Community Spotlight: Sarthe
Season of Discovery (SoD) has sparked new interest in Classic WoW for thousands of fans in an impressively short time. Hot on the heels of the SoD Phase 2 launch, we’re delighted to present this Community Spotlight on none other than Classic fan and speed-running expert Sarthe!
Sarthe is a Classic World of Warcraft player and a dedicated DPS main. Throughout Classic, he’s earned multiple world speedrun records and reached #1 in the world on his main class on WarcraftLogs in almost every single phase. Once upon a time, he used to be a DJ, even playing some of the biggest music festivals around like EDC and Lightning in a Bottle. Before the launch of WoW Classic, Sarthe could be found playing mostly Overwatch, where he peaked in the top 500 as a hitscan player.
Read on to learn more about Sarthe’s path to becoming a speed-running expert, his experiences as a Black content creator, how we can all be better allies, and more!
Table of Contents
“I grew up playing competitive soccer and basketball until most of the way through college, and now I do my best to play competitive video games.”
Q-1: Hey! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us today, it’s wonderful having you. First, we’d like to get to know you a little better. Can you please tell us more about yourself?
Sarthe: Hey there! My name is Tyler and I’m from Southern California. My main class in Classic WoW is a Rogue because of its viability in raids and dominance in PVP. In The Burning Crusade, I mained Hunter because it was the most complex class and had the highest skill gap (although there were players using scripts that did the rotation for them). Then in Wrath, I mained a Death Knight; those were all classes I played in the original release of World of Warcraft. I grew up playing competitive soccer and basketball until most of the way through college, and now I do my best to play competitive video games. Outside of WoW, I spend most of my time going to concerts, hanging out with friends, producing music, and lately I’ve been making videos about other games as well.
Q-2: You are a true WoW Classic lover. What is it about Classic that holds your attention so much more than Retail and why?
Sarthe: Classic just has this magic to it. Everything in the world takes real time, like even just getting from one place to another can take 15 minutes. That makes it feel like an actual place that people exist in. So the sense of scale combines perfectly with the social aspects of raiding and World PvP that just drew me in. Classic is a nostalgic place for most gamers and that nostalgia holds true because the game is genuinely so fun! I also love the competitive scene in WoW Classic, which was my favorite aspect of Retail as well. Pushing Mythic+ was by far my favorite part of Retail, and speed-running in Classic feels just like a larger, more social version of that.
Q-3: You had a World Record completion time in ICC, you do speed runs in SoD, and you are a speed-running expert. When did you realize that you wanted to challenge yourself with speed-running?
Sarthe: Classic World of Warcraft raids aren’t necessarily challenging, so the community decided to make a competitive scene by speed-running through the content as fast as possible. My first taste of that was watching a Salad Bakers Naxx world record before Classic came out. Then watching APES, Progress, and Salad Bakers in Phase 1 really got me excited about a competitive scene in WoW Classic. So I decided to join a speed-running guild, but to be honest, my guild wasn’t necessarily competitive enough to be considered a top guild. I spent a lot of my time covering and casting speed-running events until I finally rerolled on EU servers in TBC and joined a top world speed-running guild.
“As for a topic that I think speaks to me in my daily life, I really want people to understand that we can experience different situations in completely different ways…understanding and empathizing with those social situations and educating oneself on systemic racism is probably the most important topic that affects the day-to-day lives of millions of Black people.”
Q-4: February is a very important month as we celebrate Black History Month. What, in your opinion, are necessary topics to be aware of and speak honestly about? What does Black History mean to you?
Sarthe: Within the gaming industry, I think it is increasingly important to continue to grow towards more inclusive environments in general. There is still racism in any gaming community, but it’s getting stomped out for sure, and I just hope that trend continues. As for a topic that I think speaks to me in my daily life, I really want people to understand that we can experience different situations in completely different ways. For example, I’ve been pulled over before while my friends were in the car. My immediate instinct is to cooperate and give the officer no reason to feel threatened, and the immediate reaction of my friends of different heritages is hostility. That’s a very on-the-nose example, but I think that being a minority in any community or environment makes you hyper-aware of what’s going on around you. It shouldn’t have to be that way, but I live in the US, so understanding and empathizing with those social situations and educating oneself on systemic racism is probably the most important topic that affects the day-to-day lives of millions of Black people.
“I think the best thing people can do as allies is simply to shun people who behave in an unsavory manner, but I think that also applies to the way that some people within the gaming industry treat women. There is a lot of hate out there in the world, but there’s significantly more love…”
Q-5: What obstacles do you face as a Black content creator, guide writer, and caster? What can we all do to be better allies?
