Well Dreamhack is over and I felt like sharing my thoughts from the position of a caster at the event.
On a personal level, Dreamhack is the most incredible event I've ever had the honour of being a part of. This sprawling LAN of a scale you won't find anywhere else in the world, is filled to the brim with everything that makes gaming the compelling hobby and lifestyle it is. Needless to say I'd like to focus on the SC2 aspect of things.
Firstly let me thank the admin team for Dreamhack, it was the best adminned tournament I've ever been involved in. Admins were easily reachable and helpful, efficient and consistently effective in their roles. As a result, downtime was kept to a bare minimum and disputes never reached the public eye. Delays in the schedule were to be expected. The running joke is that we need to adjust the tournament for GMT (Goody Median Time), though some credit has to be given to Xlord as well for playing exhausting stamina games as Zerg. We were not thankful for not getting a lunch break at all on the second day as a result, but Xlord and Goody made up for it with entertaining play.
The player area was nicely situated, with the admins on location as well for easy access. The player area was equipped with large screens either side, out of view of the players but viewable for spectators. It was cordoned off but spectators could watch the game either from the pros point of view or the cast (needless to say without the audio). Players were often applauded by the spectators and fans around them as they played. I can't say whether or not that was distracting for them but I didn't hear any complaints and often saw many smiling faces as players frequently interacted with fans. The vast majority of players were exceptionally outgoing in that regard and the sense of community and mutual respect was palpable.
I was given my own small stage with stadium style seating and a projection screen by Asus and Steelseries. Unfortunately our PA system was not up to scratch and had difficulty in the loud exhibition hall. This will no doubt be resolved next time, but even the audio problems didn't stop the stage from being full to capacity at all times, with plenty of standing overflow. The projection screen worked very well and was clear and high definition. This was one area where Day9's tent suffered since the canvas was white and the glare made the screen difficult to see. While a darker coloured tent would have resolved that issue, it would have also made armies of nerds die of heat-exhaustion. Even with the white tent, it still heated up quite badly there and Day9/Apollo were suffering as a result. Day9 was constantly being fed tea by an assistant to keep his voice in shape, never would he be seen without a cup. What the tent lacked in visual quality it made up for in clear sound and an exceptionally produced stream as a result of the dedicated production team. They should be commended for producing a professional and slick piece of work and maintaining that quality over the 30 hours or so of casting that was done there. The atmosphere in the tent was also exceptional, as you no doubt saw and heard, fans screaming at the top of their lungs and GGs and particularly great plays, as well as sometimes randomly bursting into applause for no appreciable reason, much to the amusement of Day9. I think we had the tent beat in our downtime music though (which we weren't able to use during Day 1 due to technical problems). They had trance, we had Hellmarch and VGM soundtracks, much to the delight of passersby as classics like Command and Conquer, Warcraft 2, Dune 2000 and Streets of Rage pumped out at obnoxious volumes :D
What is certain is that more people wanted to watch SC2 than could comfortably fit into our two stages. The 1,200 capacity Dreamarena also had a queue stretching from the escalator all the way to the Dreamhack lobby, several hundred metres and every seat was taken, to the extent that ogsMC actually sat on the stage near the Teamliquid guys for a while since there was no seat available for him. The Dreamarena itself is incredibly impressive, with very comfortable, theatre-style seating, a MASSIVE, high-fidelity screen, good sound quality and of course, the slick looking player booths on either side, which were even mounted with large lights on the top which matched the player's colour in-game. Spectator eSports in the west just got a new benchmark.
Any doubts in the minds of organisers or sponsors about the viability of Starcraft 2 as a spectator eSport must have been washed away. The sponsors of our stage were vocally thrilled about the amount of foot-traffic and exposure they received, blowing away their expectations and hopefully ensuring a larger Stage B for next time, which I'll hopefully get to participate in. As for Day9's tent, well, I think they're gonna need a bigger boat, particularly since Dreamhack Winter is a much larger event.
Some personal criticism of my own performance. More often than not I was solo-casting, which is not optimal. This was mostly due to the short notice nature of my attendance, which until about 2 weeks before the event, was not going to happen due to space issues. At the last minute, I was offered a space by Asus and Steelseries if I would cooperate with Nordrassil Radio and assist them by co-casting and presenting 2 live World of Warcraft raids with the world's top-guild Paragon, as they demonstrated and defeated the hardest content in the game. These two events were very well attended, dwarfing even the SC2 at Stage B, which is to be expected since WoW as a spectator event is fairly rare and unique. This should also answer the question as to why League of Legends had so many viewers. Due to it's lack of casting interface but large playerbase, being able to see a LoL tournament is rare and as such a novelty. Anyway I'm going off-topic, TLO heroically agreed to co-cast some of the tournament with me. He was engaged in casting WCG on the first day so that was all solo from me aside from July vs Hasuobs at the very end of the evening. He cast with me for about half of the Day2 matches and the two remaining matchs on Day 3 in the RO8. TLO is an absolute pleasure to work with and the knowledge he acquired during his career as a Random player makes him a very unique co-caster in the analytical role, easily able to analyse scenarios between all 3 races that other casters might struggle with. His laid back nature and good humour help out a lot and it'd be a pleasure to co-cast with him in the future. He easily took up the analysis role and talking over each other was a non-issue, as I yielded the mic to him for analysis and he would immediately hand back the reins during high-action moments. I hope this demonstrated the viability and robust nature of the play-by-play/analysis model.
