Q&A: José Miranda, Game Architect & Co-Founder at RealFevr
Tell us about your role at RealFevr. What operations do you oversee?
Being the one founder with a history in the fantasy sports world, first and foremost, I lead all the game operations.
That includes not only setting up all the competitions we offer, from launch to guaranteeing all the maintenance required along the season, but also the research and development of new games. Our aim is to widen the range of possibilities available to our users, as well as provide unique game styles within the fantasy market.
Given my previous experience of customer care in the private healthcare industry, I also oversee the support helpdesk at RealFevr. On the helpdesk we’re about more than just finding solutions, but going about it in a way that is casual, and trying to create a personal relationship with any user that crosses paths with our support.
Finally, I head the redaction at RealFevr and help establish the mood for our content pages and what we provide to complement the game, always trying to add value with expert analysis and fantasy forecasting. For me, it was like following up on a little side-project I had before RealFevr, where I met Tiago Bem, one of the other RealFevr founders. This was kind of a sports blog for aspiring Pulitzer Prize winners to speak their mind about their clubs, but also football on the more broader sense of it — training, scouting, philosophies, etc. So it was kind of cool to be able to do that again.
Tell us about the main challenges running a “live sports” platform like RealFevr, with so many moving parts?
I think the main challenges can be separated into two levels. The first one is related to the geographies in which we’re currently running competitions, their respective time zones, and the languages we’re providing support in. With a small team like the one we have, it takes a lot of planning and, above all, multiple skill sets from everybody to get the job done. For example, we’ve just finished off a period of 27 days of live games on our platform, stretching in most cases over a 14-hour period during the day. The tricky part will always be guaranteeing everything is covered on our side, to provide a smooth fantasy experience to our users, especially since the hotter moments of our operation orbit around the live action from the matches.
The second level, and since the game is transversal to many areas of RealFevr, is the “many moving parts” you refer to. It takes big amounts of coordination to have everybody on the same page, sharing resources and information, and delivering on collective deadlines. One of the latest examples is the revamp we just did of our brand, platform and mobile apps, involving every member of our team for the simultaneous launch of the World Cup Fantasy, in the same week where we announced our partnership with Iker Casillas. This was even further complicated by the GDPR implementation on May 25th. In the end, it all comes down to preparation and planning, a lot of checkpoints to make sure we’re on the right pace, and always keeping your eyes on the goal ahead.
Bruno, Tiago and myself coordinate all the initiatives, goals and deadlines we’re trying to achieve and after that it trickles down to our teams. I think most of the focus and some of the more incremental steps we’ve taken derive from our weekly meetings, where everyone gets together, and everybody can have an outsider’s shot at the issues someone might be having. Those meetings, keeping the team on track with multiple fronts and allowing for quick brainstorms with a lot of “blink” moments, help glue some conceptual parts together and deliver a better product in the end.
What can we expect from RealFevr going forward?
A lot, that I can tell you right now.
Now that our fantasy engine has been expanded and tested to support two completely different main game models, we want to give the possibility to our users to build their own tournaments, with a bunch of custom settings that will open up the diversity of leagues being played.
Simultaneously, we’ll also enter some new arenas with the introduction of other sports (team and individual ones) since we know most sports fans aren’t restricted to following one sport, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to find all the fantasy sport they want at RealFevr. We’re already anticipating the entry into individual sports to try some of our ideas in that specific part of the fantasy world. We’re super excited about this.
Apart from new games and new sports, we also have a bucket list of tiny little features to complement the apps and web version that we’ll be putting into place along the way, always trying to put your fantasy experience a notch higher than it was before. These features vary in impact and complexity and range from a better integration of social channels within the platform, to pre-game projections based on the analytics engine we’re starting to build. The possibilities are endless here, and while for some we’ve already made up our minds, most of this drive comes from our community with their requests and suggestions, always helping us understand their needs.
The one that we’re most eager to show, already planned and with its development already on the go, is a brand new game model for football (or “soccer”) that will blow everyone’s socks off. It’s too bad I can’t give you more detail but you’ll just have to wait and see.
To learn more about José Miranda visit his profile on linkedin.
Chat with the RealFevr team on Telegram
Stay Connected
ICO Website: https://www.realfevr.io
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