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On November 29 2011 02:58 AceOfSpaces wrote:
Hey TB, 1st of all congrats on the casting, you and Apollo did great and it sure was awsome, and its nice that you are constantly trying to improve. But if I may add a criticism, there were some times during battles (and I get this is mostly due to excitment) that you would simply go too loud, and i even had to decrease the volume right away. Don't get me wrong, it really made it exciting but maybe you could try watch out for that a bit more and try to keep a steadier volume for the sakes of ear health xD.
This is actually a production problem that can be solved with compression. This never happens in SCI for instance, because I run my headsets through a compressor. I can go as loud as I want and it won't "clip", the volume will also be much more even. Our stage had no form of compression, I cannot speak for the rest of the stages, but I would suggest every tournament take a serious look at a compressor in their production setup.
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Good job! 
The only thing that I maybe have to add is that there is a story behind every player, it's the tournament's (therefore generally casters') job to tell those stories. So why not have the best of both worlds: the best players, with a story behind each? :p
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Norway25712 Posts
Great writeup. Only feedback I have is that you seemed to be the one being the most affected from the long sessions and being tired. Well, dApollo took it heavy too, but wasn't he a bit ill? He always seems to be sick when csting tournaments.
Anyway, it was an absolute joy tuning in to hear you and all of the other casters do their thing, just wish I could've been there to see it live.
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Thanks for attending DH, it was so much fun to see you all. Keep up the good work TB<3
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I LOVE the 'WWE style intro' idea. People went crazy when the Dreamhack promo was aired on the stream (just before the finals) and many said it felt 'epic'. I could see how WWE style intro's could be epic and pump the watcher.
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the couch did seem a bit crowded from a viewers perspective as well. However, my feeling was, that that stemmed from the very short on-air durations, where usually there was barely enough time for everyone to say something until the "thumb up" notice came in. I think that could be improved by simply saying "we do a definite 3 minutes couch on-air" instead of just dynamically filling the 45 seconds until the next game is up. That could also maybe further reduce the stress on the main casters.
regarding camera control, i watched your stream about half the time just because you're awesome and i see the four other casters on camera often enough elsewhere (i don't follow your sc2 content). I think you did fairly good, i didn't even think about camera control the whole weekend, so i'd say it was just perfect.
Personally, i feel like three pairs of casters with each on their own stream is overkill. You wrote extensively about the caster side of this, the strain of 14 hours times 3 days. But i actually think, even from a viewer point, that wasn't handled very well. I would much rather see maybe two streams with the casters rotating in and out, instead of having three streams, being unable to follow even half of the content, and then just having all three streams be on downtime for 2 hours at the same time. IMO it would be a lot better, to have only two streams and to rotate shoutcast duos to cut out the downtimes and reduce the stress put on the casters. Also, it would mean that one less viewing arena is required. Just an overall more resource-friendly concept with less downtimes (although in the end less content on VODs etc, but i believe the advantages for the live content outweigh that).
About the host guy .. i feel a lot of the troubles he had came from not knowing who that even was. By the end of the event i had learned that he's just the host. But when he randomly appeared, it's just like "wtf who is this, what is he doing?". A few Stream overlays (not only for him but in general) showing "GuysName (event host)" and showing a small summary of what he's currently announcing would be great. The same probably goes for the normal casters: Show some overlays with names, show the upcoming game while the casters are talking. Dreamhack was obviously capable of using overlays, they had "next match x" during breaks, they flashed "is hero dead?" when his pulse monitor went down and showed 4bpm (these things were great btw, keep those!). Why not make some nice banners to put in the bottom half of the screen like when watching news or something? Provide some info so viewers just know what's going on, and in case of the host to support him. That would at least have helped me as a stream viewer. He seemed a little try-hard with the live crowd like when announcing HON after sc2 lb finals or what that was, no clue how to improve that. But on-stream overlay information would at least make the situation more accessible to stream viewers.
Anyways, it was a great show you and the other guys performed. Keep up the good work!
(and i second "make more videos with jesse", i'm thrilled for you two screwing up with the new terraria update :D)
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Are you not entertained?
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I also think 4 might be too many, I noticed Bitter was having trouble getting airtime as was I (though that is my fault for having nothing of value to offer to the discussion). In this case, I think 3 is the magic number.
I think it would be more efficient if one person is more of a host and leads the discussion instead of the others trying to join the discussion without interrupting anyone else.
