Interview with Heccu

Hello Heccu! I’m glad you’re giving us this interview. But first, could you give a brief introduction of yourself to the people?

My name is Anastasija, I’m 22 years old and living in Riga, Latvia. I’m studying Microbiology and Biochemistry at the university. So that’s probably the base 🙂

I actually know someone from Riga. He spent a semester abroad in Frankfurt and brought me some Balzams.

Really? That’s cool! Balzams is like the national alcohol here, but I don’t enjoy drinking alcohol that much.

And what are you doing if you are not at the PC?

Not at the PC or in university? Well I guess I’m sleeping or eating? *laughs* Sometimes I will go outside with my friends, but this is all

When did you start gaming and what was your first game?

I used to watch my sister playing SEGA mega drive with her friends. I still have it with some old games. When I went to school there was an internet café and this is where I tried out “American McGee’s Alice”. This was my first ever game. Followed by “Worms”, “Counterstrike” and so on. But the game I spent really a lot of time in was “MU online”. It was very popular in my country.

Which is your favorite genre?

I would probably say MMO and MOBA games. There was some time where I had like 6 raids per week. But when it affected my grades I started spending less time in MMOs 😉

At the moment you are mainly playing Heroes of the Storm. What do you especially like at this game?

I really like that it’s a game that is more based on the teamplay and not the actual skill of a single person. Like DotA2, if you were able to gear up really fast you can jump in like against 5 people. But in Heroes it’s impossible. Maybe except you are playing Johanna. Well, even if you are Johanna *laughs*

Today was the release of Lt. Morales. Have you already played her?

Really? I’ve been sleeping like until now. I didn’t use internet since I went to “Road to Blizzcon” so I was like gone. I totally didn’t notice anything in the world. I haven’t played her on the PTR either. But I’m interested in her anyways. I’m kind of afraid of the 2^nd ulti, the medivac. Imagine you are some squishy mage like Kael or Jaina, staying on your lane, peacefully farming and then BAM the whole team is around you and you are dead.

If you could be a hero from Heroes of theStorm, who would it be?

Probably Jaina. But I’d prefer to be Jaina before the happenings in Theramore, like when she got crazy. Before that she was peaceful.

Why would it be Jaina?

There are two things. I really like her character because she’s really nice and wants to make peace between the Alliance and the Horde. And 2^nd I really like the color blue *laughs*

So, because she has got a blue dress?

*Still laughing* I’ll tell you the truth. I played a little bit of DotA, just to try it. And I played all of the games on Crystal Maiden because she was blue. When I’m new to games, I usually don’t pick known heroes, I pick by color.

Which other games are you playing at the moment?

Mostly Heroes of the Storm. Sometimes I get distracted by other games like “Bioshock” or “Portal”. But I don’t spend a lot of time in there. This is only temporary.

Bioshock is really awesome. I played the first part.

Yes, I played “Bioshock Infinite” and it was really awesome. Then I tried the 1^st one, but it was so dark and different, like a totally different game. And I missed the blue sky :p

You mentioned that you attended the Road to Blizzcon last weekend, how was it

Uhm, amazing! It was really great fun. So many people there and I really like the fact that a lot of people come to this event and they share all the same interest. So if you talk to them, you always got some topics to talk about.

Did you do some cosplay there?

Yes, I was cosplaying Jaina Proudmoore. She’s blue *laughs* and it was the hearthstone version where she has got a skirt, in Heroes of the Storm she has got some trousers. As a cosplayer, so many people want to make a photo with you. I also met Khaldor there and we took a picture together. There was a really funny moment with him. We were just standing and talking and some guy approached us and asked Khaldor, if he is allowed to make a picture with me. Then Khaldor was like “Why are you asking that me and not her?” The answer was “I was thinking that you were her bodyguard.” I was like dying of laughing that moment.

That’s really a funny story! But Khaldor would be a great bodyguard 🙂

That’s true *laughs*

Back to the gaming part! You are streaming your games, when did you start and how did you get there?

