There are certain patterns and levels in people that you can pick up on if you're a good player. And when you start picking those up, then you almost know what he is going to do next even before he's even doing it. There's also the fear factor. You always fear the unknown, and so you don't really know what to expect next. So people you haven't played before, or people you haven't seen play before, are definitely a lot more difficult to play.

SIMS: Do you find your name Thresh, which is pretty well known in the Quake community, intimidates other players when you get online?

"There are certain patterns and levels in people that you can pick up on if you're a good player. And when you start picking those up, then you almost know what he is going to do next even before he's even doing it."

THRESH: I think it does give me a little bit of an edge as far as other people being a little on the nervous side just because they are playing me. But I think that's more just my name more than me.

SIMS: You said practice was important and when you were getting good at Quake. How much time did you spend playing?
THRESH: I think that it takes a good two to three hours a day when you are trying to get to the top of your level. Nowadays, I play maybe an hour, or sometimes not at all.

SIMS: Did it cut into other things that you wanted to do?
THRESH: Playing Quake really didn't cut into my real life, so to speak. I played it really late at night, like after midnight or so. Other than just staying up late, I don't think it really affected me hanging out with my friends or doing my own work or whatever.

SIMS: So maybe it affected your health more than your social life?
THRESH: Yeah, I guess that's it. C O N T I N U E D . . . 2 of 2
SIMS: Were people skeptical when you were spending all this time playing Quake?

"My parents were a little skeptical ... then when I won the Ferrari, last year, it was pretty much, 'Do whatever you want now.'"

THRESH: My parents were a little skeptical, just because I could have spent my time doing something else. You know, you can always study more. After I won my first tournament in Doom, then they were like, "You know, that's OK." And then when I won the Ferrari, last year, it was pretty much, "Do whatever you want now."

SIMS: That made a few believers, huh?
THRESH: Sure.

SIMS: How does your Quake-playing tie into your day job?
THRESH: I work at a company called Gamer's Extreme. We have a Website that's devoted to strategy guides, multiplayer strategies, and hardware and we have a search engine. The company deals with games and obviously that's where they use me.

SIMS: And you are a strategy expert for them?
THRESH: Yes.

SIMS: So gaming was your introduction to the Internet?
THRESH: Yeah, more or less.

SIMS: What did you think the first time you were playing a game and there were actually other people playing, who you couldn't see and weren't in the room with you?

"Then Doom came along and then I was hooked from then on."

THRESH: The first time I actually played with someone else on the computer, I believe was on a MUD [Multi-User Dimension]. A MUD is like a text-based Dungeons and Dragons-type, fully text game you can play on the Internet. You can have a bunch of people playing at a time from everywhere. It's a really simple game, and you can chat with people and you can do all sorts of stuff like that. That's probably the first time I actually interacted with someone else on the Internet.

Then Doom came along and then I was hooked from then on.