SBT Challenge: Epilogue

Results of the first tournament among streamers from SBT Localization Team

Hello, dear reader! And if you were also a spectator or a participant of our SBT Challenge, then you know what we are going to talk about. In this article, we will offer for reading and watching a few short interviews with participants of the tournament, results of the tournament and a video with highlights of the tournament.

Interviews

1. What are the overall impressions of the tournament? Are they positive or negative?

BigDrifterMen: Overall, positive. I learned more about streamers and discovered many games 🙂 and earned for new entertainments ?

blackOleh_UA: Impressions are positive 🙂

LunarShadow_ua: Impressions of the tournament are rather neutral, considering a part of my performance ?

M3lk1n: Impressions of the tournament are positive, it was exciting to watch the other participants’ game.

pad0n: The tournaments are always interesting as they are a challenge to yourself, a spirit of rivalry, support of spectators, etc. Therefore, the impressions are, of course, positive, despite me performing lousy at the tournament.

Dithomon: Nice impressions, because the team took first place 🙂

PanHooHa: Positive. You’re doing a good stuff! And don’t you stop!

DPaladin: In general, impressions are positive. It was exciting, competitive and fun. There were a few moments that slightly overshadowed the overall impression, but in essence, atmosphere, spirit and result, the tournament was successful. Both from the spectator and the observer-spectator’s point of view.

2. What goal did you set for yourself when participating in the tournament?

BigDrifterMen: First of all, I wanted people to know more about me. I guess I succeeded in it 🙂

blackOleh_UA: To be honest, we did not have a goal or a clear strategy. In the beginning, when I did the first test in “Limbo,” everything was new and the goal was just to participate, but when I learned that Paladin did the best result by 7 minutes, everything was a little different. P. S for me for sure, there was a goal to be the best.

LunarShadow_ua: I set myself the goal of creating fascinating content for my audience to view.

M3lk1n: The goal was to participate and try new games.

pad0n: First, the aim was to have fun. Try how fast I can pass the game, which is new for myself, without prior preparation. Spoiler – it turned out to be very difficult.

Dithomon: To create good content and win.

PanHooHa: I love speedruns (as a spectator), and here’s an offer to take part in a speedrun tournament, it was compelling.

DPaladin: The goal changed as the format changed. Initially, the motivation was to show more games with Ukrainian localization. When the format has changed a bit, the goal was to encourage participants to compete, which would be an additional factor of interest for the audience. In the end, the aim was to encourage those who weren’t actively involved in any kind of activity

3. Did your hopes for the tournament come true? You may have formed some of them at the time you first learned about the tournament.

BigDrifterMen: Well, that’s how I imagined everything. It may not have been very pleasant for the sponsors.

blackOleh_UA: I was invited almost at the last minute, and before that I didn’t know about the tournament, I was very interested in participating.

LunarShadow_ua: Considering that my expectations were wrong, obviously my hopes didn’t come true. However, this is clearly not the fault of the organizers but my own mistake.

M3lk1n: There were no special hopes, so I think they came true, as the goal was achieved ?

pad0n: When they had offered me to take part in the tournament, I immediately refused because I knew it would take a lot of time, which I didn’t have at the time. In the end, I was persuaded to try, but I decided for myself that I would not train in addition and I would try the tactics of passing the game after my partner using her tips. And even in this case, it was very difficult to find time for the tournament. So yes, my expectations came true as it really took a lot of time, which I never had, unfortunately.

Dithomon: they did come true.

PanHooHa: I misunderstood everything from the beginning. In short, I did not expect so many skilled people in the tournament and, as it turned out, such an excessive number of games.

DPaladin: No ? As it was noted, at first the tournament was positioned as a high-speed entertainment with the available Ukrainian localization. The tournament changed the format, as a result expectations and expectations changed as well

4. What was pleasant, and what spoiled the impression?

BigDrifterMen: Well, it’s a pity that not everyone was able to finish the tournament and that the “spare” was more of a “replacement.”

blackOleh_UA: The struggle between the participants was pleasant. The inaction of other teams was unpleasant, though.

LunarShadow_ua: It was nice to watch other participants who tried their best, they are great guys 🙂 However, the negative was that in the beginning there were some issues with understanding the rules.

