Fighting games are the clearest, I think. The person being punched into the air probably isn't doing great at the current moment, the health bar shows who is closest to winning and losing this individual bout, and the overall win-loss counter shows who is ahead in the entire match.
First person shooters are way more tricky to follow what's going on, mainly because so much of the game is about sneaking up behind people or shooting them unawares. That makes for fantastic game play but impossible or non-dramatic spectating.
You know my favourite first person shooter to watch? Goldeneye. Four player split screen meant that even those not playing could easily follow along, and easily see all the action from many points of view at the same time.
This is likely why things like MOBA's took off as spectator sports as well, since there are clear lanes of control and you can tell who has power over one or the other, or when the base is getting attacked, etc.
Bringing this over from the Rocket League thread to the "fixing esports" thread:
People do use team colors and things in big eSports. They have avatars, team colors, flags, team logos on the field. You probably just don't see them because you probably don't know what to look at.
...
Any game I have ever played has clear score keeping visible on screen, for games where there is even such a thing as a score. MOBAs do not have score. Players just play until one team wins. But their character/team levels are very visible on the screen. If that isn't big enough for you, the streamers can always apply a visual overlay showing any information or graphics they like for any game. It's up to them.
After posting this video, I was watching it again:
First - Both teams have team shirts which match each other... and unfortunately match the other team as well. The camera cuts between one team of semi-bearded Swedes wearing black shirts with orange/brown details to close up shots of other semi-bearded Swedes wearing black shirts with orange/brown details... on the same team? I had to keep looking for the top edge of a team logo that might be somewhere in the frame at the bottom.
vs
Now this video production is some of the BEST esport coverage I've seen, and yet they still haven't learned even the most basic lessons from real sports: How about a "home" and "away" jersey designs? Under the lights in the arena, these designs were the SAME colours!
Second point - sure, there is a visible score on the screen, but even in CS, a game I've played quite a bit compared to other games, I have to constantly be scanning my eyes around the screen, not to see the action, but instead to pick up enough info just to understand what is going on. This is not a problem for me with CS, because I already know it.
However, my girlfriend asked "Why are you holding your iPad so close to your face?"
I showed her the video itself, pointing out how close the players themselves held their faces to their screens, because they had to keep track of the same information.
So when I ask for "Clear score keeping, always visible on screen" I guess I mean more than just the score has to be clear. If I have to watch a game I already play and know and love on an iPad held so close to my face my girlfriend is concerned for my eyesight, how the hell am I ever going to start watching another esport like a MOBA that I don't already know?
I showed the video to Juliane, and she had literally no idea where to look, or what she was looking at. Due to the crowd reaction and the commentary team, she knew something impressive had happened, but couldn't keep track of who was who at all.
The main problem was switching between the players. I can keep track of that no problem because I know the maps and the teams and who is where and all that. Juliane had no clue.
From the first person view, there isn't enough clarity between the hands of a terrorist and a counter-terrorist. She asked why they didn't each team have a distinct weapon. I had to explain the weapons change from round to round. I then explained that while the guns were different between the teams, a player could pick up an opposing team's gun.
I realized that the main indication of who we were following was a dim grey box around their team name. Good enough for me, but that just doesn't cut it for someone who hasn't put in a few hundred hours playing the game.
For this event, I think it would have been better to not have a static shot of the end-most player on each team in the two bottom corners. I think a camera on each player linked to the spectator client would be the most handy. As you switch between the in-game player views, switch an on-screen image to that player.
That, combined, with different team colour shirts (actually different colours!) for the players would convey way more information.
Maybe it would be enough to show way more clearly even which TEAM you are following. As in, have a very distinct orange or blue sign show up somewhere.
Your ideas do not work. There is only a finite amount of computing power inherent in the hardware. If I'm seriously competing in a game depending on the performance of that hardware, I want 100% of the power of that hardware working towards making sure there isn't even one frame of lag or delay in the game itself. All of your suggestions do not change this fact.
Also, video encoding is incredibly CPU intensive. It doesn't matter if the code that does that encoding is in the game itself or not. The CPU has to execute those instructions that have nothing to do with the game, and when it is doing so, the instructions the game wants to execute are going to wait more than 0 nanoseconds to get their turn.