Sarthe: The WoW Classic scene used to have a history of racism, especially during the Private Server era. Luckily this antiquated way of thinking has gone away for the most part, although it still comes up here and there. So I would say the biggest obstacle as it pertains to being a Black content creator is navigating the space and avoiding members of the community who actively use racial slurs or make racist comments. Again, it is extremely rare, and once you know who those people are, they are easy to avoid outside of the occasional Twitch chatter or YouTube commenter. World of Warcraft is a community about inclusion in my eyes, and I’ve met and made some of my best friends in this game, including another Black content creator, Crix. I think the best thing people can do as allies is simply to shun people who behave in an unsavory manner, but I think that also applies to the way that some people within the gaming industry treat women. There is a lot of hate out there in the world, but there’s significantly more love, and I love the Classic World of Warcraft community.
Q-6: Between creating content, writing, casting, and speed-running, what do you do to keep yourself in balance and stay positive?
Sarthe: It’s important to live a balanced life. That’s why on weekends, I don't usually play any WoW. I spend all my time with my fiance and my friends, and either go out to concerts or find some fun adventure to go on. During the week, I take a break by working out, going on a bike ride, or playing FPS games.
Q-7: Anything goes: What would a perfect Classic WoW season look like for you? What would you add to the game, what would you love to see?
Sarthe: MYTHIC+! If they inherently added a competitive speed-running scene in the game, that would be the dream! For this season specifically, I’m hoping that we see new raids and new challenges at level 60 that keep the magical feeling of the original Vanilla World of Warcraft.
“My proudest moment was probably when I was asked to work with Blizzard before Wrath of the Lich King Classic came out, and they put my face on the Battle.net Launcher for a month! I never thought that I would be able to see my face on the login screen of my favorite game, and I’ll be forever grateful for that.”
Q-8: What does being a member of the World of Warcraft community mean to you, and what are some of your favorite memories or experiences you’ve had as a part of this community?
Sarthe: I grew up playing WoW. Back when I was a kid it wasn’t socially acceptable in a Black family, so I didn’t really tell anyone outside of my close friends, but WoW was the first game that I truly fell in love with. As any WoW player knows, the game is addicting and even if you quit for a few years, you always come back. My proudest moment was probably when I was asked to work with Blizzard before Wrath of the Lich King Classic came out, and they put my face on the Battle.net Launcher for a month! I never thought that I would be able to see my face on the login screen of my favorite game, and I’ll be forever grateful for that.
Q-9: Do you have any playlists or special songs that you would love to share with us? Which songs get you really hyped? Which songs pump you up when the competition gets serious and heated?
Sarthe: My guild None of the Above has a few songs that we used to always play when getting new world records, so this is my speedrunning playlist! Enjoy!
Q-10: Are there any other closing thoughts you’d like to share with us today? What do you have in store for 2024?
Sarthe: I just want to say thank you to Raider.IO for giving me this opportunity to be a positive figure in the community this month. I am so excited about all the love that Classic WoW is getting right now, and I want anyone to know that it’s never too late to start playing the game. The Classic Dev team has poured their heart and soul into Season of Discovery, and it’s possibly the most fun I’ve had while gaming since the actual release of Vanilla World of Warcraft. I just hope they stop nerfing hunters…again…and again…and again…! Oh, and shout out to Crix and Chase DeMoor, my LSG brothers!
Links
- Find Sarthe on Raider.IO
- Follow Sarthe on Twitch
- Follow Sarthe on Twitter
- Subscribe to Sarthe on YouTube
About the Author
Picco is an old-fashioned WoW gamer that started back in Vanilla and has played ever since. She is a healer by heart and is currently maining Restoration Druid. She loves Mythic+ and has a great passion for events like the MDI and TGP. Picco is part of the KeystoneMasters team and enjoys jiggling around with ideas for fun new formats of community tournaments. She is also a Mod for several streamers and guilds, particularly during the RWF. Outside of WoW, Picco is a Sprout in FF14, where she explores with her Lala Summoner.
About the Editor
Gogogadgetkat has been playing WoW since late BC, and has been the GM of her guild Propaganda since its creation in 2014. As a career healer, Kat has a number of CEs and old-school heroic kills under her belt, all on a variety of healing classes and specs—she’s a serial altoholic! In addition to Mythic raiding and a little Mythic+, creating safe, inclusive spaces in gaming is her longtime passion; Kat has been an admin for the Perky Pugs community since late BfA, and is also a founding council member and the community manager for the DEIBAJ initiative Women in Warcraft. She is excited to bring her wealth of experience and love of writing to the Raider.IO team.
