UPDATE: They have updated their main post to state where to send your VOD links. The address is gsl [AT] gomtv [DOT] com. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO APPLY FOR THIS JOB send it to that address and that address only.
Seems to me like GSL needs a few more English casters and I guess for all those that are casting right now and have some time to travel to Korea, this would be the thing to go for!
Some key points include:
Will only pay the salary (means you have to cover your own air fare and lodging)
You can apply by submitted a VOD with you casting (can be a dual commentary)
You can most likely get a hold of Artosis to help arrange lodging and getting to know the land.
The commentary link can be sent to "support [AT] gomtv [DOT] net" since it looks like they don't have a separate thread dedicated to it at the moment.
For those who are afraid they are replacing Tastosis, they aren't. Tastosis will be casting S Class matches and the new recruits will be casting mainly the A Class matches.
Hello
At the moment GSL is divided into Code A and Code S. We are looking for additional English caster/commentators who wish to work for GSL, broadcasted in over 180 nations all around the world. Tasteless and Artosis are doing great job and we are looking for new talented people to help them out to make GSL more entertaining.
Qualification : Must be able to stay in Korea. Will be cast/commentating Code A matches. Must be able to acquire Working Visa in Korea.
Recruitment period : From January 10th ~ until hired. Application : Cast/Commentate a Starcraft2 game of your choice, save it as a VOD and send us a link. All applicants will be judged through the VODs. Number of people : You may cast/commentate alone or do it with your friend as duo.
Note that Gretech will not compensate for any additional cost(flight, lodging) apart from the salary. Therefore, someone already living in Korea will be preferred.
Wow, this is pretty awesome! It's times like this when I really wish Nuke, Cholera, Moletrap, or Diggity would move to Korea. I hope HD and Husky don't get it. I like them and watch lots of their VODs, but prefer others for this stuff.
I would love to do this. Although these things called genes, environments and upbringing is making it hard for me to have the guts to even apply. I think it's great that more get the opportunity to work with the game we all love
Yah this should be good for them, Artosis and Tasteless seemed to be hinting that they were burned out a little bit, saying that they got 1 day off in 14 days lol. There are so many games going atm so it's good for them.
But as a personal preference I would rather them cast everything :D
It was pretty damn scary the last time that GSL hired english commentators while nick and dan were at blizzcon....I sure hope they put more consideration into casters this time ;o
This is amazing, I'd love to hear some variety in casters. Tastosis is doing fine, but you can hear they get burned out on enthusiasm for some matches in their voice.
It'd be nice to see fresh faces like TB/Torch/IdrA/dApollo commentating.
Hmmm, the logical choice would be to choose someone already familiar to the foreign SC2 scene, because I have a feeling most fans will go "wtf who is this dude he ain't no pro" if the GSL hire some unknown (who doesn't have a brag-worthy amount of points).
I'd try out but I'm afraid that you'd all start bashing me for "being a mid diamond noob" and "not being Tastosis" :p
Thats pretty interesting and a great opportunity for all those people who have been casting recently. I assume all the big name casters will give it a try, but it seems like it be pretty hard to get if your not already living in Korea.Still seems like everyone should try just for the heck of it if you like casting. It also be interesting to see some of the player/caster try like incontrol.
I'd love to see jason lee, but i doubt he'd apply seeing as he works for arriang or whatever. Still think he was the best play by play commentator for sc2 that i've seen, just needed a bit of knowledge about the game and would've been amazing
TotalBiscuit would be soo good! Also very possibly someone like Incontrol if he already is in Korea, however a big time investment, makes money atleast.
Incontrol casting for GOM is like trying to tame a lion. Can you imagine all the stuff he wouldn't be able to say anymore that he normally does? The beast within will eventually break free and he'll go on a rant about jews and horses in some stereotypical Korean accent and a it'll prob end with him biting the throat of some audience member or GOM employee.
My 2 picks would personally be Day[9] and InControl... InControl maybe, but I think Day[9] has other aspirations beyond casting... since he's doing that whole wacky college thing and all >__>
On January 11 2011 16:34 DONTPANIC wrote: I highly doubt the salary would be high enough for Husky to move there for. Does anyone know what it would pay? My guess is $25-30k
For 2 hours of work a day on low profile matches for a foreign web stream? ahahahahaha
On January 11 2011 16:34 DONTPANIC wrote: I highly doubt the salary would be high enough for Husky to move there for. Does anyone know what it would pay? My guess is $25-30k
I really can't see any current foreign casters realistically going over there at this point. Many seem to be rooted deeply into the western SC2 scene and imperative to the growth here.
On January 11 2011 16:49 shindigs wrote: I really can't see any current foreign casters realistically going over there at this point. Many seem to be rooted deeply into the western SC2 scene and imperative to the growth here.
Yes, unless the pay is really good (or could "potentially" be good; that is if GSL becomes huge later on.
On January 11 2011 16:49 shindigs wrote: I really can't see any current foreign casters realistically going over there at this point. Many seem to be rooted deeply into the western SC2 scene and imperative to the growth here.
Yeh there is no way any of the established casters would head over, but this way we get to see some new talent.
Well I thought I was shooting low!! Guess I'll keep my day job. If they can pay the players a collective $180000 a month (or so??) why wouldnt the casters be able to make 3-4k a month?
As a loyal GOM viewer, my 2 cents: +1 for DJ Wheat +1 for Husky (we need a SC II Dick Vitale, plus he could bring a lot of eyes) 0 for Day[9] (+1 if he changes his style a bit to be a tad less preachy (to the the Tastetosis level)) -1 for Jason Lee (My likelihood of watching the code A matches, which already low, would probably move to 0 in this case). -1 for HD (He has a great voice, seems like a great guy, but I cant watch him because I don't trust what he says.)
Haven't heard a lot of casting by some of the other names being thrown around. I hope whoever it is brings some nice variety to the team. I love Tastetosis, but there isn't a lot compelling me to tune into the code A matches right now.
Very cool that they're expanding! I plan on tossing my hat in the ring, we'll see what happens... but either way it's great that they're doing well enough to bring in more people..
I don't understand why people keep suggesting Day9. He would only be casting code A matches and he wants to bring E-Sports to the west. It would also completely interrupt his own daily he puts out. Less Tasteless and Artosis is pretty worrisome though. A lot of the entertainment from the GSL comes from the commentating. This would also mean they wouldn't be commentating the new foreigners that arrive to compete in code A. I hope at the very least that Tasteless and Artosis will be commentating the team league though in addition to code S.
On January 11 2011 16:41 Elevators wrote: My 2 picks would personally be Day[9] and InControl... InControl maybe, but I think Day[9] has other aspirations beyond casting... since he's doing that whole wacky college thing and all >__>
And then who will cover tournaments in USandA and Europe?
Oh wow. What is the likelihood, in all actuality, of Day[9] actually being able to, or wanting to go over and cast games in Korea? I'm curious to hear people's opinions.
And in the first season GSL Artosis casted and played...
Why not iNcontroL? I'd watch him.
And as for Day9- that'd be epic. But I think I'd almost prefer if he continues to do all these NAm and Euro tournaments to promote SC2 in the West. We need to keep our e-sport missionary amongst the unreached people groups.
iNcontrol, he is eloquent, intelligent, funny and knows the game inside out. I can't imagine anyone being more fit for the role, especially with the EG house being set up in SK.
There are a lot of great casters out there, but most of them don't know the game well enough to be on their own. People like DJ Wheat and TotalBiscuit I have a great deal of respect for and are obviously very talented casters, but they need to be with someone like iNcontrol who knows the game.
I'm already getting ready to send GOM emails to nag them into hiring him.
On January 11 2011 16:20 masterbreti wrote: as long as its not HD or husky,otherwise i don't care if it was a panda who had a habit of eating peoples noses.
i would like to see torch cast auctally, maybe torch and ret, maybe huk?
Hd/ Husky would bring a a LOT of fans to the GSL however xD
On January 11 2011 16:20 masterbreti wrote: as long as its not HD or husky,otherwise i don't care if it was a panda who had a habit of eating peoples noses.
i would like to see torch cast auctally, maybe torch and ret, maybe huk?
Hd/ Husky would bring a a LOT of fans to the GSL however xD
i honestly wouldn't care, i would skip code A if he gets hired, the guy just strikes me as idoit. he appeales to the 5 year olds of sc2. i have a noob friend who knows husky, but does not know the god of starcraft and the thoughthammer, day9
This is interesting, but somehow I can't think of anyone I'd really want to go. I think it's great to have Day free to cover all the non-Korean events. Inc is a thought, but I haven't really heard enough commentary from him to judge. I love TotalBiscuit, but I think his style of commentary lends itself more to non-serious solo casts.
The rest... we have some decent commentators, but none that I'd be really looking forward to seeing instead of Tasteless and Artosis, even though I get tired of them at times.
The only person who immediately springs to mind is incontrol.
He is an incredible caster, has mentioned before that he wants to do it more often and there is a chance that he will soon be joining the EG house in Korea. Couldn't be more convenient.
He seems perfect, assuming that he is willing to go of course.
Edit: I don't know why people are suggesting Day9. Yes he would do an amazing job but he has been making it pretty clear recently that his ambition is to further esports in the west. I think the chances of him moving to Korea are slim to none.
Total Biscuit would also do a great job but would he want to do it? I don't know much about him, is he in a position where he would be able to move to Korea? Would he even want to? He only got involved with the SC2 scene fairly recently I believe, seems like a big commitment to make. If he was willing it would be awesome of course.
Edit#2: Completely forgot about Torch. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he were to get the job, he is already on location after all. He would be an excellent choice.
On January 11 2011 16:20 masterbreti wrote: as long as its not HD or husky,otherwise i don't care if it was a panda who had a habit of eating peoples noses.
i would like to see torch cast auctally, maybe torch and ret, maybe huk?
Hd/ Husky would bring a a LOT of fans to the GSL however xD
i honestly wouldn't care, i would skip code A if he gets hired, the guy just strikes me as idoit. he appeales to the 5 year olds of sc2. i have a noob friend who knows husky, but does not know the god of starcraft and the thoughthammer, day9
I used to be like your friend, and now I love Day[9]. If your friend loves SC2 he will, in time, learn to love all of the other "obscure" casters of SC2 (use the word obscure because Husky/HD are the face of SC2 commenting, whether you like it or not, to the outside world, i.e. not TL)
On January 11 2011 15:56 KashmirAZ wrote: Gracken seems like a good choice.
Why would idra waste his time commentating full time -_- think before you post
I don't think my post was that unintelligent, the Code A tourney doesn't seem like it would take a lot of time first of all. Secondly Idra already lives there so has all that squared away, thirdly I know its atleast a 99% chance he will not but I know I am not the only one who enjoyed his brief moment in the spotlight as a caster, it was more of a fantasy proposal on my behalf.
if they pick jason lee at least that means i have more free time since there is no way i will ever watch code a games which are terrible enough already if they add a terrible commentator like him
omg I totally forgot about Incontrol and TorcH >< If they read this forgive me :D I considered them players and not casters like HD/Husky or day9.
Incontrol said he'd cast if he was given the chance and Torch is really well spoken and asks the right questions while commentating.
But Incontrol might not go because of uncontrollable? and Torch is already in Korea so PLZ if they read this apply :D
For everyone wondering about incontrol not able to curse like he normally does. In the gsl qualifier videos he was quite subtle when he's trying to flame someone SO GOGO INC!
On January 11 2011 16:20 masterbreti wrote: as long as its not HD or husky,otherwise i don't care if it was a panda who had a habit of eating peoples noses.
i would like to see torch cast auctally, maybe torch and ret, maybe huk?
Hd/ Husky would bring a a LOT of fans to the GSL however xD
i honestly wouldn't care, i would skip code A if he gets hired, the guy just strikes me as idoit. he appeales to the 5 year olds of sc2. i have a noob friend who knows husky, but does not know the god of starcraft and the thoughthammer, day9
I used to be like your friend, and now I love Day[9]. If your friend loves SC2 he will, in time, learn to love all of the other "obscure" casters of SC2 (use the word obscure because Husky/HD are the face of SC2 commenting, whether you like it or not, to the outside world, i.e. not TL)
you made me a sad panda with your statement, i am deeply disturbed by your comments and i hope to god (day[9]) they are wrong. i think having those poeple cast would be like a travesty upon starcraft 2 and the people will leave (and go back to bw) over the horrid commentating of husky or hd
Stop suggesting Day[9] no way he's going to move over to korea, especially to play second fiddle to his brother He's too in trenched over here. Total biscuit is a good suggestion, not the most analytical of casters, but the guy makes me laugh constantly, i watch loads of his video's even if im not interested in the content purely for his commentating style. HD/Husky can't see it, especially as they have the game station thing going on (but then so does TB i guess)
I thought Jason Lee did well that week he covered.
