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HT - My (Hattrick) life, my story

Written by SkyfireX

Many of my friends often ask me, why do you play Hattrick? Or more often nowadays, why do you still play Hattrick? It's coming close to 7 years for me, which while long, is still a sapling compared to many others.

Playing Hattrick is for many:
i. Growing up(and old) with your players
ii. Getting attached to them as they develop
iii.Winning a title
iv. Making friends
v. Waking up in the middle of the night to bid on players

I can go on and on, but really why do you play Hattrick? I'm not sure about you, but read on to find out how similar Hattrick is to life, and for the reason why I play Hattrick

Birth
It all goes back to the 12th of October 2005, when my Hattrick life started. Taking over the reins of a club mired at the bottom of division 4 (out of 5 divisions), as a Hattrick baby who knew nothing it took a while to get up to speed. As with all newborns, there was a lot to explore in this new world, a lot of things to learn, and a lot of things to forget.

I would think that the first few seasons of Hattrick life is akin to that of a baby growing to be a toddler. We try our best to learn how to speak, how to walk as a baby. In Hattrick, We learn how to play with tactics, learn how to build a team and learn how to improve our players. Playing in the low divisions is just like being a baby, you can make lots of noise, but no one understand or cares about you. Everything that you say is being ignored as a newbie spouting nonsense.

Toddler/Kid
I found the forum (or conference as it was called back in the days) early, where the main foundation of my Hattrick knowledge was built by reading Questions (English). That was when I first heard and understood the phrase, “Hattrick is not a game. It’s a community based around a game.” This is one of the main reasons why I still play Hattrick, without this community I would have stopped playing Hattrick long ago. As any other kid, I have an unsatisfiable hunger for knowledge, and always want to learn more and more. In those early days I spent more time reading than talking, just like all kids should. :)

One day though, I won a 3 month supporter in a local community program. That was mind blowing. It was like someone who had flawed vision since birth and finally got a pair of corrective glasses. I could see clearly now! Supporter is another reason why Hattrick is fun. Being able to join federations, write guestbook posts, and all the supporter features is as much of the game experience as the football matches.

I still remember clearly the day when the 3 months Hattrick supporter ran out. It was as though I was blind. Not being able to do all the things I used to with supporter was driving me crazy. Back then though I did not want to pay for supporter and managed to get another supporter prize elsewhere. Since then I have never let my supporter lapsed through my own purchase or by getting prizes from competitions (another great reason why I love this community)

Teenager
As I slowly grew up in Hattrick from a toddler to a teenager, I hung out in many forums other than my local (Singapore) forum, such as Scotland, Oceania, England, Wales and the crazy place we know as Global. I also searched for Federations and found a few great ones like Wing, Market and Discussion, Tactics, Discount Team Federation. As like most people, our experiences as a teenager shape our life greatly.

Back in those days, monoskilled monsters were the rage. Everyone’s idea of improving is I need to buy a mythical to improve on my supernatural midfielder. I felt that while that was true, it was not sustainable. Reading what some other managers have posted, I felt that it is definitely possible to get good results with a low wage, highly multiskilled team and that the old style of just pumping main skill is already outdated.

That was when I started on a 10 season plan to win my local title, using players not more than Supernatural in main skill. I still remember the laughs I got from everyone when I told them about it. No one believed in that. They would be proven wrong one day.

Growing up as a teenager to an adult was painful. The changing reality of the world (Hattrick changes) had me realising that the best of plans could be spoiled by gods, and thus having to change the details of my plan, while not forgetting the crux of it. Like all great teenagers, I was a great flirt who rarely kept my players for long. I was not a skill trader (at least not a good one), but I always tried my best to put as much value on my players as I could before selling them on and using the proceeds to get a better player. I also suffered my first real heartbreak getting relegated for the 1st time ever in a full season.

That was because I jumped into the top division too early, and I tried to play it cool too much. I relegated from the top division with maximum TS, which taught me the lesson to practice what I preach, as I had just told someone else in a conversation that it’s better to mots and get a qualifier with low TS than to not get a qualifier with high TS.

Adult
However that’s how we learn, by making mistakes and moving on from there. The season that I came of age, was when I won my first S-League title, exactly 10 seasons after I started my 10 season plan. In spite of, or some may say due to, the many Hattrick changes over the 10 seasons, I managed to have a team that achieved my aims.

This also coupled with my most active period on the forums. I am sure that if any of you were active on global during those days you would have remembered me posting about SN main skill being enough for 98% of people and TDFs being overpowered just to name a few. Federation life was also great, as I believe(and hoped) that I managed to help many people with their team and matches.

At this time there was a big wave of mentoring threads going around the world, I thus followed suit and started it in Singapore. With great power comes great responsibility. I also began my u20 stint for Singapore. We never managed to get a good result, but those days as an u20 coach pitting my wits against the other national coaches was a great plus for my Hattrick Experience.

The youth academy came roughly at the time of my adulthood, allowing me to partake in the form of raising my young ones. Unlike some of the blessed managers who churn out stars after stars, my youths were more run of the mill youngsters than a Messi/Ronaldo. Nonetheless, they are still my “flesh and blood” and I have often pushed them to the end of their potential and some have done me proud.

Present
However as an adult in Hattrick terms, many things start to bog you down. Just like work pressure, Hattrick has slowly been losing its luster for me. Understanding the match engine makes unlucky losses acceptable, yet hard to take. After all losing a game while seeing your opponent making mistakes is more irritating that losing a game when your opponent pulls off a great tactical victory. Lucky wins are rare to come by as you have built a team that’s stronger than many of your peers, and when they come by, you feel abashed to bask in that.

Nowadays, many of my friends met through Hattrick are either retired, or in semi-retirement mode. As with most people, the friends we make that truly last are back in the days of being a teenager, not as a working adult. It’s the same case here for me in Hattrick.

Answering the same question the hundredth time on the question forum just doesn’t work anymore. Seeing the same question again and again makes me frustrated at how little people could know. Just like (disenchanted) adults getting frustrated at stupid questions that kids ask. The community that revolves around Hattrick is slowly disappearing for me.

In the past it would be close to impossible for me to miss a Hattrick Live Match. While not the most exciting of commentary, it was a ritual that I have to partake in. Nowadays, I find myself missing the start time more often than being at my computer waiting. The love that I once have for Hattrick is slowly dwindling. I have even cheated on my love for Hattrick with other football manager games, but like a bad affair, they just don’t last, and I always come back to Hattrick.

With that said I have spent a nice 7 years really involved in this game (or community with a game element) and I definitely intend to last a while more. So to answer my friends who ask me, why do I (still) play Hattrick?
My answer is, you don’t play Hattrick. It grows into a part of you. One day, you might cut it off, but before that it’s something that you do as a part of your everyday life.

A shoutout to all the friends I have met and made in Hattrick, and the lovely members of the federations that I’m involved with!