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Location: Home  Blogs  The Importance of Tracking Teams 
More Posts by eyebo
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The Importance of Tracking Teams
The Importance of Tracking Teams 02 Nov, 2013
 eyebo (17 comments, 7545 views)  
I've been thinking of track building teams lately. Tracking teams have been a major part of the culture on TMX.

In the past (2007-2011) most people wanted to be in a good team. It was, on some level, a matter of prestige. Most teams wouldn't let you in unless you were good enough. Some were even by invitation only. You felt quite special if you had been accepted by one of these elite communities within TM.

New teams also popped up occasionally, sometimes comprised of those turned away by other teams. Sometimes made up of builders who wanted to do things a little differently.

In a sense, these teams are a bit like families. A lot of camaraderie developed among members. And sometimes even among members of "rival" teams, as we were all in it to build the best tracks possible, and some were out to one-up each other with each track release.

Many of these teams put on competitions, either for their own members, or for everyone. And your fellow teammates were always a great place to get track beta testing done.

Don't get me wrong, I think there's a lot you can do as a track builder in TM without being in a tracking team. If you don't want to be in one, that's fine. And I think everyone should make an effort to play tracks from good builders whether they're in a tracking team or not.

But there's also some distinct advantages to having vibrant track building teams. They encourage:

  • builders to release tracks regularly.
  • members to play together online and test each other's tracks.
  • competitions hosted and supported by specific teams.
  • builders to push for the highest standards of track building.
  • builders to innovate and push the boundaries of the game.

FT, XT, TMU@Fun, LT, OTMB, FoF... these are a few I can think of off the top of my head... mostly all started in United, but some even go back to the days of Sunrise and Original. Some were strictly track building. Others also competed in races. I know TMNF also had some strong tracking teams. I wish I was more familiar with them.

Some teams are still quite active. Other teams have active members, but are inactive as a team.

I guess the point I want to make is this:

I want to formally acknowledge the importance such teams have played in the culture within the community of TrackMania, and stress their importance for the future. A resurgence of such teams and a new found appreciation for their place in TM might give renewed reason for new teams to start and existing teams to get active again. For those already in a team, wear your tag like a badge of honor.

For too long I've not worn my LT tags, and I'm truly sorry for that. I counted, and there's over 15 members of LT who still actively play TM, as of this year. Sadly, many do not wear their tags anymore. I think this should change. And I'm starting with me.

Please let me know in the comments what you think of tracking teams, their importance, and maybe what teams you've been in. I'm looking forward to reading your replies.
Comments
17 comment(s).
 «ÐÐR» Cas... writes ... 02, Nov, 2013  
I totally agree with you on this subject eyebo,

as a small trackbuilder I love to have a team in wich all of our tracks on the server are membermade, not many teams can say this. We take good care of those who build tracks and all tracks have to be tested and commented on before even getting published. I don't think I would have become the trackbuilder I'm now without all those helpful comments from teammates and I'm still learning everyday.

For me teams are one of the reasons the community still exists after being split up between tm1 and tm2. I noticed this myself in the team I'm in: 'DDR'.
When tm2 was announced our dirtracers al went to tm2 while the RPG-fanatics stayed on tm1. If not for our team and forum keeping in touch with them all would have been quite difficult and would have probably put the relationships we had build up on the downlow forcing our team to break-up.

I had a feeling other teams were going down and those who made new ones never seemed to make it into their first year. DDR has had some rough years itself, we lost quite a lot of members leaving only the hardcore :d .
Ikky,Deino and me then started our race team back up again. Took us blood, sweat and tears but we were able to participate in SLIP and now some long lost members have found their way back into DDR. And I'm hoping this will help DDR to become as big as it once was.


In the end, I hope that teams keep on existing and new members arrive because they add a whole new level of fun to a great game.
 Cxom writes ... 02, Nov, 2013  
Well considering that LT stands for Lazy Trackers, and I am the Ultimate Definition of a lazy tracker (after all, how many of you have heard of me?), I think I should automatically qualify.

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