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DreamHack Summer: Replay pack & Feedback Survey

Forum Index > SC2 General
16 CommentsPost a Reply
TL.net ESPORTS
Profile Joined July 2011
4 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-07-04 19:20:02
July 04 2021 19:17 GMT
#1
After two months of competition, the summer season of DreamHack Masters 2021 has concluded. ESL have released nearly 800 replays from the entirety of the competition, including all six regionals and the season finals.

Replay pack: Download

Also, ESL has opened up its traditional post-season survey so fans can give feedback on what they enjoyed about the tournament, and what could be improved.

Survey: Give your feedback!
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TL+ Member
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
July 04 2021 19:25 GMT
#2
Sorry wax did this faster than I could but this feedback part is helpful for me, Matt, at ESL!
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
ReachTheSky
Profile Joined April 2010
United States3294 Posts
July 04 2021 19:39 GMT
#3
Thanks for the quick replay pack!
TL+ Member
BonitiilloO
Profile Joined June 2013
Dominican Republic627 Posts
July 05 2021 04:56 GMT
#4
i still find hard to deal with zerg having 200 army when terran just have 150ish im talking about maru vs raynor finals, raynor was able to remax basically instantantly.
How may help u?
EzioAs
Profile Joined September 2017
235 Posts
July 05 2021 07:20 GMT
#5
Already did the survey.
花は桜木人は武士
Anc13nt
Profile Blog Joined October 2017
1557 Posts
July 05 2021 08:18 GMT
#6
Reynor might be one of the most clutch players out there. He must win like 80+% of final set games.
sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8218 Posts
July 05 2021 08:57 GMT
#7
I think it was a pretty good tournament and the finals were very entertaining. I do wish ESL would make it a bigger priority to work towards equal playing conditions for all participants. This is not fully possible until offline play returns but one should still aim to get as close as possible.

It was then very disappointing that ESL chose to move the start time to 4 pm after the last three big events had started at 3 pm (as did TSL7). This obviously makes it one hour worse for players based in East Asia and Oceania (which were 10/16 players). It would have been nice if attempts had been made to lessen this disadvantage rather than increase it.

ESL are surely doing this because they try to maximise viewership, and nobody denies the importance of that. But one would hope that it isn't the only thing of importance. For a competitive sport, equal conditions are paramount. We watch Starcraft (or football or whatever) because we want to see who is best and marvel at their ability, not to see who were lucky to get the better conditions. (Not saying that the schedule decides who wins, but it obviously gives an advantage to some). I honestly believe that giving some players an unfair advantage devalues the product itself -- and even though this is intangible it's still there and thus worth taking into the calculus, and not only focus on what the numbers show in the short term.

Other things to consider at could be casting some matches from replays; scheduling match order according to where players are located; playing some group matches simultaneously, (the two starting matches, then winners+losers) to shorten group days.

It was very refreshing to see the TSL organisers admit that this is actually a problem and share their thoughts on what could be done. Honestly I have no impression that ESL has any desire to address the issue (since it will inevitably mean that sacrifices has to be made).
"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
buzz_bender
Profile Joined August 2019
446 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-07-05 09:36:12
July 05 2021 09:31 GMT
#8
On July 05 2021 17:57 sneakyfox wrote:
Honestly I have no impression that ESL has any desire to address the issue (since it will inevitably mean that sacrifices has to be made).


This is the unfortunate thing for me as well. I find myself a lot less invested in the whole tournament because it just seems like it's stacked unfairly against the Koreans in every single Season Finals, and that there's nothing being done about it.

There's no acknowledgement of the issues, no acknowledgement that they took the prizepool from Katowice to the Regionals, no acknowledgement that they are trying to find a solution for these issues etc. The scheduling of the Season Finals as well is not optimal, clashing with the start of the GSL Season 2, especially when there is such a big gap between the Finals of the Regionals and the Season Finals.

I know some will say that the Koreans will just have to adapt to the situation and the circumstances. Well, to a degree, I agree. But it's *always* the Koreans who have to adapt, never any of the Europeans. (Imagine Probe himself starting playing at 2 or 3am where he's at). And at the level that these players are playing at, these little things add up, and makes a huge difference at the highest levels.

The perception is that the Korean and other non-European players are treated like B-tier players simply because they don't "bring in the views". I'm not saying that this is what ESL actually thinks about them, but the *perception* of it is there. There doesn't seem to be any hint of the ESL doing anything to care for the welfare of the Korean players, only the foreigners. This just lessens the integrity of the tournaments as a result, and that is a shame. Even major tournaments of other sports take turns in hosting the tournaments (like the World Cup or the Euros), I don't see why SC2 can't do the same in making sure that other players will have to take their turns in adapting to the situation.
ReachTheSky
Profile Joined April 2010
United States3294 Posts
July 05 2021 18:49 GMT
#9
Filled out the survey on what i think needs to improve. I forgot to mention one thing so i'll mention it here. The inbetween downtime on stream where there is a timer counting down until the next match starts, put something else in that spot on stream. One thing that could fill the down time is analysis from casters in regards to the previous match or something.
TL+ Member
Starcloud
Profile Joined September 2018
138 Posts
July 05 2021 20:22 GMT
#10
Am I the only one that is disappointed in the casting and the development of the show ? Of course it is corona time and it was very nice to see casters back together. But there could be little less breaks and some entertainment, for example short videos and interviews etc. for the breaks.

And seriously, what is this trend of Wardi/Zombiegrub casting almost everything nowadays ? When I turned to the stream it seemed that they were always on ? Especially disappointed by them casting the finale. I do not hate them and they are professionals of course, but imo they are the most boring duo you can think of. Both of them work better as a supporting caster. A lot better options would be;

Main caster:

Rotterdam
Tastosis
Demu
Nathanias
Catz

Support caster:

Feardragon
Tod
Day9
Lambo
TLO
Harstem
Mr. Bitter

If we are doing a premier event, then the quality of casting and entertainment should be premier also.
Velitey
Profile Joined September 2016
Canada13 Posts
July 05 2021 20:42 GMT
#11
Catz needs to get more screen time! I know not everybody likes his style but I'd like to see more personally, especially for the season finals when he was on the B stream only. I really liked Demuslim too, he seems to get better with every event. Casting crew was overall pretty solid in my opinion.

As for the 'Koreans playing at a bad time issue', I agree that the overlap with GSL RO16 was really unfortunate. I believe this oversight WILL be fixed in future season finals. For the time itself, it's the player's job to adapt.

Overall satisfied. I believe next season can be a little better.
ReachTheSky
Profile Joined April 2010
United States3294 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-07-08 00:46:05
July 05 2021 21:15 GMT
#12
On July 06 2021 05:22 Starcloud wrote:
Am I the only one that is disappointed in the casting and the development of the show ? Of course it is corona time and it was very nice to see casters back together. But there could be little less breaks and some entertainment, for example short videos and interviews etc. for the breaks.

And seriously, what is this trend of Wardi/Zombiegrub casting almost everything nowadays ? When I turned to the stream it seemed that they were always on ? Especially disappointed by them casting the finale. I do not hate them and they are professionals of course, but imo they are the most boring duo you can think of. Both of them work better as a supporting caster. A lot better options would be;

Main caster:

Rotterdam
Tastosis
Demu
Nathanias
Catz

Support caster:

Feardragon
Tod
Day9
Lambo
TLO
Harstem
Mr. Bitter

If we are doing a premier event, then the quality of casting and entertainment should be premier also.


No i don't think you are the only one. There are a couple of casters, in my opinion, who had no business casting the event, at all. They brought down the cast with their negative tonality. I'm not gonna name them publicly out of fear of retaliation from them or from the communit, i've put that in my feedback directly to ESL.


I do have to say that demuslim was a pleasure to hear on the mic, even though him and I don't get along i'm not going to let that get in the way of his talent, he is definitely one of the better casters. Not only does he have great insight into the game as he is a high level player, but his mic skills are great, particularly his tonality on the mic. TONALITY IS EVERYTHING IN BROADCASTING. Two of the other casters have a nasty habit of not only sounding like they don't want to be where they are casting, but they also tend to always highlight negative things or always center the cast around negative things, or just generally sound negative the majority of the time and it shines through their voice. It makes me not want to watch and literally muted the games they casted. Who the hell puts their fingers in their mouth when on camera or slouches on camera when at the desk? It's like two of the casters have a general sadness cloud around them and it shines through their tonality when casting. They've got to go. They don't have any business casting major events given their current talent level and the only reason they get the views that they do for their smaller events is because of hosting/raids from other streamers, remove the stats that were boosting from hosting/raiding from other streamers and you'll see their real popularity/market value or how many views they truly bring in.

Kaelaris makes a fantastic host, he is A+.

In my opinion, here are the people that should be casting premier events:

Maynarde
Demuslim
Rotti
MrBitter
Day9
Tod

Anybody who tends to carry their voice instead of projecting excitement during matches is a no-go for me. Focus on projecting genuine excitement instead of carrying your voice like a conversational hypnotist trying to hold someone's attention/focus.

Catz is also someone who has mic skills/potential that should be involved more.

Other people ESL might want to bring on :
Goldenboy (great tonality that commands a viewers attention in a positive way).
Lowko (guy has a golden voice, makes anything sound good).

People who I think have potential and/or talent and need a bit of cultivation/honing of their skills:
Nathanias (When he is on, he is on)
Feardragon
Creighton(was wowed when I first saw him join artosis as a subsitute for tastless on gsl awhile back, I think this guy has some real potential. He has great energy. When he is casting events alone he can ramble a bit though).


Tonality is everything in broadcasting. If you are a commentator, ask yourself, what are you communicating with your voice and why? If what you are communicating sounds dreary/gloomy/negative on a very regular basis, how can you expect people to watch?