Incontrol and Day9 would be nice but it would never happen.
Realistically Torch would be a good choice so would Totalbiscuit and I hope to god Carefoot doesn't apply otherwise it could make for some very interesting situations in the GOM studies between him and the Tastosis thats if he is still in South Korea.
Out of casters I can name off the top of my head...
People I don't want to see -
HD & Husky - I realize some people like them, but I simply don't think their style is appropriate for GSL. They don't have the extremely in-depth analytical sense that Artosis/Tasteless do. This isn't to say that Tasteless/Artosis is perfect by any means, but simply that HDH caters to a different fanbase than I think a monthly tournament would.
Jason Lee & TheGunRun - They both seem to have a bit of a Hollywood voice in them, if you ask me, as well as a lack of.. we'll say practice, to be nice. They certainly have much room for improvement, and I'm not sure I want to pay for a premium ticket if the new casters arent somewhat prepared and experienced. I'm already considering not buying it with less Tasteless/Artosis as it is.
Idra - Lets be honest. We all love him, but does he really have any kind of shoutcaster power within him? When he was co-casting with Jason Lee, he barely even spoke up. It's nice to have him as a guest commentator of sorts, to provide some kind of insight on specific games perhaps, but as a caster? This is besides the fact that I assume he's probably more interested in practicing, but I could be wrong.
Xecutor? - Whoever that other guy that casted with Jason Lee was. He couldn't get a word in, but didn't even try. I guess its better to say that his potential is unproven, which is a good enough reason for me to want to consider someone more experienced.
Totalbiscuit - Never really grew on me as a caster. An entertainer, maybe.
Ragequit.TV - I dont know, they just never really grew on me. Maybe I havent given them enough of a chance, but when I ask myself "Is there better choices?" I can name more than enough I'd rather see. This isn't meant to be an insult, just that I, personally, am not fond of them.
The Solemn Players/Casters - People like orb, Trump, and otherwise. People who stream their shoutcasting but have never really had crowd-level shoutcasting experience. This isn't to say I don't enjoy listening to them, but their styles have yet to be proven on a larger scale, in my opinion. Also, they probably have better things going for them anyway.
People I would like to see (but probably won't) -
djWHEAT - Most of us can agree that he is awesome, especially when duo'd with Day9 (havent really listened to him/chill so no idea). The problem I forsee is that, the last time he took an esports-related job, it shattered before his eyes. I'd love to see him cast, but I don't forsee him packing himself and his entire family up to Korea, to likely earn less money than he does now, just so that he can cast the GSL.
Day9 - Obvious choice. However, besides the fact that he's still in school aside and has stated that he intends to finish it, he's also been dedicating himself to growing eSports in America. I doubt we will see that goal thrown aside for a <20k a year job.
JP - Busy with MLG, and likely making more money doing so than the GSL would give (regardless to the cost of living being lower.) Also, JP shines best when duo'd with people like Day9/Wheat.
People I think are more realistic for the job and (hopefully) interested -
Some IccupTV Casting Duo - Maybe Raelcun and someone else. Not only do they have the experience, but maybe iccup will somehow influence GSL to adopt some new maps. Yes, I know they are looking at new maps already, but the more the merrier. No idea on whether they hold any interest in this, tough.
Incontrol - I love him, but I get the impression (could be wrong) that he's entirely focused on being a progamer, not a shoutcaster. While I definitely don't know from experience, I know that Tasteless/Artosis always complain that they don't have the time for sufficient practicing while casting. With new casters, they'd be splitting the time so that might change, but then you have to consider Gosucoaching and whether or not he'd continue that. However, if he's going to the to-be EG house in Korea anyway, maybe he'd consider such a job. I'd certainly love to watch it.
Torch - I'd say he still has a lot of room to improve, but I think if anyone can do it with little casting experience, he'd be the one I'm most interested in seeing.
Superdanielman! - Why has nobody suggested him? q_q
24/7 Tasteless/Artosis? - Embrace it! Who needs days off, pshaw.
Analysts - More than anything, I want people to be proper analysts. They need to be entertaining and have a lot of personality, as well, but there are not many people out there that I consider to hold the best of both worlds. I hope the goal is to hire good commentators, not to hire mediocre ones for the sole purpose of giving tasteless/artosis a day off or to bring in a lot of fans (HDH.)
It's your only chance Rotti to follow your beloved DeMuslim to South Korea otherwise you risk losing him forever because long distance relationsship just wouldnt work!!
In all seriousness, Rotterdam/DeMuslim has the same vibe as Tastosis ( best friend - bro love- funny duo ) and i think they would hold their own. The new caster will get constantly compared with Tastosis and that's such a heavy pressure on their shoulder. Rotterdam/DeMuslim seems like confident and funny enough guys to be able to handle those. Moreover, they have their own set of fanbase which will bring even more people to watch GSL
And Rotterdamn is used to flying to China to cast LANs and what not. Both of them are pro wc3 players who are well travelled and thus won't have trouble adjusting. Would love to see this happen! And it will be a nice contrast to have an ex-wc3 duo. So in Tastosis cast they can bash on wc3 players for always all-in ning and then Rotti/DeMu can bash the BW players for having no micro. All in good fun of course.
InControl wouldnt be a bad choice either as i said earlier in my post.
Please make sure there decent players i don't want to hear commentators that are horrible, hate when commentators are ignorant of simple things, if we want e-sports to be taken seriously we need to make sure commentators are qualified not some platinum casting, other sports always have past professionals casting big events.
I definitely think a serious salary will have to be offered in order to cause an American to move to Korea. The flight and lodging alone will be so expensive that a measly $20K will not allow you to survive. Comfortably, at least.
Anyway, I would not want to have a popular name like HD, Husky, Wheat, Day[9], etc. In my opinion its better to keep those people with us so we can bring professional SC2 domestic, and have another professional broadcaster do the job. The knowledge of SC2 helps, but being a professional broadcaster has its talents and skills that are only learnt at school.
IMO, have commentators like Jeon Yong Jun and Um Jae Kyung. Korean commentators who can speak perfect English will definitely win me over. The passion and culture of SC is embedded into them since childhood- they have superior flare over any other commentators. We just need to find English speaking ones, or send them to school to learn English
They did say they prefer someone already in Korea so i dont think they will offer THAT much especially since they repeatedly point out the fact that they won't pay for lodging and airfare.
I don't think GOM has the budget to pay such a premium salary for casters.
On January 11 2011 17:48 Gingerninja wrote: Stop suggesting Day[9] no way he's going to move over to korea, especially to play second fiddle to his brother He's too in trenched over here. Total biscuit is a good suggestion, not the most analytical of casters, but the guy makes me laugh constantly, i watch loads of his video's even if im not interested in the content purely for his commentating style. HD/Husky can't see it, especially as they have the game station thing going on (but then so does TB i guess)
I thought Jason Lee did well that week he covered.
Yeh exactly, why would Day9 move to Korea when he currently casts every US tourny and gets flown around the world for various other ones?
I think Incontrol/DeMuslim is likely, we might nearly have a EG commentary monopoly.
I would love to see something like the SC2GG commentator Idol again but for SC2 not only for this as a job application but also generally to find some new cool commentators out there or for more fun, check 13:50 onward :D
Just having like Chill, Day9 and Husky manage this in collaboration with GOM TV and the winner gets the position of becoming a pro commentator in Korea. Would cause a huge buzz around all of the community, some great entertainment for us and the growth of some great new commentators out there.
it's fun to speculate which caster you'd like to see in the gsl but realistically a lot of the famous casters like day9 and djwheat already have obligations at home and probably won't be moving to korea for a modest salary
On January 11 2011 16:34 DONTPANIC wrote: I highly doubt the salary would be high enough for Husky to move there for. Does anyone know what it would pay? My guess is $25-30k
On January 11 2011 16:34 DONTPANIC wrote: I highly doubt the salary would be high enough for Husky to move there for. Does anyone know what it would pay? My guess is $25-30k
I would guess way less.
3k/month
rekrul knows all?
That's still a decent amount of money for casting a few hours a day? I really hope it's going to be inc and torch ! inc can then get paid for casting AND he can participate to qualify for GSL :> double win for him :D
Where is the love for Rise?? Dude, he is like the sexiest man ever, not to mention hilarious and appealing to the casual gamers. A Rise+Cholera duo would be amazing.
chemistry between 2 casters would be DJWheat / Day 9 (doubt they would do it, move to korea when they are big on the USA Esports) .. Husky AND HD ONLY 1's LEFT OFF TO KOREA FOR THOSE 2
I hope the person who wins this realises how lucky they are. This is a dream job for so many people on this website and it'll be a phenomenal experience.
My vote goes to InControl. He just has an amazing sense of dry humor and already has experience doing small casting gigs on the side. Plus, he already lives in Korea in the first place. I'm sure he'd be able to fit in ~2-3 hours a day doing casting while still being a full time player.
He was only a backup commentator alongside Jason Lee for a couple of days, but Assem did an amazing job. If he's still in Korea, then I'd love to see him apply.
He would be great in play by play analyse (like Jason Lee) but then he would be have to paired with some one very knowledgable with all the strategy ... Only one i think who would do it would be Day9... but he CANNOT go there (still i would like to see them cast together and see Day9 dieing laughing)... So who for comentator would be if caster would be TotalBiscuit
On January 11 2011 16:05 Wolf wrote: Going to apply. I'm so excited.
You were saying on your stream only a couple days ago that it is your dream to cast for GOM
I'm rooting for you, glgl !
Yeah i caught that as well. I remember you being speaking so enthusiastically about it. I'm rooting for you as well!
Thanks guys! My biggest issue is that depending on when they want me, I'm going to maybe have to cancel classes and sublet my apartment. It'll be a big challenge but.. One I'll try to overcome. Money is always the problem.
Torch & Wolf would be my preferences. Both seem capable and with practise will only get better. I already like Wolf's casting during the TL Opens so I really hope he gets it. And Torch is already living there (making things a lot easier) and seemed pretty decent the few times I heard him.
On January 11 2011 15:55 Sadistx wrote: This is amazing, I'd love to hear some variety in casters. Tastosis is doing fine, but you can hear they get burned out on enthusiasm for some matches in their voice.
It'd be nice to see fresh faces like TB/Torch/IdrA/dApollo commentating.
i dont agree with you on any of the casters exept idra. I would love to here idra start flaming on some players who are godawful xD
good luck to all TLers who are comitting to applying!
On a side note i think that Gom should give priority to ppl who already have precedence working in Korea/ already have a reason to be staying there, since it wouldn't be right imo to have ppl settle in Korea just for this job(for their own good) with no 'backup plan', since its not exactly a 100% secure job (you know what i mean, the gsl is still in testing grounds atm...)
Be realistic. Totalbiscuit is hilarious and I love watching his casting, but he wouldn't add any insight. He'd be an awful match for GSL. Me, I don't think I can even afford a move like that. I really don't see anyone in Europe/US suited for this, except;
Realistically, Rotterdam/DeMuslim are the single best option we could wish for by far, especially with DeMu going out there already. Not just that, but I think DeMu is the most qualified commentator in Europe now regardless. Incontrol's the only other option I'd consider viable.
If they get 2 casters they dont both have to be pros. It would be good to have 2 pros, but I prefer a entertaining and fluent cast to a knowledgeable boring cast.
No need to explain this. You've got one professional player and longtime member of the community (not to mention a SOTG podcast member), and one excellent caster who happens to be a newer face to the community but who also turned a lot of noobs' attention to professional starcraft for the first time. HD also easily has the game knowledge required to fill in tasteless-esque casting spot.
Players like Torch, Demuslim, and Idra: I would rather see continue to play fulltime (In Korea). All the great casters I didn't mention (from Chill to Day[9] to Diggity), I'd rather see you cast outside the GSL.
On January 11 2011 21:55 Ludwigvan wrote: If they get 2 casters they dont both have to be pros. It would be good to have 2 pros, but I prefer a entertaining and fluent cast to a knowledgeable boring cast.
Casting is about being multi-talented. There's pro's like DeMuslim that are awesome casters as well. Being entertaining but having very little insight is awful for a tournament like GSL.
I doubt anyone not already in Korea will get the job. Most of the SC2 online commentators have jobs paying probably a lot more than what I'd expect GSL will pay to these commentators.