This is why when I stream video I leave all the streaming to a device that is completely separate from the device running the game itself. You just can't ask every athlete to set this up for themselves in their own home. They are busy being good at the game, not learning about how to do video production.
This is not an argument. It's like saying "In Formula 1, teams should be able to put in the biggest engine possible!"
Nope! That's just not how real sports work. Each tournament or event has a set of rules of what is required in terms of equipment, and the participating players and teams follow them. That's why not all car races on the same circuits have converged on exactly the same optimal design. Also: Deflategate. Also: only white clothes at Wimbledon.
It turns out I don't care about the nanosecond delay in game instructions on the chip. Neither do any other spectators.
For a sport to be considered mature, and for it to appeal to a mainstream audience, the utter comfort and ease of use and perfect conditions for the players can't be the overwhelming consideration in every matter.
You CAN ask every athlete to set it up for themselves in their own home. Tell them "Do you want the chance to win $100,000? Point a webcam at your face and run the same code as everyone else in the tournament."
I personally find watching Counterstrike harder to watch on stream, I prefer watching inside the game where I can direct the camera and have the commentary going in the background that I can mute if I want.
I think this is the main reason that Starcraft and League of Legends are easier to watch, having an overview of the environment and positioning of players plus being able to see more than what the players can.
There is a solution to having individual cameras. Place a professional grade HD camera pointed at each player, the cameras all feeding to a a separate machine the processes the video and makes it available for the production crew as required in addition to 2 other camera men on stage. Both Teams have black uniforms Red Team wears their alternative uniform Single player camera feed Problem with MOBA if you haven't played one or don't have anyone to explain it
There's also the matter that every game of 5s is fought on the same map (summoner's rift), so it's much more like a football field, in that you can expect it to be the same every time. Due to various things, like the history of FPSes, every FPS is fought on a different map, which makes it take longer to get used to the flow of the game.
I tried to watch Capcom Cup 2015 (Ultra Street Fighter IV) premier event where the competitors have to have won regional major(s) or accrued enough points from Capcom sponsored tournaments worldwide over the last year.
The production quality was relatively poor when compared to most sports / esports.
Players had no idea of where they were supposed to go when introduced, where to go after matches. Time between games was 5 - 10 minutes, most of which was button checks. Fighting game button checks seem to be so stupid to me, there are a max of 8 buttons that you would customise in this game.
The arcade stick could have onboard memory for button configs (if you can do it with a mouse, it shouldn't be hard for a big ass fight stick). Alternatively if you didn't want software on the stick to remove any latency, all arcade sticks can have the physical buttons remapped, the organisers could state the competition buttons representing the in game buttons and let the players change their fightstick buttons so that all the have to do is walk up on stage and plug in their fightstick and start playing rather than listen to the most obvious and boring fill in commentary. The solution easy solved.
The pre-recorded interviews look like they were filmed in a lounge room.
The "opening ceremony" / player introduction had an audience of 10 people (probably recorded before the actual competition). It felt very fake because it was. You could see competitors walk on stage surprised to see the lack of audience and pretend like a crowd was there.
Shots of the stage clearly showed 4 or more cameramen, it seemed very unpolished.
Capcom should run this event, not give a bunch of money to community members and cross their fingers.
The actual game play was great as it was 1 v 1 game play and the contestants had been practising like mad due to the relatively high prize pool for fighting game competitions.
The arcade stick could have onboard memory for button configs (if you can do it with a mouse, it shouldn't be hard for a big ass fight stick). Alternatively if you didn't want software on the stick to remove any latency, all arcade sticks can have the physical buttons remapped, the organisers could state the competition buttons representing the in game buttons and let the players change their fightstick buttons so that all the have to do is walk up on stage and plug in their fightstick and start playing rather than listen to the most obvious and boring fill in commentary. The solution easy solved.
There is simpler solution that doesn't require custom hardware, or rewiring one's controller. Having easy access to button configuration from character selection is a solution. Players can just come in, open the button configuration, quickly go through their buttons and then get to picking their characters. Sure it takes a few seconds maybe, but that time loss is insignificant compared to loading in a mach, testing buttons, setting buttons and then loading back to character selection.
I've got a better solution. No button customization. Play on arcade machines.
These days even some arcade fighting games offer options for customizing buttons.
If the game has that, turn it off on the tournament cabinets. Or simply disallow it. You're at a physical tournament. If someone opens the button customization menu, disqualify them.
It's Street Fighter. Punches on top, kicks on the bottom. WTF do you need to customize?
Are you serious with that arcade cabinet shit? I thought you were joking.
Using arcade cabinets exclusively is a horrible idea, as it gives advantage to those who have access to arcades for practice and totally screws over those who prefer to use gamepads.
Are you serious with that arcade cabinet shit? I thought you were joking.
Using arcade cabinets exclusively is a horrible idea, as it gives advantage to those who have access to arcades for practice and totally screws over those who prefer to use gamepads.
Yeah, that rule in baseball forcing people to use wooden bats really screws over people who like to use metal bats. The rules of F1 really screw over people who like to use jet engines.
All legitimate competitive sports have standards for equipment. Everyone gets to use the same shit, with only the slightest differences to accommodate the fact that not all human bodies are the same size.
If you care about competitive Street Fighter, buying a fight stick is pretty much expected. Don't think that's unfair.
Customization is understandable for something like Smash Bros., where the default is shitty...But customizations are saved to player tags in that game, so that can be completely set up before the tourney starts. More games should build that in so all that can happen off camera.
My favourite fight of the tournament with the two players I like watching the most. Infiltration plays every character in the game. Daigo is a character specialist with 20 years of experience. Here is the specific round if you just want to watch the most hype moment. While below is the full set.
If you care about competitive Street Fighter, buying a fight stick is pretty much expected. Don't think that's unfair.
More and more Street Fighter pros use pad and considering how SF 5 won't even have arcade release their number will increase.
I highly doubt it. Most people feel more comfortable playing on a fight stick and the arcades which are social hubs for the fighting game community will just set up consoles or PCs with the game, playing Street Fighter with any lag whatsoever just sucks.
If you care about competitive Street Fighter, buying a fight stick is pretty much expected. Don't think that's unfair.
More and more Street Fighter pros use pad and considering how SF 5 won't even have arcade release their number will increase.
I highly doubt it. Most people feel more comfortable playing on a fight stick and the arcades which are social hubs for the fighting game community will just set up consoles or PCs with the game, playing Street Fighter with any lag whatsoever just sucks.
Aren't arcades dying in the west? I feel that for many people even now the local scene is build around carrying televisions and consoles to one spot to play. It will happen slowly, but pad players will increase. The old pros who started their careers when arcade cabinites were the default way to go, obviously stick to their sticks, but there will be more and more new blood who get started by buying Street Fightere V (or some other game) to PS4 and starting to play with their default pad.
Doesn't matter. Lots of baseball leagues use metal bats. But once you get to the majors, it's wood only. If you got used to the pad at home, that's fine. But in the majors it's stick only. Deal with it.
Doesn't matter. Lots of baseball leagues use metal bats. But once you get to the majors, it's wood only. If you got used to the pad at home, that's fine. But in the majors it's stick only. Deal with it.
So why stick? SF V comes out on consoles, but not on arcade, so shouldn't PS4 controller be default? If we go to the route of assigning random arbitrary controllers that people have to use.
Your bat argument doesn't work as metal bat and wooden bat interact with the ball in different ways. It doesn't just affect to how you swing, but also how ball acts after you hit.
It might be of worth noting that SF4:AE (2012) only had arcade releases in Japan, pretty much consoles in arcades everywhere else. There were multiple updates for the next 4 years.
Yeah ok, I can see more pad players being present but fewer pad players make it to pro level. I guess it's just muscle memory, I hate playing with a game pad personally however I did start playing in arcades.
Many people will also switch to fight stick.
Although arcades are dying / dead in the west, they are a mainstay in Asian countries and are objectively better to play people at.
Most top performers are from Asian origin or go to Japan to train (where there are arcades).
The Dota 2 pro scene seems to be poorly managed. In the middle of a major Valve realised they had hired an obnoxious idiot as a commentator and that a random production company which wasn't able to handle the task was also fired.
It's great to have a 3 million dollar prize pool but if you put minimal resources into producing quality content that can be accessed by your audience, it very much is shooting yourself in the foot.