I also feel that most of you guys are used to addressing the audience too much because you are (most of the time) casters. If you look at similar talk shows on TV, the host would address the viewers at the beginning and from then on he would be leading a dialogue with the others without trying too make sure he/she looks at the crowd/camera all the time.
I think the camera control was good though for the most part, I used Smart Camera Pan and a lot of unit/building follow to get smooth movement, though I had issues during the finals because it wasn't my mouse and the sensitivity was out of whack.
You'd be happy to hear that you camera control was pretty good.
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You and Apollo did great. Stop reading these comments and enjoy your week off 
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Well done TB you did a grand job at DH. Apollo was a trooper too. The only thing I would change is I'd like to see how the chemistry would be between you and another caster. Although Apollo is knowledgeable he is not an ideal match for your character IMO.
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Great write-up, I agree with every point made. Much respect for you guys when you're losing your voice with 4hrs casting to go, and still you enjoy every second of it!
<3 to TotalBiscuit and Apollo, you guys make me proud to be British!
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Great writeup. More seating is definitely needed, the steelseries stage and surrounding area was crammed (though it was hilariously cute to see HuK and SaSe sitting on the floor like two happy kids when Naniwa played Ciara).
Had a lot of fun saying hi to you as well. ^^
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TB, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. DHW11 was an incredible tournament,
well organized and executed and with great innovations like the couch. Really awesome.
To say that you should not have been there, makes me sad. I really enjoy you and dapollo
casting and so are a ton of other people. Blaming yourself for two missed battles during a
three day marathon is a bit too harsh on yourself.
There are always things to improve. That's what keeps life interesting. And you are getting
better and better at it - your new found, sheth induced zerg love is certainly helping. But if
you feel your casting falls short compared to tastosis capabilities, well, those guys had a
wee bit more practise.
Strife for perfection, but enjoy doing so! You are most enjoyable when you enjoy it yourself!
Btw. your shows with sheth and TT1(?) have been your best sc2 shows, imo. A weekly with
varying coaches would be a blast!
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DH was awesome to watch thanks for a job well done TB. You and Apollo are just becoming a better and better casting archon :D
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Thank you for this very good blog TotalBiscuit!
You missed discussing the huuge stream issues in day one, something DH always seems to have. They are unacceptable and DH really needs to do something about it, either switch from Twitch.TV as a provider or get them to step up their game.
I also think you should spend more time learning about starcraft, I think you're a great caster, but your lack of knowledge when commentating in certain situations makes me very frustrated as a viewer at times.
Keep up the heroic work!
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Nice write-up, really nice inside view,
This dreamhack event was so sick even with the few problems I think it will take the event of the year tbh.
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Every caster at Dreamhack did an exceptional job that brought me brilliant, flawless entertainment for free from the comfort of my own bedroom. Loved Dreamhack, loved the writeup. Have a relaxing holiday, TB. Hope to see you casting again soon
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On November 29 2011 03:19 Grunknisse wrote:
Thank you for this very good blog TotalBiscuit!
You missed discussing the huuge stream issues in day one, something DH always seems to have. They are unacceptable and DH really needs to do something about it, either switch from Twitch.TV as a provider or get them to step up their game.
I also think you should spend more time learning about starcraft, I think you're a great caster, but your lack of knowledge when commentating in certain situations makes me very frustrated as a viewer at times.
Keep up the heroic work!
Always difficult to talk about Twitch issues because they vary from person to person. Mass lag sometimes happens but more often than not it's a regional thing. It's not Dreamhack's fault tbh and there is no reliable option as far as I can see. Ustream, Own3d and Twitch all have their own problems.
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On November 29 2011 02:45 TotalBiscuit wrote:
We did spend a lot of our breaks signing, which can be a problem. I love doing it but sometimes it's best to take the Day9 approach and do all signing at a designated session.
That would probably give you some more time but it wouldn't be that awesome for us fans at place. Me and my friend was in the line for the day9 signing for 1½ hrs and din't get an autograph (Tho we get a high 5!). But maybe you just allow autographs/photos in some of the breaks? Also really sad I couldn't watch you that much since we couldn't get good places to watch your stream since it always was full (Even the spots were we could stand). Still an awesome job from your side!
Just gotta add that the moment where we met you was so awesome when apollo just looked so shocked about you coming all over artosis! ^^
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United Kingdom14464 Posts
A very cool blog TB, I tip my (non-top) hat to you.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/51/dh023.jpg/)
