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Hey guys,
I wrote this while sitting in the airport this morning. Wanted to wait until after tonight's cast to post it, though. <3
So right now its 5 AM on a Sunday morning. I'm red-eyed and a little bit hung over from the Dave and Buster's party last night, but I'm also absolutely giddy over the last week. The Starcraft community is so amazing, and having the opportunity to come out here and pretend to be a caster for a week has been great. The whole reason I'm writing this is just to share with everyone my experience for the week, and also to go on the record about my take on casting, and some of the perceptions of people that are in these roles.
On Travelling....
So I flew out here a week ago. I had a 7AM flight out of Atlanta that was supposed to connect once in Phoenix, and then land me in Ontario, California around like noon. Of course, that's not how it went down. My flight out of Atlanta was cancelled, and - as anyone who's ever flown out of Atlanta can attest to - getting any sort of help in sorting out my new travel plans was a headache. I got to do stuff like wait in line for 2 hours, missing the only other flight direct to Phoenix, and instead getting to go from Atlanta to Charlotte, to Phoenix, to Vegas (wtf?), to California. Total travel time: something like 16 hours. Nice.
Going home wasn't (isn't?) any easier. I was actually supposed to leave yesterday, but a bomb threat at the airport messed up some schedules, and then my own incompetence found me stuck here for an extra night. No biggy, of course, as it allowed me to attend the Dave and Buster's meet and greet, which was totally freaking awesome. Did you know astronauts are Starcraft fans too? True story.
On Casting....
So I've never really considered myself a caster. I've commentated a showmatch or two, and, of course, I do my show, but at the end of the day, the amount of games that I had literally "casted" before coming out here could have probably been counted on one hand. The prospect of coming into a real studio (contrary to popular belief, NASL is actually NOT produced in iNcontroL's basement) and live-casting the world's best players in front of a pretty substantial audience was a little bit nerve-wracking. Gretorp really helped to take the pressure off, and I want to speak to that for a minute.
On Gretorp....
So this guy has caught some flack, and the God's-honest-truth is I don't understand why. He is literally one of the smartest (maybe the smartest) Terran players outside of Korea. His analysis is
absolutely 100% correct, 100% of the time in the Terran matchups, and I'd say in the non-Terran matchups, he's still batting about .950. There were literally at least 100 occasions this week where I didn't have a clue about wtf was happening on screen. Whenever that happened I was just like "and what do you think, Gretorp!?", and every single time he killed it. He's an amazing resource, and, in my opinion, a fantastic caster. Working with him was freaking great, and I really hope that the community enjoyed the dynamic we had going on.
On Analysis....
Speaking of analysis - %^&* that's hard to do. It's easy for even a platinum level player to watch a replay a couple of times and pick up on things that could be better, or that might need to change completely. Calling that stuff on the fly isn't always as straight-forward, primarily because things just can't be unsaid. There were a couple times when I would make a call, and immediately think to myself "oh God that was so wrong" but when you're being recorded, and when the game is live, you can't really go back and undo those mistakes. My favorite blunder was from Boxer vs. Cloud, + Show Spoiler +where I literally said "no way is Cloud in a good position to push here" mere seconds before he a-moved through the entire map, winnig the game. "lol bitter".
Obviously, I'm a Zerg player, and my knowledge of the Zerg matchups is a lot more thorough, but being out here has really, really underscored (for me, at least) how bad my understanding of the other races is. Calling PvP was especially hard because I couldn't just pass it off to Gretorp every time I got confused. To be fair, though, I don't think anyone really knows wtf is going on in PvP these days...
On Arm-Chair Quarterbacks....
Admittedly, I'm probably using the term wrong here, as casters are the epitome of the "arm-chair quarterback", but this feels like an appropriate time to call out the vocal minority. When somebody is wrong about something (casters especially, because we genuinely WANT to improve) then put it out there. Tell us how we screwed up, call us bad, whatever. But make sure that you know wtf you're talking about when you do. Nothing is more frustrating (at least in my opinion) than the people that show up in the live report threads and spread misinformation. It's bad for the community, and it doesn't help anybody. My favorite example of this: "wtf, Zerg isn't behind, he has a 20 supply lead over Protoss". It's not always as simple as "whoever has more supply is ahead."
