Interview with SMITE's Santa, BilalCena1998 of SMITECentral and LootTracker

Before we get to the interview, it's important that we give little background about Bilal "BilalCena1998" Ahsan Salam. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any relations to John Cena; but in many ways, you could call him the "SMITE Community's All-Year Santa Claus" because he works alongside SMITECentral as their "Loot Manager" and is the "Head Manager" of LootTracker.

Picture of Bilal "BilalCena1998" Ahsan Salam

First of all, how did you start gaming?

BilalCena1998: I started gaming when I was roughly eight or nine. Being a kid who didn't go out much, my sister, brother and I, we used to play those old Sega games. Once the internet became more popular in our country, the virtual farm and the empire-building games caught my attention. I've always been a casual type when it comes to gaming. My dad gifted me a PS2 when I was eleven and that is, to-date, the only console I've owned. I guess I like my PC too much!

 

Haha, so do you remember the first game you played?

BilalCena1998: I think it was called Sunset Riders. Online game? Pet society on Facebook. (Currently shut down)

 

So then how did you get into SMITE?

BilalCena1998: I was part of a small multi-gaming clan for a little over 3 years. They introduced me to SMITE, and the game being my first ever MOBA, as well as being third person, it got me addicted quite quickly.

 

How and why did you want to work with SMITECentral?

BilalCena1998: I've always liked working with the community of the game I'm playing. My second SMITE project was the, back then, small SMITE Giveaway Tracker. After a while, I felt that the project would be a lot more beneficial if it was under "an organization." I brought up the idea on my Twitter and Facebook; shortly after that Kaostic, former director of operations of SMITECentral, now Community Manager of Hirez-Studios, approached me & after a series of talks, I was convinced SMITECentral was the perfect organization I was looking for!

Have you conversed or had any previous interactions with Kaostic before?

BilalCena1998: Kaostic and I have worked together for about 5 months. We both are good friends and talk occasionally.

 

So then what gave you the motivation to start and share giveaways for other players?

I used to win a lot of free SMITE stuff. I currently stand at over 120+ SMITE giveaways won, mostly being from Twitch. I guess I just wanted to give more recognition to the people who spend their real life money distributing free stuff but never getting the viewership they deserve. And thus, the Giveaway Tracker came into existence - to connect the streamers and orgs. with the players.

Then let's say someone else starts a giveaway for something you don't have but want, do you attempt to win it and share it, just try to win it for yourself or spread word for only others?

BilalCena1998: These days, when I have pretty much everything I need in SMITE, I just share it. It's also because when you're tracking down dozens of giveaways every week, you don't have any time, for yourself, to participate in any. Unless it's something really, really cool that I have to get, like a DXRacer or maybe a Razer Mamba.

 

How much do you follow eSports? And is there any in particular you follow the most, like SMITE?

BilalCena1998: I only follow SMITE as it's the game I play most right now!

 

Who are the players, organizations or personalities that you respect look up to most?

BilalCena1998: I don't have any personal favorites. However, I think organization names like Cloud9, Dignitas, TSM are pretty good examples of well-established brands and are certainly worth looking upto, if one is planning to work in the scene. As for a favorite, it has to be Epsilon as they're the team I'm rooting for in the SMITE World Championship.

I would like to thank you for allowing me the chance to interview you! Before we end this interview, is there anyone you would like to thank or give a shout-out to and where people can find and contact you easily?

BilalCena1998: I'd like to thank all the people, Twitter followers, friends, people at Hirez etc., who've supported me in the past year and a half and making LootTracker.com such a huge success! Shout-outs to my boss and my colleagues at SMITECentral & LootTracker. As for contact purposes, I can be found on Twitter; @BilalCena1998.

Twitter for LootTracker: https://twitter.com/LootTrackerTwitter for SMITECentral: https://twitter.com/SMITECentral

So I would like to give thanks again to Bilal "BilalCena1998" Ahsan Salem for allowing us the chance to interview him! Anytime you're interested in a SMITE giveaway, make sure to go and check out his Twitter for more information!