EPT![[image loading]](http://www.sc2sea.com/images/ww/may6.jpg)
Maynarde and his amazing dreads xD Picture by Dot
Q: Hi, please introduce yourself for those who many not know who you are.
A: Hello there, I’m Maynarde and I have been casting Starcraft 2 for 3 glorious years of fun and adventure.
Q: How did you get into casting? Did you do any casting prior to Starcraft 2?
A: No I never cast anything before Starcraft 2, how I got into casting though is a story I’ve told a few times, but not everyone knows it so let’s go!
I was a competitor and bright faced new community member of SC2SEA, enjoying watching my ToR buddies play one weekend in BSGCL back in my BSG days. The caster (who I don’t actually remember lol) asked if a co-caster could help him out and I’d had a few beers so I gave him my Skype and yelled a lot at the game and things dying.
People seemed to enjoy it for some reason, so I decided to keep on as a regular and cast with my good mate Frogmite who is gone from SC2SEA now but we cast and admin’d BSGCL together for a couple seasons. Then this fella Dox (who everyone probably knows) must’ve seen a VOD or caught it live and thought I’d be a good addition to his fine self to be the casting duo for his Dox Cup #2 that happened shortly after. The same fella also happened to be the first SC2 admin for the ACL, who he would go on to recommend picking up me as a caster. I was of course flattered and enjoyed the opportunity … and still do! Working with those people gave me huge opportunities around and outside the country, all of which I’m forever grateful for.
So yeah, that’s basically the story.
Q: What is your situation at the moment? Are you full time? Do you think it is possible to go full time as a caster in Australia?
A: Right now my situation is I work full-time and study outside of work. This work is NOT casting mind you, its software related. Even though I am very passionate about casting and the game, in the end it’s a hobby.
Unfortunately at the state of eSports in general in this country, it’s impossible to cast fulltime unless you are some sort of trust fund kid who doesn’t need to work for the rest of their life. Shout out to anyone who IS one of those people by the way, should probably drop a few bucks into making some tournaments!
If you want to get into fulltime casting, you have to leave this country, and be good enough and loved enough to make it overseas in Europe, America or Korea. Even then it’s a big ask. Sorry to be a neggie nancy.
Q: What are your plans for the future in terms of casting? Any specific goals you have in mind?
A: My plan for casting is to get as good at it as I can and do it for as long as I can. I love it to pieces, and because of it I have cherished memories and friendships I’ll never forget. I don’t plan to be a fulltime caster, but when I leave the Starcraft 2 eSports world (which isn’t anytime soon) I hope to have left it a better place than when I joined and had made a positive difference. Big or small, preferably big of course!
By this I mean not just personally adding any entertainment value to a tournament through casting, but adding to the experience of everyone involved who like me is a lover of the contest and wants to see the players stay and be happy, just as much as fans. This equates to putting time, money and energy into making more opportunities at home.
Q: There has been a lot of talk about quality of casters in the past, what do you think makes a good caster or casting duo?
A: A good solo caster is a rare beast, I wish it was something I could do well but I just can’t! Being a good caster basically entails being entertaining and as accurate as possible. The casters job is to keep people interested. A solo caster needs to be able to hype people up and get fans excited but at the same time provide the valuable information that a higher level viewer or even pro player usually appreciate to have in the casts they watch.
Casting duos; I can’t even start talking about casting duos without giving love IMMEDIATELY to my good friend Zepph. We were lucky enough to be able to really click very quickly during our casts together, and of all the co-casters I’ve had she’s really been the one to consistently make up for my weaknesses. I’ve always been a play-by-play caster, relying on my energy and passion for the game to get me through without messing up with my terrible analysis. Zepph can play-by-play too but her strength is in analysis. To top it off she has a good voice, a good sense of humour and is just as entertaining which is a really rare combo.
A good cast needs hype and analysis, a good duo has a specialist for each side of that cast who can interact with each other and aren't afraid to be themselves.
Q: People like Nathanias who are up and coming in the Starcraft 2 scene as casters say that it’s virtually impossible to break into the scene. Do you agree with this? If so what do you think has to change to in order for up and comers to get the opportunities they need?
A: I would agree in part with what Brothanias is saying there, I would say that it’s NOT difficult to get into casting regularly but that it IS difficult to stand out among the other established casters. The scene has been saturated with so many casters since 2010, only a few have stayed around for that long and even fewer still have made it to the point where they get paid to do it.
You gotta be something truly special to stand out in 2013/2014, but in the end what matters is WHY you’re doing it. There are plenty of opportunities local for a SEA based caster to get started, there are weekly tournaments always looking for new blood so get amongst it!
Q: A while back, there was a lot of talk about casters perhaps taking too much of the spotlight away from the players. It’s understandable because they are what the viewers hear throughout tournaments and they have appealing personalities. Any thoughts on this topic?
A: I do have thoughts on this topic and I touched on them a tiny bit earlier. I deeply believe that players come first, tournament comes second, fans and the casters are probably third together. I don’t think casters take spotlight away from the players really but it IS surprising to hear they can get paid sums rivalling even top tier professional players.
My thoughts regarding this stem to the international scene more so than the local SEA scene, which is all volunteer based and players are definitely the centre focus. I guess WCS Oceania / Australia was probably the only exception.
A good caster will spend their time talking about the tournament and the players, not themselves. I certainly agree they can be more popular than certain players but when people watch a tournament it’s not for the casters it’s generally for the players and the games. People generally discuss the players and the games during and after the tournament. There is very rarely any “spotlight stealing”.
Q: Observer UI has come a long way over the last year. Do you think these new features improve the casters ability to communicate what is happening in game and ultimately the viewer experience?
A: Oh absolutely, the new observer UI has certainly helped casters and fans especially spectate the game from home. Every patch is an improvement, the latest having that extra “zoom level” which makes it easier to set up the stage for a massive engagement or take in the scope of a player’s army positioning. Cool stuff!
Q: What would you say to anybody in Australia or SEA who is thinking about getting into casting, whether it be fulltime, or as a hobby.
A: I would start off by saying “Go for it!” There’s a tonne of opportunities in Australia and SEA to cast like I said earlier, tournaments are basically weekly and always looking for help. Even if you’re a B stream, that’s still good experience. Follow and support your local tournament and scene to get some player knowledge and who knows, maybe one night the caster will be looking for a co-caster and you’ll be half pissed and put your hand up to join. Worked for me!
Another suggestion; make a YouTube channel. Plenty of players in SEA are very accessible and are happy to hand out replays for casters. Put up the videos in a blog or tweet em and take the feedback constructively. You can ask me too, I’m always happy to help and generally around SC2SEA, just send me an email or private message anytime!
One last thing to finish with; ask yourself WHY you’re casting and be honest with yourself. Don’t do it because you want to be a superstar, there’s enough of those people. You will NOT get a full time paid job as a caster in SEA. Do it because it’s fun and you want to spend your time to help and add to the community.
Q: Any shout outs to fans, friends or sponsors?
A: I don’t have any sponsors and I don’t really have fans, so with that in mind THANKS FRIENDS! Love you guys, stay frosty on the ladder and enjoy yourselves. Drop some comments below if you got questions and I promise to respond, I wrote this at 2am so apologies if things don’t make sense. Thanks Maru for the questions and thanks for taking the time to read what I have to say.
GLHF! xoxo
