Interview with RevaN: "This isn't a hobby anymore"

Today I had the opportunity to begin my tenure at Team Dignitas by interviewing one of todays most reputable players within the Modern Warfare scene, that player of course being none other than John "RevaN" Boble. RevaN made his LAN debut back on Black Ops when he attended the Gamestop Finals with Team Fear, one of the most formidable forces within the call of duty community.

Since then RevaN has continued to compete amongst the elite on call of duty and has represented many top teams, most notably being IcoNs, IXI and more recently apeX. Below you will find an in-depth interview with RevaN as I question him on just about everything gaming related.

 

Have you always been an avid gamer? When were you first introduced to gaming and how did these transcend into playing competitively?

RevaN: Yeah, I've been playing video games since I can walk. I started out on the sega genesis and slowly transitioned into the gameboy color, Nintendo 64 and so on. I started playing competitively when my brother introduced me to a game called Half Life 2: Deathmatch. I was around 13 years old at the time. I picked up the game rather quickly and became quite good as I practied a lot. I joined a team and started competing. After that, I moved onto console started with the Halo games. Once Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare hit the shelves, I was instantly hooked and I've been playing Call Of Duty ever since.

 

RevaN competing at UMG Chicago 

 

How did you get introduced into competing on the call of duty series? When you first started competing, did you imagine that things would reach the heights of today? Did you think you'd still be competing four years on?

RevaN: I was introduced into the competitive Call Of Duty scene by my friends from school. They showed me Gamebattles and I started playing with them. I soon found out that I was quite a bit better than them, so I left for better teams. Soon the MLG Pro Circuit Ladders were released and I started to play on those. That's when reality hit me that I was actually pretty bad at the game. It only made me practice harder and I wanted to become a top player.

When I first started competing, I did not think it would reach the levels it would today. Back then, it was just a hobby for me. Just something that I enjoyed to do in my free time. Today, some of my good friends are making a living off of this which is amazing and certainly something I wish I could do.

I don't know how long I will be competing for. Unfortunately in order for me to continue doing this, I need to be making some sort of return on my investment for all the hours and days I've put into this. Right now, I'm only started to break even with my expenses. I can't continue to play as I need to start thinking about my future. I think Black Ops 2 will be my last days of competing, unless I'm able to sustain a living off of playing. But, only time will tell and I'm trying my best to make it happen.

 

So when did you first make the move from online to playing at LAN, and how did that go for you? What about your family and friends, have they always been supportive of your gaming?

RevaN: My first ever LAN event was Gamestop Finals for Black Ops, back when I was on Team FeaR. It was a big stage for me to play on and unfortunately we came up short of the win. It was a great experience no doubt, but that ultimately led to me being dropped from the team, which quite frankly, sucked. However, I went on to attend all of MLG's events after that and did okay.

Obviously, I prefer LAN over online and it's just awesome to meet all of the people who I've been playing with online for so long.
My parents and family have always been supportive of me. Without them, I wouldn't be able to attend any events. We pay for my travels together, since I was never sponsored for any of my travels, and I can't thank them enough for that.

We also share the same concerns about school and gaming. Obviously school comes first, since I can't make a living off of playing video games right now, and we've agreed that if I don't make a certain amount next year for Black Ops 2, that it's better if I stop all together as it's not constructive to my future plans. My friends always saw it as a waste of time and this has caused us to grow apart, but some do think it's cool that I get to travel all over the world to compete.

 

Being dropped from FeaR must of been a massive blow, do you believe you've made good progression since then? Do you have any regrets in your call of duty career, given the chance would you have done anything differently?
RevaN: I think I've made okay progression. FeaR was the team that gave me a shot, so the only person I can blame for being dropped is myself. I had a lot of fun on that team it was a blast being able to team with such great players. Since then, I really have done much. I've yet to win a major LAN event which is something I really would like to do. I just wish I had the opportunity to do more, but every opportunity I get it seems that it's my fault that it falls through.

My only regret? I'm not sure I have any regrets. Everything I do is for a reason and I wouldn't change anything I've done. I just wish I was a top player. All the teams I've been released from was because I wasn't good enough. That's the only thing I would change, but change like that takes time. You need to invest more hours in order to get better. But with school and sports and other obligations, I don't have those hours to invest.

 

Does your success in commentating reconcile for where you've fallen short in competing yourself? If you could no longer commit the time to competing, would you still consider commentating and attempt to further yourself in that field?

RevaN: I don't think so at all. If you think about it, I'm never going to be someones first choice when they're looking for a commentator. Everybody is going to go after Fwiz, Hastr0 or Goldenboy. I'm only chosen when the event being casted is too small for the bigger names to do it. I don't think I'll commentate after I'm done playing for that sole reason. I just don't see myself being a decent commentator or even being asked to do an event.

 

Moving on to more recent times. You've just attended UMG Chicago, how did the event go for you and your team? Do you have any other events on the horizon before Black Ops 2?

