thank you, blizzard arena

hannah cho
Nov 5 · 5 min read

I remember the first time I went to the Blizzard Arena. On March 17, 2018 I parked my car on Bob Hope Drive, walked over to the arena on Alameda Avenue and stood in line. At that time I didn’t know much about competitive Overwatch. I had never heard about Lunatic-Hai’s many accolades, nor did I know that Runaway had been the underdog for the past four seasons of Apex. I didn’t know that the first stage of the inaugural season of the Overwatch League would be the last time Birdring and Rascal would play together. I was ignorant about so many things, but it didn’t matter. I was waiting in line for my first Overwatch League game and I was excited.

When I first walked into the Blizzard Arena, it felt like I was in another world. In a sense, I was. Somehow I had stumbled upon the world of esports and it was like nothing I’ve known before. Watching at home was one thing, seeing and hearing everything was another. It was a lot to take in at once and I didn’t know how people could go to the arena so often. At first it seemed like a sensory overload — the fast pace of the game was disorienting and the sounds and sights were too much for a novice to deal with. But it was beautiful. I don’t think I’m ever going to forget the moment the panels on stage pan over the background of a new map. It’s stunning and incredible.

The first team to get me into competitive Overwatch was the Seoul Dynasty. I have a friend who is a huge fan of ryujehong and I had heard about him since Lunatic-Hai. It was because of him that I started watching the streams and got interested in going to the games. However, the first team I cheered for was the London Spitfire. I watched this team of young boys fight and win against seasoned players, so seeing them win Stage 1 was the topping on the cake. I still vividly remember the moment they defeated the Houston Outlaws and New York Excelsior in one day and emerged victorious. It’s an image that will stay with me forever.

Becoming a London fan was interesting — as one of the only fans who could regularly go to the arena I was always the solitary fan cheering them on. During season one playoffs I remember being the only one wearing light blue in a sea of purple and green. After seeing London beat LA Valiant in the semi-finals, I was filled with emotions — happiness, pride, and a sense of triumph. I had dealt with people saying that London was washed up for two stages and they had proved all of them wrong. With this influx of emotions, everything I had bottled up exploded, and I was immortalized as the ‘crying London fan’.

Then, the inaugural season was over. London had won, I cried again, and I realized I had nothing to do until the next season. To pass the time I started watching streams, translating more often, joining discords and following Contenders. My life started revolving around esports and Overwatch. I made friends online and got closer to my arena friends. There was so much to do and learn during the off-season. I also learned the heartbreak that came with the trades that I couldn’t do anything about. Through all of this, time passed and February 14 rolled around.

The start of a new season meant the start of money leaving my wallet. I was determined to go to more games and get more involved. And that’s exactly what I did. As I went to the arena more often, I bought more jerseys and met more people. I started to make friends with new people and got a lot closer to the ones I made before. I also started cheering on for more teams. From the Hangzhou Spark to San Francisco Shock, I became a so-called “superfan”.

It was amazing to be with people who love the League just as much as I did. We would hang out not only at the arena but also outside as well. Some of my favorite memories from the past two years are the times I’ve spent with my Overwatch League friends. Even with all the ‘paid actor’ hate and the comments I got, I was able to smile and laugh it off with them because they were dealing with the same thing. We were just a group of people who loved Overwatch and nothing could take that away from us.

As I started making more friends, I wanted to get involved in the community. I’m not good at editing videos and I’m not funny, so I started translating. At first, I just translated tweets that I saw and little things here and there. When I started, I didn’t think much of how important translating was. I just did it when my friends asked me to, or someone tweeted something funny. Then, I expanded to Twitch and Discord. When I first saw the words “Thank you for translating!” I felt like there was a reason for me to be in this community, and I knew that this is what I wanted to continue to do. Somehow, people started to rely on me for translations and I had strangers ask me to translate or help them with Korean. It was a new feeling, and it made me want to get better.

Thinking back on these past two years, I realized how much I grew as a person. Through the Overwatch League, I was able to step out of my comfort zone to immerse myself into a new environment. I started using social media to connect to other fans around the world. I’ve met and befriended so many great people and I’ve found a sense of self-worth in the Overwatch community. It’s crazy to think that I never would have felt this way if I didn’t take that first step to go watch the games in person.

Being at the arena was liberating — I could hang out with friends and meet people with the same interests as me without being scared of being judged. Whenever I was there, I could be who I truly was; it became my happy place. Thanks to the arena, I was able to find out what I want to do in the future, and I was even able to take my first steps into esports. For these past two years I’ve called BALA my home, and now that it’s gone, it feels like a little piece of me is gone too. But with 2020 Homestands around the corner, I can tell you with certainty that it’s going to be amazing. And hopefully someone else can have the same experience I did.

hannah cho

Written by

overwatch league fan who writes when inspiration hits