Look at what the professionals do that have been in the professional sports broadcasting business for 10, or 20 or even 30 years. Ask yourself the following: What makes them so great? What is it about those individuals that makes them so good in their role? At any given point, what are they focusing on and why? What story are they trying to tell? etc.

Having the knowledge to cast competitive starcraft is one thing, but having the right tonality is non-negotiable. Color commentary/play by play commentary with a positive tonality is better for the brand than someone with game knowledge who constantly projects negative tonality.

Get rid of the casters who sound like negative nancies throughout the cast while on the mic, those people are not helping your brand at all and you are throwing money away. Every caster needs to be self sufficient when it comes to positive energy brought to the cast. If a caster has to rely off bouncing off another caster's energy in order to sound positive or exciting to listen to, you probably don't want them casting your events because they are just draining resources.

Passion/sounding genuine/excitement is a requirement, if a commentator team can sound genuine and project/communicate believable excitement while commentating something fake/kayfabe like wwe/aew, then sc2 commentators should have no trouble doing the same for something that is spontaneous/real time like sc2. It's all in the tonality and a negative tonality will always result in less viewers over time.

If i sound harsh or strict, i'm sorry, but the truth needs to be told.

One last thing, people keep rallying for tasteless/artosis to be main eventing non-korean events more often. Apparently rumor has it that their fee is tens of thousands of dollars + a bunch of special treatment. They aren't getting paid tens of thousands of dollars each time they cast GSL. These guys don't even play starcraft 2. They don't even spend time keeping up with the non-korean scene. They sound like two guys having a casual conversation rather than 2 professionals casting a professional event. With this in mind, I can see why they aren't in demand by non-korean event tournament organizers.




TL+ Member
ReachTheSky
Profile Joined April 2010
United States3294 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-07-05 21:21:16
July 05 2021 21:21 GMT
#13
Ooops double post, meant to edit.
TL+ Member
sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8218 Posts
July 06 2021 13:39 GMT
#14
I don't get the dissatisfaction with the casters at all. I think they do a great job, all of those present, and it has been improving since the start of the EPT imo. In particular, ZG, Wardi, and Rotting seem to be getting continously better knowledge of the game and it really shows, as does their co-casting which seems to benifit a lot from them doing so many events together. It's a great mix of game knowledge and hype for me.
"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
tommey.liang
Profile Joined November 2020
United States363 Posts
July 06 2021 14:34 GMT
#15
No issue with the casters because most of the time I don't listen to their analysis nor commentary. I have the audio on as either super low or muted (yeah I know, no game sound). But I am fine with watching the matches with no sound. I do the same with live-action sports as well, unless there are pivotal moments such as altercations or fighting on the field or court, or huge celebrations.

Not sure how much the timing of the matches affects players such as in South Korea or Oceania, but I am sure it does somewhat. Unless every player could fly in a few days prior to get used to the same time, the format has been like this for the past 15 months and will continue to be like this. Did past DH SC2 tournaments have all of the players and be offline/LAN play before? I think so (took a break from watching SC2 from 2013- late 2019).

My only issue is the scheduling of the DreamHack SC2 events. For example we finished group stages/regional finals back in late May/early June, and we just finished the season finals this past weekend. Give another few weeks we have the group stages for DreamHack Fall starting back up later this month. That is only three weeks time!! It would be nice if they were "evenly distributed" in terms of timing, for example the "Summer" could start earlier in mid-April and conclude in mid-May with season finals. then start back up in mid-July with group stages for Fall, season finals in mid-August. Winter could be mid-November and end in mid-December, right before the Christmas/Kwanzaa holidays.

Given this, I think the only item to alleviate is to start the Summer edition earlier (kind of like late spring). The Fall and Winter times are appropriate as is. I know planning for Last Chance is also a doozy and there is no ideal schedule. Also there will always be an audience for any SC2 (Premier) tournament anytime of the year, but would like it to be more evenly spaced out throughout the calendar year. I understand as I am writing this that it depends on players' schedules and the ESL Pro Tour master schedule as well.
FF, KH, Persona, Uncharted, Yakuza | Porter, Illenium, MitiS, Dabin, Seven Lions, Petit Biscuit | Diablo II, SC2 | Pho, sushi, tacos
aae4
Profile Joined December 2021
1 Post
January 22 2022 18:39 GMT
#16
Does anyone else have problem with replay pack downloading?

Google drive says:

"You need access
Ask for access, or switch to an account with access."
Beelzebub1
Profile Joined May 2015
1005 Posts
January 22 2022 20:56 GMT
#17
I'm okay with ZG and Wardii casting, especially Wardii who really does just work his ass off to bring constant SC2 content.

I think they just need to focus on sounding more entertaining and less, "play by play by play". Back in the day, Husky didn't exactly have the highest level game knowledge especially compared to say Tasteosis, but by god if that man wasn't just an entertaining casting personality to listen to.

Nothing but love and respect for them both though, nobodies perfect and there can always be practice and improvement.
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