[Issue 58] [Interview] Community Events - A Chat with the Organizers

[Vikingsrallentando 3,058]

 

After a much anticipated launch and a very detailed review of the EN Community Events, it is only appropriate to sit down and meet the few tankers that work on the project. I first reached out to katekizem and xMoneyMaker to get their story on how the events came to be. I found out there are many more persons involved in to projects inception and production. If you are a fan of the Events, take it upon yourself to read the entire interview and it's many perspectives. Enjoy!

 

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Viking: katekizem and xMoneyMaker, thanks for taking the time to do this interview for the Newspaper!

Nik: Hello Vikingsrallentando, thanks for conducting this interview on our Events project :)

Money: Thank you too!

Viking: Of course! Before we get to the details of the events themselves, I'd like to familiarize the audience with the two of you and how you came to this point in your Tanki career. How did each of you find the game and what has kept you playing?

Nik: Well, that's a long story. Sometime in late 2011, my friend first told me about Tanki Online. We started to regularly play the game, and it started to get more and more addictive. I started to build up friendships, and this is what has kept me in the game.

Money: I found this game by my little brother, @iMoneyMaker. He wanted me to try out this game, and I gave it a shot. At first, I wasn't a big fan of this game, from the point I joined a clan, I really started liking this game. Starladder was amazing, entertainment, fun and enjoyable. Main reason I'm still playing is for friends, to have a laugh, timepass, and clan. I really enjoy playing eSports tournaments, recently the clan I've been in "AK" and we came in second place in the MoS tournament, and won Gladiator and Silver paint.

Viking: Very nice. We all get addicted at some point on our journey. What led you to become an event organizer/staff member?

Nik: The journey to this point in my Tanki career is interesting as well. It all started off with the TankiOnlineSpectator project, and the "Helpers vs Players" battles that I got a chance to organize. Soon after that, I got a chance to become a German Community Event Helper, and I, of course, grabbed that chance. After around half a year of helping them, I got the ability to speak from Spectator mode, and from that moment on, I helped with the organization of DE Events. While that was happening, I was already working on translating all the DE Event rules into English, so that we could start doing Events in the English community as well. Until that moment in time, English community had some Facebook events, but they weren't really frequent. So, once Cedric became the new EN CM, he gave me the chance to officially start working on EN Events, and from that moment on, everything we did was a step closer to making these events published - and now, we succeeded that!

Money: I was one the first people to work with on this project "Daily Events". We first met on a German TeamSpeak, where I was in clan called "HZD". I know fluent German, and one day I messaged this person called "katekizem" and found out that I have met him couple years ago, when I was in clan called BFM, and lost to his clan. Since then we were quiet close, he helped me a lot through my Forum Mod Candidate period, along with other friends such as Mia. I decided that I wanted to give something back to him, after couple months of getting to know Nik very well, he started talking about "Daily Events", which he was already involved in the DE community. He wanted to bring it to the EN community. I really liked his ideas, he worked extremely hard, before I even got involved, he already had majority of the stuff ready, and it was just the matter of time of getting accepted by the heads and publishing it. It's a big step up from helping in an Event, to hosting an Event and for that reason I rate Nik. He wanted to make the EN community to come back alive, and needed someone to help him, that someone was obviously the one and the only Moneyyyy ^_^.

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It all started in the German community. I think it is necessary to have a talk with their side of the story to see what events are like and how they came to be what they are now.

 

Viking: I understand both of you work on the DE Events, which are a part of the Cybersport over there, and you also are around on the EN side, could you explain how each of you came to work on the DE project and what it's been like watching the EN start up?

Fabi: I personally became staff around 2.5 years ago as a reporter, which I quit 1.5 years ago because I had no time there anymore.
 

The first event I personally participated in was in January 2015, a Mammoth Rush in which I asked the organizer (German FB admin at that time) if I can be the wasp next time. He added me then as event helper. Around 3 month later I got candidate because of my skill as commentator and organizer (I had already used an unofficial eSport account to help out). At that time the German events were split in Facebook and forum events. After our community manager changed, the admin for the events had to leave and I got promoted as section leader, simply because I was the longest organizer.

