Hey yo, I watch a lot of Starcraft, and I have since the release of Starcraft 1. From the first showing of a final with pictures and texts on the side.
Soooo anyway, after having established I'm a dedicated baller of a fan, let'z move on.
Isn't it super shibby, the annoying trend we're seeing with commercials? It takes out so much of the joy and makes it feel all tacky and annoying.
I'm pretty sure if you watch a full stream of one of the days in an 11 hour broadcast, there's more plugging, commercials and casters going on about their twitter accounts, other shows they're in, youtube channels, what brand of toilet paper people should use wiping their ass with and what hand to use wiping it.
I can relate to "awh, but it's siiick good for the sport, blabla, more money".
But isn't there another way of going about it? (tone it down a little, maybe have it at the side more discretly?) I've always felt Starcraft is more majestic, I know I'd get so sad if the Teamliquid site suddenly had them random pop ups, and "you're visitor number 10.000 for the day klick here to collect your prize" and shit like that infesting it. (Infesting made me think of zerg xD)
This is the reason why I never watch TV, and if there's too many commercials on in a row, I need to stop watching in fear of brain turning into shit (not literally). A few times when the stream started hanging up here and there that (blabla, I got gold 2¤"#¤ with their stupid fake smiles. You know it's fake since the tip of the eyes isn't curved, and that just makes it ten times more insulting. And then the guys with the more "herky derky lower" voices, trying to be all serious, which is also what people do subconciously when they decieve "#¤/fk#%&nhit¤&et!").
This happening every 15 minutes for 3 days straight, no wonder so many people are contemplating suicide after every MLG.
Tbh, I barely noticed it. I have a Gold membership, so I was quad streaming, and as soon as a game was finished, I switched to another stream. But the times I saw it, I do agree with you to a point.
Having said that, the way Husky advertised N0Z was amazing
I don't see the problem with casters plugging things. As far as I saw it was only between games, and the frequency is logical because at least one person turning on the stream in between each game or series isn't a far stretch. Plugging it every game (which wasn't the case when I watched) gives the highest probability of involving new people who may have only had the time to watch one or two games at the time.
For ESPORTS to succeed, there needs to be money in the scene.
If you take your ordinary sports broadcast, for example, during play they generally won't play ads but in between they'll plug the heck out of everything they possible can. This makes the sponsors happy, and in turn makes it more attractive for investors and keeps the cycle going. It's the same for ESPORTS.
It's all about promotion, really, and in the end if don't care for ads you can easily use an adblocker
At least it's not like sports here in Australia, they've started plugging betting odds whilst play is going on, and some broadcasters like to throw in random ads when they think play is slow (of course something always happens in the break). In the end we put up with it because it's free- the alternative for those of us who dislike ads is to watch a paid service.
So my question to you is, how much would you be willing to pay for an ad-free broadcast of an ESPORTS event such as the past MLG weekend? Did you take advantage of the Hot Pockets promotion for the Silver Pass? I used it, had high quality, no ads, was very pleasant for me, and in fact it impressed me enough that I'll probably pay up for next year.
Maybe you should train your mind to not be so hyper-sensitive. If you watch Husky or HD plug stuff, they're hilarious in the way they do it. Realize at the end of the day that the sponsors make it possible for these events to run consistantly.
The gold membership is also a steal for how much content you get..
On November 22 2011 01:01 acrimoneyius wrote: Maybe you should train your mind to not be so hyper-sensitive. If you watch Husky or HD plug stuff, they're hilarious in the way they do it. Realize at the end of the day that the sponsors make it possible for these events to run consistantly.
The gold membership is also a steal for how much content you get..
Husky was so funny when he was plugging that phone and the nos.
I guess that makes a lot of sense I have to admit!!
I'm still pretty moody though. I love Starcraft and unconciously spread it and always have to friends, people around me so forth. Because it's awesome. This weekend I tried to get some mates who don't watch it to watch it, and I felt so embaressed, that next hour, it was commercials nonstop, casters talking about themself, and after an hour I get on skype. "Sorry yo, nothing happening, just commercials and crap".
"I've got Gold".... Yeah, and if you would stand before me now i would like to hit you for it. Seriously... This Goldmember commercial is so friggin horrible... I really don't want "Gold" just because these guys in that ad "got Gold"...
The only thing that pisses me off is that you were lying in your bed and after every game(not bo3, but a single game) you'd have to go up to your computer, restart the stream, watch the ad and the maximize the stream again and go back to your bed.
If they'd fix their ads and actually make them after every boX I wouldn't have any problem with them!
You also have the realize that they don't broadcast something that is easy to do in traditional media. They have varying downtime that can last quite a while to set things up and get the next match moving. On top of that, they're broadcasting for much, much longer than most sporting events or television shows. They have to fill the dead-air with something, and commercials and people talking about random stuff is easy to fill it with. I'm sure they'd like to have more filler content, but there is a limit to how much you can produce on budget/time constraints of your own that are also still of a high quality.
As far as solutions? Yeah, pay for it or suck it up and try to enjoy your 2 free streams of sc2 for 3 days.
Paying for MLG membership = no brainer. Helps foreign esports so much. Would pay for GSL as well if i was interested in VOD's. I'm not. I almost never watch VODs. They lack both the excitement of live and precision of replays.
If you want to introduce your mates to SC2 viewing - you should wait for Dreamhacks next invitational. The Stockholm one was done perfectly for new viewers (at least according to those i asked). The Valencia one worked very well for barcraft. Not sure if the DH Winter event will be as good, probably not as the format is more expansive.
The dead time they can just put on a camera on things happening in the event. Like that camera on that small podum, have it a little closer, maybe have some audio so you can listen to "irl random non staged footage". Those shots are actually awesome, when you see what's going on. Then just add text "next match 15 min 27 sec" and it counts down or something.
Gold membership is worth the money since you get it for every MLG in a year and just pay once. No commercials and always a game going on. The Beta stream casters were decent, too.
I watched the red stream youtube live. The quality wasn't as good (but I have low bandwidth so it didn't matter.) but there were no commercials at all in between games, it just cut to the crowd then back to the casters. I think that was a problem with youtube though I can't imagine they wouldn't want to play adds. And on youtube there was no issue with restarting the stream. I just left it up all weekend.
I demand they use more commercials, i can understand the need for commercials BUT STOP USING THE SAME 3 OVER AND OVER. God every time i head "After this commercial break" I immediately slammed the mute button on my laptop.
On November 22 2011 01:23 ImDrizzt wrote: The dead time they can just put on a camera on things happening in the event. Like that camera on that small podum, have it a little closer, maybe have some audio so you can listen to "irl random non staged footage". Those shots are actually awesome, when you see what's going on. Then just add text "next match 15 min 27 sec" and it counts down or something.
Don't worry, we'll be getting half-time studios with round table analysis and expert reviews of replays soon enough. MLG are shaping up - their interviews and player features are getting better and better and i'm sure that's something they're gonna focus on even more in 2012.
I'd be fine with commercials if they weren't a) misogynistic (IT'S NOT FOR WOMEN) b) terribly made (creepy womancop xperia ads) c) horribly repetitive and cliche (the rest and the limited amount. Also, "get real".)
If the ads were legitimately interesting and varied (which ultimately comes down to MLG getting more sponsors, actually) they would be much more appealing imo. If Kingston HyperX occasionally popped one of their gaming ads on there? Golden.
The ads are necessary for the scene to succeed. I didn't pay for an account but I was totally fine with it. There is, after all, a mute button.
Watching MLG's stream was awesome, if you ask me. Great casters, great games, standard amount of commercials (I just muted and did something else during commercials, rather than getting pissed). If you don't want the commercials you can pay for an account, I don't see what's the big deal here.
What annoyed me the most about the adverts is that... The sc2 ones were the SAME FRIKKING ONES!!!. The Cod and the Halo ones where different, and probably THAT stream related.
So why not at least run the same adverts over 3 different streams, and give us some diversity :D
Ad block works like a charm and yes the plugging is over-excessive.
It rubs a lot of people the wrong way including myself. I much rather have their twitter etc. show up under their actual names with their ids as the camera goes to them. It would be much easier and then we can get straight to the good stuff rather than that bullshit.
MLG provides a free service for your benefit. They're not forcing you to watch it, and it's not compulsory to watch it. If you don't like it, then either pay for Gold Membership or don't watch it. It sounds harsh, but MLG needs to recoup their costs and make money somewhere. I'm happy to watch ads given the high quality of content they produce. You can also mute the ads and alt-tab away and do something else when they play which is quite nice.
Ad-blocking is incredibly hurtful to streams that provide entertainment for free as it undermines the whole principle of free streaming. It'd be the same as ad-blocking a free to air tv station. Sure, you can change channels, but with a free stream you can also mute and alt-tab away. The ad still plays either way. If we all used ad blocking, then the economic unviability of streams would mean that either everything would become a pay-to-view system, or broadcasters will find ways to force you to watch ads whether you like it or not. (Maybe hard encoding ads into streams for free-viewers? I for one would not like that.)
If your problem is the variety and types of ads they play, however, then that's a good areas of discussion I think. One problem though is probably that many companies are not prepared to spend hard cold cash on advertising unless they know they can get a tangible benefit out of it. If they pay $1 million in advertising and have 1 million views, they're basically saying that they get an average benefit of $1 per view in some form of another. Good will alone isn't enough in advertising. E-Sports needs to prove its viability commercially before a larger selection of companies would be willing to pay for advertisements.
Don't worry, we'll be getting half-time studios with round table analysis and expert reviews of replays soon enough. MLG are shaping up - their interviews and player features are getting better and better and i'm sure that's something they're gonna focus on even more in 2012. [/QUOTE]
I really like the idea about good commercials, like the Idra one which one of you guys posted, pretty awesome. Got a million ideas out of that one clip, gogo use Day9, Husky and some more progamers in some commercials, add slow motion, get some models in there, make it original and creative.
Or if wanting to sell, or have people buy something, have it with a sincere voice, not tacky or full of deceit. You don't need have it look/feel like some biblical, plant a seed trickery kind of commercial. Not when the product is Starcraft.
i can understand your sentiment with the commercials however the plugging of the casters for themselves i dont even see it as commercial anymore its just part of their spiel xD but in your actually right its totally enough to say it once a casting day or maybe 3 times in 11 ours. But i think mostly they used it to kill time so you cant take it seriously anyway =D
On November 22 2011 05:10 Liquid`Tyler wrote: What is this about suicide?
LoL
Don't worry about it, it's me over-exagerrating (by quite a bit I might add), to emphasize my frustration with the frequent/repetetive commercials at the blue/red streams over at the coverage portals.
On a side note, after having read through the comments, reflecting a bit. I remember this one time I was in the states, and when I was in a room with a TV, I would "feel" something was off, when it wasn't, I'd watch other people in the room, to see if they too had these ÔÔ looks on their faces.
I couldn't belive the amount of commercials on the telly, it was insane. Literally x3 or x4 as much as here in Norway, and even here it's more than enough. Maybe the culture over there is more used to it. Where I live you're not allowed to put up billboards if they are large, or draw paintings on walls if they are too big. And when I got back from being in America for 6 weeks, when friends and family asked what was it like. I talked about some cool/awesome stuff. (Like a Norwegian friend of mine, on day 3 got tricked by a black prostitute, and she stole 8000 dollar from him, but it was stake money from Dokosoko, but he still took it pretty hard). And I told my dad I went to my first strip club and this oriental dancer gave me my first irl blueballz, to name but a few stories.
BUT!!!
And I put on my vile/evil angry face, and said. So much sell out, commercials, tacky crap. If you can block that out, or avoid it, or be desentized to it, I guess it's okay. Like going Grand Canyon, it's like they try to ruin it for you, makes you feel like sheeps to a herder. Everyone trying to sell you shit, people open your doors to get a penny, everyone wants tips, fake politeness all over. It made me a little scared.
So yeah, somewhat sure I'm over reacting, but still feel I'm semi spot on in some spots.
Ps, You're pretty cool Tyler for talking openly about being all depressed and emo here and there, mad respect.
Pps, lol, got another flashback, of my dad. If the phone calls, he answers, and it's a phone saleman/woman, he just flips. Like he's allowed to be as harsh/rude has he damn pleases. "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME, I'M ABOUT TO HAVE DINNER". Along those lines lol
On November 22 2011 02:46 Ktk wrote: I'd be fine with commercials if they weren't a) misogynistic (IT'S NOT FOR WOMEN) b) terribly made (creepy womancop xperia ads) c) horribly repetitive and cliche (the rest and the limited amount. Also, "get real".)
If the ads were legitimately interesting and varied (which ultimately comes down to MLG getting more sponsors, actually) they would be much more appealing imo. If Kingston HyperX occasionally popped one of their gaming ads on there? Golden.
Just to reference the misogynistic comment. that commercial is actually on TV all the time where i am at. It is just Dr.Peppers newest and most played commercial. If they had never made the commercial for TV they wouldn't have it on MLG. It was a dumb commercial tho lol.
