Garena Interview witth ScoOobY

Here is a little interview with ScoOobY, an admin of Garena.
Interview below:

Can u give us a brief bio about you?

Hi, Jan here, more known in Garena by the name of ScoOobY. I started off as a gamer in Garena sometime around mid 2006, and not long after i applied as a forum moderator in some small section. It all started there, and now i'm managing the overall community development, events and etc.

How did Garena came in your life?

I never actually expected this, it's like a dream come true in a way. That time, everyone in Philippines started to play in Garena, used to be hamachi. So i just tagged along with the rest and play.
What surprised me most was the community, when i first stepped in to the forums, i saw there is really a camaraderie among gamers there, you can really see the bonding and fun time that is present. So i started to be a little more active in the forums
next thing i know, i was doing some events even if i was just an ordinary forumer, and thought that if i joined as a moderator, i can even do more to help the whole community enjoy and have quality time

There are eight million users in Garena Client today. It's the most popular gaming platform, how did you achieved this success?

Our growth is phenomenal. Just so glad to be part of this. Everyone here is part of this. in fact, Romania now is growing fast and i am really looking forward to see Romania fully blossom.
The reason why the growth is so extraordinary is beyond what i can explain. But we can definitely credit to: 1) Garena's commitment towards providing the best to gamers 2) Dedicated and passionate community staffs who clearly makes difference everyday, and above all 3) everybody here, there will be no 8 million, if there is no "you"

Map hack is one of the worst things since the birth of gaming. Blizzard can't keep the playing enviroment safe, how can Garena say you offer 100% hack free gaming? Is there any secret behind this?

Since we are just fresh off from the recent US presidential election, let me compare this maphack with the 'fight against terrorism'. This is an on-going battle, we cannot really say we are safe from maphack, as there will always come new ones. But Garena sees this among the top priority, and definitely every update, we try our best to get all known hacks blocked as much as possible.
We are able to have a faster response at the same time because of the help of the community, everyone has been cooperative. It is because we have a sense of trying to be in a safe society, so our user helps alot by reporting new hacks and et.

What do you think about the guys trying to crack Garena? Is there anything you do against them?

we are working on having our future versions immune to being cracked. at the end of the day, it is similar to the hack case, there will come some new tries, and Garena needs to keep upgrading and improving both its service and security for gamers to enjoy.

Apart from hacking software, what do you do to improve the Garena gaming performance? There are few users complaining about bugs. How do you deal with them?

Garena has been racing for new features, evident in our dota ladder, the many new games supported, and more. We are also currently looking into fixing the common remaining bugs from any existing features in Garena. So it's about time we make use of the pesticides to kill all these bugs

What do you think about the current moderating team? There are different cultures, time zones, how do they manage to work as a team, a family?

They're simply amazing. It is because of this differences in cultures and personality that makes the team uniquely powerful. It's a group of very creative and passionate gamers, who understands fully what the community wants, and the moderating team is giving them exactly that. So kudos to the staffs!

With Garena Fire being launched, you are supposed to get a huge success for the FPS games that are supported. How did you came with this idea?

Hopefully we will grow in the FPS scene similarly to how we are dominating the RTS scene particularly DotA. Without a doubt, FPS is among hte most played games in the west. And as our new slogan goes, we are committed to "connecting world gamers". So expect to see not just more FPS games, but more!

As a head admin of this gaming platform, you must have your unique point of view towards some games. What do you think about the potential of the new games, such as COD 5, Black Shot, Red Alert 3?

I wish i had that kind of unique point of view, or special power to know the potential. (laughs). As for those new games, everybody wants something new. Since after some time, it is human nature to get bored of their old toys. So these new games we are supporting is to provide everyone something fresh to enjoy. I guess what will likely make Cod5, red alert 3, and the rest a success is because it
is a sequel of something already popular. and if it is a new version of the popular game, expectations are high, and in almost all cases, they are better than their predecesor.

The DOTA map it's a brand now, everyone is going to play Dota, not Warcraft. Why, in your oppinion, this map got so successfull?