On receiving criticsm....
I've been pretty overwhelmed by the amount of positive feedback I've received since this whole little adventure began. I came out here ready to get eaten up by reddit and TL alike, but to my astonishment, most people were pretty receptive of my attempts at play-by-play. (yay!) But there are still critics out there, and they are 100% justified. I made plenty of bad calls, and probably came off a little whiney (c'mon, I play Zerg...) and those are things I definitely want to improve on. Please, tell me how I can be better. I don't know what the future holds for me in terms of casting, but the next time I do it, I want to be noticably better.
On racial bias....
One thing that I'm not sure that I want to change is my racial bias. Maybe I went a little overboard this week, but I want people to understand that part of that was for the back and forth between Gretorp and me. It's fun being up there on camera and joking about how hard it is to be Zerg, or how overpowered creep is. I've watched every broadcast that I took part in, and I agree I could tone it down in some places, but I think one of the roles of a caster is to be opinionated. It gives depth to the show. If anyone out there was a Braves fan in the 90s, you have to remember Skip Carey's amazing call of "Braves Win! Braves Win!" when the Braves beat the Pirates to advance to the World Series in 1992. Skip was a huge Braves fan, and people loved it when he showed it. Maybe that level of bias doesn't really work for Starcraft, but I absolutely feel like a little bit is good for the show.
On the future....
Being a part of the whole NASL experience was pretty great this week. I literally have no idea what the future holds for me. I want to continue to work on improving my own personal play level, but after this week, I'm feeling a pretty big calling to work on my off-races so I can better understand the game from an analytical point of view. Obviously that means taking a couple steps back so that I can (hopefully) take twice as many strides forward. That's going to have to wait at least one more week, though, as MLG is just days away, and to off-race before that would be a little bit silly.
Speaking of MLG....
And of live events in general, everybody needs to go. It's one of the most awesome gamer atmospheres imaginable, and Columbus is shaping up to be one of the greatest shows ever. Also, don't forget to get those Blizzcon tickets (hopefully I'll see you guys there) and don't even think about missing the NASL finals. Insider scoop: The finals are going to be freaking incredible. Like, indescribably, mind bogglingly amazing. (And it's going to be the biggest purse EVER in the foreigner scene)
And lastly, a thanks....
Thanks to everybody for being so supportive! You guys watching my show, and sending all the positive (and even negative!) feedback - It's amazing, and I'm so greatful. Without that support I would have never been given this opportunity. The Starcraft community is the best on the planet, and I can't wait to see how big it really gets.
 
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motbob
United States12546 Posts
Your example of Skip Carey is pretty poor IMO, since there were probably very few Pirates fans listening to his broadcasts!
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Philadelphia, PA10406 Posts
Haters gonna hate. But I loved your accent and analysis. Well done, I don't think anybody could've picked up that this was one of your first times casting. Great job all week.
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Sounds like you went all-in!
I kid, I kid. Keep it up. You did fine.
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I loved your casting Mr. Bitter. Haven't heard of you before Nasl and I liked what I saw. Keep up the good work 
Also seems a bit too coincidental that you post this exactly as the Nasl live stream just goes through a major hick-up. We missed the whole top 10 and pre-show of cloud vs boxer. Are these things related or just a coincidence? Do you have any insider's insight about why these issues keep hapenning on a production with so much money supporting it?
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On May 30 2011 12:24 VIB wrote:I loved your casting Mr. Bitter. Haven't heard of you before Nasl and I liked what I saw. Keep up the good work Also seems a bit too coincidental that you post this exactly as the Nasl live stream just goes through a major hick-up. We missed the whole top 10 and pre-show of cloud vs boxer. Are these things related or just a coincidence? Do you have any insider's insight about why these issues keep hapenning on a production with so much money supporting it?
Not really sure that it's my place to speak to this, but a lot of it comes down to growing pains. There are tremendous strides being taken to improve the quality of the stream, and of the broadcasts in general.
The folks behind the NASL truly want to create the best experience possible, both in terms of creating opportunities for players, and in putting on a great show.
Awesome things are coming, and nobody is more aware of the hiccups and the setbacks than the people standing at the heart of NASL.
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Are you going to be at MLG Colombus? Because this week I decided you are fucking cool and I should probably get my picture taken with you.
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On May 30 2011 12:31 Gaius Baltar wrote:
Are you going to be at MLG Colombus? Because this week I decided you are fucking cool and I should probably get my picture taken with you.
Yep, I'll be at all the MLGs this year.
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On May 30 2011 12:22 motbob wrote:
Your example of Skip Carey is pretty poor IMO, since there were probably very few Pirates fans listening to his broadcasts!
I have to emphasize this - while casting style is something that is totally up to you, NASL is a national cast similar to how ESPN would cast the baseball playoffs, and I don't believe those commentators are too biased.
Your casting was excellent though; I really enjoyed it
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Watching you right now. Doing (Did I suppose) a fantastic job MrBitter.
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Great job casting man, really did enjoy it as a long time fan of the show and your stream (since it was still on i think livestream lol). But really good casts and it is unfortunate that you are done casting the nasl at least as of now. Keep up the good work =D
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Please cast more <3
Thought you were great and have identified some of the things that you can improve on which is exactly what you should be doing as a caster imho. Not much more to say, but I wanted to say that I enjoyed your casting and look forward to you casting future events
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I think you did an amazing job this week. You were professional, knowledgeable, and I will definitely be tuning into your stream a lot more from now on! People on here and r/Starcraft simply loves you. Hope to see you cast a lot more in the future!
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GRAND OLD AMERICA16375 Posts
I actually thought your casting was amazing! Its ok if you make mistakes, that's the part of improving. GL on your future cast!
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I loved your casts you did. You can Gretorp have got to be my favourite pair of SC2 casters thus far, only to be topped by Day[9] couple with Day[9].
Keep it up!
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I thought you did a great job, and I'm extremely picky. I think an important skill for a caster is learning to take most criticism (albeit not all) with a grain of salt. Seriously, some of that criticism truly and simply needs to be ignored. As for racial bias, it's fine as long as it doesn't cross the line into whining.
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Hey Mr.Bitter, I think you did good man, really did enjoy the casts, and I liked the way you fit in with gretorp too. Good stuff! (I actually started watching the 12 weeks series after I saw your casting :D)
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You're in my top 3 casters for sure, and I've only heard you this week.
Will definitely check out your other work later. You should cast more!
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You're fucking awesome Bitter. You've done so much for this community.
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Your awesome MrBitter, you were made for this job!
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Wait wait wait, that was one of your first times really casting?
You were fantastic, especially considering!
I'm very impressed sir, and it seems like you had a ggreat time!
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You and Gretorp are the best combo on NASL yet, hope you continue casting on NASL
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You were fantastic Mr Bitter, all I ask is you look at the camera a lil bit more so we can see that handsome face =D, it looked like you were a bit shy to look at the camera sometimes.
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fooled me I thought you where a long time caster.
was great to hear you this week look forward to what you do next
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Hope you can do this again, MrBitter! Count me in as one of those impressed by your efforts.
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Great job MrBitter! I enjoyed your casting this week, and hope to see you again in the future.
Bias works in baseball broadcasting because each commentator works for a separate location, i.e. WGN Radio in Chicago might broadcast the Cubs vs. Cardinals game, but the same game will be casted by a St. Louis station, with their own views and bias on the game. Obviously we can't have that sort of dual coverage in StarCraft, but each player treats his race like an entire team, and within that team there are players we root for and players we don't. It's a strange system, and if casters show their bias some people take offense because the broadcasters are rooting against their 'team'. I personally don't mind caster bias, as it breeds a friendly relationship between the broadcaster and the viewer, making the interaction more personal and interesting.
Great work so far. Keep it up!
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Really enjoyed your casting. Would not have guessed that it was one of your first big venues in the casting department. The playful banter between Gretorp and yourself was quite entertaining to listen to/watch. Definitely will be checking out your shows/channels and best of luck to you in your future endeavors.
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You done exceptionly well. I don't think even CatsPajamas got as much positive reception in his big break.
Look forward to more of you in the future!
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On May 30 2011 14:15 bellhop wrote:
Great job MrBitter! I enjoyed your casting this week, and hope to see you again in the future.
Bias works in baseball broadcasting because each commentator works for a separate location, i.e. WGN Radio in Chicago might broadcast the Cubs vs. Cardinals game, but the same game will be casted by a St. Louis station, with their own views and bias on the game. Obviously we can't have that sort of dual coverage in StarCraft, but each player treats his race like an entire team, and within that team there are players we root for and players we don't. It's a strange system, and if casters show their bias some people take offense because the broadcasters are rooting against their 'team'. I personally don't mind caster bias, as it breeds a friendly relationship between the broadcaster and the viewer, making the interaction more personal and interesting.
Great work so far. Keep it up!
Maybe NASL should employ 6 full-time casters, 2 Zerg, 2 Protoss and 2 Terrans (2 because of mirrors) that are casting whenever their race plays so we always have casters that are biased towards one side :p
On Topic:
I liked your casting, MrBitter. Would love to see you cast more often for NASL, though that would sadly reduce the time you would have to stream zerg lessons - which were the reason for big improvements in my play
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I had a great week watching the NASL, thanks MrBitter! I really hope you will be offered more casting opportunities, I think you're terrific!
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Zergs fighting! It was nice meeting you in person at the NASL party!
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You did a great job man. I enjoyed all the casts and your voice suits casting pretty well.
I don't think anyone would mind if the NASL borrows you for another week some time :-).
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I rarely catch NASL with the time difference, but when I do it is always great. Gretorp is an amazing caster, there are great guests, and the player pool and format makes for awesome games.
I really enjoyed watching you cast this weekend. I had no idea who you were initially, but I was pretty blown away from the get go.
I think bias is good and I don't mind when casters make mistakes. Mixing up words or names is difficult to reduce to 0%, and analytical mistakes are not bad. As long as a caster says things that are valuable to me most of the time, I don't mind them making mistakes like who will win battles and things. It is far more annoying to listen to robotic commentators who are afraid to put their personal bias or assertions about things that haven't happened. To reiterate, I'd rather hear someone naturally say 'and this medivac should go down' before it lives than someone drag out 'and the medivac..... makes it out of there'.
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You did really good .
I like a little bias in commentary, it just makes the cast feel more "alive". The only problem that arises from this, seems to be that the observing/casting is to centered on one of the players (at least it felt to me like that in some games). Would love to see you again on the show.
I also don't get all the critic for Gretorp, he sometimes has problems to find the "right" words/it feels like he sometimes isn't capable of saying what he really wants to say (especially when NASL started fresh), but it's WAY better now and as you say, he defintivly shines when there is a Terran in the game. He's still no Artosis but he's pretty much up there with everyone else. People should just get over the rocky start and actually listen to him.
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You did pretty well man, I would say you improved over the week as you gained more confidence and got more comfortable with the whole thing.
Also thanks so much for 12 weeks with the pros and everything else you have done.
Good luck and MLG but most importantly Have fun!
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I was surprised because I pictured you looking like some kind of Larry Flint figure, but you're a handsome guy!
GL in Colombus!
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It is easy for people to sit on the sidelines and complain about this and that, but until they try something and do for themselves they don't understand what it takes to do what you did. Even though you weren't the best caster you could of been during your stint at NASL you did a good job! Like everything in life you have to try it out and see where you stand and then be able to improve on what you did right and what you did wrong. I hope all the best for you Mr. Bitters because you take pride in the work you do and are helping grow this community. Thanks for your hard work and keep it up!
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Unfortunately, I didn't get to catch much of your casting, but what I did see was pretty phenomenal. Really hope I get to see some more of it in the future!
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i tip my hat sir bitter. you are great at whatever you do and you've done so much for this community already. it would be cool meeting you some time, although it's going to be a bit difficult. i'll give you beer when it happens though :p
apart from you being cool and all that stuff, i really agree with you on your call for feedback. a lot of people tune in and out of a stream, probably enjoying the commentary or maybe being bothered by some things, but don't make any attempt on reaching the casters in a constructive way, which is really sad some times. i don't care if i get trashed for my commentary as long as i can take something home from the criticism, that i can later work on.
so to all the stream watchers: please be vocal, whether you enjoy the show or not at all. any criticism that's not mindless bashing helps incredibly much. and it's so easy to reach commentators directly, be it through TL pms, live stream threads or stream chat. gogogo, help us casters improve!
<3 mrbitter, keep it up
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Great job casting the NASL. Also like your 12 weeks series and will be looking forward to future episodes.
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iNcontroL
USA29055 Posts
did an awesome job bitters Very impressive.
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IMO the difference between biased sports casting and biased SC2 casting is that in the latter case the bias almost always involves talking about balance/imbalance (whether joking or not), while in the former it's entirely about the people/teams playing. I don't think anyone has a big problem with you being a July fanboy or being super-excited to cast a Boxer game. More people have issues with casters making comments about whether or not the game is balanced, and I think those complaints are legitimate. A caster for a tournament saying the platform of the tournament is inherently biased towards certain players compromises the legitimacy of the tournament. While I understand that a lot of your "bias" was simply joking around, and I don't personally have a problem with it at all, I can see where complaints might come from.
On the subject of analysis/calling things wrongly/misspeaking, I really think nit-picky feedback about these kinds of mistakes are pretty unimportant. I can't speak for everyone, but usually when I criticize casters it's based on the overall feeling of the cast. If I find them boring, or annoying, or whatever else, I begin picking apart everything they say. If they're exciting and engaging, I pass over mistakes because I'm still enjoying the experience. As far as analysis goes (like your bad call in Cloud's game) the negative response (if I didn't like you as a caster to start with) would be "this guy's an idiot," while the positive one would be "well, at least he's actively engaged in the game instead of just saying what he sees." So if there's a lot of nit-picky comments, it's probably indicative of something else people aren't liking about the cast; don't stress over making individual mistakes like that. Of course there's also some casters that miss things going on in the game, make statements that are blatantly false, and display really really poor understanding of the game, but I think you know that you're not one of those casters.
In any case I really enjoyed your casting. You built up good chemistry with Gretorp impressively quickly, gave valuable analysis (in zerg games at least!  ) and seemed very genuine, which is one of the least mentioned but most important parts of casting IMO.
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I loved watching you at NASL Mr. Bitter. I have seen your stream, and you are a damn fine Zerg player. I'm only Platinum Zerg and I do look up to you. Keep fighting for the Swarm!
Positive Criticisms:
- I really like how calm your voice sounds. It's so easy to listen to and is very relaxing.
- Your analysis of ZvX is top notch, and especially your ability to look back on a ZvX matchup and state what the Zerg did wrong/right.
- Zerg bias is just fine. Just try to encourage Gretorp to have some Terran bias as well so you can have some friendly banter on stage. If your bias and Gretorp's bias cancel each other out it comes across as fun and not as whiny. Example: GRETORP: "After watching that game you can't tell me burrowed banelings are overpowered." MRBITTER: "I dunno, orbital command maphacks 3 minutes into the game is pretty nice!" Then go on with the analysis.
- I really like it when you disagree with Gretorp. When both of you think different things are going to happen it increases my interest in the game because I want to see which is correct. This is especially good when both sides have valid criticism of the game. If you two always agree it's boring.
Neutral Criticism:
- Your job is not to be a perfect caster with 100% good analysis. Your job is to bring excitement to the game. Have you ever seen Korean commentators for Brood War? I have no idea what they're saying but they are exciting and fun to listen to. When you're excited and invigorated by the game, we as viewers are excited and invigorated about the game. I'm sure you watched TSL3 final match. Did you see how Day[9] finished off the series? It was orgasmic and he didn't even do any in-depth analysis. The energy given off by the casters is contagious and definitely increases enjoyment of the game more than any in-depth analysis could.
- Also, look at Tasteosis. I'd say at least 33% of the time they're just joking around or having fun on the set and not even commentating the game. But if they're having fun, I'm having fun too. In-depth analysis is not the end-all-be-all of game commentating.