Needless to say more game knowledge will help my casting. I feel that it has improved significantly but still needs a lot of work, particularly on the issues of the meta-game. Not having time to watch GSL really hurts me in that regard. It is a weakness that can be minimised by co-casting and I hope to avoid solo-casting whenever possible in future. I'd also like to apologise for a few production faux-pas. I produced the entire event myself and as a result did slip up on a few occasions, including leaving an overlay up for the entirity of a July vs Hasuobs match which thankfully was only around 8 minutes long. On my home setup I would have immediately noticed this since I cast in a window and can see my Xsplit viewport as well to check for such things, however fullscreen had to be used on Stage B because the projector was being powered by the HDMI port on my laptop, so anything that was on my monitor was also on the screen. There was also one occasion where the mic was muted for the first couple of a minutes of the cast, once again a problem that is easier to notice and solve when you can see the Xsplit program. On the subject of observation, I missed one key battle in the 6'o'clock position that I was made aware of and a few drops. Some of the games were unbelievably hectic and difficult to observe, particularly when Moon was applying 3 way pressure to Naniwa, striking 3 bases simultaneously and rotated forces in and out to lessen pressure in one area but increase it in another. More minimap awareness is required on my part and perhaps my Daily ladder stream is a good place to learn that, since it'll also help my play. On a final note it's become apparant that using the army visual overlay during a battle is a dumb idea, as is in fact any visual overlay that blocks the screen. Pulling back the UI rather than cluttering it more seems like the optimal thing to do and relying on quick mental counts of the units still alive in the fight rather than focussing on army supply numbers, which can be analysed after the fight is over, not during it. On a lighter note, my chair should NOT have wheels, as I managed to catapult myself away from my computer after seeing Sen kill approximately 40 zerglings at once with a perfectly placed Baneling strike. The mouse fell off the desk, the camera spun off in a random direction and I was left looking very very silly.
Ok, back to more positive stuff. The fans are incredible and I think what I've learned from this event is that these guys represent the true face of the eSports community. All of the negativity and arguments that happen on the forums are made irrelevant by the beaming smiles and screaming excitement of the spectators. Day9, Apollo and myself did a signing session after the finals which lasted for 4 hours, hundreds of autographs, photos and hugs later, we were left feeling very tired, happy and completely awestruck and humbled by the outpouring of love we all got from the fans. These guys are the future of eSports and they are the reason SC2 will continue to be successful. Nothing can stand in the way of that kind of unbound enthusiasm. Also Day9 is the friendliest and one of the funniest guys you'll ever have the pleasure to meet. More than one photo was ruined by his terrible puns and jokes that saw everyone burst into fits of laughter as the flash went off. Notable moments during the signing session was a shaking girl on the verge of tears as she hugged Day9, overwhelmed by actually getting to meet him, signing a guy's digereedoo (sp?), a couple of fans with a massive folder of noteable players and casters with their heads photoshopped onto Pokemon (IdrA is Mewtwo) and Day9 receiving a pillow with a pin-up picture of Tasteless on it from a particularly crafty fan. It makes me realise the absolute truth of the people that say paying any attention to the haters is unprofessional and harmful, not because fighting on the internet is stupid (though it is), but because it takes away time that could be spent interacting with these guys and making their lives just a little bit more fun. They deserve that time.
I was glad not to be casting the finals, because if I had I would have missed out on my first experience of spectating SC2 in a live environment and the Dreamarena was the ultimate place to do it. I felt that familiar pit in my stomach as HuK fell behind. The last time I felt that way was an England World cup game many years ago when we lost on penalties. I felt the pure adrenaline of the tense moments where HuK either succeeded or failed by mere nanoseconds and the nail-biting finale which I won't spoil for any of you if you haven't watched it. The crowd roared, 1,200 screaming eSports fans as loud and proud as any sports event and there was not a man in the audience who didn't roar and applaud with them. HuK taking that well deserved win was a moment of elation for him his team and the fans. As the members of Teamliquid picked him up and threw him into the air over and over again, the crowd applauded and began chanting "HuK! HuK! HuK!". The thought running through my mind at that moment was "and where are the doubters now aye?".
One last but certainly not least thing to mention, oGsMC. I cannot imagine how much courage it takes to come and do your first ever cast, in your non-native language, in front of a live audience. I had no idea what to expect after he came up to me and asked if he could co-cast. His English has improved so much lately and what people should take away from this is that not only does he have unparalled knowledge of the game which eclipses ANY current caster, but that he is one of the few Koreans who genuinely want to engage with the foreign SC2 scene beyond merely playing in it. He's said in previous interviews that he thinks the foreign fans are better than the SC2 fans in Korea and always seems genuinely appreciative and humbled by their reaction. It was the same as he cast HuK vs Tarson and returned for Bischu vs Tarson. He too now knows the reason behind the phrase "Tarson holds!", as one of the most resilient and stubborn Terran in Europe overcame Bischu and he was very respectful and complimentary about both players, even if his skills surpass both. He's welcome back any time and it was a pleasure to have him there.
