The next interview we have to share is one of Parfait, who came in second in the WCG tournament of 2007. You might have seen him posting up educational VODs recently about AoE3.



Myll_Erik -Quite a few people already know who you are - but how about some background info about yourself?

Parfait -My name's Raghav, I'm 17, live in the US and will finish high school this year. I plan on attending college, not sure where yet.

Myll_Erik -A few small questions -

Favorite map? Great Plains
Favorite HC card? 9 skirm/3 uhlan
Favorite unit? Petard
Favorite mercenary? Hackappels
Favorite Strategy? Both forward build, fight over the middle in the second age
Favorite TV show? Scrubs
Favorite drink? Coke
Favorite food? Chinese take-out
Favorite movie? The Rock ('96)
Favorite color? Green
Favorite sport (practice and watching)? Basketball

Myll_Erik - Whats the history behind your nickname?

Parfait -I make Parfaits at home and they're delicious.

Myll_Erik -How did you first get hooked on the AoE series?

Parfait -I bought the original Age of Empires when I was a little kid and played every successive title in the series. I started playing online in AoM.

Myll_Erik - What keeps you playing AoE?

Parfait -WCG. AoE3 is a fun game and certainly one of the best RTS on the market right now (especially with patch 1.01), but I find BF2, L2, CS, WC3, and many other games to be more fun. Personal preference, that's all.

Myll_Erik - What best describes your play style?

Parfait -Aggressive and detail-oriented. I don't enjoy playing defensively and will attack at every opportunity. WCG selected very open, aggressive maps last year and that made the game play much better, except unfortunately it was mainly Dutch wars.

Myll_Erik - What do you think about the current state of AoE3? (Balance/Community Wise)

Parfait -Well, I worked on Patch 1.01 as part of the ES8 and feel that its balance will be the best the Age series has ever seen.

Community wise, not sure. I have very few ties in the community as most of my old friends have left, so I can't say I could form an objective opinion on the state of the community.

One thing I have noted is how tight-knit the Age community is. If you jump onto AgeSanctuary and post a new thread, just about everyone will read it – from the best players in the world to the not so much. I can't imagine some random WC3 player putting up a new thread somewhere and having Grubby, Moon, Lucifer, and Sky all take a look at it and possibly comment on it. It's one of the great things about having a small community, but I would still prefer a larger one.

Myll_Erik -If you can change 2 things about AoE3 - what would they be?

Parfait –
1 – harder counter system. I would love to see units get destroyed by their counters. People will read this and chew out the ES8 for not boosting xbows enough, but due to limitations in design the 2nd age counter circle is not meant to counter as hard as the 3rd age circle. Anyway, don't you think experts do want a harder counter circle throughout? Harder counters = micro is more important = better players benefit more. The problem is that adjusting one unit significantly requires adjusting another unit and then another and another; it requires too much testing time, and wouldn't fit into the design parameters regardless.

2 – defensive play weakened. Playing defensively is too beneficial and dull. It's true that defensive play exists in all RTS, but in WC3 turtling means you lose creeps while in SC you lose expansions and get dropped like there's no tomorrow, so you have to play as well, if not better, than your opponent to win after having lost map control. In Age3 you often actually benefit from sitting behind your TC, particularly when you still have your starting resources.


Myll_Erik -Your Favorite RTS game and why?

Parfait -AoM. It was the most original game in the series and had a ton of very cool features, and personally I found it to be the funnest game in the series along with Age1. It really exemplified the idea that cool newbie features in an RTS, like myth units and god powers, didn't have to detract from the hardcore multi-player elements. Granted, it wasn't implemented super well, but it still showed that with proper multi-player support it could be possible.

Myll_Erik -Whats your favorite Civ and why?

Parfait -Thor in AoT. Aggressive, versatile, and effective when used right.

Myll_Erik -What do you think about SC2? Its implications on AoE?

Parfait -SC2 will be a great game, however the more I read about it the more I doubt that SC2 will be the “real deal” professional video game we've all been waiting for to revolutionize eSports. Leveling units, overuse of special effects, MBS, automine, compromising multi-player elements to put in “cool looking units” - all good ways to kill a game competitively. Undoubtedly, the only place SC1 could still be played competitively is Korea; big sponsors in the US/Europe will only put up huge money tournaments (and there will be lots) for SC2 and leave SC1 in the dust. Blizzard has a pretty solid track record, however, and the few guys who have playtested the game say the skill ceiling is very high, so I'm still hopeful.

I think the Age series will benefit. Besides WCG, Age3 has a very limited competitive environment with a huge casual gamer base. SC2 will bring in new casual gamers to the RTS scene, which should be good news for all other major RTS franchises.

Myll_Erik -What other games do you play? Console or PC

Parfait -Console mainly, SSB:B is awesome. Looking forward to MK, BK3, HW and several others; I'll buy a PS3 when FFXIII comes out. Fallout 3 for the PC also looks promising.

Myll_Erik -What are your real life aspirations?

Parfait -I'd like to get a degree in information science and work with computers and electronics for a long, long time.


Myll_Erik -Whats your ideal life? Job?

Parfait -Not sure.

Myll_Erik -Italian food or Chinese?

Parfait -Chinese!

Myll_Erik -Who’s your biggest rival? Why?

Parfait -MrMilo. We practice together a lot and know how the other plays, so playing against each other at WCG will be pretty intense.

Myll_Erik -WCG 2008? Your thoughts - Predict the finals!

Parfait -WCG 2008 is going to be amazing. More countries getting involved, more LAN events for Age3 players, lots of money and trips – it's going to be crazy fun. No idea on predictions, it depends on who ends up going. It's certainly going to be surprising for a lot of people, as I think many in the community overemphasize PR/ELO and don't take into account the effect of playing on LAN.

Braidon will do well, if he goes. I think he's underrated.

Myll_Erik -What about AoE4? Halo Wars?

Parfait -AoE4 will be awesome. I really think Ensemble is going to pull out all the stops and make it the best Age game ever. I think they have enough experience with AoK, AoM and Age3 to realize what works and what doesn't, combine that with the solid guys they got working over there and I think it will turn out to be a really good game.

HW, not sure. On the one hand I imagine it could be a really competitive, super popular game that could revolutionize RTS on the console by matching up a huge fan base (Halo series) with solid multi-player design. On the other hand, I'm afraid it could turn into a giant gimmick that is cool for Halo fans for the first few weeks and then gets boring. I hope for the first choice, and will buy it regardless.

Myll_Erik -Do you have a favorite Rec Game? (Link would be awesome)

Parfait -Any one of SalSkA or Zeke's games in AoM.

Myll_Erik -Tell us about your clan? (if you have one)

Parfait -Legion clan - very relaxed and friendly.

Final thoughts – I'd like to mention RTSProfessional.com. They have been putting up VOD instructional guides for CnC3, WC3, and SC for the past few months, and have decided to add an Age3 section! I will be working for them and putting up new guides every week, ranging from instructional how-to's, commentary on rec games, and commentated FPVOD's.

The Age3 section has just started, and Parfait already has 3 VODS that showcase Attack -Move, Scouting/Spying, and a German X-bow Contain. Be sure to visit RTS Professional!