SmedBlog: eSports Support

[super pretendo]

I agree, but that's outside of the definition of an eSport. The problem here is that there will be too many different severs for anyone to give a shit about happenings. But perhaps it could work, with big awesome battles being covered.

Anything is better than sinking into the mediocrity of the rehashed modern FPS

[Smed]

Originally Posted by super pretendo

I agree, but that's outside of the definition of an eSport. The problem here is that there will be too many different severs for anyone to give a shit about happenings. But perhaps it could work, with big awesome battles being covered.

Anything is better than sinking into the mediocrity of the rehashed modern FPS

you are thinking way too narrowly IMO. How many of you watch anything on Twitch TV? I do. I don't play Starcraft II but I watch the hell out of it. It is gradually taking on a lot of the time I used to spend watching TV (which isn't a ton anyways since I spend most of my free time gaming).

Do not think of an Esport the way they exist now. Planetside 2 will not fit into that square hole. However imagine a 500 person outfit fighting another 500 person outfit with cameras posted (time delayed) at a bunch of locations around the world and spectators able to follow people around the map at various locations. Imagine really good Casters following the best players on each side (maybe it's even all 3 empires fighting). Imagine a Season where we allow outfits to register (with requirements about size, etc) and be tracked during that season on a huge number of stats.

There are 2 ways of looking at Esports. One way is literally as pure competition. Another is looking at it as really well done Television. Instead of watching Survivor wouldn't you rather watch an hour long battle casted by really good shoutcasters and follow some of the best players in the game?

Esports is a lot more than simple arena matches. It's really becoming about watching other people game. Those of you that think this idea is stupid.. I was one of you. Now I'm hooked. Give it a try.. you will be too.

We have made the decision to innovate in a major way in Esports. It's not going to be the primary focus and driver of Planetside 2.. but we are adding technology that is already in the game and working that will allow you to cast directly from Planetside 2 without the need for external clients. At some point real soon you will even be able to follow your outfit mates from your ipad or iPhone as they pull of a Bin Laden style raid on some base and you'r going to be able to watch them. And guess what. Down the line (not at launch). If you have the right certs. You'll be able to do some drone action yourself.

Please keep an open mind. We aren't going to change what's at the heart of Planetside 2 to try and shove it into being an arena based shooter. That ain't happening.

[Inq]

Originally Posted by Smed

Esports is a lot more than simple arena matches. It's really becoming about watching other people game. Those of you that think this idea is stupid.. I was one of you. Now I'm hooked. Give it a try.. you will be too.

I did... and I still find it stupid.

Is that just me?

[Smed]

Originally Posted by Inq

I did... and I still find it stupid.

Is that just me?

it took me a long time. At some point it's like watching the olympics.

(oh god there is a joke I want to make right now that you can probably guess but I will be PC and not make it.)

it's cool to be able to watch amazing players while drinking.

[Grims]

I think that sounds great smed! People will cry about things no matter how good it is.

I think you guys are taking this game to great places, keep up the good work!

[Roy Awesome]

Originally Posted by Smed

We have made the decision to innovate in a major way in Esports. It's not going to be the primary focus and driver of Planetside 2.. but we are adding technology that is already in the game and working that will allow you to cast directly from Planetside 2 without the need for external clients. At some point real soon you will even be able to follow your outfit mates from your ipad or iPhone as they pull of a Bin Laden style raid on some base and you'r going to be able to watch them. And guess what. Down the line (not at launch). If you have the right certs. You'll be able to do some drone action yourself.

Please keep an open mind. We aren't going to change what's at the heart of Planetside 2 to try and shove it into being an arena based shooter. That ain't happening.

I don't think you will find many commentators who are willing to just start talking about the game. Honestly, I'd rather play the game rather than spectate and talk over the sounds of battle, hoping people tune in and watch me.

However, instead of supporting esports, having ingame streaming options, like being able to directly pipe game output to twitch...that would be cool. I would look more to the DayZ community rather than the Starcraft community. Starcraft works because it's 15-20 minutes of fast paced action, to where DayZ is more about the story about how to get to somewhere.

I'm more than happy to stream my gameplay with a bit of delay. I don't want to commentate fights because i'd rather be playing in them.

[Smed]

Originally Posted by Roy Awesome

I don't think you will find many commentators who are willing to just start talking about the game. Honestly, I'd rather play the game rather than spectate and talk over the sounds of battle, hoping people tune in and watch me.

However, instead of supporting esports, having ingame streaming options, like being able to directly pipe game output to twitch...that would be cool. I would look more to the DayZ community rather than the Starcraft community. Starcraft works because it's 15-20 minutes of fast paced action, to where DayZ is more about the story about how to get to somewhere.

I'm more than happy to stream my gameplay with a bit of delay. I don't want to commentate fights because i'd rather be playing in them.

I completely disagree about commentators willing to just start talking about a game. Take a look on Twitch TV at the huge assortment of games.

