INFORMATION ABOUT MY PRACTICE CASTS AND GOAL: I have decided to try my hand at learning to cast, better my speaking and public presentation skills, and score myself a potential job within the eSports and gaming industry, all while improving my league ranking in StarCraft II and attempting to learn high-end gameplay strategy analysis skills! (Biggest run-on sentence, ever!)
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CAST: This is my first ever live co-cast! I was incredibly nervous, and I lost stamina in the later casts, but this was a nice experience to see a bit of the difference between casting replays alone, and co-casting live! I think I was a bit worse, and I found co-casting to be harder than casting alone. I'll be casting these events monthly, and practicing solo with replays as well! There is also some fun banter, and some of my personality as a caster as well. My co-caster and I are also signing up for the AHGL "So You Think You Can Cast"!
The event was the October Monthly Gameclucks StarCraft II Tournament! I casted some names such as NrSSonic and TileaLighT!
NOTE:Any feedback about my appearance, attire, sexuality, etc. is not welcome and will not be acknowledged.
Here is #4, Part 1:
Here is #4, Part 2:
Here is #4, Part 3:
PAST PRACTICE CASTS: Here is #3:
Here is #2:
Here is #1, if you haven't seen my very first attempt:
Thanks to the community in advance! I love you guys! The trolls, too!
The one thing you need to work on, a lot, is to be different from other commentators. The one thing you can do that I think everyone will appreciate is if you have 0 gafs, no misteps. Even if you aren't exciting all the time, if you were to not say anything stupid like some commentators (not naming names but a lot of hate gets thrown at some of these people, especially on twitch) if you don't make mistakes you can always add excitement, but correct-ness is hard to come by. Good luck Tara, practice, practice, practice some more.
On November 14 2012 14:38 docvoc wrote: The one thing you need to work on, a lot, is to be different from other commentators. The one thing you can do that I think everyone will appreciate is if you have 0 gafs, no misteps. Even if you aren't exciting all the time, if you were to not say anything stupid like some commentators (not naming names but a lot of hate gets thrown at some of these people, especially on twitch) if you don't make mistakes you can always add excitement, but correct-ness is hard to come by. Good luck Tara, practice, practice, practice some more.
Being different is great, I agree. I think my personality and look, and the fact that I'm a female, takes care of that just fine. What's more important is being GOOD. I'd love to be the caster that never says anything stupid, but then I will never learn, and until I am a GM progamer (which will never happen), I will never speak.
I have learned to turn off my fear of saying something stupid, and I am just trying to put myself out there and talk about a game I love until I am good enough at it that I can be a part of the community professionally.
Alright, "NOTE: Any feedback about my appearance, attire, sexuality, etc. is not welcome and will not be acknowledged."
Why the fuck, do you advertise yourself then as a supermodel/nerd. I mean, I understand that the boobs comments get old after a time. But you make yourself like, beautifull and shit, and then we're not aloud to comment upon it? Or receive any feedback from you at all when we comment about it. Whats up with that?
Then, if I decide to go to your youtube page, I basically see a half naked picture of you, Do you find it strange if people then comment on your appearance? It's just stupid.
DrZealot seems like he is drooling over you. The guy must have a big crush on you already. He even made a comment here saying that he is handsome? Right...ok.
Best of luck. You probably will get a lot of heat with increasing exposure. Just keep going. Like everything else, casting will get easier with more experience. Might be a nice alternative to "standard" streams.
On November 14 2012 23:33 AngryMag wrote: Best of luck. You probably will get a lot of heat with increasing exposure. Just keep going. Like everything else, casting will get easier with more experience. Might be a nice alternative to "standard" streams.
Good job, TaraBabcock and DrZealot. I enjoyed the cast. I appreciate the effort that was put into the organization and professionalism, which was demonstrated in the high production value. The headsets, their volume, all of that was done excellently (imo)
That was a great TvT! It was above average in its ability to teach me TvT. Certainly the cast deserves a good deal of credit for that. You guys helped me a lot to keep track of the upgrades, the builds, and the action. That helps because my attention is known to lapse occasionally. In summary, information, the skeleton of the cast was great.