At this point even Capcom run events are more professional than the Valve funded majors.
This is the guy Valve thought was appropriate as a caster, (WTF were they thinking) -
The Dota 2 pro scene seems to be poorly managed. In the middle of a major Valve realised they had hired an obnoxious idiot as a commentator and that a random production company which wasn't able to handle the task was also fired.
They were giving him a second chance, as far as I know. They hired him before, gave him the flick because of his streaming persona, and he was going "Yeah, I can do it, I can be real professional, I can do it, let me have another try, you'll see!"
So, valve gave in to the begging, they hired him, gave him a brief, told him to keep it PG-13 or below. He went completely off it with dirty jokes and other shite from his streaming persona that valve didn't view as acceptable, so they got rid of him again, post haste.
The Dota 2 pro scene seems to be poorly managed. In the middle of a major Valve realised they had hired an obnoxious idiot as a commentator and that a random production company which wasn't able to handle the task was also fired.
They were giving him a second chance, as far as I know. They hired him before, gave him the flick because of his streaming persona, and he was going "Yeah, I can do it, I can be real professional, I can do it, let me have another try, you'll see!"
So, valve gave in to the begging, they hired him, gave him a brief, told him to keep it PG-13 or below. He went completely off it with dirty jokes and other shite from his streaming persona that valve didn't view as acceptable, so they got rid of him again, post haste.
James the obnoxious idiot is loved for his no filter style of comedy that always find a way to cross a line somewhere. I'm not say anyone has to like it or that he gets carte blanche to be vile without wit, but he does have a pretty big following. Unfortunately for him, the esports scene was pushing for more professionalism, leaving James with less and less opportunities. He called it quits to focus on game development and disappeared from the casting scene a year and a half ago I think.
It was his friend Bruno - the renown statsman of many outfits and now a Valve employee - that wanted James to come back. Bruno was the one that asked James to "beg" towards Valve to let him on, asking him to do an impartial interview with others in the company so that it wasn't seen as favouritism.
Then Icefrog: another Valve employee. If you fuckers don't know about Icefrog, he's what made dota what it is today. He didn't create it - that was done by Eul (who is also a Valve employee) - but he is the owner since 2005 and has been working on it nonstop, which is more than 90% of Dota's existence. An anonymous enigma, he still retains final say and control over anything gameplay related as well as being an important figurehead in the scene. What did he say, as a Valve employee, and a central figure in dota, to James? "Be yourself."
So what happened? I can only assume that it was a simple mismanagement between managers and staff. Of course, Valve has their idiosyncratic system where Gabe is the only boss according to their employee handbook (although I'm sure there are some key experienced personnel that fulfill a team lead role). The Valve employees liked James' style, wanted it back in full glory, and Gabe was not aware for whatever reason what that would actually entail. I can only assume Gabe expected James to be subdued like he was the last time he hosted the biggest dota tournament in the world, called TI4. So Bruno wanted James to return, Icefrog told James to be himself, and Gabe was expecting James to suppress his normal persona to mimic his TI4 behavior. During preparation and setup, Gabe never actually spoke directly to James on how he should behave, so unless James is omitting some key information, I doubt he was told to keep it PG-13.
I can't defend James' usage of the word "cunt" and his discussion on disabled wheelchair porn within the first minute of going live when the goal is to be professional. While I found it entertaining along with many others, he clearly was not suitable for the role. But to say that he was given a second chance and that he blew it? I think the problem here was a communication issue at Valve.
Of course, you could just ignore my biased interpretation since you can read both party's prepared statements: Gabe's Statement James' Essay
So let me get this straight. You're saying that disgusting behavior is excused because someone told him to "be himself". Sure, Valve isn't blameless. I find it surprising that Valve even has employees like that. I picture them as being a smarter and higher brow company than that. But if someone tells to to be yourself, and yourself is an awful human being, that makes you an awful human being. GTFO.
Can't defend everything he does. That rant on why he doesn't like women that's part of the "James '2GD' Harding in a nutshell" video? Repulsive and cringeworthy. So then why did Valve bring him on and request disgusting behavior?
