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OLADUSHEK
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MaSmOrRa: Musician and Former Tournament Organiser
Huehuecoyotl22
Welcome, Nelson, also known as MaSmOrRa. You have done a number of interviews in your “Kings and Plebeians” series yourself in the last 12 months, however, although you have been an important figure in the Age of Empires 2 world in the last decade, you have never really been interviewed yourself. So even if you have shared a lot about yourself in those interviews, in some streams or AoEZone posts, there is still a lot I am curious about which we can explore in this interview.
How would you introduce yourself in max. 2 sentences?
When did you start to play Age of Empires 2? How much have you played other titles of the AoE franchise?
How did you come up with your AoE nickname Masmorra? What does it mean?
No, I am not familiar with those, maybe because I am younger, so I would not really have been able to read those in the 90s, but also because I haven’t really read any Fantasy books apart from 4 Harry Potter books.
Which rating did you achieve as a player, how often do you play nowadays and what kind of games?
You have been active as a Voobly moderator, tournament organiser and streamer. For each of those 3, why and how did you start doing these?
Yes, CometNet, together with Killer B is probably one of the casters I would love to come back the most. People like ZeroEmpires and Turkman haven’t casted in a long time either, but they have not disappeared, so it’s a bit different.
About how you started hosting a tournament the first time, I am actually still quite unsure why it was so different back then. I know that a majority of tournament hosts now are streamers, so they often do it for their channel, and it seems like it is easier to get a prize pool of $100-200 to host a smaller tournament. But in my case: I am not a streamer and I am around the AoE 2 community since 2012, actively since 2014 (start with recorded games and translating/sharing some information about the Chinese AoE 2 scene), but I think back then I probably just had too much respect for the top players and admins that I could never have imagined being able to enforce rules on famous players. But I think I could have done it earlier than in 2020. Before 2018 you were able to get an S tier quality 1v1 tournament with any prize pool, $1000 would have been huge. Nowadays the part about hosting tournaments which I like the least is trying to find sponsors, which often is much more work than the tournament itself. Expected prize pools have become 10x larger, but people haven’t become 10x richer.
I didn't mean it the way you understood it. I mean the private people who are sponsoring most of the lower to intermediate prize pool tournaments via donations. I know about companies and top players who earn and/or spend more money. I meant more like an average private person in Europe who might be able to contribute 100-200 € to a tournament prize pool without any problems. That person’s salary has not become 10x from what it was in 2017. Back then a single person with an average income could have sponsored one of the the best tournaments of the year, while now you would expect to have a tournament with the same players to have $10k prize money.
That companies spend more money on AoE 2 and more people can (partially) support their lives from AoE 2 is great, but it also means that if you are a tournament host, you have to have business with companies if you want a high-level tournament where every player is motivated. And reaching out to companies and getting their support is very difficult.
Also from the other side, some people could afford to sponsor their own tournament in the past, like if someone donated $50 they could feel proud, but nowadays people who don’t donate thousands are not appreciated and thanked as much as they were some years ago.
You are no longer streaming, but still pretty active on AoEZone, have done interviews and were at RBW 5. Could you still imagine being a co-caster for a tournament set from time to time? Or were you even asked and had to decline?
So if anyone wants to have you, just reach out! (Message to streamers and tournament hosts)
Quite a number of AoE 2 figures are or have been employed by Forgotten Empires, Relic or Microsoft in the last few years (e. g. Chrazini, Nili, Turkman, Lord Basse, robo, ZeroEmpires, True, Ashleylynn). Did you ever consider applying for one of the positions and having an AoE-related job?
Before we will be discussing more AoE-related things, I also want to ask you more personal things?
Where do you come from and where do you live now? What do you like/dislike about where you live now, and where would you like to move to?
Why only recently? Except for a few days in 2021 and a few days in 2018, we barely had any winter at all in the last 5-10 years. Also, usually Germany has more snow and more extreme weather than Denmark, because there is more elevation and more space farther away from the sea. In Denmark, pretty much everything is close to the sea, while in Germany from time to time cold air comes from Russia via Poland and brings -20 °C, which never really happens in Denmark.
That’s actually something I never thought about. I would not call you old yet, but I never thought of it that way that people in their 40s to 60s talk more about the weather, because it affects them more.
Then I’m probably still young enough, because except for rain at ~0-5 °C I don’t mind any weather, I am fine with -20 °C and snow or tropical climate.
Maybe. But I hope not yet at 36.
So you have been living in Germany for a long time now. Would share why you came there first?
I don’t remember exactly, but did you not have a German flag on AoCZone in the past or was that on Voobly only?
Can you relate to this?
I know myself that people in Germany can be quite different from person to person, but still, there are some things which people consider normal, which they are used to, but which might be quite different just when you cross one border. That in combination with before being a teenager, going to school, living with my parents, having less responsibility and then being in Germany as an adult and being responsible for everything while also getting used to things which are new to me, but just normal for 99 % of the other people around me was very challenging. How was it for you? And how much German did you know in 2004?
Yes, I know of those courses. As I mentioned before, by language and nationality I was no foreigner, so I needed no preparation in those areas, but culturally I definitely was.
Now some more simple personal questions:
What is your favourite food and drink?
Can you give some examples of Vietnamese food? Names of dishes/ingredients and/or picture?
Which foods from your home country/region and family background would you recommend?
I think I have eaten it, but not enough to really judge. Did you know it has become popular in Eastern Asia too (since the 16th century)? I think I ate it for the first time in China.
I just looked it up before I wrote it, because I was not 100 % sure about the name and found out that it was brought over with traders and it’s exactly what I had eaten at a random metro station shop in Shanghai.
What is your favourite breakfast?
What can you cook well yourself and how often do you do it?
Interesting. I felt Portuguese had more passion for food and cooking. Of course everybody is different, but that was my impression. I have family from Portugal too (an aunt, and her children are half-Portuguese). We don’t meet that often and I have never been to Portugal, but one thing that has influenced me a bit are some ways of cooking some dishes which must be because of my aunt’s Portuguese culture.
What would you put on top of a pizza?
What is your favourite colour?
What is your favourite animal?
What/where is your favourite place on Earth?
What is your favourite song at the moment and of all time (can be top 5)?
Even if it’s not what you listen to often, what do you think about modern music implementing classical music or genres from several centuries ago?
2 examples:
I also have a friend who is a part-time musician (singer/rapper/producer) and he was part of a project where an orchestra performed Haydn’s “Creation” with rap intermissions. I personally like those implementations a lot.
Another question: Being a musician and interested in the medieval AoE 2, what is your opinion on Bardcore music? For example:
What is your favourite movie at the moment, of all time (can be top 5)? Who is your favourite actor?
What is your favourite book?
Do you have a favourite sports team and/or favourite athlete? (football, basketball etc.)
Why would you be supposed to say that? If you are mainly a football fan, it’s understandable, but when I first asked this question this way, it was because some people are only fan of a team, some of a specific athlete, especially if it’s not a team sport like football or basketball which they enjoy the most.
I agree. I am not too interested in his or other athletes’ private life, but from what I know about him and some other celebrities, there are many which are much more problematic.
If there was anything you could tell your 16-year-old self, what would it be?
Which countries have you visited? And where would you like to go? Why?
There’s only about 200 (depends on which definition of country you use), so I am not satisfied with the “too many” answer. But if you don’t want to list all of them, can you at least list your favourite ones you went to?
Which languages can you speak and which would you like to learn?
What are your hobbies beside AoE?
I do understand. But there must be something, even if it’s not something you do every week or every month. Or maybe something you regularly enjoyed doing before your children were born.
Now some more AoE (2)-related questions:
Who would you like to meet once, who you have not met? One AoE player and one other person.
I actually tried too, some years ago. In the past some people had contact with him and he sometimes posted on AoEZone, but I was told that he has disappeared from the AoE scene since more than 2 years.
If you had to pick one person who you know from AoE who you have to live with for 1 month in a shared apartment with shared bedroom, who would it be?
So you don’t want to pick, you want people to apply?
When you started being a tournament admin, you probably had to approach some of the current top players for the first time. Now DauT, Chris and TheViper are pretty relaxed and quite “easy to handle” guys, but at least from AoCZone posts and some stories, it was not like that in their earlier days. Are there some interesting stories to tell from encounters with top players from back in 2012-15 or even earlier?
What is your favourite civilisation, map and unit?
What is your favourite in-game sound?
What would you like to see added to the game the most? (e. g. unit type, animal, tree/terrain type, technology, game mode, visual/UI detail)
Which 4-5 players would you like to form a team? (can include inactive players)
I can. But for anyone who reads this who joined less than 4 years ago, you probably have to explain a bit more.
Make a ranking of the best 10 AoE 2 players based on RM 1v1 skills on all types of maps at the moment:
Which players would you invite for Nili’s Apartment Cup 4?
That’s a good answer. But I also would like to know which players you would like to see spending a week together in the style of the past NACs. So for that version it would not have to be the most competitive group, but one you would like to watch for all of the content, including behind the scenes.
What is the funniest moment in your life you experienced because of AoE?
As many people already know that story, is there another one you can add?
Can you share a bit about which tournaments you were involved in organising and how different was it from now (2020-22)?
Sure, so I was involved in the organization of all 5 Top Experts Leagues; The first 2 SY Nations Cup; The War is Coming and the WSVG tournament in the Maldives.
About the 2015 WSVG World Championship on the Maldives: There are a few stories which have been shared, like about the opening ceremony, about the bag, about AoE 2 staff organising events from other games. But I believe there must have been much more that happened which was not shared. I don’t mean any work-related things, more about meeting the players, the accommodation, food, free-time activities, etc. Are there some aspects you want to talk about? Also, I know back then social media, phones, etc. were not as advanced as now, so there might not be as much, but I always wondered, why we did not see many photos. Do you still have any?
(more photos here and here)
Those last two are really good. I would love to have someone host a small talk show, similar to your podcasts, but with maybe 4-5 people and discuss one of these past events. Could be the Maldives, could be one of the LAN finals in China, a NAC or the ECL finals. Just talking about funny memories, about things not everyone knows about now.
Yes, I know those. But I hoped there was more. It’s strange how times have changed in that aspect. It’s more now, but for my circles, my friends, it was already the case in 2014-15 that photos and short videos were taken and posted everywhere.
Do you still follow many tournaments now? What was your favourite tournament? Which settings?
So if you say “all of them”, do you want to comment on the tournaments I have been involved in in the last 14 months (World Desert Championship, Double Cup 2, Master of HyperRandom, Return of the Clans, Terra Nova Duos)? Just something you liked or some suggestion from the tournament organiser point of view.
In particular, do you have any suggestions on how to better find promoters and sponsors, e. g. for a second edition of WDC, where I still want to include the aspect of promoting awareness to fight land degradation, human-made desertification and support reforestation. It’s an ambitious vision, but it would be my ideal way of a big tournament, to not only have entertainment for viewers and prize money for players (and map creators), but also have an impact.
I love that you are trying new things and new ways to find sponsors.
The last part was not really about the gameplay or maps, but more about the tournament picture as a whole. And if I look at WDC, RotC and TND, we had all active top players there (just Hera and Viper were not there when they took breaks from AoE 2, but that’s true for other 2022 AoE 2 tournaments too), and players took the tournaments pretty seriously. There will always be a map or 2 some players don’t like too much, but that has always been the case, we might just hear more about it if someone says it on stream or social media.
The World Desert Championship was something very special for me, but the next big team game tournament I co-hosted, Return of the Clans was something that made me think a lot more about possibilities and the future of team game tournaments. I would like to discuss some aspects of that with you because of your experience.
Personally I think what we are missing the most apart from a Nations Cup is a big clan-based (4v4) tournament with a variety of standard maps. The last one (Clan Masters: The Final Showdown) actually was in 2016. It started 6 years ago. RotC was a bit in that direction, but 3v3 (because enmipho wanted that) and only $5k prize pool. By big, I would say at least $20k. If we have so many 1v1 tournaments with $10k, $20k prize pool, why not a 4v4 one? Some people might argue that it is less competitive than 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3. I think it still can give as much entertainment value as those.
Enmipho did not have a name for the tournament in mind, so I thought of something, my favourite I could come up with was “Return of the Clans”. And this was because I thought about WCL7 and Clan Masters. So in my imagination, RotC and BoA3 would be the prelude for something like a WCL8. I would never be able to organise it on my own, because it needs a lot of admin work time, and of course sponsors to support it, but it would be something I would be really motivated for: A big TG tournament with everything it needs, like a prediction contest, some chat taffles, t-shirts with the logo, maybe even a LAN final. How realistic do you see that something like that could happen in late 2022-early 2023? I might be involved or not. Just bringing up the idea, because it would need a lot of support, and I believe work on a project like that does not have to just happen behind the scenes. Discussions about the map pool and settings could be public, decided by the community…
For the discussion among the community I would not do it with any promises. They can still say which kind of maps, structure, special rules (e. g. regarding sling and laming) they would like to have.
I would not be able to manage the finances or organise a LAN event, which of course needs planning like minimum 3-4 months before, so I would more envision this as a project where a lot of people work together. So not the classical “hosted” tournament like Memb’s or T90’s. (The late 2022-early 2023 was only the earliest possible starting time, not the end. Usually there are 2+ months between knowing who goes to a LAN and having the LAN happen, so that would be more like spring 2023.)
So the first steps would be knowing how many people really want this, how much money is needed and who would work on it. Of course that can be done privately, but independent of it having a LAN final or not (which I think a lot of people would like), it would not be my project. I could potentially take some role as admin, but that is not the main question. Right now it is more of an idea than a plan.
So I wanted to know from you how you would like it, how reasonable you see it, etc., because you have been involved in the organisation of those big TG tournaments in the past. There are reasons why this has not happened since 5-6 years, but I believe it is time for it.
I think even before that, more has to be done, because from my understanding and my previous applications, you basically would have the whole tournament concept, settings, prize money distribution, etc. written down to then present it to Nili. In this case I would first have to find 2-3+ collaborators and, if we want to include a LAN final, a proposed location and costs associated with that and I have absolutely no experience with that. I don’t think I am a good person to host this, because AoE is not my job, I can’t plan AoE-related things a year or even 6 months ahead. I think I am good at talking to and negotiating with players, finding out what they like in terms of tournament settings and rules and also coordination between players, map scripters and content creators, but I am no person who can just stop work that is important for my living to do organisational AoE things for weeks. Nowadays, if you want something like RBW 5, NAC or N4C, you need someone who basically is paid full-time for 3+ months to prepare everything. So maybe I would stick with an online final for now. A potential solution could be if e. g. another RBW LAN is planned in 2023, to have the final of a TG tournament played at the same place, which would just need and cost another day and potentially half of the players and some other casters and admins would already be there anyway.
So if you would be organising a tournament in 2022, what would it look like?
Regarding 1v1s and standard settings, do you not feel that the tournament scene is oversaturated there currently? There are so many tournaments using the same standard maps and frequently having the same players in the final rounds. It’s no longer like in 2015 where players would not face each other every year of even every month in tournaments. Personally I like it better if different organisers have different map pools, different civ (draft) systems and different game modes.
Which maps and/or settings from the past do you miss the most? From a viewer POV I for example miss the long 4v4 Land Nomad games or the extreme sling strategies, where you would watch and a game would be decided if a slinging player’s walls were broken, before TheViper had a big army to destroy the bases of 2-3 opponent players on his own.
And I think the DE Land Nomad is not even a map that needs to be discussed. It is just too different from the “real” Land Nomad and also very rarely included in tournaments.
I think a slightly rebalanced LN with picked civs could be interesting to watch, if you enjoy late-game TG action.
Will asks: Why is free jazz your favourite music genre? Do you find classical too limiting?
I’d be interested in understanding what your perspective is on what the next steps of how AoE 2 can be professionalised moving forward.
After talking to so many people I would be interested to hear your insight.
How would you introduce yourself in max. 2 sentences?
I’m a 36-year-old Portuguese/German professional pianist/piano teacher with a deep passion for Age of Empires 2!
When did you start to play Age of Empires 2? How much have you played other titles of the AoE franchise?
Pretty much when it came out.
I definitely played AoE 1 too, but have barely any memories left from that game.
Haven’t played any other games in the franchise…Not even AoE 4… (Sorry Will, still love you though!)
How did you come up with your AoE nickname Masmorra? What does it mean?
Are you familiar with the “Fighting Fantasy” books of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone?
Those things were massively popular in the 90s.
I absolutely devoured those books and the one I was reading when the Internet arrived at our home was titled “A Masmorra Infernal” which translates to “The Infernal Dungeon”.
The capitalization of the name, while it may not seem like it today, was considered very creative back then!
No, I am not familiar with those, maybe because I am younger, so I would not really have been able to read those in the 90s, but also because I haven’t really read any Fantasy books apart from 4 Harry Potter books.
Which rating did you achieve as a player, how often do you play nowadays and what kind of games?
I usually hover around 1600-1700 in DE.
I only play 1v1s and usually get to play 3-4 games a week.
You have been active as a Voobly moderator, tournament organiser and streamer. For each of those 3, why and how did you start doing these?
The tournament organization started when I first had the idea for the Top Experts League, in 2012 I believe it was. There were barely any tournaments back then and I just absolutely loved watching high level AoE 2.
It was a 4 player invitational tournament, with a set of no-laming rules, the first ever of its kind as far as I can remember!
I sponsored it myself with a whopping…300 € prize pool!
Not much by today’s standards, but back then it was enough to immediately get a “YES!” reply from TheViper, Jordan, Chris and RiuT, which I thought were the 4 best players.
I couldn’t stream back then, so I messaged the first Voobly moderator I found online who happened to be…Taff!
Voobly’s Twitch channel was already moderately active at the time, with Katsuni streaming there every day, so they agreed to cover the whole tournament.
After the final, which broke the absolutely unthinkable number of 1000 live viewers (!!!), we finally got a Twitch partnership!
I was never a Voobly moderator “per se”. I was just given moderator powers because I needed those for some of the things I was expected to do as a tournament administrator: Check IP addresses; get people inside password locked rooms; bypass the “do not disturb” setting of some players; etc.
But I never reviewed any game disputes, never reset ELO points, never kicked/banned any players.
I started casting myself after being inspired to do so by CometNet!
A name that has unfortunately now been largely forgotten, but for my money, one of the best casters we ever had in the community!
Yes, CometNet, together with Killer B is probably one of the casters I would love to come back the most. People like ZeroEmpires and Turkman haven’t casted in a long time either, but they have not disappeared, so it’s a bit different.
About how you started hosting a tournament the first time, I am actually still quite unsure why it was so different back then. I know that a majority of tournament hosts now are streamers, so they often do it for their channel, and it seems like it is easier to get a prize pool of $100-200 to host a smaller tournament. But in my case: I am not a streamer and I am around the AoE 2 community since 2012, actively since 2014 (start with recorded games and translating/sharing some information about the Chinese AoE 2 scene), but I think back then I probably just had too much respect for the top players and admins that I could never have imagined being able to enforce rules on famous players. But I think I could have done it earlier than in 2020. Before 2018 you were able to get an S tier quality 1v1 tournament with any prize pool, $1000 would have been huge. Nowadays the part about hosting tournaments which I like the least is trying to find sponsors, which often is much more work than the tournament itself. Expected prize pools have become 10x larger, but people haven’t become 10x richer.
Oh, I think you might be underestimating how much money some of our top players/streamers are making.
Some people have easily grown 10x richer.
On top of that, there’s the fact that the whole eSports/streaming industry has been growing at an incredible pace.
More companies are waking up to the potential of eSports and investing more money each year.
Half a million dollars for Red Bull Legacy in October…Massive LAN event in a castle…
I can’t begin to describe how totally unthinkable and out of reach something like that would’ve sounded just 4 years ago.
Yes, it sucks you can’t motivate the best of the best with a 300 € prize pool anymore, but on the other hand, we have an increasing number of people who are now able to make a (very good) living out of streaming/playing Age of Empires 2.
This means more and better content for our beloved game; more and more people being exposed to it; and more awesome events for the fans to enjoy.
I didn't mean it the way you understood it. I mean the private people who are sponsoring most of the lower to intermediate prize pool tournaments via donations. I know about companies and top players who earn and/or spend more money. I meant more like an average private person in Europe who might be able to contribute 100-200 € to a tournament prize pool without any problems. That person’s salary has not become 10x from what it was in 2017. Back then a single person with an average income could have sponsored one of the the best tournaments of the year, while now you would expect to have a tournament with the same players to have $10k prize money.
That companies spend more money on AoE 2 and more people can (partially) support their lives from AoE 2 is great, but it also means that if you are a tournament host, you have to have business with companies if you want a high-level tournament where every player is motivated. And reaching out to companies and getting their support is very difficult.
Also from the other side, some people could afford to sponsor their own tournament in the past, like if someone donated $50 they could feel proud, but nowadays people who don’t donate thousands are not appreciated and thanked as much as they were some years ago.
Yes, that’s a perfect description of how the scene has shifted from a few years ago.
There are always trade-offs when something goes from being a mostly amateur affair to becoming increasingly more professional.
I guess it’s up to every individual to decide whether those trade-offs are worth it.
You are no longer streaming, but still pretty active on AoEZone, have done interviews and were at RBW 5. Could you still imagine being a co-caster for a tournament set from time to time? Or were you even asked and had to decline?
I was indeed asked a couple of times!
By both Memb and T90.
I declined both times, I guess just because I thought most of the regular co-casters do a much better job than I ever could.
After putting myself back in the eyes of the community now with my Kings & Plebeians Podcast, I guess if I were to be invited again and assuming it is not an incredibly high-stakes game I might very well accept!
At the end of the day, sharing your passion for something with someone who feels the exact same way is an incredibly fun experience!
So if anyone wants to have you, just reach out! (Message to streamers and tournament hosts)
Let me caveat that by saying, I should absolutely be your last option, so only reach out after everybody else has refused.
Quite a number of AoE 2 figures are or have been employed by Forgotten Empires, Relic or Microsoft in the last few years (e. g. Chrazini, Nili, Turkman, Lord Basse, robo, ZeroEmpires, True, Ashleylynn). Did you ever consider applying for one of the positions and having an AoE-related job?
I really really love my current job.
I also don’t think my skill set fits any of the possible job positions those companies could be looking to fill.
But hey…never say never!
Before we will be discussing more AoE-related things, I also want to ask you more personal things?
Where do you come from and where do you live now? What do you like/dislike about where you live now, and where would you like to move to?
I was raised in Portugal and moved to Germany when I was 18.
Have been living here ever since.
I absolutely love Germany, I love how organized things are.
The only thing I guess I dislike about the country, which has only recently become a problem, is how cold the winters are!
I guess for a Dane this might sound pretty amusing, but in Portugal I never witnessed negative temperatures!
Why only recently? Except for a few days in 2021 and a few days in 2018, we barely had any winter at all in the last 5-10 years. Also, usually Germany has more snow and more extreme weather than Denmark, because there is more elevation and more space farther away from the sea. In Denmark, pretty much everything is close to the sea, while in Germany from time to time cold air comes from Russia via Poland and brings -20 °C, which never really happens in Denmark.
I guess it’s just me getting older.
When I was younger, I didn’t care how cold it was outside and I always made fun of people who constantly talked about the weather.
I get it now.
That’s actually something I never thought about. I would not call you old yet, but I never thought of it that way that people in their 40s to 60s talk more about the weather, because it affects them more.
Then I’m probably still young enough, because except for rain at ~0-5 °C I don’t mind any weather, I am fine with -20 °C and snow or tropical climate.
Oh you will get there my friend, believe me.
Maybe. But I hope not yet at 36.
So you have been living in Germany for a long time now. Would share why you came there first?
Sure!
I moved to Germany in September 2004 to pursue my studies in Music.
Germany was (and I believe still is) largely considered the best place to study Classical Music in Europe.
I don’t remember exactly, but did you not have a German flag on AoCZone in the past or was that on Voobly only?
Indeed! Hahaha.
Well, I used to have the German flag just because it’s where I live, but it happened a few times that a few Voobly users, when they were mad I couldn’t help them, would resort to calling me “Hitler”.
So I decided to use the Portuguese flag ever since.
Like myself, 2 cultures have formed you. For me it’s Danish and German, for you Portuguese and German. In both cases not two different worlds (in terms of language, living standards, etc.), but still culturally quite distinctive. I have always been in this situation where I have parts of both. Although I now live in Germany for many years, I culturally don’t really feel German, but rather Danish, because I grew up in Denmark and incorporated many Danish values, went through the Danish school system, etc. More recently I also feel that this impacts me, because most people I meet just assume that I am German and in many aspects I am just far away from a typical (stereotypical) German person. I mean, I have German family, nationality and speak fluent German, but it’s just not my home country.Can you relate to this?
I think I understand what you’re saying, but I feel like I’m wired a little bit differently in that regard.
I remember every time I would fly back home to Portugal my family would always ask me “How are the Germans like?? Are they ‘cold’? Do they like beer?? Do they like football?!”
And my answer would always be…”Well, some are a bit cold, but others are very open. Some like beer, others hate beer…Some like football, others hate football…”
I have a hard time generalizing these things, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you what exactly is typical German.
Or typical Portuguese for that matter.
I don’t think I’ve missed Portugal even once since I’ve left.
I’ve missed my parents and my brother many times, but the country itself? Not really.
And that’s not to say I don’t like Portugal, I love Portugal! It’s a gorgeous place!
But I guess to me, the most important thing is who I surround myself with.
As long as I'm surrounded by people whom I love and people who love me back, I don’t think I’ll ever feel out of place here in Germany - or anywhere else.
Great question by the way!
I know myself that people in Germany can be quite different from person to person, but still, there are some things which people consider normal, which they are used to, but which might be quite different just when you cross one border. That in combination with before being a teenager, going to school, living with my parents, having less responsibility and then being in Germany as an adult and being responsible for everything while also getting used to things which are new to me, but just normal for 99 % of the other people around me was very challenging. How was it for you? And how much German did you know in 2004?
It wasn’t hard at all for me.
Moving to Germany was something I had decided I wanted to do many years prior.
On top of that, in 2004 I had already done extensive traveling and had already spent many weeks abroad on my own.
I knew virtually no German when I arrived, but for the first 2 months I had German lessons 4-5 hours a day.
It was an intensive course I took at the “Goethe Institute”, I’m sure you heard of it?
They offered food and accommodation as part of the training.
Most people there were basically in the same situation I was in: new country, can’t speak the language.
Was very easy to bond over that and make new friends.
Yes, I know of those courses. As I mentioned before, by language and nationality I was no foreigner, so I needed no preparation in those areas, but culturally I definitely was.
Now some more simple personal questions:
What is your favourite food and drink?
I love Vietnamese food!
Red Wine.
Can you give some examples of Vietnamese food? Names of dishes/ingredients and/or picture?
I guess a lot of folks will be familiar with the traditional Vietnamese soup “Pho”, for example.
Which foods from your home country/region and family background would you recommend?
I’d recommend Pasteis de Nata.
I personally hate it, but everybody seems to love it.
I think I have eaten it, but not enough to really judge. Did you know it has become popular in Eastern Asia too (since the 16th century)? I think I ate it for the first time in China.
No…I did not know that…
I just looked it up before I wrote it, because I was not 100 % sure about the name and found out that it was brought over with traders and it’s exactly what I had eaten at a random metro station shop in Shanghai.
What is your favourite breakfast?
Don’t care, as long as it’s served with a nice strong coffee!
What can you cook well yourself and how often do you do it?
Erm…many things…like Eggs…Pasta…Rice…
I cook…let me see…once a year maybe?
Interesting. I felt Portuguese had more passion for food and cooking. Of course everybody is different, but that was my impression. I have family from Portugal too (an aunt, and her children are half-Portuguese). We don’t meet that often and I have never been to Portugal, but one thing that has influenced me a bit are some ways of cooking some dishes which must be because of my aunt’s Portuguese culture.
There definitely is a passion for food.
My brother and my father will often travel for hours just to try a specific restaurant that somebody else has recommended to them.
I personally just don’t enjoy food that much I guess.
I do love the social aspect of sitting at a table and talking to friends and family though, l love that part.
What would you put on top of a pizza?
I guess tomato and cheese?
What is your favourite colour?
Blue, it’s the color of FC Porto’s jersey.
What is your favourite animal?
I like elephants.
I understand they are exceptionally intelligent animals.
What/where is your favourite place on Earth?
This is going to sound cheesy…but…my home!
I’ve done a lot of traveling when I was young.
These days, I find extreme happiness in those simple moments where I’m just sitting on the couch watching Memb/Nili/T90/Viper/Hera/Mbl/ on my iPad with the background noise of my kids playing with each other.
What is your favourite song at the moment and of all time (can be top 5)?
I’m a classical musician, so I listen mostly to classical music.
A lot of people have this idea that classical music is supposed to be “relaxing”, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
This is not necessarily my favorite piece, but do check out these last few minutes of Rachmaninoff’s 3rd piano concerto and check the audience’s reaction at the end.
They were certainly not “relaxed” watching it live!
This was performed at the Van Cliburn competition in Texas - one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the World - which concluded just a few days ago.
This guy (aged only 18!) was the winner.
Even if it’s not what you listen to often, what do you think about modern music implementing classical music or genres from several centuries ago?
2 examples:
I also have a friend who is a part-time musician (singer/rapper/producer) and he was part of a project where an orchestra performed Haydn’s “Creation” with rap intermissions. I personally like those implementations a lot.
Oh I’m absolutely not a purist when it comes to classical music, I love some of those arrangements.
Have absolutely no problem with people taking well-known classical pieces and just doing their own version of it, provided there’s a modicum of originality to it.
In fact, one of my best friends - who happens to be a world class violinist - occasionally plays in a band called “Symphoniacs”.
They describe themselves as a “classical-meets-club crossover music project”.
Another question: Being a musician and interested in the medieval AoE 2, what is your opinion on Bardcore music? For example:
Just listened to the first link, sounds great!
What is your favourite movie at the moment, of all time (can be top 5)? Who is your favourite actor?
Actor is easy -> Anthony Hopkins!
Movie is a lot harder…From the top of my head, without thinking too much:
- Se7en;
- Minority Report;
- The English Patient;
- Silence of the Lambs
What is your favourite book?
I confess I’m mostly interested in very, very light literature.
Usually criminal thrillers.
So I guess something like Patricia Highsmith, Simon Beckett.
These days I’ve been reading a lot of John Grisham.
Do you have a favourite sports team and/or favourite athlete? (football, basketball etc.)
Yes, FC Porto.
I guess as a Portuguese I’m supposed to say Cristiano Ronaldo is my favorite athlete.
Why would you be supposed to say that? If you are mainly a football fan, it’s understandable, but when I first asked this question this way, it was because some people are only fan of a team, some of a specific athlete, especially if it’s not a team sport like football or basketball which they enjoy the most.
I do admire Cristiano for all the things he accomplished.
Sometimes I wish he was a little bit more…humble about it I guess, but if he needs to act that way in order to motivate himself to be better every day, so be it…
I agree. I am not too interested in his or other athletes’ private life, but from what I know about him and some other celebrities, there are many which are much more problematic.
If there was anything you could tell your 16-year-old self, what would it be?
Don’t assume you’re smarter than someone else just because they have a different opinion.
Which countries have you visited? And where would you like to go? Why?
Too many to list, honestly.
I guess I’m still missing Australia!
Most of my early Voobly “friends” - Robo, Helene, Oomps, Jiggsy - are Australians.
There’s only about 200 (depends on which definition of country you use), so I am not satisfied with the “too many” answer. But if you don’t want to list all of them, can you at least list your favourite ones you went to?
I was blown away by Japan.
Specifically Kyoto.
Which languages can you speak and which would you like to learn?
My first language is Portuguese, then I’d say I’m equally fluent in German and English, probably a bit better in English these days actually.
I used to speak French too, because I lived in Switzerland for 2 years, but I’ve mostly forgotten it now.
Not looking to learn any further languages, 4 are enough!
What are your hobbies beside AoE?
I’m sure you know the drill, but with 2 kids and a full-time job, there’s really no time for more than 1 hobby.