It's really simple - if it's interesting people will throw it up there and talk about it. If a lot of people play a game there will be good commentators that start casting. Most of them will come from the community itself. Day9 didn't start life with 1M viewers. He grew them over time because he's fun to watch.

Smed

[Roy Awesome]

Originally Posted by Smed

I completely disagree about commentators willing to just start talking about a game. Take a look on Twitch TV at the huge assortment of games.

It's really simple - if it's interesting people will throw it up there and talk about it. If a lot of people play a game there will be good commentators that start casting. Most of them will come from the community itself. Day9 didn't start life with 1M viewers. He grew them over time because he's fun to watch.

Smed

Sure, but Day9 has something...simpler... to talk about. He can sit down and analyze a matchup, comment about very specific decision points about how things come to a conclusion. Planetside 2 is just too big for an individual to actually make that large of a difference once the fight starts. Talking about a 1v1 matchup is much easier than a 100v100 battle over a plant. Fights tend to last very long, and have many different threads leading to a conclusion that following them for one or two people is simply impossible.

Secondly, People only tend to watch commentary during matches that actually mean something. I know there are counter examples to this (Purge's dota 2 pubcasts, day9 daily), but you don't see people like MrBitter and others casting unless they have an event they are doing. What about PS2 would entice those kind of audiences (and therefore the best casters) to watch?

I'm not saying that esports isn't a great path. I would immensely prefer for you guys to support the Destiny's and SingSings of Planetside 2 rather than the Day9s and Huskys...The players that play the game and stream themselves playing. They don't have someone filling space and talking about tactics and strategy, they carry the show based on their own personality and skill in a game.

[Tatwi]

Originally Posted by Smed

I completely disagree about commentators willing to just start talking about a game. Take a look on Twitch TV at the huge assortment of games.

It's really simple - if it's interesting people will throw it up there and talk about it. If a lot of people play a game there will be good commentators that start casting. Most of them will come from the community itself. Day9 didn't start life with 1M viewers. He grew them over time because he's fun to watch.

Smed

Maybe I should start "shoutcasting" Pox Nora! I think I'll start with a four hour session called, "Pox Nora: I have no fucking clue what this game is about!". Or maybe that will be the last thing I say after playing it for the four hours. Good Lord that game needs some kind of tutorial lol...

Seriously though, you are right about people making videos of things that are interesting. My daughter and I watched a guy on youtube make sour gummy candies out of jello one day. Hard to believe, but it did happen. So, I at least owe you the benifit of the doubt on this.

Regardless, being able to watch a stream of your Outfit mates from the tablet app, while also being able to make some drone strikes or what not, is an excellent (perhaps even innovative) extension of the game itself. That kind of thing I support completely, but I wouldn't call it "e-sports". It's not about the spectators, it's still about the players.

All that said, since my father passed away 14 years ago and I stopped watching hockey, I have since concluded that watching sports is the most boring pass time in the universe. I completely don't "get it"; why watch something when you can go have fun playing it (or something else)?. So perhaps I am not the best person to listen to when it comes to "e-sports".

Thanks for stopping by and elaborating on this though, because before you did it was certainly something that disappointed a lot of us.

[Helwyr]

Originally Posted by Smed

There are 2 ways of looking at Esports. One way is literally as pure competition. Another is looking at it as really well done Television. Instead of watching Survivor wouldn't you rather watch an hour long battle casted by really good shoutcasters and follow some of the best players in the game?

Esports is a lot more than simple arena matches. It's really becoming about watching other people game. Those of you that think this idea is stupid.. I was one of you. Now I'm hooked. Give it a try.. you will be too.

Really good television is Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, not season 345566 of some reality TV show. But, your analogy hits home for me nonetheless, just not in the way you intended. You're trying to sell us on the reality TV quality type entertainment in the form of esports. What I, and I think many others want is something a little bit more in depth than that. I love getting invested in my chosen Faction, being immersed in the game world, and neck deep in action and drama.

I'm sure there will be some that will love this esport stuff, I'm not among them. If you can do it without impacting the real game in any way then those in the community that share my view won't have anything to complain about.

[super pretendo]

Originally Posted by Smed

you are thinking way too narrowly IMO. How many of you watch anything on Twitch TV? I do. I don't play Starcraft II but I watch the hell out of it. It is gradually taking on a lot of the time I used to spend watching TV (which isn't a ton anyways since I spend most of my free time gaming).

Do not think of an Esport the way they exist now. Planetside 2 will not fit into that square hole. However imagine a 500 person outfit fighting another 500 person outfit with cameras posted (time delayed) at a bunch of locations around the world and spectators able to follow people around the map at various locations. Imagine really good Casters following the best players on each side (maybe it's even all 3 empires fighting). Imagine a Season where we allow outfits to register (with requirements about size, etc) and be tracked during that season on a huge number of stats.

There are 2 ways of looking at Esports. One way is literally as pure competition. Another is looking at it as really well done Television. Instead of watching Survivor wouldn't you rather watch an hour long battle casted by really good shoutcasters and follow some of the best players in the game?

