Side Note: I think I need to change the title of this blog to "What is SS pissed off about today?"
So watching Code S last night my time I think I finally snapped when it came to Tasteless and Artosis in their current form.
I loved Tastosis, their calling of Code S was one of the things, along with TB, that drew me into watching ESports. They seemed to have the perfect mix of humor and professionalism that really seemed to draw a person like me, a mere casual at the time into watching and enjoying the games.
Compare this to last year's proleague and Wolf and Brendan. Now while I understand they were sort of finding their feet and all and just beginning, to me personally they were horrible, Wolf especially copped a lot of my wrath, both shouting at the screen and on places like Reddit and TL. He back then had this unique ability to just send me into irrational anger at his atmosphere derailing jokes or discussions, to the point that more than once I dreamt about flying to Korea just so I could burn the Nexxon Arena to the ground so I wouldn't have to hear him and Valdes cast anymore. I will say Wolf and Valdes got better as the season wore on, especially after Moonglade came in and they created Team Salmon and that has continued this year, to the point where Wolf is in at least my top 5 or so casters I like. Valdes...is getting there. I still think he's a little grating at times but he makes a genuine effort and generally does a professional job and along with 'Glade they make Proleague and S2SL the events of the week I most look forward to viewing.
I explained my anger at Wolf and Valdes because that's kind of where I feel about Tastosis now and looking at it as I type this I think it's more Tasteless than Artosis, I mean don't get me wrong I think Artosis has lost something in his casting, whether it's passion or whatever I don't know but I don't get that vibe from him any more that I did when I started watching.
But Tasteless? My God Tasteless is like Wolf Early 2014 multiplied by a factor of 10. I haven't had the dream of flying to Korea to burn down the GOM studios yet but I'm sure that's coming.
You may say the solution is simple, either mute them or switch to the Korean stream and I suppose that is true, but I like having that analysis, I like listening to casters talk about what they think may happen and why and all those things that I could never hope to learn or emulate.
And yes I realise this is bashing an easy target, a few people I've seen in the LR threads have started to get annoyed with Tastosis as well. And maybe it's not so much anger as it is disappointment. Tastosis was my favourite casting duo, they were the main reason I'm here. The main reason I'm a fan of competitive StarCraft, competitive Esports. It just feels like that duo has left me, never to return.
I think people are overly critical of SC2 casters because we are exposed to them so much.
If you think about your favourite football/handegg caster, you listen to them once a week for 90 minutes or something like that, and the season runs for half a year? I'm not saying it is easy but they only have to be "on" for that period of time each week.
for Tastosis and the proleague guys. They can be on about 3 times a week with a day potentially lasting 4+ hours. Add on that GOM and Proleague are running pretty much every week it is so hard to be "on" for that much time.
I still love Tastosis, When it is good there is no one better and I laugh out loud to the cast, sometimes the cast isn't amazing but I still enjoy it and I understand that not every game can be awesomely casted but I still have a good time.
I dunno, I heard tasteless casting with Moonglade the other day and he seemed pretty superb. Had at least 2 really funny moments, pretty much overshadowed moonglade. seems like he's fine!
I kinda get what your saying, but i think you might be a little too critical. I think artosis is still good and tasteless is still pretty funny and entertaining.
However, I do agree that tasteless needs to up his analytical skills - a lot of times I feel like he just states obvious stuff and doesn't really add much depth and analysis to what's going on in the game.
I watched yesterday and immediately noticed Tasteless seemed very depressed, or as if something was burdening him. I know that he recently got back from the states - perhaps that has/had something to do with his casting.
I don't necessarily agree that he is terrible, and certainly not "wolf 2014". I have noticed that he has almost zero input on games and nearly all his casts are just narrating what is on screen versus analyzing or predicting. I've never really thought of tasteless as a professional though, more of a personality. He says uhm uhh sorry excuse me nearly 10 times a game to really sound professional anyways.
Artosis is nearly the same as usual. His insight is usually spot on, adds a bit of humor and nerd culture, and at least attempts to banter with the seemingly depressed tasteless. Sc2 is in a weird spot right now - and for all we know their focus could be elsewhere, but definitely not the 2012 tastosis we ALL fell in love with.
I grew up with Hockey night in Canada, so my standards are very high. But I agree with most of what the OP says.
If you really miss them go listen to the finals of Heroes of the Dorm. That is the Tasteless and Artosis none of us can resist. In all seriousness I have watched those games 3 times in full now and the final game many more times and I still get goosebumps. I think SC2 has gotten somewhat of a routine for them and to be honest I guess that is somewhat unavoidable.
If you want to burn a crowded arena to the ground to kill two guys because they don't talk about video games the way you want them to, you may need some help
showstealer1829, how old are you? Just wondering. As Darkhorse pointed, you might have issues. The commentators are not what's interesting in a game or in a sport. It's the gameplay. If you watch a game or a sport because of the commentators, this is not your sport. I watch muay thai fights and I don't get a single word yet it's a damn interesting for me. Just because of the game and the way the guys are doing it.
On May 15 2015 08:45 firehand101 wrote: Dude, I DO say the solution is simple: Get help from a psychiatrist or something! These dreams about burning shit sound really troubling
true. I mean you coulda just stick with " i don't like their casting" without excessing into fantasies of extreme violence.
On May 14 2015 18:34 EarthwormJim wrote: I watched yesterday and immediately noticed Tasteless seemed very depressed, or as if something was burdening him. I know that he recently got back from the states - perhaps that has/had something to do with his casting.
I don't necessarily agree that he is terrible, and certainly not "wolf 2014". I have noticed that he has almost zero input on games and nearly all his casts are just narrating what is on screen versus analyzing or predicting. I've never really thought of tasteless as a professional though, more of a personality. He says uhm uhh sorry excuse me nearly 10 times a game to really sound professional anyways.
Artosis is nearly the same as usual. His insight is usually spot on, adds a bit of humor and nerd culture, and at least attempts to banter with the seemingly depressed tasteless. Sc2 is in a weird spot right now - and for all we know their focus could be elsewhere, but definitely not the 2012 tastosis we ALL fell in love with.
I grew up with Hockey night in Canada, so my standards are very high. But I agree with most of what the OP says.
It's the (2010)-2011 Tastosis we fell in love with. 2012 was ok too. But like someone mentioned, it's understandable they don't get too excited nowadays, whereas back then it was a new game and the whole casting gig was new to them too. And the whole format was new and exciting to viewers. You can't hope to recreate that in 2015.
I think they are still fine though. Maybe it shows a little that Tasteless presumably hasn't played the game much during the last 4ish years? But his role has always been "caster" while Artosis is the analytical "commentator" and what makes it work is that they are friends and have that chemistry.
I do feel like tasteosis have fallen off just a little bit.
I will state that it is almost like potluck being selected as a caster if you are in Asia. Half of becoming a caster is desire. The other half is who you know. I know this because I used to be a caster for WGL APAC Asia, a tournament that would average 200 viewers each broadcast (thus why I'm sure a lot of you haven't heard of this tournament / league). A lot of places (again in Asia), all you need to do is be friends with the right people and be a native English speaker or near-native English speaker (Khaldor,ToD, Harstem, for example). If anyone questions passion for Starcraft II, it is clear that Tasteosis had it by going to Korea, trying to become pro gamers, endangering themselves to the point that they could potentially be deported (no guarantee of their present visa status when they first went like 5 years ago). In the end, they have experienced career success.
Valdez, however, I must disagree with you on. I know it was cited in interviews that at some point or another he was Master's on the Korea server, but when you call the stalker ability "Blink" the same name of the ability "Flash" in League of Legends back when blink stalker all-ins were a massive problem, I think that speaks for itself.
On May 15 2015 19:23 lisward wrote: I agree with you, in fact you should tweet at them. Tell them that you want to burn down the GOM studio. Let's chase away more esport personalities.
I don't think that is necessary. I feel, however, at some points, people should try to display passion for the game that they are casting. It's what they are paid to do, right? Make the game sound exciting. A part of being a caster is trying to sound exciting, it's kind of like being an actor - everything that you see and do is created by at least some sort of perceived emotion - be it real or fake. If you guys remember squirtle vs. MVP game seven from that one GSL Grand Finals back in like May 2012, you guys can see exactly what I'm talking about.
I have to disagree... I actually think it's artosis that's dragging the duo down. I used to be of a similar opinion that artosis was great and tasteless was just there. It was actually reading this article that I noticed tasteless has actually picked up his game and it's indeed artosis that's staying off course too much and not bringing his top level analytic and insight into the cast as often - he still does it, just not to the same degree and level.
On May 15 2015 23:57 y0su wrote: I have to disagree... I actually think it's artosis that's dragging the duo down. I used to be of a similar opinion that artosis was great and tasteless was just there. It was actually reading this article that I noticed tasteless has actually picked up his game and it's indeed artosis that's staying off course too much and not bringing his top level analytic and insight into the cast as often - he still does it, just not to the same degree and level.
Tasteless basically "invented" shoutcasting for SC:BW way back in the day. When he came here to cast Taiwan Open 2014, I asked him, "When did it become clear that you could start making money from doing this?". His reply was basically when he commentated that WCG that took place in Singapore. Was it 2005?
I, for one, still love Tastosis. I'm not a die-hard SC2 follower (I don't follow ProLeague, for example), but I love watching the GSL. If anyone else is casting I am MUCH less likely to watch. Especially if Artosis is sick and Wolf is casting with Tasteless? High chance that I skip that match, unless there are players I really want to watch. Outside Korea I only care about ToD. Caster I like least is Kaelaris (or however the hell you spell it).
edit: * Good example of the importance of Tastosis to a relative casual like me - if there are players I know being casted by Apollo and Kaelaris, I won't watch it. If there are players I don't know being casted by Tastosis, I'm definitely going to watch. If I just feel like enjoying SC2, I'll just play the game. I watch because I want to be entertained and Tastosis is infinitely more entertaining to me.
EPT
