PowerPlay Magazine

RA: Introduce yourself to us. What's your name, where are you from, how old are you?

S: Hi, I'm Peter, I live in České Budejovice, a major southern Czech city. I also study here, majoring in history, which is cool. It's my third year. Lately, I have also been taking care of foreign students, who came here via the Erasmus project.

RA: What's the origin of your nick and your team name at PPM?

S: Sarth is the name of a big library in a fantasy world of Midkemia created by the writer R. E. Feist. Many years ago, I picked Sarth as the name for my website about Feist's books. "Babicky s kostaty (Grandmas with brooms)" figure in a novel where the road to Sarth is mentioned: "You could defend this road with six grandmas with brooms."

RA: How did you come to PPM?

S: Tuttle called me in at some early stage. I worked with him as a GM before. I'm also glad I could correct Czech grammar from the beginning, because it matters to me. It is a sort of representation and education for younger people.

RA: Why did you sign up for the tournament?

S: I considered it as an opportunity to participate in something historical - the first edition of the first tournament.

RA: What are your feelings about the tournament?

S: Playoff... is really hard in hockey. I have to compliment the website - especially your effort to work on it very often.

RA: What did you like or dislike about the tournament?

S: I like the idea that teams from different leagues can compete against one another. I didn't like the fact that I had to check when the tournament is being played and when not. Therefore I had some blank spots in my calendar.

RA: What would you change or appreciate in future tournaments?

S: Some help would be nice. You are doing too much by yourself :).

RA: What is your opinion about playing the tournament until the last placing is decided?

S: I can't accept all friendly matches, instead I have to concentrate on when the tournament is played, I have to find opponents... I am used to do things automatically:). But there is something about it. The weakest teams don't look like outsiders, who are reduced to the roles of the spectators.

RA: Who did you consider as your main rival in the preliminary round?

S: Well, I think I won the preliminary round without a loss, so I had no competition in there.

RA: And in the playoff?

S: I expected to meet Gapko in the final, but I was knocked out from the top 16 in the first round :).

RA: Back to PPM now. What do you like most about it so far?

S: The main advantage is in the great cooperation of tens of people who contribute to the development of PPM. Only with a well functioning team with a clear structure can a game like this, with so much potential, be produced. PPM is also opened to suggestions from regular managers, which are accepted quite often.

RA: And what do you dislike about it? Do you have any suggestion for improvement?

S: I'd like some sort of a female element - hockey is not just about men! We are going back one hundred years by having purely male staff members. I’m looking forward to tennis.

RA: Will you participate in the future editions of the tournament?

S: I'm considering not to, because of the game scheduling problems. But I might change my mind. For example if I finally manage to achieve a better result in the playoff, it will surely help my motivation:) .

RA: You are the first gamemaster. What do you think about this position, is it difficult?

S: Of course. Only few people are capable of doing something like this. You have to think logically, psychological experience can come handy as well. I like both and I miss them in my study major. GM environment is still a little bit improvised. As with the tournament, the necessary comfort is yet to be developed. Therefore it is a bigger challenge. I have to think more and use more software types at a time.

RA: How many people, in estimate, have you blocked and what is the most common ban?

S: Well, it's more difficult than that, but it's been hundreds of teams from tens of managers. And bans? Mostly for multiplaying and playing in a foreign country.