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I was wondering. There are so many American casters or casters that have a certain kind of English. I'm impressed with their articulation and speed. But I always wondered. Dont get people annoyed with the more or less same kind of casting?
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Like in my mother country, the casting of stuff like football matches and even the synchronization of movies from English into our language often falls flat. Be it because they look for voice actors that all sound similar or just use the same phrases again, again and again. It is unbearable at times, which doesnt mean that the people dont make the best job possible or even stellar quality, it just is kind of a pain to hear it.
Even though i can hear different accents in the different casters, they feel also very similar for different reasons.
Of course, not all are professional and many try to cast fast to fill the void. But iam not talking necessary about the professionalism of our casters, but how
it brings some questions to my head about the caster role.
Like, of course its role seems to be defined by explaining stuff, guiding the viewers through what they see, build a emotional connection to the audience, hype stuff up, put doubts or hope. They have qualities like the narrator, i would deduce.
Nonetheless, it seems they are an essential part of the entertainment product/industry, even for the smaller communities of video games.
Casting is not easy. I mean, in earlier days, we even had people who were in the cinema explaining to the audience what was happening on screen as a job. A thing that vanished, I would guess because people understood the cinematic language with time and movies got their own voice-over, etc.
So will the caster also disappear from Starcraft Entertainment? Are they even necessary in a somewhat informed community?
Do we really need some human stating the obvious or building some narrative for us to enjoy a product, or do we enjoy it more because of it?
For whom are these casted games anyway? I mean, sure, maybe the caster can give you some inside,
the players can get some nice good feelings being casted, maybe build a community that sustains the investment into game. Get some nostalgia or just pass some time or something to look for, some fulfillment for the people involved to be happy in life,etc.
I would think that playing the game together would be "the fulfillment" for the community as they would share the passion, time investment, feeling, etc. of the game, etc. and this would lead to the development of "scene"->viewing->casing->product, etc.
Be it for people that dont have time to play but want to pass by and be with the community they have been part of for so long, people that are alone, people that dont want to play but still want to do something around the game, people that cant play but make their part,etc.
So, iam not the biggest fan of the overwhelming homophone caster pool in English.
Maybe they are not as similar sounding as i think. That is why i would love to know how other people feel and think about this topic.
Personally, I would instruct all casted tournaments to remove their standardized casters; otherwise, i just cant support them without feeling bad. But maybe it is enough to just mention it and after doing a little bit for it or have a fix for it, it will not seem as big of a problem...
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And your home country is...?
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United States10380 Posts
So will the caster also disappear from Starcraft Entertainment? Are they even necessary in a somewhat informed community?
Do we really need some human stating the obvious or building some narrative for us to enjoy a product, or do we enjoy it more because of it?
Commentary is a stable part of every entertainment sport/esport that we watch. It's not fun just listening to the unit sounds and game music. Casters add an extra layer of entertainment to the game. Of course, bad casters detract from that, but I would say that even casters in other languages lend some depth to the viewer's experience to build emotion, excitement, and energy. Even listening to Korea casters (as a non-Korean) is super enjoyable, because I can really feel the energy from them and it lends itself to my emotions while watching a game.
So, iam not the biggest fan of the overwhelming homophone caster pool in English.
Maybe they are not as similar sounding as i think. That is why i would love to know how other people feel and think about this topic.
Personally, I would instruct all casted tournaments to remove their standardized casters; otherwise, i just cant support them without feeling bad. But maybe it is enough to just mention it and after doing a little bit for it or have a fix for it, it will not seem as big of a problem...
If you don't like it, you can always listen on mute (shrug). Not sure what your "support" is other than simply watching a tournament and why you feel "bad" about it.
I will say that when I watch translations of Korean commentary, I do notice a distinct difference between the English and Korean style of commentary. Hell, even a big difference between watching commentators in the Premier League discuss football (Peter Drury as an example) compared to American counterparts. Non-American casters definitely speak with more abstract/artistic language, whereas American casters seem to be more focused simply on the action to generate excitement, but may not play with your emotions quite as much. That's something I think American casters can improve upon, and something I try to add to my own casting, but it's very difficult since the words and language isn't as free flowing compared to other languages. It needs to sound right too, it can't just be abstract/artistic for the sake of being so while making it grating on the listener's ears.
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I'll have to disagree with the premise that the casters we have sound/feel the same. In fact, at least for the time I'm around in BW, which now is maybe around 15 years, I feel like there has never been such a diverse casting line up (well, its still 95% white males, so the term diverse might be a bit of a stretch, but still).
We have some top foreign players casting and bringing a lot of knowledge to the table (eon and nyoken are the biggest ones, but also machine and razz, somtimes bonyth etc.). And in this group alone there are a lot of differences between the casters: Nyoken can be very hype, eon critical or amazed by the skill displayed. Hell, we even have/had Scan bringing a whole new level of insight to the game casts, at least for me.
Then we have Artosis/Tasteless, don't think I need to say much there. But also Diggity, Saiyan and Xun, Qikz, FlashFTW (not casting anymore) and many other I forgot. And at least for all the ones listed I can point out quite specific styles for all of them. Diggity has a very clear and presenter-like style, Saiyan can tell nice storylines over the tournaments he casts and the players performance in it while being a bit goofy together with Xun, but always with a focus on the game if it is needed. Nyoken can be relied upon to point out the 3 seconds difference in gas timing etc.
At least to me, they all feel very different/distinct and I appreciate the flavour the all bring to the casts they are in.
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United States10380 Posts
On January 10 2024 05:22 Holint_Casazr wrote:
I'll have to disagree with the premise that the casters we have sound/feel the same. In fact, at least for the time I'm around in BW, which now is maybe around 15 years, I feel like there has never been such a diverse casting line up (well, its still 95% white males, so the term diverse might be a bit of a stretch, but still).
We have some top foreign players casting and bringing a lot of knowledge to the table (eon and nyoken are the biggest ones, but also machine and razz, somtimes bonyth etc.). And in this group alone there are a lot of differences between the casters: Nyoken can be very hype, eon critical or amazed by the skill displayed. Hell, we even have/had Scan bringing a whole new level of insight to the game casts, at least for me.
Then we have Artosis/Tasteless, don't think I need to say much there. But also Diggity, Saiyan and Xun, Qikz, FlashFTW (not casting anymore) and many other I forgot. And at least for all the ones listed I can point out quite specific styles for all of them. Diggity has a very clear and presenter-like style, Saiyan can tell nice storylines over the tournaments he casts and the players performance in it while being a bit goofy together with Xun, but always with a focus on the game if it is needed. Nyoken can be relied upon to point out the 3 seconds difference in gas timing etc.
At least to me, they all feel very different/distinct and I appreciate the flavour the all bring to the casts they are in.
I'd agree with this. Even in the early days of casting with Violetak being the main channel for English casting, Diggity, Cholera, Rise, Klazart, Moletrap, NuketheStars all had their own cadence and rhythm and style. Diggity and Nuke were quite calm, Cholera and Rise were quite animated, Klazart was on coke half the time with 500 words per minute, Moletrap felt very middle of the road. It was a great time listening to their duos and triples.
I can say for a fact that casting with Scan for a few StarCast games was some of the most enjoyable casting I've ever done, hearing his analysis was outstanding and gave me a new sense of appreciation for how a pro player views the game.
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EPT
