Wargaming experience is required!

From the web:

Slitherine is recruiting: Programmers required

by Surtur » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:32 am

Slitherine is recruiting: Programmers required, to work at our offices in Epsom UK.

• Required to work on our existing technologies including PBEM++ and STUB engines 
• To work on the Battle Academy engine; currently involving games such as Battle Academy 2, Hell, Pike and Shot and other titles not yet announced.
• To work directly on other Slitherine internal projects. 
• Developers at all levels required with excellent interpersonal skills, to be responsible for supporting our external development partners.

Required Skills

• A knowledge and enthusiasm for our genre of games an advantage
• Excellent C/C++ skills
• Solid C# skills
• Problem solving skills
• Ability to work with external development teams

Advantages

• Previous professional games programming experience
• Knowledge of PHP and other web technologies
• Wargaming experience

Please send your CV to career@slitherine.co.uk

MSSA's MWEB 2014 Western Cape LAN Championships - 23 & 24 August 2014

Registrations are open for MSSA's MWEB 2014 Western Cape LAN Championships.

The Western Cape Championships will be used for players qualify for National Team Trials.

Registrations will close on the 21 August 2014. Players who wish  to compete in any of MSSA's Championships are advised to complete their annual registration forms so that they may registered as Registered Players as soon as possible. Late entries will be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

All gamers are reminded that the Western Cape championships are an open championship.In other words any registered player is entitled to enter the championship – no matter where they live, or their category of membership. If you have any queries, please contact the MSSA.

Championship Details:

Hosting Club: Fairmont High School, Durbanville, Cape Town.

• Venue: Fairmont High School, Durbanville, Cape Town.
• Date: 23 & 24 August 2014
• Entry Fees: R60.00 per Registered Player per Period
• Computers: Bring your own. Please ensure that all game updates are done prior to arrival.
• Schedule: The LAN Schedule for all 2014 is:
  

SATURDAY:
Time	StarCraft II	Call of Duty: Ghosts	League of Legends (LoL)	Hearthstone
09H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts
09H45	Round 2 Starts	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues
10H30	Round 3 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts
11H15	Round 4 Starts	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues
12H00	Round 5 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts
12H45		Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues	Round 3Continues
13H00	LUNCH
Time	TEKKEN TTII	Call of Duty: Ghosts	LoL (continued)	Hearthstone (continued)
14H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts
14H45	Round 2 Starts	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues
15H30	Round 3 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts
16H15	Round 4 Starts	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues
17H00	Round 5 Starts
18H00	Awards Ceremony
19H00	Doors Close
SUNDAY:
Time	Dota	CounterStrike	OSU	FIFA '14
09H00	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts	Round 1 Starts
09H45	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 1 Continues	Round 2 Starts
10H30	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 2 Starts	Round 3 Starts
11H15	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 2 Continues	Round 4 Starts
12H00	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 3 Starts	Round 5 Starts
12H45	Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues	Round 3 Continues
13H00	LUNCH
Time	Dota (continued)	CounterStrike  (continued)	OSU
14H00	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts	Round 4 Starts
14H45	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues	Round 4 Continues
15H30	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts	Round 5 Starts
16H15	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues	Round 5 Continues
17H00
18H00	Awards Ceremony
19H00	Doors Close

Rules and Regulations: All Rules and Regulations pertaining to eSports are available from the MSSA. Players are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the LAN League Bylaws and all Period Specific Rules. If any Player wishes to provide advice regarding the drafting of the Period Specific Rules they are encouraged to contact the eSBoC who will take all comments into account.

The following Medals may be awarded at the MSSA's 2014 North West LAN Championship:

• PREMIER: Medals shall be awarded to the first three players who are registered players.
• SCHOLARS: Medals shall be awarded to the first three high school scholars, provided they have not received any Premier medals.
• UNIVERSITY:Medals shall be awarded to the first three players who are currently registered at any officially recognised University, provided the players have not received any Premier Medals.
• WOMEN: Women will be awarded medals as per the same basis as above, that is in all three categories.
  

Colours and National Team Trials:

• National Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a National Championship will earn National Colours.
  
• Provincial Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a Provincial Championship will earn Provincial Colours. All Players who score within the top 50% in a specific Period at a Provincial Championship, and who also score within the top 50% at a National Championship in the same period and in the same year, will earn Provincial Colours.
  
• National Team Trials: All Players that score within the top 20% or top three places, whichever is greater, in a specific Period at a Provincial or National Championship will earn an invitation to National Team Trials. National Team Trials shall be held in the event that a National Team must be selected to represent South Africa when competing in such Period in an International Championship.

Please note that the MSSA does not carry stock of shirts that are awarded. Registered Players who are awarded colours will thus be awarded at an event that they attend after being so awarded.

The next provincial; event is: The MWEB Eastern Cape Championships that shall be held on 28 & 29 June 2014.