Edit: I'd expect someone like that Carefoot guy or that Scottish (?) guy since both are already there and seem to have some connection to GSL already (as regular live spectators) (yeah, even though they are not even SC2 youtube/online commentators).
On January 11 2011 22:31 lac29 wrote: I doubt anyone not already in Korea will get the job. Most of the SC2 online commentators have jobs paying probably a lot more than what I'd expect GSL will pay to these commentators.
Edit: I'd expect someone like that Carefoot guy or that Scottish (?) guy since both are already there and seem to have some connection to GSL already (as regular live spectators) (yeah, even though they are not even SC2 youtube/online commentators).
I agree kind of. But this isn't a "do it for the money" job ya know?
If someone's single and in a financially viable situation to do this and loved SC2 and esports as much as Tasteosis this would be a dream come true.
Husky may not be as informative or actually good at Starcraft as the others, but he is hysterical and by far the most entertaining caster IMHO. Also Husky can stim to several hundred words per minute which I can actually understand. Basically when listening to Husky you can tell he is really excited and really loves the game which makes it more entertaining even if he misses a drop here or there or fails to understand certain nuances as well as the other casters.
I have really come to enjoy Tastosis. I really think that hiring anyone else would really take away from the production. If anything maybe a second set of casters for code A? I just really enjoy their style and knowledge of the players/game.
day has more important stuff to do, cant stand hd. husky would be good for pure entertainment value, and obviously gom has no problem with that seeing as they employ both day and artosis.
Bring back superdanielman and team him up with lil susie and you have a duo that is both attractive and entertaining.
On January 11 2011 17:51 Nokarot wrote: Incontrol - I love him, but I get the impression (could be wrong) that he's entirely focused on being a progamer, not a shoutcaster. While I definitely don't know from experience, I know that Tasteless/Artosis always complain that they don't have the time for sufficient practicing while casting. With new casters, they'd be splitting the time so that might change, but then you have to consider Gosucoaching and whether or not he'd continue that. However, if he's going to the to-be EG house in Korea anyway, maybe he'd consider such a job. I'd certainly love to watch it.)
Damn I hope it's not going to be that retarded Huskystarcraft guy, he is such a mongoloid...
Incontrol however would be so great. Not only is he very knowledgable, but also he has 7 buckets full of charisma. The Western Community loves him, his casts are entertaining and clever and he knows the scene very well.
Also, being in the same team as Tasteless should give him kind of an edge over the competition.
On January 11 2011 23:42 fire_brand wrote: SUPERDANIELMAN!!!!!
SERIOUSLY!
day has more important stuff to do, cant stand hd. husky would be good for pure entertainment value, and obviously gom has no problem with that seeing as they employ both day and artosis.
Bring back superdanielman and team him up with lil susie and you have a duo that is both attractive and entertaining.
On January 11 2011 23:55 caruso wrote: Damn I hope it's not going to be that retarded Huskystarcraft guy, he is such a mongoloid...
Incontrol however would be so great. Not only is he very knowledgable, but also he has 7 buckets full of charisma. The Western Community loves him, his casts are entertaining and clever and he knows the scene very well.
Also, being in the same team as Tasteless should give him kind of an edge over the competition.
im sure GOM will talk with tastotis about this, and they will surely wont recomend hd & husky lol :D ( i hope :D )
People who are suggesting Day[9], djWheat, JP Chill, iNcontrol, IdrA, Ret, Huk or any other famous fulltimer really gotta think before writing. I dont think neither of these would like nor want to live in korea and cast full time.
Torch I dunno about, but he's a player as well so I cant see why he'd want to give up playtime just to cast.
On January 11 2011 23:06 meadbert wrote: Husky may not be as informative or actually good at Starcraft as the others, but he is hysterical and by far the most entertaining caster IMHO. Also Husky can stim to several hundred words per minute which I can actually understand. Basically when listening to Husky you can tell he is really excited and really loves the game which makes it more entertaining even if he misses a drop here or there or fails to understand certain nuances as well as the other casters.
I think the Husky/HD mix would work only if merged with Artosis and Tasteless. I think Tasteless/HD would have amazing flow together, and the chemistry (or potential lack there of) between Artosis and Husky would most likely be hilarious to see.
That being said, I would have a hard time voting in favour of breaking up the casting archon.
Not to mention: Husky thinks there are a lot of banelings in North America... in Korea there are SO MANY BAAAAAAANELINGS
Whatever they do I pray that they will never take HD or Husky.
HD has gone alittle better than he was before, but no he aint professional, misses alot on the minimap and just generally bad commentating.
And Husky, I dont know why people like him so much, I guess its his enegry?. I really dislike him, he is probably the worst caster I have ever seen and doesnt know anything about the game.
Day[9]... He know a hell of alot about the game and such. The thing I dislike with him though is that when he casts he explains things as if he is talking to noobs.
djWheat.. This guy is pretty horrible.. While he was casting with day[9] he was always asking Day[9] whats supposed to happen in the game. Like someone makes marauders then djWheat says "Oh marauders, what do you think the zerg will go? Roaches?" and then day[9] is like ".......no"
Those guys that I hope they could get is
TotalBiscuit for the entertainment dApollo for the insight InControl for a mix of both
I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.
On January 12 2011 00:10 Deekin[ wrote: Whatever they do I pray that they will never take HD or Husky.
HD has gone alittle better than he was before, but no he aint professional, misses alot on the minimap and just generally bad commentating.
And Husky, I dont know why people like him so much, I guess its his enegry?. I really dislike him, he is probably the worst caster I have ever seen and doesnt know anything about the game.
Day[9]... He know a hell of alot about the game and such. The thing I dislike with him though is that when he casts he explains things as if he is talking to noobs.
djWheat.. This guy is pretty horrible.. While he was casting with day[9] he was always asking Day[9] whats supposed to happen in the game. Like someone makes marauders then djWheat says "Oh marauders, what do you think the zerg will go? Roaches?" and then day[9] is like ".......no"
Those guys that I hope they could get is
TotalBiscuit for the entertainment dApollo for the insight InControl for a mix of both
I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.
I'm pretty sure there's more 'noobs' watching than tip top diamond players.
From what I've heard the only people I can stand to listen to from known casters are day9 & djwheat or day9 & dapollo. And I'm pretty sure Day9 isn't going to Korea. So that's that.
No HD, Husky, TotalBiscuit, InControl, JP, and no fucking superdanielman cause I don't speak korean so I have no clue what he is saying.
On January 12 2011 00:10 Deekin[ wrote: Whatever they do I pray that they will never take HD or Husky.
HD has gone alittle better than he was before, but no he aint professional, misses alot on the minimap and just generally bad commentating.
And Husky, I dont know why people like him so much, I guess its his enegry?. I really dislike him, he is probably the worst caster I have ever seen and doesnt know anything about the game.
Day[9]... He know a hell of alot about the game and such. The thing I dislike with him though is that when he casts he explains things as if he is talking to noobs.
djWheat.. This guy is pretty horrible.. While he was casting with day[9] he was always asking Day[9] whats supposed to happen in the game. Like someone makes marauders then djWheat says "Oh marauders, what do you think the zerg will go? Roaches?" and then day[9] is like ".......no"
Those guys that I hope they could get is
TotalBiscuit for the entertainment dApollo for the insight InControl for a mix of both
I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.
DApollo for insight? you are kidding me. he maybe the worst caster of all of them. He seriously lack of experiences. I would agree if you go with incontrol since he is a player/caster.
On January 11 2011 15:54 jalstar wrote: After watching SCReddit I want Diggity with TotalBiscuit.
Yes. TotalBiscuit was extremely entertaining at casting.
The lack in TotalBiscuit's cast was the analyzing part.. He only said exactly what was going on, instead of like what their strategies were etc. Artosis is a genious in this, as he keeps himself up to date on the current meta-game. I think you need to be pro player to really be an awesome commentator. No hard feelings toward TB though. My heart melted when he said he'd donate from his personal money to the winner of the reddit tournament lol.
Edit: Otherwise Incontrol man! He'd be Perfect for the job!
Let him cast next to apollo or husky.. Imagine the sight xD
For me the problem with TotalBiscuit is his constant shouting, which sometimes becomes too much for my poor, sensitive ears. Oh, and that his indeed-to-other-words-ratio is about 1:5.
On January 12 2011 00:10 Deekin[ wrote: Whatever they do I pray that they will never take HD or Husky.
HD has gone alittle better than he was before, but no he aint professional, misses alot on the minimap and just generally bad commentating.
And Husky, I dont know why people like him so much, I guess its his enegry?. I really dislike him, he is probably the worst caster I have ever seen and doesnt know anything about the game. Day[9]... He know a hell of alot about the game and such. The thing I dislike with him though is that when he casts he explains things as if he is talking to noobs.
djWheat.. This guy is pretty horrible.. While he was casting with day[9] he was always asking Day[9] whats supposed to happen in the game. Like someone makes marauders then djWheat says "Oh marauders, what do you think the zerg will go? Roaches?" and then day[9] is like ".......no"
Those guys that I hope they could get is
TotalBiscuit for the entertainment dApollo for the insight InControl for a mix of both
I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.
He is. If there is anything wrong with Day9's casting it's his constant "Right! Right!" when his co-caster says something.
I would take a good guess that Torch will get at least 1 of the spots (assuming he wants to do it). Then probably another Westerner that's over there. Wow, what if Carefoot gets the job? oh boy...
On January 12 2011 00:10 Deekin[ wrote: Whatever they do I pray that they will never take HD or Husky.
HD has gone alittle better than he was before, but no he aint professional, misses alot on the minimap and just generally bad commentating.
And Husky, I dont know why people like him so much, I guess its his enegry?. I really dislike him, he is probably the worst caster I have ever seen and doesnt know anything about the game. Day[9]... He know a hell of alot about the game and such. The thing I dislike with him though is that when he casts he explains things as if he is talking to noobs.
djWheat.. This guy is pretty horrible.. While he was casting with day[9] he was always asking Day[9] whats supposed to happen in the game. Like someone makes marauders then djWheat says "Oh marauders, what do you think the zerg will go? Roaches?" and then day[9] is like ".......no"
Those guys that I hope they could get is
TotalBiscuit for the entertainment dApollo for the insight InControl for a mix of both
I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.
He is. If there is anything wrong with Day9's casting it's his constant "Right! Right!" when his co-caster says something.
I doubt TotalBiscuit is going to go since he has a lot of other things to do.
Regardless of what people may think, Husky is actually the best person to send simply due to his popularity. If they really want GSL, eSports etc. to get bigger, then Husky is the right person to get. However, I don't think Husky is going to apply anyway, due to the same reason as TotalBiscuit.
I think most casters have their daytime job, where they earn their living. So if anyone would consider moving to Korea, to cast for a living, I would imagine they would want to know the salary.
I think Torch would be great, at least as a Co-Commentator. Dont know whether he has time though. Wolf would be not bad either, he is definately "underrated".
And people should let go of names like day9 or Totalbiscuit. These guys have other things to do than casting GSL Code A 24/7.
On January 12 2011 00:10 Deekin[ wrote: Whatever they do I pray that they will never take HD or Husky.
HD has gone alittle better than he was before, but no he aint professional, misses alot on the minimap and just generally bad commentating.
And Husky, I dont know why people like him so much, I guess its his enegry?. I really dislike him, he is probably the worst caster I have ever seen and doesnt know anything about the game.
Day[9]... He know a hell of alot about the game and such. The thing I dislike with him though is that when he casts he explains things as if he is talking to noobs.
djWheat.. This guy is pretty horrible.. While he was casting with day[9] he was always asking Day[9] whats supposed to happen in the game. Like someone makes marauders then djWheat says "Oh marauders, what do you think the zerg will go? Roaches?" and then day[9] is like ".......no"
Those guys that I hope they could get is
TotalBiscuit for the entertainment dApollo for the insight InControl for a mix of both
I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.
Apollo for... insight?... I had a horrible feeling when watching him and day9. He did the exact same thing that you say djwheat does. Apollo probably doesn't know half of what HD does, and I still think HD knows too little. I don't see what roll apollo is fitting really. Imo he's not entertaining, he has no knowledge and not an astounding charisma. I hope he doesn't read the thread, but honestly get a pro gamer.
Ugh... this is a huge shot in the dark. On the one hand it is really, really cool to know that there'll be new faces over there. But on the other hand, if they pick the wrong ones, GSL might lose a lot of its appeal.
