Basic info
Name: Zhibo Fan
Alias: Generate randomly everytime
Clan: Razer
Games (currently played): Life
Favourite song: Mylène Farmer - Sans contrefaçon ^^
Favourite movie: The Truman Show

Ni hao, can you begin by telling the ESReality members something about you that they are unlikely to already know.
Before i came to Quake community, i was praccy taekwondo 6 years, attend some local events and playing piano in musician school since 1995.. But after my friend Bin shows me Quake, i just forget about all of them... 3 month ago i start play piano again ;)

How would you describe your average weekday/weekend?
WEEKDAY:
9 a.m: ALARM-BZZZZZZ! after breakfast i start do my work..
1 to 2 p.m: its a time to eat! Usually i take Russian soup and hot meat dishes if im at university or near from office.
When im at home i usually cook by myself some chinese food. after eat usually i want to sleep :) so i turn on ROCK or HIPHOP and drive my favourite s2000 to swimming pool :)
3 p.m: work,work,work..
7 p.m: friends start calling me by this time and if im not busy, then take metro and going to moscow downtown, coz moscow traffic is unbelieveble. usually we go to some pub or park etc. and just chilling-out in some places..
10 p.m: swim & sauna time :)
11-12 p.m: going home and check messages and play some Quake,if somebody writes to me..
near 2 a.m: listen some relax music and zZzzz!

WEEKEND:
Usually i do some BBQ or trips near from Moscow with friends, who i cant meet during week and i like FULL THROTTLE WEEKEND 2 days nonstop :)

You're currently in China where you traveled with 3ulu4; where did the 2 of you go? Did he enjoy the trip? How are his Mandarin skills?
3ulu4 came to China 2 weeks earlier than me just for relax and recreation. After my graduation i just comeback to China for visiting family and some business, then we enjoyed one week and visit Beijing, Yanji and ChangBaiShan volcano (my home) and then Shanghai :) his Mandarin is "hurt my plenty" skill! I think he was multiple shocked by Chinese people.

What's been your favourite memory of your trip with 3ulu4? Did you introduce him to a Beijing "salon"? ;)
There was a lot of fun,writing is just not enough. Sure we visited SPA centers and have nice relax massage. :P

How much longer will you spend in China? Do you have plans to do more traveling there before returning to Russia?
I will stay here before i start my PHD in september. A lot things to do, havent time to travel.

Having played QuakeLive since its release what do you think of the current state of the game? What needs changing? What features need adding?
I tested 2 days, but its not nice to play with 80 pings and PL, so i stopped until ID software run server in Russia. QL gives my different feelings: i think ID should make new maps and do strong works on gun-damage balance, also QL needs some creative things, it already 2009, but gameplay is taken from Quake3 1999 :) I have some interesting ideas for gameplay, but i dunno how to contact ID software programmers. :\

What are your thoughts in regards to 10 minute matches?
I think 10 mins is better than 15 mins, because it can give relax time for brain and eyes,its optimal.

Before QuakeLive you played a lot of Quake 3...how have you found the transition?
I didnt start play QL yet :) But Quake3 is more solid than any FPS games i've seen, only UT can compare with Q3.

You had a lot of decent results in Quake 3, what tournament was your favourite and for what reason?
I played for fun and i've got a lot of it,so i love all tournaments i attend, because every win and lose gave me different feels :) for me more important is competition process and i dont mix it with results. But if we talk about organization level, no doubt ESWC!

In between the popularity of Quake 3's initial span and QuakeLive you had Painkiller & Quake 4 which made it to the international stage...What was your reason for not entering the large numbers of tournaments for each? Is Painkiller not the best game in the world?
Quake3 is my favorite FPS, thats why i play it. I'll not play a game i disliked only because there is a lot of big events. Thats why i didnt play Quake4, but attend events because contract terms,it was pure shit. :)

In the last few years CPL, WSVG & ESWC have all gone bust while WCG hasn't had a deathmatch game for a few years. Are the days of professional DM over? Should Av3k and a like begin learning SC instead?
I dont think Avek is chasing for progaming career,one day with Quake scene gone he will just stop playing.

Before tournaments began to quieten down you won a big LAN tournament and in the process proved Cypher wrong. Did you think of his words (you'll never win a major tournament) after this win? What are your thoughts on cypher? Both as a player and as a person.
As a player: his strategy is pressing with strong positioning rails and rockets, he just have very high % in some locations, after battles in these locations he can easily take control back. But when opponents have same aim, he just dont know what to do... So if you want to compete him,first step fix your aim :)
As a person: nobody if perfect! :)

How come you decided not to attend Quakecon this year?
Since QL beta is open i really wanted to play and prepare to new events, but because in Russia still havent any servers,its too hard to play with 60-70. I mailed few email to ID software,but seems like they just dont care...During my China trip, Chinese server is also not working, so i decide its not my destiny :D

Quakecon is about to start, who do you think will finish top 3 in the 1v1 competition?
QL is also all aim game,so i think all of these players can be in TOP3: avek, cypher, dahang, dkt, fox, rapha, stermy, spartie.

Besides rapha do the Americans stand a chance?
For top3 yes: DAHANG,DKT,GRIFFIN and sure Lost-Cause american steel balls! :) but for top1 they need recall CZM or Z4.

What are your thoughts on the map list? Have you tried some of the newer maps such as House of Decay yet?
I only tried remake of old maps, cant say anything.

CTF has also received an official tournament; what are your thoughts on CTF in QuakeLive and CTF in general?
CTF must be really fun event i also like teamplay, but about QL's CTF cant say nothing.

If there were to be more CTF tournaments in the future could we expect to see you in a squad? Possibly with Cooller?
I think may be with 3ulu4 and only for fun. No more serious events,so no more Coollers! :)

Finally, what are your plans for the next few years? Is retirement anywhere near? What path will Fan Zhibo take once he leaves gaming?
Heh actually i already retired after 2006, since that time i only focused on my work and studies. Now i will prepare for PHD and on future projects, but in the end my path will merge with gaming, coz i like it :)

Quick fire round
CTF, TDM or 1v1: TDM
RL, LG or Rail: RAIL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEtKJ3mgJw - Marks out of 10: -10 what a shitwork?!

The song rocks :( Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Shoutouts?
Thx 2 all Quake community, Razer and all who supported me during all events, it was really nice time, but im not interesting in quake scene anymore. See you and HF! ^^ http://team.razerzone.com/teams/jibo/jibo.php

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