I started streaming in March for about two weeks. But then I had some university stuff like exams and reports and stopped. At the end of summer, I resumed streaming like in September. And why, because I don’t like playing games alone. The thing is my friends from league gave Heroes a try but went back. So I had no one to play with anymore 🙁 So I had to find new people and had the idea that I could stream and find people to play with. This is why I make viewer games all the time. I don’t care of losing five games in a row as long as we’re having fun together. If you play alone and lose I can feel the level of salt growing. But if I play with other people I don’t have that feeling and it is way more fun. I’m not a pro gamer and cannot show crazy gameplay, but I can provide fun.

Was there anything special you had to prepare the stream?

Well, first I had to prepare mentally. You probably will not notice that, but I am actually a very quiet and shy person. I am usually that person, which is sitting in the skype call, and does not say a thing. Since I understand that no one will watch me playing quietly, I had to change. Then I thought that my streams need something special or someone special, so I got myself a garden terror. “Terry” as I like to call him is a garden terror that is always next to me while I am streaming. He gets a new leaf for every 10 followers or a donation that the channel gets. He does not have many leaves right now, so you can still see his white boxers with hearts. Since I am studying biology, I find this game with the plant very entertaining *laughs*
I do not run from one person to another saying “follow me”. Sometimes I think that I should, but I keep on advertising my channel passively. For Gamescom I made a shirt with my twitch channel, and for Road to Blizzcon I made a flag with links to my channel and twitter. If people will get interested, they will find me. If not, then not 😉
Usually giveaways attract people to the stream. You could get a skin code for every hots game that you played during Gamescom. Therefore, I farmed. This word describes it perfectly. I farmed codes for the giveaways. Remember the quests in World of Warcraft “Kill 5 boars and get loot”? Well… I played 24 games during a 5-day event, so I got 24 codes. I never asked Blizzard for any help, because I do not think that they will be interested in cooperating right now since my channel is very tiny.

Wow, so you really put some effort in this!

No pain, no gain *laughs*

Do you give your viewers also the opportunity of donations?

Yes, I actually do. But only because there were some people asking for it. This is why I added the donation bar. It was not an intentional part of the stream.

What are the donations for? Pizza, fancy stuff or vacations?

I spend it to make the stream better, on trips to events like Gamescom or Road to Blizzcon and for cosplaying. Well, sometimes it happens that I spend some money on food because I cannot resist some chips or pizza *_*

When are your typical times for streaming?

Usually I stream every working day for like 4-5 hours. The stream starts usually around 2pm and ends approximately around 7pm (GMT). On weekends I usually relax and watch movies or meet with friends. You need some social real life sometimes 😉

Are there any negative things you can tell about being a streaming girl?

Well, there are a lot of trolls out in Azeroth. “My smile is my shield my tongue is my sword”. I’m not a boobie streamer but you usually attract boys. But as long as you don’t feed the trolls, everything is fine. Keep smiling!

From the casual gaming to esports, are you interested in esports in general or maybe trying to get into it by yourself?

I’m really interested in esports! I used to play a lot of league and watched many games. I also went to some LCS (League of Legends) tournament in Cologne in 2013. But I think I’m too old to start my gaming career, so becoming a pro is not an option, I guess. But I can imagine myself as a host, but I would need to get some more experience and knowledge.

Like Nysira or Grubby? She was interviewing people and Grubby went from a pro gamer to the caster chair.

Yes, something like this would be definitely an option. Especially if you used to be a pro like him and switch to the caster part, you have so much knowledge and can do a pretty good job I guess. “Studying” knowledge about games will be difficult if you do not participate on your own

Is there some kind of sexism in the esports scene?

First, I think there is nothing strange in the fact that males are interested in esports more than females. It’s in their nature to compete for things. About sexism: I don’t think the girls don’t get invited into teams because girls seem to be bad gamers. But every pro scene has a lot of drama and now just imagine adding a girl or girls to a team of young boys. This could probably be a living time bomb. Don’t take me wrong, the girls can do a pretty good job in gaming. For example Hafu, she’s such an amazing gamer! Every girl which is successful in the gaming scene is a Joan of Arc to me. I support them but I can also understand why this is not happening so often.

Final part: Anything you want to tell the readers out there? Like “Thanks mum for the PC”?

PS: I like pie! *laughs*

Thank you a lot for the interview! It was really funny and I wish you all the best!

I thank you, too! And if you want to play some Quickmatch, just come over to my stream anytime 🙂