| Internazionale Interview |
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| Written by IFK Norrköping |
| Thursday, 03 December 2009 22:34 |
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I think this one might be interesting. Thomas (Internazionale) one of the MT´s answering some questions about the game we all love. 1. Who is Thomas? He is a geezer living the boy-ish dream of combining IT and Football for a living (not a very lucrative one, mind you, but who knows...) I'm also an economist(!) But the more time spent in that world of made up academia, the less one understands and appreciates the field. So, it's all about finding something else to do. 2. TM has gone a long way already, when did you start to work on the game, a long time before it was launched? I joined the dev squad formally in season 2, after having followed Søren blowing off work to start TM, at the ministry of labour where we worked at that time. (Funny aside: When the beta was launched, someone posted a link on a "freecrap.dk" kind of site which resulted in a large (i.e. small by todays standard) influx of traffic that resulted in the laptop then hosting the site developing smoke and dying.) 3. Are you happy with the progress so far? Very much so. Little more than a year ago it was an utter turd storm; Our top pro hosting couldn't cope with traffic. HD's going up in flames. Shaky financial situation. Now, by contrast, we have some problems, yes, and some rather big projects being very late. But by comparison, it's a breeze. 4. I always get the feeling you want TM to be a game you want to play yourself. Some will disagree but to me that feels more important for you than making as much money as possible, is that true? As avid users knows, the game started very much as a reaction to another big football game (starts with H, ends like attrick). "How hard could it be to beat that?" So, of course we're out to build a viable business, but I don't think any of us would be in it if we didn't enjoy the product. 5. Of course everyone wants to make a living out of their hobby if they can, you think you one day can earn enough in here to buy yourself a Ferrari? ;)? Lol. I highly doubt it. But one still has a Couplandish feel of being part of something cool that looks to have a lot of potential. Maybe a Prius some day (if I ever get a license, of course :) 6. Do you think sometime in the near future we will see B teams in their own league? Not a chance... Well, ok, depends on the scope of "near future". I have of course seen some demand for this. But I'd much rather keep going for the RLish reserves-in-proper-tournies scheme. Given better and faster clean up (including fast squad fills) of abandoned clubs, I believe this is the way to go. Either way, the separate leagues scheme would require vast development efforts. Efforts better spent on bug fixing and improvements felt by all managers. 7. Lack of communication is a big issue, is that something you will address better in the future when sudden bugs appear to calm people down? Mainly, our current efforts are very much aimed at preventing bugs from occurring. Basically, as many are aware, we're somewhat understaffed. Søren and I are the only ones able to code on the site (with Niklas helping out on some crucial SU details (and not counting Woody on a huuuge and very specific mission)). And Søren also has to handle many businessy formalities. So, adding the task of describing everything one's doing on top of trying to actually achieve it, isn't viable. All that said, I predict we'll improve on this area in the not to distant future. 8. You are one of the creators and have one of the oldest clubs in TM, when will you use your powers and get Internazionale back in the Danish top league? ;) Lol, trying. I've made a string of serious and fundamental mistakes in my TM career. Still suffering from those, but my 5year (RL) plan shows me back in the top flight in season 28,5 (some statistical uncertainty here.) 9. New ME on the way, any other major changes on the horizon you want to share with us? Tons just around the corner :) Right now my mind can't go beyond the imminent SU+big releases. So, I'll have to get back you on that. 10. How much time do you spend on TM working on bugs, new stuff, the new ME? Very little on the new ME. But that will come in season 18. I spend my work time distributed quite evenly on: maintaining+improving our set up (which is quite extensive), fixing bugs (may surprise some - but it takes place every single day), developing new stuff (which includes a ton of behind-the-scenes items.) 11. International youth Cups is that still on or not possible at the moment? Hmm, not possible at the moment, I'm afraid. 12. Sometimes I´m fed up with all the moaning in the forums, you as owners do you feel like packing it in at times when its all over the place? Not at all. I always try to spin angry posts in the direction that it means that the game must really be important to the user :) What can sometimes give me a fed up sort of feel is seeing a new user's (possibly noobish) post being ridiculed. Or someone asking questions answered in the post just above in a topic that hasn't even reached p2. Luckily, I have alcohol to give a fresh start every time a fed-upish feeling occurs. 13. Any things you have regret over the years that you didn´t do or actually did do to the game but maybe too early? Several; Every SU I deeply regret that we don't have a week of pause. B Teams was released just as we all left for a party. I'd forgotten to remove one tiny (but crucial) detail resulting in one of the nastiest messy situations in tm history. I had to go home semi-drunk at 2 a.m. and try to focus on cleaning it all up. Cost me at least ten years of living. Many other regrets; I'll have a brain storm and start doing my memoirs soon. 14. LMV for the international games, will it happen? Yes! And sooner than one might think. Cheers for bringing us this great game can you now please give me my life back! I think even the moaners will agree when i say long live TM so thanks a lot for taking your time out answring this. Good luck in the future of TM! Thanks for giving me this opportunity - sorry the answers was so slow :) |
| Last Updated ( Sunday, 23 May 2010 08:40 ) |
