[Sitdown #3] Pepperoni Summoner

When was the last time you felt fear?

The feeling of dread and despair when you realise the impossible has happened, you are suddenly caught off guard – as though you are going through a midlife crisis.

What if this midlife crisis is something that happens regularly, not when you are in your 30’s?

The feeling of fear of losing your phone is paramount to a natural disaster in this day and age, we can thank Apple and Samsung for this.

We, as humans, are now dependent on our phones for survival. Our phones serve many purposes in our lives, from chatting, to reading the news, to surfing the internet and of course, playing games.

Everything changed when developers starting pushing games into mobile phones. The first mobile game was Tetris which was first pushed into our mobile phones back in 1994.

From Clash Royal to Mobile Legends, there is always an endless supply of new mobile games for people to play everyday.

I could go on and on about mobile games, but this article isn’t about that. We’re here to feature people and today I have Guo Hui as my guest for this Sitdown, and we’re talking about a mobile game that everyone at one point has heard about – Summoners War.

 

Here’s a fun fact – I have no games on my phone since 2016.

 

J: When did you first started playing Summoners War?

GH: I first started playing SW (Summoners War) back in the army; it was during my first month in service. I chanced upon this game by pure coincidence when several of my BMT (Basic Military Training) [1] mates were caught using their phone after the “Lights Out” timing [2].

Respective commanders from the different platoons discouraged us to test the disciplinary system and highlighted that many recruits were caught playing SW after the “Lights Out” timing and that was where I became curious and went to download the game. Little did I know that it would become a huge part of my life in the army and even now.

 

Mr Chin Guo Hui himself.

 

J:  I see you’ve been rather active at the game, with frequent updates of yourself playing the game on social media. How did you become so good at it?

GH: After playing the game for more than three years, I would definitely have a good grasp of the game. RNG (Random Number Generator) [3] and luck plays quite a big part in obtaining what you want in SW. Apart from that, I am too very familiarised with the various mechanics of the game; from the monsters and their skills, turn orders for attacks as well as various power ups; also known as runes, that are needed to be equipped for specific monsters.

In SW; like most mobile phone games, we have the “Arena”
mode, where players get to set their teams to battle against other defending players, which are controlled by the AI. Whereas in “Real Time Arena” mode, you get to battle with your opponents in real time, with real time match ups. 

I often watch the replays of RTA (Real Time Arena) to learn on the current and commonly used tactics in the meta now; the team composition used and the turn orders and strategies that top players in this mode use.

Having the knowledge of what your opponent will use and their tactics will give you an added advantage in winning battles in the RTA mode. Knowing your enemy will ensure that you have half the battle won. Occasionally, I watch Youtube streams to improve on my gameplay and craft new strategies.

 

Real Time Arena mode, where players use their monsters to compete with other in real time.

 

J: I recently saw that you went to a Summoners War related event last week, what was it about?

GH: SW held an event on the 23rd of September, and I attended it with a few of my friends that I‘ve met through the game! 

This event was an offline party event where selected players gather, meet up and have some friendly competitions that had some prizes. The main purpose of the event was to spread awareness of the Summoners War World Arena Championship SEA Finals, which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November this year. 

The event was also a way for SW to thank the fans and give back to the community.

We had lots of fun meeting new players, battling each other and winning prizes from the competitive matches while enjoying some delicious food and drinks. It was the first official event that was organised by SW in Singapore.

 

A group shot of the people who attended the event. Picture was taken from the Summoners War Facebook page.

 

J: To the people reading my article who has no idea what is SW, can you tell me and my readers what the game is about?

GH: SW is about progression, friendship and the grind – we collect monsters for our collection, rune them up by going through different scenarios and training the monsters to make them stronger. 

There are 5 different types of monster tiers; 1* – 5*. By stats, a default 5* monster has the best stats in the game; like speed, defense and attack. Every monster can be trained to 6*.

These monsters can be summoned via the Temple of Wishes and Scrolls; that can be collected from rewards from certain events and from rewards that you attain from the different scenarios [4] in the game. Each scenario in the game drops different types of scrolls that can summon different monsters.

Another key mechanic in the game is the runes; runes are like a power-up in a game context; they have different kind of effects which may affect the course of a battle. To name a few, there’s a rune named “Will” which gives you immunity to debuffs and another rune name “Rage” which raises your critical damage by 40%.

It’s like Pokémon but a far more taxing and less beginner friendly alternative.

 

Scrolls that are used to summon monsters.

 

J: I’ve played quite a few mobile games in the past, and I uninstall them after a week or so. What makes SW different from other mobile games?

GH: Unlike most games, SW offers players basic needs via farming [5] which allows you to progress without spending money on it.

What sets this game apart from the rest are the developers that constantly produce new content for the game regularly; like introducing new game maps; introduction of new game mechanics and monsters to ensure that interest in the game is sustained in their existing and new player base.

This game also has a co-op [6] mode that requires three players to complete some scenarios. In the months to come, SW will be introducing more events and raids and that will allow us to play with our friends.

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J: You have played this game for three long years, what makes it so special to you?

GH: It’s definitely the friends that I have made from the game and as I said earlier, the new content that is constantly being pushed out by the developers that has kept me from quitting the game.

I have met up with over 50 local Singaporean SW players and a good number of overseas players when I went abroad. The community is awesome, high-ranking players are willing to give advice to newer players in all aspects of the game.

The local SW community in Singapore conducts monthly meetups with the players, especially during FRR (Free Rune Removal); an event that allows you to remove runes from your monsters without any cost, which is held on every first Saturday of the month.

 

Guo Hui and the friends he has made from playing SW.

 

J: It sounds like you have an undeniable emotional attachment to the game. Lastly, do you have any shoutouts?

GH: A shoutout to my friends in channel 108 and 123. To Auggie and Ah Yongs, cheers to more meetups and raids together.

To Eric, please learn to be more humble even though you’re good.

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Notes

[1] Basic Military Training or BMT for short is an initiation to the army and rite of passage every full-time National Serviceman (NSF) must go through in Singapore.
[2] Lights out timing is the time in which recruits in BMT must go to sleep.
[3] Random Number Generator or RNG is the supreme being who reigns over all moments of chance in a Role Playing Game. She determines all hits, dodges, critical hits, stat gains, and item drops, among other things. – Urban Dictionary
[4] The Scenario areas of Summoners War consist of thirteen special regions which are part of the game’s main storyline. To progress through the main story, the game requires players to complete each area in successive order, with each area becoming increasingly more difficult. To complete an area, players must battle their way through six stages, with each stage consisting of three rounds of monsters; the last of which is usually a special more powerful version of one of the monsters in the stage. A seventh stage also exists for each area, and similarly also consists of three rounds of monsters, although the last round requires defeating a special boss. Completing a stage awards a player with experience, mana stones, Runes and occasionally some energy, Monsters, and crystals as well.
In addition, each area also consists of three modes of difficulty: normal, hard, and hell. The higher the difficulty, the better the rewards for completing a stage. Only normal difficulty is unlocked initially, so players must finish an area once in one difficulty before they can advance to the next one. – Summoners War Wiki
[5] Farming refers to a gaming tactic where a player, or someone hired by a player, performs repetitive actions to gain experience, points or some form of in-game currency. Farming usually involves staying in a game area with a spawn point that generates endless numbers of items or enemies. – Wikipedia
[6] Cooperative gameplay (often abbreviated as co-op) is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates, usually against one or more AI opponents. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch. – Wikipedia