The guts, the heart, the soul, the human interest side that`s where some room for improvement might be found in my opinion. As Ret once blogged about, a lot of the beauty of the back and forth sparring of the mind is interesting to some spectators (àrts people, they call us). Acknowledging that perhaps i am a vocal minority, I`d have liked to hear you guys say something about these guys playing. Their IDs and how that... might add a bit of personality to the action. Help me think about WhySoIntense felt the need to say `shit and all that, maybe?
In high level competitive play,emotions are running high(unless you`re stephano) and these guys are thinking on the fly at such high speeds. They`re fighting for the money and the pride. A lot of my old favourite Broodwar casters cholerasc, moletrap, klazartsc were people who knew how to talk about the players and what it means tocompete at a high level.
Some things about the analysis. TvT is this big confusing tedious matchup of split decision micro battles and being able to switch between chess style thinking to microing tanks and drops(vikings too).. The map is a huge deal(good call on that high ground tank play). When you guys were calling the advantage to Nameless mid game, my thought was "really guys?" What's your plan for taking out this guys tank line as he goes home and camps on three base?"
Answering more of the "whys" if you're able. Why is that tank in the main? for example i noticed drfox say "he's going helion harrass" tarababcock said "ya". A better response might be to extrapolate how that may work against what his opponent is doing. Also, tarababcock, when you make a mistake you don't have to point it out. Ignoring it makes it less painful for a spectator. There's empathetic embarrassment you know! haha not saying its even that embarrassing what you did, but if you tell us you feel uncomfortable about it then we know you do.
I realize this is a response that seeks for improvement, and i understand that casting, like playing, is something that one can understand the theory of but still not have the practice to implement that understanding. Nonetheless, I felt compelled to critique constructively.
Good cast. I'd probably watch but I'm the type who just turns on a cast here and there while he eats his sandwiche.
OH yeah, nice resumé style OP. I think your eye for professionalism will help you
On November 14 2012 16:48 capu wrote: drZealot seems like a pretty good caster. Good teamwork skills and well-spoken individual. What is his twitter so i can start following him?
On November 14 2012 21:39 Wortie wrote: Alright, "NOTE: Any feedback about my appearance, attire, sexuality, etc. is not welcome and will not be acknowledged."
Why the fuck, do you advertise yourself then as a supermodel/nerd. I mean, I understand that the boobs comments get old after a time. But you make yourself like, beautifull and shit, and then we're not aloud to comment upon it? Or receive any feedback from you at all when we comment about it. Whats up with that?
Then, if I decide to go to your youtube page, I basically see a half naked picture of you, Do you find it strange if people then comment on your appearance? It's just stupid.
Just in these casting thread. If you want to compliment, criticize, or talk about my appearance anywhere else, I don't care. I have a stream thread, and a bunch of social networks you can do that on where it's more appropriate and won't hinder my learning.
For my casting practice threads, I just want feedback on the things I am trying to improve upon as a caster, like intonation, game knowledge, speech, and other things. It gets really annoying logging in and reading pages of people calling me a slut, talking about hot hot or ugly I am, etc. There is a time and a place for that, and it's not here where I am trying to learn and improve.
One might argue that the way I look will be too sexy as a caster, and no one will take me seriously, so the topic is relevant. I have heard it all before and I disagree, and don't care to keep having these idea reiterated to me.
My prerogative is, if I get to a high-level of game understanding, speech, and gameplay, that my look and gender will only help me reach my goals, not hinder my path. I know how to be professional and conform to what a company needs, I am not an idiot.
That's all I will say on this topic, since you were pretty respectful with inquiring.
On November 15 2012 03:48 meteorskunk wrote: Good job, TaraBabcock and DrZealot. I enjoyed the cast. I appreciate the effort that was put into the organization and professionalism, which was demonstrated in the high production value. The headsets, their volume, all of that was done excellently (imo)
That was a great TvT! It was above average in its ability to teach me TvT. Certainly the cast deserves a good deal of credit for that. You guys helped me a lot to keep track of the upgrades, the builds, and the action. That helps because my attention is known to lapse occasionally. In summary, information, the skeleton of the cast was great.
The guts, the heart, the soul, the human interest side that`s where some room for improvement might be found in my opinion. As Ret once blogged about, a lot of the beauty of the back and forth sparring of the mind is interesting to some spectators (àrts people, they call us). Acknowledging that perhaps i am a vocal minority, I`d have liked to hear you guys say something about these guys playing. Their IDs and how that... might add a bit of personality to the action. Help me think about WhySoIntense felt the need to say `shit and all that, maybe?
In high level competitive play,emotions are running high(unless you`re stephano) and these guys are thinking on the fly at such high speeds. They`re fighting for the money and the pride. A lot of my old favourite Broodwar casters cholerasc, moletrap, klazartsc were people who knew how to talk about the players and what it means tocompete at a high level.
Some things about the analysis. TvT is this big confusing tedious matchup of split decision micro battles and being able to switch between chess style thinking to microing tanks and drops(vikings too).. The map is a huge deal(good call on that high ground tank play). When you guys were calling the advantage to Nameless mid game, my thought was "really guys?" What's your plan for taking out this guys tank line as he goes home and camps on three base?"
Answering more of the "whys" if you're able. Why is that tank in the main? for example i noticed drfox say "he's going helion harrass" tarababcock said "ya". A better response might be to extrapolate how that may work against what his opponent is doing. Also, tarababcock, when you make a mistake you don't have to point it out. Ignoring it makes it less painful for a spectator. There's empathetic embarrassment you know! haha not saying its even that embarrassing what you did, but if you tell us you feel uncomfortable about it then we know you do.
I realize this is a response that seeks for improvement, and i understand that casting, like playing, is something that one can understand the theory of but still not have the practice to implement that understanding. Nonetheless, I felt compelled to critique constructively.
Good cast. I'd probably watch but I'm the type who just turns on a cast here and there while he eats his sandwiche.
OH yeah, nice resumé style OP. I think your eye for professionalism will help you
Thank you very much for the feedback, critique, and the compliments. The point I like the most, that I will take with me going further, is the part about replying to DrZealot about the hellion harass. I definitely could have filled some time, as well as sounded more knowledgeable about the game and giving viewers better perspective, had I talked about why he might do that and what the outcome could be.
I feel more comfortable each time I cast, and with my league in SC rising and each new tournament I watch, I feel I am getting closer to becoming decent!
On November 14 2012 21:39 Wortie wrote: Alright, "NOTE: Any feedback about my appearance, attire, sexuality, etc. is not welcome and will not be acknowledged."
Why the fuck, do you advertise yourself then as a supermodel/nerd. I mean, I understand that the boobs comments get old after a time. But you make yourself like, beautifull and shit, and then we're not aloud to comment upon it? Or receive any feedback from you at all when we comment about it. Whats up with that?
Then, if I decide to go to your youtube page, I basically see a half naked picture of you, Do you find it strange if people then comment on your appearance? It's just stupid.
Just in these casting thread. If you want to compliment, criticize, or talk about my appearance anywhere else, I don't care. I have a stream thread, and a bunch of social networks you can do that on where it's more appropriate and won't hinder my learning.
For my casting practice threads, I just want feedback on the things I am trying to improve upon as a caster, like intonation, game knowledge, speech, and other things. It gets really annoying logging in and reading pages of people calling me a slut, talking about hot hot or ugly I am, etc. There is a time and a place for that, and it's not here where I am trying to learn and improve.
One might argue that the way I look will be too sexy as a caster, and no one will take me seriously, so the topic is relevant. I have heard it all before and I disagree, and don't care to keep having these idea reiterated to me.
My prerogative is, if I get to a high-level of game understanding, speech, and gameplay, that my look and gender will only help me reach my goals, not hinder my path. I know how to be professional and conform to what a company needs, I am not an idiot.
That's all I will say on this topic, since you were pretty respectful with inquiring.
Alright, thats good enough for me. I was just curious, because basically the first 3 video's start immediatly with your appearance and it just seemed strange for me, to be not aloud to comment on that aspect that you included in your vids.
With that said, I really do enjoy more women in the scene.
On November 14 2012 21:39 Wortie wrote: Alright, "NOTE: Any feedback about my appearance, attire, sexuality, etc. is not welcome and will not be acknowledged."
Why the fuck, do you advertise yourself then as a supermodel/nerd. I mean, I understand that the boobs comments get old after a time. But you make yourself like, beautifull and shit, and then we're not aloud to comment upon it? Or receive any feedback from you at all when we comment about it. Whats up with that?
Then, if I decide to go to your youtube page, I basically see a half naked picture of you, Do you find it strange if people then comment on your appearance? It's just stupid.
Just in these casting thread. If you want to compliment, criticize, or talk about my appearance anywhere else, I don't care. I have a stream thread, and a bunch of social networks you can do that on where it's more appropriate and won't hinder my learning.
For my casting practice threads, I just want feedback on the things I am trying to improve upon as a caster, like intonation, game knowledge, speech, and other things. It gets really annoying logging in and reading pages of people calling me a slut, talking about hot hot or ugly I am, etc. There is a time and a place for that, and it's not here where I am trying to learn and improve.
One might argue that the way I look will be too sexy as a caster, and no one will take me seriously, so the topic is relevant. I have heard it all before and I disagree, and don't care to keep having these idea reiterated to me.
My prerogative is, if I get to a high-level of game understanding, speech, and gameplay, that my look and gender will only help me reach my goals, not hinder my path. I know how to be professional and conform to what a company needs, I am not an idiot.
That's all I will say on this topic, since you were pretty respectful with inquiring.
Alright, thats good enough for me. I was just curious, because basically the first 3 video's start immediatly with your appearance and it just seemed strange for me, to be not aloud to comment on that aspect that you included in your vids.
With that said, I really do enjoy more women in the scene.
Thanks, not a problem. I want more women of all kinds in the community as well. Especially as professional players, casters, hosts, and personalities.
On November 14 2012 12:58 looknohands119 wrote: Hey Tara, So glad to see you doing this! I thought for a first live cast it actually wasn't bad.
Aww, thank you so much!
I'll be working my butt off to get my analysis, as well as my own gameplay, up to snuff so that I can cast bigger live events one day! YAY!
Sorry, I didn't really watch more than a few minutes of one video because a friend of mine linked me here. All I can say is watch a lot of day9 dailies and MLG/etc casts to get a better understanding and learn how they do things, then as you improve you can adopt your own style. Other than that, just work hard and hopefully you can achieve what you want. Don't worry if people criticize you a lot since your knowledge isn't as good as your looks for now, the gaming community can be harsh in this respect. Hopefully if you can learn quickly you will get that many more fans/followers because you will surprise them with your skills.
On November 22 2012 15:19 Corsica wrote: Hey how can I participate in this? Im mid-masters Zerg with Aggressive and Creative playstyle
Haha, love your enthusiasm! However, the event is a live one, and you'd have to live in the Seattle area which I am assuming you don't since your location is Ukraine. :-/
On November 22 2012 15:19 Corsica wrote: Hey how can I participate in this? Im mid-masters Zerg with Aggressive and Creative playstyle
Haha, love your enthusiasm! However, the event is a live one, and you'd have to live in the Seattle area which I am assuming you don't since your location is Ukraine. :-/
Maybe you should consider making an Online cup or KOTH Im sure many good people would like to play ^^ Have a good weekend ^^
EPT
Im mid-masters Zerg with Aggressive and Creative playstyle 
