TotalBiscuit: An Editorial - Page 4

On June 18 2011 00:48 Morfildur wrote:


It's pure analysis, there is no play-by-play at all. It lacks any energy in that cast, all it has is IdrAs monotone voice lulling you to sleep with his (still very precise and excellent) analysis.

A perfect cast needs both energy and analysis, TB provides purely the first part, IdrA purely the second. Which part you prefer and which part you cannot live without is a personal preference, but of course it's always best if both exist. I can do without analysis as long as there is a lot of energy, others can do without energy as long as there is analysis...

On June 18 2011 02:09 Xaga wrote:
While I think both Idra and TB shouldn't be having this fight, I have to say TB is handling this much worse than Idra. I know Idra always trash talks people, but that doesn't excuse him for this.

Both of these guys say the other is a bad caster (at least that's what I took from this), but how can you determine if they're bad? They're both considered to be good casters, but it's based entirely on preference. Their style of casting is completely different. They both have their pros and cons for the viewer, it all comes down to what you want.

The problem I have with TB is how he responds to the people who don't like him, compared to how Idra deals with it. Idra has had haters for years, but rarely, if ever, does he feel the need to defend himself. He knows he's good, and that's enough for him.

TB feels the need to come on the forums and pick out the very few posts people make attacking him and insult that poster relentlessly. Why? You ignore the 50 posts of people complimenting you, and respond to the 2 people who don't like you. Why ignore your fans for someone who doesn't like you? You're not going to persuade someone to change their opinion on you by swearing at them and calling them stupid, you're just hurting your own image.
I don't understand this at all...

On June 29 2011 08:29 Draxtier wrote:
Although I find it all to be kind of silly, I think some rivalries are ultimately good for the SC2 community, and so long as it doesn't go too far, this is one of them. As destructive as they sound sometimes, rivalries between prominent personalities in the SC2 community add drama, generate a lot of interest and increase the emotional investment viewers have in the sport. Idra is far and away the most widely known and inflammatory player of SC2 in North America. Some people love him, some people hate him, but we all have feelings about him one way or another, and that's part of why we watch.

The entire industry built up around professional wrestling is about creating iconic characters that the audience will feel an emotional attachment toward, then pitting them against one another. In wrestling there are heroic figures, their are villains, and there are oddballs, all of which are fabricated purely for our entertainment. The more the audience responds to a wrestler, regardless of whether that response is positive or negative, the more successful they are since success and failure are measured by the size and passion of the audience, since that's the source of revenue.

I don't know how much of this feud is legitimate or fabricated, but just like rivalries between pro wrestlers, the rivalry between Idra and TotalBiscuit (or Idra and a long list of others) makes for a larger and more passionate audience, which is also the source of revenue for everyone involved in Starcraft II professionally.

The pitfall we have to avoid in esports is the possibility that the drama surrounding the competition overshadows the competition itself, which could lead to the same sort of fabricated performance and fake competition that is pro wrestling.

At the other end of the spectrum there is pure competition without any sort of emotional connection between the participants and their audience. This is what you have when you watch two people you've never heard of play, and you have no emotional investment in the outcome. Although there are purists who might think this is the perfect expression of competition, it's very bad for the potential success of a sport that depends on the size and passion of its audience for revenue. A feeling of empathy with competitors and an emotional investment in their success or failure is what makes a lot of people watch.

The trouble we're also running in to here is that some of the personalities involved in Starcraft II have tremendous influence over the opinions of their fans. If Idra says he hates someone, a horde of fanboys descend upon to that issue and spew out their own opinions with even greater vehemence and vitriol. People who might otherwise have failed to notice Idra's rival even exists suddenly have passionate feelings about them or what they stand for. To an extent, exercising that influence is fine. It's natural. It's also to be expected given the age of most SC2 fans, but there's a point where that influence can become very harmful if it's exercised carelessly.

To illustrate that point; on one of the Day[9] dailies, I remember seeing a player in the lower leagues flame Day9 in the game of his that was shown on a funday monday. Sean, being the awesome guy that he is, laughed it off and then went to great lengths to tell his fans that the guy is perfectly entitled to his opinion and then to explicitly encourage them to be friendly and polite to this guy if they ever met him on the ladder. If he hadn't done that, I don't doubt there could have been a tremendous backlash against some poor kid. His popularity gives Day9 that sort of influence.

Their popularity give Idra and TotalBiscuit the same sort of influence, but so long as they're only picking on other people who can take it, like one another, let the fans be fans and follow the drama like it actually matters, which it doesn't... but it's good for espoorts!

On June 17 2011 15:12 Torte de Lini wrote:


I think when people listen to idra, they're listening with another intent than with TB. While that's obvious, there is seriously no level of excitement or interest in the game, but rather the bare bones of the game. When idra talks, he preemptively says what's going to happen before it even does and in most cases, he's right. This gives him even more time to talk why that happen and what should have been done.

How many casters can do that and from idra's equal or similar experience?