In total I was casting SC2 for 30 hours, 10-midnight on days 1 and 2 and 10-12 on day 3, thankfully my voice held up, though it's shot to hell today. I can take a couple of days rest before starting heavily on IPL 2 recordings with dApollo. Thanks vocalcords, I know you get abused very frequently but you rarely fail me.
So a few quick thanks in no particular order.
Asus, Steelseries, Sapphire, Eizo, TLO, oGsMC, Day9, Apollo, all the admin staff including but not limited to bobhund and Hellspawn, all the volunteers who made Dreamhack possible, the players who provided us with such fine examples of eSports entertainment, all of the fans both at the event and watching on the streams, Nordrassil Radio for arranging the opportunity to be at the event, Tranceh and Simon from Joinsimon.se for providing some transport, all of the guys I met at the afterparty and to my Centrance mic preamps for not melting and of course, Sweden for being such an amazing place with welcoming people.
It was an awesome weekend, and your stream was awesome <3 Do't worry about the little problems you mentioned, it was more than ok Your casts solo, with TLO and with MC were very good too. Awesome event \o/
You've all done a great job. I have not been able to study for one of my last exams for my masters degree all weekend long.
Like you said, don't listen to all the naysayers because there are just as many who like your casting. A small bit of advice: Could you add a message in the three shoutcraft overlays the time and the players of the next match. I hate scrolling through tabs to find out when and what the next casts are going to be. And maybe for people in other timezones you could add those times as well. I still have nightmares converting the times from MLG back to my timezone every 10 minutes or so.
On June 22 2011 01:27 JingleHell wrote: Was it difficult to keep your casting objective in that day 1 game of IdrA?
No, not at all. We've had spats in the past, we fought a bit before I cast him in IPL 1 (and in that case people claimed I was biased in FAVOUR of IdrA). I didn't speak to him at the event, I said hello at one point but he blanked me, either deliberately or simply because he didn't hear. I didn't want to make things awkward for him. At the end of the day it's the internet and shouldn't have any bearing on what's happening IRL, I got along very well with all the pros that I spoke to there, got some great advice from Tyler about ignoring haters and when it comes to casting a player you don't get along with, it is a matter of professionalism that you remain as objective as possible about their play.
I don't know if IdrA feels the same, he lost both matches that I was casting of him in the group stages (I believe those were the only ones he lost) so I guess I'm a bit of a bad luck charm. Whatever the case, no, there is no awkwardness there for me.
Thank you for well done casts and also it was nice to see that you where there for the game and the audience and not to float your own boat so to speak and announcing the other games and where to watch them. As you said its not about who gets most views its all the one and same event. GG
On June 22 2011 01:34 Regression wrote: You've all done a great job. I have not been able to study for one of my last exams for my masters degree all weekend long.
Like you said, don't listen to all the naysayers because there are just as many who like your casting. A small bit of advice: Could you add a message in the three shoutcraft overlays the time and the players of the next match. I hate scrolling through tabs to find out when and what the next casts are going to be. And maybe for people in other timezones you could add those times as well. I still have nightmares converting the times from MLG back to my timezone every 10 minutes or so.
Keep up the good work
Yeah, Xsplit has that functionality but I couldn't get it work. I'll find out why next time.
Also will be working on getting used to a score overlay, since it helps viewers who have just tuned in get up to speed quickly with the state of the series. All the ones I've tried so far either are 1) Fiddly to use and/or 2) Don't work in a window.
awesome getting to meet you and see you cast in person, you casting with mc was definately one of the highlights of the weekend. Hope to see you at winter again and hope you get a bigger stage to cast on :>
nice to see your perspective on how the event turned out, and glad to see that you enjoyed it as much as I did (and even more since I was only on the stream), great read
Awesome job TB. Loved reading your point-of-view account of the event too. It sounds like Dreamhack was a very positive experience for everyone involved; fans, players, and casters alike.
Very nice write up TB. Glad to hear it was a good event for you. Hopefully your voice can hold up for the IPL casting later this week. =) I look forward to those games.
The few times I tuned into your stream TB (spent most of the time watching the main stage) your lack of knowledge in some situations didn't bother me, you're an exceptionally entertaining caster to listen to. Not to mention your English accent is totally awesome (I totally imagine you casting with a tophat & monocle). The casting with TLO and MC was excellent and I thoroughly look forward to hearing/seeing you progress as a caster in eSports, the very few minor downfalls of your casting are things that will improve with your ability to play the game and you've already identified what those were.
Much respect for all you casters, 30 hours of casting would be exhausting, 30 hours of watching for me was exhausting. I'm glad you had an enjoyable experience.
Thanks, TB, was a great event and your casting is so enjoyable. Pairing with players like TLO and MC was really a highlight of the event! Many, many thanks!
I was less than amused by the overlay over an entire game fiasco, but I guess we all make mistakes. You admit the mistake and apologise, so that's all good.
The few matches I watched of yours I can only come up with the usual culprits for casting critique. I'd really like it if you could get enough experience to be able to at least call what you are seeing in context. I'm sure that means you'd have to watch and play a lot more SC2, which I'm not sure your schedule would allow. I'd maybe suggest taking tips from djWHEAT? He has a full time job (which isn't SC2), but seems to get more into the game than you do, and he is a total baller. I'm not asking for analysis, or mythic build-calling ala MC, just some filler material as to why army movement makes sense or other such little things which at the moment you seem to stumble over what to say - and sometimes say something silly which interrupts the viewing experience.