In the end i think you just have to accept the fact that people who make commercials are dumb. I find most commercials more annoying than actually making me go, hey that sounds good, i might go buy that. But it brings the $$$ so its whatevs.
On November 22 2011 06:26 MCDayC wrote: MLG has too many commercials yes, between games in a series is silly.
Yeah i gotta agree. I mean even if you pay for the stream you still have to wait while non-payers watch commercials anyway. It's okay with a commercial or two between the series, but what seemed like minutes between every game is over the top.
On November 22 2011 02:46 Ktk wrote: I'd be fine with commercials if they weren't a) misogynistic (IT'S NOT FOR WOMEN) b) terribly made (creepy womancop xperia ads) c) horribly repetitive and cliche (the rest and the limited amount. Also, "get real".)
If the ads were legitimately interesting and varied (which ultimately comes down to MLG getting more sponsors, actually) they would be much more appealing imo. If Kingston HyperX occasionally popped one of their gaming ads on there? Golden.
I agree. It is made ten times worse by the way the screen just goes BLACK after every ad - I have to stop eating my damn icecream and refresh the firefox page, and then paste my membership key and reload the max quality every single ad
On November 22 2011 02:46 Ktk wrote: I'd be fine with commercials if they weren't a) misogynistic (IT'S NOT FOR WOMEN) b) terribly made (creepy womancop xperia ads) c) horribly repetitive and cliche (the rest and the limited amount. Also, "get real".)
If the ads were legitimately interesting and varied (which ultimately comes down to MLG getting more sponsors, actually) they would be much more appealing imo. If Kingston HyperX occasionally popped one of their gaming ads on there? Golden.
I agree. It is made ten times worse by the way the screen just goes BLACK after every ad - I have to stop eating my damn icecream and refresh the firefox page, and then paste my membership key and reload the max quality every single ad
If you shut off addblock that fixes the black screen thing.
The worst part for me was switching from Red to Blue stream or changing the quality of the stream and then having to sit through a minute long add before finally getting to see what was actually happening on the stream.
I have no problem with the adds in between the breaks, but the adds everytime I did something with the MLG streamer were killing a small part of me everytime.
I guess I could also mention that the adds shown here in Australia were actually terrible and completely off target for the viewer demographic. Like, I was not interested in a single product shown. And I can't even remember what any of the products were. Not very good advertising if I literaly cannot remember what they were trying to sell me 24 hours ago.
yeh not having gold I can understand the commericals but the same ones constantly... my god. At least get about 10 different ones and make sure you dont hear the very same commerical after a quick 6 pool or something adverts again same ones... nooooooo.
But if they didn't have commercials when will you have the time to write your latest rant in the LR thread/make a hot pocket/grab a drink/take a bathroom break?
It's just too bad that SC2 game lengths are so unpredictable --> better to be safe and end up with somewhat long breaks than be unable to (just a hypothetical example) stream IdrA vs MC because the DongRaeGu vs MMA went on for too long. It helps to have 2 streams, but scheduling SC2 is still quite an art.
On November 23 2011 01:47 Mobius_1 wrote: But if they didn't have commercials when will you have the time to write your latest rant in the LR thread/make a hot pocket/grab a drink/take a bathroom break?
It's just too bad that SC2 game lengths are so unpredictable --> better to be safe and end up with somewhat long breaks than be unable to (just a hypothetical example) stream IdrA vs MC because the DongRaeGu vs MMA went on for too long. It helps to have 2 streams, but scheduling SC2 is still quite an art.
I actually don´t mind commercials at all, in the end they only air when there is no game / analysis / whatever on that stream anyway, so I don´t really care if its an ad or just a the same footage of the crowd you see the rest of the time.
The one thing that bothers me a little bit is the repetition (its worse on normal twitch.tv streams though, it kinda sucks if the streamer decides to run 2 ads and I have to watch the same ad twice ). Rather than having no ads at all, I´d wish for more different ads in the end.
A source of revenue is needed for esports to survive. That's why if you're willing to pay some money, you can watch MLG ad-free. MLG is not trying to entertain you with the adds, the sponsors are, and its not MLG's fault if the sponsors make terrible commercials. I'm sure MLG would prefer if everyone bought memberships and no one had to watch commercials.
Ever since reading "amusing ourselves to death" by Neil Postman, I've had a very difficult time watching TV in general because of the advertisements. But I realize when watching MLG, I'm going to have to suffer through them for esports until I finally man up and buy a gold pass.
EPT