RevaN: The event went alright, it could have been better. We ended up placing 4th which isn't in the money so it's just a pointless placing. We only lost to 1 team the whole event. I think it was more disappointing for me than the rest of my team. My next LAN event is the ProAM being hosted by Local Battles and coordinated by Goldenboy. I have high hopes for the event and think my team will be tough to beat.

 

RevaN representing Death Wish at UMG Chicago

 

What can you tell us about the ProAM event?
RevaN: The event is in around 2 weeks time, it's set to take place September 8th I believe. It's going to be a completely different roster. The event itself is to promote some of the "Amateur" players in the community. With that concept in mind, there were 16 "Pro" captains chosen and we were required to find 3 unknown players in the community and compete with them. I honestly do not know who the biggest competition will be, since most of the players are pretty much unknown.

 

Will you be attending any more events with Death Wish for MW3? Also what's your plans for BO2, will you be sticking with the same team?

RevaN: I really have no reason to leave Death Wish, I plan on staying with them for the rest of Mw3. I'm not sure what Black Ops 2 with hold for me. I'll have to talk it over with the team and decide what's best for us there. But as of now, I have no desire of parting ways with them.

 

Did you tune in to Gamescom at all last week? What's your verdict on BO2 so far? Do you think this could be the biggest call of duty title yet with regards to esports?

RevaN: I watched quite a bit of Gamescom. The game itself looks very promising. Personally, my favorite aspect is the CoDCasting. That looks really interested and I can't wait to try it out. The maps also seemed very good and symmetrical. Of course there are going to be things that need to be removed from the ruleset, but for the most bar it should seem competitive out of the box which is something Call of Duty has never had. The developer really supports up, which makes me think that Call of Duty will finally have it's spot in eSports. I think it will be the biggest Call Of Duty title to date, in regards to competitive.

 

With rumours of a stream feature being included as well as the ability to record and commentate over clips before directly uploading to youtube, do you think we'll see alot of new players taking a step into competitive play? Especially with the new 'league play', surely the players at the top would want to then further themselves on the eSports front. What about you personally, do you have any goals on Black Ops 2 and do you believe they are achievable?

RevaN: I don't think the streaming feature itself will be that big, personally. I think the league play is a huge step up. If the league play is able to adapt to our rule sets, then it will be successful. And I think the developers will make that happen accordingly. My goal for this game is to make a living off of it. I NEED to win enough or earn enough money so I can sustain a living so I can continue doing this.

 

Team Prophecy playing Black Ops 2 at Gamescom (Source - decerto.net)

 

What's your opinions on the European community? Throughout Modern Warfare 3, the top NA teams have had the opportunity to integrate with the Europeans and also attend events. Do you think the European teams will be alot more organised and prepared come BO2, and do you think they could potentially cause some damage at an MLG event? What about yourself, do you have aspirations to attend an event in Europe?

RevaN: I absolutely love the EU community. They work so well together, on Decerto. Just having a place to congregate together is awesome. I think the EU players are starting to take the game a bit more serious, which is good to see. This isn't a hobby anymore. People can make careers and jobs out of this. I think it's hard for either scene to do damage at each other's events. NA teams have had more success this year, but there are a lot of variables to take in count. Jetlag, atmosphere, lots of things that could affect how you place.

I really, really want to attend an EU event. I have so many friends over there that I just want to meet. I had to opportunity to attend one with Collapse, but I just wasn't good enough to remain on the team. But I just want to attend one before I retire.

 

What would you say the main difference is between the two communities? The EU players are known for their enthusiasm and 'trash talk', what's your opinions on that?

RevaN: I think one of the main differences between the communities is that the NA players tend to take things a bit more serious that the EU players. Also, the playstyles. NA teams play a lot smarter than EU players, but they're starting to catch on. Overall, I think the EU community is better. There's more funding, more organizations and more support for the game. It's us that need to do some catching up.

In regards to the trash talk, it's part of the game and I love it. It adds a lot to the atmosphere, but it's regulated at events over here.

 

Quickfire Round 

If you could team with any three players from NA and EU, who would you team with?

RevaN: BigTymer, Foreplayy and Gunshy

 

Favourite call of duty title to date?

RevaN: Call of Duty: Black Ops

 

If you could pick one title from your childhood to be re-released and played competitively, what would it be?

RevaN: Halo 2

 

Top five cod teams right now?

RevaN: OpTic, Collapse, TCM, FeaR, nV in no order.

 

Is there anything else you would like to add? Do you have any shoutouts?

RevaN: Thank you to apeX for allowing me to represent their organization and all of their sponsors; Razer, Squid Grip,Gam3r Glov3s, Priority Pixel. Also to my current team Death Wish, Jamez, Burns and Sidroc.
And also to you for doing this interview with me

 

Be sure to check out myself @TheHatchetManEU and @apeX_RevaN on twitter!