Can't defend everything he does. That rant on why he doesn't like women that's part of the "James '2GD' Harding in a nutshell" video? Repulsive and cringeworthy. So then why did Valve bring him on and request disgusting behavior?
Because apparently there are Valve employees that are also awful. I was surprised to learn that people like that are working there.
Then Icefrog: another Valve employee. If you fuckers don't know about Icefrog, he's what made dota what it is today. He didn't create it - that was done by Eul (who is also a Valve employee) - but he is the owner since 2005 and has been working on it nonstop, which is more than 90% of Dota's existence. An anonymous enigma, he still retains final say and control over anything gameplay related as well as being an important figurehead in the scene. What did he say, as a Valve employee, and a central figure in dota, to James? "Be yourself."
I saw he used that defense yesterday, but it doesn't make sense. IceFrog is the dota guy, we know, fair enough - but that doesn't mean he's in a position to be telling people how they should conduct their jobs at valve, at least, those that aren't directly working on Dota with him. As in, making the game, not just things around Dota such as events.
Also, it should be pointed out - even if did have that power, he said "Be yourself", not "Go completely off the reservation and do whatever the fuck you like." If someone at work told you before a meeting to just "relax and be yourself", you know they don't mean "Do what you like", they mean "Relax and act natural."
That's the thing with broadcast, even with "Personalities" like streaming - You are being yourself, but if you're doing it as a professional, there's always limits. You can't be 100% unvarnished real-deal you, you have to work within certain boundaries - It's "Being yourself", but on a dimmer switch. If Valve said "Here's the boundary" and he went past it, even if someone said be yourself, then they had every right to pull him from the team. He's a professional, he should know this shit.
I think there's more going on here than we think - after all, how often do you see valve actually fixing anything unless it's a titanic problem?
Oh yeah, before we all forget - Valve also deep-sixed the entire production team. Not just the one caster, there's a lot of people who got the boot.
I think there's more going on here than we think - after all, how often do you see valve actually fixing anything unless it's a titanic problem?
Oh yeah, before we all forget - Valve also deep-sixed the entire production team. Not just the one caster, there's a lot of people who got the boot.
James did say he wanted to make a splash after being gone for almost 2 years. Clearly he did, and his fans loved what little air time he had. I think the titanic problem here was that the entire stream was a mockery compared to past tournaments. If it was just James being a shit-for-brains with everything else perfect, well he might still be told to get stuffed but at least it wouldn't be this whole shitshow.
Comments
First person shooters are way more tricky to follow what's going on, mainly because so much of the game is about sneaking up behind people or shooting them unawares. That makes for fantastic game play but impossible or non-dramatic spectating.
You know my favourite first person shooter to watch? Goldeneye. Four player split screen meant that even those not playing could easily follow along, and easily see all the action from many points of view at the same time.
People do use team colors and things in big eSports. They have avatars, team colors, flags, team logos on the field. You probably just don't see them because you probably don't know what to look at.
...
Any game I have ever played has clear score keeping visible on screen, for games where there is even such a thing as a score. MOBAs do not have score. Players just play until one team wins. But their character/team levels are very visible on the screen. If that isn't big enough for you, the streamers can always apply a visual overlay showing any information or graphics they like for any game. It's up to them.
After posting this video, I was watching it again:
First - Both teams have team shirts which match each other... and unfortunately match the other team as well. The camera cuts between one team of semi-bearded Swedes wearing black shirts with orange/brown details to close up shots of other semi-bearded Swedes wearing black shirts with orange/brown details... on the same team? I had to keep looking for the top edge of a team logo that might be somewhere in the frame at the bottom.
vs
Now this video production is some of the BEST esport coverage I've seen, and yet they still haven't learned even the most basic lessons from real sports: How about a "home" and "away" jersey designs? Under the lights in the arena, these designs were the SAME colours!
Second point - sure, there is a visible score on the screen, but even in CS, a game I've played quite a bit compared to other games, I have to constantly be scanning my eyes around the screen, not to see the action, but instead to pick up enough info just to understand what is going on. This is not a problem for me with CS, because I already know it.
However, my girlfriend asked "Why are you holding your iPad so close to your face?"
I showed her the video itself, pointing out how close the players themselves held their faces to their screens, because they had to keep track of the same information.
