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Do a second "minor" stream and invite hd/husky so you can leech off their viewers that way while still having a good stream with boss commentators like djwheat / day9. Also so we can follow more players early.
Cut off the second stream when you get down to the top 5 or whatever.
Also help out teams, what I mean is pimp out EG, Root, Dignitas, etc. Those teams are the ones that are sending players or players paying to come out. Support them so they can get better sponsor/support in general. You can't compete with GSL on prize pool but at least make MLG very attractive to teams just with how much you will highlight their teams / sponsors.
Maybe even do a team spotlight section for EG, Root, Dignitas, liquid etc and really give them a chance to talk about their sponsors. The App Factory people sent Ret from Europe etc, and I don't even remember White Ra's Team name (mtw) being mentioned. If these people are paying money to send players around the world, scratch their backs a little so it can continue and more european teams and korean teams will see good value in sending players.
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On October 19 2010 03:51 PackofHighly wrote:As far as the events themselves go, if you want to sell more passes to play, find cheaper hotels. I don't have a problem with covering the pass costs, but for example, $179 a night hotel does not make taking the trip to dallas a welcome figure in my budget.
Why don't you just book a nearby hotel with cheaper rates? I mean why house the event and the players themselves in a place that fits your budget when they can clearly afford better venues than you can? There are a least a dozen places within a 10 min ride of the Gaylord that were less than $100 a night and I'm betting the same is true in Dallas. The choice of venue in DC was fantastic, the place was very nice and there were plenty of facilities to handle the crowds without making it feel crowded. Well, except for the seating.
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I wasn't there but i heard about some sound issues due to the speakers on some stream and the thing is that it's basic physics and is called interference if you just got 2 speakers playing the same frequency's you need to hire someone to calculate how to minimize the destructive interference it impossible to bypass it completely but if that was a huge problem you should get someone working on that. I wasn't there after all just heard something about the sound going from really loud to pretty much mute if you moved around.
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On October 19 2010 04:03 tetracycloide wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2010 03:51 PackofHighly wrote:As far as the events themselves go, if you want to sell more passes to play, find cheaper hotels. I don't have a problem with covering the pass costs, but for example, $179 a night hotel does not make taking the trip to dallas a welcome figure in my budget. Why don't you just book a nearby hotel with cheaper rates? I mean why house the event and the players themselves in a place that fits your budget when they can clearly afford better venues than you can? There are a least a dozen places within a 10 min ride of the Gaylord that were less than $100 a night and I'm betting the same is true in Dallas. The choice of venue in DC was fantastic, the place was very nice and there were plenty of facilities to handle the crowds without making it feel crowded. Well, except for the seating.
I REALLY wanna echo this.
the Gaylord resort, unfortunate naming aside was an AMAZING venue for this.
please come back to DC and use them again, it was stellar the way they were willing to house a bunch of gamers and an african wedding on the same day and treat us both with equal respect.
good for them!!
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On October 19 2010 04:03 tetracycloide wrote:Why don't you just book a nearby hotel with cheaper rates? I mean why house the event and the players themselves in a place that fits your budget when they can clearly afford better venues than you can? There are a least a dozen places within a 10 min ride of the Gaylord that were less than $100 a night and I'm betting the same is true in Dallas. The choice of venue in DC was fantastic, the place was very nice and there were plenty of facilities to handle the crowds without making it feel crowded. Well, except for the seating.
This is very true, but the simpler things are, the better imo.
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Pros : Casting was great, interviews (both pre recorded and live) were a really nice addition. Cameras were good also, if I remember correctly Raleigh was the one were you could only see 1 spectator angle where everyone was lying on some blue floor.. right? This time we actually got good looks at the crowds and it actually appeared to be nice out there.
Cons :
- 1st day delay : just innaceptable
- in-game lag for players : im not sure how the network guys do it, but I seriously hope they are competent enough to priorise traffic (QoS) for players and calculate bandwith to make sure it is sufficient, at some times I was raging for the players and figured I would've paused WAY more then they did and start yelling at a blue guy.
- format : maybe its just me, but having to be glued 2 days in a row to my screen to watch 10 games with 1 hour of doritos and 6 hours of MLG logo felt like a waste in retrospect. Dont get me wrong the actual games were really good for the most part and the casting was top notch, but I feel it couldve been condensed way more. If you compare GSL to MLG i mean its really clear : you dont feel like you're wasting your time there, it's an actual TV show. I find this type of viewing way more enjoyable to spectate. I wish american and european tournaments would start getting this. To make actual TV shows instead of trying to film a LAN tournament, the interviews and quality of casting where all goin in that direction but the pace and randomness of what gets casted and what isnt felt like the tournament had to go on wether the viewers were able to see it or not.
Anyways, thanks for the improved quality of casting and interviews, this really stood out compared to previous IEM and MLGs.
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Kyrgyz Republic1462 Posts
Very good event, I liked everything.
Day and djWheat perfectly balance each other as casters. Wheat acts like a control rod for Day's enthusiasm reactor, and makes it produce just enough energy so that the cast is lively but it does not become over the top and unprofessional (which unfortunately happens with Tasteless and Artosis).
The double elimination bo3 format is also very refreshing, I wish more tournaments used it, at least for the final ro32 or so.
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Spectator seating is a big thing to me, probably the most important.
Second was the flow of games seemed very slow. Might want to brainstorm with the team a bit more to keep the delays to a minimum.
Pretty great overall though.
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I really enjoyed the stream on saturday. Quality was excellent (at least compared to GSL).
Minor things to improve:
(1) Official bracket was always 15-30 minutes behind. Bracket here on Team Liquid was much better.
(2) Also more in general, the official web page is a mess. SC2 seems still to be missing in many categories like "Standing, Pros, Broadcast Personalities, ...".
(3) A little bit more info in between the games. I know you have to show adds. But at least during the time where a random view of the players area / crowd is shown, some moderation or subtitles what is going on would be nice.
(4) I liked the shout outs / blog thing next to the stream, but this could have more frequent updates.
(5) Promote players and teams a little bit better. On the webpage, just a nickname is shown. Put some hyperlink to players nicknames to goes to a page with real name, past results, other nicknames, ladder rank, team and so on.
Overall definitely a great event that I will watch again.
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Calgary25996 Posts
On October 19 2010 03:58 dacthehork wrote:
Do a second "minor" stream and invite hd/husky so you can leech off their viewers that way while still having a good stream with boss commentators like djwheat / day9. Also so we can follow more players early.
Cut off the second stream when you get down to the top 5 or whatever.
Since it's SC2, you theoretically don't even need them there. They could cast on Skype from their houses... All you need is to allow them into the games.
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I really didn't feel like I got my moneys worth for the HD stream this time around, it felt like there were way more games casted at Raleigh, would be interested to see hard numbers on this. Watching a halo pregame show for 30 minutes or whatever during the first game after upgrading to HD was really painful after all the delays.
Would be really nice to get some real first person video cuts during the casted matches. Just seeing the player's camera from the spectator's screen isn't really the same.
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I was at the event personally and I had an absolute blast.
I understand that MLG is still in a "wait and see" phase with SC2 and I respect that. The accomodations for spectators did get better between Raleigh and DC, and I trust that, given the growing success of MLG SC2 that they will continue to grow. I have followed MLG since they first began doing events with Halo 2 and they have ALWAYS been good about this. I trust them and feel that this is in good hands.
From the live spectators perspective, some on-site brackets would have been SO nice. All of the other games, Halo, Tekken, SSB:B, all had brackets posted even if it was a dry-erase board on a tripod. As a spectator who was not staying at the Gaylord (and thus did not have access to the wireless internet) it was not possible for me to know who was still in and who was still out through the entire first day. This is minor, but that would improve the experience so much.
All in all it was a greatly run tournament. Once things got going, the tournament ran smooth and there was always something going on to check out. I know there is a whole outcry for booths but I know that that is not practical for MLG at this point in time with SC2. Booths are a big commitment and MLG is still trying to feel out the possibilites with where SC2 can go. I ask that everyone, though constructive criticism is good, please respect the effort and the value of what MLG is doing in trying to bring a respectable Starcraft scene to North America on the scale of which we have never seen before. Booths will come, in fact, a stage to the likes of what Halo is played on now will probably come. But MLG is a business and they don't want to be committing resources to a PC gaming scene that they aren't sure about just yet. I don't doubt that the reason the commentary volume to the spectators was so low was specifically so the players could not hear it, which I agree with until something better can be implemented. I'm sure sound-insulating headphones will be added for the players being casted in the near future, and that is sufficient for now.
MLG has a real chance to revitalized PC gaming in North America and it is something that, if done right, will bring SO many good things to this community and e-sports in general. Please please be patient. I have seen MLG develop games and they have the right mindset. The amount of transparency that they are grainting us over this entire process is truely a gift that we should not take for granted. They are trying to make money, but they understand the value of doing things the RIGHT way as well. This community and e-sports is in good hands with people like JP and the MLG admin staff behind it, and I can't wait to see how it grows over the coming years.
Great job guys, you are all so awesome and I appreciate what you're doing so much.
