During the hustle and bustle of MPL tournaments over the weekend, the Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) Esports Club held an informative talk about esports and the future of the industry in Malaysia. Some big names from the local esports scene were present to answer the questions, including MasterRamen, Flava, and Muhammad Arif Shahir Mohd Asri from Moonton.
The long and in-depth discussion brought up a lot of relevant points. MasterRamen shared about the differences between being an esports athlete and a casual gamer - one plays games to make a living, while the latter does it for fun without competing in tournaments. He also highlighted the stigma that casual gamers still face - being seen as toxic, verbally abusive, and undisciplined folks by the public. MasterRamen gave some advice to aspiring streamers - don't copy how other people stream. Do something out of the box, something that hasn't been done before that will draw attention to you. The other path you can take to fame is to enter a tournament and win it.
Muhammad "Flava" Farouq, professional esports emcee spoke about doing your research before diving headfirst into competitive esports. Knowledge is key when it comes to the industry, and dress code is also important if you're a professional athlete. When it comes to getting a job as a player or a coach - know that people will judge you based on how skilled you are in a game - and not your academic qualifications.
Muhammad Arif Shahir Mohd Asri, the marketing manager of Moonton mentioned that your studies should come first regardless of your skill in the game. It's always better to have something to fall back on, and your "real life rank" is more important than the one in-game. Remember to take care of yourself! For those keen on checking out the full talk, you can watch it below (it's in Bahasa Melayu).
It's no secret that esports has been growing tirelessly in Malaysia, what with teams representing Malaysia on a global scale, the birth of its first ever esports city, and initiatives specifically catered to nurturing the scene. We're a nation rich in history for esports, which is why eGG Network and Esports Integrated (ESI) teamed up to give you guys history lessons on the community with Jalur 14.
Jalur 14 is a 5-episode docuseries - premiered on 26 November - that sheds light on the untold stories of pioneers and industry leaders, who paved the way for the current generation of superstars. It recounts the tales of Dota legends, Chai ‘Mushi’ Yee Fung, Ng ‘YamateH’ Wei Poong; Malaysia’s first esports gold medalist Dr. Yew Weng Kean; along with young bloods in the industry such as Mohd Fariz ‘Soloz’ Zakaria, Ahmad Fuad ‘Fredo’ Bin Razali, Andriyana Binti ‘ChuChu Gaming’ Mohamed Ghazali; and more. From zeroes to heroes, they share their struggles, challenges, and experiences on their path to success of putting our Jalur Gemilang on the world map.
To have a clearer insight on what type of stories to expect from Jalur 14, here are some exclusive interviews we did with the stars:
Catch the fifth and final episode of Jalur 14 this Thursday (24 December), 9pm (GMT +8) on eGG Network Astro CH800. It will also be available on Awani (CH501) this Sunday (27 December), 10pm (GMT +8). The previous fourth episode will be broadcast on AEC (CH346/306 HD) instead on Saturday (26 December), 7pm (GMT +8).
Jalur 14 is presented to you by eGG Network and Esports Integrated. It is proudly sponsored by Yoodo, Acer, Zotac Gaming and Suncycle.
This interview is the third in a series of articles featuring the stars of Jalur 14 and this week we have MasterRamen. Firdaus Hashim, the founder of E-Sukan, a community and news portal for local esports back when dedicated media didn’t exist. He stuck around and earned himself the “Father of Malaysian esports” nickname for being a prominent figure in the scene. Having been a part of various games in the past, including Dota 2 and MLBB, he’s currently the manager for Team SMG’s PUBG Mobile squad.
Back in 2010-2011, my old Lowyat.net forum account was banned because I was trolling a lot, so I had to make a new account. At that time, I was watching a lot of Naruto, and I liked the character who always gave free ramen to Naruto and decided to name myself after him.
It started during PMCO when the players approached me to become their 'father'. That's when I created Bapak Ah Esports, to groom and help them grow into professional players, in hopes of an organization to sign them in the future. Team SMG was one of the organizations who approached us to hire the team and we took their offer since it seemed like a good opportunity.
I've loved playing games for a long time and have been passionate about esports as well. I've also organized a lot of events and it's very different from managing a team. The hype, the nervousness from watching your team playing - is why I focused more on the latter.
As for dislikes - when your team loses, there's a lot of pressure on you. When your team isn't do well, you won't get sponsors, and vice versa. So you have to make sure that your team is playing well all the time. Another thing is taking care of the feelings of the players when they lose. That's what I dislike most about it.
For likes - winning! The best thing is winning with your team.
It's really tough. Sometimes due to streaming commitments, I can't be there for my team. But most of the time, I've sacrificed time with my family to focus on the team.
Back then yeah, but now I think most people have forgotten about it and surprisingly, all the players from Arrow Gaming are still playing just that they can't compete in official Valve events. They still can make a living from it.
Sometimes, but since I don't focus on Dota much, it's not as often. The last time I talked to them was trying to get them to play for the SEA Games.
It was a very harsh punishment, considering the amount of money involved wasn't a lot. They were also very naïve and very young. But I don't blame Valve for such a harsh penalty. They probably wanted to make a strong statement to the community. It sucks to be them (Arrow Gaming) because they were one of the first few people to get the Valve banhammer.
