I, like everyone else, find the best time to write a blog is when you are just fuming and upset. Well, that's the state I'm in right now.
Many of you don't know me for my casting but I have been casting the Sonic Starleague since the starting Ro32 which is over 3 months now. 3 Months ago was my first time casting ever. But as a believer in the Brood War scene I was hoping I could join the ranks among the casters if I worked hard and practiced enough.
However after my debut I was informed that TL would most likely employs Brood War's best and have Sayle cast the games. I knew the day was coming and in face was recently informed he will be doing the Ro8 casts and beyond. So today was my final shot at making a name for myself. I put in many hours this week studying TvT and wanting to show a new side to my casting ability.
Well I was robbed of this chance. It's not Sayle's fault, he really is a good caster. But just by having his name out there I lost the 150 viewers I had earned weekly as they switched over to him because he decided to cast on my last day in the spotlight.
So I'm down to ten viewers and an empty chatroom. I'm casting for myself first and foremost, but I don't need to wake up at 6am and do these live if I'm going to be run over. I feel like my opportunity has been squandered and lost all motivation to continue pursuing my cast future. I will continue to cast the games but they will most likely be offline and just sink into my archives.
I guess what ultimately angers me is that our community is happy with ONE guy casting the Sonic Starleague, the TLS, and Gambit's Cup which is all the professional Starcraft available. Again it's not Sayle's fault but the community. I created a feedback thread. If you wanted me to get better and provide the entertainment Sayle does then you failed yourselves by not helping me get their. You failed yourselves by letting one more person get squeezed out of a section of the community.
Now I will continue to bring my news content to TL, but maybe I'm stuck in the LR threads for good. Maybe I don't have a place beyond that. What's sad is I've gotten offers from people who know I'm capable of casting SC2 because I have much knowledge about both games and I continually turned that down even if the opportunity had money in it. I would never sell out on a brand that I believe in.
Ultimately I don't know who to be mad at but I am angry. Maybe in the end I can only blame myself and I have failed myself. All I know is that there still aren't many of us left with the will to take on the responsibilities of Brood War to you guys. Why is it so hard on us then to make i?t
Yeah, when I went online and took a look at who is casting and the numbers, I did feel sad. You definitely don't deserve that but I don't think, there is anything you can do. Some people are just better suited to be casters. Still, this doesn't mean people don't appreciate your efforts. Though, that probably doesn't matter to you considering the only real appreciation is to actually watch the cast =/
As for me, I only tried your stream once but without 240p/360p, my connection can't handle it.
On April 21 2013 00:17 BisuDagger wrote: And as far as cocasting, I'm trying to indivualize myself and stand out on my own.
That's a narrow point of view. Colaborations are great, not only do you help a fellow caster out, who is also passionate about the game and won't get as exhausted from having to entertain only on his own, but you may get more feedback and probably also fans. Maybe even approach other people for cocasting for some events, it's an opportunity, first hand comparison of what you point out during the game and others point out in the very same game, and generally helping BW.
Co-casting is the obvious answer here, not sure why that isn't an option.
That said, it is pretty clear that the BW english scene isn't really big enough for more casters. It isn't so much that you are new, but that there isn't room for any more (due to low demand).
On April 21 2013 00:49 floladriblere wrote: I think a co-cast provides a better "show" for the viewers also than a solo cast.
I understand that, I'd just prefer to get really good on my own first before working with another caster was all I meant. I will not turn away the idea of co-casting but Sayle made it on his own solo casting Proleague and everyone knew his name and enjoyed his cast. Why is that different for me now? I do not believe I am incapable.
I love you casts, but Sayle provides more insight. I think the main reason you're loosing viewers is becouse you lack brood war knowledge. Don't give up casting. I'm sure most of us respects what you're doing for the community!
On April 21 2013 00:49 floladriblere wrote: I think a co-cast provides a better "show" for the viewers also than a solo cast.
I understand that, I'd just prefer to get really good on my own first before working with another caster was all I meant. I will not turn away the idea of co-casting but Sayle made it on his own solo casting Proleague and everyone knew his name and enjoyed his cast. Why is that different for me now? I do not believe I am incapable.
you cant just cast one thing for a few months and suddenly be a huge in-demand caster. sayle has casted a fuckload of stuff well before proleague (lots of foreign BW). There's a heap of foreign BW events going on, why not tune your craft casting some of them as well?
On April 21 2013 00:49 floladriblere wrote: I think a co-cast provides a better "show" for the viewers also than a solo cast.
I understand that, I'd just prefer to get really good on my own first before working with another caster was all I meant. I will not turn away the idea of co-casting but Sayle made it on his own solo casting Proleague and everyone knew his name and enjoyed his cast. Why is that different for me now? I do not believe I am incapable.
I'm pretty sure that's not how Sayle made his name. He was already doing a lot of stuff for the scene long before he started casting PL.
I think your expectations are a bit off. I mean three months of just SSL isn't that long for casting. Other casters have been doing it a lot longer. It takes time to build a reputation (especially one like Sayle's) and Sayle didn't get his over night or in 3 months time.
All I can say is keep working at it and don't just think about the big leagues like SSL, TLS, or GC. There are a lot of other leagues that can use casters and will help you gain an audience and build your rep. For example C Rank Team League are looking for casters.
And at the end of the day if you really are doing it for yourself and not just for e-fame then you've got nothing to lose. If you don't get to where you want, you've had fun and you've entertained people. Anything else is just extra.
On April 20 2013 23:18 soujiro_ wrote: at least they should have invited you to co-cast or something T_T
also o.o
11:08 Broadcaster Turbo saylesc: bisudagger is BW staff, he knew it would likely happen when he started casting Ro32#
11:08 Broadcaster Turbo saylesc: he's cool with it
I am cool with it and want what's best for brood war. I wil never be offended by Sayle casting. But there's nothing that hurts more then seeing 6 viewers total on your stream and 300 on his. Its a tough pill to swallow. So after the winners BO3 I went back to sleep.
And as far as cocasting, I'm trying to indivualize myself and stand out on my own. No matter how good one man is, if he is the only personality of our casting scene then its not enough. At least I thought so. That it would great like a day9 competing against the casting arching (Sayle/Elegant). Today was just the first time where I felt maybe I got to ambitious. If I had the time to cast more and present more products maybe it would be different.
Hmm, I guess some of it is differences in our approach.
This doesn't matter to me at all when I cast. It's nice to have more viewers, but it doesn't matter to me. If someone is watching my cast and enjoying it, then my job is done.
I started casting at lower ranks because I thought it would be a fun experience for them and wanted to do what I could to help the community. People like it enough that I ended up casting some of ISL/NW/GC etc. As long as someone enjoys it I'm happy to continue casting, and to me it doesn't matter if 400 people want to watch sayle and 5 watch me. I'm perfectly satisfied casting for those 5 .
You might say there is no room for the new, but this wasn't the case for me, perhaps because I never had any intentions of going "to the top". All I ever intended to cast initially was some D Ranks matches to add to spice of that league. I never really asked or actively campaigned to cast higher tier events.
On April 21 2013 00:49 floladriblere wrote: I think a co-cast provides a better "show" for the viewers also than a solo cast.
I understand that, I'd just prefer to get really good on my own first before working with another caster was all I meant. I will not turn away the idea of co-casting but Sayle made it on his own solo casting Proleague and everyone knew his name and enjoyed his cast. Why is that different for me now? I do not believe I am incapable.
you cant just cast one thing for a few months and suddenly be a huge in-demand caster. sayle has casted a fuckload of stuff well before proleague (lots of foreign BW). There's a heap of foreign BW events going on, why not tune your craft casting some of them as well?
SSL is the only event that fits into my schedule. I have a job that requires full hours each week on top of trying to do my work for TL casting isn't priority #1. Also, foreign events require me to be reliable consistently and being lesser known I don't want to ruin anyone's event by making commitment I can't keep.
On April 21 2013 00:49 floladriblere wrote: I think a co-cast provides a better "show" for the viewers also than a solo cast.
I understand that, I'd just prefer to get really good on my own first before working with another caster was all I meant. I will not turn away the idea of co-casting but Sayle made it on his own solo casting Proleague and everyone knew his name and enjoyed his cast. Why is that different for me now? I do not believe I am incapable.
I'm pretty sure that's not how Sayle made his name. He was already doing a lot of stuff for the scene long before he started casting PL.
I think your expectations are a bit off. I mean three months of just SSL isn't that long for casting. Other casters have been doing it a lot longer. It takes time to build a reputation (especially one like Sayle's) and Sayle didn't get his over night or in 3 months time.
All I can say is keep working at it and don't just think about the big leagues like SSL, TLS, or GC. There are a lot of other leagues that can use casters and will help you gain an audience and build your rep. For example C Rank Team League are looking for casters.
And at the end of the day if you really are doing it for yourself and not just for e-fame then you've got nothing to lose. If you don't get to where you want, you've had fun and you've entertained people. Anything else is just extra.
Edit: Oh man, Kiante is too fast for me.
And I don't think my expectations are a bit off, they are where they should be. I don't expect to be the biggest name in casting but I earned my way up from 15 viewers to 30 viewers until I had a sustainable crowd of people. But like you said, Sayle and many other caster but in many more hours already then me and due to my time restrictions I can't offer any more then I have been. So if it comes to me having to compete against them for the events I can do, I will never have anybody to watch. But one point you mentioned other casters putting in a lot of effort but no one out of our hard core community would even recognize their names. Elegant is the only other big name out their now because TLS boosted his name.
Overall I'll cast and add to the archives but I'm just going to do it on my own time at this point. I enjoy doing it as a hobby and I just will have to remind myself that's all it is. If you listened to any of my casts before this you guys would know it's not about eFame at all. I have fun with it and take it down a road where it's relaxed and exciting and the style is different.
Anyone relying on community feedback to improve is destined to fail.
Anyways, had no idea you were doing this but since you wanted feedback i've listened to the vods of yours and Sayles casts.
I'm afraid your voice simply isn't enjoyable to listen to. Part of this is down to a horrible mic which adds a metallic tone to your speech but mainly it's you sounding tense and Sayle sounding comfortable. It's also related to slurring.
~23:13 to 23:20 in this vod: http://www.twitch.tv/bisudagger/b/393290279 when you're talking about siege tanks and sieging it's very apparent that you're struggling a bit with 'sch-sounds'. Now, this isn't really a big thing and most important, you're not alone. Listen to this:
Tasteless' voice has obviously changed a lot since then but that's not my point. His passion and pure interest in the game shines through enough for the listener not to care.
Sayle has a very effortless and smooth casting style which is an easy listen. Even with the best capture equipment, neither you nor Tasteless will ever have the voice to pull off the same thing. What you must do is convince the listener that you're deeply involved in what you cast and convey enthusiasm. Tricking listeners is among the hardest things you can do in casting and comes only with expertise and experience, so that's not where you should start.
Do you have a game, book, movie or series that you truly love? Could be anything you love that isn't a person. Have you ever explained to someone else why this or that is so amazing? I would suggest that you as an exercise do just that, only you record yourself doing it.
Casting isn't very different from public speaking, if you're good at public speaking, you just have to get used to not having an audience in front of you, just a microphone. If you're not very good at public speaking, you have to practice, practice, practice. Become comfortable. Watch Day9's standup,
As a final piece of inspiration: http://youtu.be/6_qqxPysnL8?t=12m37s Audio quality is terrible, there's lots of slurring and what the heck does "this is like a bad korean for terran right now" even mean? None of it matters, we're all at the edge of our seats as Tasteless takes us through it. He's genuinely excited to discover the entry of those DTs onto the battlefield and boy does he let us know.
Haha, the community actually just sucks in the fact that they will do whatever feels good at that moment in time. The amount of self-sabotage that the Teamliquid BroodWar community goes through on a regular basis is bewildering. I guess that doesn't really help you much, though.
I watched some of your SSL casts and they were good. I don't even care for the SSL that much, but after I talked to you that one day, I was like "Hey, he's pretty cool." and just watched the broadcast because you were commentating.
Sayle has a very effortless and smooth casting style which is an easy listen. Even with the best capture equipment, neither you nor Tasteless will ever have the voice to pull off the same thing. What you must do is convince the listener that you're deeply involved in what you cast and convey enthusiasm. Tricking listeners is among the hardest things you can do in casting and comes only with expertise and experience, so that's not where you should start.
I see no reason why you should have to "trick" your listeners.
Anyone relying on community feedback to improve is destined to fail.
Not that I disagree but I would love to hear you expound some on why you feel this is so.
On April 21 2013 02:01 ninazerg wrote: Haha, the community actually just sucks in the fact that they will do whatever feels good at that moment in time. The amount of self-sabotage that the Teamliquid BroodWar community goes through on a regular basis is bewildering. I guess that doesn't really help you much, though.
I watched some of your SSL casts and they were good. I don't even care for the SSL that much, but after I talked to you that one day, I was like "Hey, he's pretty cool." and just watched the broadcast because you were commentating.
Well the post above yours is a damn good one at least lol. I don't want people to think I'm on a crusade or something. People have to realize we only have each other to talk too. There is literally no one outside of Starcraft that can understand or comprehend us if we have issues. That's why I'm posting this here. I never like to deal with adversity on my own and so in this situation I'd rather be open with how my feelings are. But I do agree there is a huge level of animosity that our group of people go through. It's why I slept on Brood War for 2012. Emotions were way too intense among here back then but it's come such a long way now at least I'd like to believe it has.
There's two or three issues here and perhaps the biggest one is marketing. Sayle's marketing strategy (it may not be a conscious one) is that because of the vast amounts of effort he put into casting foreign Brood War pre-PL, he gained a lot of exposure. Once he started his PL casts he had tuned his craft enough that he not only was well-known enough that people would watch him, but he gained more listeners who weren't turned away by a noobie caster. Now, YOU need your own marketing strategy, as the current one of "cast SSL at the same time as Sayle" clearly won't work if you're trying to gain viewers.
That brings us into the second issue, which is casting skill. It takes a lot of practice to become a decent caster, and there are a lot of other casters out there with more experience than you. Three months of casting once (maybe more, correct me if I'm wrong) a week but not every week is not enough for most people to get enough skill to be considered a good caster. I haven't really watched your casts as I prefer the Korean ones so I won't say too much here but chances are you're simply not very good at casting yet, so it is no surprise that others get more viewers.
And I had another point but I forget what it was. I know someone else quit casting because of essentially this same exact problem, and in a community as small as the foreign Brood War one, it's going to be hard for you to directly compete with the more well-known casters.
I don't know if you remember but Sayle wasn't really the best of casters when he started. You could tell that he really didn't know all that much about the game, and his insight really wasn't anything special. He got better.
On April 21 2013 02:01 ninazerg wrote: Haha, the community actually just sucks in the fact that they will do whatever feels good at that moment in time. The amount of self-sabotage that the Teamliquid BroodWar community goes through on a regular basis is bewildering. I guess that doesn't really help you much, though.
Though I do question the motive of posting something like this given your history, I agree. A lot of the pain that foreign BW goes through is self-inflicted. But what can you expect, given the circumstances?
Nuke aka nukethestars is also one of the guys who manages to rise to the top from solo casting but he did take a long time to be where he is and he is naturally entertaining and crazy guy that is why most of the people like nukes casting.
On April 21 2013 18:29 Sawamura wrote: Nuke aka nukethestars is also one of the guys who manages to rise to the top from solo casting but he did take a long time to be where he is and he is naturally entertaining and crazy guy that is why most of the people like nukes casting.
I want to thank you all for posting here or sending me PM's. I am over that morning funk and have found new strength to stick to it. I promise I will bring you new and original content that will find me a place in this journey we all are partaking in. I do not know if my new casting project will be available before the next TLS, but it will be worth the work and wait.
EPT
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