We are really happy to see the English events grow up. We tried a long time to start them because of a significant amount of international players who participated in German events. Although, our goal was only to get translations of our rules for the international players.

Torben: For me it was kinda luck. A good friend Flo_BoS asked in Skype if someone would have time to help in "Minehunt". I was online, so I went to help him. This was my first contact with events. It was 16.02.2015 and I asked him how he got his position as an Event helper. He told me to "apply" (with 4 words) in a forum. Without him, I would not even have played in an event. I was accepted and helped as an Event helper for ~ 5 months. Then I got accepted on the cybersport staff. Till now that hasn't changed. :)

How it has been to see the English events grow? Just amazing. First we just wanted a translation for our rules, because of the English players in German events. But the idea to organize events in the English comunity was the best idea I had seen for a long time. Here are so many players, with want to participate. That's like I said just amazing :)

Viking: Seems as if both of you have experienced some luck in your endeavors. In case it wasn't made clear to the readers, what you see in the EN events is derived from the DE events. Could you tell us where the DE events themselves came from?

Torben: I was not really interested in the forum or cybersport until I was an event helper. But as far as I remember the first idea for an event was the tournament "Tankiada". There we got the idea for today's Tanki Race. But "Tankiada" was not the first event called "event". The first German event organized event was "Mammoth Rush", which was organized by our community manager Valery, our cybersport admin Viktor, and the Facebook admin Moritz. After this first event there were two different part of events like Fabi allready said, the forum (organized by Nick - raphi_1001) and the Facebook events (organized by Moritz - miiolo). Together with the event helpers, they created most of today's events. ~3 month after this first event I joined the event helpers.

Fabi: The first official Event was Mammoth Rush at Halloween 2014. This event was held by all communities separately and were designed by the developers. A few months later the German eSport Admin AntiVirus (don't know the correct spelling of his name) decided to create forum events. While the Facebook admin miiolo also decided to create events for Facebook, similar to the English Facebook events. at the beginning the events were more random, not daily. After some months we decided to make daily events, every second day Facebook, the other days forum events.

Then most events where later created by the event team, but some events where created by competitions and players.

Viking: Wow, this is an older project than I thought, and they work really well! Did it take a lot of trial and error when it came to creating these modes? And how did you progress to the current frequency of the events on DE side (which is daily)?

Torben: Before we publish an new event we always test them. And yes it take lot of trail. Therefore we test it :) Normally we write a bunch of rules but while a test we always add some more, change equipment or notice it's not possible to do this regularly. A good example would be "Tanki Football", the plan for this event was made long ago. We tested it several times and changed nearly all rules. At the beginning we wanted to play it with twins, but we decided to use hammer at the end.

The frequency is daily, like you said. That have a simple reason, the German community lives almost in one timezone. Because of that, we organize events only at 20 UTC+2 (our timezone), at the beginning, it wasn't daily and much players forgot the events. They were online at the wrong date. So we simply decided to do events daily, that's easy to recognize. Every day, same time, same place.

Fabi: As Torben already said, there were a lot of trials and feedback from the community helped to improve the events a lot. The only thing I have to correct is the time, it's 6pm UTC+2 ^_^. 8pm or 20 for us, it's not the first time timezones created some troubles for us, sometimes we started an hour or two too early preparing English events.

Currently, we reduced the amount of events per week at German community due to the fact that a large amount of players came from other communities. Another reason was that the German Events got slightly rusty and we want to improve them to create a better experience for everybody.

Viking: Timezones are tricky business, but not in your community. Lastly, which mode do you personally enjoy organizing? Which mode do you think the players like the most?

Torben: In my opinion Minehunt is the best. Yes, it needs some time to prepare this event, and you have to parkour. It`s something different than other events. And that is what I like about it. We can show that it is possible to do things witch were not planed for this game. Who thought tanks would be able to fly? After this first part, the players can join and it`s quite funny to look at them. Trying their best to get on a house. What they are doing with Wasp-Shaft is just amazing.