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On October 19 2010 04:10 Korben wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2010 04:03 tetracycloide wrote:On October 19 2010 03:51 PackofHighly wrote:As far as the events themselves go, if you want to sell more passes to play, find cheaper hotels. I don't have a problem with covering the pass costs, but for example, $179 a night hotel does not make taking the trip to dallas a welcome figure in my budget. Why don't you just book a nearby hotel with cheaper rates? I mean why house the event and the players themselves in a place that fits your budget when they can clearly afford better venues than you can? There are a least a dozen places within a 10 min ride of the Gaylord that were less than $100 a night and I'm betting the same is true in Dallas. The choice of venue in DC was fantastic, the place was very nice and there were plenty of facilities to handle the crowds without making it feel crowded. Well, except for the seating. I REALLY wanna echo this. the Gaylord resort, unfortunate naming aside was an AMAZING venue for this. please come back to DC and use them again, it was stellar the way they were willing to house a bunch of gamers and an african wedding on the same day and treat us both with equal respect. good for them!!
not exactly sure what you mean by the unfortunate naming...
On the topic of secondary casting though, I think what would be ideal, not perhaps not immediately achievable, would be to have the normal cast with the regular guys, and then a secondary cast with much more basic explanations geared towards first timers or new players. That's the best way to get someone to casually check out the SC2 games and then get hooked on them. I think that the commentary was perfectly fine for the average player, but I went to MLG with someone who was essentially a novice, and i was talking over the speakers constantly to explain things to her. Not something I mind personally, but if that could be added to the event I think would help with expanding the appeal of the game.
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I think everyone has covered the big issues and I agree with a lot of it. I think my number one complaint is the number of games shown vs the amount of downtime where we're just looking at the MLG DC logo.
I understand that a second broadcast rig probably isn't feasible and if nothing can be done in venue then use BNET 2.0 to your advantage and do what ESL did with IEM Cologne and let GLHF (or some other reputable casters) cast games from home onto Ustream of non featured matches.
My one concern is making sure you get credit with your current and potential sponsors for those viewers, but Ustream does provide a pretty good amount of metrics that could be used. I'm sure they'd even run your ads for you in between games.
Whatever you have to do to get us more games within your budgetary constraints would be fantastic. I do think the future of SC2 in MLG is very bright based on these two events.
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On October 19 2010 04:30 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On October 19 2010 03:58 dacthehork wrote:
Do a second "minor" stream and invite hd/husky so you can leech off their viewers that way while still having a good stream with boss commentators like djwheat / day9. Also so we can follow more players early.
Cut off the second stream when you get down to the top 5 or whatever. Since it's SC2, you theoretically don't even need them there. They could cast on Skype from their houses... All you need is to allow them into the games.
This is actually a really good idea tbh. Would be interesting to see if it could work, especially with so many games played simultaneous early in the tournament between reasonably big name players.
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I just posted this in the Thread of IEM NY vs MLG DC.
(though I have to say if you are going to rotate jp and wheat out it seems a little unfair to ask Day9 to cast every game for 2 days and yet jp is the "Face" of sc2 MLG gaming, either call in a reliever for sean , who gets so tired after these events he cancels his daily or really give him the props he deserves with some kind of recognition.)
and I think this is Key.
sean busts his ASS for MLG and the other people he casts for...
please.. reimburse him in some way.
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On October 19 2010 00:53 chuky500 wrote:
Wear less eyeliner especially JP. It looks wierd, it looks like a guy that wears make up.
hahaha... no one was wearing make-up this event. my eyes are just naturally really dark.
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United States7481 Posts
jp is like richard alpert
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279 Posts
On October 20 2010 03:40 Korben wrote:I just posted this in the Thread of IEM NY vs MLG DC. Show nested quote +(though I have to say if you are going to rotate jp and wheat out it seems a little unfair to ask Day9 to cast every game for 2 days and yet jp is the "Face" of sc2 MLG gaming, either call in a reliever for sean , who gets so tired after these events he cancels his daily or really give him the props he deserves with some kind of recognition.) and I think this is Key. sean busts his ASS for MLG and the other people he casts for... please.. reimburse him in some way.
Korben, you realize that all staff at MLG are paid, right? And you realize that we couldn't pry Day9 out of that chair with a forklift? We've tried. Day9 LOVES to cast. We had to force him to take a 15min break at one point. Love that guy.
P.S. some of the extended breaks we take are so that casters can actually go to the bathroom and eat.
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On October 20 2010 05:37 MLG_Lee wrote:
P.S. some of the extended breaks we take are so that casters can actually go to the bathroom and eat.
Sounds like you guys need bed pans and sustenance IVs, or robot casters.
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EPT
