First of all I want to thank everyone involved for a very entertaining evening. I had a lot of fun watching the matches and I'm really looking forward to the next big event.
However, there were quite a couple of things that could be improved - and some that I personally really disliked. In this thread I'd like to compile some feedback.
Sound Problems / echo
Well, it was fixed before the first round started, so no hard feeling here...
I guess this will be double-checked next time.
Casters / Commentators
The chemistry between the casters was good. Personally I think James Carrol did a very nice job. He mixed a couple of things up here and there, but he had definitly done his homework and seemed to have enjoyed casting. On the twitch chat some people were complaining they'd rather having a "true" NS2 caster insted of "some SC guy", but this event was not only aimed at the current players but also a big chance to get new players interested in NS2. With one of the casters having a different background I feel that more of the basic stuff is explained during the games, making it easier for potential new players to understand what's going on.
Ingame Camera
I'll make it short: I know the top down perpective is best for casters to see what's going on, and everytime you switch to first person you risk missing stuff going on somewhere else. However switching to first person cam or having the camera howering in a room with much action make the action more intense. Also, potential new players get a better look at what the gameplay actually looks like.
Recap & Statistics
It's easy for viewers to see that NS2 is a tactical game, but it's hard to see (at first glance) that NS2 is a full fledged RTS-system where things like teching up, disrupting the enemy "economy", etc. are as vital as having foor FPS skills. [insert obvious Fane-Tane-Pain-Train / round 4 comment here]. In previous events NS2Stats were used in the "recap". I really missed that this time. For experienced players it provides some nice little details, while showing other viewers that this game has some serious strategic depth.
Trailers & Fillers
As said before this event is not only great entertainment for the current players but also a promo event to get viewers interested in buying NS2 (and I do hope we'll see some new "greens" on the servers because of it). So I can completely understand that you'd show as much promotional material as possible; and the trailers do look awesome...
However, after hearing "be right back after this short video" for the 3rd or 4th time it got... well, boring. It felt like a filler, simply there to streatch the event as much as possible (more on that later), not to provide the viewers with "useful" information.
I would have rather seeing
More Fillers...
If you watched the stream on the NS2 twitch channel you will most likely have seen the chat being flooded with something like "this is embarrassing. Interview players or show matches!" some time after the 4th round, when Hugh got his face painted...
I, too, was a bit annoyed at that point, because all the stuff happening on the stream felt more and more like a desperate attempt to stretch the event as much as possible. And the stuff the time between the matches was filled got silly to a point that was borderline-embarrassing, at least in my view (more on that later). When there is a longer "gap" between the matches, please make sure to referr to it every now and again. Tell your viewers that - for example - the wait is because the players need it, and not because you definitly had to put in sumo wrestling casters somewhere before the last round.
That said, I'm merely speculating here. I think the pauses were there because the players needed some time to rest, talk strategy, etc., but I could be completely wrong. Maybe someone involved can shed some light on the "inner workings" there.
Interviews
I was a bit underwhelmed by the interviews to be honest. The interview(s) with Charlie would have been a great opportunity to highlight/focus on the things that make NS2 a fun game to play.
Yes, the art and and the maps are a big part of NS2, those guys are doing a great job, now please stop booing for a second and hear me out!!
When you talk to friends about NS2, what are the things you tell them to make them become interested? At least for me its:
From funny to silly?
I like Hugh. I like his casting and I think his extrovert and a bit over-the-top attitude really conveys the positive kind of passion for the game that most of its players have and want potential new players to see. Same goes for Wasabi. It worked quite well (imho) in the PAX East videos, however I missed some sort of "counterweight" during the event, for example at the part where the "social media girl" was supposed to ask Hugh questions and he basically hijacked it. And the Exo-Onos duel -> sumo wrestling -> Onos (-ish) makeup stuff went from funny to silly extremely fast. Maybe it's just me being a sad, grumpy German. Maybe everybody else loved it. Maybe it was the timing (in the middle of what felt as a very forces stretch of the event). Usually Hugh's "antics" support the coverage of NS2, this time it somehow felt that "The Hugh Show" distracted from the game too much during the later parts of the event? I really don't know, it just bugged me.
All that said...
.. I enjoyed it. Some parts more, some parts less. But I had my fun and I'm looking forward to the next big event.
Gratulations to Nexzil and Archaea. Enjoy your time in Germany![:)]( ":)")
/Hyper
However, there were quite a couple of things that could be improved - and some that I personally really disliked. In this thread I'd like to compile some feedback.
Sound Problems / echo
Well, it was fixed before the first round started, so no hard feeling here...
I guess this will be double-checked next time.