This is all my subjective personal opinion, but I'm trying to put forward critique in a way which is useful to you instead of the hate you sometimes get.
As for the haters, as I'm sure Tyler and anyone else will tell you, the worst thing you can do is feed them yourself by replying. I'd just ignore the crap out of it all, any time you want to reply why don't you find a nice comment from a fan and reply to that instead. Life is too short to argue with trolls over the internet. If they can't formulate criticism into something like I have tried with this post, then I don't really think anything is going to be gained by reacting to it. Its probably just trolling to get a reaction, people love the 60 seconds of fame you give them by responding publicly.
This is a really nice blog, I really want to go to a large event and props to you TB, and all the casters for making Dreamhack such a great event. I feel bit weird about all of it, as we the community, are watching ourselves grow into something beautiful.
nice write up TB, thanks for that. Especially the point about MC, I was absolutely blown away when I learned that MC came to you, asking about co-casting with you, as I realised how much BALLS it has to take to do that. Also you were an excellent host to him.
And of course, fantastic job overall, you delivered more than I anticipated to receive
TB sounds like you really living the dream by actually getting paid to go to such gigantic events and just see how it unfolds first hand, and to also be able to cast with people like TLO and MC :O
You did great, the only thing I can fault is you leaving the blackscreen on for the whole of the hasu - july game but it was a laugh when you actually found out and TLO kept on saying that it wasnt your fault that it happened. :D
Wow, after reading this I regret not being there more than I already did. Both stream were awesome and very enjoyable, I just couldn't stop watching =D.
Really looking forward to seeing more SC2 and TB casting at DH winter
On June 22 2011 02:08 TotalBiscuit wrote: My god I look terrible in almost every photo, serious exercise to be done before Winter to get back in shape.
it dosnt matter, i'm just worried about the lack of top-hattage :>.
awesome casting. TB radio (the hasuobs vs July) was quite fun Nobody holds a grudge. Just rememeber that you and Day 9 are idols for anyone who wants to become a caster.
On June 22 2011 02:08 TotalBiscuit wrote: My god I look terrible in almost every photo, serious exercise to be done before Winter to get back in shape.
I think more sleep would help an awful lot as well ;P
On June 22 2011 02:08 TotalBiscuit wrote: My god I look terrible in almost every photo, serious exercise to be done before Winter to get back in shape.
it dosnt matter, i'm just worried about the lack of top-hattage :>.
On June 22 2011 02:08 TotalBiscuit wrote: My god I look terrible in almost every photo, serious exercise to be done before Winter to get back in shape.
I think more sleep would help an awful lot as well ;P
5 hours over 3 days approximately. Not good, not at all.
On June 22 2011 02:17 Torte de Lini wrote: Great cocasting TB with MC. Should consider giving him a permanent gig :B
That might be stretching it, but it was damn awesome to hear MC comment on the games. Really shows that he loves the foreign scene and it let us all get a little bit inside his head.
On June 22 2011 02:17 Torte de Lini wrote: Great cocasting TB with MC. Should consider giving him a permanent gig :B
That might be stretching it, but it was damn awesome to hear MC comment on the games. Really shows that he loves the foreign scene and it let us all get a little bit inside his head.
Great post man! It's nice to hear such a positive tone from you. Lately it seems like I only hear about negative posts from you. Not really your fault I think, I just tend to "hear" about drama instead of something positive.
Anyway, keep up the great work. Anytime you're ever feeling down you should remember this moment and future moments like this to come.
On June 22 2011 02:17 Torte de Lini wrote: Great cocasting TB with MC. Should consider giving him a permanent gig :B
That might be stretching it, but it was damn awesome to hear MC comment on the games. Really shows that he loves the foreign scene and it let us all get a little bit inside his head.
I'm clearly joking.
I know I was just putting my opinion out there as well.
First, heartfelt must go out to TB and the rest of the casters at Dreamhack. For me, along with thousands upon thousands of others, it was a weekend of entertainment, drama and oftentimes exhilaration about StarCraft.
Second, thank you specifically TB for this write-up. It was amazing watching and listening to the tournament. It is incredibly nice to get a glimpse of the thoughts and the experiences of those who were there; players, casters and live spectators. I think it really reinforces just how much so many of us want to be there. Perhaps so much so that many more of us will take time out of busy schedules and tight budget to make the trip to the next Dreamhack, the next MLG. As such, not only is it a treat for us as spectators and fans, it is also immensly helpful to the growth of the tournament scenes.
Finally, a few thoughts about the TB phenomenon.
Thank you for acknowledging that the fans are more important than the haters and the trolls. I sincerely hope that most of the scene will come not only to realise this, but also to implement this truth in practice and in conduct.
The truth of the matter is that not everyone will like anyone. And another truth is that often, the negative feedback trumps the positives. It feels disheartening to see this, be it in feedback threads, in live report threads or just in pure discussion threads. Therefore, it just feels so good to have these events go down that reinforce the positives, the elation and the good sides as such of the community.