Fabi: My favorite event to organize is Minehunt, it's really interesting to prepare but also to watch. Especially if whole clans participate which are capable of doing really nice parkour (although the players only can use shaft).
For players, Minehunt is a favorite but I think Save the Gold is going to get the most liked event.
 

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~ Resuming Interview with Nik and Money ~

 

Viking: @Nik: Seems as though you had a gradual introduction to your role, how important was it to help organize the Helper vs Players? What did you learn from that first experience?

Viking: @Money: With your background in clans, had you had any previous experience with planning Tanki related gatherings? If so, how does it relate to your job now?

Nik: The Helpers vs Players event was pretty unexpected to me, it came out of nowhere (since the Project leader became inactive). I learned a lot from the experience, and I am very thankful and happy that it was as it was. It gave me my first impression of Event organizing, and it made me interested into Events even more.

Money: I have been a Leader for a number of months. I know how to organize my time wisely. Clan experience has taught me a lot, not just as a Leader even as members of a clan. Currently, I'm struggling to keep up with Event times, due to University work. I'm in my first year, meaning, I'm new to this environment. Lectures, handing in work ( Assessments on time), helping out, joining societies, is a real pain. Therefore, I do not have much time in playing currently, and nor helping out in Events currently. It will take me couple solid months to get settled in and help out in events regularly.

Viking: I'm in the same situation as a first-year college student, you don't quite know how much time you have until you've been studying a while. We hope you get acclimated well and at your pace. Now to running the events themselves, what would you say is the hardest part about operating them?

Nik: Thank you! Every part of it has its own difficulties. Translations took quite some time, tho I would say getting some decent event helpers, and make them work together was the hardest part.

As all of that was already done, we are facing new difficulties every day. The hardest one is without a doubt managing a group of 20 or more participants, with some having no idea what to do (which is understandable, as we have only just started with the Events). Sometimes that part takes even longer than the event its self, and that is what the whole community will need to work on.

Money: Personally for me the hardest part is timings. At times I finish lectures around 6, 7 or even 8. The times I finish early, I am mostly on different society groups, studying and reviewing what I have learned. Like Nik mentioned, every part has its own difficulty. Lately, I have not contributed a lot to the Events, due to difficulty in times.

Viking: Of course, with new things comes the acclimation period (like after big updates when people freak out). Could you explain the relation to your work and what the helpers do; how do they help you run the events?

Nik: Relation to work? I love it! I enjoy every single second of it, and that is what matters to me personally.

Helpers play a big part in our events, without them, the whole project would not be possible! They are the ones that you are very likely to come across if you will join an event. They are playing the basic roles, that other players do not get a chance to do (let me give you a quick example - they are the ones putting mines by Minehunt, shooting players on Shooting range etc etc.).

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As Nik said, "you are very likely to come across" an event helper. Therefore, it would be rude not to introduce them to you. Meet the helpers!

Viking: What is it like working on the Events project?

Damar: It feels good to help and see other players enjoying the work you do and having lots of fun with it.

Ninja: The job is fun and depends on team work. It's good to see players competing with each other in different exciting challenges. It's a pleasant experience overall.

Lovro: Working on Events project is exciting. It's amazing to see how random people can cooperate as well as competes against each other.

Viking: I can imagine! Is it a good partnership with Nik, Money, and the DE organizers?

Damar: Yes it is, without our organizers, we would be just a mess.

Ninja: Indeed. We work as a team and got each others back.

Lovro: Yes, there is a lot of communication between the organizers, which overcome the difficulties. But as well there is an agreeable friendship between all of us, including the helpers, which allows the events to run smoothly without many mistakes.

Viking: That is nice to hear. One can conclude you enjoy helping the project?

Damar: Yes, for me I enjoy working with the other event helpers more than anything, especially when we have time to mess around with each other.

Ninja: No doubt, I really enjoy helping with the project. The fun part about my job is that I get to meet different players of the community from all over the globe and have some nice time with them.

Lovro: Working on this project is amazing, especially when I see players enjoying the events which I feel happy about. Also, whilst setting up the event, working with my colleagues is just as amazing. We hope to achieve, that in the future, that everyone can experience the fun in participating in the events.

