Szene: Tournament planning, implementation and decision-making 06.08.2017, 21:00

Introduction - "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Interview witch Marcus Mod, Headadmin

In preparation for this interview series, several interviews, beginning in the middle of last year, were conducted over a longer period in order to avoid possible delays in the publication of the series. Correspondingly, the one or the other information may already be outdated. We ask for your understanding.

Please introduce yourself to our readers: who are you and what do you do?

Hey! My name is Marcus Mod, 25 years old and I am currently working as a freelance CS:GO admin and also started as an Overwatch admin recently. My main job right now is Head Admin for DreamHack Zowie Open and DreamHack Masters. I have also done tournaments for Fragbite and FaceIT.

Can you elaborate a bit on your career? How did you end up at DreamHack?

I have played computer games almost my whole life. The game I played the most was CS1.6. I had a lot of friends that I played with, but I never reached any higher level in the game, and I didn't really have the time to go professional since I was playing floorball 5 times a week. A few years later I got tired of just playing casually so I tried to find other ways of enjoying the game/scene without actually playing in it.



I started to work with small communities doing small tournaments were the prize was 5 mouse pads and stuff like that. I did that for a year or so before I applied as a moderator at the Swedish site “Fragbite”. This was something new for me and wasn't really “esporty” but I got a foot in on a site with a lot of dedicated esport people.



This is where it really started, and this was the time CS:GO came to life. I got asked if I wanted to help with some online qualifiers for a LAN tournament called “Thor Open” in CS:GO 2012. I did both the LAN and the qualifiers together with Fragbite. CS:GO was really small at this time, but there was still a lot of people that wanted to do tournaments. Pontus, former boss at Fragbite helped me get in touch with a lot of people that needed help. DreamHack was one of them.



I did DreamHack Summer 2012 and also helped them with the BYOC tournament at DreamHack Winter 2012. This was nothing I could live of at the time, so I worked at a regular job between 2012 and 2013 and did various tournaments on the side. But in the end of 2013 I got asked If i wanted to start working at Fragbite fulltime as an Community Manager. This was something I could never dream off but I said yes and rented a room and moved to Stockholm. I met some really awesome people at Fragbite and we worked hard to bring Fragbite Masters to life.



Fast forward almost a year and I had moved back home since I failed to find a reasonably priced apartment/room in Stockholm. At this time I felt that it cost me too much to commute to work every day. I decided to quit my full time job but still work with them at the side. In the beginning of 2015 I got asked if I wanted to do all the CS:GO events together with DreamHack. I felt that it was worth taking the chance since I also had Fragbite Masters on the side. This was my first real step as a fulltime CS:GO admin. I have since then done about 12 events with DreamHack.

What’s the difference between a head admin and a regular admin?

There is not that much of a difference between regular admins and head admins when you are at an event. But you are often preparing a lot more before the tournaments and keep the communications between the organizers and the admins. Head Admin works as a team leader, you point in the direction you want things done and help the admins when it's needed. But it is also important to note that we all are in this because we love the game, I am not the best one at an event just because i'm Head Admin. You always have to listen to what everyone else has to say. Everyone has different approaches & ideas on how to do things. I learn new things every event thanks to other admins and people I work with.

Can you summarize in some sentences what your everyday work looks like before a tournament?

Most events are already planned when I got hired for them. So I just ask them questions about things so I can catch up and give input if I feel that something is missing or can be improved. For DreamHack I am always keeping an eye on changes in updates and also research things that can improve the viewing experience ingame. And also things that can make our work easier/faster at events. It can be everything from how we can handle demos better or how to protect the computers/servers and if might need to update our rules with specific things.

„ If a player crash in a crucial situation we might need to restart the round, so it's important to always focus on the match… “

What do you have to do when a tournament is running? How does this everyday work experience differ from before a tournament?

My main job when the tournament is live is to watch the games and keep an eye on the server/ingame/stream so nothing happens. If a player crash in a crucial situation we might need to restart the round, so it's important to always focus on the match. I also help admins & players if they have any problems in the practice area.

After the tournament, is there any kind of evaluation how it went or anything else to sum up the event?

It is pretty easy to tell how a tournament went by looking at delays and how much technical problems we had. There is always things we can work on, so we talk about it during the events and then email it afterwards. It is important to focus on the right kind of problem and prioritize what problem or feedback is most important. For example, we might need better boxes to store the players gear in because they are too big, but how important is it compared to something else we might need to improve first? Also, the player feedback is a key factor. I love to hear what the players think. It is also important to never let “negative” feedback get to you. Always take it as a way to improve.

What are some of the greater or what’s the greatest challenge(s) in your job, that nearly nobody knows about?

One of the most greatest challenges is to try and improve everything. I think this apply for all tournament organizers & admins. You always want to be the best and do the best events. How do you take it to the next step? Something I always work on is to make it as easy as possible for the players. A player should be able to come to an event and just set everything up and play.

Have you ever been forced to make an unpopular decision, if so, can you tell us what it was?

I often have to make unpopular decisions. Mostly in online tournaments and it can be everything from disqualifying teams because they are missing demos or a player that didn't follow the rules. But i don't think i have been forced to do that in any bigger LAN tournaments actually. Most teams know the rules and therefor no bigger issues.



The only thing i can think of is a situation in the GameShow qualifiers were i had to disqualify launders team because he was streaming on Twitch when the tournament was broadcasted on Azubu. Reddit was quick on the pitchforks haha.

What are some of the most important things to make sure an event runs smoothly and is a great experience for players that viewers may not be aware of?

The players are sending in configs, logos, steamid’s and also a txt with a list of drivers they need and also in what order the players want to sit before the event. I think one of the key aspects for us is that we are preparing the computers before the event with everything needed. That has helped us a lot since a few years back when the players themselves downloaded everything. There is less hiccups and production and cameramen knows how the players are seated.

How far in advance are tournaments planned? Which requirements have to be met?

There is different stages. The venue and the dates are often planned one year ahead. Then in the beginning of the year format and prize money is set. Teams are often invited a few months before the tournaments and then just right before the tournament all the technical stuff is planned. It also depends on what organizer it is, but i am often involved 1 month before the tournament if there is anything special we need to do.

„ The International is one of the tournaments that acts like a role model for me… “

From a professional standpoint: is there an event, even outside of the Counter-Strike scene, that has particularly impressed you and may be a acting as some kind of role model to you?

The International is one of the tournaments that acts like a role model for me. I love how the production looks and they always find new ways to improve the interaction with the game. Everything from VR spectating to the LED floor and augmented reality for pick and bans. I am hoping that CS:GO one day will get the same treatment from Valve, the possibility to interact and use the ingame features more outside the game.



They seem to treat the players and talents really well and also spend a lot of money on it. The same goes with preparations. How they are handling gear and security overall at the events. That is something that i think about a lot when i do tournaments. Regular sport studios is also something that i watch a lot and try to steal ideas from. I think that esport productions still have a lot of things to take from those studio segments.

In case something happens that isn’t clearly covered by the rules, what happens then? How do you handle it?

Most of the things are covered in the rules. The big difference for CS is that the rules set has evolved from 1.6 to CS:GO. There has been so many years to improve it to the point where it is pretty solid. But in cases when something happens that is not covered in the rules, we just have to talk everything through and see what is the most logical thing to do. Admins always have the last word. This doesn't mean that we can abuse it, but we still can make judgements and after an event sit down and see if we need to change things in the rules to clear up or cover the incident.

When planning and setting up a tournament, what’s important to look out for and to have in mind?

Computers are always a big issue. I have done so many events in the past with different organizers and PCs. One thing that you have to account for is in what shape the PCs are in when they arrive in terms of software and if they are newly installed or not. Computers might be shipped from other and events (not only from esport tournaments) and often have different software and things installed on the computers. This is something i'm always worried about when i do new events with less experienced organizers. To this day i still hear dupreeh at every event asking if windows is updated. That originates from when we had trouble with 100 different windows updates at a season of Fragbite Masters haha.

Is there any room for improvement in CS:GO that would make your job easier?

There is a lot of things that can be improved in CS:GO. I know that a lot of people working as admins/observers/tournament organizers are contacting Valves with features that would improve many aspects. After every tournament there is always a few things that comes up that would be nice to have a command or a feature for. One thing i would like to get right now for an example is a command to change the team names. Most teams are using a altered version of their team name since the real team name is taken on steam. Valve recently released a command that forces players to use the nick they have at a major, now im only missing a feature where i could force the rest of the players to have a specific nickname through steamids.

„ I sometimes miss the old days… “

What’s your view on the evolution of eSports? Where do you think it’s heading? What do you wish to see in future?

I think esport is going towards more of a “business” approach. Esport has always been pretty laidback and people has been doing events and tournaments because they love esport and the game. Now there is so much more money involved and with that you need a better structure. I think it's both good and bad. I sometimes miss the old days when you created a LAN for people just because you loved the game and none really cared about how it looked, as long as you could sit down and play or watch a tournament. But everything has also been improved so much these past few years with players that has much more of a professional attitude and admins that know more than just the basics. I just hope that the future will be even more structured with rules and standards set together with the players and organizers. Different team/player/organizers unions would be a good start. But it should be done by people that are not tied to one or another.

Have you ever worked on tournaments outside of CS:GO? If so, are there any major differences?

Recently I started working with Overwatch, i have also done Heroes of the Storm at DreamHack Valencia. The biggest difference for me is that Blizzard is working together with every tournament to make it somewhat unified. Most players already know what to do when they arrive at the LAN even if it's done by a different organizer. This is something i really like.

If you had unlimited money and possibilities, what would your dream tournament look like?

My dream tournament would be something like The International but not with a $20,000,000 prize pool. I would like to try a setup with the teams in the middle and crowd all the way around. I loved DreamHack 2013 that had a similar setup but a lot smaller. Something else i would like to try is a mix between Gaming Paradise (not with all the problems though :D) and Beyond the Summit style of tournament. This would of course not be played outside but i would like to have it in a more exotic place with a relaxed atmosphere and pro players just having fun on stream.

Which tips can you give fans that may be interested in pursuing a career as an admin?

I would recommend people to start small. Try to help smaller communities or teams in the beginning. When you are doing a bigger tournament there is no room to fail and often no time to teach someone how to do the basic stuff. All the admins i have been working with has started out as volunteer admins for various communities. It is also easier for me to see what you are capable of when i can go back and watch previous tournaments a person has done.

Missed a part?

At an top notch event many different people are involved who invest sweat and blood so that spectators can admire a high-quality product at home and on site. Many different persons work together to ensure the event runs like a well oiled machine. One of them that bears great responsibility is the headadmin. Planning and execution of the tournament is incumbent upon him, if something goes wrong, he usually has to takes the blame. The aim is not only to make sure the audience watches a great tournament, but also to ensure the players a smooth process.Especially at events of the big organizers there are especially many eyes directed at the work of the tournament organizers, which potentially comment every little mistake critical. Anyone who wants to survive such pressure and be successful over a long period of time must be especially well in his profession. Marcus Mod is one of the most capable admins in CS:GO, he has already led tournaments for DreamHack, FACEIT and the Swedish site Fragbite.In addition to technical questions, the (Head)Admin also acts as the go-to guy in terms of rules, if situations arise which can not be solved unambiguously. Thus the admin not only takes the role of the technical consultant and helper as well as the tournament management, but can also act as a referee. A task which is partly taken over by specially hired personnel and which we dedicate an own article to in one of the following interviews.