Category: TeleTrip

I was excited to experience Teletrip as a facilitator instead of a player this time by helping out at TeleTrip.

I noticed that in each team there was always a leader that does the shot-calling and a motivator who keeps the team spirit high. All the teams played their hearts out and play with what they had. The better players learned how to play around their team’s weaknesses while less experienced players learned how to play better. This is an invaluable experience as DOTA 2 will only match you with people around your skill level. With this format it really test your skills. I’ve heard many comments from better players that were shocked that the low MMR players played at a higher level.

There were also cases where a better-looking team gets owned by an underdog team. The games were unpredictable you never know who will win. There were games were it was back and forth.

It was amazing to see how the teams regrouped to strategise even after facing a devastating loss, especially Team 6. They lost one-sidedly in their second game and instead of tilting and blaming their teammates, they encouraged each other and had many close games after that bad game. They even manage to take a game off one of the stronger teams in TeleTrip! They truly deserved the 'Most Improved Team' award.

Importance of Communication - I remember when Team 6 played their first few games, they struggled with coordinating badly! By as each game progressed, they started to open up and share whatever information, thoughts or plans they had, even if they were far from perfect. But gradually you see the team make better decisions, not because they had perfect plans, but were simply executing as a team, in both good and bad decisions. Eventually went on to impress us so much and win the most improved award!

Importance of Self-Belief - Personally when I had to play the first game for Team 6, I was full of self-doubt and already wrote the game off as a loss, given that I haven't touch DOTA for years! But through the entire process, my team kept supporting me while talking and drafting as if I was going to play at the expected level. For example, 'If I give u this hero, can u win that hero? What kind of support u need to succeed'. Honestly, I was embarrassed that they believed in me more than I believed in myself. During the match, I manage to let go of whatever self-doubt and tried to play to their expectations, fighting the mid as if I was on an equal level with him. I even managed to kill him!  The quote 'biggest enemy is not the opponent, but ourselves' is really apt.

The Power of Community - I guess this is the thing that struck me the most, that each participant really felt a sense of belonging and cohesion with the people there. Even as they were playing, together or against each other, you could tell they were genuinely having fun and treated each other like family.

I think it’s amazing how creating a platform for a similar hobby/interest can bring together a group of people from different walks of life in a heartbeat. Even if they may have different characters and personalities, it’s pretty awesome seeing that they could come together to communicate and connect over a game. After the matches ended, I observed that some of them had bonded with one another and formed friendships over a day event.

While I was observing the matches, I noticed that the boys displayed sportsmanship, when some of them came over to watch the other teams who were still playing and cheered them on and even gave some tips to help some of the players. Despite being a competition, no one became toxic and competitive towards others in order to win. In fact, a lot of them displayed good and positive attitude towards one another, creating a really nice environment for everyone.

It was nice to see the boys going out of their comfort zone to participate in an event with people that they may or may not know. Having a common interest can really bring people together. Rather than seeing the game as a potential to cause addiction, games can create a platform for people to form connections and go out of their comfort zone.

I found it fun to play with players from different MMR tiers while competing with other teams. Everyone was very keen on playing and were highly engaged during the discussions. It was also fun because despite having a team of low and high MMR players, every team was balanced to the point that we all had an equal fighting chance.

At TeleTrip, I felt that the players gained a different experience of playing in a positive and competitive-like environment, which they can't get from playing pubs at home.

Everyone at TeleTrip was friendly. It's best to join with a friend because you get to have the chance to defeat your friend and boast about it 🙂

Last but not least, I felt that I learnt what DOTA was actually about in the first place: playing with people and having fun.

It's not always easy to find a large group of people who share your interests, especially an activity as isolating as online video games, but good thing that there's always TeleTrip!