Viking: Enjoy enjoying the events in your company. Lastly, since I've given everyone else the chance, I'd like to ask which event mode is your favorite and which mode do you think is the player's favorite?

Damar: I enjoy "Kill the king" and "mammoth rush" events the most because it's just full of action, as for the players i think their favorite event is "Kill the king" or "Shooting range 2" because they are the ones attacking.

Ninja: I personally like "Kill The King" and "Last Man Standing". As for the players, I guess, they like "Tanki Race Extreme" and "Shooting Range 2" as they don't need to have a lot supplies in order to compete with others.

Lovro: I agree with Damar ''Kill the king'' is the most action packed and fun event that Event helpers and players enjoy the most.

 

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~ Resuming Interview with Nik and Money ~

 

Viking: I bet that is pretty fun to watch people look for your mines or shoot the sitting ducks. As with any new addition to the community, opinions are formed and suggestions are made. What has the response to these events been like? How have their thoughts helped to improve the project?

Nik: As expected, there are some that like, and some that dislike the idea of Events. The majority likes it, so it shows that we are doing the right thing. There are a few issues that all agree need some upgrading - there is only a limited amount of players that can join the event, and normally the connection speed matters. We do know that the "system" we use right now needs updating, but it is hard to find solid solutions for it.

Viking: I can't wait to see how their feedback helps. Lastly, continuing the trend, could you tell us your favorite event mode and which event mode you think is the players favorite?

Nik: That is easy - Minehunt for sure! It was always my favorite one, from the times I was just a player, an event helper, organizer, and even now. As for players, that would be hard to say. One of the most visited are Minehunts, Shooting Ranges, and Tanki Races, but each player has his own taste, so we'll leave that decision up to them.

Viking: You hear that tankers, you have to decide! I've had a blast talking with you guys about the community events, do you have any final thoughts to close out the interview?

Nik: Thank you for having me here! It was fun to answer your questions, think back in the history a bit, and remember how all of this hard work is starting to pay off. I would also like to thank all the participants for making this possible, there would be no events without them!

Special thanks also goes to Damn_Slow and Cedric Debono, they are always ready to help us out!

 

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You have probably asked, why aren't the events organized within the eSports? I asked the eSports admin what he thinks of the separation between the two.

Viking: Do you think the Events compliment the eSports section well?

Damn_Slow: I don't think it complements eSports, I just think it is a thing of its own.

The game has a huge diversity in what it can offer to its most loyal and fervent players. They are the ones who attend events of all kinds. Community Events is primarily targeted at them and gives them a chance to get something extra, thus rewarding their support to the game and community.

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Before we sign of this interview exposé on the community events, I'd like to share Cedric Debono's thoughts on the recent addition of the events to the community. Straight from the CM to you.

Viking: From the CM perspective, what kind of potential did you see in the events? And now that they are here, what is their impact?

Cedric Debono: Events are fun, that's the bottom line. From a purely "business perspective", they don't do much in reality. Because of the obvious limitations, the number of participants will always be a drop in the water, no matter how many we organize. But even though Tanki as a business doesn't get any real benefit from them, Events were one of the very first things I wanted to bring back to the community (even though it took a while for it to actually happen). And this is because they're just so much fun for the few people who manage to get in. I'd love to have many times the resources that we have, so as to enable a huge portion of the community to participate. But as it is, we'll have to content ourselves with what our dedicated team of event helpers manages to pull off with their limited time and energy. And I do believe they're doing a great job.

 

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There you have it! The EN Community Events are a great new addition to the the plethora of different things to do in the Tanki world. While some say there is room for improvement, I'd say they are off to a great start. I hope a look into the many perspectives displayed here today gives you some useful insight into who puts on the events that you enjoy.

 

Edited November 16, 2016 by Vikingsrallentando

[Anee 58]

Really Nice we want see more about En_event_6 and all

[Electra 733]

Interesting interview!

Edited November 6, 2016 by Electra

[bc200214_777 582]

Very nice :)

[Torben_BoS 1,496]

Good job! :wub: