How Can We Improve FGC Streams?

[@Won_Hunna]

I've been watching Sajams tournament and 3 things that really made it more enjoyable . 1. Inputs on screen. 2. Highlights from fights not on the main stream with the coaches and teammates hyping each other up. 3. The commentary has been a great blend of entertaining and educational, not just analytical. They spend time talking about the players journey to learn to play and the human element as you often say makes you care more.

[@WarrenGdog28]

Variety theres alot of fighting games ppl slept on for example Blazblue Cross Tag Battle

[@cbravo7730]

You've made good points. Made me think of getting stoked about bboying being in the Olympics. Then I watched a few clips to get validation of others getting stoked. Butol I remember them saying they were lost watching it because of the commentators jargon, and not understanding what they see on the screen. It was obviously their first introduction to breakdancing. For me watching breakdancing and fighting games is easy and enjoyable, but for the norms out there, having commentators like yourself to explain what is going on does help them. Not every audience member is a nerd like ourselves, and us nerds need to chill out if commentators doesn't sound like an expert nerd.

[@robnewhouse5995]

having inputs switched on for Sajam Slam was a gamechanger

[@aristeon5908]

My totally personal take. I used to watch SFV tournaments, but I'm just a casual watcher. At some point the tournament schedule became very confusing to me. There are so many tournaments on different channels. I used to watch Capcom Cup, but I've lost track of how the qualifiers work and when the top matches take place. So I just lost interest. In my opinion, there should be a handful of major tournaments with a clear schedule so people know when to tune in, what the stakes are, and can easily follow their favourite players. I would compare this to Sumo. I'm a casual watcher of Sumo. I know the tournaments take place once every two months, and I know I can watch them on NHK. It's easy. When it comes to SF6, I have no clue what is going on. There are so many tournaments, the stakes don't feel high, I don't know what the schedule of the big tournaments is. I would have to search to find all this information, and as a casual watcher, I'm just not invested enough to do it.

[@RocketSlug]

Agree on making things more approachable for viewers. One of the biggest examples I can think of is the advantage bar in chess that shows what the computer thinks is the relative strength of each sides' position, and people can understand that a brilliant move occurred when that advantage bar swings wildly from one player to the other. I know Magic the Gathering tournaments also have something similar, though that's human controlled so there's some lag that detracts from the experience EDIT: Just got to your Starcraft section and a similar example came to mind in League, where they started tracking team gold, so you can see who's advantaged going into midgame and seeing the relative value of the items each team brings into teamfights so that it's easier to understand how they shook out the way they did

[@baldbishop1667]

I agreed with pretty much everything you, What happened to me is that i enjoyed more when the game is narrated by spanish narrators (my native language) because their style is more like soccer's narrator. Giving hype, making jokes, and so on. I remember when you said in a CPT highlights, i dont understand what they are saying, but that was exciting. The problem with FG is that you need a basic understanding of the mixups and the execution needed in that game. that's why a lot of viewers already play the game. The next step is the narrative, which you are geat at. Also, characters should have in their models which buff or super lvl they have, regardless of meters on the screen. Like seeing them charge their super in a combo, visual queue into finisher.

[@krevlornswath]

The main problem is that all the major FGC tournaments are in the US and competitive gaming has never taken off in a big way in the US. All the largest esports are primarily based outside of the US for a reason. The growth of the SF6 scene in Japan is also unlikely to ever happen in the US. Maybe it's a culture issue.

[@UltraChenTV]

For sure. I think one of the major problems really is that esports in general in the states... feels... I dunno, probably because I'm in it and I've seen a lot of it from behind the scenes, but esports feels very disingenuous. And it feels very much like people are try to cash in on a fad. Whereas the explosionof SF6 in Japan comes more from showing popular personalities genuinely enjoying the game in Raccoon Cups and such, and it feels more honest. Esports has always made me skeptical. Which is why I like FGC being more grassroots and more genuine. Yes, even the way it's being handled at Evo and stuff. However, the tangential association with esports proper is something we CANNOT escape. We need more things like the Sajam Slam. That has done more for the FGC than anything else has recently. Honestly. It's been so great. That has helped show how much skill and talent and, most importantly, LOVE that goes into Fighting Games.

[@Game3Free]

34:20 it’s a lil annoying that the game is already keeping track of some of this stuff, but only the avg over the last 100 matches. Woulda been nice if they also had these as viewable during the 10 sec window to rematch. Lol@Opponent Drive Impacts Countered with Own stat

[@chimpmasterflex]

Hm, it will be hard to keep this short, but I'll try. I want to preface this by saying, I really only watch sf6, and maybe a grand finals or two of another game these days. I feel commentary is at a weird point, because a lot of people sound very similar? I understand the "problem" is to speak what is going on, and maybe a little into what will or may happen, but man sf6 is terrible for that. Sometimes someone just gets ran over in 15-ish seconds and there isn't much to say, and it can be hard to fill time. Alternatively, once a combo starts that will lead into a level 3+burnout, if not checkmate, like what are you going to say? "Yeah pro player a will use the meter, to put player b into burnout, thus meaning he will have limited options, and will have to look for the DI so he doesn't lose this round". it is almost like we hear this multiple times per set. It just feels like a dozen repeated phrases going on and on. I know some people may say "you can mute it" or "they are there for beginners to understand", but I think of how many misc. fighting game moments have been truly enhanced by a commentator (not just yipes). I actually tend to think of ultradavid a lot. "What are you standing up for?" "Holy totinos" "Not gonna kill, needs more... that killed!"?. I think he was even on commentary for a lot of daigo magic in sf4. Imagine how less hype those crazy umvc3 evo top 8s were if we didn't have yipes and magus. I'm not too sure how else to say this, but obviously every commentator now is "knowledgeable" of the game, it is a given, but I feel a lot lack that "oomph" to keep stuff engaging. Sajam has that quick-wit, to throw in some comedy, and a bit of spice, and is also great at filling down-time. I won't name names, but for some people they'll fill time by saying "yep he sure used that -insert move name here- well to stop his opponent" or w/e. I know it would basically be impossible these days, but I just think of the old dota 2 "noobie" streams for TI, where they'd have more relaxed commentary/commentators, and every once and awhile flash up and ability that they are talking about. Maybe during downtime they could flash some of those in-game character move demos. I think that might be a little more engaging, than hearing commentators just say the names of moves, as if a beginner, or even just a fresh face, would know what those are. My other point should be a bit shorter, but the down-time is so unnecessary. I think back to some old days, where players would be doing button checks at least, and maybe commentators would shoot the shit a little, but now it is like 10-15 minutes of ads. So instead of using the fact that most games have button configs in the character select screen to speed stuff up, it is almost like they go slower, or it at least feels that way. Obviously the tournaments don't stop, but this just means we get way less matches on stream, let alone ones of the highest level going at it. At times they used to even cut to some crazy match that is about to happen on another setup, but I guess there's less camera setups now too.

[@komborekt7016]

*Bikini Kangaroos*

[@TMWilson71]

Yeahhhh, dont watch them ….. the FGC has lost its way . Sure it grew alot in the past 10 years . But it really isnt the same as it was when SF4 / UMVC3 were fresh.

[@UltraChenTV]

I mean, it’s very extreme to say it’s lost its way. The FGC is doing great. The games are better than ever and the dev interaction we have is something we could only dream of in the past. We’re in a good place, but we can be in an even better place, IMO. Which is the point of the video.