Active progamers like Ben or Geoff probably fail because they need all the time to practice and I'm not even sure Geoff would leave Anna behind like that.
Some casters fail because they simply lack strategic knowledge and insight of the game. And others won't have the ressources or wish to make such a move. And then you have people like Day[9] who'd never leave and abandon building our esports scene over here.
Wolf sounds like a promising candidate. I haven't heard anything about Diggity or Cholera in a long time, but I liked them, too. Husky would be a candidate here as well. His comentary is hilarious and that might just be what is needed to make Code A matches more entertaining.
I hope both of them go over there and get the job.
I think I'd support TheGunrun and Rotterdam as well!
Honestly, i would love to see TotalBiscuit do it. That man is awesome-o. But to be fair, I dont see any of the well-known casters over here going. Besides, we really need Day9, Wheat, husky, incontrol etc. to help build e-sports in the west.
I'd love to see Day9 of course, but ya...we need him over here stickin' to his dailies and casting a whole bunch of different tournaments and as was said, building the western E-sports scene.
I really like TotalBiscuit as a caster - that would be awesome, paired with incontrol - that'd be sweet
Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Best of luck to those who apply.
After watching SCReddit I want Diggity with TotalBiscuit.
While that certainly won't be happening in Korea, we're already talking about co-commentary in the future.
[quote[I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.[/quote]
We've cast together before, we likely will again.
Apologies for my cracking voice, had been casting for 10 hours previously, was taking it's toll.
Different styles is a good thing, it's what makes regular sports work, you've got your play-by-play guy, you've got your analysis dude and you've got your colour where necessary. The problem is sticking to those roles when you don't have a lot of practice together. Role overlap happens all the time, you see it a lot with Tastosis and pretty much every other casting team out there simply because they haven't had enough time co-casting together to really find their niches and are often used to solo work. It does take a LONG ASS TIME to comfortably settle into those roles, I'm taking years.
Obviously Day[9] and Incontrol are the best options. Especially if Incontrol could rant during casts. But neither of them I don't believe would want it. Day[9] has the WHOLE "foreign" scene and InControl has a gf and is still attempting to break his ceiling. I won't say he should stop now, but perhaps he could go for a GSL attempt to hit Code A and cast. Decent money and still gets to play in a tournament. The only issue I can see is the GF because her job or choices might not mirror his.
On January 12 2011 00:53 The.Imperator wrote: Get Incontrol and Jason Lee for Code A games please. I would probably die laughing so it wouldn't even matter if the games aren't that good.
hahahah i laughed so hard when i read what you sid ditto
but also yea get cholera+rise, sc2gg old school yo
I hope gom doesn't choose the caster based on this thread. I don't want the games to be casted by some random platinium youtube caster nor do I want some clown there to entertain the viewers instead of professionally casting the games themselves. With that in mind, Torch partnered with a play-by-play caster who has been in the scene before sc2 sounds pretty neat.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Whoah what? Sorry to hear that. And my view about how this US Homeland Security department is just a POS is supported once more.
Unlikely that Husky would go, but he would be quite what we need in the code A matches because he can turn a otherwise complete boring game into something exciting. He's a great colour commentator. Not insightful, but I don't think that's truely his intent either. Though a pairing wiht HD I definitly wouldn't like. I think it was in MLG but that pairing didn't seem to work at all. Husky/Day9 felt much more natural then Husky/HD where there were alot of akward silences. (though again, it was their first time at a tournament)
TB is good, but his shouting is quite tiring, for multiply matches in a row I think his voice is too much.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
After watching SCReddit I want Diggity with TotalBiscuit.
While that certainly won't be happening in Korea, we're already talking about co-commentary in the future.
[quote[I dont know how Totalbiscuit would go together with dApollo as they have totally different casting types. But it would be awesome with them as casters, thats something I know for sure.
Apologies for my cracking voice, had been casting for 10 hours previously, was taking it's toll.
Different styles is a good thing, it's what makes regular sports work, you've got your play-by-play guy, you've got your analysis dude and you've got your colour where necessary. The problem is sticking to those roles when you don't have a lot of practice together. Role overlap happens all the time, you see it a lot with Tastosis and pretty much every other casting team out there simply because they haven't had enough time co-casting together to really find their niches and are often used to solo work. It does take a LONG ASS TIME to comfortably settle into those roles, I'm taking years.[/QUOTE]
ahhhhhh, finally found you. I saw you cast a tournament and I was laughing the whole time. Only other person that makes me laugh constantly is Day[9], love your commentaries.
Jason lee was amazing, as was IdrA. Totalbiscuit I'm sad you have international issues in your way, you're a fantastic caster. GL getting back to the states
Be realistic. Totalbiscuit is hilarious and I love watching his casting, but he wouldn't add any insight. He'd be an awful match for GSL
Ermm Martijn, this is why you pair a play-by-play with an analyst, like every other sport on the planet. I thought as a caster you would definitely understand that principle, apparently not? O_o Puzzling statement.
Whatever the case, won't be applying on the basis of the fact I'm not a bachelor and have a family to support. Could afford to move out there right now without issue, but I've got responsibilities and it would basically mean taking a pay-cut and throwing away everything I'm doing right now, which ain't going to happen.
Be realistic. Totalbiscuit is hilarious and I love watching his casting, but he wouldn't add any insight. He'd be an awful match for GSL
Ermm Martijn, this is why you pair a play-by-play with an analyst, like every other sport on the planet. I thought as a caster you would get that, apparently not? O_o Puzzling statement.
Whatever the case, won't be applying on the basis of the fact I'm not a bachelor and have a family to support. Could afford to move out there right now without issue, but I've got responsibilities and it would basically mean taking a pay-cut and throwing away everything I'm doing right now, which ain't going to happen.
If you have ever watched a professional sport with commentators paired as such, the "play-by-play" guy needs to have excellent knowledge of the game anyways. Can you imagine someone commentating soccer saying only precisely what happens to the ball for 90 minutes. Now imagine he has a grating accent. Besides, most of the "plays" in SC2 are cerebral, not right on screen.
Be realistic. Totalbiscuit is hilarious and I love watching his casting, but he wouldn't add any insight. He'd be an awful match for GSL
Ermm Martijn, this is why you pair a play-by-play with an analyst, like every other sport on the planet. I thought as a caster you would get that, apparently not? O_o Puzzling statement.
Whatever the case, won't be applying on the basis of the fact I'm not a bachelor and have a family to support. Could afford to move out there right now without issue, but I've got responsibilities and it would basically mean taking a pay-cut and throwing away everything I'm doing right now, which ain't going to happen.
If you have ever watched a professional sport with commentators paired as such, the "play-by-play" guy needs to have excellent knowledge of the game anyways. Can you imagine someone commentating soccer saying only precisely what happens to the ball for 90 minutes. Now imagine he has a grating accent. Besides, most of the "plays" in SC2 are cerebral, not right on screen.
Please don't mistake your subjective opinion of my accent for actual fact.
On January 12 2011 01:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Ermm Martijn, this is why you pair a play-by-play with an analyst, like every other sport on the planet. I thought as a caster you would get that, apparently not? O_o Puzzling statement.
Casting games at the level GSL is at requires that you're at least capable of doing both. Look at artosis and tasteless, clearly tasteless is doing play-by-play but he's still got a high level of insight. At GSL level, there's a difference between yelling "beautiful forcefields" when you see them thrown down and instantly understanding the defensive/offensive value and the consequences of the spent energy at a certain stage of the game.
Make no mistake, I'm not discrediting you, your casting could make watching paint dry entertaining. And I love what you bring to the table as a caster for many events. I don't think I'd be suited for GSL either and I'm much more of an analyst. It's the same for dApollo for example, who I am on great terms with and think he's a great caster. I don't think he would match with GSL. We'd have to become way more well-rounded, it's something at least I consider a goal for myself.
Only casters that have the understanding of what they're seeing and at the same time bring that entertainment factor, like DeMusliM, Rotterdam, Incontrol, will match well with GSL.
I'll go even more extreme. I've been a djWheat fan since before anyone aside from maybe kennigit even heard of him. He's in my top 3 commentators list across all games. I still would not want to see him GSL in his current state.
Be realistic. Totalbiscuit is hilarious and I love watching his casting, but he wouldn't add any insight. He'd be an awful match for GSL
Ermm Martijn, this is why you pair a play-by-play with an analyst, like every other sport on the planet. I thought as a caster you would get that, apparently not? O_o Puzzling statement.
Whatever the case, won't be applying on the basis of the fact I'm not a bachelor and have a family to support. Could afford to move out there right now without issue, but I've got responsibilities and it would basically mean taking a pay-cut and throwing away everything I'm doing right now, which ain't going to happen.
If you have ever watched a professional sport with commentators paired as such, the "play-by-play" guy needs to have excellent knowledge of the game anyways. Can you imagine someone commentating soccer saying only precisely what happens to the ball for 90 minutes. Now imagine he has a grating accent. Besides, most of the "plays" in SC2 are cerebral, not right on screen.
I have this sinking feeling you don't watch sports...
On January 12 2011 01:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Ermm Martijn, this is why you pair a play-by-play with an analyst, like every other sport on the planet. I thought as a caster you would get that, apparently not? O_o Puzzling statement.
Casting games at the level GSL is at requires that you're at least capable of doing both. Look at artosis and tasteless, clearly tasteless is doing play-by-play but he's still got a high level of insight. At GSL level, there's a difference between yelling "beautiful forcefields" when you see them thrown down and instantly understanding the defensive/offensive value and the consequences of the spent energy at a certain stage of the game.
Make no mistake, I'm not discrediting you, your casting could make watching paint dry entertaining. And I love what you bring to the table as a caster for many events. I don't think I'd be suited for GSL either and I'm much more of an analyst. It's the same for dApollo for example, who I am on great terms with and think he's a great caster. I don't think he would match with GSL. We'd have to become way more well-rounded, it's something at least I consider a goal for myself.
Only casters that have the understanding of what they're seeing and at the same time bring that entertainment factor, like DeMusliM, Rotterdam, Incontrol, will match well with GSL.
I'll go even more extreme. I've been a djWheat fan since before anyone aside from maybe kennigit even heard of him. He's in my top 3 commentators list across all games. I still would not want to see him GSL in his current state.
On January 12 2011 00:51 NoobSkills wrote: Obviously Day[9] and Incontrol are the best options. Especially if Incontrol could rant during casts. But neither of them I don't believe would want it. Day[9] has the WHOLE "foreign" scene and InControl has a gf and is still attempting to break his ceiling. I won't say he should stop now, but perhaps he could go for a GSL attempt to hit Code A and cast. Decent money and still gets to play in a tournament. The only issue I can see is the GF because her job or choices might not mirror his.
Day9 casting the code A while his brother cast the big games, I wonder how long that would last.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
from what i've seen incontrol will never make it big in the gsl as a player, his commentaries are awesome tho. i'd rather see him commentating than tasteless..
On January 11 2011 16:34 DONTPANIC wrote: I highly doubt the salary would be high enough for Husky to move there for. Does anyone know what it would pay? My guess is $25-30k
I would guess way less.
3k/month
Ah really? You could live off that in Korea Ez Pz. There's a lot of college students who should try just for the experience.
I don't mind Husky doing the job. I think he does a great job at an entertaining level which is what will bring viewers IMHO. I REAAAALLY don't want to se HD do it, becaus he's just awkward and sometimes say stuff out of nowhere. I REAAAALLY don't want to see TotalBiscuit because he is going to go apeshit when fans send him semi-stupid questions. Moletrap diggity and + other SCBW oldschool casters should apply, I always enjoyed listening them. Sorry for not remembering their names
On January 12 2011 02:50 optical630 wrote: why not keep tastosis and give them a payrise?
I think it's just a time/exhaustion factor. They want to be 100% for all their casting and doing so many games in one day might not allow them to be 100%
On January 12 2011 01:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Ermm Martijn, this is why you pair a play-by-play with an analyst, like every other sport on the planet. I thought as a caster you would get that, apparently not? O_o Puzzling statement.
Casting games at the level GSL is at requires that you're at least capable of doing both. Look at artosis and tasteless, clearly tasteless is doing play-by-play but he's still got a high level of insight. At GSL level, there's a difference between yelling "beautiful forcefields" when you see them thrown down and instantly understanding the defensive/offensive value and the consequences of the spent energy at a certain stage of the game.
