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Gamer Stephanie 'Aurora' Lim plans to make esports her career
The recent Commonwealth Esports Championships (CEC) in Birmingham, the United Kingdom in August saw the Malaysian team led by Stephanie “Aurora” Lim clinch the gold medal in the Dota 2 women’s category.
The team, which also comprised Wong “HG” Wei Sian, Bette “iStarx” Chia, “Nada” Nadrah Saufi and Tan “Shizuma” Lyn Xhin defeated a team from England with a score of 2:0.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, 26-year-old Lim shared how...
The recent Commonwealth Esports Championships (CEC) in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in August saw the Malaysian team led by Stephanie “Aurora” Lim clinch the gold medal in the Dota 2 women’s category.
The team, which also comprised Wong “HG” Wei Sian, Bette “iStarx” Chia, “Nada” Nadrah Saufi and Tan “Shizuma” Lyn Xhin defeated a team from England with a score of 2:0.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, 26-year-old Lim shared how her passion for esports started.
“My friend introduced me to this competitive scene. It all started as casual fun, but as I grew older, I realised I wanted to dive deeper and compete,” she said.
She graduated last year with a degree in animation design but now, being a pro-gamer in esports is her career choice.
“My parents know that I really want this as my career, so they are giving me time. When we (the team) won the CEC, we received a few offers. If all goes well, we will be paid professionals,” said Lim, who became fully immersed in this world last year.
“My university (UCSI) used to hold seasonal tournaments in which I would take part. I was playing with Grills Gaming online. We would take part in all-female tournaments.”
Lim said she has been part of Grills Gaming since 2016 but took a short break when she joined other teams. The present Grills Gaming team was formed in 2022 for the CEC games.
The gaming landscape gets busy around this time of the year.
“I think during the end of the year, it will always be busy, whether it is due to big or small tournaments. During this time there will be elite tournaments. Before that, there will be seasonal tournaments where you compete to get placed.
“The International will take place in October in Singapore,” she said.
The International is an annual world championship tournament for Dota 2. This year’s International will see 20 teams competing for a total prize pool of over US$11 million (RM50 million).
Computer maintenance is key
Upgrading your computer regularly is necessary in the world of esports, said Lim.
“I don’t know much about computers but the most important thing for gamers is graphics cards. If you don’t have an up-to-date one, you will have issues when playing the game. All the lagging and delays will affect our game,” she said.
Esports is a passive sport, but one is still required to stay in shape. Lim said gamers do not usually have regular physical exercise routines.
“We can see that professionals (in other sports) have an exercise routine and adhere to what their nutritionists say. Esports is relatively new. It has only about 10 to 20 years of history. So, it is very hard. You need to use your brain power, but you also need to be healthy.”
She also pointed out that it is not common for teams to have psychologists. However, before the CEC event, there was a team of psychologists on hand to help the team, but they were more used to working with conventional athletes.
“For a long time, I felt I needed therapy to calm myself down and go for the long run.”
Misogyny in esports
Harassment and misogyny are far too common in the world of esports, and many top-ranking female players have voiced out about this problem.
“When I play a game on my own, the game will match me with other players. I don’t know who they are, and I know that most of the time they are men.
“When I use my microphone, and if they recognise that I am a girl, they get all excited and treat me differently. I don’t know if it is outright harassment, but it makes me uncomfortable. I just want to play the game and compete with other players.
“I don’t want the attention I get because I am a girl,” said Lim, who did not want to be singled out because of her gender. However, very often, she is often the only girl in groups like these.
“There is no point in trying to talk to them. As long as the game does not require me to communicate with them, I won’t use my microphone.
“I don’t want unwanted attention. I just want to focus on the game and improve myself. The best way to cope with this situation is to ignore them,” she said.
Concluding, Lim said she may design esports games in the future but for now, she is busy trying to climb the ranks of the professional gaming world.
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