Welcome to our less than regular weekly clan feature. We couldn’t have covered all the clans in SA already surely? But don’t be fooled, today’s clan is an international one with one clan owner in SA, so we know there’s still some left to cover.
So say hello to the Dream Team. Undead Ed, r0gue Zombie, Zombie Dredd and Zombie of Doom. Once you’re done, then get acquainted with Clan Dream Team, who are most likely a better looking horde than the crew of Zombiegamer.
Hello. Introduce yourself to the readers. Go on.
Hi, I am Caesar Rex, Leader and Co-Founder of Clan Dream Team. 36 Years old and resident of Cape Town. Engaged with two wonderful daughters and an avid gamer. Still young at heart and found almost every day on Teamspeak with the guys and girls of CDT.
How long have you been together?
We just celebrated our 5 year Anniversary. Clan Dream team was formed May 2009, and we have most of the original still with us to this date.
What is your platform (or platforms) of choice?
Our Platform of choice is PC; largely due to the nature of our communication (teamspeak and our website). We have been known to pop onto other platforms when the mood hits us, but due to the lack of tools found on consoles and the likes, we feel it would be difficult to manage a large group of international players on them.
What games does the clan enjoy?
Currently a large portion of the clan enjoy playing Dota 2, both socially and competitively, while others enjoy Minecraft, Rust, Battlefield, Risk of Rain, L4D, and any other game we can get our hands on.
How was the clan’s name chosen?
EvilGummyBear and I (CaesarRex) were originally in another clan where they used to nickname us ‘the dream team’ because of our high win rate in Rome: Total War.
Who are the leaders of the clan and what is the clan’s organisational structure like?
The two leaders are Tom “EvilGummyBear” Pritchard from the United Kingdom and Steven “CaesarRex” Brooks from South Africa. During our early stages we had quite an extensive ranking system. We decided to remove the ranks and we adopted a more standard system with Admins, Moderators and Members. This is to avoid any chance of someone having hard feelings or the sense that they are being overlooked. This was done in an attempt to foster a community versus creating another competitive environment. That being said, we still maintain the rank of ‘Nightmare’. Nightmare is the highest honour we can bestow and only 5 members are currently holding this position as of right now. They are considered the ambassadors for the clan.
How many members do you have? Keen to give out their names, credit card details and ID numbers?
Alright, only names will do.
Right now we have around 80 odd members; the full list can be seen on our website… I would prefer not to go through the entire list, that being said, here are a few of our members that love meeting new players and will help into the fray (in no particular order):
- Connor ‘Connor BS’ Stewart
- Ashley ‘MGMT’ Page
- Steve ‘Meth’ Botes
- Atte ‘Teach’ Kankkunen
- David ‘Toe-Jam’ Copley
How often do you play together as a clan?
We have people online everyday on Teamspeak, some days you might find it quieter than others but during leagues the server is pretty busy. Some members prefer to play alone until invited and often forget to get their hind-quarters on teamspeak when they go into a game.
Do you consider yourselves a competitive clan, or one in it more for “the shits and giggles”?
It was never about being competitive but about friends getting together and comradeship, at times you could come on teamspeak and just talk for hours without ever playing a game, it is about making new friends and finding common ground with people from all over the world. Some members are more into the competitive scene than others, and we have resources to try and help them succeed.
Has the clan participated in many tournaments? Which? Won any?
Again due to us never really being competitive we never participated however this year I decided to give the DGL a go and on our first attempt we entered 5 teams for the summer leg, a few seeded pretty well but none made it out of the open division, it’s more a learning curve for us having never competed before.
Is attending LANs important to the clan and its members?
Being international, LANs are not really something we can do as a whole; however a few of the local guys got together and were able to attend the GAC LAN and Liberty LAN.
Are you guys actively recruiting for new players? If so, how should a potential member contact you and how do you decide on who is right to join you?
We never turn away new recruits however we don’t just accept new members, having been doing this for so long you tend to notice a pattern, some people just cannot commit. So we prefer people looking to join our teamspeak, play some games with us and after a few days if they feel it’s the kind of place they want to be, then yeah – let us chat about getting you into the clan. Some people change clans like they change their underwear, they really aren’t the type of people we are looking for.
What are you hoping to achieve in the future as a clan?
Right now we are in the process of looking at getting some sort of sponsorships for the guys that are playing competitively as well as putting together an online shop for the guys. We have a goal to achieve an active and loyal player base of around 500 members, creating an environment that is both fun and enjoyable for all our members. Obviously we would like to really get into the competitive scene and we have some really great players whom we aim to help any way we can.
Which opposing clan(s) do you most respect?
We don’t really have opponents in the sense, sure we take part in the DGL etc but being an international clan we have ‘opponents’ all over the world then. Listing every team would be a tedious job however I have to admit that any clan with a large player base deserves respect, it takes dedication and hard work to keep it alive and I admire that.
In regards to professional – or competitive gaming (or even gaming in general) – what do you as a clan think needs to be done to raise the profile of South African gaming?
I believe we need a lot more international exposure where our top teams get some game time against the bigger teams, and communities like ours need local support to keep them alive. I am always looking into other communities and clans trying to bring them under our banner, sure we are international but what better way to expose local players to their international counterparts than in a community where everyone is equal.
Some fun stuff:
If you weren’t a gaming clan you’d be…
Sad
War movie that best describes the clan?
Top Secret (1984)
If you guys had a music soundtrack for going to war, what would it be?
Girls just wanna have fun… yeah we not serious at all when it comes to stuff like that!
Thanks for your time – is there anything you would like to add before you head off?
…
Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Twitch | Email: caesarrex@clandreamteam.com
Please note: Clan Q&A’s can be conducted up to four weeks before they are published so some information may already have changed.
If you are keen to feature in this column in the future, please feel free to contact us at info@zombiegamer.co.za and we’ll think about – after you’ve sent us a sample of your braaaaaaiiiiinnnnsss.