Make no mistake, I'm not discrediting you, your casting could make watching paint dry entertaining. And I love what you bring to the table as a caster for many events. I don't think I'd be suited for GSL either and I'm much more of an analyst. It's the same for dApollo for example, who I am on great terms with and think he's a great caster. I don't think he would match with GSL. We'd have to become way more well-rounded, it's something at least I consider a goal for myself.
Only casters that have the understanding of what they're seeing and at the same time bring that entertainment factor, like DeMusliM, Rotterdam, Incontrol, will match well with GSL.
I'll go even more extreme. I've been a djWheat fan since before anyone aside from maybe kennigit even heard of him. He's in my top 3 commentators list across all games. I still would not want to see him GSL in his current state.
Reading this one gets the impression you have never listened to Tastosis. What analytical insight does Tasteless bring again? Apart from that, casters should imo not evaluate (or devaluate) other casters publicly. Question of manners.
TotalBiscuit is a pretty good caster, and you really need a funny guy to comment SC2 as the game can be sometimes so infuriating (2rax scv-all in) or boring (50m long TvT.... yeah, even the ones i can't comment on not to make spoilers). But he takes so much place... i always thought Biscuit worked solo. Still, great caster and best of lucks with your visa problems.
And i agree with Martijn, the logical solution should be DeMuslim, he's a good player with great insight, casting experience and he's going there anywhere. He's a good-looking Artosis. Amsterdam on the other hand.... he's English is not good enough (just like Martijn's... that accent >_> ) . Now, they need to found the New Tasteless.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
Martijn/wheat/day9 gets my vote (though i hear a lot of people saying Day9 wouldn't take it? I also can't imagine Wheat taking it either, but i think he's much better in a duo/team anyway. So, that pretty much just leaves Martijn i guess, which is fine by me. GSL even removes his only downside (playing the same 5-6 songs on loop every night) ;D
Would be nice to hear someone other than an noisy American with ADD casting a major tournament for a change.
On January 12 2011 03:07 Redox wrote: Reading this one gets the impression you have never listened to Tastosis. What analytical insight does Tasteless bring again? Apart from that, casters should imo not evaluate (or devaluate) other casters publicly. Question of manners.
So you'd argue it's better for there to be 221 posts from people with little to no insight other than common sense than for people that have been involved with casting for years and have learned a thing or two to voice their opinion? If TB takes offense, he can drop me a message on skype and I'll remove any reference of him. That's manners. I think you underestimate how much of a thick skin you have to grow to be a caster, something like this won't phase us. He's of course more than welcome to disagree.
Nick made his mark plenty with BW. What I will grant is that he hasn't competed much in sc2 other than a few appearances in beta tournaments, but even there he was notable.
Any caster out there should at one point have read Redeye's guide to casting. It's as close as we've got to a casting handbook http://www.theshoutcaster.co.uk/site/index.php/so-you-want-to-be-a-shoutcaster/ It discusses different roles in casting as well. However, these roles are in no way abstract and great casters must be able to perform several. You should excel at the role you're in, but feel comfortable enough to switch seats as well. For example, you can be the funniest play-by-play commentator out there, but if you can't grasp the depth of what the guy next to you is trying to highlight, you'll never provide a complete performance.
This is why DeMusliM/Rotterdam is the best fit all around.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
Torch would seem like a good choice. But I'm betting it'll turn out to be someone we've never heard of that happens to be in Korea and speaks decent enough English.
Maybe even just a GSL employee who happens to speak good English and plays a bit of SC2 to be somewhat knowledgeable.
On January 12 2011 03:47 TotalBiscuit wrote:I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, but the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
Wow, I'm absolutely speechless, I honestly have no clue what to say.
Wish you the best of luck though and hope that everything gets sorted out.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
wow, amazing how stupid and power hungry people can be... At least things are coming back together for you. What state does your wife live in?
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
wow... Hope it gets sorted soon man. messed up laws in the US sometimes...
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
Man I knew US laws were messed up, didn't realize just how badly. Hope everything works out.
Very gripping story TB. Really hope it'll all get sorted out in the end. Really can't imagine being married to someone and then only seeing them twice in two years, not even seeing your own (step)son. Ugh.
Jeez man, that really sounds rough... lol i'll subscribe to you on youtube now, and maybe even husky too :D Husky's antifans are really pathetic to be honest. They only hate him cuz he makes money off of what he does. That is absolutely no reason to hate someone...
On January 12 2011 04:59 donut boi wrote: @totalbiscuit
Jeez man, that really sounds rough... lol i'll subscribe to you on youtube now, and maybe even husky too :D Husky's antifans are really pathetic to be honest. They only hate him cuz he makes money off of what he does. That is absolutely no reason to hate someone...
People hate him because he's less knowledgeable than someone like Day 9. I personally don't watch his casts since I don't have the feeling I'll be learning something. Obviously though, what he's doing is still very important for the community. Hardcore SC2 gamers are pretty much a vocal minority, there are ten times more casual followers that are being introduced to the scene thanks to Husky (and HD for that matter).
Kinda reminds me of the flak Cholera etc. got for not being knowledgeable enough. Their fun, easy to pick-up casts were the reason a lot of noobs, including me, got into the BW scene though. People have to be comitted to liking the game before you can drown them in technical mumbo-jumbo.
As for the actual topic, I'd like to see TorcH cast at Gom, what better means is there for him to be in Korea whilst advertising his team? InControl would be great too, but it doesn't seem feasible with his girl living in America ... they should dual cast imo ^^
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
Wow TB, I really hope everything goes well for you and your family... and god how much I hate the US politics from time to time it really freaks me out.
I have to say personally, and I'm sure from the entire TL community, I wish you the best of luck at being reunited with your family and FUCK YOU to the stupid ass of a TSA employee.
I think Day9, TotalBiscuit, and DJWheat would be great choices IF THEY WANT TO GO. Of course, I dont think that any of those three will be going. Day9's goal is to bring esports to the rest of the world, and going to korea is not the way to do that. Day9 has plenty of opportunity over here as well. Wheat and TB may not want to go either.
In any case, this should be great to bring in some new blood! ESports is expanding! YAYAYAYAYA
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
Wow TB, I really hope everything goes well for you and your family... and god how much I hate the US politics from time to time it really freaks me out.
Well, good luck for those who are applying to it!
Total Biscuit, you should post on reddit to ask people for advice on how to proceed. You would be amazed by how supportive that community can be and by how much good advice it can give.
On January 12 2011 05:34 McMonty wrote: Total Biscuit, you should post on reddit to ask people for advice on how to proceed. You would be amazed by how supportive that community can be and by how much good advice it can give.
I already have my lawyer on it, so it's completely out of my hands now. She will get it sorted, but these kind of visas take at least 6 months to acquire, sometimes longer.
On January 12 2011 05:18 Saechiis wrote: People hate him because he's less knowledgeable than someone like Day 9. I personally don't watch his casts since I don't have the feeling I'll be learning something. Obviously though, what he's doing is still very important for the community. Hardcore SC2 gamers are pretty much a vocal minority, there are ten times more casual followers that are being introduced to the scene thanks to Husky (and HD for that matter).
Kinda reminds me of the flak Cholera etc. got for not being knowledgeable enough. Their fun, easy to pick-up casts were the reason a lot of noobs, including me, got into the BW scene though. People have to be comitted to liking the game before you can drown them in technical mumbo-jumbo.
You don't need to learn from the commentator to learn from the game being commentated on.
On January 12 2011 05:38 Heosat wrote: You don't need to learn from the commentator to learn from the game being commentated on.
Why not? It helps a lot. Streams of players, like Huk or Tyler, helps a great deal without commentating, because you can see what he is doing from his perspective, but if you watch a game commentated play-by-play, you will not learn as much as an in-depth analysis of the same game from a commentator. Lots of people watch streams to get better, and it helps a great deal with a commentator who is knowledgable and insightful.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
Wow TB, I really hope everything goes well for you and your family... and god how much I hate the US politics from time to time it really freaks me out.
Well, good luck for those who are applying to it!
Total Biscuit, you should post on reddit to ask people for advice on how to proceed. You would be amazed by how supportive that community can be and by how much good advice it can give.
This is actually very good advice, that community is amazingly helpful.
I admire your ability to endure this crummy situation and continue casting throughout. I also have a great deal more respect for Husky. He always seemed like a genuinely good person, and your sentiments seems to further that idea.
I wish you the best of luck, please if there's anything your fans can do to help, let us know.
The problem of the foreign community and of GOM is that we don't have any well known caster that is willing to go to Korea AND is liked by the foreign viewers.
We all love Day9 (and others TB and such) but those that are really good for GOM wants to support the western esports scene. As such a lot of good casters are dropping off.
The only one I can think off that might be good and already available would be TorcH but he's practicing with StarTale so that might be a problem with their practice time.
The foreign viewers of the GSL is just spoiled with Tastosis. Although some are complaining about their commentating but they are still the best entertaining duo you can find that is willing to cast and that is liked by the majority of the foreign viewers simply because of their personalities.
It's going to be hard to actually find suitable casters who could be at the level or atleast near the level of Tastosis imo.
@totalbiscuit so sorry man... it seems like they keep out the people who would have been bringing more to this country and let in all the jobbers from South America, and here in Hawaii, from Micronesia...best wishes to you.
On topic, there's no doubt in my mind Diggity is the best man for this job. His style is smooth, entertaining, professional, and he has a TON of game knowledge. Diggity/Incontrol would be my pick for the 2nd duo. Hopefully something can be worked out there, although it's so much more difficult to put your new wife through a move like that for non-big bucks type money.
On the other hand, I don't see why people are hating on Husky and HD so much. All they've done is work very hard to bring content to the community. They're not perfect, but very entertaining, and isn't that what this is about? Husky does a great job of filling the space and his style would match the hilarity that Tastosis brings, although he would have to tone it down just a little bit.
TotalBiscuit, you are a complete boss and a massive baller. I hope you get the whole ordeal sorted out soon, as keeping in touch with your loved ones over the internet is not always easy to do. Salutes to you, sir.
On a somewhat related note: I'd love to see you start doing "I suck at Starcraft" again as a means to improve your grasp on the game. While you're very well suited for the role of play-by-play, I think you could really take off as the go-to SC2 commentator in Europe if you worked a bit on analysis. I know you have a lot going on and have little time to play, but I would love to see you cast live and on location for the bigger esports events outside of the UK, too.
As for the topic at hand, I suppose Jason Lee is the obvious choice, assuming that he's looking for the job. I assume the new code A casters will be able to work with Tasteless and Artosis, so there is much room for improving their casting even after recruitment. As GOM stated, the most likely candidates to be chosen are those who already have a permanent residence in the Seoul area and the motivation to commentate live games, not the ones with the most experience. I'd like to think that people like iNControL are more prone to want to compete at a high level, with casting as more of a side gig. iNControL specifically already does a lot of coaching which he has a passion for, and commentating for the GSL might make managing that along with the rest of his life harder for him. I think he'd do an absolutely excellent job, but I doubt having iNControL commentate in Korea is a possibility right now. We may very well see a relative unknown member of the community rise to take the position.
Well, I'm going to cast a couple games and send the best over to GOM, never casted before, but how often does a chance like this come along?
No one else can have this thought, it has to be only me.
Edit: Jesus Chirst, Totalbiscuit, what a heart-touching story. US Immigration law is very unfair, my father is Australian and was a landed immigrant (but not citizen) of Canada, and whenever we'd go down to the states we'd have to take 2 cars since my dad would usually take 3-4 horus to get over the border.
But my story is peanuts compared to yours. Glad to hear things are somewhat working themselves out, even though it's taken, and will take longer than anyone should endure being away from their family. It's also nice to know how sweet husky is being in all this, good to hear you have friends you can lean on if you have to.
Best of luck TB.
Loved you in the Reddit invitational, you rocked it for hours.
tastosis full time. give them code a caster's pay on top, they deserve it. realistically, no big time foreginer is gonna take Code A mantle, and that would only mean inferior caster learning to cast at GSL. as much as jason lee had the voice for casting, his lack of knowledge pissed a lot of people off. I doubt he has been studying n learning about the game since his experience.
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
I have a suspicion that GOM is going to hire someone we've never heard of, or heard very little of. While I do generally like HD and Husky, I don't know that they're as well suited to the format of GSL. I'm fairly confident that they'll hire someone good, and the odds of it being a YouTube person are pretty low.
