PowerPlay Magazine

PPM reporter: For beginning, please tell us something about yourself.

My name is Florin Soveja, I'm 28, I am from Iasi (Romania) and I work as a software testing engineer for a company from Israel.

PPM reporter: When did you start playing PowerPlay Manager and how did you find out about this game?

First contact with PPM was in August, 2008. I heard about this game from my father, atreydespaul. At beginning I was not so interested about how good is this game, I just wanted another online manager where I can compete against atreydespaul.

Meanwhile PPM proved to be the most complex game I've ever met, and I left this rivalry aside (not that I had any chance against him :D).

PPM reporter: Why did you give your team name FC Politehnica Iasi and why "Ciukitu" ?

When football game was launched, FC Politehnica Iasi (real life football club from my town) still exists as a club in Romanian Second Division. Due to the fact that in real life performances were not really good, I said it would be ok if some trophies would be obtained in this virtual world (unfortunately I did not, yet).

Ciukitu nickname... hmmmm... It's a long story. In childhood, in the times when Counter Strike was a popular game, I used to go with friends to Internet cafes to play this game . The person who played before me on the computer also played Counter Strike and he had this nickname. It seemed very funny for me at that time and I kept it (of course after I asked the owner :D).

PPM reporter: What can we expect from you in season 9 of Romanian league and Romanian National Cup?

Frankly, I really don’t know:)). The PPM developers made a very smart change, giving to the importance of the game a much greater influence on the final outcome of a match. If you don’t pick correct game importance you can always be defeated by a weaker team and if you pick correct game importance you can win against much better teams. As targets, I proposed early in the season to win both trophies but I am aware that it is very difficult. Greatest hopes comes from the Romanian National Cup...

PPM reporter: Who do you consider as the biggest rival of your team and why?

Atreydespaul, for sure. Between us there was always (in online games) that competitive spirit. Any defeat in direct matches can mean teasing moments coming from the other, which are quite hard to bear :D . I must admit that until now he won more direct matches, and more trophies. But there is enough time to tip the balance in my favor...

PPM reporter: What’s your opinion about Romanian first league? When we are going to see a major trophy in your showcase?

In my opinion, Romanian first league have 3 groups of teams:

• ‘very good teams’ group (Dinamo Bucuresti HC, Hoki Klub Szereda, Sepsi Bikak, Steaua Sighet, Gore Csapat and Children of Dune)

• ‘good teams’ group ( Constanta Bengals, Deva Red Wings, Ham Ham, mountains bears, U Cluj)

• 'rest of the teams' group (no offense, I fit here too)

The fight is fierce throughout the season, but rarely happens that any team in the first group to miss the PO, while for other two places are fighting the teams from the second group:), and at the end of the season jo27 wins the championship. More recently emilianov and ovika have proved that they can claim the title.

An important trophy for me? When the aforementioned leave the game, but even then I am not sure of that.

PPM reporter: Who are managers who have had the hardest matches?

Dinamo Bucuresti HC, Hoki Klub Szereda, Sepsi Bikak, Steaua Sighet, Gore Csapat, Recolta Banesti, Constanta Bengals, Deva Red Wings, Ham Ham, mountains bears, U Cluj, although I managed to win some matches against them.

PPM reporter: What do you think about Romanian community? Which Romanian managers do you appreciate the most?

Although some minor fights appear from time to time, I find it an active community. If you have something unclear or you have any question, if you need help, certainly you’ll get a fast answer. As about users, they rock!

Who do I appreciate? Depends what you mean. If it's about the best manager I would say jo27. If it's about the best tactician, I would say ovika. If it's about the most fair user, I would say ciuprian. If it's the most ardent fan, I would be in doubt, I oscillate between paulinho09 and florinsteaua :). All managers have their strengths and weaknesses, and they should be appreciated for all they do.

PPM reporter: How often do you login and do you consider that it is enough accomplish your goals?

In PPM account I enter just once a day, but I am logged from 9 a.m.  until 10-11 p.m.. :)

To make performance, I think you need constant access to your account, in order to buy a player, to read the forum for finding new information, but my goals and the reasons why I’m logged so much time are not represented only by my two teams, but also GM position.

PPM reporter: How does the PPM evolved so far?

Honestly? Unexpectedly good. PPM proved to be a continually evolving project, which attracts more and more users. We can expect soon to surpass other online manager games and be number 1 in this virtual world (if it’s not already).

PPM reporter: What is your favorite team in hockey? But in other sports?

Favorite hockey team? I have none. Seriously. I knew nothing about hockey until I start playing PPM. In fact even now I can’t say that I know more than the game rules. : D

Other sports? Football: ACSMU Politehnica Iasi, Steaua Bucharest and Barcelona. I watch motorcycle (Valentino Rossi), tennis (Rafael Nadal) and handball (Oltchim and Barcelona).

PPM reporter: You have succeeded with Romanian national team, led by you 2 times, to promote the Top Division and to mint there. What do you think you bring new into National Team and what mistakes was made? Considering these things, are you tempted to run for the third time for Romanian national hockey team general manager?

Romanian National team is quite strong, I would say somewhere in the top 10 teams in the PPM world.

If we talk about the first campaign, in which we managed to promote, I do not believe we have made any mistake, National Team played very well. If we talk about last season, I made one mistake that proved fatal for us (the match against Russia). Even so, I say we had some bad luck, in the match against Latvia (being equalized in last 30 seconds after we hit the pipe and then losing in SO), and then losing the quarterfinals qualification only by one goal difference.

A future application will surely come. Even this season I applied, with cavou21 and jo27, in UK, but lost the election to one vote difference.

