First TeleTrip Express Singapore 2018

The first TeleTrip Express Singapore 2018 happened last Saturday on 24 Nov 2018. Excitment filled the air about 15min before 10am when players started streaming into Gam3.Asia. Sat mornings are not easy for gamers, as some of you might know. We are so encouraged and was determined to put in our best for the gamers who came.

We kicked off the day with the Teamwork TeleTalk by Ruth Lim (a.k.a. potatofluff). The TeleTalk gives the understanding and premise of teamwork for the TeleMatch that follows for the whole day.

From Strangers to Teams

At the start of Teletrip Express, most of the players were shy and afraid to share their thoughts and ideas. This was partly because many of them are strangers and partly because they felt they were not good enough.

During the breaks between games, the players were encouraged to contribute their perspectives as they might be a great value to their team. The most important thing is that they do their best and trust their team to have their backs.

Their progress within a day was astonishing. Even though the teams had players of different ages and skill gaps (from beginners to veterans), they were playing head-to-head and games were really intense and exciting. The youngest player (aged 14) stepped up, leading his older teammates to victory! Perhaps you can try to guess who is the 14-year-old player of the winning team from the photo below.

It was amazing to see how everyone opened up to each other, discussing strategies and encouraging each other. Everyone gave their input and the leaders provided their respective teams with good directions. This was a huge contrast to the initial first game they played which was full of uncertainty. Great job everyone!!

Prize Presentation and Pizza Party

We had five TeleTrip Express winner tags for the winning team as we did previously. This time round, instead “Rampage Achiever”, we gave an award to “Best Support”. Besides the winner tags, the winning team brought home the hand drawn postcards by Botjira and the high-treasured Dota 2 figurines. We also had three prizes: a SCOGA Esports T-shirt, a mousepad and a mouse for correct answers to a quiz.

It was hard to say goodbye so much so that the staff at Gam3.Asia had to “chase” us out so that they can clear and close the area. Appreciate your kind patience the staff at Gam3.Asia. Some continued to game at home till past midnight through Discord. Till we meet and play again in person… meantime, online works too!

Highlights

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What would you do in a Bo3 series when it's the first time knowing and playing with your teammates against a cheese-strat team ?? . . . #FBF to #TeleTrip Express last November, I remembered Team 3 who had cheesy Warlock+Grimstroke+Global Ulti strat. I loved their enthusiasm and how they got so engrossed discussing cheesier strats to execute even though it's the first time they've met. . It was interesting to watch Team 3 against Team 1 because the latter's team was the total opposite: shy and unsure of their draft. Expectedly, Team 3 won in the practice and first Bo1 match. .
During the break, I went over to Team 1 and asked about their situation. Immediately, I noticed that the player who is most comfortable playing carry was playing support instead, and immediately asked her about it. . She explained that she hasn't been playing DOTA for a long while and was afraid that she won't do a good job as a carry, knowing it's a resource-demanding role. . The team's response towards her confession was pleasantly encouraging and sweet. . Instead of blaming each other, the team refocused on what they could do and how to make each other comfortable. For example, the versatile teammate offered to swap roles so that she could play her comfort role while the mid player did his best to buy time for her to farm up and fight whenever she feels ready. The remaining two teammates took up the reporting role and made sure to respond whenever their carry was in trouble. It was really amazing watching them cover up each other's weaknesses with their own strengths. . Team 1 managed to make a comeback and win with a 2-1 score, proceeding to the finals of TeleMatch ??. The scoreboards of their three games are in the photos (Guess who's Team 1 and Team 3 XD) . Every TeleTrip is always a pleasant surprise, to see how gamers can actually step up as a team and overcome each game despite their ages or skill levels. . Hope that you could join us on TeleTrip Campus NUS on 9 March to experience this
for yourself ?! . . . More info and registration link in profile. It’s open to public! . . . #teletrip #teletripcampus #dota2 #singapore #sgig #campus #gaming #games #pizzaparty

A post shared by SOOS OIO (@soos.oio) on Feb 22, 2019 at 2:05am PST

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What would you do if it's your first time knowing each other and having one of the youngest and least experienced player in your team during a competition? . . . During #teletrip , I remembered Team 2 was quiet and tense during their practice match, as they were still trying to warm up to each other. It ended up with a loss and they knew they had to change the situation or risk the spot in the finals. . Remembering the need to align their goals as a team, they decided to focus on the specific objectives together. Instead of ignoring their youngest player, they encouraged him to focus on the one thing he was confident at, which was reporting the opponent's situation and position. . I remembered their second game, which was an intense one-hour long game. In order to have a higher chance of sieging the opponent's high ground, Team 2 knew that they had to obtain Roshan and Aegis. It was risky as the opponents had global skills to scout them out. . This was when their youngest player shared that the opponents might be nearby and decided to distract them by sacrificing himself so that the team could secure this objective. The rest trusted him and focused on their objectives. . While scouting, he managed to bump into the opponent's mid. Instead of running away, he focused on his objective to distract the enemy and pretended to be lost in the enemy's jungle. During the cat-and-mouse chase, not only did he manage to kill off the mid but also baited two other opponents to chase him. The team managed to secure the objective and that was one of the key factor in the victory of the game. . With team's encouragement and trust for each other, every player was empowered and Team 2 emerged as the winning team! . Every TeleTrip is always a pleasant surprise, to see how gamers can actually step up as a team and overcome each game despite their ages or skill levels. . Hope that you could join us on TeleTrip Campus NUS on 9 March to experience this for yourself! . . . More info and registration link in profile. It’s open to public! . . . #teletrip #teletripcampus #dota2 #singapore #sgig #campus #games #gaming #pizzaparty

A post shared by SOOS OIO (@soos.oio) on Feb 24, 2019 at 6:30am PST

Thank Yous!

Thank you Gam3.Asia and your wonderful team for all the support before and throughout TeleTrip Express. Appreciate Botjira for the beautifully hand-drawn postcards as prizes for the winning team. Kelvin for helping out in many ways and for contribution to the winner prizes from your own collection. Douglas for so willing to help us. Appreciate the support from all our partners, PEZZO, SCOGA, Esports Academy and NYC in making this TeleTrip Express possible. Last but not least, to the gamers who came and made TeleTrip such a fun and memorable day for all of us. =)

Facebook Book Photo Album of TeleTrip Express 2018: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2040760269548472&type=1&l=3e574e77f1

Instastory of TeleTrip Express 2018: https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE4MDAyODkyNTgzMDQ5NDYw/

Details of TeleTrip Express 2018: https://www.soos-oio.com/tele-trip-express-singapore-2018-dota-2/