- Being wrong is fine as well. When the players prove you wrong, get excited about it, "I can't BELIEVE that he was able to make that push! That was amazing." I don't expect myself to be perfect all the time, and I don't expect you to be perfect either. Being wrong is a part of being human and I can respect that. The only thing I can't respect is being blatantly wrong. I didn't see you do that though, so it's all cool.
Negative Criticisms:
- Pre-game and post-game you didn't look at the camera enough! When you weren't talking with Gretorp you would stare off into space or at your computer screen. I felt like you paid more attention to the game and Gretorp than to me.
- Post-game is also a good time not only to state what the losing player did wrong but what the winning player did right/wrong. I remember during one game you said, "Zerg only has 45 drones. That's not enough for Hive tech" but then never went on to state how race X capitalized on those errors. How did Zerg end up with 45 drones? Also, could the match have ended minutes earlier if the winner had done X?
- As you mentioned, your analysis of PvT/P and TvT are lacking. However, you can still use your own logic to figure out what they're doing which I'm glad you did.
- "There were a couple times when I would make a call, and immediately think to myself "oh God that was so wrong" but when you're being recorded, and when the game is live, you can't really go back and undo those mistakes." <-- I definitely disagree with you there. Go back and correct what you said. The worst thing you can do is let your viewers know that you make silly mistakes or observations and try to cover them up by not talking about them. I think you feel this way because you felt uncomfortable casting. "What if I make a mistake?" The important thing is that it doesn't matter so much. If you screw up, go back and correct the mistake and you'll come across as more genuine and real rather than a guy who's walking on pins and needles trying not to make a mistake. It is admirable, though, that you care how your viewers see you.
I really look forward to seeing you cast more games. You definitely have a lot of potential but there are some things you still need to work on. Whatever you do, just don't give up.
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I think you did amazing, I also think what you said about Gretorp is 100% true, watching him play on his stream with a bit of commentary by himself its just amazing how he notice all the little things.
So yeah... good job commentating, hopefully we'll see you as a commentator in a tournament again soon! (:
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You did an awsome job. You are one of the best commentators in the scene right now imo. Id love to see an MLG with Day9, Chill, DJwheat and MRbitter as the 4 rotating casters.
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The commentating is starting to get really good. Gretorp seems to be getting more comfortable and he did awesome with incontrol today. His analysis is getting even better and he's going even more in depth on stuff.
You did awesome with gretorp and I was surprised. You two seemed to mesh together well and it was a breath of fresh air after watching gretorp and incontrol the previous weeks. Gretorp is getting better over time and today he and incontrol did awesome. It's was too bad the stream went down.
I wouldn't worry too much about the mistakes you made with the analysis. Incontrol butchers tvt all the time but honestly I don't think many people really understand everything that's going on there or who will win in the battles. We think the same thing you do a lot. Also you're in masters so you're already in the top 98-99% of players right? I have yet to notice a top master or gm complaining about the casting on gsl or nasl.
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Dear Mister Bitter
I want to encourage you to go your way in esports. I've enjoyed your casting a lot and am currently watching your 12 weeks to boost my own zerg play. I would not have thought that this was your first experience in casting on camera, so now i'm even more impressed. From reading your blog i think you're clever enough to see most of your possibilities to improve.
I want to give a concrete feedback though: Between the games you've got a somehow strange way of looking into the camera. I don't really know what makes me feel that but it's like you're looking at the camera like at a object, while the other casters Gretorp and Incontrol kind of speak to me, the viewer. Maybe try to look into the camera as if there were people or souls inside that thing.
Keep up the excellent work and good luck for your future!
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You're pretty good at casting imo. Sometimes a bit awkward on camera where you look at some random point which is neither the camera nor your screen nor gretorp =) But that's not a big deal and easy to solve.
About the whiney part, that wasn't bad either, because you did it in a humorous, 2nd degree way. I found it pretty funny, and usually I hate all kind of balance talk. Being biased can be good when you assume your bias and play with it, it's not cool when you act like your bias is the reality. But that didn't happened, at least I didn't felt that way.
In short : good job.
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