Esports is a lot more than simple arena matches. It's really becoming about watching other people game. Those of you that think this idea is stupid.. I was one of you. Now I'm hooked. Give it a try.. you will be too.

We have made the decision to innovate in a major way in Esports. It's not going to be the primary focus and driver of Planetside 2.. but we are adding technology that is already in the game and working that will allow you to cast directly from Planetside 2 without the need for external clients. At some point real soon you will even be able to follow your outfit mates from your ipad or iPhone as they pull of a Bin Laden style raid on some base and you'r going to be able to watch them. And guess what. Down the line (not at launch). If you have the right certs. You'll be able to do some drone action yourself.

Please keep an open mind. We aren't going to change what's at the heart of Planetside 2 to try and shove it into being an arena based shooter. That ain't happening.

Thanks for responding, cleared up my worries a bit. So what you're saying is that the PS2 esport thing is that there will be supported mechanisms to watch (presumably delayed) streams of well known actiony outfits? That sounds good, but I think calling it an esport mischaracterizes it. And how can outfits have a "balanced" 500v500 fight? In the end balance isn't fun in this sort of game, the fact that anything can happen makes it fun.

[AnamNantom]

So the e-sports idea is really just giving us the tools to do this? That's cool. I just don't want to feel like I'm on a gameshow. That's for BulletRun, not Planetside, where it's a real battle for real reasons. Call me an immersion freak, call me a roleplaying lore hound, but, I love story and influencing that story with my made fps skills, etc.

Ok, so here's an idea... injected media. Reporters (streamers) running about, getting the latest scoop on certain continents. It would be funny if these guys were shot at because they wouldn't keep their mouths shut.

Originally Posted by Hamma

I will totally stream PlanetSide 2 and talk about it. I'll be doing it with capture cards and our badass AGN setup though

Hi Hamma!

[RoninOni]

Originally Posted by AnamNantom

So the e-sports idea is really just giving us the tools to do this? That's cool. I just don't want to feel like I'm on a gameshow. That's for BulletRun, not Planetside, where it's a real battle for real reasons. Call me an immersion freak, call me a roleplaying lore hound, but, I love story and influencing that story with my made fps skills, etc.

Ok, so here's an idea... injected media. Reporters (streamers) running about, getting the latest scoop on certain continents. It would be funny if these guys were shot at because they wouldn't keep their mouths shut.



Hi Hamma!

Like I said, I think the best approach to PS2 streams would be as war journalism rather than sports coverage.

Which in of itself can take many shapes... following a platoon of soldiers around... covering the big battles.... recording the whacky things soldiers do when board w/e it's up to the players and the streamers really.

I could see *maybe* instanced battles for big outfits...

but more of an event thing than a game mode.... those players should usually be playing the game, and occasionally going off to prove their mettle... not the other way around :|

[Smed]

Originally Posted by super pretendo

Thanks for responding, cleared up my worries a bit. So what you're saying is that the PS2 esport thing is that there will be supported mechanisms to watch (presumably delayed) streams of well known actiony outfits? That sounds good, but I think calling it an esport mischaracterizes it. And how can outfits have a "balanced" 500v500 fight? In the end balance isn't fun in this sort of game, the fact that anything can happen makes it fun.

hmm. I think you're focusing too much on what esports is today. Look at it like this - is Survivor a sport? I would argue that it is. It's not football but it's now a national sport for us. It has seasons and everything. I think the Bachelor is an esport too. There are winners (1 guy, 20 girls. I'll call the guy the winner) We need to make Planetside 2's esport something uniquely cool for Planetside 2 that plays to it's strengths.

Originally Posted by AnamNantom

So the e-sports idea is really just giving us the tools to do this? That's cool. I just don't want to feel like I'm on a gameshow. That's for BulletRun, not Planetside, where it's a real battle for real reasons. Call me an immersion freak, call me a roleplaying lore hound, but, I love story and influencing that story with my made fps skills, etc.

Ok, so here's an idea... injected media. Reporters (streamers) running about, getting the latest scoop on certain continents. It would be funny if these guys were shot at because they wouldn't keep their mouths shut.



Hi Hamma!

not at all. The tools we will give will be about shoutcasting. We are serious about making an actual sport.

[AnamNantom]

Originally Posted by Smed

hmm. I think you're focusing too much on what esports is today. Look at it like this - is Survivor a sport? I would argue that it is. It's not football but it's now a national sport for us. It has seasons and everything. I think the Bachelor is an esport too. There are winners (1 guy, 20 girls. I'll call the guy the winner) We need to make Planetside 2's esport something uniquely cool for Planetside 2 that plays to it's strengths.



not at all. The tools we will give will be about shoutcasting. We are serious about making an actual sport.

I do enjoy watching people play games, especially when I'm not able to at that point. Yes, I subscribe to twitch.tv. So, the e-sports part is just the "meta game" of watching people and maybe betting on certain outcomes of their battles?

You said "shoutcasting", is that actually using ShoutCast/IceCast streaming?