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Thoughts on expanding TFTV NA casts into s15-->
31
#31
19 Frags +
harbleulet me cast more gamesss

get a better mic please

[quote=harbleu]let me cast more gamesss[/quote]
get a better mic please
32
#32
0 Frags +

Backup ideas for when stuff goes wrong, i.e. backup games, pre-recorded casts, maybe even cut to a top 10 plays or moments of glory clip while waiting for stuff to start.
Definitely with plat on scheduling; scheduling is extremely important for growing and maintaining an audience. Figure out what games you want to cast at least a week in advance and contact both teams to figure out when it will be.
I think it's a good idea to build and display a roster of casters and cameramen somewhere on the site, with little bio sections detailing their experience both as casters and players.

Backup ideas for when stuff goes wrong, i.e. backup games, pre-recorded casts, maybe even cut to a top 10 plays or moments of glory clip while waiting for stuff to start.
Definitely with plat on scheduling; scheduling is extremely important for growing and maintaining an audience. Figure out what games you want to cast at least a week in advance and contact both teams to figure out when it will be.
I think it's a good idea to build and display a roster of casters and cameramen somewhere on the site, with little bio sections detailing their experience both as casters and players.
33
#33
eXtelevision
12 Frags +

I PM'd CBear, but I'm most likely down for consistently casting Monday Nights this season. Figuring out some work stuff, but not playing in ESEA this season so I have more availability.

I PM'd CBear, but I'm most likely down for consistently casting Monday Nights this season. Figuring out some work stuff, but not playing in ESEA this season so I have more availability.
34
#34
5 Frags +

I can't speak for the NA side of TF.TV, but I can't imagine the problem is all that different from the issues we had/have on the EU side.

It's a bit of a catch-22. See, anyone who has the right combination of talent, personality and willingness to cast and improve is already doing it either on youtube or their own channel. Most of the people you think of as great casters today are just the people who happened to meet those 3 criteria right as the whole casting/streaming thing was kicking off. These people don't grow on trees. They only appear every so often.

Now back when I was in VanillaTV, we had "Open Mic" where we'd let bassically anyone who was willing cast a couple of games to see if they were any good. Skully in particular (personal opinions aside, the guy's a solid caster) was one of about 6 or 7 people out of a recruitment drive we did, and was really the only guy who showed any real potential and work ethic. Mia again is a newer face who's come to light pretty much the same way. Realistically though, in the dozens of people that program trialed, those 2 are the only real stars it produced.

Now you look to TeamFortress.TV where the focus is much more on quality over quantity, and you see the problem. By using existing popular streamers like Slin, Seanbud, etc you know what you're getting: a good personality, knowledge of the game, and ample experience in the limelight. If you expand that to the more sociable, invite/high IM players (or prem/div1 here in Europe), again that's probably a safe-ish bet.

However taking any random person willing to cast and throwing them in front of >500 people? That's not going to work out too well. Even if you run a program like OpenMic, you'll end up with >50% of the games you cast being done by that program, which leads to a lot of people complaining about a lack of quality in casting because you always need a reliable caster to partner the new guy with.

If you want to cast, go for it. Don't rely on BO/TFTV/VTV to provide you a platform, streaming is easy as fuck these days. If your internet and/or PC is a bit of toaster, you can always just locally record and upload to youtube. If you feel confident, get in contact with the bigger orgs, send them links to some of your stuff, and if you're any good we'd be more than welcome to bring you on board.

tl;dr: Good casters don't grow on trees. Throwing inexperienced casters in front of a big audience is bad for both audience and caster. If you want to cast, just do it, practice, and if you're any good we'll tripping over each other to bring you on board.

I can't speak for the NA side of TF.TV, but I can't imagine the problem is all that different from the issues we had/have on the EU side.

It's a bit of a catch-22. See, anyone who has the right combination of talent, personality and willingness to cast and improve is already doing it either on youtube or their own channel. Most of the people you think of as great casters today are just the people who happened to meet those 3 criteria right as the whole casting/streaming thing was kicking off. These people don't grow on trees. They only appear every so often.

Now back when I was in VanillaTV, we had "Open Mic" where we'd let bassically anyone who was willing cast a couple of games to see if they were any good. Skully in particular (personal opinions aside, the guy's a solid caster) was one of about 6 or 7 people out of a recruitment drive we did, and was really the only guy who showed any real potential and work ethic. Mia again is a newer face who's come to light pretty much the same way. Realistically though, in the dozens of people that program trialed, those 2 are the only real stars it produced.

Now you look to TeamFortress.TV where the focus is much more on quality over quantity, and you see the problem. By using existing popular streamers like Slin, Seanbud, etc you know what you're getting: a good personality, knowledge of the game, and ample experience in the limelight. If you expand that to the more sociable, invite/high IM players (or prem/div1 here in Europe), again that's probably a safe-ish bet.

However taking any random person willing to cast and throwing them in front of >500 people? That's not going to work out too well. Even if you run a program like OpenMic, you'll end up with >50% of the games you cast being done by that program, which leads to a lot of people complaining about a lack of quality in casting because you always need a reliable caster to partner the new guy with.

If you want to cast, go for it. Don't rely on BO/TFTV/VTV to provide you a platform, streaming is easy as fuck these days. If your internet and/or PC is a bit of toaster, you can always just locally record and upload to youtube. If you feel confident, get in contact with the bigger orgs, send them links to some of your stuff, and if you're any good we'd be more than welcome to bring you on board.

[b]tl;dr: Good casters don't grow on trees. Throwing inexperienced casters in front of a big audience is bad for both audience and caster. If you want to cast, just do it, practice, and if you're any good we'll tripping over each other to bring you on board.[/b]
35
#35
2 Frags +
skyrideIf you want to cast, go for it. Don't rely on BO/TFTV/VTV to provide you a platform, streaming is easy as fuck these days. If your internet and/or PC is a bit of toaster, you can always just locally record and upload to youtube. If you feel confident, get in contact with the bigger orgs, send them links to some of your stuff, and if you're any good we'd be more than welcome to bring you on board.

And on top of this, there are a couple people who are willing to donate their stream and camera time (including myself, when I'm not scrimming) to help you out. ques is one great example of someone who's been casting very well on his own.

[quote=skyride]If you want to cast, go for it. Don't rely on BO/TFTV/VTV to provide you a platform, streaming is easy as fuck these days. If your internet and/or PC is a bit of toaster, you can always just locally record and upload to youtube. If you feel confident, get in contact with the bigger orgs, send them links to some of your stuff, and if you're any good we'd be more than welcome to bring you on board.[/quote]
And on top of this, there are a couple people who are willing to donate their stream and camera time (including myself, when I'm not scrimming) to help you out. ques is one great example of someone who's been casting very well on his own.
36
#36
9 Frags +

Kip is usually down to cast some highlander.
I like plat's idea though.

Could be like HL-Plat Mondays with _________. Open Tuesdays with ________. Intermediate Wednesdays with _________. and Invite Thursdays with ________. (maybe Main on Mondays because that's catchy as fuck)

Fridays could just be re-streams of the week's casts at like 8pm EST.

Kip is usually down to cast some highlander.
I like plat's idea though.

Could be like HL-Plat Mondays with _________. Open Tuesdays with ________. Intermediate Wednesdays with _________. and Invite Thursdays with ________. (maybe Main on Mondays because that's catchy as fuck)

Fridays could just be re-streams of the week's casts at like 8pm EST.
37
#37
0 Frags +
DrPloxoKip is usually down to cast some highlander.
I like plat's idea though.

Could be like HL-Plat Mondays with _________. Open Tuesdays with ________. Intermediate Wednesdays with _________. and Invite Thursdays with ________. (maybe Main on Mondays because that's catchy as fuck)

Fridays could just be re-streams of the week's casts at like 8pm EST.

Yes please.

[quote=DrPloxo]Kip is usually down to cast some highlander.
I like plat's idea though.

Could be like HL-Plat Mondays with _________. Open Tuesdays with ________. Intermediate Wednesdays with _________. and Invite Thursdays with ________. (maybe Main on Mondays because that's catchy as fuck)

Fridays could just be re-streams of the week's casts at like 8pm EST.[/quote]

Yes please.
38
#38
3 Frags +

Kip for the Grand Slam of TF2 casting.

Kip for the Grand Slam of TF2 casting.
39
#39
21 Frags +

If you're in need of casters, I'm sure Harbleu and I could work the scheduling to cast an invite game a week. I wouldn't feel too comfortable doing main/I'm because I don't know the players well enough, but an invite cast would easily be doable. Wednesdays maybe?

If you're in need of casters, I'm sure Harbleu and I could work the scheduling to cast an invite game a week. I wouldn't feel too comfortable doing main/I'm because I don't know the players well enough, but an invite cast would easily be doable. Wednesdays maybe?
40
#40
1 Frags +

Get Salamancer back. Kind of sucks that he left when he was getting extremely good.

I enjoyed the plat/harb casts for im playoffs.

Get Salamancer back. Kind of sucks that he left when he was getting extremely good.

