When three gamers inadvertently met online last year and discovered that they were all from Israel, it led to the formation of a gaming community that provides support, encouragement, and opportunities for native Hebrew speakers.
Eli Green, Adam Somberg, and Nathan River were trying to adapt to the reality of the pandemic last spring and like many others, they picked up some headsets and began playing VR games. All three of the 30-something-year-old men discovered Tower Tag, an excellent fast-paced PVP shooter from VR Nerds that was released in May 2020.
After they met through the game and discovered common bonds that include region, a common language, and a passion for VR gaming, the trio decided to form a team and participate in the Tower Tag Summer Cup. Soon after they began seeking out other Israeli players in team-based games such as Downpour Interactive’s Onward, Vankrupt Games’ Pavlov VR, and Ready At Dawn’s Echo VR. Although these games have some of the largest communities in VR esports, they discovered that it was difficult to find other players who lived in Israel or who spoke Hebrew.
“We came up with an idea to build a Discord community,” states River, explaining that they added channels for each multiplayer VR game. Players have the ability to assign themselves roles and they can tag one another when they’re looking to team up.
“One of the benefits of our community is that we are native Hebrew speakers,” he adds. “Although we all know English pretty well, at the end of the day it’s much easier to speak your mother tongue while playing.”
The LoginVR Discord opened in 2020 and currently has just over 800 members. While this number might sound insignificant compared to the thousands of members in other servers, this group provides fellowship for a particular community and it’s important that all players feel like they have a place to belong.
From the beginning, the trio set a standard frowning upon toxic behavior and encouraging fair play. They’ve been able to maintain a positive community and although the server consists mainly of players age 20 and over, anyone who meets the minimum Discord age requirement (age 13+) can join.
“Users talk to each other with respect in a friendly manner,” states River, “no matter who or how old you are.”
Since the group was formed, they’ve participated in several major events across the VR esports ecosystem, including a tournament for Resolution Games’ Blaston and a charity event for BigBox VR’s Population: One that was organized by AbleGamers.
While they mostly play competitive multiplayer games together, the group exists to build community among Hebrew-speaking players so they also enjoy time together in VR games such as VRChat.
IT Services
As a validation engineer at N.R Validation in the Israel Tel Aviv District that specializes in work for the pharmaceutical industry, River recognized a need to help businesses learn ways to use virtual reality so he launched the Developer Services division of LoginVR.
While the core community is about gaming and community, the focus of the professional division of LoginVR is all about training and support as companies take their first steps or continue an ongoing journey in virtual reality.
There are also numerous helpful resource guides available for free on the LoginVR website. These are presented in Hebrew, but you can use Google translate for easy access for non-Hebrew speakers.
Join the Community
As always, we encourage you to find and engage in VR communities that appeal to you. If you’re a native Hebrew speaker or live in Israel and would like to connect with other VR gamers in that region, reach out through the LoginVR Facebook page or on the LoginVR website and request an invite to their Discord server.
- LoginVR Facebook page with helpful guides for virtual reality
- LoginVR community page on VR Community Builders
