Hi Toby, thanks for taking some time off to have an interview with us today. For starters, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me. Most people know me as TobiWanKenobi from Gamestah, a community-based shoutcasting group down in Australia. I am a DotA E-sports commentator (shoutcaster). I have covered nummerous events like the Asian DotA Championship, European DotA Championship, Pick League, Cybergamer, Gosucup, Farm4Fame, Bored Aussie and more. I have also been lucky enough to have flown to cover LAN's in Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and of course various parts of Australia.

Who is TobiWanKenobi outside of shoutcasting?
Outside of the world of shoutcasting is a very...random life. I am a qualified childcare worker and was a primary school teacher but I gave that up to pursue a career in shoutcasting. Currently, I have a day job in a games retailer store in Australia where I can stay close to my passion for gaming no matter if I am at home or working. Apart from that, commentating takes up almost all my spare time so cricket and indoor soccer have had to take a back seat. I also used to be heavily involved in theatre but times these days only let me go down to the pub with my mates and fire up the karaoke!

With so many shoutcasts under your belt, which one was by far the most memorable and why?
That is a very hard question to answer, and it would be impossible for me to state just one that blew my mind. There would have to be two which would probably be landmark shoutcasts in my mind, and funnily enough they were both shoutcasts from LAN's. The first would be from CyberFusion 2009 in Malaysia where Kingsurf was going up against Mineski in a 65-minute match. Mineski took down 2 raxes but Kingsurf was able to come back from behind and seal the win after several failed pushes and mistakes. The second would have to be during the most recent LAN I was lucky enough to attend, the SMM Grand National DotA Tournament 2009, where we saw Poker Idol going up against Avava in an intense 75-minute battle. Yes, there was of course a lot of SMM-style farming, but overall it was a balanced game which could have gone either way. This goes to show how easily control shifts in a game of DotA in just one team fight or a well executed strategy. Those would have to be the most memorable shoutcasts with the main reason being the epicness of the games and the feeling of the crowd that will never leave me. There have been many stunning games we have casted online as well, but the two I mentioned took the cake. It is events like these that I could not forget the details even if I tried. It's like the first kiss, first time having sex, and first DotA shoutcast.

TobiWanKenobi in SMM Grand Finals

You have been known to shoutcast several other games besides DotA on a regular basis. Are they all equally fun to work on or is there a stand-out favourite for you?
There will always be favourite games that a shoutcaster will like more than others, probably the best comparison is that shoutcasting is like icecream that tastes so good but each flavour (game) will tickle the taste buds more than others. DotA for me is possibly my valium, but my original casting days and the reflex casting feelings might always be in the first person shooters. As most people may not be aware, I first started shoutcasting back in 2007 for Call of Duty: United Offensive continued to do so for almost a year until late 2008 - 2009 when I fell in love with DotA. I then decided to help the Australian DotA community by bringing live shoutcasts and matches into people's homes, but I was not sure then if I was to be pulled into the global world of DotA.

As professional matches can take place anywhere and at any time, how do you deal with the irregular working hours?
You are right about irregular work hours, my standard day at my day job will be 9:00 am and ends at 5:30 pm. Considering most international matches will run from 2:00 am until 5:30 am my time, days with no sleep have become a constant fixture in my life. However, after so many shoutcasts I have gotten better at managing my sleeping patterns, and fully utilising my days off.

Working as a professional shoutcaster usually includes a lot of travelling to LAN events and offline tournaments which can be very far away from home. How does that affect your personal life?
Ah yes, the good old personal life, this is the point you say, "yes ladies he is still available". I have had a consistant string of girlfriends who thought they could handle the life I lead, and here I am back in the sea. But I will always have my life size drow that I brought home from SMM which I think there is a picture of that on the MYM website next to me and ReiN. I think the main thing which affects my life is the fact that I am not technically a professional shoutcaster, working my day job to pay the bills and then coming home and working for Gamestah. For those people out there who have worked two full-time jobs before, they will know how hard it is to maintain a stable perspective on life.

Do you see yourself shoutcasting in the years to come or are you contemplating advancement to another professional craft in the future?
I see myself shoutcasting until the day when I am no longer able to speak. For me shoutcasting should be a professional craft, and as the E-sports world develops I hope to be there supporting the media department through my work in commentating and bringing the world of E-sports to the homes of all families.