So when I ask for "Clear score keeping, always visible on screen" I guess I mean more than just the score has to be clear. If I have to watch a game I already play and know and love on an iPad held so close to my face my girlfriend is concerned for my eyesight, how the hell am I ever going to start watching another esport like a MOBA that I don't already know?
I showed the video to Juliane, and she had literally no idea where to look, or what she was looking at. Due to the crowd reaction and the commentary team, she knew something impressive had happened, but couldn't keep track of who was who at all.
The main problem was switching between the players. I can keep track of that no problem because I know the maps and the teams and who is where and all that. Juliane had no clue.
From the first person view, there isn't enough clarity between the hands of a terrorist and a counter-terrorist. She asked why they didn't each team have a distinct weapon. I had to explain the weapons change from round to round. I then explained that while the guns were different between the teams, a player could pick up an opposing team's gun.
I realized that the main indication of who we were following was a dim grey box around their team name. Good enough for me, but that just doesn't cut it for someone who hasn't put in a few hundred hours playing the game.
For this event, I think it would have been better to not have a static shot of the end-most player on each team in the two bottom corners. I think a camera on each player linked to the spectator client would be the most handy. As you switch between the in-game player views, switch an on-screen image to that player.
That, combined, with different team colour shirts (actually different colours!) for the players would convey way more information.
Maybe it would be enough to show way more clearly even which TEAM you are following. As in, have a very distinct orange or blue sign show up somewhere.
Nope! That's just not how real sports work. Each tournament or event has a set of rules of what is required in terms of equipment, and the participating players and teams follow them. That's why not all car races on the same circuits have converged on exactly the same optimal design. Also: Deflategate. Also: only white clothes at Wimbledon.
It turns out I don't care about the nanosecond delay in game instructions on the chip. Neither do any other spectators.
For a sport to be considered mature, and for it to appeal to a mainstream audience, the utter comfort and ease of use and perfect conditions for the players can't be the overwhelming consideration in every matter.
You CAN ask every athlete to set it up for themselves in their own home. Tell them "Do you want the chance to win $100,000? Point a webcam at your face and run the same code as everyone else in the tournament."
That's it. That's what you tell them.
I think this is the main reason that Starcraft and League of Legends are easier to watch, having an overview of the environment and positioning of players plus being able to see more than what the players can.
There is a solution to having individual cameras.
Place a professional grade HD camera pointed at each player, the cameras all feeding to a a separate machine the processes the video and makes it available for the production crew as required in addition to 2 other camera men on stage.
Both Teams have black uniforms
Red Team wears their alternative uniform
Single player camera feed
Problem with MOBA if you haven't played one or don't have anyone to explain it
The production quality was relatively poor when compared to most sports / esports.
Players had no idea of where they were supposed to go when introduced, where to go after matches. Time between games was 5 - 10 minutes, most of which was button checks. Fighting game button checks seem to be so stupid to me, there are a max of 8 buttons that you would customise in this game.
The arcade stick could have onboard memory for button configs (if you can do it with a mouse, it shouldn't be hard for a big ass fight stick). Alternatively if you didn't want software on the stick to remove any latency, all arcade sticks can have the physical buttons remapped, the organisers could state the competition buttons representing the in game buttons and let the players change their fightstick buttons so that all the have to do is walk up on stage and plug in their fightstick and start playing rather than listen to the most obvious and boring fill in commentary. The solution easy solved.
The pre-recorded interviews look like they were filmed in a lounge room.
The "opening ceremony" / player introduction had an audience of 10 people (probably recorded before the actual competition). It felt very fake because it was. You could see competitors walk on stage surprised to see the lack of audience and pretend like a crowd was there.
Shots of the stage clearly showed 4 or more cameramen, it seemed very unpolished.
Capcom should run this event, not give a bunch of money to community members and cross their fingers.
The actual game play was great as it was 1 v 1 game play and the contestants had been practising like mad due to the relatively high prize pool for fighting game competitions.
It's Street Fighter. Punches on top, kicks on the bottom. WTF do you need to customize?
Using arcade cabinets exclusively is a horrible idea, as it gives advantage to those who have access to arcades for practice and totally screws over those who prefer to use gamepads.