About casters. No-one is perfect. In some respects, the SCII community has been spoiled rotten by the trifecta of Day9, Tasteless and Artosis. They are fantastic. And I think the fact of the matter is that they, as commentators, are unsurpassed in the scene even relative to professional players. E-sports is extremely young. It is undeveloped and unrefined. It has great potential, it evokes heartfelt passion and it is growing fast. But for right now, people are still learning how to live with it, how to evolve it. We do not know the end product of professional SCII; everyone has to try their best to fit into something they do not quite know the shape of. But those three, for whatever reason, are so good at it they become beacons, they are icons.
But they are not enough. And even though they are incredibly good at what they do, even though they come as close as one can in this environment to being universally appreciated, liked and respected, we cannot know that they are the only standard of good. As much as it is easy to point to any one of them when the question of 'how should one cast SCII' is asked, it does not mean that as the scene grows and matures, one will not only look at them as pioneers but ultimately unfinished and merely the portent of things to come.
The scene needs casters. And it does not hurt it in any way to have diversity. I hope all casters, just as all players, desire and aspire to be great. Ultimately, we will have casters who come from different molds, with different personalities and hold different casting ideals. And every single one of those will be hated upon, they will be told that they are infinitely inferior and that they are intensly disliked. And in the end, if they are good enough, if they strike a chord with the audience, they will prosper and in the future set new standards.
To me, this scene, this community is special. This sport is what I would rather be watching and is what I want to play. Due to it being so young, it is also extremely volatile. Whereas a lot of people are going to complain, be rude and in general only want to insult whatever they do not care for, there are also thousands of people who only want to see the scene grow. A lot of said people are going to criticise. In the heat of an argument, a lot of us will pass over from constructive criticism into what is very much unconstructive criticism. A lot of us will not know how to interact with others on the internet when feelings get hurt, when we feel injustice. But the ones who make this community great will know when we are wrong afterwards. And we will continue to debate, we will continue to try to improve and we will sure as all hell continue to devote time to listen, watch and interact.
And everyone who felt like I did (and like you did according to this post) when HuK won will be watching future tournaments. And we will love, hate and discuss players, casters and tournament organisers. Because that feeling, encapsulated in the mere seconds from the gg until you are done shouting, cheering, smiling, tearing up...that feeling is so, so very good.
On June 22 2011 02:17 Torte de Lini wrote: Great cocasting TB with MC. Should consider giving him a permanent gig :B
That might be stretching it, but it was damn awesome to hear MC comment on the games. Really shows that he loves the foreign scene and it let us all get a little bit inside his head.
I'm clearly joking.
I know I was just putting my opinion out there as well.
WHY DO YOU USE ME t_________________________________t
Loved your casting! The way you handled dual-casting with MC was perfect. You fed him questions he could easily understand and it made everything soooooo entertaining! Keep up the good work.
On June 22 2011 02:08 TotalBiscuit wrote: My god I look terrible in almost every photo, serious exercise to be done before Winter to get back in shape.
it dosnt matter, i'm just worried about the lack of top-hattage :>.
I always enjoy reading these recaps. Thanks for that
I liked your casting all the time when I tuned in. Obviously I watched the main "stage" (tent) most of the time, but if the games weren't on or weren't interesting I went to your stream second. I liked when you had a cocaster but I also liked the solo casting. I don't think anyone in the world can solo cast Starcraft as well as TB.
I have one point of criticism but it's a small thing so you don't have to read it. + Show Spoiler +
Sometimes you would make small remarks about the game in passing that really struck a nerve with me. Two of the examples that really stick in my mind are "Well that's PvP in a nutshell ladies and gentlemen - a giant coinflip" and "I thought you had to attack to win this game but I guess I was mistaken."
Those aren't exact quotes but they carry the same meaning. Those two comments (and several others like them) cheapen the value of competition and players.
I've never found your admitted lack of game knowledge to be a problem to me. You know you don't know the game that well and you don't make suggestions to the players in your commentary or criticize their play, so it's a total non-issue for me.
On a lighter note, my chair should NOT have wheels, as I managed to catapult myself away from my computer after seeing Sen kill approximately 40 zerglings at once with a perfectly placed Baneling strike. The mouse fell off the desk, the camera spun off in a random direction and I was left looking very very silly.
I think it's a good choice of you to focus on the fans instead of the haters, you have so many fans who love what you do, and there's a smaller negative minority who are very vocal.
I had a feeling your WoW raid cast tone was a tad on the bored side... was that because of your recent history of disagreement with Blizz on WoW or was it just sheer exhaustion from the SC2 tournament casts?
Thanks TB! Really enjoyed both your Shoutcasting. The duo with TLO and MC were informative and entertaining at the same time. You did a great job.
As a side note though, I would have to agree with Chill on the PvP coinflip issue. While I understand that's how many people feel, at the same time I feel PvP is a very skill dependant match-up that depends a lot on mind games and micro in order to come out on top. I think there's potential for the caster to try and hype a game as everything standing on a razor's edge; that might just be me though.
Nevertheless, I was very entertained by your casts which means the primary purpose of your casting was achieved. I'd love to visit Dreamhack some time in the future and get an autograph! Keep up the good work! ^^
On June 22 2011 05:20 MoonBear wrote: Thanks TB! Really enjoyed both your Shoutcasting. The duo with TLO and MC were informative and entertaining at the same time. You did a great job.