M3lk1n: It was admirable that the atmosphere of the tournament was friendly, the participants encouraged each other and shared their experiences.

pad0n: It was lovely that all the participants of the tournament talked to each other, some shared tactics, supported each other. In short, it was not a competition with hatred for each other, but a friendly attempt to have a great time together. The impression was spoiled by a few drawbacks in the rules of the tournament and the games, which were not quite suitable for the “speedrun”.

Dithomon: Team spirit is always a nice thing.

PanHooHa: In general, I got a pleasant impression of the tournament. What about “spoiling,” we’ll try to sort it out further (answering the following questions).

DPaladin: The pleasant moment was that a number of games impressed and were an unconditional discovery for the participants. Actually, the appearance of the Ukrainian flag on speedrun.com, and in different games and from several participants. In fact, it was the competition itself, which they managed to “impose” at least one team of rivals. Eventually, it became the biggest spectacle for spectators and fans. The impression was spoiled by the participants’ low activity. Furthermore, it was a disbelief in one’s own strength and articulation of one’s own loss of certain teams with giving victory out to others competitors. Besides, there was a number of entertainments that are not quite suitable for speed running.

5. What was the hardest part of the tournament?

BigDrifterMen: Play the game several times)) lack of experience for that))

blackOleh_UA: The hardest thing in the tournament is to keep yourself in check and not get nervous when passing the test. And of course Ruiner, in my opinion, is the toughest game in the tournament.

LunarShadow_ua: There were too many games.

M3lk1n: The hardest part was playing the games on time ?

pad0n: To win ?

Dithomon: The hardest part was to play games which are not typical for me 🙂 However, I was able to come over myself.

PanHooHa: I suppose, it was all about the number and duration of the games.

DPaladin: Don’t fight for a guaranteed first place ? When you see disappointment and a certain decline in a single opponent, but you want to keep the interest in the current and future tournaments, you had to make appropriate adjustments to your own strategy.

6. What prevented you from demonstrating a good result or simply achieving the desired goal you set for yourself in this tournament?

BigDrifterMen: Persistence, I guess. I passed each game on the second try and didn’t try to do that outside of broadcasts.

blackOleh_UA: Excitement that this is one attempt (but this was the most intriguing thing in the tournament)

LunarShadow_ua: Lack of time and understanding that I will not be able to make as much effort as the participants who took the lead.

M3lk1n: A good result required some training, which there was simply not enough time for.

pad0n: Personal life problems, which resulted in lack of the time.

Dithomon: Thr fact that there was the only attempt. It really increased the level of adrenaline in the blood)) But it was all about that)

PanHooHa: Insufficient amount of training, excitement, and lack of appropriate free time. Personally for me, it was quite demotivating as the games were not really impressive.

DPaladin: To my mind, we demonstrated a decent result ? We didn’t aim for a victory, but an engaging tournament, setting a certain rhythm when the others were just warming up. Was it possible to win? Absolutely. Although, for the sake of Mr. Oleg’s crazy demonstration in the last minutes of the tournament, it is not a shame to take the honorable second place.

7. What do you think should be removed from the tournament, and what went well and should stay as it is?

BigDrifterMen: There were too many games. It could be worth changing the format, I mean not a speed run games, but, for example, there could be 10-20 games and the one who passes further gets the victory,

blackOleh_UA: Everything was great. The only thing I’d like in the future is more activity in teams and more struggle.

LunarShadow_ua: Well, I would generally rewrite the format. It would be refreshing, perhaps, to do it in the format of a sprint, so that everyone starts the game at one point and passes it, preferably for the first time, with funny mistakes.

M3lk1n: First of all, I would get rid of the two-man format of the tournament and make it a one-man competition. In this way, everyone is responsible only for themselves and does not let other participants down. It would also be worth reducing the number of games and the time that the tournament takes. You could think about synchronous passage, so that the participants begin the passage of a short game simultaneously. Then the audience would be more engaged to watch it. If you leave the teams format, then you need to choose games with pvp or tvt format. So that it was not a simple passing the game, and direct fight instead.

pad0n: I didn’t like the way the winners were selected. In general, team A won more games than team B, but in the end, team B won the whole thing only because the time difference in the larger games. I would do a slightly different rating system: 10 participants, but not pairs, and split the tournament into 5 stages (5 games respectively). The first stage starts with all 10 participants speeed run the same one game. fTop 8 go forward to the next stage. Then top 6 go to the 3rd stage, top 4 gets to the 4th stage, respectively. And in the 5th stage there are two finalists, who pass the most difficult game for the speed run and the winner takes everything. But this is just my suggestion ?

