On February 02 2012 18:59 equalheights wrote: You also state a problem with casters having thick accents which is apparently a big no-no: this is a very american-centric viewpoint, and given that many Starcraft events attract a global audience I don't think its reasonable for all tournaments to pander to it. As it is, the enthusiasm and knowledge by casters like Khaldor and TLO (when he casts) more than make up for the fact that English was not their first language.
I'm going to disagree with you here. Having a thick accent makes you difficult to understand for a large segment of your audience (generally everyone who natively speaks that particular language). Having people with little to no accent is extremely beneficial, because then you aren't alienating a large portion of your audience, which is why the national level broadcast programs (news, sports, etc) generally don't have people with accents.
I'm right there with you on the global audience, and I would argue the solution is to have multiple teams of casters for different languages; much like they do with the Olympics. The different audiences are watching casts in their own language - with the main team being the team speaking the host country language. Will there more of a logistical burden with this, and a lot of details that still need to be hashed out (differences between internet streaming and broadcast feeds, etc)? Absolutely, but I think having a broader appeal will ultimately open it up to more fans and that will outweigh the costs.
Actually its not just in sc2 casting that girls get a job because they are girls, it also happens quite often that guys get a job because they are guys. I dont really see that as a problem.
There is no clique, that would imply some kind of union of casters deliberately working to secure their gigs together at the expense of others, which does not happen.
I kinda feel bad for the OP. Its like he just experienced the real world for the first time and it donkey punched him. People are greedy and will try to prevent others from getting their slice of the pie. For every 1 casting position with a paycheck there are are 500 sc2 casters. People are also stupid and lazy and resistant to change. If fans get used to a caster they get comfortable with him and he's set.
Look at real sports. For every Al Michaels there are 10,000 high school sports reporters, WNBA announces or Sandwich artists that think they deserve his job. A lot probably work harder and are better than him (bad example, Al is the GOAT) but most of them will never get a shot. It's all about connections, getting out there and if you ever do get a shot, not botching it.
On February 02 2012 20:18 nekoconeco wrote: I am surprised no-one has mentioned Klazart that guy was great at play-by-play commentary and the closest I have seen in Starcraft to someone like John Ahlers
holy crap.... klazart's mouth is like a machine gun! it's so awesome
About a year ago, when I decided I wanted to try and be a caster, I joined a clan so that I would always be able to cast Clan Wars or the weekly tournaments they had. After a while, I ended up casting bigger and better events. The clan that I joined even grew to be the largest clan in the west and eventually everyone knew who I was.
Before I knew it I had an entire clan behind me, giving me casting opportunities like showmatches w/ white-ra and Dimaga. Let alone the chance to cast games between some of our top grandmasters.
I have had to make a lot of sacrifices and put in a strong effort. SC2 has become more than a hobby for me and has really helped me enjoy my life. I get the chance to cast a $6000 offline tournament this weekend and its all thanks to the hard work I put in and the friends and fans I gained in a clan/team.
On February 02 2012 18:59 equalheights wrote: You also state a problem with casters having thick accents which is apparently a big no-no: this is a very american-centric viewpoint, and given that many Starcraft events attract a global audience I don't think its reasonable for all tournaments to pander to it. As it is, the enthusiasm and knowledge by casters like Khaldor and TLO (when he casts) more than make up for the fact that English was not their first language.
I'm going to disagree with you here. Having a thick accent makes you difficult to understand for a large segment of your audience (generally everyone who natively speaks that particular language). Having people with little to no accent is extremely beneficial, because then you aren't alienating a large portion of your audience, which is why the national level broadcast programs (news, sports, etc) generally don't have people with accents.
I'm right there with you on the global audience, and I would argue the solution is to have multiple teams of casters for different languages; much like they do with the Olympics. The different audiences are watching casts in their own language - with the main team being the team speaking the host country language. Will there more of a logistical burden with this, and a lot of details that still need to be hashed out (differences between internet streaming and broadcast feeds, etc)? Absolutely, but I think having a broader appeal will ultimately open it up to more fans and that will outweigh the costs.
True, I dislike thick accents, even those from my home country. Is there really no way to train off an accent?
Also, another thread that goes "I hate these popular casters!" was really not something the world needed. And good job being another guy that singles Kelly out just for being female -- you said you wanted eSports to be LESS of a clique, yet you hate her for trying to cast it?
The entire OP is just a bunch of contradictory rubbish.
On March 01 2012 00:47 Jinsho wrote: OP loses all credibility for quoting Aris the creepy fuck. Harass a woman live on stream for several days? No problem.
Also, another thread that goes "I hate these popular casters!" was really not something the world needed. And good job being another idiot that singles Kelly out -- you said you wanted eSports to be LESS of a clique, yet you hate her for trying casting it?
The entire OP is just a bunch of stupid contradictory rubbish.
You obviously didn't read the OP. He never said he hated any casters, or even disliked them. He said the feedback they get says the community dislikes them, so why would they be made into pop casters? That's why he is confused, he is wondering if there is some kind of clique going on. He doesn't hate Kelly, he questions why they put her in front of the most important esports audiences when she has very bad qualities for a caster. He is simply advocating for possible better quality casts, not saying we need to fire casters, or give everyone and their brother a chance to cast big tourneys. Way to demonize the crap out of him. Try to use your intuition next time to figure out what people are saying before you make assumptions about intent.