I do understand. But there must be something, even if it’s not something you do every week or every month. Or maybe something you regularly enjoyed doing before your children were born.
Well, before my kids were born I used to regularly go to the movies.
These days, especially with the pandemic still very much affecting our lives, I have to be very careful with crowded spaces, because unfortunately my kids are at risk for severe Covid-19.
Now some more AoE (2)-related questions:
Who would you like to meet once, who you have not met? One AoE player and one other person.
I’d really love to meet Scripter.
Tried really hard to contact him for an interview, but the man is a ghost. No one seems to know how to reach him.
I actually tried too, some years ago. In the past some people had contact with him and he sometimes posted on AoEZone, but I was told that he has disappeared from the AoE scene since more than 2 years.
If you had to pick one person who you know from AoE who you have to live with for 1 month in a shared apartment with shared bedroom, who would it be?
With a shared bedroom?!
Well, in that case I’d have to poll my options and make sure they fulfill at least the following criteria:
- Shower every day;
- Wash their feet every day, especially in Summer;
- Don’t fart in their sleep.
Hahaha, yes!
Send me your applications with a detailed description of your daily hygiene routine.
I’ll decide based on that.
When you started being a tournament admin, you probably had to approach some of the current top players for the first time. Now DauT, Chris and TheViper are pretty relaxed and quite “easy to handle” guys, but at least from AoCZone posts and some stories, it was not like that in their earlier days. Are there some interesting stories to tell from encounters with top players from back in 2012-15 or even earlier?
This was all a long time ago, but as far as I can remember most players were very approachable and very friendly.
Then there was DauT…hahaha.
He basically never replied to anyone, apart from Taff!
For some reason, Taff was the only one he would ever respond to.
This is my favorite DauT story which I think perfectly illustrates how much he hated answering private messages on Voobly:
I believe this was Top Experts League #2, we didn’t yet have the “hidden civ” feature, but I really wanted players to be able to choose their Civs secretly, so the solution we found was for players to message me privately before each map what they wanted their civs to be and I would then reveal them.
However, DauT hated the idea of messaging me in private so much, that in his first game of that tournament he said: “Well, what if I do want my opponent to know my civ?”
He was willing to put himself at a disadvantage just to avoid having to message me!
And this is why most of us who have been around forever were shocked when DauT started streaming.
Suddenly we realized he is not only a very talkative guy but also really friendly, very approachable and very patient too!
You can basically ask him anything about the game and he will answer.
DauT’s stream is easily one of my favorites.
What is your favourite civilisation, map and unit?
Portuguese, Arabia, Organ Gun.
What is your favourite in-game sound?
I like the intro theme for the Byzantines!
What would you like to see added to the game the most? (e. g. unit type, animal, tree/terrain type, technology, game mode, visual/UI detail)
More in-game tutorials for beginners.
Many, many, many more.
There are still too many people who would actually love to try Multiplayer but are too afraid to do it.
We need to give those folks the tools necessary to make their first online experiences as smooth and friendly as possible.
Which 4-5 players would you like to form a team? (can include inactive players)
Memb, Genette, Dreams, Tetraides.
Can you imagine the salt?!
I can. But for anyone who reads this who joined less than 4 years ago, you probably have to explain a bit more.
All these players were notorious for being a little bit…how should I put it…unfiltered when it comes to communicating with their teammates…
Though in Memb’s case, I think it has gotten much better!
Make a ranking of the best 10 AoE 2 players based on RM 1v1 skills on all types of maps at the moment:
From the top of my head without thinking too much:
Viper; Yo; Lierrey; Hera; DauT; TaToH; ACCM; Villese; Nicov; MbL
Feel like half of that list could include several different names.
Which players would you invite for Nili’s Apartment Cup 4?
No invitations.
Full qualification stage for everybody!
That’s a good answer. But I also would like to know which players you would like to see spending a week together in the style of the past NACs. So for that version it would not have to be the most competitive group, but one you would like to watch for all of the content, including behind the scenes.
I think if you manage to put people at ease with each other, literally everybody has something interesting to say.
So in that scenario I wouldn’t care who the players are, just make sure they can be themselves and good content is almost guaranteed to come out of it.
What is the funniest moment in your life you experienced because of AoE?
Me “stealing” Kripparrian’s bag in front of tens of thousands of people while he’s totally oblivious to it and his chat is screaming “look behind you! Thief! Thief!”, and he just goes “Come on chat, I’m not going to fall for that”.
The whole thing was live streamed, you can check it here.
See that guy at the 20 second mark? Yep…That would be me…
Now to be clear, I didn’t “steal” anything, it’s a long story, but basically I thought it was my bag.
Was an honest mistake!
As many people already know that story, is there another one you can add?
I think everything else pales in comparison, lol.
Can you share a bit about which tournaments you were involved in organising and how different was it from now (2020-22)?
Sure, so I was involved in the organization of all 5 Top Experts Leagues; The first 2 SY Nations Cup; The War is Coming and the WSVG tournament in the Maldives.
The biggest difference is that today we have a lot of specialized people for specific roles: video editing; graphic design; map scripting; streaming; writing rules; updating tables; chasing players who don’t schedule; etc.
Back then all of these things were mostly done by 3 people: Taff, Genette and me.
Apart from streaming. That’s where Memb and Katsuni would come in.
I’m very happy those days are gone and the tournament organization “scene” is now in a much much better spot thanks to the expertise of folks like Chrazinni, Robo and you who have set new standards for what a professional AoE tournament should look like.
About the 2015 WSVG World Championship on the Maldives: There are a few stories which have been shared, like about the opening ceremony, about the bag, about AoE 2 staff organising events from other games. But I believe there must have been much more that happened which was not shared. I don’t mean any work-related things, more about meeting the players, the accommodation, food, free-time activities, etc. Are there some aspects you want to talk about? Also, I know back then social media, phones, etc. were not as advanced as now, so there might not be as much, but I always wondered, why we did not see many photos. Do you still have any?
(more photos here and here)
I have a lot of fun memories from that tournament:
- Lojza constantly making fun of dogao (in increasingly creative and fun ways) for being fat;
- Dogao telling me how scared he was of flying over the ocean for the first time. Things got even worse when they encountered turbulence and the captain suddenly started speaking in Arabic (he was flying with Etihad Airways), probably just telling passengers to buckle up.
- One player telling me to my face he thought my wife was really hot…
I believe Nili talked about wanting to do something like that a few times already.
But going back to your previous point about the lack of pictures, people like Viper or Jordan had absolutely zero social media presence back then, so no one felt the need to constantly take pictures and post them somewhere for audience engagement haha.