Casters / Commentators
The chemistry between the casters was good. Personally I think James Carrol did a very nice job. He mixed a couple of things up here and there, but he had definitly done his homework and seemed to have enjoyed casting. On the twitch chat some people were complaining they'd rather having a "true" NS2 caster insted of "some SC guy", but this event was not only aimed at the current players but also a big chance to get new players interested in NS2. With one of the casters having a different background I feel that more of the basic stuff is explained during the games, making it easier for potential new players to understand what's going on.
Ingame Camera
I'll make it short: I know the top down perpective is best for casters to see what's going on, and everytime you switch to first person you risk missing stuff going on somewhere else. However switching to first person cam or having the camera howering in a room with much action make the action more intense. Also, potential new players get a better look at what the gameplay actually looks like.
Recap & Statistics
It's easy for viewers to see that NS2 is a tactical game, but it's hard to see (at first glance) that NS2 is a full fledged RTS-system where things like teching up, disrupting the enemy "economy", etc. are as vital as having foor FPS skills. [insert obvious Fane-Tane-Pain-Train / round 4 comment here]. In previous events NS2Stats were used in the "recap". I really missed that this time. For experienced players it provides some nice little details, while showing other viewers that this game has some serious strategic depth.
Trailers & Fillers
As said before this event is not only great entertainment for the current players but also a promo event to get viewers interested in buying NS2 (and I do hope we'll see some new "greens" on the servers because of it). So I can completely understand that you'd show as much promotional material as possible; and the trailers do look awesome...
However, after hearing "be right back after this short video" for the 3rd or 4th time it got... well, boring. It felt like a filler, simply there to streatch the event as much as possible (more on that later), not to provide the viewers with "useful" information.
I would have rather seeing
- Map previews. Fly through the empty map that will be played in the next 2 rounds, giving some strategic information to the viewers (choke points, etc. that they will recognise later during the actual match) as well as showing off the work of the mappers and artists and the capabilities of the Spark engine.
- Team/Player profiles. Short videos showing the teams in action, giving some background information on where they are from, how long they play, key players, etc.
- Highlights from the teams' matches during the tournament ("Road to the finals"). We saw some awesome games during the tournament, I would really have like to see a montage for each of the teams. This not only shows the kind of action NS2 can be, it also would have shown that (as ARC put it during the "award ceremony") Nexzil "did not lose. They defeated a lot of great teams on their way to the finals".
More Fillers...
If you watched the stream on the NS2 twitch channel you will most likely have seen the chat being flooded with something like "this is embarrassing. Interview players or show matches!" some time after the 4th round, when Hugh got his face painted...
I, too, was a bit annoyed at that point, because all the stuff happening on the stream felt more and more like a desperate attempt to stretch the event as much as possible. And the stuff the time between the matches was filled got silly to a point that was borderline-embarrassing, at least in my view (more on that later). When there is a longer "gap" between the matches, please make sure to referr to it every now and again. Tell your viewers that - for example - the wait is because the players need it, and not because you definitly had to put in sumo wrestling casters somewhere before the last round.
That said, I'm merely speculating here. I think the pauses were there because the players needed some time to rest, talk strategy, etc., but I could be completely wrong. Maybe someone involved can shed some light on the "inner workings" there.
Interviews
I was a bit underwhelmed by the interviews to be honest. The interview(s) with Charlie would have been a great opportunity to highlight/focus on the things that make NS2 a fun game to play.
Yes, the art and and the maps are a big part of NS2, those guys are doing a great job, now please stop booing for a second and hear me out!!
When you talk to friends about NS2, what are the things you tell them to make them become interested? At least for me its:
- Unique asymetrical gameplay with tactial depth.
- Renouncement of "modern" and "gamified" stuff like XP, Ranks/Levels (global), Unlocking weapons/skills, premium subscription stuff, etc. -> Focus on the game, not some artificial meta-progression stuff.
- Modding support, free tools, a developer that embraces its community's creativity.
- The community. Friendly, helpful, and just fun to play with (mostly).
From funny to silly?
I like Hugh. I like his casting and I think his extrovert and a bit over-the-top attitude really conveys the positive kind of passion for the game that most of its players have and want potential new players to see. Same goes for Wasabi. It worked quite well (imho) in the PAX East videos, however I missed some sort of "counterweight" during the event, for example at the part where the "social media girl" was supposed to ask Hugh questions and he basically hijacked it. And the Exo-Onos duel -> sumo wrestling -> Onos (-ish) makeup stuff went from funny to silly extremely fast. Maybe it's just me being a sad, grumpy German. Maybe everybody else loved it. Maybe it was the timing (in the middle of what felt as a very forces stretch of the event). Usually Hugh's "antics" support the coverage of NS2, this time it somehow felt that "The Hugh Show" distracted from the game too much during the later parts of the event? I really don't know, it just bugged me.
All that said...
.. I enjoyed it. Some parts more, some parts less. But I had my fun and I'm looking forward to the next big event.
Gratulations to Nexzil and Archaea. Enjoy your time in Germany
/Hyper