As a side note though, I would have to agree with Chill on the PvP coinflip issue. While I understand that's how many people feel, at the same time I feel PvP is a very skill dependant match-up that depends a lot on mind games and micro in order to come out on top. I think there's potential for the caster to try and hype a game as everything standing on a razor's edge; that might just be me though.
Nevertheless, I was very entertained by your casts which means the primary purpose of your casting was achieved. I'd love to visit Dreamhack some time in the future and get an autograph! Keep up the good work! ^^
I actually don't remember saying that PvP was "a giant coinflip". That doesn't sound like something I'd say at all I more often than not say exactly what you suggested, that PvP is "razors edge", often short, brutal and methodical. I might have said it, I don't remember it though.
If MC even approached me id get nerdchills all over me for not being good enough to be noticed by him lol! (no homo)
But yeah I loved your casting, everything was wonderful and i tried not to lose a minute of it (had to eat sometimes lol) there was just that Audio problem, which was rather annoying and sometimes made me go watch Day9 for being more easy on the ear, but id go back to your awesome voice anyway ahah!
Please keep doing what you do TB! Hoping to hear you in Dreamhack 2011 Winter (i guess ill be hearing you in a daily basis with videos and streams, but still...)
Great, now i have to go to Drwamhack winter. Followed your stream these 3 days as much as i could and it was just awesome! Hearing about this meeting with the fans that you, Day9 and Apollo did makes me so jealous!
Got introduced to SC2 through your daily ladder stream, have been following some events like the TSL3 and such but after reading this I've realised that i need to go to dreamhack once more just to experience this.
Thanks alot for these 3 days TB and keep up the good work! Haters gonna hate but the haters are still way outnumbered by the fans that you got!
Master TB, watching your streams was a pure pleasure. I've "wasted" the whole weekend watching Dreamhack even though I was to learn for my exams... But it's okay I've handled it Anyway I just love your streams, watching almost every single one of your Daily Stream, and I can only regret now that i couldn't be there in Sweden... Maybe next year!
Keep up the excellent work Sir, because in my opinion you are the best SC2 caster around at the moment (despite missing a drop or two from time to time - your enthusiasm FTW )
On the topic of the removal of UI during large battles: I prefer very much that observers do NOT use this feature as it removes the critically important minimap from the screen. This makes it impossible for both the observer and the audience to notice if anything is happening elsewhere (which is almost always the case at the highest level). Hopefully Blizzard will allow a mini-map-only UI option, but until then I think it's better to keep the full UI up.
I loved your casts TB, you are such a welcome addition to the SC2 community.
Just one thing! When you are describing when you are watching the finals, you say you won't spoil, but a sentence or two later you actually spoil the results!
I was glad not to be casting the finals, because if I had I would have missed out on my first experience of spectating SC2 in a live environment and the Dreamarena was the ultimate place to do it. I felt that familiar pit in my stomach as HuK fell behind. The last time I felt that way was an England World cup game many years ago when we lost on penalties. I felt the pure adrenaline of the tense moments where HuK either succeeded or failed by mere nanoseconds and the nail-biting finale which I won't spoil for any of you if you haven't watched it. The crowd roared, 1,200 screaming eSports fans as loud and proud as any sports event and there was not a man in the audience who didn't roar and applaud with them. HuK taking that well deserved win was a moment of elation for him his team and the fans. As the members of Teamliquid picked him up and threw him into the air over and over again, the crowd applauded and began chanting "HuK! HuK! HuK!". The thought running through my mind at that moment was "and where are the doubters now aye?".
Thoughts the casting of major events. I think casters should take a lesson from sportscasts. If you have ever been in a Broadcast booth you will see that there is one central display that shows the broadcast feed then each of the commentators will have their own screen that they can switch between camera feeds.
This same system can be applied to casting. There could be one desktop with the express purpose to display the cast and do any recording. The mouse can be made in easy reach of both casters or a "Stream Director" can be added to the group. Then the 2 casters can use their own laptops for all the information overlays they want and to inspect any activity not currently being displayed on the Stream.
Your stream was great, thanks a lot for all the hard work I could write so much but i'll try to keep it short;
Day9 got tea served for his voice? Awesome, exactly what i wanted after watching MLG <3
Shit happens, the overlay sucked at that time but in the end it doesn't really matter.
You and TLO work great as a team imo, more of that please. (I`d recommend looking into the possibility of using compressors with your mic pre-amps to get voice levels closer) - day9 should also look into this as he was changing between whispering and screaming quite often
Casting with MC was the best thing ever, period. You could really hear how he was getting more comfortable with it, getting more and more excited and delivering analsyis on such a high level, predicting stuff minutes before it happened etc. I'll admit to laughing about his broken english a bit (we all like such silly stuff ) but it quickly turned into me becoming a fan of MC. It takes balls of steel and/or massive love for the game and the community to cast (for the first time), in a foreign language and in front of a live crowd. It was obvious you didn't really know how to handle this situation (who would've?) but you did great and delivered a huge amount of entertainment
Best of luck to you, keep doing your thing and see you at the next Dreamhack :D
On June 22 2011 07:07 Broodwurst wrote: You and TLO work great as a team imo, more of that please. (I`d recommend looking into the possibility of using compressors with your mic pre-amps to get voice levels closer) - day9 should also look into this as he was changing between whispering and screaming quite often
Yeah I actually got one of these before I left.