I enjoyed the plat/harb casts for im playoffs.
41
#41
1 Frags +
pine_beetleGet Salamancer back. Kind of sucks that he left when he was getting extremely good.

I enjoyed the plat/harb casts for im playoffs.

Sal probably isn't coming back. He is still around but (I think) what happened is he graduated college and has less time to cast now. That being said I too want Sal back.

[quote=pine_beetle]Get Salamancer back. Kind of sucks that he left when he was getting extremely good.

I enjoyed the plat/harb casts for im playoffs.[/quote]

Sal probably isn't coming back. He is still around but (I think) what happened is he graduated college and has less time to cast now. That being said I too want Sal back.
42
#42
1 Frags +

Sal is not backing https://twitter.com/SalTF2/status/374540594628296704

Sal is not backing https://twitter.com/SalTF2/status/374540594628296704
43
#43
7 Frags +
atmoSal is not backing https://twitter.com/SalTF2/status/374540594628296704

New fundraising idea: rocking chair for Sal. Optional "get off my lawn, you crazy kids" sign.

And yeah, I'm always up for casting HL. I think the Nation's Cup finals showed that people are interested in Highlander (1,200+ for 3 combined streams). And even if people can't watch it live, there's always the VODs.

[quote=atmo]Sal is not backing https://twitter.com/SalTF2/status/374540594628296704[/quote]
New fundraising idea: rocking chair for Sal. Optional "get off my lawn, you crazy kids" sign.

And yeah, I'm always up for casting HL. I think the Nation's Cup finals showed that people are interested in Highlander (1,200+ for 3 combined streams). And even if people can't watch it live, there's always the VODs.
44
#44
2 Frags +

I would love to see a series of london_calling casts done in s15.

get on it london

I would love to see a series of london_calling casts done in s15.

get on it london
45
#45
-2 Frags +

I'd be up to cast some games next season.

I'd be up to cast some games next season.
46
#46
3 Frags +

I appreciate what Skyride said because it's important to hold our casts to a high standard in order to give viewers a reliable viewing experience. However, if it wasn't for eXtv giving me a platform to cast for an audience I would have never tried it myself. Even though I could have casted matches on my own stream for 5-10 people it wouldn't be nearly the same experience, and it would have ended up much like a "chill cast". When you do it on a channel that is designed for casting there is a different viewer expectation and a different overall viewing experience.

If we do decide to pursue lower level casts using newer casters in an "open mic" style, I'd want to see it done on the other channel (TFTV 2).

[edit] don't get me wrong -- I've always preached practicing your casting on your own either in private or in front of any audience. however there is no substitute for casting on a legitimate casting channel.

I appreciate what Skyride said because it's important to hold our casts to a high standard in order to give viewers a reliable viewing experience. However, if it wasn't for eXtv giving me a platform to cast for an audience I would have never tried it myself. Even though I could have casted matches on my own stream for 5-10 people it wouldn't be nearly the same experience, and it would have ended up much like a "chill cast". When you do it on a channel that is designed for casting there is a different viewer expectation and a different overall viewing experience.

If we do decide to pursue lower level casts using newer casters in an "open mic" style, I'd want to see it done on the other channel (TFTV 2).

[edit] don't get me wrong -- I've always preached practicing your casting on your own either in private or in front of any audience. however there is no substitute for casting on a legitimate casting channel.
47
#47
1 Frags +

M A R X I S T
A
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M A R X I S T
A
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I
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48
#48
1 Frags +
MR_SLINIf we do decide to pursue lower level casts using newer casters in an "open mic" style, I'd want to see it done on the other channel (TFTV 2).

Yeah, I agree. Part of the problem at VTV was that we didn't have the whole infrastructure in terms of events like TF.TV now has and a process for advertising on /r/tf2, so most of our viewers knew we were live because they subbed to the channel on own3d/twitch and got the "VanillaTV is now live!" email, so any casts on VTV2 got a really underwhelming amount of viewers. It's much less of a problem now for TFTV to do it.

[quote=MR_SLIN]If we do decide to pursue lower level casts using newer casters in an "open mic" style, I'd want to see it done on the other channel (TFTV 2).[/quote]

Yeah, I agree. Part of the problem at VTV was that we didn't have the whole infrastructure in terms of events like TF.TV now has and a process for advertising on /r/tf2, so most of our viewers knew we were live because they subbed to the channel on own3d/twitch and got the "VanillaTV is now live!" email, so any casts on VTV2 got a really underwhelming amount of viewers. It's much less of a problem now for TFTV to do it.
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