It was fun! The game is very new, and the concept is very fun and interesting. You can see a lot of people playing it now. It was a good experience because we won our match! I hope the format will be better in the future.
We had SiuPakChoi and JanuaryAKG, who were experienced FPS players, and that helped a lot! Also, we played together well as a team and had a lot of fun. Our opponents also were as new as us to the game so they didn't have much of an advantage over us.
To be honest, I didn't have an interest in G-shock watches in the beginning. But people in chat were telling me about them constantly. So one day I did a search on them, saw a promotion for some G-shock watches on sale, and found myself attracted! I posted about it on Facebook and a lot of people agreed. Initially, I was going to buy a cheap one, but ManParang (from Yoodo Gank) messaged me, telling me to search more - which I did. I then discovered there was a lot of nicer looking G-shock watches out there, and that's when my journey to collecting them began. Now I'm a G-shock collector.
The current esports industry is great at the moment. There are a lot of pro leagues especially for PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. Recently, I've seen a lot of FIFA tournaments, endorsed by FAM themselves so we can see that the government is still supporting esports regardless of the change. There is also a lot of positive news about the scene instead of negative (like in the past), so that's nice.
My advice is, don't throw everything away to jump into esports completely. You must know that not everybody can be a professional footballer. People with talent can be a footballer, those that don't can't make it as one. It's the same thing in esports. Maybe you like to play games, if you have talent, you can possibly make esports your career, but if you don't have talent, take it as a hobby. That's my advice.
My message to my fans is simple, "Kurangkan Toxic lebihkan amal!" (less toxicity and be good to each other!).
RELATED
Watch Jalur 14 every Thursday, 9pm (GMT +8) beginning 26 November 2020, on eGG Network Astro CH800, available to all Astro subscribers. It will also be shown on Awani (CH501) every Sunday, 10pm (GMT +8) from 29 November 2020 and AEC (CH346/306 HD) every Saturday, 7pm (GMT +8) from 5 December 2020.
A docuseries chronicling the rise of esports and the gaming industry in Malaysia. Jalur 14 recounts the tales of 14 Malaysian icons including Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung, Ng “YamateH” Wei Poong, Mohd Fariz “Soloz” Zakaria, Ahmad Fuad “Fredo” Bin Razali, Andriyana Binti “ChuChu Gaming” Mohamed Ghazali, and more, as they share about their struggles, challenges, and experiences on their path to success.
Covering some of the biggest games in Malaysia, namely, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Counter-Strike, and PUBG Mobile, Jalur 14 is a must-watch for anybody who’s had any interest in the Malaysian esports and game development industry. From zeroes to heroes, these stalwarts of the scene have all broken their backs putting the Jalur Gemilang on the map.
Jalur 14 is presented to you by eGG Network and Esports Integrated. It is proudly sponsored by Yoodo, Acer, Zotac Gaming and Suncycle.
The very first Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) All Star Showmatch in Malaysia will go LIVE this 21 November at 7:00 P.M. Well-known artists such as Naim Daniel and Shalma Eliana will be front and centre, captaining a team of their own against each other. Other well-known streamers and influencers will accompany the two artists in this show match.
To commemorate this unique occasion, giveaways will also be held during the livestream. Up to 5 Million gift codes will be up for grabs. Other prizes include Legends skins such as Alucard Obsidian Blade, Gord the Conqueror, and Gusion Cosmic Gleam. Viewers will just have to watch the stream and share their thoughts in the comments section.
On top of all this, the two invited artists have also collaborated recently to craft a new MLBB theme song titled “Bring it on!” just for the show match. Fans can check out it through their recently released music video.
Fans will also be treated to a special cosplay performance to boot during the livestream.
Be sure to catch the showmatch LIVE on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. The livestream will also be available for viewing on eGG Network (CH800) and Astro Arena (CH801).
For the second day of the LEVEL UP PLAY ONE webinars, our panellists covered two interesting topics: the difference between esports and gaming addiction, and the emergence of female talents in the gaming industry. Here are some of the pointers we learned from the discussion.
The main difference between the two usually boils down to the goals of playing a game. When you're competing in esports, you have a goal to attain. Be it practicing for a tournament or a qualifier, or improving your skills in general - you're always working towards something. However, when it is an addiction, it is gaming until the point where it affects other aspects of your life negatively. Be it schoolwork, your career, or social life, being addicted to gaming means being unable to stop playing games. Fortunately, real gaming addiction only affects a small population of gamers.
On The Go, manager of Team Secret Malaysia (a PUBG Mobile squad) mentioned that even his players don't practice more than 3-4 hours of gameplay a day. There comes a point where putting in any additional hours isn't productive for the players. Instead, they spend a lot of their time on other gameplay elements such as strategising, and planning.
Panelists also gave some advice to parents who are worried that their kids are spending too many hours gaming. Parents should get engaged with the activities of their children, even if they don't 'get it', they can sit with them and try to be interested. Knowing that gaming isn't a hobby they have to do alone can help kids from using it as an escape from reality. Another tip is to show kids that there's more to life than just gaming - kids can have fun outside or not in front of their consoles as well!
