Hate Speech: The Hype Train Derails; Countless Injured...
- Thread starter Dr. Hates
- Start date
Black_Dog
[09] Warrior
I think there's also a problem of communication strategy :
A little bit of planning, in terms of advertisement, is required for major events to get the major audience they deserve. Yet even though I take a look at 8wayrun every day, it felt like the SCImpact World Final appeared out of nowhere.
It didn't feel like a world final, but like a tournament where players had been chosen for unkown reasons (of course, in terms of skills, it was a world final).
I think it would have been more efficient to warn people about the event a long time ago, then build up the hype and interest. For example by giving a lot of attention to the qualifiers to SCImpact, if there were any.
As women say, foreplay is important.
A little bit of planning, in terms of advertisement, is required for major events to get the major audience they deserve. Yet even though I take a look at 8wayrun every day, it felt like the SCImpact World Final appeared out of nowhere.
It didn't feel like a world final, but like a tournament where players had been chosen for unkown reasons (of course, in terms of skills, it was a world final).
I think it would have been more efficient to warn people about the event a long time ago, then build up the hype and interest. For example by giving a lot of attention to the qualifiers to SCImpact, if there were any.
As women say, foreplay is important.
As a gay man, QFT
Primary Problem: The barrier to entry for going from a casual soul calibur player to a good one is way too high. You either have to find good players willing to kick your ass for a long time, or find the local arcade scene. The first cripples growth (not enough good players, no perfect way of finding them, sort of a waste of their time), and the second is a lot of effort.
Secondary Problems caused:
First, SC5 draws from a limited talent pool.
Second, less people can appreciate what's going on in tournaments. I'd wager less than a hundred people fully appreciated what was going on in the world finals. I sure didn't.
Four Fixes:
1.) Day9-style guides:
Your first ~40 episodes: 30 minute, in-depth guides on how to play a given character. Talk set-ups, best wakes, combos. Get an expert to come on skype and talk with you. Play some games against him to see how it works. Finish with 5 minutes on how to play against the character.
Go over VODs from tournaments. Talk about what players did well, what new bullshit players are figuring out.
Do one of these a week, and in 4 months we have a series of links that we can point new players to: "Want to learn to play your character better? Go here."
2.) Tourney Replays:
You have the VODs. Nobody gives a shit about watching players set up their keys. In between matches, go over the key points of the previous match. Show where a particularly sick read or play happened.
3.) Build character:
I know that Omega is pretty much the best Soul Calibur V player in the world. I've watched him play in FinalRound and the world championships. I have literally no idea what distinguishes him from any other top player. Is he faster? Is his understanding of the SC5 metagame particularly advanced? Is his execution technically flawless? What distinguishes him, from, say, Keev?
SC5's relatively small playerbase is, in fact, an advantage here - I see a very similar set of players at the big tournaments. Productions should take advantage of that, and tell me the story of these players. I want to know that Hates is blind in one eye, walks with a limp, and plays SC5 by smell.
4.) Update 8wr with player streams
I would _absolutely_ watch top players streaming their practice, or their xbox live. Particularly if there was a link to it off the community portal. This not only gives me a place to go to see good SC5 whenever I want, but allows top players to make some money. Get 50 viewers every night for a few months, throw a commercial up while searching for matches or in between matches, and you'll have enough to travel to a tourney.
Secondary Problems caused:
First, SC5 draws from a limited talent pool.
Second, less people can appreciate what's going on in tournaments. I'd wager less than a hundred people fully appreciated what was going on in the world finals. I sure didn't.
Four Fixes:
1.) Day9-style guides:
Your first ~40 episodes: 30 minute, in-depth guides on how to play a given character. Talk set-ups, best wakes, combos. Get an expert to come on skype and talk with you. Play some games against him to see how it works. Finish with 5 minutes on how to play against the character.
Go over VODs from tournaments. Talk about what players did well, what new bullshit players are figuring out.
Do one of these a week, and in 4 months we have a series of links that we can point new players to: "Want to learn to play your character better? Go here."
2.) Tourney Replays:
You have the VODs. Nobody gives a shit about watching players set up their keys. In between matches, go over the key points of the previous match. Show where a particularly sick read or play happened.
3.) Build character:
I know that Omega is pretty much the best Soul Calibur V player in the world. I've watched him play in FinalRound and the world championships. I have literally no idea what distinguishes him from any other top player. Is he faster? Is his understanding of the SC5 metagame particularly advanced? Is his execution technically flawless? What distinguishes him, from, say, Keev?
SC5's relatively small playerbase is, in fact, an advantage here - I see a very similar set of players at the big tournaments. Productions should take advantage of that, and tell me the story of these players. I want to know that Hates is blind in one eye, walks with a limp, and plays SC5 by smell.
4.) Update 8wr with player streams
I would _absolutely_ watch top players streaming their practice, or their xbox live. Particularly if there was a link to it off the community portal. This not only gives me a place to go to see good SC5 whenever I want, but allows top players to make some money. Get 50 viewers every night for a few months, throw a commercial up while searching for matches or in between matches, and you'll have enough to travel to a tourney.