I did upload 2 short videos to my YouTube channel back then which some of you guys might find interesting:
A “tour” of the Bandos resort: Tour of Bandos - YouTube
A short funny video with lots a familiar faces: Visiting JorDan's, Viper's and Lojza's room - YouTube
Yes, I know those. But I hoped there was more. It’s strange how times have changed in that aspect. It’s more now, but for my circles, my friends, it was already the case in 2014-15 that photos and short videos were taken and posted everywhere.
Do you still follow many tournaments now? What was your favourite tournament? Which settings?
Oh yes, I follow all of them.
I think our 3 “Grand Slams” (Nili’s Apartment Cup, King of the Desert, Hidden Cup) are absolutely amazing.
So if you say “all of them”, do you want to comment on the tournaments I have been involved in in the last 14 months (World Desert Championship, Double Cup 2, Master of HyperRandom, Return of the Clans, Terra Nova Duos)? Just something you liked or some suggestion from the tournament organiser point of view.
In particular, do you have any suggestions on how to better find promoters and sponsors, e. g. for a second edition of WDC, where I still want to include the aspect of promoting awareness to fight land degradation, human-made desertification and support reforestation. It’s an ambitious vision, but it would be my ideal way of a big tournament, to not only have entertainment for viewers and prize money for players (and map creators), but also have an impact.
I love that you are trying new things and new ways to find sponsors.
The visibility of a tournament will always be determined by how many top players participate in it. And how seriously they take the tournament.
Naturally, players tend to prefer maps and settings they are familiar with.
So I think there’s a very fine line to walk here, to make sure you hit your personal goals in terms of map diversity and at the same time not stray too far from what players like to play.
Otherwise you might be alienating too many players.
The last part was not really about the gameplay or maps, but more about the tournament picture as a whole. And if I look at WDC, RotC and TND, we had all active top players there (just Hera and Viper were not there when they took breaks from AoE 2, but that’s true for other 2022 AoE 2 tournaments too), and players took the tournaments pretty seriously. There will always be a map or 2 some players don’t like too much, but that has always been the case, we might just hear more about it if someone says it on stream or social media.
The World Desert Championship was something very special for me, but the next big team game tournament I co-hosted, Return of the Clans was something that made me think a lot more about possibilities and the future of team game tournaments. I would like to discuss some aspects of that with you because of your experience.
Sure.
Personally I think what we are missing the most apart from a Nations Cup is a big clan-based (4v4) tournament with a variety of standard maps. The last one (Clan Masters: The Final Showdown) actually was in 2016. It started 6 years ago. RotC was a bit in that direction, but 3v3 (because enmipho wanted that) and only $5k prize pool. By big, I would say at least $20k. If we have so many 1v1 tournaments with $10k, $20k prize pool, why not a 4v4 one? Some people might argue that it is less competitive than 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3. I think it still can give as much entertainment value as those.
Enmipho did not have a name for the tournament in mind, so I thought of something, my favourite I could come up with was “Return of the Clans”. And this was because I thought about WCL7 and Clan Masters. So in my imagination, RotC and BoA3 would be the prelude for something like a WCL8. I would never be able to organise it on my own, because it needs a lot of admin work time, and of course sponsors to support it, but it would be something I would be really motivated for: A big TG tournament with everything it needs, like a prediction contest, some chat taffles, t-shirts with the logo, maybe even a LAN final. How realistic do you see that something like that could happen in late 2022-early 2023? I might be involved or not. Just bringing up the idea, because it would need a lot of support, and I believe work on a project like that does not have to just happen behind the scenes. Discussions about the map pool and settings could be public, decided by the community…
If it’s supposed to include a LAN, I don’t think late 2022 is realistic.
I guess something of that magnitude would only be feasible with Microsoft sponsorship.
I’d advise you to speak privately with Nili before officially applying for sponsorship.
Try to understand what conditions he thinks need to be met for Microsoft to support the event and then take it from there.
I’d say it’s very hard to get a public discussion going for a tournament no one knows will actually happen.
For the discussion among the community I would not do it with any promises. They can still say which kind of maps, structure, special rules (e. g. regarding sling and laming) they would like to have.
I would not be able to manage the finances or organise a LAN event, which of course needs planning like minimum 3-4 months before, so I would more envision this as a project where a lot of people work together. So not the classical “hosted” tournament like Memb’s or T90’s. (The late 2022-early 2023 was only the earliest possible starting time, not the end. Usually there are 2+ months between knowing who goes to a LAN and having the LAN happen, so that would be more like spring 2023.)
So the first steps would be knowing how many people really want this, how much money is needed and who would work on it. Of course that can be done privately, but independent of it having a LAN final or not (which I think a lot of people would like), it would not be my project. I could potentially take some role as admin, but that is not the main question. Right now it is more of an idea than a plan.
So I wanted to know from you how you would like it, how reasonable you see it, etc., because you have been involved in the organisation of those big TG tournaments in the past. There are reasons why this has not happened since 5-6 years, but I believe it is time for it.
The thing is when we organized those sorts of events, money was not really a concern.
People would play our tournaments even if there was no money involved, just because there were barely any tournaments.
That’s obviously not the case anymore.
I definitely hear that same sentiment a lot around the community though “where are the TG tournaments?!”
So it’s clear a lot of people would be interested in such an event.
It’s hard for me to speculate on how feasible such a tournament would be, I believe you’re in a much better position than I am to judge that.
What seems obvious to me is that a tournament of this scope will not be possible without the help of Microsoft.
Which is why I think the early stages of preparation should always include a nice, long and detailed talk with Nili.
I think even before that, more has to be done, because from my understanding and my previous applications, you basically would have the whole tournament concept, settings, prize money distribution, etc. written down to then present it to Nili. In this case I would first have to find 2-3+ collaborators and, if we want to include a LAN final, a proposed location and costs associated with that and I have absolutely no experience with that. I don’t think I am a good person to host this, because AoE is not my job, I can’t plan AoE-related things a year or even 6 months ahead. I think I am good at talking to and negotiating with players, finding out what they like in terms of tournament settings and rules and also coordination between players, map scripters and content creators, but I am no person who can just stop work that is important for my living to do organisational AoE things for weeks. Nowadays, if you want something like RBW 5, NAC or N4C, you need someone who basically is paid full-time for 3+ months to prepare everything. So maybe I would stick with an online final for now. A potential solution could be if e. g. another RBW LAN is planned in 2023, to have the final of a TG tournament played at the same place, which would just need and cost another day and potentially half of the players and some other casters and admins would already be there anyway.