On a side note: TotalBiscuit, let me just say that you really rocked the SCRI. I was actually kinda sad when you left, because as much as I like Day9's casting, he's just a bit over-exposed these days. But that's neither here nor there. Being an American citizen married to a Japanese national, I can say that USCIS is a maze of regulations and craziness that we were very lucky to escape from with a green card. Yours is far from the only story of woe that has come from it, and even pre-9/11 (when it was the INS) it could produce some horrible stories. The thing is, there ARE people there who genuinely care about the well-being of the people on the other side of the application, even if doesn't seem like it sometimes. If you keep at it with a lawyer, enough of those people will shine through and things will work out.
do you think people would hate to listen to an Australian accent? i have a fairly successful youtube channel with machinima contract etc. thinking of applying
edit- just read the tb story. i hate things like that so much, i wish you all the best.
Oh man TB.. My heart goes out to your family, must be hard not being able to see your wife and kid due to those bastards
Hope all goes well for you, i will continue to be an avid viewer of your videos and listener to your podcast, should get you some revenue
Gotta say, i never really liked Husky much, but after reading your post he's now became on my list of people to watch, he didn't have to help you out, but he did.... My hat goes off to him for that!
In the mean time, on topic. They should have Day9 or Incontrol, diggy or someone like that cast, simply for the fact that a famous caster will boost GSL numbers (Possibly.)
I vote HDGamer, he has dedicated his life to e-sports and I fully believe that, with time, preparation and the guidance of Tastosis, he can become an excellent professional caster!
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
Wow, that was an amazing story. And you know if you ever need back up, you have over 10,000 fans here that want to help you see your wife and kid again
On January 12 2011 08:11 TheCookieMonster wrote: i seriously hope it's not dApollo casting... simply can't stand listening to him
Why not? I think he's the best British caster, TB second obviously. Love watching him cast with Day[9] in EU stuff.
In case anyone is wondering why I don't think TB is the best, it's simply down to the lack of knowledge for the game, but hey, that can is something that can be done in time. He's a great shoutcaster, at least.
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
If I may ask - how much (roughly) does one make from Partnership with your level of viewers/subs?
I've tried to find an answer but things get very ambiguous.
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
If I may ask - how much (roughly) does one make from Partnership with your level of viewers/subs?
I've tried to find an answer but things get very ambiguous.
It get ambiguous because it's NDAed, we can't talk about it.
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
If I may ask - how much (roughly) does one make from Partnership with your level of viewers/subs?
I've tried to find an answer but things get very ambiguous.
I was interested too and did a quick search. Not sure about how accurate it is
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
If I may ask - how much (roughly) does one make from Partnership with your level of viewers/subs?
I've tried to find an answer but things get very ambiguous.
I was interested too and did a quick search. Not sure about how accurate it is
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
If I may ask - how much (roughly) does one make from Partnership with your level of viewers/subs?
I've tried to find an answer but things get very ambiguous.
I was interested too and did a quick search. Not sure about how accurate it is
@TB: jesus christ, messed up story right there -.- what asinine behaviour by the homeland security officials...i mean i knew there is always a huge bias on the side of the US authorities as far as immigration is concerned, but usually it's the mexican border they're concerning themselves with (and that's bad enough)...
Did they tell you anything about what they suspected you to have done (entering the country via mexico and so on) or why they wouldn't believe your paperwork? Man, gotty hate people who simply close their eyes (and brain apparently) and ignore incontrovertible facts even when they're directly confronted with them.
Hope it will all work out for you guys in the end.
On January 11 2011 16:34 DONTPANIC wrote: I highly doubt the salary would be high enough for Husky to move there for. Does anyone know what it would pay? My guess is $25-30k
I would guess way less.
3k/month
Ah really? You could live off that in Korea Ez Pz. There's a lot of college students who should try just for the experience.
you and incontrol should go together would be the best combo imo
Loving every single video of you and I'd love to support you
Nah, don't need donations, the partnership is my income. If you have spare money to donate to eSports, I'd recommend giving it to Day9, who deserves it more than I do.
Risky but possible dream combo for me would be Totalbiscuit playbyplay and incontrol to level up the wittiness and provide his expert insight no idea how these guys would work together though but theyre the two people i'd really love to see there.
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
.
TotalBiscuit:
Just a suggestion. Might check with your lawyer about. But since you have a fan base, myself included, you might think about having fans in the state your wife lives in write letters/email to their Senator & Congressional Representative about the situation.
That could provide some political pressure to departments involved. Would cost the Senator or Congressperson very little. I would think someone who gets the number of views you do on youtube to a demographic most politicians here have difficult time reaching would be a useful lever to appeal to politicians self interest.
A possible downside to that, is if it happened and certainly if it worked, might have to submit to some publicity for your wife.
I understand some of the frustration your going through. I have a sister and brother in law that met through esports like you and your wife. They went through some fun since he is from Australia & she is from USA, with the visa/citizenship BS.
Good luck, I hope this is resolved very soon for you and your family.
Crazy story TB. Unbelievable the shit you've endured these recent years. Best of luck in the coming months man, looks like you're at the end of a long journey.
Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month! That doesn't sound right... If so, he's making out like a bandit and making more than the GSL guys. Wonder if he pays pro's commissions for their replays...if he is getting paid that much, he should! In fact, if this pricing model is correct as ask yahoo states, a lot of pro's could be making a lot more money by simply creating a youtube partner channel, posting their or their friends replays and do 'pro' commentaries. If Husky can get as many views as he does wonder what somebody like TLO could get doing commentaries...
As for favorite commentators to do code A... Total Biscuit would be a great choice. Maybe you could apply and worry about the paperwork if you get hired later? Could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and gomtv may be able to help you out with any Korean passport issues (don't need an American passport for this).
Would also like to see Husky (he has said he wants to one day go to Korea and meet Artosis and the gang) as well as HD. HD is so professional while Husky has very good 'verbal APM'. Put another way he can communicate a lot of information in a hurry which is a huge necessity when it comes to starcraft commentating...slow commentators drive me nuts! Speaking of which, maybe I'm totally weird of something but I can't stand Day9. He talks soooo slow, he repeats himself so much, gets diverted talking about non-SC topics, and has a crusty the clown complex (can't stand his humor/personality/ego).
I would love to move to Korea to cast the best Starcraft 2 tournament in the world. With enough practice I would hope they'd consider my application. :o Live in that culture even for 1 year would be such a life changing experience. Oh well, it's just not realistic because of personal ties here. Shit gets complicated with a girlfriend of over 5 years. :\
Tastosis are why I buy the ticket every month, I will literally stop buying if they're not casting at least the vast majority of the games. Please don't ruin this Gomtv, I really don't want to listen to anyone else, their chemistry makes boring games worth watching,
Good luck to all the casters who applied ... casting isn't easy at all. In the end, it's not totally about knowing the game, having a good voice ... it's more of the majority of the community liking you and enjoying your casting. The community have preferences and biases which will be disguised as objectivity rather than subjectivity. But in the end if GOM picks you, the people will have no choice but to deal with whoever gets the job regardless of their preferences.
The charm ( totally from my perspective ) of Tastosis is that they are genuinely into Starcraft 2 and you know this from their long history in BW. You can feel they have a passion of what they are casting about and while some harp on them because of lack of professionalism etc etc ... it's that charm that 2 nerds who love the game, who play the game, who are buddies get on the screen and talk about the game like they're watching in our living room.
So yeah, it's also about the chemistry between the 2 casters. It was pretty obvious during GSL season 2 when substitutes came in to replace Tastosis for a few games .. individually you could argue the substitutes did reasonably well .. but what was lacking was the chemistry between the casters. And that's something that's very important in my opinion.
Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month! That doesn't sound right... If so, he's making out like a bandit and making more than the GSL guys. Wonder if he pays pro's commissions for their replays...if he is getting paid that much, he should! In fact, if this pricing model is correct as ask yahoo states, a lot of pro's could be making a lot more money by simply creating a youtube partner channel, posting their or their friends replays and do 'pro' commentaries. If Husky can get as many views as he does wonder what somebody like TLO could get doing commentaries...
As for favorite commentators to do code A... Total Biscuit would be a great choice. Maybe you could apply and worry about the paperwork if you get hired later? Could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and gomtv may be able to help you out with any Korean passport issues (don't need an American passport for this).
Would also like to see Husky (he has said he wants to one day go to Korea and meet Artosis and the gang) as well as HD. HD is so professional while Husky has very good 'verbal APM'. Put another way he can communicate a lot of information in a hurry which is a huge necessity when it comes to starcraft commentating...slow commentators drive me nuts! Speaking of which, maybe I'm totally weird of something but I can't stand Day9. He talks soooo slow, he repeats himself so much, gets diverted talking about non-SC topics, and has a crusty the clown complex (can't stand his humor/personality/ego).
So according to you, Fred made ~$7 million total from youtube alone since 2005....
Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month! That doesn't sound right... If so, he's making out like a bandit and making more than the GSL guys. Wonder if he pays pro's commissions for their replays...if he is getting paid that much, he should! In fact, if this pricing model is correct as ask yahoo states, a lot of pro's could be making a lot more money by simply creating a youtube partner channel, posting their or their friends replays and do 'pro' commentaries. If Husky can get as many views as he does wonder what somebody like TLO could get doing commentaries...
As for favorite commentators to do code A... Total Biscuit would be a great choice. Maybe you could apply and worry about the paperwork if you get hired later? Could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and gomtv may be able to help you out with any Korean passport issues (don't need an American passport for this).
Would also like to see Husky (he has said he wants to one day go to Korea and meet Artosis and the gang) as well as HD. HD is so professional while Husky has very good 'verbal APM'. Put another way he can communicate a lot of information in a hurry which is a huge necessity when it comes to starcraft commentating...slow commentators drive me nuts! Speaking of which, maybe I'm totally weird of something but I can't stand Day9. He talks soooo slow, he repeats himself so much, gets diverted talking about non-SC topics, and has a crusty the clown complex (can't stand his humor/personality/ego).
So according to you, Fred made ~$7 million total from youtube alone since 2005....
yep, has to be right.
Fred IS a multi-million dollar enterprise. It's also a business. Fred isn't just a kid sitting behind a camera, he's an employee of a company. It's all staged.
Are you really that oblivious? Of course every highly viewed Youtube user is part of a web media company. Where there's money there are businesses.
So according to you, Fred made ~$7 million total from youtube alone since 2005....
yep, has to be right.
Actually you have to take into account that Fred has only been a partner since 2008. So he hasn't made that much is you look at http://myu2b.com the amounts are quite reasonable.
But I digress from the OP
Hope someone fit for the job (preferably a fresh not big on the scene face) gets hired. I can see why people already big wouldn't want to go SC2 is slowly booming its way across the west.
@TB Good Luck Sir I hope all works out and when you do get to the states I hope the commentary doesn't just die. I realise you will have a family to take care of then but I would horribly miss the Youtube commentary and DCUO!
Why does everyone have to have HD and Husky wars when the word commentating is involved. These arguments are always so pointless.... that being said whomever they choose should probably be from around the region, though it would be pretty be balsy to see someone like HD going all the way to Korea. I think if he actually did the job and commentated people would see how valuable his casting is. Plus he is the best looking caster, sorry tasteless =)
On January 11 2011 15:56 MeyerA wrote: Day9 & Chill gogo
LOL, Chill is the most boring caster ever, no excitement what-so-ever. There needs to be more lively commentators with voices that don't squirm .
Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month! That doesn't sound right... If so, he's making out like a bandit and making more than the GSL guys. Wonder if he pays pro's commissions for their replays...if he is getting paid that much, he should! In fact, if this pricing model is correct as ask yahoo states, a lot of pro's could be making a lot more money by simply creating a youtube partner channel, posting their or their friends replays and do 'pro' commentaries. If Husky can get as many views as he does wonder what somebody like TLO could get doing commentaries...
As for favorite commentators to do code A... Total Biscuit would be a great choice. Maybe you could apply and worry about the paperwork if you get hired later? Could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and gomtv may be able to help you out with any Korean passport issues (don't need an American passport for this).
Would also like to see Husky (he has said he wants to one day go to Korea and meet Artosis and the gang) as well as HD. HD is so professional while Husky has very good 'verbal APM'. Put another way he can communicate a lot of information in a hurry which is a huge necessity when it comes to starcraft commentating...slow commentators drive me nuts! Speaking of which, maybe I'm totally weird of something but I can't stand Day9. He talks soooo slow, he repeats himself so much, gets diverted talking about non-SC topics, and has a crusty the clown complex (can't stand his humor/personality/ego).