DotA in my opinion is one of those unique games with properties that suits so many people. The game basic is easy to learn for everyone, at the same time, the more advanced strategy is challenging enough for people to master.
gamers can enjoy playing this one or one to test their skills, and also can be played in a more interesting team 5v5 match where you can play with friends and challenge others.
At the same time, the estimate 1 hour long of the game is good enough for those who do not want to spend months to level up like those of MMORPG. and the author of the map is constantly updating, giving new things always. DotA basically attracted a lot of people because of this i believe.

What about the highly anticipated SC2? Everyone, no matter what game they are playing at the moment, is talking about this game. What if the game fails to such high expectation? What kind of influence will it blow to the gaming community in your opinion?

I don't see this happen actually. i mean Blizzard despite having so many delays, this is all because they only want to release this when all is ready and that gamer's expectation are really met. In case if this does go wrong, that's if, i guess people would just try to look for another game to play. It wont be too drastic except for the countless of fans being disappointed. Wait, that is drastic..
Guess the wait is worth it, so blizzard makes sure it is released when everything is ready Let us look forward to SC 2!

Garena has hosted various tournaments in the recent years, from RaceWar series of WC3 to ADC’08, DreamCup; EEDC, ENADC of DotA. What can we expect from Garena regarding the future tournaments?

Expect more tournaments! From local to international , from grass root to professional level tournament, we aim to have tournaments for all supported games in Garena as much as possible. That time will come. For now, expect more intense action in our DotA tournaments to come

You have a cool recording system, Garena TV. How did you came up with this idea? Is it succesfull? What technology is hidden behind it?

GarenaTV is really something almost everybody enjoys using. They get to see the real action live as if they were in the actual game.


Let's talk about advertising...

You have managed to get most of the gamers in the world now, and have a huge succes. Still, there is room for more. What do you think about promoting Garena with the help of National Television ( ex: commercials )?

How Garena reached its state now is primarily because of the magic in word of mouth. It's like someone here says "hey i tried Garena yesterday and it's way better than X, go try it", then the friend finds out and tried and liked it. he then spreads to others as well.
Right now, with limited resources, we can focus on improving our product/service, and continuously bond our community stronger. then the rest of it should fall in place.
With consistent improvement, we can rely on our ever faithful word of mouth.

The items price in Garena increased significantly, what do you have to say about this? Many of the users don't afford buying shells, what is the alternative for them?

We had particularly increased prices for some items, but these items were added with more new benefits to justify the cost. Still, all a gamer needs are all for free, everyone will be able to play games in Garena even without spending a cent. These special items are sold to give those who seek more benefits in the client to get.
Right now, we are also trying to make more chanels available for shells to be more accessible globally. so everyone can really try out and say "hey, this thing is definitely worth it". Actually, we only put items that are really recommendable to use. it is somehting u can enjoy.
Again, everyone can still play games for free in Garena.

There are many payment methods in Asia. What about Europe, or other continents? The only way to pay here is Pay Pal. Are you thinking of introducing new payment methods in the near future?

Yes, we are trying to have more payment choices for gamers around the world to select from. These includes top up cards, credit/debit card payment, sms top up and more. We even have launched a new program that allows individual to be reseller in their own country, that is one fun and easy way to earn! at the same time helping make shells available in the region.

What's next in the development of Garena? Is there any surprise that we should wait for?

I don't like spoiling surprises. I can say gamers can expect new features/supported games and/or improved things in every update. What exactly are the new and improved thing? it's for everyone to find out in time

What do you know now that you wish you'd known 5 years ago?

That Garena would be such a fun place ? If Garena did exist back then and i already was part of it, we would have for sure been the hippest and most fun community by now. i mean we already are among the top, but we still have a lot of growing and improving to do. and that is something we will reach together here as a vibrant community

Is there anything you would like to say to Garena users?

There is so many words that i really wanted to say to show i appreciated and enjoyed this journey with everyone. A big "thank you" to everyone, and... Let us continue this journey and enjoy more good times together! Greater things lies ahead of us.