Issued by:

-- 
Colin Webster
General Secretary
Mind Sports South Africa
P O Box 19275
FISHER'S HILL
1408
Tel: 011 828 4994
Fax: 086 672 1911
Cell: 073 593 9451
e-mail: mindsportssa@iafrica.com
URL: http://www.mindsportsa.co.za
Twitter: @mindsportssa
Skype: colin.webster4

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee.

The MSSA is responsible for the good governance and promotion of Board games (such as Backgammon, Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc), eSports (whether they are played on ?cell phones, Sony® PSP?s, personal computers or similar), and Historical figure games (also known as wargames). 

Gavin Mannion admits to having lied!

A bizarre comment!

Just after the on-line Test Match between South Africa on 8 August 2014, a gamer said to me, “We (I presume he meant SA) should not be sending teams overseas, we should only be spending all our money on teams in South Africa”.

I was flabbergasted!

Really!

How short sighted....

It is well known that the standard of play in South Africa already falls far behind the international norm, and yet here is a gamer actually advocating that South Africa remains in its own little puddle.

Yes, by all means, let us not test ourselves against international competition, let us only play amongst ourselves.

To do that, would be a travesty. South African teams would never, ever get any better and would only ever be able to measure themselves against other mediocre South African teams.

The MSSA, through the MWEB sponsorship, is able to, year-on-year, send teams overseas to help try and raise the standard.

Not only that, but the MSSA also helps teams to go overseas. For example, in 2013, had it not been for the help that the MSSA gave to Energy eSports, Energy eSports would not have attended the ESWC.

The biggest problem seems to be that South African gamers in general do not have a clue about the standard of play in top line competition.

It is very easy to tear down other people's efforts when sitting on the sidelines and trying to put yourself up as a community leader when in fact, you have no basis whatsoever to even claim that you are a community leader.

Yes the 2013 Protea Team for Dota 2 was ripped apart by Romania, and yes the 2014 Protea Team was beaten by Egypt, but in the absence of continued and active participation by South African teams on an international level, it is indeed difficult to say if any other South African team could have done any better.

The reason I say that is because the game changes in an international test match. There is a lot more pressure. You know everyone is watching, and waiting for a chance to criticize.

Just look at the 2013 Protea Team, 4 players were from Bvd, 1 from Energy, and a further 2 reserves from Energy as well. However, gamers immediately began to criticize the team by saying that they were not good enough.

So, for all those gamers who think that the MSSA should not be sending teams overseas, I put it to you that you are looking at the issue with only yourself in mind. You are not looking at the bigger picture of development, growing the community and international participation. You are only looking at it from a point of view of what you can get out out of it.....

Sad, very sad!

South Africa loses to Egypt

With so few South African gamers having ever played against top level international competition, the standard of eSports in other countries often is a mystery to many South Africans. Just how good are we, how much work do we still need to do in order to be on par with the best, and where do we go from here?

As a result there are many misconceptions that exist based on the lack of knowledge.

Thus the MSSA sees the IeSF's on-line international test matches are an important part of establishing just where South Africa fits in and highlights both the flaws and the strengths of South Africa's gaming.

The MSSA too sees the on-line test matches as an important method in testing and training the Protea National Team.

The test match against Egypt thus formed an important part in getting the SA National Team ready for the 2014 IeSF World Championship Baku.

Although Egypt is ranked lower than South Africa overall, the current Egyptian Dota 2 team is considered by many to be one of the world's heavyweights.

It is thus, without surprise, that the Egyptian team came out strong, put the Protea's on the back-foot right from the beginning and took the first game with a convincing win. That was expected!

However, the ever amiable Ion Todd, a UCT student, rallied his troops and put on a strong showing in the second game. With determination, the Proteas took a a fragile lead in the second game from the beginning, but by half-way through the game, the Egyptians wrested the lead from the Proteas to take a narrow victory in the second game. It was clear that the international experience that the Egyptian possessed gave Egypt the much needed advantage to take the test match by two games to zero.

However, after the game, Ion immediately sat the team down, and they analysed the game making extensive notes on where they went wrong, and what they needed to do to correct their game.

Ryan Boyes, the National Team Manager, was heard to say, that while it is never pleasant to lose, the games against Egypt showed the character of the MWEB Protea Dota 2 Team and the resilience of each one of the players. He was also heard to say that it showed exactly what the MSSA needs to do in order to get the team up to speed, and that he will be submitting his report with his recommendations to the MSSA's Management Board as soon as possible.

Thus, the result against Egypt has left the MSSA in a very positive mood as the MSSA remains confident and upbeat about its team and its chances in Baku.

The test match was, after all, only the beginning of a long campaign against teams with much greater international exposure and experience.

The team that played against Egypt on 8 August 2014 was:

Name	Nick	Club	Residence
Ion Todd (Team Captain) Jason Bredberg Dylan Henderson Saleem Manjoo Timothy van Reenan Mostert Ryan Boyes (Manager)	NotioN Meherim PIXELPUSHA SLIMZ ZEALOT SNOWf1Ke1	Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports	Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town Witbank

For more information:

Colin Webster
General Secretary
Mind Sports South Africa
P O Box 19275
FISHER'S HILL
1408
Tel: 011 828 4994
Cell: 073 593 9451
Fax: 086 672 1911
e-mail: mindsportssa@iafrica.com
URL: http://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee.

