TotalBiscuit Audio Interview by Reddit - Page 4

This thread is about discussing the interview, not about judging people who contribute way more to the community than you. If you have a valid criticism, make it, but if you're going to spew hate you will get banned.

On February 27 2011 07:50 TotalBiscuit wrote:



However what I cannot understand is the quoted attitude, because it doesn't gel with what actually happens in broadcast sports. Every broadcast sport I can think of has this. It is there for a reason, it heightens the drama, it conveys the passion, it enhances the viewing experience. I'd turn around and say to anyone that asks that question, well if you can't get along with that kind of commentary, maybe sports in general isn't for you? Professional sports commentators scream even more than I do and they are sometimes being paid millions a year to do it and those events are some of the most watched spectacles in the world. That is what broadcast sport is, that is what broadcast eSport should, in my opinion be. There is little reason to deviate from a proven formula.

On February 27 2011 08:30 naventus wrote:
Ignoring his accent, have you guys even seen his WoW stuff. He acts like such a prick, railing against "casuals", infatuated with "skill" in the game, when honestly he has nothing to show for it. He isn't good, doesn't have progression or pvp to show for it.

He's just a loudmouth fuck that loves the idea of being good at games, but isn't at all.

Oops I guess that's the majority of attention whoring commentators.

On February 27 2011 08:24 imbs wrote:


ive watched sport all my life and i've never come accross a commentator who screams more than you do. one analyst and one "play-by-play" commentator is what happens in football yes, but they will try to have opinions too. generally they spend a lot of the time giving you backstory or insight into the players (usually through the use of form statistics and that kind of thing), calling out peoples names as they recieve the ball etc.

getting excited when there is danger/pressure is one thing, but you go way overboard, and you often suffocate anyone who would or could give any kind of analysis. you are literally just screaming for the sake of it at times. a good play-by-play commentator will not attempt to create excitement during high pressure situations by raising his voice - he will do it by clearly explaining what is happening. if you commentate like this you would find your voice rises naturally as you have to speak faster, but a high understanding of the game is needed in order to point out these things fast and concisely. this is where i think you fail as this type of commentator. your level of understand of sc is not good, and i don't think you will be able to change that.

Andy gray and martin tyler were considered the best commentating duo in football because they were good at analysing things, not because they tried to artificially create excitement. they had their magic moments when they went crazy too - steven gerrards goal against olympiakos is a good example. considering how often you scream and yell, when something actually exciting happens no one will know it via listening to you talk about it

On February 27 2011 08:30 naventus wrote:
Ignoring his accent, have you guys even seen his WoW stuff. He acts like such a prick, railing against "casuals", infatuated with "skill" in the game, when honestly he has nothing to show for it. He isn't good, doesn't have progression or pvp to show for it.

He's just a loudmouth fuck that loves the idea of being good at games, but isn't at all.

Oops I guess that's the majority of attention whoring commentators.

User was temp banned for this post.

On February 27 2011 08:03 vyyye wrote:

I don't think comparing to football, hockey or what have you is a fair comparison considering how different they are in terms of complexity. I am not a football fan, I pretty much only watch it when Sweden gets anywhere (lol) but I can easily watch it with Spanish commentators without feeling like I don't know what's going on.

Scoring a goal from some ridiculous angle will look cool no matter how much anyone screams over it, hell, it'll look cool even if shit's muted. I suppose the same could apply to an archon toilet, baneling mines or such but when something that obvious isn't going on SC2 needs far more analysis than football ever will.

Yes, I realize that general player analysis and discussion of their tactics/strategy is prevalent during downtime but it's often more about the commentator's opinion, after all a team doesn't necessarily have to change their tactics throughout a game, 4-3-3 (I believe that was a common formation..?) doesn't care about "early game" or "late game", so to speak.

Starcraft 2 isn't the same. Even when (to the untrained eye) nothing is going on there's a fucking lot happening. Tech is being researched, economy is improving or being neglected in favour of army.. hell, macro is happening. A protoss warping in stalkers and building the occasional void ray/colossus and sitting on his arse isn't exciting to watch on its' own, but knowing that the zerg has to do something to prevent the 200/200 deathball, and he has to do it soon can be.

