid still lives with his parents at age 26?

KingRaven refused to meet me IRL and we used to live 40 minutes away. I think he was embarassed by my Nissan Altima at the time or there weren’t nearly enough bus stops around areas that I traveled to (this is before he got the 1985 BMW he’s driving currently.) As for him living with his parents, well I lived with my parents when I was 26… for about 1 month after I got outta the Marines. Maybe Raven just got out of the Marines? Don’t judge him until you know the FULL story.

 

5. What can u say in response to some peoples consensus that Hon is just a “cash grab” at this stage, i.e. attention is focused on making non-essentials such as alt avatars as opposed to bug repair/maintenance, gameplay balance or other (adding new game modes etc).  What are some positive things Hon players can look forward to?

HoN is a game made by a business, I dont think I need to explain the basics of economics. I do think that balance patches could be a bit more frequent, but I also respect that Dogkaiser is a former pro dota player and likes to fully test his changes to make sure they are done right the first time. It’s a thankless job for sure. On a positive note we ARE working on new things including something that was brought up in a previous DRD post.

 

6. From cash grab to veritable CASH COW, when do daggius & Raven finally get to record an official announcer pack for the game?

Right after they release the Thrillgionnaire Alt Avatar.

 

7. Will you troll S2 by wearing a big Dotally Rad T-shirt into the office for us?  Also, tell Maliken to stop bringing in so many Ferraris, Warchamp7 is mad jealous.

I will wear a DRD tshirt if you send me one. I owe you, since you didn’t charge me for that picture we took together.

 

Thanks for the big interview; hope you come through on these promises.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 4th, 2012 at 3:16 PM by daggius and is filed under Interview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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The DRD Insult Generator says:
    THIS BIG PLAY SIREN IS LENGTHY BAT SHIT CRAZY.