So if you would be organising a tournament in 2022, what would it look like?
It would probably be something like the “Who is #2?” tournament I sponsored a few years ago.
Or maybe a short tournament for the players just outside the top 8.
I mostly enjoy watching 1v1’s with standard settings.
Regarding 1v1s and standard settings, do you not feel that the tournament scene is oversaturated there currently? There are so many tournaments using the same standard maps and frequently having the same players in the final rounds. It’s no longer like in 2015 where players would not face each other every year of even every month in tournaments. Personally I like it better if different organisers have different map pools, different civ (draft) systems and different game modes.
I love that we have a lot more diversity in tournament settings than we used to and I don’t want that to go away.
At the same time, I don’t think the 1v1 scene is oversaturated with tournaments any more than I think the Uefa Champions League is oversaturated with games just because it happens every year with virtually the same teams reaching the final stages.
High-level 1v1 Age of Empires 2 is incredibly entertaining to watch and the numbers don’t lie.
It’s not uncommon to see a StarCraft 2 tournament with a 100k prize pool pulling maybe 10k or 15k viewers.
You give Age of Empires 2 a 100k prize pool, you’re getting 60k-70k live viewers, as evidenced by Hidden Cup 4 or Red Bull V.
I suspect we’re going to hit another massive milestone in October with Red Bull Legacy in terms of viewership.
Which maps and/or settings from the past do you miss the most? From a viewer POV I for example miss the long 4v4 Land Nomad games or the extreme sling strategies, where you would watch and a game would be decided if a slinging player’s walls were broken, before TheViper had a big army to destroy the bases of 2-3 opponent players on his own.
Oh man, yeah, Land Nomad was by far my most played map during the Voobly days.
Played hundreds and hundreds of games on LN with my Australian mates.
Also with Viper’s dad, PkZ.
Can you believe they now give players enough wood to build a TC right away in DE’s version?! Talk about not respecting tradition! :D
Having said that, I’m not sure LN is the most competitive map for a high-stakes tournament. Especially not with sling! Haha
I don’t miss the games where people would just blindly sling the Chinese player and there was literally nothing you could do to stop it.
Or how getting Huns meant you would immediately be out of the game…
Generally speaking, the maps tournaments are played on these days are muuuuuch better than they were in the past.
Much more polished, much more balanced.
Map scripters have done an insanely good job of developing new and fun maps.
I agree that maps are more balanced now and that sling rules give better games, but still I would see it in a less serious 3v3 or 4v4 tournament once more, where players who have now adapted to the new meta, new civs and game mechanics are allowed to sling freely.And I think the DE Land Nomad is not even a map that needs to be discussed. It is just too different from the “real” Land Nomad and also very rarely included in tournaments.
I think a slightly rebalanced LN with picked civs could be interesting to watch, if you enjoy late-game TG action.
I agree 100 %.
I also have gathered some questions from the community, which could go into different sections of the interview, but I will first list them here:Will asks: Why is free jazz your favourite music genre? Do you find classical too limiting?
It can definitely be very limiting but it depends on what gives you pleasure when making music.
Classical Music puts enormous emphasis on accurate execution and much less on creativity.
But I personally find great pleasure in performing a piece of music that some musical genius has spent months, years perfecting to the very last note.
Imagine how awesome it would be if you were able to reproduce your favorite painting (almost) perfectly to the tiniest of details.
That’s basically what we classical musicians are able to do every time we play pieces by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, etc.
Then there’s also the fact that some pieces in the piano repertoire specifically are incredibly…insanely…difficult to play.
So being able to perform them gives you the same feeling of “I did it!!!” that you might get when you finish a particularly intense training at the gym.
Guanfranco would like to know when you will have time to be interviewed by him.
Haha good old Guanfranco!
I honestly think I wouldn’t be a particularly good guest for the kinds of sweeping interviews he likes to do!
Michaerbse asks: Which of your Kings and Plebeians episode did you enjoy the most so far?
I can honestly say I immensely enjoyed every single one of my episodes so far.
I legitimately enjoy talking to people I’m personally curious about, or people I know I have a lot to learn from.
I’m also extremely excited for my next potential guest, who has just recently signalled he might be willing to accept my invitation.
He’s easily the most frequently requested guest by my audience…
paradox303 says:I’d be interested in understanding what your perspective is on what the next steps of how AoE 2 can be professionalised moving forward.
After talking to so many people I would be interested to hear your insight.
I’m afraid I’m not really qualified to give an intelligent answer here.
It seems to me that we’re doing a pretty decent job of supporting the people at the very top of the game, so I guess the next logical step would be to try to get more and better competition for the folks right below that level.
Maybe T90’s new league, if successful, will be an important step in that direction.
This Friday we will have the Terra Nova Duos Final: WWP A (Yo and Lyx) vs. Les Baguettes (Sitaux, Margougou and Annotoph) and on Saturday and Sunday the semifinals and Finals of Battle of Africa 3. Who do you think will win those two tournaments?
As one famous FC Porto player would always say: I’ll make predictions after the games are finished! :D
On a more serious note, It’s absolutely awesome and great to see how well the guys from Les Baguettes have been performing lately!
Battle of Africa 3 it’s a tossup between aM and GL for me…
And then the probably most anticipated AoE tournament ever, Red Bull Wololo Legacy will happen in October. You have already mentioned it before, but I would still like you to comment on how your reaction was when it was announced and what your hopes and expectations are for it. Also, which players do you think will qualify - could you make a list of 16?
For me the biggest shock was the numbers involved.
We in the AoE 2 community are - understandably - looking at this from the perspective of our game only, in which case 200 thousand dollars is already a massive prize pool.
But World’s Edge looks at their eSports investment in the franchise holistically.
From their perspective, even if AoE 4’s numbers are now below AoE 2’s, AoE 4 has still brought a lot of new people to the Age of Empires ecosystem.
More players in the franchise, means more money to invest back in events for the community.
So the big news here has to be: World’s Edge is willing to invest half a million dollars in competitive Age of Empires.
Yes, right now…for reasons…Age of Empires 4 is getting the brunt of that investment.
But their priorities could change in the future.
I suspect the list of players participating will probably be very similar to last year’s.
My hope is that we might hit another massive viewership record.
And that people be allowed to attend the event in person!
Who would you like me to interview and do you have a question for them?
I’d be curious to know more about Villiams!
Thank you for the interview. I think people on AoEZone will also ask some more questions and we’ll as always be open to continue discussion there.
Thank you for your awesome interviews and thank you for all the great work that you do in the community.
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[aM]_MbL40C_ 
CDUB.dogao 
mYi.Sitaux 
