The office's break games have developed a sports culture, thanks to which Solita participates in Kanaliiga's Rocket League today with the strength of several teams.
I wish I could still see the hours played in the office somewhere.
- Juho "Hilloh" Leinonen
The 7th season of the channel league Rocket League is approaching its climax. The week starting on Monday 23.11.2020 will see the semi-finals, and the season will culminate on Sunday 29.11. to the finals to be played.
At the technology, data and design company Solita, the week's events are followed with special interest. All three of the company's teams have cleared their way to the semi-finals.
Solita's participation in the Kanaliiga racket is greater than that of any other company. We grabbed the captains of Solita's teams for a group interview to tell them more about the company's thriving rocket scene.
- Juho "Hilloh" Leinonen
- Software Designer / Full Stack Web Developer
- Solita DRM's captain, ranking 2nd in the regular season of the 2nd Division.
- Performance in the regular season in season #7: 66 shots, 32 goals, 24 assists and 16 saves in 24 games.
- Joonas "satou" Tiala
- Software Designer / Full Stack Web Developer
- Solita QTE captain, rank 4th in Challengers regular season
- Performance in the regular season in season #7: 51 shots, 15 goals, 9 assists and 28 saves in 21 games.
- Timo “Dutch” Mäntyvaara
- Senior Software Designer / Full Stack Web Developer
- Solita MTX captain, Masters regular season win.
- Performance in the regular season in season #7: 63 shots, 28 goals, 18 assists and 27 saves in 30 games.
All members of the captain's trio do web development at Solita's Oulu office. The common background explains Solita's strong participation in Kanaliiga's Rocket League. Most of the players on the company's teams come from the Oulu office.
- There seem to be three non-Oulu residents in these teams, Tiala says.
Behind the high participation is the break game culture formed around Rocket League at the Oulu office.
- In the beginning, we played a little bit of this fun car ball game bought from the PlayStation Store in the game room from time to time. At some point, it became a hobby, Mäntyvaara explains.
- In my time, Solita has already had two game sessions of rocket every day, Tiala continues.
- Of course, you don't always have time to go there, but there are always some people playing there.
As time went on and enthusiasm grew, gaming also started to move from the office to the home and to the leisure side.
- At some point, with the same work group, we also started playing höntsä games in the evenings in private matches, and that's where it started. Several tournaments have been played at work and there are dedicated channels on Slack for the topic, says Mäntyvaara.
ROCKET HOOKED IN WORK TEAM
Leinonen, Mäntyvaara and Tiala all give the company's break game culture Credits for why Rocket League has remained in its own game selection even more.
- I bought the game when it was released, Leinonen recalls.
- I played maybe 20 hours then. Two years later, I came to work at Solita and started playing again. Now we are in a situation 680 hours later.
The same thing happened with Tiala. Mäntyvaara, on the other hand, only bought the game after coming to Solita, but has already surpassed his captain colleague in the number of games.
- Oh, if you could still see the hours played in the office somewhere, Leinonen laughs.
In addition to the community and fellow gamers found in the company, the trio praises RL's playability. The esports scene that has grown up around the game is also of interest.
- The game is easy to understand but really hard to control. It's also easy to follow esports, says Leinonen.
- [The creators of the game] have found a good tat. The feel of the game is so diamond-like that you immediately notice how it responds to the controls, Mäntyvaara accompanies.
Rocket League has taken the trio so well with them that they hardly play other multiplayer games. Leinonen and Mäntyvaara say that they mostly play solo games.
- I also play CS, but maybe a little less nowadays. Esports games take up almost all free time, says Tiala.
The names of Solita's teams also tell about gaming hobbies. For this season, the teams were named after various gaming concepts and their abbreviations: DRM (Digital Rights Management), MTX (Microtransactions) and QTE (Quick Time Events). In the previous season, the themes were related to coffee: Cupsolo Standard, Exotic Blend and Medium Roast.
However, according to the captains, themes are not chosen in any battle royale.
- We brainstormed in Slack for so long that a semi-sensible proposal came out of it, Mäntyvaara admits.
So there are no good themes in stock for future seasons?
– No, everyone says in unison.
- But it's funny that the theme has caught on with the other participants as well. At least Bitwise has several teams, funnily named AND and OR, Mäntyvaara praises.
THUMBS UP FROM THE EMPLOYER
Before the prevailing pandemic, at Solita's Oulu office there were sometimes a dozen or so racket players on lunch breaks or in the afternoons. The tradition of lunch and afternoon games has continued online after the transition to remote work.
- Most of the time it's 4 vs 4, but still not everyone can join, Tiala says.
- Rumble is traditionally played at the office, which evens out skill differences a bit. Rng brings with it opportunities for those who would not be so good and ruins opportunities for those who would be good anyway, Leinonen accompanies.
As an employer, Solita has, according to the captains, reacted positively to the team's RL enthusiasm. The company's RL scene served as pioneers in participating in the Kanaliga, but Counter-Strike is also played today by several solo teams. The company also sponsors seasons #7 and #8 of Kanaliiga's Rocket League.
Is rocket skills emphasized in recruitment?
- Of course, that's at least asked, Mäntyvaara throws.
- First there is the suitability interview, then the technical interview and finally the rocket 1vs1, Tiala continues the joke.
Mäntyvaara gets serious, but states that even these opportunities are advertised to newcomers. Often new solitaires also find their way into gaming communities.
- One Solita QTE member was supposedly recruited to the chicken league team during his first week in Solita, says Leinonen.
The deciding games of the current season are at hand. Mäntyvaara won the We go to work series level in the 4th season of Kanaliiga Rocket League. At that time, two teams from Solita met in the Grand Final of the playoffs, of which the team of Dutch and Blueka won the exciting series in the seventh game. Hilloh, Satou and Korppis, who played a great regular season as Dutch's teammate in the off season, had to taste the bitter lime of defeat at that time.
- As the captain of the losing team, I organized cake coffee for the office the next morning, Leinonen recalls.
What has playing RL in the Kanaliiga given to the veterans of several seasons?
- It's really nice to play with a goal in mind. This gives a reason to train and hone team play among a certain group, Tiala and Leinonen praise.
- Within the company, I have also gotten to know new guys and during the matches I have also made contact with other companies, Leinonen continues.
The fact that Kanaliiga also streams Rocket League with commentary also adds its own value.
- It's nice to tell family and friends to come and see, this is what I do in my free time with the work team, Mäntyvaara adds.
- People have often commented that this is what it's all about, the joke is cool.
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Solitais a technology, data and design company.
We harness human understanding and smart technology solutions to serve a better life. We are a force for change that creates new ways of working, services and technology solutions, renewing companies and society.
Founded in Tampere in 1996, Solita employs more than 1,000 specialists in strategic consulting, service design, software development, analytics, cloud services and integration in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Belgium and Germany. In Finland, Solita has offices in Tampere, Helsinki, Oulu, Lahti and Turku.
https://www.solita.fi/avoimet-tyopaikat/
KanaliigaTV streams athttps://www.twitch.tv/kanaliigatv< /a> Rocket League Season 7 Semi-Finals Wed 25.11. at 6 p.m. and the finals on Sun. 29.11. from 16 to 20.