All legitimate competitive sports have standards for equipment. Everyone gets to use the same shit, with only the slightest differences to accommodate the fact that not all human bodies are the same size.
It's Street Fighter. Fuck your gamepads.
Customization is understandable for something like Smash Bros., where the default is shitty...But customizations are saved to player tags in that game, so that can be completely set up before the tourney starts. More games should build that in so all that can happen off camera.
Here is the specific round if you just want to watch the most hype moment.
While below is the full set.
Your bat argument doesn't work as metal bat and wooden bat interact with the ball in different ways. It doesn't just affect to how you swing, but also how ball acts after you hit.
Yeah ok, I can see more pad players being present but fewer pad players make it to pro level.
I guess it's just muscle memory, I hate playing with a game pad personally however I did start playing in arcades.
Many people will also switch to fight stick.
Although arcades are dying / dead in the west, they are a mainstay in Asian countries and are objectively better to play people at.
Most top performers are from Asian origin or go to Japan to train (where there are arcades).
It's great to have a 3 million dollar prize pool but if you put minimal resources into producing quality content that can be accessed by your audience, it very much is shooting yourself in the foot.
At this point even Capcom run events are more professional than the Valve funded majors.
This is the guy Valve thought was appropriate as a caster, (WTF were they thinking) -
So, valve gave in to the begging, they hired him, gave him a brief, told him to keep it PG-13 or below. He went completely off it with dirty jokes and other shite from his streaming persona that valve didn't view as acceptable, so they got rid of him again, post haste.
It was his friend Bruno - the renown statsman of many outfits and now a Valve employee - that wanted James to come back. Bruno was the one that asked James to "beg" towards Valve to let him on, asking him to do an impartial interview with others in the company so that it wasn't seen as favouritism.
Then Icefrog: another Valve employee. If you fuckers don't know about Icefrog, he's what made dota what it is today. He didn't create it - that was done by Eul (who is also a Valve employee) - but he is the owner since 2005 and has been working on it nonstop, which is more than 90% of Dota's existence. An anonymous enigma, he still retains final say and control over anything gameplay related as well as being an important figurehead in the scene. What did he say, as a Valve employee, and a central figure in dota, to James? "Be yourself."
So what happened? I can only assume that it was a simple mismanagement between managers and staff. Of course, Valve has their idiosyncratic system where Gabe is the only boss according to their employee handbook (although I'm sure there are some key experienced personnel that fulfill a team lead role). The Valve employees liked James' style, wanted it back in full glory, and Gabe was not aware for whatever reason what that would actually entail. I can only assume Gabe expected James to be subdued like he was the last time he hosted the biggest dota tournament in the world, called TI4. So Bruno wanted James to return, Icefrog told James to be himself, and Gabe was expecting James to suppress his normal persona to mimic his TI4 behavior. During preparation and setup, Gabe never actually spoke directly to James on how he should behave, so unless James is omitting some key information, I doubt he was told to keep it PG-13.
I can't defend James' usage of the word "cunt" and his discussion on disabled wheelchair porn within the first minute of going live when the goal is to be professional. While I found it entertaining along with many others, he clearly was not suitable for the role. But to say that he was given a second chance and that he blew it? I think the problem here was a communication issue at Valve.
Of course, you could just ignore my biased interpretation since you can read both party's prepared statements:
Gabe's Statement
James' Essay
Also, it should be pointed out - even if did have that power, he said "Be yourself", not "Go completely off the reservation and do whatever the fuck you like." If someone at work told you before a meeting to just "relax and be yourself", you know they don't mean "Do what you like", they mean "Relax and act natural."
That's the thing with broadcast, even with "Personalities" like streaming - You are being yourself, but if you're doing it as a professional, there's always limits. You can't be 100% unvarnished real-deal you, you have to work within certain boundaries - It's "Being yourself", but on a dimmer switch. If Valve said "Here's the boundary" and he went past it, even if someone said be yourself, then they had every right to pull him from the team. He's a professional, he should know this shit.
I think there's more going on here than we think - after all, how often do you see valve actually fixing anything unless it's a titanic problem?
Oh yeah, before we all forget - Valve also deep-sixed the entire production team. Not just the one caster, there's a lot of people who got the boot.