From your own viewpoint, how would you compare commentators in E-sports and other widely followed sports such as football or cricket?
We are very similar. A good E-sports commentator would have come from the competitive community. For instance, his cricket commentator counterpart would also have played the game at some professional level. Our commentating approach is very similar in the end, we are both casting a sport, ours is just electronic. This allows us to do a lot more, as the electronic world can take us to places that the real world is not capable of. More importantly for DotA, the way DotA morphs through the versions is just like the change in the rules of a sports, except that DotA changes can affect the game for good or worse. But still it creates a dynamic and constantly changing competitive world.

As one of our scene’s most seasoned and veteran shoutcasters, how would you advise other aspiring shoutcasters who wish to follow in your footsteps and carve a successful career out of it?
Step 1: Find your inspiration.
Step 2: Find a quality group that supports you e.g. Gamestah.
Step 3: Keeping listening to the community and learn from their feeback.
Most people have the ability to shoutcast, but most people lack the drive to keep doing it, and it is people like them who leave the gaming communities feeling used and abused. It is something I assure people who listen to me that I will keep the content coming as long as you desire it. If you do want to know the secret to being the best shoutcaster, here it is: a shoutcast should be entertaining, focused on the game, and the listener should learn something every shoutcast. If you do that, then you already have the basics to do any shoutcast.

How would you describe the level of maturity shown by the E-sports community based on your observations from past events like Asian World Championships, Cyber Fusion LAN and SMM? The DotA community, in the past, has been heavily criticized for the amount of ‘hateful’ comments in websites, forums, and what not.
All gamers will rage and flame in forums and in games, and not everyone will always get along. The DotA community is no different the fact that it is very huge contributes to the amount of 'hateful' comments. The main events you said were LAN events and what I have discovered from that is that no matter how much rage exists online, when the guys come to a LAN event they are there to play the game, and that is all that matters to them. If you want to look at the online world, I would have to say that the only thing the DotA community would have an issue on is their favourite game not being accepted by the professional E-sports scene like WCG.

Heroes of Newerth as of late has been rising steadily in the scene and more and more DotA players seem ready to convert. What are your personal thoughts on the continuing development of DotA and its future as a competitive spectator sport?
DotA is at a point of very unstable future. HoN has a better engine, more options, bells and whistles, but DotA is a more refined, in-depth game of skills. From a first person shooter perspective, HoN is like spamming while DotA is like bolt-only rifles. The biggest issue at the moment I believe is the fact that DotA continues to develop at a frequent rate. The major reason for DotA not being able to accepted by major groups like WCG is the fact that there is a not a solid base in the game. Counter Strike and Starcraft have not changed much in many years, but DotA will modify every second month. It is hard for organisations to back a game which is not stable. In saying that, even if WCG does not accept DotA, the game will live on for a very long time as there is no other game which gives you the same quality experience. Finding out what the newest project that IceFrog is working on with Valve might influence where we head next. I would not be wrong to say that IceFrog dictates the future of DotA.

What projects are you working on currently and are there any specific events you are looking forward to this year?
The major project I am working on currently is bringing quality to the current video shoutcasts which are provided by Gamestah. Even though my Internet is currently in limbo I have invested in new hardware and software to bring shoutcasting to a more professional level. Starcraft 2 will also be a large focus for me as well (being a Starcraft fan from way back), I am hoping Starcraft 2 will be as popular, if not more, than the original. Even though Korea is the King of Starcraft , I hope through the shoutcasts I (and the others at Gamestah) provides  the rest of the world the opportunity to watch, learn, improve, and make the game globally more competitive. As for events around the world, this year looks to be slightly disappointing. The only event I am confirmed for is SMM 2010 while WCG Asian Championships decided to use local talent instead of Gamestah. No other events have approached us yet so it might be a quiet year on the LAN front.

Finally, let’s move on to some trivial questions:
Favourite food: Trifle
Favourite player: Blackshatan
Favourite shoutcaster: Tosspot
Favourite event: WCG Asian Championships (with SMM close behind)

Thanks for sitting down with us. Last words are yours.
There are too many people to name for shoutouts. I owe a lot to the admins of myMYM, GosuGamers, DotA League, ADC, EDC, Farm 4 Fame… the list would go on forever. Without all those people supporting me I would not have been able to bring you all the coverage that I have over the years. And for the people who have been such loyal listeners, you are the reason I am here... and in the words of Michael Buble: "I am only as good as my audience, and tonight I have been amazing."