Also 1 cent per 1 viewer makes 1 dollar per 100 viewers. 1000 views = 10 dollars 10.000 views = 100 dollars 100.000 views = 1000 dollars 200.000 views = 2000 dollars and not 20.000 dollars
So your math is firstly wrong, second your assumptions is probably wrong. For example google ads averagely pay 1-3$ dollars per 1000 pageviews so I'd assume youtube partners program pays pretty much the same and possibly even lower.
If my assumption about 1000 pageviews equals 2 dollars is correct he would be getting about 400 us dollars per 200.000 views
He has about 300 videos and if all average 200.000 views with $2 dollars per 1000 pageviews that is $120.000 dollars.
This is still a lot of money, but far less than your millions of dollars. If people made that kind of money from youtube there would be a ton more millionaires out there.
I also think that even my assumption could be wrong and partners get to get something like 50 cents per 1000 pageviews.
On January 12 2011 11:17 Fungal Growth wrote: Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month! That doesn't sound right... If so, he's making out like a bandit and making more than the GSL guys. Wonder if he pays pro's commissions for their replays...if he is getting paid that much, he should! In fact, if this pricing model is correct as ask yahoo states, a lot of pro's could be making a lot more money by simply creating a youtube partner channel, posting their or their friends replays and do 'pro' commentaries. If Husky can get as many views as he does wonder what somebody like TLO could get doing commentaries...
As for favorite commentators to do code A... Total Biscuit would be a great choice. Maybe you could apply and worry about the paperwork if you get hired later? Could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and gomtv may be able to help you out with any Korean passport issues (don't need an American passport for this).
Would also like to see Husky (he has said he wants to one day go to Korea and meet Artosis and the gang) as well as HD. HD is so professional while Husky has very good 'verbal APM'. Put another way he can communicate a lot of information in a hurry which is a huge necessity when it comes to starcraft commentating...slow commentators drive me nuts! Speaking of which, maybe I'm totally weird of something but I can't stand Day9. He talks soooo slow, he repeats himself so much, gets diverted talking about non-SC topics, and has a crusty the clown complex (can't stand his humor/personality/ego).
With Blizzard claiming rights to every replay out there it could be considered illegal...
'ww' doesn't mean 'well won'... (use search function to find out)
also your camera is a little bit too shaky, you should work on that imo (although if you're to cast the GSL you won't have to worry about it I guess)
and you should also put more enthusiasm into the cast. We already have Tastosis with its forced enthusiasm (most of the time at least) so we need someone who's more lively imo.
Overall not so bad, definitely better than some of the guys I've heard recently.
P.S. Concerning the game I think that Blizz should take a look at the Warp Prism mechanism (like adding a short delay when beaming units up) since it's imba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twjYKD19-9g Though I may try with my standard american-english commentary, but I feel I would need to get better at the game. I don't think playing random diamonds til I hit 1k counts.
I believe Jason Lee is a good choice. He has a good voice and does also seem to understand/speak some Korean. For me, a good voice that fires you up and keeps you interested is better than deep understanding of the game.
On January 12 2011 17:54 thehitman wrote: Also 1 cent per 1 viewer makes 1 dollar per 100 viewers. 1000 views = 10 dollars 10.000 views = 100 dollars 100.000 views = 1000 dollars 200.000 views = 2000 dollars and not 20.000 dollars
So your math is firstly wrong, second your assumptions is probably wrong. For example google ads averagely pay 1-3$ dollars per 1000 pageviews so I'd assume youtube partners program pays pretty much the same and possibly even lower.
Not to digress too much from the OP...but I didn't use the 20,000 figure you said I did and I did use 1% and .3% calculation (although I see you are using periods instead of commas which is regional and might mean you are used to seeing these figures separately). If the posted Yahoo answer was correct, then Husky is earning a 6 figure paycheck as I earlier indicated and I don't see the source of our disagreement.
Obviously Day 9 would be the ideal choice, but we know he won't. I'd say PsyStarcraft could commentate pretty well, as well as iccuptv's Raelcun. Both these guys know/understand the game and have great personalities for the GSL. (imho) Raelcun is definitely underrated for this thread.
i havent been on tl forums for a while now and i found a link to this thread on reddit, that's a sad story about tb, but i'm glad you are getting throught it, much love to you and husky, gl
1. financially viable to sustain yourself in korea on this said salary??? 2. who can afford the plane ticket over? 3. who has the contacts that the current casting archon has, to provide the knowledge?
Interesting potpourri of topics here. Straying away from "hypotheticals" and "potential" gross estimate of Youtube Partnership Program, making US$800 per 1 million views a month is true reality. Don't use YouTube mega stars as a gauge for standard earnings, they have additional bonuses and credits from Ad clicks that are NOT applied for majority of partnership members. There is a single corporate entity that most, if not all, of these stars are contracted to is the one making the real obscene revenues.
In regards to casting in GSL group A, ALL the mentioned casters qualify in my opinion. That is with personal preference set aside. Our wants and needs have very little to do with the real selection. The caster(s) who have the guts and motivation to travel to Korea will be the one. I doubt someone living in Korea will be selected for this position. Good luck and best wishes to those who apply.
On January 11 2011 16:56 photomuse wrote: As a loyal GOM viewer, my 2 cents: +1 for DJ Wheat +1 for Husky (we need a SC II Dick Vitale, plus he could bring a lot of eyes) 0 for Day[9] (+1 if he changes his style a bit to be a tad less preachy (to the the Tastetosis level)) -1 for Jason Lee (My likelihood of watching the code A matches, which already low, would probably move to 0 in this case). -1 for HD (He has a great voice, seems like a great guy, but I cant watch him because I don't trust what he says.)
Haven't heard a lot of casting by some of the other names being thrown around. I hope whoever it is brings some nice variety to the team. I love Tastetosis, but there isn't a lot compelling me to tune into the code A matches right now.
'ww' doesn't mean 'well won'... (use search function to find out)
also your camera is a little bit too shaky, you should work on that imo (although if you're to cast the GSL you won't have to worry about it I guess)
and you should also put more enthusiasm into the cast. We already have Tastosis with its forced enthusiasm (most of the time at least) so we need someone who's more lively imo.
Overall not so bad, definitely better than some of the guys I've heard recently.
P.S. Concerning the game I think that Blizz should take a look at the Warp Prism mechanism (like adding a short delay when beaming units up) since it's imba
So does that mean Overlords and Dropships should also take time to load units? (Because they don't)
I really wish Diggity would go, but since he just got married, its unlikey. Unless he can convince his new wife to come with him?! Come on Diggity! Just start hinting at it to her and maybe she will agree.
I actually agree with the jason lee votes. He has an honest enthusiasm for e sports, very professional but has a good personality and a good voice. The one draw would be his lack of knowledge of the game but that would come with time and if you paired him with another good caster like artosis' style he would really be good.
I sent in a VOD - but I agree with a previous poster that it's not likely to be a westerner, or a youtuber. I would love to do it, but I can't really see it being worth relocating (compensation wise, I mean).
I would absolutely consider moving to Korea to cast the GSL. I would pay the airfare as long as my contract guaranteed X months of work/salary. Airfare could be covered in 3 weeks or less, not such a huge deal if you go for a long period of time.
On January 13 2011 10:20 SpoR wrote: How much is the salary exactly?
rekrul says its 3k a month, and the cost of living is much less in SK. Worth a shot. I wonder if they will be looking for fresh faces or known casters.
On January 13 2011 03:26 Quesadilla wrote: Getting my lol's ready for the mind-implosion, expectation-rape of whoever gets this position. Korea is the Matrix of the Matrix.
Korea's pretty dope. Recommend whoever goes to at least learn hangul and to try to speak Korean, unlike the English steamrollers Tastosis
im thinking me and my friend are goign to try this hes a bit of a humorous person but knows nothing about starcraft so i comment and he cracks jokes about all of it
On January 13 2011 03:26 Quesadilla wrote: Getting my lol's ready for the mind-implosion, expectation-rape of whoever gets this position. Korea is the Matrix of the Matrix.
Korea's pretty dope. Recommend whoever goes to at least learn hangul and to try to speak Korean, unlike the English steamrollers Tastosis
Ya if I was ever going to seriously consider moving to Korea for a job I would want to have a basic grasp of the language before I went. Once you have that foundation I would expect you to quickly learn once immersed in Korea.
Excited to see who they choose, any of the casters that TL has produced would be amazing if any of them have the means to go right now.
I can't believe people mentioning Day[9] after he's spilled his guts on his show multiple times about making e-sports big in NA lol
Can't see how it wouldn't be someone that's already there or planning on going. TorcH would be a great fit for this if he wants to do it. It's almost like it's his destiny! Fulfill your destiny, TorcH! I can't wait to see what they do with his hair.
3K a month is not A LOT considering you have to pay for rent also. And it depends on how long they contract you for. If you buy a 1.5k ticket there and they only contract you for one month, you gonna be pretty much done.
On January 12 2011 11:17 Fungal Growth wrote: Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month!
I have a YouTube Partnership, I cant exactly say how much we get paid per view but your assumption is way off.
On January 13 2011 15:09 kellymilkies wrote: 3K a month is not A LOT considering you have to pay for rent also. And it depends on how long they contract you for. If you buy a 1.5k ticket there and they only contract you for one month, you gonna be pretty much done.
Umm, if you look at cost of living in Korea, and work your pay rate out per hour, it's a lot.
On January 12 2011 11:17 Fungal Growth wrote: Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month!
I have a YouTube Partnership, I cant exactly say how much we get paid per view but your assumption is way off.
yeah...i think its like $0.001 view, and so i think husky and HD are really only making like $4-5k a month.
just think about how much 30 seconds of airtime costs on national TV, you see the same ads on youtube as you usually do on TV. i doubt those companies are gonna pay much more than that.
probably bad to use the superbowl as a standard, cuz its THE MOST EXPENSIVE ad space on tv, followed by prime time.
~110 million viewers, $2.7 million for a 30 second ad, so ~$0.02/viewer. but i mean, that's the superbowl. the demographics are also different. i'm not a yotube partner, but i'm willing to bet they probably don't pay more than $0.001-0.0001 per viewer. leaves husky at like
$0.001/viewer * 250 000 viewers * 15 videos / month = $3 750 month just off youtube. i could be off by like 50%, but probably not by an order of magnitude.
On January 12 2011 11:17 Fungal Growth wrote: Wow... Youtube partners pay 1 cent to a 1/3 of a cent per impression? Somebody like Husky has to be raking it in.
Say he averages 200,000 views a video and does say 25 videos a month (this is probably an accurate estimate). So if Husky gets 1 cent a view that is 50,000 dollars a month. Say it's a third of a cent that is 17,000 per month!
I have a YouTube Partnership, I cant exactly say how much we get paid per view but your assumption is way off.
yeah...i think its like $0.001 view, and so i think husky and HD are really only making like $4-5k a month.
just think about how much 30 seconds of airtime costs on national TV, you see the same ads on youtube as you usually do on TV. i doubt those companies are gonna pay much more than that.
probably bad to use the superbowl as a standard, cuz its THE MOST EXPENSIVE ad space on tv, followed by prime time.
~110 million viewers, $2.7 million for a 30 second ad, so ~$0.02/viewer. but i mean, that's the superbowl. the demographics are also different. i'm not a yotube partner, but i'm willing to bet they probably don't pay more than $0.001-0.0001 per viewer. leaves husky at like
$0.001/viewer * 250 000 viewers * 15 videos / month = $3 750 month just off youtube. i could be off by like 50%, but probably not by an order of magnitude.
Since there is still a debate on this, allow me to point out something. Youtube partners are not created equal. CPM is a negotiated thing and can vary wildly. The reason none of these sites actually get the number right is that unless the specific partner actually TOLD them, they would be guessing. There is no way to guess what HD and Husky are getting, so just stop it, I've seen all sorts of numbers in this thread and you're all wrong, so leave it
On January 13 2011 15:06 byce wrote: I can't believe people mentioning Day[9] after he's spilled his guts on his show multiple times about making e-sports big in NA lol
Can't see how it wouldn't be someone that's already there or planning on going. TorcH would be a great fit for this if he wants to do it. It's almost like it's his destiny! Fulfill your destiny, TorcH! I can't wait to see what they do with his hair.
That would be funny to see Torch recruited into Startale just to cast GSL instead.
And I'm wondering if there is a deadline? I guess he faster you send it in the less chance someone grabs it before you? Assuming you meet qualifications.
On January 11 2011 16:20 masterbreti wrote: i would like to see torch cast auctally, maybe torch and ret, maybe huk?
I'd think that recruiting some of our English-hablante westerners already in Korea would be the way to go, as they don't have a ton of attachments like so many fan favorites and would be able to view this as a part-time job on top of their practice. And, who knows, maybe they could eventually grow it into a full-time gig like our elder casting Archon.
I don't know what Torch's personal situation is, but his brief casting experience from season 1 left an impression on me, and I'd love to hear him as a more active voice in the community. Jinro would be fun if he could talk Gom into allotting him a certain number of f-bombs per cast. Huk would probably be fine as well, though the stylists might make him take off his hoodie when he's on camera. Ret, of course. Too bad TLO has left Korea, as I've always found him both articulate and insightful in interviews and appearances on Day9's show--he'd make a great caster.
And then I'm sure there are at least a few hagwon teachers who'd be interested in casting, though most of them would surely lack the knowledge of a 3k+ ladder monster. Speaking as an older gamer, though, I don't see any way that an elder SC statesman like an InControl or Tyler type would go--once you hit the mid-20s and encounter all the relationship and life baggage that comes with it, it becomes more and more difficult to go where you want on a wing and a prayer.
On January 11 2011 17:16 dogmode wrote: i liked jason lee! they should bring him back! him plus one other dude, doesn't matter who! :p
I'm actually afraid you're right on the last part: the other guy wouldn't matter. From the matches he commentated, i had the impression he was very eager to make them one man shows. He'd be an awesome sports caster for a sport that doesn't require analysis, but only demands drama, with his intonation, it's his strong suit no doubt. :p
If a moderator could please message me, my friend applied and he's a professional shoutcaster for CoD4 wanting to transition into SC2. Very well known in the CoD4 PC scene, wishing to have a shot at this/these position(s). He emailed the appropriate email in OP, but no reply in the last 4 days. What's the expected reply time for this?
On January 14 2011 21:47 Ansigcheo wrote: If a moderator could please message me, my friend applied and he's a professional shoutcaster for CoD4 wanting to transition into SC2. Very well known in the CoD4 PC scene, wishing to have a shot at this/these position(s). He emailed the appropriate email in OP, but no reply in the last 4 days. What's the expected reply time for this?
I got a reply initially asking for specific links to VODs (since I just gave a link to a databse) but haven't gotten a reply since, so I'm not sure. I was emailed by John, though.
I personally liked iDra casting when Tastosis was out to cast the Blizz con. But he probably won't have time for it, as he lives like 1h 30m away from the gomtv studio.
Day9 would be nice, but I don't think he wants to go to korea atm.
TotalBiscuit makes it entertaining but there's little game knowledge coming from him. People have to pay close attention to know what might happen in the game while he's describing every useless detail in his amazing british accent! ^^
UPDATE: They have updated their main post to state where to send your VOD links. The address is gsl [AT] gomtv [DOT] com. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO APPLY FOR THIS JOB send it to that address and that address only.
I hope day9 doesn't go - his series is so unique and helps so many people out. He wouldn't have the time for dailies at least not in their current quality.
On January 13 2011 03:26 Quesadilla wrote: Getting my lol's ready for the mind-implosion, expectation-rape of whoever gets this position. Korea is the Matrix of the Matrix.
Korea's pretty dope. Recommend whoever goes to at least learn hangul and to try to speak Korean, unlike the English steamrollers Tastosis
OMG. My thought exactly. If you go learn korean tt
On January 12 2011 00:51 TotalBiscuit wrote: Won't be applying for this, as awesome as it would be. I'm already fighting a legal battle to get back into the States so I can be with my wife and kid again, after being apart for 2 years thanks to the irreversible decision of a single Homeland Security officer. I can't go running off to South Korea, not a bachelor anymore.
Inception anyone ?
That movie hit pretty close to home yes.
Care to share what happened? Sounds like an interesting story, maybe a blog?
I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)
I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.
It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.
Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.
Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.
Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.
Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.
EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.
@TotalBiscuit
Apologies in advance for the perhaps stupid question, but why can your wife not move to England?
I'm still in support of you (and your family) moving to korea. I love your casting style, and it would match code A so well. Love what you're doing now though so keep it up.
As is Code A feels a little like it's just filler, with Tastosis clearly giving Code S the entirety of their effort and attention during casting, and Code A just comes across a bit "little league" (US expression and i think I've used it right).
With someone like TotalBiscuit doing Code A before the Code S matches it would make it exciting, and a good opener/warm up for Tastosis. Kind of like at gigs you have an opener. A more fun, slightly less analytical twist on it would just suit Code A better, and get everyone hyped for Code S.
On January 16 2011 08:27 Deadeight wrote: As is Code A feels a little like it's just filler, with Tastosis clearly giving Code S the entirety of their effort and attention during casting, and Code A just comes across a bit "little league" (US expression and i think I've used it right).
Close enough. "Minor league" probably would have been a little better. Little league is where the 6 year olds play. Minor league is where the pros that aren't quite good enough play.
I hope that someone cool and passionate gets the chance for this! Now, I guess that Wolf's application (which is the only one I know of) sets a quite high bar for the others, so it should be fine ^^
No, Day9 is needed in the west. Honestly, he is a huge factor for the e-sports scene in the US, it would be quite sad to lose him there. And I think he is aware of that...
My entry. I actually made a thread yesterday with the first three VODs of the series asking for criticism and tried my best to apply everything I was told in this video. I would include the second part, but I haven't uploaded it yet and it's irrelevant anyway because I feel like GOM can get a good enough feel for me with 14 whole minutes of casting... AAAnyway, here we are:
So does anyone know exactly how the're going to be picking the new casters asides from the videos. Like is Tasteless and Artosis going to have some say with Jon, or is it going to be on say a popularity thing?
Also, when are we gunna know when we have our new code A casters?
I think HD starcraft would be an excellent choice. He is a good caster with a good voice and plays the game fairly well (he is in master's league). I think he would be an excellent choice.
On January 18 2011 01:09 EvinKurA wrote: So does anyone know exactly how the're going to be picking the new casters asides from the videos. Like is Tasteless and Artosis going to have some say with Jon, or is it going to be on say a popularity thing?
Also, when are we gunna know when we have our new code A casters?
Not sure. I applied a few days ago and haven't heard anything back yet (not that I expected anything before this season is done), but I'll get back to the thread when I hear something, even if it's "Thanks but no thanks."
On January 19 2011 17:43 AndAgain wrote: So they need more casters because Tastosis can't handle the load? Tbh, that doesn't seem like that much work.
I can imagine it being really hard and tiring(getting you tired, I'm not english native) having to speak for 3-4 hours straight every day.
Even at the Football(Soccer) Worldcup the Dutch television network has like 4-5 'casters' doing like 1 match a day, sometimes only 1 per 2 days, because you have to talk almost non-stop whilst trying to grasp every little thing the players do.
SC2 even has higher APM then a regular sports. Tastosis actually has to try and see, take in, talk about about 300 actions a minute (say 150/player). Which is craazy..
I don't think Day[9] should do it though, for the reasons stated above, he's too important for the US/West development of E-Sports.
Someone like TB, Husky or HDStarcraft should do it instead. Hell maybe Psy would be a good one? I always like his casts!
Ok...don't want to derail the topic too much with the 'how much money do youtube casters make' tidbits, but I did find a really cool site that sheds some light on the subject.
Called http://myu2b.com/ it basically allows you to lookup your favorite youtube channel and it automatically provides an estimate of how much money they make.
Yeah, they may not be entirely accurate (some of the figures seem fishy) but it is cool to see at least an educated guess into how this industry works.
They put HDstarcraft at 226 overall for youtube channels with an average of 326 dollars a day but with 249k views a day (the latter seems too high).
They put Huskystarcraft at 87th overall with an average of 597 dollars a day with 527k views a day (again the latter sounds way too high).
BTW...want to echo the comment about Idra casting. Surprise, surprise he is actually a very good caster (he does casts mostly of his own games for the EG channel). He is pretty no-nonsense and straight to the point which is perfect for a caster and actually makes a lot of intelligent observations that you wouldn't otherwise notice. He is very substance over style oriented which is my preference for a caster (don't care for cheerleaders). Yeah...there is a bit of ego there (lost count of how many times he labels his opponents play as "as just really bad") but if it weren't for his playing career, I actually think he would be a good caster to do code A.
On January 23 2011 03:30 Fungal Growth wrote: They put HDstarcraft at 226 overall for youtube channels with an average of 326 dollars a day but with 249k views a day (the latter seems too high).
They put Huskystarcraft at 87th overall with an average of 597 dollars a day with 527k views a day (again the latter sounds way too high).
Wow, so their annual salaries are on pace for:
Husky: ~$220,000 HD: ~$120,000
Pretty amazing how they've found avenues to seriously monetize what they like doing. Good for them.
On January 18 2011 02:51 darmousseh wrote: I think HD starcraft would be an excellent choice. He is a good caster with a good voice and plays the game fairly well (he is in master's league). I think he would be an excellent choice.
I don't know man. He's constantly giving advice like "oh I think he needs alot more stalkers to beat that marauder heavy composition" etc. It would be nice with someone who either doesn't even attempt on doing any analyzes at all, or who's pro enough with all the 3 races to do it right.
On January 11 2011 16:56 photomuse wrote: As a loyal GOM viewer, my 2 cents: +1 for DJ Wheat +1 for Husky (we need a SC II Dick Vitale, plus he could bring a lot of eyes) 0 for Day[9] (+1 if he changes his style a bit to be a tad less preachy (to the the Tastetosis level)) -1 for Jason Lee (My likelihood of watching the code A matches, which already low, would probably move to 0 in this case). -1 for HD (He has a great voice, seems like a great guy, but I cant watch him because I don't trust what he says.)
Haven't heard a lot of casting by some of the other names being thrown around. I hope whoever it is brings some nice variety to the team. I love Tastetosis, but there isn't a lot compelling me to tune into the code A matches right now.
You don't trust HD but you like Husky?
HD is a better SC player, he was sponsored to a MLG last year.
Agreed ... I don't understand why people like Husky so much except for his enthusiasm. HD is strategically more sound ... even though the words that come out of his mouth don't always seem like someone who knows his stuff. Husky's voice is just annoying and he really only offers good play-by-play. The only reason I think he's the top caster on youtube in terms of viewers is because he was one of the first to start casting SC2 and he puts out so many videos (although nowadays I don't think he does).
HD + DJ wheat would be ok for me. They're probably not the best, but we all know iNcontroL or Day[9] have projects of their own to manage, so it would make no sense for them to move to korea...
@Totalbiscuit I'm Currently going through all the same bullshit as you are TB, I'm Canadian and every time I cross the boarder they treat me like im some kinda criminal. I know how your feeling and im in the exact same predicament we are currently trying to get my visa going also but its been going on a 4 months now since Ive seen my wife. GL to both of us mate.
On January 12 2011 05:18 Saechiis wrote: People hate him because he's less knowledgeable than someone like Day 9. I personally don't watch his casts since I don't have the feeling I'll be learning something. Obviously though, what he's doing is still very important for the community. Hardcore SC2 gamers are pretty much a vocal minority, there are ten times more casual followers that are being introduced to the scene thanks to Husky (and HD for that matter).
Kinda reminds me of the flak Cholera etc. got for not being knowledgeable enough. Their fun, easy to pick-up casts were the reason a lot of noobs, including me, got into the BW scene though. People have to be comitted to liking the game before you can drown them in technical mumbo-jumbo.
You don't need to learn from the commentator to learn from the game being commentated on.
>.> Do you read the TL forums?
I think it's very important to have knowledgeable casters with the amount of braindead people watching the games =x Casters who do more than say "this look like a good idea" and "this is what i would do"
I think Husky is passionate enough to cast GSL Code A. His knowledge imo is not as bad as everyone says. Atleast he doesn't pretend to know everything and say completely false statements. He just gets excited and gets sidetracked when casting big whoop.
With TotalBiscuit finally getting over here okay, please let me tell all of you something. I got my now ex-wife a visa and she had a US passport within two years o four marriage. The key, GET THE VISA OVERSEAS. US consular staff are actually quite good. They told me everything I needed to do, and I did it. The entire process took two visits over about ten days. I sponsored my wife when I was only 23 years old and it was fine.
Doing this in the US is a nightmare that requires a lawyer and years of work. If you do it from the US embassy or local consulate it takes a week or two, AND they are nice to you. Furthermore, your spouse will end up with dual citizenship in 2-3 years. This is WAY less time than it takes for a permanent green card.
Also, Totalbiscuit, make sure to check your UK social contributions. You can often keep current for a few hundred quid a year, and it can really save your rear end. Our social safety net is non-existent if you are under 65.
EPT
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