That's got built in compressors. Unfortunately it's Firewire which my laptop doesn't have.
A really good read. It's always great when the casters/players put a post like this up for us all to read. It's one of the best things about Starcraft and this site in particular. The big names are so approachable and you can always get the opportunity to see it from their perspective. I don't think you can really get that elsewhere. Or it's at least a lot harder to believe because everyone has become so commercialised. It's the only thing i fear tbh for SCII.
I'm really glad you've seen the light considering the haters too. I know it's in your demeanour to debate with them and try and give them your honest opinion but sometimes, it's sad to say but it's just not worth it and you're fighting a lost cause; there's just no reasoning with them.
Hopefully they'll be another event in England again one day that you can cast like the one in Birmingham. I'll have to make sure to get down there wherever it may be and not miss it .
Who would have guessed pro gamer oGs MC and TB would make the ultimate dream team casting duo? I certainly didn't think of that combo but those casts were fantastic.
Hopefully they'll be another event in England again one day that you can cast like the one in Birmingham.
I also hope for the same but the eSports scene needs a boost in England right now. Apart from the Multiplay LANs it seems pretty low key, or am I wrong? If there is any person who can lead the charge, as shown this weekend, it's TB!
What a baller. I don't really like his play style, but if there is something I admire, it is that impregnable wall of confidence that means he cannot be shaken in any aspect of life. Again: What. A. Baller.
Had to make an account to thank you for your stream, and to thank you for getting me in to starcraft, cause I was just a viewer of your WoW stuff and stumbled on your "I suck at StarCraft" video and that ended with me buying the game, never having played a RTS before.
I really like your play by play commentary and duo-ed with a pro like TLO it shines, hope you get a bigger gig at DH winter and I'm looking forward to your regular streams again.
Just got promoted to silver, just have to get to gold to maybe play you one day
Great job on the tournament TB. I had a great time watching your stream. Im glad you said that noone should pay attention to haters, sometimes it got on my nerves that the chat seemed to be full of trolls but I guess if you have 100.000 people watching (across all streams) there's nothing you can do about that and the sheer positivity and great atmosphere of everyone else completely negates them anyway.
The only thing that I thought could improve the tournament would be if the matches weren't all played at the same time. I really wanted to watch both your stream and Day9's stream but they were usually at the same time, so I had to pick and choose. There was a lot of downtime in between matches so maybe there's something that can be figured out. I realise this is really hard because the matches could potentially last longer and players would end up having to wait before their next match starts, maybe messing up the entire schedule, but even 15 minutes difference would make it better. Either way that's probably all up to the organisers of dreamhack anyway.
Thank you TB and the rest for a wonderful first half of the year. I look forward to the days years from now when I can tell my grandchild how I was there during the budding days of E-sports.
I just finished writing up my own blog of the event and then find this. Awesome recap. I too loved the atmosphere and the manners of everyone there. People just wanted to see awesome games. I don't remember seeing anyone be obnoxious in the whole weekend (outside of locals by the hotel I was in) really.
I met you and 2GD over at the bloodline champions area when you were nearly done casting on Monday and chatted with you both about the travelling woes and stuff in general. It was a pleasure to meet you and to see you casting and to be a tiny brit enclave in the middle of dreamhack if just for 5 minutes ^^
On June 22 2011 07:07 Broodwurst wrote: You and TLO work great as a team imo, more of that please. (I`d recommend looking into the possibility of using compressors with your mic pre-amps to get voice levels closer) - day9 should also look into this as he was changing between whispering and screaming quite often
I sometimes have the feeling that TLO works perfectly with _any_ co-caster and brings the best out of everyone due to his charisma and humor. He should really think about starting a casting career in the time he is not playing (ofc he shouldn't do too much of it or the break is all for nothing), maybe do a few casts with Khaldor or apply for GSL
On Topic: Great writeup. Maybe for the next Dreamhack you should prepare a special Tophat where you cut holes in the sides so it fits with headsets to avoid everyone asking for that? :p
As a crew working in the DreamArena who did barely see a minute of the stream I'm glad we could scramble up the last seats to you and others who are doing good work for e-sports on all levels.
I also must thank you for casting the crew tournament finals, it was a perfect end to the days of construction and a perfect start of the event for us crew.
Lets hope Dreamhack keeps on improving (I know there were some obvious flaws we/they learned from), e-sports is getting bigger there and I know the people taking care of it all doesn't want anything else than to make it better. Sadly I do not know a way they could get a bigger stage for the finals which bums me out when I see the queue...
This was so great to read, and I'm glad to know you had such a good time at Dreamhack! I for one loved getting a chance to meet you there, as well as watch you cast! I know what you always say about the haters, that they are simply a vocal minority, and that there is a vast, silent majority which approves of your work. Well, as a member of said majority, I for one am definitely going to try to be less silent about it! Keep on being AWESOME!!
Nice casting and loved the MC co-cast. ^_^ Hope he does that more often. He's REALLY insightful, and you were, as someone said earlier, a very good host. I love seeing MC's English improve, like, every tournament. xD
Just wanted to say that MC casting was one of the most heartwarming things I have ever witnessed. I just cannot express how much I love that guy. To be able to have his "bad boy" attitude and win over fans with his antics, while consistently showing respect for "lesser" players as in that Tarson match, just awesome.