Let's bring here Tobi Wan Kenobi to explain you why some people don't respect KellyMilkies at all. I don't think she deserves to cast or be a part of e-sports at all after whet she did in mani occasions so yeah we deserve better quality interviews and catsing. People like that should never be allowed to cast IMO, expecially after showing multiple times to be unprofessional.
New casters that want to do casting have to dare to take the step out there and hope that someone will notice them so they can grow and cast bigger and bigger tournaments. I did cast for about 6 months. I started in the small, threw up my own stream, asked if any small tournaments needed casters. Then got picked up to cast for a norwegian clan. After some months having fun, getting feedback, trying to improve I had do start focusing more on my studies and quit, but I do believe everyone can be a caster if they just dare to throw themselves out there and ask tourny organisers if they need more casters.
Noone manages to get famous straight away, and in my opinion if you're doing this for fame, don't bother. If you really have a desire for the game and casting go for it. The worst thing that can happen is that you will get turned down when asking if you can cast for someone, oh well, go ask someone else. There is no clique. Altough it sounds awesome with a formal council of casters, lead by Day9, Tasteless and Artosis, that decides who gets to be their padawan and be the new casting star!
I dont like getting my mind attacked constantly with play by play commentary that is just stating the obvious. I mean, I'm not blind or dumb or anything, so why would I need a guy to constantly tell me what I am already seeing anyways? Its just annyoing imo and somewhat insulting to the viewers intellect.
I know that the majority seems to like this for whatever reason. I guess the idea that you get dumb from watching tv has to come from somewhere.
IMO more high-level players should do more analytical casting so that the viewer can follow the actual game, instead of just getting excited over and over again about some pixel rendered explosions that they have seen for the 10000th time now.
If you just want to party, theres got to be better options than to watch sc2 graphics while listening to someone yelling.
Not sure if it's been brought up, but let's say you grow up in Canada and you love hockey and would like to become a play by play guy. You might have never played Hockey, but you understand the game at a pretty good level if you watch a ton of games and you study the game as much as you can and get to know players etc...
In Sc2, the game wasn't at a level 10 years ago so a 12 year old could analyze the game like crazy for 10 years and now be done studying broadcasting/journalism/whatever and become a top caster.
You can't compare a game that got out of the Beta like a year and a half ago versus hockey and football that's been around for an hundred years
You rambled on around the 3rd paragraph and while you stated that you had no prejudice, you CLEARLY do. Casting is not a joke, ranting about how some casters get in and some do not does not justify the means of being a caster and the skills that are involved with it. While many lack knowledge, those who do are sociable and can fill time when needed as well as having other capabilities
On March 01 2012 01:09 Kammalleri wrote: Not sure if it's been brought up, but let's say you grow up in Canada and you love hockey and would like to become a play by play guy. You might have never played Hockey, but you understand the game at a pretty good level if you watch a ton of games and you study the game as much as you can and get to know players etc...
In Sc2, the game wasn't at a level 10 years ago so a 12 year old could analyze the game like crazy for 10 years and now be done studying broadcasting/journalism/whatever and become a top caster.
You can't compare a game that got out of the Beta like a year and a half ago versus hockey and football that's been around for an hundred years
That's a point I was going to hit on; education! How many SC2 casters have any history at all in broadcasting, vs how many professional sports casters?
How many players play hockey in North America? Or at least -spectate- hockey? From a young age?
Let's say good casters are like good players; the best ones are going to be a small sliver of the population. So if we only have 1.5 million SC2 players, how many people are trying to be casters? How many of those casters are GM casters?
Comparing it again to Hockey, the pool of people who are even -passable- at casting is going to be much much smaller in SC2. Taken with the fact that very SC2 casters have the history of playing, or the education to broadcast, it makes sense they are much, much worse. There will always be standouts, but
Replying more directly to the OP, what avenues are there for someone who casts to become successful? It's a very difficult and confusing process to build fans; how can you prove to people that you're good enough to listen to when you're not featured on any events and when you have no followers?
I'm interpreting the OP as a veiled stab at casters he thinks are unprofessional and only got the job because they're big in the community. This is no different than any other caster-bashing thread other than he doesn't name the casters he's bashing.
I hear people say, you need to work your ass off, and then work the nub that was your ass off too. And then pray people like you, while you keep working off your bones.
On February 02 2012 18:23 JJH777 wrote: I agree. There are a lot of people casting who don't really deserve to be simply because they got respected by the community in some way. I don't think it's really unique to casting though it's true in all aspects of life. The people you know are far more important than your skill/work ethic/anything else.
This is exactly it. This phenomenon described in the OP is not unique to starcraft at all, it happens in all professional circles due to it being a standard feature of human interaction. In all walks of life there are people who get to prominent positions through a combination of luck and knowing the right people who are arguably not as good at what they do as they should be. I wouldn't worry about it since we have a diverse set of casters to meet everyone's tastes and I for one am pretty happy with the current situation.
EPT
