Worlds Commentary.

[Pooka]

Even though we appreciate all of the support we've gotten from the community, the last thing we want everyone to do is bring out the pitchforks and run GameSpot out of town. Sure, feel free to give feedback if you think some things need to be changed, but try to keep it positive. No matter what, the fact that an official live stream of a Pokémon TCG tournament even happened is such a huge step for everyone in the community. Keep in mind that this was the first time that TPCi attempted this sort of thing, and they will get better with more experience.

I implore everyone to work together to provide constructive criticism for GameSpot so that they will want to come back and help the game again. Let's show them why the Pokémon community is so great, not flame them. Personally I will be reaching out to them to see if they would like help from some professional players to help improve the knowledge of the commentators. Overall, all of us from The Top Cut are extremely happy that the stream happened, and we look forward to where the game will be going in the future. Thank you to TPCi and GameSpot for taking this big step forward!

 

[bullados]

Pooka, our basic suggestion is to have some knowledge of the game they're covering. If they're not going to work to get that, then bring in people who do. Namely, you and TTC who have had continued success both in streaming and in commenting on the games.

 

[Furn]

Cosign everything in your final paragraph (which I omitted), and I think the Olympics comparison is a good one -- the NBC coverage, when it actually got around to broadcasting sports, invariably had a team that had one "insider" and another more casual-fan-ish commentator. The "insider" would be able to point out the intricacies of what was happening and react appropriately, and the casual commentator would be able to ask (intelligent!) questions about what was going on when he or she felt like a deeper explanation would be useful. I don't care at all about gymnastics or diving, but it's still possible to watch and enjoy those events if the commentators are doing a good job.

BBC had the same set-up, but was far better received. So they (both NPC and TPCi) had the right idea at least.

 

[Pooka]

Ryan, I agree with you wholeheartedly. As someone who has been pushing for professional coverage of the game for over a year now, my heart sank with every "Trash Claw" that was uttered. However, my point is that we shouldn't be too harsh on a company that was willing to cover the event for the first time. By now I'm sure that they've figured out where they went wrong, so let's try to help rather than complain. Trust me, The Top Cut's commentary needed improvement when it started, too.

 

[Alex(charm)ander]

Ryan, I agree with you wholeheartedly. As someone who has been pushing for professional coverage of the game for over a year now, my heart sank with every "Trash Claw" that was uttered. However, my point is that we shouldn't be too harsh on a company that was willing to cover the event for the first time. By now I'm sure that they've figured out where they went wrong, so let's try to help rather than complain. Trust me, The Top Cut's commentary needed improvement when it started, too.

By no means do I want this to come off as complaining or incite a slew of complaints from others. I was careful to convey my gratitude for the initial effort but firm on my point that there is vast room for improvement. I simply want the community educated on the issue as many might have missed it and I want to open a discussion with an intent on constructive criticism. The issue I see is that too much time was spent teaching the commentators how the game works than covering the gameplay itself. Instead of using representatives of GameSpot I think we can all agree that it would be more suitable to use commentators from within the community. Whether that would be players like us or representatives from the company who understand the game.

Kyle, I would like to extend my appreciation to you and the rest of your group for your participation with The Top Cut. It has definitely taken off and had a positive impact on the game.

 

[Aron Figaro]

I pretty much agree with all of the comments on the quality of commentary at Worlds - it was nothing short of awful, and a poor presentation of the game on the global stage.

There was a LOT of stream overflow in bulbachat - I would recommend that TPCi upgrade the network connection to something beyond tin cans and a string next time. I'd say Vancouver will have an easier time, but anyone who knows anything about Canadian telecommunications can take an educated guess that Kona actually has better international bandwidth.

 

[yoshi1001]

Actually, the problem with streaming wouldn't be on the end where the event is being held-that has a single feed that goes to a location that multicasts it out to the actual viewers on the web. The multicaster end is the one where it couldn't handle the load.

As for the actual commentary quality, as I suggested in another thread, it might be a good idea to source some talent from a sportscasting program that some colleges offer. There would probably be people there with an interest in the area who could be brought up to speed.

 

[Rambo]

I think it was a step in the right direction, considering the match was actually streamed by a popular website, that attracted a lot of both new attention, and also provided insight for those excited for what is happening.

The commentary was bad, yes, but you can't expect them to get it right first time with no initial response from an audience. The commentators were most likely chosen for their ability to commentate general events well and get words out of their mouth successfully without stumbling too much. The people who judged whether or not the commentators were worthy probably had less of an idea about what goes in in a Pokemon game then they did.

Even if you didn't like the commentary (I found it quite amusing at times), you could always mute it and listen to some music while it took place, it was easy to recognise what the cards were. It's been a huge step forward over previously covered world championships (excluding 2011 where TPC did a great job on post worlds coverage) where they are filmed at a large distance away and sped up to a point it's hard to see what's going on, especially to newcomers, and only the finals were showcased.

2010 Masters Finals
2009 Masters Finals
2009 Seniors Finals
2008 Masters Finals

Easy to see the differences in quality between then and now.