Late last night, Nashh Kadavar, organiser of #EVE_NT got in touch with me via skype, giving no thought to the cost of Data Roaming charges for making the call abroad. This is because he had just received a mail from CCP confirming they were goin to providing EVE_NT Collides a set of unique skins to give as prizes to the participants of the tournament.
EVE_NT Collides has arrived as a new event.
I took some time to quiz Nashh about the tournament.
#EVE_NT Collides is a project you have been working on for a while now, when did you start working on this project and what inspired you to do this?
This Collides project is actually the brainchild of Bei ArtJay, he asked me to be part of this project and I immediately fell in love with it. So much so I bought my half of the project in return for half of #EVE_NT, the live event I hold in Nottingham. With real life commitments Bei has had to reduce his participation a little and I have bought him out of both projects and I am now the only owner. He will still participate in a producer capacity.
I love EVEsports and I endeavour to be at the forefront of its future existence. CCP has made it clear the future lies in our hands, us the playerbase, I just want to make sure that a good quality product sets the benchmark, #EVE_NT Collides will be that benchmark.
Back in July you broadcasted 3 matches via twitch. Was this a test run? If so, what lessons did you learn?
Some tests where run well before then, but yes; we broadcasted the first official #EVE_NT Collides series earlier this year. And many lessons were learned, despite the quality being of a decent standard there are many little improvements made between episodes, with a bigger and better team on board for the full season coming up we will be able to put something truly amazing together.
What kind of team is required to make this kind of event happen and what sort of infrastructure and setup do you need?
The team is completely built on volunteers, EVE players with the same passion for EVEsports. All members on the staff-list bring a different skill set and contribute equally in their own way. We have art-workers, streaming specialists, expert commentators, admin, advertising you name it. All in all about 20 people have contributed to this or will work on this continually.
CCP have for this series given their support in the form of unique SKINS, how much does this mean for you trying to organise this project?
This is a massive deal, I mean massive. For one it shows CCP’s clear intent to support the playerbase in making EVEsports a real thing and shows they trust and believe in this particular project to be an example to others.
One of the hardest and most stressful things has been to get teams to commit, understandably so, the preparation and practise they put in to get a good performance needs to be justified. With the previous matches only being fought for space-honour and kudos, only a handful of good teams could spend their time on this. Now that there are real prizes we will get more interest from teams and should get some really awesome fights!
Who has been invited to participate in this tournament?
The first 7 invites have gone out to team captains from; Pandemic Legion, Warlords of the Deep, Camel Empire, Exodus, Shadow Cartel, Hard Knocks and Tuskers. They have until the 13th of this month to accept or the ranking in ATXIII will be used to offer a spot to a different team. The final line up will be announced as soon as the teams are locked in and confirmed, their placement in the tournament will be announced live at #EVE_NT on the 19th September.
Who has been invited to be a part of the commentary panel?
The team is complete now with Bei Artjay, Bob Shaftoes, SirSqueeebles, Chessur, Suitonia, Gorski Car, Apothne, Biohazard as the core but there are others working behind the scenes and there will be guest commentators as well.
What lies ahead in the coming weeks in terms of preparation for the tournament?
A lot, we are working hard with Biohazard and the tech boys to complete the stream setup, art workers are completing the final overlays, staff rotas are being compiled, advertising, sponsorship deals and so on and so forth.
What is different about this format compared to the Alliance Tournament, what can viewers look forward to?
This season will be played out in a straight knockout cup format, with one extra match to determine 3rd / 4th place, totalling 8 episodes. The matches will be like last season in a 5 vs 5, best out of 5 setup.
This format makes for easier viewing, and with top class commentary also very exciting. The fact we will have top teams playing will help with team support and of course our headline sponsor EVE-bet will have betting enabled on all the matches.
Where do you hope to take this format in the future?
Over the course of this season I hope to grow the staff list with more likeminded skillful individuals to allow for a bigger setup the season after, perhaps a league style format, broadcasted more often. We will see, the main goal is quality for now, we will make a high quality production and build on that as time goes on.
Where can people keep up to date on developments and watch the tournament?
Information will be available on our facebook page (make sure to like!) with more information and the twitch stream is on our website; www.eve-nt-collides.uk. You can also look out for news on twitter; @nashh_kavavr and follow the hashtags #EVE_NT and #EVEsports
Lastly, do you have any final words?
I would like to thank Bei Artjay and the rest of the amazing team we have assembled, our headline sponsors EVE-bet, CCP;specifically CCP Guard and CCP Logibro, and of course all the viewers who make this worth doing in the first place!
Since the ending of the New Eden Open there was a slot open for another Eve Tournament. It looks like EVE_NT Collides could be the one to fill that gap all tournament lovers have been looking for. Look out for further announcements later on this month.
