In today's digital age, the gaming industry is experiencing an incredible boom, establishing itself as one of the fastest growing and most influential branches of the entertainment industry. What was once reserved for enthusiasts and technology lovers has now become a global phenomenon that brings together billions of people around the world. What may once have been considered a marginal activity, is now recognized as a sport in more and more countries. The expansion of gaming is particularly highlighted by the fact that more and more women of the fairer sex are choosing to do the same, and e-sports is no longer "exclusively male territory".
The previous year, when it comes to the Montenegrin gaming scene, showed that women are no longer ashamed to say that they love and play games. And not casual ones, but competitive ones. One of them is officially the best gamer in Montenegro Dina Krnić which showed that women of the fairer sex can do well in shooting games as well as in simulation.
"You are right when you say that it was definitely the year of gaming, which I am extremely happy about. Numerous competitions speak of this, both within Montenegro and beyond, and indeed gaming is slowly taking a serious place in the sphere of sports in our country", says Dina at the beginning of the conversation with "Vijesti", and reveals how she herself became interested in gaming:
"Even as a child, I used to go to playrooms with my brothers, and somehow that always attracted me. However, over time, schooling took its toll on me not playing games and neglecting them completely. In a way, what was the turning point for me to play again was my husband's game room - Electrohouse, which is located in Tuzi. Last year he organized a tournament in the same place and I was there and watched. In that period, there were applications for the women's national team in canter (CS:GO) and I decided to apply during that tournament. Believe it or not, my adventure in gaming began from that moment, without even dreaming of what it would bring," Krnić is honest.
Although she had no experience, Dina decided to try her hand at canter and was part of our national team. Unfortunately, some inexperience ruled that they did not pass the group stage and did not travel to Jaši for the World Championship. Given that it is one of the oldest and most popular games, Dina reveals how long it took her to master it:
"Inexperience led to the fact that we did not pass the qualifications and did not travel to Jaša, but what is definite and significant for our country is that for the first time we had a women's national team in this title. I'm sure that over time, results will come, because the girls who are part of the team are also great talents. In this way, I would really like to emphasize that they were a great support for me and from the very beginning helped me to progress as quickly as possible. I am someone who has been doing canter for the least amount of time, but from this point of view I now believe that canter is learned as long as you play it. I believe that you can always be better and better, after all, like everything we do in life", says Dina.
It wasn't long after she started playing CS:GO, until the moment she was encouraged to try her hand at individual e-sports. Namely, she decided to do simulation, the most important secondary thing in the world, and she represented Montenegro at the European Championship in Katowice, organized by GEF.
"After some months, after the qualifications, I traveled to Poland, to the city of Katowice, where I played e-football. To be honest, I always watched the game through the game room and followed the matches closely, but I didn't indulge too much in that game, which is individual. I was familiar with soccer, but only when I started playing it myself did I realize how important strategy is, or the so-called "reading the opponent". That feeling is very good, but the pressure is also greater, because you are left to yourself and you don't have the help of your teammates, but you create the game and manage the whole team, which is not so easy", Dina reveals how difficult it was to manage the whole team of 11 people and how much she knew about football before they played e-Football.
With a laugh, she says that she learned a lot about football thanks to the simulation, but that the experience of playing games did not "make" her love the most important secondary thing in the world.
"I really have to be honest and tell you that I love football only when it comes to the game. Somehow, the experience of watching matches that are in the electronic version is somehow more powerful and I simply enjoy virtual football more than the real one. And of course you learn a lot about football through the game, especially the positions of the players and what quality a certain player has". Today, as someone who has tried both team and individual titles, she can confidently say which suits her better:
"Even though I'm the type of person who normally doesn't like to do anything alone, but that it's all with a team or collective, e-football suits me better, because the very fact that you lead a group of 11 players and that you yourself have to come up with a plan and games, makes me more responsible and seems to give me the task that it's my team that I need to help achieve success", admits Krnić.
Before competitions, she usually practices much more than usual, and the gamer discovers how much time is enough to dedicate herself to this industry every day, given that concentration drops if she plays for a long time:
"How much time is enough to devote to a competition is really an individual matter. It is true that those preparations should be more intense, but on the other hand, when the competition itself comes, the psyche plays the biggest role. If you show up to a competition with fear and insufficient self-confidence and self-belief, it can really overpower all your efforts before the competition itself. So I think that this is a kind of message to all the players to spend as much time as they devote to the practical part, ie. to the game, they devote just as much to their mental state at the moment when the actual act of competition comes," she advises.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the new version of the canter. In the beginning, the players were very dissatisfied, and Dina herself had the opportunity to try herself in the CS2 title, and she also talks about her experiences:
"I only tried it once and switched to the old version again, because the teams mostly play the old version of CS:GO, and then it's a nicer game together. Like any change that comes, it will be a little unusual, but very quickly everyone will get used to the new version, given that the changes that are coming are basically of a graphic nature", Dina believes.
For many things when it comes to women, there are still prejudices in our country, and they do not bypass the gaming scene either. Dina reveals what kind of comments she encountered when she started playing:
"I already spoke on this topic a few months ago and I can tell you that even since then the consciousness has awakened more and more. I am so glad that now I hear and meet male gamers and they are not fascinated by a woman playing games. It's just that this awareness is spreading in our country at an incredible speed, but I have to point out that it's due to a man whom you all already know, and his name is Filip Šoć. This is a man who believed so much, when no one else did, that women's gaming could take off, so now we can talk about the same. I think that Montenegro could not get a better ambassador when it comes to promoting gaming, because the way he spreads acquaintances and represents our country is really something that when you are in his company you feel that he works with his heart, and you will all agree that something that working with emotions has much more value. With that, I would like to express my gratitude to him for everything he does to popularize the gaming industry in our country, because with him we will go far," Krnić is sure, who before she started playing had no prejudices against this industry.
"I've never had any preconceived notions about female gaming, and the reason is that I've always loved games even though I haven't always played them. Now I definitely take gaming much more seriously than before, probably because of everything that happened in the previous year, as well as because my wife and I plan to bring the Electrohouse game room in Tuzi to an enviable level, where love and dedication to this industry will be felt in the first place . I would like the year 2024 to bring us many more success stories in this industry and to be even more successful than the previous one, because these are the steps that will bring gaming to life in our country as well as in more developed countries around the world", is sure Dina, who at the end of last year at the celebration of the Association of Electronic Sports, she received the award for the best female gamer.
"The recognition I received, of course, means a lot to me. It represents the culmination of my efforts that were invested in the previous months and it gives me even more motivation to contribute even more when it comes to gaming. I am glad that she received the award for the best streamer of Montenegro Nadja Rajković, who was with me in Poland and followed my every step at the competition and thus showed that she is an exceptional support", concludes Krnić.
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