His casting itself was quite good, and he made himself clear on his first statements, seldom needing you to clarify his points. His grasp of English is obviously improving rapidly, but even if he didn't learn another word or phrase he would still be a good co-caster to have, if even for the novelty.
Rapidly MC is becoming my favorite player, even amongst foreigners. His ability to play to the fans, his passion for the foreigner scene, his "HuK" jacket in GSL...
If he was just some random Code-A Korean that had all of these attributes he would be a great guy and have lots of fans, but the fact that he is a two time GSL winner on top of that is simply awesome.
Hey TB! I genuinely enjoy your casting and your personality. For me you are the number one caster (after the untoucheable tastosis ofc) and I hope you continue what you do. Casting with MC was godlike and you handled it really well. Keep up the good work and shut up the haters!
On June 22 2011 21:57 eVul wrote: I also must thank you for casting the crew tournament finals, it was a perfect end to the days of construction and a perfect start of the event for us crew. .
It's all good, you guys worked so hard, glad I could help in my own small way. We need that VoD up, I think that's the only time I've cast in my leather gracket.
On June 22 2011 21:57 eVul wrote: I also must thank you for casting the crew tournament finals, it was a perfect end to the days of construction and a perfect start of the event for us crew. .
It's all good, you guys worked so hard, glad I could help in my own small way. We need that VoD up, I think that's the only time I've cast in my leather gracket.
The ONLY issue i had with you was your handling of affairs outside of the game (on twitter) however i thought you did a good job handling with the shit you were going under at the time man. Hopefully youll have more opportunity to improve upon your game knowledge in the future as you cast future events.
I think someone should give you a shield to battle the trolls, lol
Great job, great write-up, hope to see you in DHW. As a guy who could only attend online, you were in my opinion one of the things that made the event so pleasurable.
Mr TB, It was a pleasure both reading this as well as meeting you. Especially the late-late musings together with you and 2GD surrounded by an entourage of Quakers, gamers and the odd caster. As the elderly court jester I had a hell o' a time. (Sins for which I suffered severly during Deconstruction) See U DHW11
On June 23 2011 08:46 senex wrote: Mr TB, It was a pleasure both reading this as well as meeting you. Especially the late-late musings together with you and 2GD surrounded by an entourage of Quakers, gamers and the odd caster. As the elderly court jester I had a hell o' a time. (Sins for which I suffered severly during Deconstruction) See U DHW11
An honour and a privilege. This time we do it bigger aye?
On June 23 2011 08:46 senex wrote: Mr TB, It was a pleasure both reading this as well as meeting you. Especially the late-late musings together with you and 2GD surrounded by an entourage of Quakers, gamers and the odd caster. As the elderly court jester I had a hell o' a time. (Sins for which I suffered severly during Deconstruction) See U DHW11
An honour and a privilege. This time we do it bigger aye?
Hey TB I've been a hater in the past but you've really worked to improve. I like how you use all the spectator tabs to show a lot of information. A lot better than Day9's fascination with pure supply counts in PvZ's where the Z is going mass roach (when would the Zerg ever not be ahead in supply?). I loved the MC cast of course. Great work.
Absolutely amazing performance from everybody involved at Dreamhack, and I totally agree with you about the finals showing the legitimacy of eSports. I was shouting louder during that match than i ever have at any concert, or sporting event
I'm not sure if it was the moon naniwa game or another one, but I remember a ZvP with a three-front attack and thinking the observing was excellent during it. I'm not going to say the casting was perfect, but that particular moment went pretty well. Might review that to see what you did right.
Thanks for the great write up on the event! I love reading behind the scenes recounts at these big events since I'll never get to attend them in near future
Also your casting is great. Like you mentioned, it'll be optimal when you cast with a commentator that analyze the game in detail.
Nice write-up - cool to hear it from your point of view.
Just wanna thank you for everything you do for esports and hoping to see you at DHW aswell. Perhaps with even more room and a camera facing you or the crowd (I'm aware that space is scarce).
On June 23 2011 16:36 ReactoR wrote: Nice write-up - cool to hear it from your point of view.
Just wanna thank you for everything you do for esports and hoping to see you at DHW aswell. Perhaps with even more room and a camera facing you or the crowd (I'm aware that space is scarce).
It was going to but we managed to lose our USB hub and my laptop only has 4 ports, all of which I needed for other things.
Next time, we can plug a couple of Logitech 9000 pros in for castcam and crowdcam.
Your co-casting with MC was the best thing ever. Always liked your commentary, and I don't give a shit if your knowledge of the game is lacking, because (as Chill pointed out) you've never claimed to be an expert.
The people who hate on you are stupid. Don't listen to them.
EPT
Your casts solo, with TLO and with MC were very good too. Awesome event \o/![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/CZLsd.jpg)
wasn't at dreamhack this summer and it looks like I missed something
Anyway I just love your streams, watching almost every single one of your Daily Stream, and I can only regret now that i couldn't be there in Sweden... Maybe next year! ![[image loading]](http://magazine.dv247.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/impact-twin-front-and-rear-1024x636.jpg)