The MSSA is responsible for the good governance and promotion of Board games (such as Backgammon, Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc), eSports (whether they are played on ?cell phones, Sony® PSP?s, personal computers or similar), and Historical figure games (also known as wargames). 

South Africa vs Egypt - Shoutcasting

The Test Match against Egypt will be streamed out via MWEB's Twitch Channel > http://www.twitch.tv/mwebgamezone/

The test match begins at 16H00.

Casters:

Name: Kyle Wolmarans
Alias: Congo
Bio: MWEB GameZone Dota 2 caster

Name: Lutando Ngqakaza
Alias: Crazymonkey
Bio: eSports and gaming fanatic, gaming guru. Been involved in gaming since 2004 in Dota and Counter-strike.

Name: Tristan Bridger
Alias: ClitsybananaS
Bio: Retired member and carry player for Energy eSports. Winners of DGC 2013. Dota 2 co-caster and analyst.

South Africa to take on Egypt in Dota 2

2013 saw South Africa participate for the first time in the IeSF's International On-line Test Match system.

In 2013, the MWEB sponsored South African team played against both Romania and Mexico. In both games the South African Protea Team played their hearts out, losing to Romania, but trouncing Mexico.

Thus with additional experience, and after all due process has been followed, the 1st ever official Dota 2 on-line Test Match between South Africa and Egypt is just days away.

The Test Match will be held on Friday, 8 August 2014 at 16H00.

Just prior to the test match at 15H00, the Protea Team will be awarded their colours.

South Africa has officially competed in international eSports events since 2005, but this is the first time that South Africa will be competing in an official on-line test match in the game of Dota 2 against Egypt.

Egypt has a thriving eSports community, and is determined to establish themselves as the leaders of eSports in Africa.

With South Africa being ranked as 10th in the world, and the top nation in Africa, by the IeSF, no quarter will be given as both nations have a lot to prove, and even more to lose!

MWEB has kindly allowed the MSSA to use its Mcave which is located in its head office in Cape Town.

The venue was used extensively in 2013 to host all of South Africa's on-line Test Matches, and all of the MSSA's on-line inter-regional and inter-provincial matches as well.

The MSSA is confident that the National Team that will represent South Africa with pride and honour, is without doubt the finest group of Dota 2 players in the country.

The team for 8 August 2014 consists of:

Name	Nick	Club	Residence
Ion Todd (Team Captain) Jason Bredberg Dylan Henderson Saleem Manjoo Timothy van Reenan Mostert	ION Mehcrim PIXELPUSHA SLIMZ ZEALOT	Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports Knights Mind Sports	Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town

The evening will begin with the players being awarded their National Colours for eSports. Thanks to the governing Sports Body, Minds Sports South Africa (MSSA) and the support given by MWEB Gaming , the award of such colours is becoming a regular occurrence.

With eSports now recognised as a fully recognised sport by both SASCOC and the government, gaming is now taken more seriously than ever before. Already gaming has been included into the Asian Games by the Asian Olympic Committee.

The team is excited about the event, and the South African team Captain, Ion TTodd, is already locked in cheerful banter with his Egyptian counterpart.

There is no doubt that the South African team has its work cut out for it. The Egyptians are not an easy match, and the team will be tested.

But more than that, it should be fun....

For more information on MWEB Gaming check out the new addition to MWEB GameZone site or join the community on @MWEBGMZ or https://www.facebook.com/MWEBGameZone.

For more information on the MSSA check out the site on http://mindsportsa.co.za/

--Ends--

About MWEB

Since 1997, MWEB has been championing a free web in South Africa. It has led the industry from the start with the introduction of the Internet to South Africans to the launch of South Africa’s first Uncapped ADSL product. Today, MWEB provides Internet connectivity and solutions for home users, business owners and large corporates.

Dedicated to constantly driving change in the industry and deploying world class research and development teams, MWEB is focused on removing all barriers to Internet connectivity and services to positively impact its customers and broaden the South African Internet landscape.

MWEB is owned by JSE-listed MultiChoice South Africa Holdings Limited, a Naspers Limited subsidiary that has more than 30% Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment shareholders.

About Mind Sports South Africa

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee.

The MSSA is responsible for the good governance and promotion of Board games (such as Backgammon, Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc.), Card games, eSports (whether they are played on ‘cell phones, Sony® PSP’s, personal computers or similar), and Historical figure games (also known as wargames)

For more information:

Colin Webster
General Secretary
Mind Sports South Africa
P O Box 19275
FISHER'S HILL
1408
Tel: 011 828 4994
Cell: 073 593 9451
Fax: 086 672 1911
e-mail: mindsportssa@iafrica.com
URL: http://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa