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But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
-W.B. Yeats
A Different Time
I never expected to cast at The International. Back in 2012, when I first sunk my teeth into commentary, it was only ever a hobby to me. I had a full-time job, friends/family and a life in Philadelphia.
I did it for fun, I did it for love of the game, and I never expected anything more than that. I relished the opportunity to share my love of DOTA with fans around the world, and I was happy.
Everything changed for me at the International 2012. Was it luck? Fate? Hard work? Some strange combination? Something else entirely? It's hard for me to say. Whatever it was, I was invited to cast the main event. I had never worked a live esports event in my life. Hell, my only real experience with public speaking was running for class president in my freshman year of high school. My hands shook so badly I could hardly read the speech I had written. (Needless to say, I didn't win.)
Suddenly, I'm on stage in Benaroya Hall before a crowd of 2000+ with millions watching around the world barely 6 months after I began my casting journey. At the time, my Twitter following was a mere fraction of pretty much every other person working the event. I was beyond terrified. But I had worked my ass off to get there, studied the teams day and night since the invite, and together with Lumi I was determined to show the world what we could do. I'd like to think we did.
Since that fateful week three years ago, the DOTA landscape has changed in ways that none of us could have possibly imagined back then. Beloved teams rose and fell like ancient empires. Legendary players have retired, gotten married, left DOTA entirely, and returned in search of former glory.
For commentators and other on-camera talent, much has changed as well.
A Shift in the Landscape
TI4 marked a watershed moment in Valve's approach to talent and production staff. At TI2, we had a 4 person desk, 3 teams of 2 commentators, and a few interviewers. That was it. At TI3, Valve introduced a floor reporter with Kaci Aitchinson, but otherwise everything remained more or less the same. But at TI4, they expanded the invites and their overall approach to coverage dramatically. For the first time ever, commentators were brought to Seattle for the group stage. Casters who had never worked a live event before were thrown in front of a microphone / camera for the first time. Hell, we even had dedicated observers!
It wasn't the smoothest process, and perhaps some of the people who were invited last year were out of their element. Still, at long last I felt like Valve 'got' it. You see, over the two years since I was invited to work TI2, the scene had changed. Commentators who had a certain following were no longer just casting a few hours here for fun, as a hobby, for love of the game. By that point, they were all chasing the dream. The game had grown, and with it they saw opportunities to build lives and careers for themselves doing what they truly loved.
By expanding the list of people invited to work the event, by including workshop creators more with the event, I felt like Valve was finally starting to understand that TI shouldn't be just about running an awesome event for the fans, that it shouldn't just be about rewarding players, but that it should be about rewarding EVERYONE who contributes to this game we all love.
Long Days and Longer Nights
There is a small list of established talent who have worked enough large events and built up personal followings to the point that they generally don't worry too much about getting invited to work TI. Nothing is EVER guaranteed in this world, and I don't think anybody takes for granted that they will be invited back. But for those established people, even not getting invited to TI isn't the end of the world. They have other opportunities to fall back on, be it casting gigs, sponsorships, personal streaming, or for some even a shot to play competitively again.
For pretty much everyone else, there is virtually nothing BUT worry. I can't even begin to tell you how much stress most up and coming casters/hosts/analysts are under from ~April through June. An invite to work TI can make a career, and a snub can just as easily break one. Younger casters sometimes have the luxury of living at home or attending university, in which case they may be able to reset and try again next year. But many people don't. They have bills to pay, families to feed, and in many cases not being invited can mean having to give up the dream in favor of a more stable path.
You see, for casters, there are no open qualifiers. There are no second chances. If you don't get invited to work TI, better luck next year. So after a year of crazy hours, little sleep, and a whole lot of flame, these people line up and wait for Valve to be their judge, jury, and executioner. The process is especially brutal because just like team invites (and perhaps most things Valve), it's a total black box. Nobody knows why they were chosen, and for those who don't make the cut or get their preferred assignment, there is no direct appeals process.
Of course, you can always speculate, and that's what those who aren't invited are reduced to doing. Was that one off-color joke a dealbreaker? Did I offend someone at Valve in a Tweet? Should I have cast more games? Was I not funny enough? Did I get one too many Reddit hate threads? You just don't know.
Now, TI invites aren't the only place where this dynamic exists. Look at movie/theatre auditions for example. People who don't get the gig generally are just told that and nothing more. In interviews and director's commentary, you may very occasionally be able to glean bits and pieces of why certain people were chosen and why others didn't make the cut, but that's quite rare and usually happens only long after the fact anyway.
DOTA is different in one important respect though. In cinema and theatre, there are lots of big-budget films and productions. There isn't one singular opportunity that is massively more important than all others in those arenas, but in DOTA, there is TI. Just as TI is *the* event for players, so it is *the* event for folks who work on shows full-time.
Unleash the hounds
Anyways, fast-forward to the TI hub this year. Rumors were circulating that Valve was cutting down on the list of talent. Supposedly, they wanted to trim the fat and reduce the number of people invited to work the event, and everyone was panicking. People were speculating where Valve would draw the line. Casters are a gossipy bunch, and everybody was talking.
Me, I reserved judgement. Rumors abound in our line of work, and more often than not in my experience they've turned out to be unfounded or exaggerated if not entirely false, especially when they come to a company as enigmatic as Valve. I still remember after TI3 when the vast majority of players and casters were 100% convinced that TI4 would be the last International ever. (Yeah, about that…)
Over the past week, the invites have quietly gone out. Last year, talent were allowed to announce their invites as soon as they got them, but this year Valve asked pretty much everyone to keep them quiet until they got the official go-ahead. When I heard about the change, I assumed it was because Valve wanted to avoid the drama and stress everybody went through last year and just do a single official announcement revealing all the event talent at once.
Boy was I wrong.
Today the floodgates opened, and the announcements of invites poured out. For those who had heard about Valve's request, most assumed that invites were finished and that everyone who was going to be invited would be. In stark contrast to how most events handle talent and production staff announcements (ESL One, the Summit, Starladder, Dreamleague, etc) and how Valve itself handles team invites, they didn't say or publish a single thing publicly.
After a few hours, the community naturally begins to speculate. "Was Draskyl invited, or is Dad still sleeping?" "Is this the year LD doesn't get to work TI?" "Where’s KOTLGUY?" “Who’s hosting the desk at TI5?” "WHY AREN'T THEY TWEETING YET?!" For every second the average fan spends wondering, the talent who haven't heard from Valve yet spend hours clawing their eyes out with anxiety and frustration. I know because many close friends went through it last year, and more still endured it this year.
Not knowing is the most painful
I won't deny there are certain cold and hard realities about this line of work, and anyone who signs up for it generally does so knowing exactly what they are getting themselves into. The line always has to be drawn somewhere for casters, just as it does for team invites for the main event and qualifiers. This is an inherently competitive industry, and that means somebody's going to be left out.
Still, it's painful to bear witness. I was suffering in silence today, wondering if some of the more borderline candidates would make the cut. Contrary to what the community usually sees, the casting community is for the most part a tight-knit group of kindred spirits, especially over the past year. Studios and organizers may have their rivalries, and occasionally you'll see a public spat between well-known personalities, but those are small fry in the big picture.
I thought of Pimpmuckl, who went from a relatively unknown caster to a world-class observer since DotaPit began. Kpoptosis, the author of the Antimage diaries and inventor of the now prolific fight recap. Maut, the voice of North American Dota and a dear friend who's been grinding for years now. Blaze, a caster who covered more games than almost ANYONE over the past year and a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge about teams' playstyles. Basskip, one of the few commentators who truly knows the SEA and Chinese scene beyond the few big dogs. Durka, who's quietly been grinding for joinDOTA at the home offices in Berlin while Cap/Blitz/Toby were away at the big events. Shane, the best damn sidekick on any panel. SUNSfan, a comedy act with some of the most devoted fans in the scene and driving force behind the biggest DOTA 2 Youtube Channel in the world. Xyclopz, for me the funniest DOTA caster who’s ever picked up a mic.
KOTLGuy
To be honest, I expected Valve to do it like last year. I expected a wide net, and the vast majority of deserving talent to make the cut. I wasn't even considering the possibility that KOTLGuy might not be invited. This guy is the real deal. Absolutely committed to what he does, a trained actor who's more natural on camera than anyone else I've ever seen in eSports, and one of the most professional commentators I've had the pleasure to work with.
Dakota spends more time preparing for one cast than some casters do watching competitive DOTA the rest of the year. When just about everybody else was having fun playing Mafia and Mario Kart at the TI Hub, Dakota was taking notes and researching for his next cast. When he started with BTS, he had roughly 3-5k followers. In less than a year, he's climbed to 15k, and I can only imagine how high he'll soar over the next two years. To me, he was a shoe-in.
But then he didn't get the invite, and I started to get angry. I thought back on all the sacrifices Dakota had made over the past year for this game. Quitting his old job, moving across the country to work full-time in California, having to be separated from his wife and family in New York all the while. Tackling pretty much any region we threw at him, researching teams day and night, taking meticulous notes, burning the midnight oil to cover Chinese/SEA Dota when it was asked of him. It wasn't always easy, and he's certainly not a saint. He cursed and vented and let off steam like the rest of us, but Dakota kept at it and never stopped hustling.
Need for Change
Originally, this blog was going to be about KOTLGuy and how it's a crying shame that he wasn't invited to TI. Fortunately, for him, there's a happy ending. Since TI4, he grew and built his reputation enough that Reddit got angry when they found out he wasn't invited, and I can only imagine that Valve saw that outcry and realized they had made a mistake.
Over the past few years, we've seen increased efforts from Valve to find ways to reward people who contribute to and help grow the game. At past TIs, top workshop contributors were flown out to Seattle. This year, anybody who's EVER been attached to a workshop item that got published gets a chance to attend the event.
Still, there are talented and dedicated folks working both on- and off-camera who were really close but didn’t quite make the cut. For those people, right now there is nothing. There's no rewards program, there's not even a friendly "thanks for everything you do for DOTA 2 the rest of the year." There's no acknowledgement of their hard work. Nothing but the stress of praying Icefrog just hasn’t gotten around to you yet, followed by the eventual crushing realization that all the invites are finished and you aren't invited to TI this year.
Personally, I'd like to see a little more compassion from Valve. I'd like to see the honorable mentions, some basic acknowledgement for people who were really close to making it but didn't quite get there. The line has to be drawn somewhere, and not everybody can be invited. But even if these folks who were so close can't be invited to work the event, can't they at least be offered a VIP ticket (if not a hotel room and a flight)? Haven't they earned at least that much for their hundreds, sometimes even thousands of hours of sacrifice?
At a bare minimum, can we please get a formal news post announcing talent invites? Why should talent be left playing the guessing game for days or even weeks? While I'm sure there is no malicious intent, the system is downright cruel the way it works now.
Why the silence
Many of you have been wondering if I was invited to TI and, if so, why I wasn't announcing it. Three years ago, I jumped with joy and posted the second I got the good news. I was nothing but smiles for an unexpected blessing and opportunity.
This year, I announce with a heavier heart. Yes, I was invited to work TI. I didn’t announce it right away because I didn’t feel right celebrating my own invite while other deserving people were left out in the cold. Rather than trumpet my own invite, I wanted to take this opportunity to speak out on behalf of those who I feel are getting a raw deal.
In closing, I still see quite a few uninvited folks that deserve the opportunity to work at TI, and others still who deserve at least a pat on the back, some kind words and encouragement. It's not too late for you guys as a community to advocate for those folks publicly, just like you did for KOTLGuy.
Even if Valve won't acknowledge them, we as a community still can. Please have some compassion and show those folks who weren't invited your love; this truly is the hardest time of year.
A parting thought
EDIT: One important point that I forgot to bring up is that there are practical considerations as well for talent with invites happening barely a month before the event.
People who are potential invites don't want to buy their own tickets / book hotel rooms if they don't have to since that's something Valve provides, and it's VERY expensive given the duration of TI as well as how nice the hotel where everyone stays is.
As a result, if someone holds off on bookings and ends up not being invited, they have to pay much steeper last-minute rates on flights + hotel just to attend the event, not to mention potentially could struggle even finding a ticket to the event itself.
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Great post LD and I agree with all your sentiments.
Thanks for the insight!
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i came here for the WOWs
there were none ;(
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<3 love you bud.
thanks for expressing my thoughts nearly perfectly.
EDIT: and thank you for all the opportunites.
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LD is truly the guy the scene needs, but probably doesn't deserve. Shoutout to all the hardworking casters out there.
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Katowice25012 Posts
Very heartfelt, good reminder that the caster grind is an unreal one. That journey isn't easy for anybody.
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man EE's blogposts are drama inducing at least 
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good guy LD 
Hopefully with the majors, it will give more opportunities to those outside of the established talent group
did you accept the invite?
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Osaka27135 Posts
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On June 27 2015 19:16 rabidch wrote:
i came here for the WOWs
there were none ;(
WHERE ARE U IN MY LIFE
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Good read. Pretty much agree with your statement about changes -part.
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Well its time to build a caster MMR system. Fans and viewers should be able to give their reviews and feedback systematically after every event and force the personalities to compete for the top spot at major.
But tbh LD, your casting this morning was weak. It does not reflect your effort for the rest of the year ofc. I think you do deserve an invite still and TI need to expand on but cutting cost. But i do think you have a lot more self improvement room to work with. Last year i often look at you and godz more in the producer role than actual casters.
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This year, I announce with a heavier heart. Yes, I was invited to work TI. I didn’t announce it right away because I didn’t feel right celebrating my own invite while other deserving people were left out in the cold.
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What a great read. Always great to get a caster's perspective on things. Must be awful for those who work so hard and don't make it. Sad to see that most people in life will never reach their dreams.
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On June 27 2015 19:44 NB wrote:
Well its time to build a caster MMR system. Fans and viewers should be able to give their reviews and feedback systematically after every event and force the personalities to compete for the top spot at major.
But tbh LD, your casting this morning was weak. It does not reflect your effort for the rest of the year ofc. I think you do deserve an invite still and TI need to expand on but cutting cost. But i do think you have a lot more self improvement room to work with. Last year i often look at you and godz more in the producer role than actual casters.
A system like this would expose the tons and tons of mistakes and poor commentary that exists in Dota 2's casters today. While some might actually make use of it to improve, ultimately I think the knee jerk reaction would be "its so negative we should do away with it". I watch a ton of dota games and every caster imaginable and I constantly pick up on miscues, mispoken words, poor analysis, improper camera work, bad jokes, etc. All of that translates into people commentating about the casters sucking rather than focusing on the dota game and what's happening. You can really tell when casters just aren't into the game at all. Or when casters show their personality quirks and let it overtake their casting and sometimes even talk right over their co-casters.
But anyways, it will never happen publicly.
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This actually makes me so mad at Valve. If some people really worked that hard they deserve to get a VIP ticket and badge so they can interact with fans at TI, who want to see their community figures on stream or when they attend the event. I would love to see as much talent as possible when I am watching TI. Are there really people out there who would be unhappy if they invited LESS talent? I enjoy TI a lot more if breaks and downtimes are filled with content from people we watched and enjoyed over the whole last year.
The formular is "more talent = better TI experience" for us viewers. That means inviting as much talent as possible is a good thing.
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Once again LD, i immensely appreciate you talking about "the other point of view". It's very easy to focus on what it's put on show and forget the unintended consequences. Like the old adage says, every light also cast a shadow.
Please, keep 'em coming.
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I never did consider how challenging it would be for casters and community figures to "qualify" for TI but it is nice (or fairly depressing) to read about this other side of Dota. I suppose like in real life hard work and dedication don't always bear fruit immediately but I can only hope Valve will realize that there is a lot of talented and hard working people who may not always have the most Reddit praise or Twitter followers but have passion and the ability to sacrifice.
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Netherlands45349 Posts
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On June 27 2015 20:54 Kipsate wrote:
ur a good guy LD
Pretty much this. You're a stand-up guy for fighting for your friends and colleagues.
Thank you for taking the time to write this post and giving us a bit more understanding about the behind-the-scenes stuff.
Great to have you at TI, looking forward to your casts!
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Honest & loyal seems to fit LD's bill. I can't help but disagree with the whole Haven't they earned at least that much for their hundreds, sometimes even thousands of hours of sacrifice?
If you consider it a sacrifice or you're doing it for some kind of reward at the end... I suggest you stop doing it entirely. If it's not out of passion and love for game than you're doing it all wrong.
Getting a reward is a cherry on top; not the reason you do what you do.
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At least you're giving them the attention and recognition they deserve. I'm happy that you and KotlGuy are going to be there. Maut and the others you mentioned are not as entertaining or polished to me, even if they work hard, but maybe Valve could find them another role at the event, and I still recognize the work they put in even if they don't jive with me as a viewer. And I totally agree they should do all their invites at once and just make it public.
You've always been my favourite caster since arriving on the scene and seeing you publicly sentiments on this makes my heart grow fonder!
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Amazing thread, describing everything very close to how it really is for every individual talent out there working towards that 1 event in the year or other big events. Even tho nobody around HeflaTV (a very hardworking bunch of casters) was mentioned, many of the things go for those guys aswell. Infact we have casted pretty much 80%+ of the T2 content which is not done by BTS/JD/etc, that translates into almost 3k Dota games since TI4, all of that without any support but community in form of likes, follows, share or just watching. All that content providing for the community happens while also working in other fields of eSport to simply pay the bills. Same goes for others that did so much, invested time and money as LD mentioned and when it doesn't pay off that really hurts. Let's see what happens around the majors and if Valve keeps the current system.
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I looked at reddit and apparently Valve got themselves straighten out and invited KOTLGuy after all
+ Show Spoiler +https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/3b9hhw/kotlguy_on_twitter_i_guess_its_not_coming/csk8yfz
link to his comment
I felt that Valve would be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn't invite him, glad that they realize he would provide some awesome contributions to the TI experience
I guess I should've rechecked the Personalities thread and see if it got updated before posting here
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Yeah, that's literally what LD writes in the blog - if the reddit almighty didn't intervene, they would miss out on a major talent, so maybe inviting talent a month in advance with no appeals isn't very smart.
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Great read. Keep up the good work LD.
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On June 27 2015 21:11 yotcarter wrote:Honest & loyal seems to fit LD's bill. I can't help but disagree with the whole Show nested quote +Haven't they earned at least that much for their hundreds, sometimes even thousands of hours of sacrifice? If you consider it a sacrifice or you're doing it for some kind of reward at the end... I suggest you stop doing it entirely. If it's not out of passion and love for game than you're doing it all wrong. Getting a reward is a cherry on top; not the reason you do what you do.
First of all, passion alone doesn't pay the bills.
Not inviting people who've invested so much time is a lose-lose situation for all parties. The person without the invite clearly loses. Valve loses that person's talent at their biggest event of the year. The community loses out from them not being there. The people invited have to work more hours to compensate. The only possible benefit I can see is that the quality of the casting on average might be higher if you only invite the best of the best. Even then it's probably offset by the increase in hours worked.
No idea why Valve are handling the invites differently this year. Maybe Valve is being skimpy with invites with Majors coming up next year. Or maybe they're just more comfortable working with a small group of highly talented people instead of a large group of highly talented + talented people. That fits with their corporate philosophy at least, but who knows.
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i am just proud that we get Envy LD to blog here for real talk.
LD you are a good man
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Thanks for the blog. TI without you LD just wouldn't be the same, and I'm very glad KotlGuy got invited in the end. He totally deserves it.
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Qualifiers for caster/host/analyst is imminent at this point.
In all this I really hope Bruno makes an appearance just for old times sake. Even though this is no longer a part of his line of work, I feel like he was a pillar in the growth of Dota 2 esports personalities.
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Sanya12364 Posts
JUSTICE FOR DAKOTA!!!
Also how far we have come.
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Definitely one of the best blogs I have read on this website. Maybe slightly depressing but I think thats the point. Guess it can be just as hard if not harder for personalities in the scene - sometimes it's not even under your own control, while players theoretically could win the games they play (not that it's easy to do so).
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Northern Ireland22208 Posts
keep fighting the good fight!
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I wanted to write something about all of this but I assume it would be far to negative, It seems sad to me that getting Invited to TI is the end all for everything. Ive gone to ti2-ti4 (should have gone to ti1 but SK gaming and their management fucked me over) and have enjoyed it so much everytime. Did I have to spend my own money? yeah, but its because I love the game. I hope the un-invited people still decide to show up and show that they are just there for a free trip, but they want to be there because they love the game so much.
Do I ever expect an invite? During ti2 I had a 50/50 chance with Draskyl until Ayesee kind of fucked me over heh. Nowadays? Absolutely not, I just play and enjoy dota how I want to. Hope Maut keeps his head up cause I know it will be hard for him to, but hes a good guy and good friend.
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LD you da real MVP 
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On June 27 2015 22:20 Kishin2 wrote:Show nested quote +On June 27 2015 21:11 yotcarter wrote:Honest & loyal seems to fit LD's bill. I can't help but disagree with the whole Haven't they earned at least that much for their hundreds, sometimes even thousands of hours of sacrifice? If you consider it a sacrifice or you're doing it for some kind of reward at the end... I suggest you stop doing it entirely. If it's not out of passion and love for game than you're doing it all wrong. Getting a reward is a cherry on top; not the reason you do what you do. First of all, passion alone doesn't pay the bills. Not inviting people who've invested so much time is a lose-lose situation for all parties. The person without the invite clearly loses. Valve loses that person's talent at their biggest event of the year. The community loses out from them not being there. The people invited have to work more hours to compensate. The only possible benefit I can see is that the quality of the casting on average might be higher if you only invite the best of the best. Even then it's probably offset by the increase in hours worked.
Does Valve give each "personality" a fully paid trip to TI? Pays for their plane tickets, hotels (or an apartment with bunks lol), food, and give each a stipend for the week? The number of available positions aren't infinite, so naturally some people don't get to cast or analyze. They can't possibly hire every passionate John Doe who wants their glory at the superbowl of dota. Or maybe they could with their billions.
Ask the players if they are willing to accept less compendium cash and give a portion of that toward personalities. Or... let compendium holders vote for the casters they want. Hohohaha!
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Thumbs up man of the people!
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what about maut seriously
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Russian Federation3329 Posts
On June 27 2015 19:29 CorsairHero wrote:good guy LD Hopefully with the majors, it will give more opportunities to those outside of the established talent group did you accept the invite?
yeah maybe to reduce the grind for the always invited must-have casters and to expose some up and coming 1.5 and 2 tier casters, valve will be strategic and maybe risk-taking (like they did for LD in TI2) with caster selection
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I wish we could see Maut at least cast something like group stage games or come in as an occasional caster - the guy deserves a little spotlight 
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Kinda interesting that it's not just players who seem to only have TI in their minds. But I partially agree with your post, Valve does definitely need to setup a much better system for distributing these invites.
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Competition brings the best out of the best people
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While I agree with a lot that you've said, I think this needs to be pointed out.
On June 27 2015 19:06 LDdota wrote:
At a bare minimum, can we please get a formal news post announcing talent invites? Why should talent be left playing the guessing game for days or even weeks? While I'm sure there is no malicious intent, the system is downright cruel the way it works now.
Which needs to be connected fully to your other statement.
Over the past week, the invites have quietly gone out. Last year, talent were allowed to announce their invites as soon as they got them, but this year Valve asked pretty much everyone to keep them quiet until they got the official go-ahead. When I heard about the change, I assumed it was because Valve wanted to avoid the drama and stress everybody went through last year and just do a single official announcement revealing all the event talent at once.
"Talent invites" are fundamentally different from team invites, in that they're not "invites" at all, they're contact offers to work a specific event. Which means you can't announce who you've hired to do a job until they've actually agreed to do them.
If Valve had planned to do a big news announcement (and at this point we have no real way of knowing what they'd planned), then it would apparently fall on the talents for blabbing early.
Or, to put it simpler, a lot of the drama (if not the core issues) of this situation will be solved by having contractual non-disclosure agreements instead of a non-binding request for talents not to talk.
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Thanks for calling attention to this LD.
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Very well written, but let's look at it from a non-caster P.O.V.
I am just a lowly 5k scumbag but I do have some pro friends who did not qualify for Ti5 and will be still attending.
What? How is this possible? They did not assume they would be given invites and purchased tickets like a true fan of the game. I was very upset to hear KOTLguy and Soe would not be attending, I will even go out on a creepy limb and say Soe was one of the people I was most excited to meet.But look at it from Valve's perspective. This event is not about you(casters). The event is about Dota 2 and the fans and players who have gotten it to where it is. Casters are a big role, and once again certain ones have my condolences, but let's be real here... why do you think they need so many damn casters? I have been to 3 Ti's and 14 tournaments total and they always have 5+ casters who are just there doing nothing.
I would like to point out, being casters does not give you some sort of entitlement by Valve.You guys are not 'the rockstars' that some of the players are and do not deserve to be treated as so. I do wish everyone the best of times there, but use the experience as a life lesson. Those of us with careers we attended college for and worked years and years at got passed over so often for doing real work and if you throw tantrums you tend to lose your job. Cheers mate.
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Personalities are an integral part of the DOTA2 scene. They keep the game alive in between Internationals and bridge between the players and fan. They are making and delivering huge amounts of content. It is a small, but important issue. These contracts/invitations should have gone out and been finalized at the same time the team invites were announced. Securing transportation and accommodation (even today) is costly.
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On June 28 2015 07:58 JustinTimz3x wrote:
Very well written, but let's look at it from a non-caster P.O.V.
I am just a lowly 5k scumbag but I do have some pro friends who did not qualify for Ti5 and will be still attending.
What? How is this possible? They did not assume they would be given invites and purchased tickets like a true fan of the game. I was very upset to hear KOTLguy and Soe would not be attending, I will even go out on a creepy limb and say Soe was one of the people I was most excited to meet.But look at it from Valve's perspective. This event is not about you(casters). The event is about Dota 2 and the fans and players who have gotten it to where it is. Casters are a big role, and once again certain ones have my condolences, but let's be real here... why do you think they need so many damn casters? I have been to 3 Ti's and 14 tournaments total and they always have 5+ casters who are just there doing nothing.
I would like to point out, being casters does not give you some sort of entitlement by Valve.You guys are not 'the rockstars' that some of the players are and do not deserve to be treated as so. I do wish everyone the best of times there, but use the experience as a life lesson. Those of us with careers we attended college for and worked years and years at got passed over so often for doing real work and if you throw tantrums you tend to lose your job. Cheers mate.
This is one of the cuntier things I've read in a while, and I think you missed a lot of the point of LD's post, which was mostly about the process and NOT about begging for every caster out there to get invited.
- 'the rockstars': you put this in single quotes as if you're countering a specific point or phrase ... except (a) he never used that term and (b) he didn't imply that AT ALL, in fact most of the casters don't have "do you know who I am?" syndrome. Only an asshole would project that on them.
- "use the experience as a life lesson" thanks Confucius for the fucking fortune cookie, that's wonderful stuff right there, I'm surprised you didn't throw in an "XD" at the end.
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On June 28 2015 04:23 WolfintheSheep wrote:While I agree with a lot that you've said, I think this needs to be pointed out. Show nested quote +On June 27 2015 19:06 LDdota wrote:
At a bare minimum, can we please get a formal news post announcing talent invites? Why should talent be left playing the guessing game for days or even weeks? While I'm sure there is no malicious intent, the system is downright cruel the way it works now. Which needs to be connected fully to your other statement. Show nested quote +Over the past week, the invites have quietly gone out. Last year, talent were allowed to announce their invites as soon as they got them, but this year Valve asked pretty much everyone to keep them quiet until they got the official go-ahead. When I heard about the change, I assumed it was because Valve wanted to avoid the drama and stress everybody went through last year and just do a single official announcement revealing all the event talent at once. "Talent invites" are fundamentally different from team invites, in that they're not "invites" at all, they're contact offers to work a specific event. Which means you can't announce who you've hired to do a job until they've actually agreed to do them.
While that is true, why couldn't Valve announce the invites (err job offer) earlier?
Based on the dota2 blog:
Jan 7: Dates and venue for TI5 released
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Mar 20: Ticket information released
Mar 26: Ticket FAQ published
Mar 27: Tickets available for purchase
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Apr 30: Compendium out!
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May 15: Team Invites announced
May 28: Qualifiers Begins
(Teams known by June 1 whether they will be making a trip to Seattle)
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June 21+: Personality Invites announced (?)
**note: I don't actually know when Valve sent out these invites, I'm just going by LD's "over the past week..."
Basically, fans could start making travel plans early January, but of course would not finalize their plans until event tickets are bought late March. Casters/Analysts sit and wait, as they prefer not to pay out of their own pocket since travel cost will be provided by Valve if they are invited.
The longer you wait, the more expensive it will cost to attend. The most expensive would be hotel (or if they aren't fussy - motel, hostel, airbnb, shared room will do). I guess they could buy flexible plane tickets to re-use later; cancel/resell the accommodations, or raffle them off to some last-minute fans. Or like LD mentioned, perhaps Valve can offer the uninvited talents VIP event tickets, and/or cheap airfare and such.
I've said before that Valve couldn't possibly hire every passionate John Doe who wants to work in esports. After all, it is a business, not charity. On the flip side, Valve could show some kind gesture by not making these guys wait until late June to find out whether this August will be the summer they win big or go fishing.
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LD, you are truly one of the most important assets for the community in dota, and e-sports in general. That said, I'm relieved to hear you indeed got your invite, and appreciate the insight of your blog. Please keep doing what you do.
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Glad to hear you'll make it. Was looking scary/ominous with no announcement. Just wouldn't be a TI without LD there.
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On June 28 2015 13:47 Elurie wrote:Show nested quote +On June 28 2015 04:23 WolfintheSheep wrote:While I agree with a lot that you've said, I think this needs to be pointed out. On June 27 2015 19:06 LDdota wrote:
At a bare minimum, can we please get a formal news post announcing talent invites? Why should talent be left playing the guessing game for days or even weeks? While I'm sure there is no malicious intent, the system is downright cruel the way it works now. Which needs to be connected fully to your other statement. Over the past week, the invites have quietly gone out. Last year, talent were allowed to announce their invites as soon as they got them, but this year Valve asked pretty much everyone to keep them quiet until they got the official go-ahead. When I heard about the change, I assumed it was because Valve wanted to avoid the drama and stress everybody went through last year and just do a single official announcement revealing all the event talent at once. "Talent invites" are fundamentally different from team invites, in that they're not "invites" at all, they're contact offers to work a specific event. Which means you can't announce who you've hired to do a job until they've actually agreed to do them. While that is true, why couldn't Valve announce the invites (err job offer) earlier? Based on the dota2 blog: Jan 7: Dates and venue for TI5 released ~ Mar 20: Ticket information released Mar 26: Ticket FAQ published Mar 27: Tickets available for purchase ~ Apr 30: Compendium out! ~ May 15: Team Invites announced May 28: Qualifiers Begins (Teams known by June 1 whether they will be making a trip to Seattle) ~ June 21+: Personality Invites announced (?) **note: I don't actually know when Valve sent out these invites, I'm just going by LD's "over the past week..." Basically, fans could start making travel plans early January, but of course would not finalize their plans until event tickets are bought late March. Casters/Analysts sit and wait, as they prefer not to pay out of their own pocket since travel cost will be provided by Valve if they are invited. The longer you wait, the more expensive it will cost to attend. The most expensive would be hotel (or if they aren't fussy - motel, hostel, airbnb, shared room will do). I guess they could buy flexible plane tickets to re-use later; cancel/resell the accommodations, or raffle them off to some last-minute fans. Or like LD mentioned, perhaps Valve can offer the uninvited talents VIP event tickets, and/or cheap airfare and such. I've said before that Valve couldn't possibly hire every passionate John Doe who wants to work in esports. After all, it is a business, not charity. On the flip side, Valve could show some kind gesture by not making these guys wait until late June to find out whether this August will be the summer they win big or go fishing.
Well, I think waiting until after the qualifiers is still fair on Valve's part.
That said, everything really should've been settled within the first couple weeks of June, no argument there.
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great post LD. It kind of bothers me that they don't have a better system in place when hiring the casters ect. for TI.
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I've always found that TI has too many casters/hosts/personalities anyway so them cutting back on it is a good thing for me. Should make for a more focused and better show.
That said, Valve should probably have sent out their contract offers earlier to, as LD says in the post, give people who didn't get invited a chance to get there on their own. This is Valve though and you can always count on them to be quiet and secretive even about things they really shouldn't be.
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Unfortunately, working hard at casting isn't the same as being good or popular. Transparency would be good, but at a certain point Valve is a company hiring people to do a job. They don't need to explain every decision they make in the course of setting up TI.
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They should just ask me to select the casters. I'm fair :D
Jokes aside, my opinion is that hard work should be rewarded only if the personality actually delivers. For example I may find xyclopz funny some times, but even if he casts every single dota match for the year with his current casting style, I still wouldn't choose him to cast in TI at all. That's because he can't deliver what is needed for the tournament, and that's the reality.
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Good post, but they can't invite everyone. I mean there are probably over 40 different personalities which in many ways deserve to be invited.
Take Lumi for example, he hasn't featured much this year and people say he hasn't improved, but he was featured enough. He did 4 different events, he is one of the oldest running casters, one of the most recognizable casters out there, there are several good reasons why he should be there. On the other side of the fence there are several reasons why he shouldn't be there as well.
So its a tough job, can they invite 40 different casters/personalities? That is 40 different paid tickets, paid hotel rooms, paid transport, etc...
You include all the players, the workshop creators, the VIP, the already big list of about 20 different personalities and you have hundreds and hundreds of people you have to manage and pay everything for.
I think purely in financial terms they can invite 40 people instead of 20, but then there is the management, there is the working hours and stages, what games are they going to cast, do you move people for every different games so everyone can get screen time, etc...?
I think the way International was set up was a good and a bad thing. Since its by far the biggest tournament in the year in the world compared to ALL other game tournaments, not even LOL major tournament can compare to it, its basically a do or die for players and casters.
We've seen the issues with teams where they just disband after failing to qualify for TI because getting in the money places for TI gives you more money than actually winning medium sized tournaments.
Unless you are winning a big 200k dollar tournament and getting 100k for first place and are able to consistently win at least 3-4 tournaments per year, then just getting into the money slots at TI is more valuable!
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LD, my MMR is 5700 can I become a caster?
Haha, of course MMR has no bearing on one's potential to be a good caster. I despise it how even pro players who should act "professionally" can pick on casters who have low skill within the game but are actually very good at entertaining viewers. Analytical casters should be judged differently of course, but even they can have good game knowledge without having the proof of grinding to the top of the rankings.
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You would think that part of this problem will be alleviated now that we have majors. In the past if you didn't make the cut for TI then you to wait a whole year before another opportunity of similar calibre. Now with the majors you will get 3 more opportunities to work a Valve event each year.
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this is a much better blog than an EE blog
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So its a tough job, can they invite 40 different casters/personalities? That is 40 different paid tickets, paid hotel rooms, paid transport, etc...
Lol you have no idea how companies run huh.
A company can easily fly you to their head-quaters to do interview, the likes of google / microsoft does so a hundred times a day on regular basis, even a small company can often afford flight / room for 2, 3 days while inviting promising candidates.
Valve, once a year, 40 plane tickets... that's basically nail clipping worth of money to them. They can easily afford it. The suggestion by LD is spot on. You need to give people who put in real efforts and known contributions a consultation prize. Really 40ish free tickets, maybe 10 VIP 30 non-VIP would even be good.
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Not like there is much of a choice of casters anyway .
There will be the annoying bunch along with the good ones ... and that cant be helped .
Hopefully casters this year figured out basic game mechanics atleast .
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The questions that can be asked is, should/is it Valves job to invite all the important community figures?
I think not, but i can see how others might think diffrent about this.
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This is pretty much just a continuation of TI being the be all and end all dream destroyer. Hopefully the Major system (as flawed as ppl are flaming it to be) evens out the curve for players and casters alike.
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LD, I follow you starting from where you cast videos from your crappy apartment under a white fluorescent lamp. It is good to see you keep your honest heart and it was a good and sad read at the same time. I wish Valve to hear your words and re-evaluate the invites.
I couldn't see any fairness of inviting Pyrion and not inviting those guys work their asses off.
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So yeah, I agree with LD that some people are left out in the cold! But I would like to add, that some other people are getting their invites as if someone at Valve forgot to turn off the auto-attack in time.
Every single event I hope we dont have to bear Toby casting. Unfortunately, Valve still believe he is good at what he does. And yes, the boy can scream. But he has a very mediocore understanding of the game, is never really on top of the current meta or the impact patches have on playstyle or itemization. Most of the time it feels like he stopped really caring about the game (and anybody that is not on a T1 Western team for that matter) some time around TI2-3... I don't want to discredit what he has done for the scene, but compared to effort some other people are putting in to this, I think it's a shame that he is taking someone else's spot.
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ODPixel is like Tobi in its final form  ... Better, stronger, faster.
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Would a fan redemption vote ala teams in the Summit help? It would create a structured way to see some love, at the very least.
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I hate casters who are too technical and analyze every situation as if all viewers are dota 2 veterans. I like simple hypy casters. Like tobywan or xyclopz, its always fun to watch them, doesn't matter if game sucks or not.
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On June 29 2015 14:20 evanthebouncy! wrote:Show nested quote +
So its a tough job, can they invite 40 different casters/personalities? That is 40 different paid tickets, paid hotel rooms, paid transport, etc...
Lol you have no idea how companies run huh. A company can easily fly you to their head-quaters to do interview, the likes of google / microsoft does so a hundred times a day on regular basis, even a small company can often afford flight / room for 2, 3 days while inviting promising candidates. Valve, once a year, 40 plane tickets... that's basically nail clipping worth of money to them. They can easily afford it. The suggestion by LD is spot on. You need to give people who put in real efforts and known contributions a consultation prize. Really 40ish free tickets, maybe 10 VIP 30 non-VIP would even be good.
What are you a 5yo child? Do you have focus deficiency?
This is what I wrote like 1 line down, but we have to have "people" like you who just can't comprehend more than 1 line of words!
I think purely in financial terms they can invite 40 people instead of 20, but then there is the management, there is the working hours and stages, what games are they going to cast, do you move people for every different games so everyone can get screen time, etc...?
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EPT
