First TeleTrip KL – DOTA 2

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So we came back from Subang, KL Malaysia on Wed late night after 3 days 2 nights of Tele Trip KL – DOTA 2 at Pantheon, an esports center. We started off with a dream of DOTA 2 gamers coming together for trips that is all about DOTA 2. We imagined how fun it will be that everyone in the trip all plays DOTA 2 and thus it is an easy conversation starter where we can make new friends and play the game with people we otherwise would have never met before. So we decided to put out Tele Trip and see how many DOTA 2 players will respond. We were hoping for a minimum of 30 sign ups so that we can book a nice coach, but in the end we had 10 which is perfect for a nice mini bus. So we decided to go ahead. This almost insane idea became a reality for us this week.

Highlights of the First Tele Trip

From the feedback of our trippers, all of them love the DOTA 2 gameplay time they had and also the new friends they made through the trip. We had a bunch of Malaysian friends who came together as a team to come and play with us on the last day. It was great making new friends with Malaysian players! Both having fun playing and making new friends were the objectives of Tele Trip. We wanted gamers to enjoy playing the game together, rather than playing on your own in your own room at home. After some intense gaming, the meals together were key points of bonding where we continued to talk more about the gameplay before and discuss topics about DOTA 2.

Pantheon Esports Center was definitely a highlight for the gamers as it is not just a LAN cafe. Being able to play in the VIP rooms gave much motivation to them and they loved the experience of playing in a team within a private enclosed room. Just want to take this opportunity to thank Pantheon for their generous hospitality. When we had problems with our game accounts with the game server, they troubleshoot to make sure things work. The team switched 10 computers to run the game from hard disk instead of server to minimise the possibility of game interuption. Kudos to the Pantheon team who tirelessly help us beyond their call of duty!  The gamers took a break from DOTA 2 and tried Omni VR gaming as well which was great fun.

With playing together as one of the objectives of the Tele Trip, the mini workshop by Ruth Lim (Potatofluff) is about playing as a team. We split our 10 gamers into two teams, and not everyone in the team knew or played with each other on the same team before. The two teams worked towards the mini friendly match on the last day. The two teams played against each other and the winning Singapore team played against the Malaysian team.

The winning team got winner tags with limited edition DOTA 2 pins to remember their victory in this trip. None of the gamers went home empty handed as we had a goodie bag for each of them too. Each player got a limited edition DOTA 2 card which they had fun exchanging with one another for the characters they like in the goodie bag. On top of that they got a Tele Trip T-shirt, a cute portable speaker and notebook from Informatics and a Predator cap.

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Reflections

The chatter on our ride back from KL to Singapore was a lot more than the ride to KL. All the ten players got to know each other more and there seems to be endless topics and chats they can engage with each other. Through this, we know that the objective of making new friends is definitely achieved. We heard some of them continued playing with each other after the trip!

We were very proud of the players for their attitude and responses. We had problems with the server and some players had their gameplays being interupted several times, an issue which Pantheon had no control over. As frustrating as it can be, all of them did not lose their cool and was patient in working around the issues. The players were also patient to wait for each other so that they can play together. Not simply because this made things easier (of course we are absolutely thankful), but it demonstrated the players’ admirable character, values and priorities beyond gaming. All you trippers deserve a big pat on your back!

We kept the schedule rather loose for this trip as we were uncertain how the players will respond to a more structured and intense schedule. Based on the feedback, almost all is open to a more structured format. We took in the various feedback and will work them in for the next Tele Trip. Below is the FB Photo Album of the trip.

For Tele Trip’s Instastory, you can go to https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17980464211053582/

For Tele Trip’s Facebook Photo Album, you can go to https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2002956593328840&type=1&l=a58002d66f or view the photos below.

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