The panelists also touched on careers in the esports industry. There's no need to be an athlete if you want to get involved. There are many other things you can do without going through the rigorous practice that pro players are subjected to. On The Go also spoke about preparing his players for the real world when they eventually retire from playing.
Watch the whole webinar below:
This webinar was a much more lighthearted one, given the cheery personalities that were on camera, and even featured cameo appearances by MissRose's kids!
The streamers spoke about comments and flames they've been subjected to on their live streams, and how they dealt with them. They even poked fun at the statement of men being better than women at games - saying that women have to do everything else, while men can spend all their time gaming.
Regarding labels, Chu Chu put it nicely - "As long as you're happy, it doesn't matter if people refer to you as a gamer girl." While Yana claimed that she's not a gamer, but an entertainer. They were also full of encouragement regarding people who are thinking of becoming streamers or pro gamers - fall repeatedly, but don't give up! And follow in the footsteps of successful people, learn from the pros.
Watch the whole webinar here:
The PUBG Mobile Professional League Malaysia/Singapore (PMPL MY/SG 2020) has been in full swing since 3 Mar. Both veterans and newcomers have been one-upping each other every day - except Monday, even e-athletes need rest - by securing kills, placements or better yet, Winner Winner Chicken Dinners (WWCD) to get those sweet points and advance to the Grand Finals. Among its 24 competing teams, Bapak Ah Esports is arguably one of PMPL MY/SG’s most prolific teams, currently placed second based on last week’s overall standings.
“We are happy about it, but we are still not satisfied with our placement,” Mohamad Nazeri “Trixnity” (or Trix) Shahrin Affan, the captain of Bapak Ah Esports, expressed on behalf of the team. “We could’ve done better last week and gotten first place,” which is now being seated by fellow Malaysians, Team Secret.
“But, it’s okay. It is what it is, and we’re going to try and do better this week.”
The team was founded by Firdaus “MasterRamen” Hashim, the one who got the ball rolling for Malaysian esports. This led to the name he was affectionately given by the community: “bapak ah esports” (“father of esports”), which he also used to name his PUBG Mobile esports team. The current four-player roster is the second coming of Bapak Ah Esports, with two members remaining from last year’s five-player iteration, who are flanker Mohamad Harith “Bard” Iskandar Badrul Hisham and Trix. They were later joined by Aqil “Six” Yusli (fragger) and Muhammad Danny “Jenny” Irfan Bakri (scout).
The captain - who’s also a support - ceased to eat his meal, reflecting on how the previous matches went. “I guess we started a couple of gunfights that we should’ve avoided. So, we’ll focus more on staying alive in the circle instead of getting kills.” Having honed their gun and positioning skills before PMPL MY/SG began, Trix is aware that you need more than gun skills ala John Wick to win the big leagues. “Now we're just focusing on communication, so that we can align better together,” and properly strategise their actions for (hopefully) the best possible results.
The leader is glad that the team has “a whole new mindset compared to last year’s PMCO (PUBG Mobile Club Open - Fall Split: SEA League 2019)”. “We were utterly scared back then,” Trix admitted, with the team placing 19th in the tournament. “Now, we’re more confident with our skills and want to focus on playing the game, have fun.”
Related:
All you need to know about PUBG Mobile Professional League MY/SG 2020.
Bapak Ah Esports are slowly regaining their form by dominating Week 2 Day 2.
When you’re up against the best of the best, you know that you’re in for the most intense gunfights of your life, which is pretty much the definition of “fun” for Bapak Ah Esports. “Every team here is strong,” Trix said. “But, if there were anyone we want to defeat, it’s either Yoodo Gank or Team Secret,” because he feels that their points tend to be close to each other every matchday. “I think there’s a healthy rivalry between us.”
Related:
Yoodo Gank is locked and loaded for the PUBG Mobile Professional League Spring Split.
Having played the last two days against Groups A and C during PMPL MY/SG, the Group B team started off Week 2 with a slight tumble at 7th place - not without winning one WWCD and 27 kills - on Day 1, before getting 1st place with 37 kills and high average placements on the second day. They'll be off the arena today, and will be back tomorrow to face off Group A once more.
The players of Bapak Ah Esports are
Mohamad Nazeri “Trixnity” Shahrin Affan
Aqil “Six” Yusli
Mohamad Harith “Bard” Iskandar Badrul Hisham
Muhammad Danny “Jenny” Irfan Bakri
A total of 24 teams are competing in the PMPL MY/SG League 2020, battling it out for the much sought-after spots in the SEA Finals by placing in the top 16. The participating teams comprise the top 16 Malaysian and Singapore teams who pulled through the Qualifier Finals, and eight invited teams that range from veterans to promising newcomers:
PMPL MY/SG 2020 began on 3 Mar, with the Regular Season concluding on 22 Mar.
Be sure to follow eGG Network for your dose of PUBG Mobile esports news.
Related:
PMPL MY/SG 2020 is Boyka's swansong as a pro player.
Facebook Gaming streamer, MissRose on mothering MRE Syndicate.
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