I don't disagree with broadcaster's helping add excitement to sports (or e-sports for that matter), but I believe it is far more important to at least have some analysis in e-sports. Part of the reason I can watch Quake Live is the awesome commentary explaining just what the fuck is going on, while I would probably get bored of the incredible aim if after a game or two if that was all I understood.

Feel like I'm going in circles here, but tl;dr SC2 can be exciting without analytical commentary, similar to any sport, but SC2 has a lot of potential to be more exciting when there is good analysis. Or even better, a mix of good play by play and analysis, though that's not always feasible.

On February 27 2011 07:50 TotalBiscuit wrote:


This is an interesting and rather odd thing to bring up honestly. I can understand people not liking pure play-by-play. I myself admit in the interview that were it logitistically possible, I would co-commentate 100% of the time with an analytical partner and focus purely on the play-by-play. What I am doing is not optimal, it is not what I should be doing, but I am left with little choice because on a logistical, practical and technical level, it is the lesser of two evils. It comes down to subjective preference, some prefer analysis, others prefer play-by-play, others prefer a mix. I don't like dubstep, doesn't mean it's an invalid form of music and people who like it are dumb or whatever.

However what I cannot understand is the quoted attitude, because it doesn't gel with what actually happens in broadcast sports. Every broadcast sport I can think of has this. It is there for a reason, it heightens the drama, it conveys the passion, it enhances the viewing experience. I'd turn around and say to anyone that asks that question, well if you can't get along with that kind of commentary, maybe sports in general isn't for you? Professional sports commentators scream even more than I do and they are sometimes being paid millions a year to do it and those events are some of the most watched spectacles in the world. That is what broadcast sport is, that is what broadcast eSport should, in my opinion be. There is little reason to deviate from a proven formula.

On February 27 2011 07:36 Longshank wrote:


It doesn't necessarily have to do with viewers being casual or not. Look at BW, most if not all those following the Korean BW scene would be considered pretty hardcore but they loved the excitement the Korean style of commentating added to the game. To me it's the opposite from what you say, I don't necessarily need a caster telling me what's going on, I got eyes to see with and know enough about the game to know and recognize the strats and whatnot on my own. But if someone can add energy and excitement to the game it's invaluable to me.

On February 27 2011 08:38 billyX333 wrote:
I hope tb actually likes sc2 as an esport moreso than a business opportunity

On February 27 2011 08:45 Redmark wrote:

Honestly does it really matter? It could be that day9 really hates SC2 buts just hides it really well.

On February 27 2011 08:37 Longshank wrote:


What does your opinion on TB has to do with anything? He replied that the commentator is used to add excitement and energy to a game which is 100% correct. He didn't say anything about his own skill or ability of doing it, that was irrelevant.

On February 27 2011 08:24 imbs wrote:


ive watched sport all my life and i've never come accross a commentator who screams more than you do. one analyst and one "play-by-play" commentator is what happens in football yes, but they will try to have opinions too. generally they spend a lot of the time giving you backstory or insight into the players (usually through the use of form statistics and that kind of thing), calling out peoples names as they recieve the ball etc.

getting excited when there is danger/pressure is one thing, but you go way overboard, and you often suffocate anyone who would or could give any kind of analysis. you are literally just screaming for the sake of it at times. a good play-by-play commentator will not attempt to create excitement during high pressure situations by raising his voice - he will do it by clearly explaining what is happening. if you commentate like this you would find your voice rises naturally as you have to speak faster, but a high understanding of the game is needed in order to point out these things fast and concisely. this is where i think you fail as this type of commentator. your level of understand of sc is not good, and i don't think you will be able to change that.

Andy gray and martin tyler were considered the best commentating duo in football because they were good at analysing things, not because they tried to artificially create excitement. they had their magic moments when they went crazy too - steven gerrards goal against olympiakos is a good example. considering how often you scream and yell, when something actually exciting happens no one will know it via listening to you talk about it

On February 27 2011 08:45 Redmark wrote:

Honestly does it really matter? It could be that day9 really hates SC2 buts just hides it really well.