PPM reporter: You are PPM team member, more exactly a Game Master. Do you think it's a difficult task?

I was very glad when me this position was offered to me because it was an evidence that PPM staff have confidence in me. You can imagine that being a Game Master you have high responsibilities. It's a difficult job, because you have to take into account a lot of details when you take a decision.

PPM reporter: Estimate how many accounts you have locked and wich is the most common reason to close them?

I don’t know, I guess around 350-400 accounts, mostly for ‘multiple accounts'.

PPM reporter: What advices you have for managers who just registered in PPM? What should they learn first?

Many of new users quit this game due to its complexity. With a little patience and some information that you might receive from some more experienced users I think that they could ‘catch’ the game idea. Once understood, this game becomes addictive!

Some PPM users were interested in asking you some questions. Here they are:

 leonidas2: Have you ever made an agreement with other managers in order to influence the final result of a game?
To be honest, I can’t remember to do anything like this. To be a little bit ironically, I didn’t have even the chance to try. Whenever I relegated, it was a direct relegation to second division and whenever I promoted, my opponent had injured players, which granted me an easy win.

reborn: What would you do if you would have access, for a day (or more), to PPM founding members’ accounts?

I really don’t know, probably nothing. I never thought about this thing.

jo27: Do you think that you still have chances to win the playoffs this season?

Theoretically yes, practically no. Even if there are only 13 points between me and last PO place, it’s pretty hard to be in first 8 when regular season is over. I will try my best in Romanian National Cup, but still, national champion trophy will remain as an objective for me.

emilianov: What was the reason for the separation between you and leonidas2?

Theoretically there was no separation :), it’s just that we are not anymore those guys which, day by day, hour by hour, were making jokes, or discussing different things, and so on. Each of us has some certain priorities in life now (family, work) and probably put the PPM to background. Indeed, some time ago we had a minor fight, but that doesn’t meant that we had not met to drink a beer (actually many more), or we do not chat on messenger, it still happens but rarely. This game it’s just a game, a friendship is friendship, and we’ll certainly not skip it.

klacee: What do you think about current game engine?

The current game engine is very good. Even if there are some not happy people, overall the world is satisfied with it. The ‘upsets’ have not stopped to occur, but users have to understand that is something normal to happen, users must try to look at this game as an overall.
Almost every season, in both football and hockey games are implemented ​​new and new features in order to create a more realistic game.

Vlady: Do you think you are addicted to this game? What is the reason for logging every day?

Addicted? I could not say this, but I can say that I like it very much. GM position  is one of the reasons that I login every day, because day by day I have new cases that puts your mind to think :D, or cases that really amuse me.

(PS: My girlfriend considers me addicted to PPM)

Popaji: My first association of you is good friend and positive guy. So, being such a friendly person, what do you think - is that socializing aspect of PPM slowly fading away?

Where do you see yourself in PPM 2-3 years from now, and do you think PPM will ever be fun place as it was before?

Thank you.
The position you have in this game matters a lot. As a GM, I interact daily with users, so I cannot say that socializing aspect of PPM is slowly fading away. But I noticed that in Romania, some old users barely post a message on forums. Perhaps boredom, or not enough free time, is the reasons that lead to it. However I believe that PPM has been and still is a place where you can spend some free time with friends.
2-3 years? I do not know, I do not think about such things, I like to live the moment.

Diabolik37: What do you think, are you able to win another promotion to Top Division with a third national team (after Romania and Croatia)? Can you tell me the secret of these successes in order to apply it on France national team?
Mate, I will give one answer for both questions: the next trophy I will win it will be as a general manager of French national team. (The secret of these successes is me) :D
Seriously now, I don’t think that there is a secret for success. You need some luck, you need the support of other managers from your community in order to lead your national to a championship title. France, from what I noticed, is a team with lot of prospects and I am more than sure that in the near future will promote to Top Division.

Canucks357: Why have you been a Toronto Maple Leafs fan your whole life when it just leads to depression?
Peter, I know you're a Vancouver Canucks fan, but even the depression that I have now has nothing to do with the Toronto Maple Leafs :). I love this team since I was a child and I am sure that soon will reach the Montreal Canadiens in the number of trophies won.
Now seriously, I'm not a fan of hockey, and I do not know the history of NHL.

Kityusz: Hi Florin, you are a gamemaster of PPM. Can you tell us something about this work? Is it hard to do, or easy? How many shocked managers send you letters, that you are a scumbag, because of blocking his team ? Romania has no PPM Captain. Don't you want to be the Captain of Romania? If no, why not?

Hello Krisztián. Game Master work is quite complex. We must search daily the multiple account holders, we must check most of the transfers that took place in PPM world, we must ensure that everything is ok, we must ensure a conducive climate for everything it’s happening in PPM. It's a difficult job, but very enjoyable at the same time.
Messages like “you're a scumbag" I have not received yet, but I receive complaints daily. In such cases, we review the cases and we take a final decision. Of course, the decision is often the same. We also receive many messages from some users that are trying to find some excuses that really amuse us, like: 'I forgot that I had another account' or 'on this account plays my 4 years old son '.
Indeed, Romania does not have a support team captain, though, considering the number of users, it should. I do not want this position because time does not allow me to. It would mean to quit the GM position, and I don’t want to. I love what I do now.

d33a: What would you do if your girlfriend/wife would ask you to quit this game?
Just for your information, d33a is my girlfriend (in real life) and she says that I’m PPM addicted, but it’s not true! :D

I believe that if you would ask me something like this, after few days of intense negotiations we would share the same idea, which is I’ll continue to play this game but I’ll be online less time.