Dithomon: You can make a bigger spread across those genres. In fact, the tournament itself just needs scaling.

PanHooHa: In conclusion to the abovementioned, I would note the excessive number of games and its duration. The prize fund, of course is a very good incentive for participants. It should definitely stay. And in addition, you could add something unusual for philanthropists for some price (except for the logo).

DPaladin: It gets difficult here. It is obvious that the participants of the first tournament were too optimistic about the opportunity to participate and the time needed for at least one-time games. So what can we change ? Maybe informing and communicating people about participation? It’s all because at the beginning of the tournament “10 weeks is too much for 10 games”, they said. And as a result out of 12 people there were only two, who passed all 10. Only 3 teams passed all 10 games. That’s why the impressions are not the best. Informing, communication, both with participants and informing all interested organizers on the portal. That’s what definitely needs a change. Do not break to the rules and keep deadlines set from the beginning, because team strategies are built basing on this. What you should keep is pair / team participation, in order to reduce the workload per person and the possibility of the teams comeback. The presence of at least one / several games with Ukrainian localization. As it turned out that not even streamers know about some masterpieces ?

8. Do you plan to take part in similar tournaments from SBT Localization Team again?

BigDrifterMen: It would be interesting, but it all depends on rules and the free time)

blackOleh_UA: Of course)

LunarShadow_ua: It’s doubtful, if we talk about speed run tournaments. If there is something else, then I would love to give it a try.

M3lk1n: I’d like to participate, but the format definitely needs changes.

pad0n: I would like to do so, but most likely, I looked like a “freebie” in this tournament, so I don’t really want to take away someone’s opportunity to take part in the tournament. Maybe someday I’ll learn time management, stop working on 10,000 projects and become a full-time streamer? Then, of course, I will gladly take part in such a project. But at the moment, my participation in it was a fiasco.

Dithomon: Yes, definitely 🙂

PanHooHa: I don’t want to be a jerk, but under the same conditions, I will have to refuse. In general, I think the rules need to be finalized. In particular, the test race itself. In my opinion, it will not be a bad idea to have several test attempts, if not all. If you say everyone has enough time it’s not really the truth, because those who have a lot of time still train outside the streams. If you invite me, I’ll be happy ?

DPaladin: I would like to say “Definitely!” Nonetheless, there are formats and games that I do not play ? Therefore, I say “With pleasure!”

Results

According to Mr. Dark Paladin in one of his answers, several records with the Ukrainian flag appeared on the website speedrun.com. Here are some screenshots from the site, so you can understand what it is about ?

https://www.speedrun.com/the_bridge

https://www.speedrun.com/rime#No_Major_Skips

https://www.speedrun.com/inside

https://www.speedrun.com/aer_moo#Any_No_Major_Glitches

https://www.speedrun.com/abzu#Any (Select “Black Suite” and “Glitchless” in the filters, as shown)

Also, the rules of the tournament will be revised for the next tournament. There were some restrictions for the first tournament, which we hope will not be there for the second one. So, what changes await us?

First, we will definitely reduce the number of games to 4. 10 games were really too many.
Second, we will add the ability to make three test attempts (or possibly an infinite number, but with time restriction) for each game and choose the best one.
Third, some participants were in favor of being without a partner and not pulling him down, while others would like the team spirit to be maintained. Therefore, we will probably allow participants to choose whether they want to have a partner or play solo. Write in the comments whether you see any problems or inequalities.
Fourth, all participants will play the same game during the week, they will not be able to change the order of the games, and they will not know the name of the game that will be next. Each further game will be announced once a week.
Fifth, The prize pool will be split in half. The first half will still be divided according to the 50-30-20 scheme as a reward for the whole tournament, the second half will be divided into 4 equal parts and will be divided according to the 50-30-20 scheme among the winners of each round. In this way, we believe that the motivation to win in at least one round will remain, even if the participant loses the other three rounds.

Please write your comments on the planned changes.

The next tournament is scheduled for November-December this year (2021).