Why is the streaming being done exclusively by Escape Gaming? I see that Microsoft isn't sponsoring this tournament, so in the absence of the explicit wishes of an external sponsor, I'm not sure why other streamers would not be allowed to cast it.
EscapeGaming doesn't count as a sponsor?
Bear in mind that Zak has disagreed very strongly and publicly in the past with Voobly having a monopoly on streaming Voobly events. If indeed Escape Gaming are exclusively casting their own sponsored events, that would quite a staggering double standard.
I feel like comparing casting policies of Voobly and Escape Gaming is erroneous - Voobly is community platform focused on providing technicals for multiplayer game whereas Escape Gaming is an external e-sports company throwing in money for their tournament.
A couple of things:
AoEHD is not compatible with multiple people streaming. Limited spec slots, lag added by each spec etc.
Depending on sponsorship determines what we can do, when Microsoft sponsored the last event we were specifically told it would have to be on a single stream.
With the amount of games due to be played, this would surely increase exposure for the tournament?
With the amount of games due to be played, this would surely increase exposure for the tournament?
I'm obviously biased since I've always defended that it is better for such a small community to concentrate tournament streaming in one channel and as far the last couple of months go, the numbers seem to point in that direction. Virtually all viewership records have been achieved while there was only 1 channel streaming: Zak's streaming of Spring vs LB10 a couple of years ago; TEL#5 Final; Maldives Final; BfA.
The format of BfA made things even more interesting in this regard: same channel, different casters (due to much shorter series).
I believe this is the right direction: have all the casters that will be casting the event in Escape's channel promote the event in their own channels and let their viewers know they will be casting there. That way you make sure all the "sub-communities" know about the event and you still have the obvious advantages (there are many in my opinion) of concentrating all the viewership in one channel.
I have no idea if this is the approach Zero wants to take in the future and even though it's true that it would seem like a double standard from his part, I wouldn't blame him, since at least in my eyes, this is clearly the best solution.
+1, I just hope that in the future, the Voobly events can be streamed in only one channel, without some casters and their legions coming to aoczone to blame that policy.
I'm obviously biased since I've always defended that it is better for such a small community to concentrate tournament streaming in one channel and as far the last couple of months go, the numbers seem to point in that direction...I have no idea if this is the approach Zero wants to take in the future and even though it's true that it would seem like a double standard from his part, I wouldn't blame him, since at least in my eyes, this is clearly the best solution.
I have no concerns who should be streaming and where but still I cant understand how some fail to understand the practicle difference between castibng/streaming on Voobly and on HD...Not to add that practicly the EG Masters will be probably viewed via recorded games. Just to add to the fact what the situation with HD currently is.
Also at least to me it looks obvious that EG and Zak in particular is trying to convince MicroSoft its worth investing in AoE2 competitions and development.
The prospect that Voobly might benefit from this at an unspecified point down the line certainly wouldn't justify any pooling of resources away from the community now.
If Wololo Kingdoms is the right platform for expansions tournaments to be hosted why for the past 2 years we have seen 1 semidecent tournament run on it?
It does not stop new players playing it, since they don't necessarily know of anything better and so acquiesce to HD's low effort content, functionality above all. Yes, it does stop good quality tournaments from being hosted on HD, hence only one 'semidecent' tourney.Does the problems HD has stop thousands to play it or not? How about tournaments than?
'the community' you think made that decision is mainly the group of HD enthusiasts and newer players/viewers who still have faith in HD after the continuous disasters in it's development. Your argument assumes that the community is undivided, which it clearly is not, since the new (more numerous, but tough to discern since SP/MP arent separated on HD's player amounts's logging) playerbase of HD clearly differentiate themselves from average Voobly players and AoC players regarding opinions of HD and especially the DLC content, new civs, which have, as OneMillion aptly stated, diverged from the design style of AoK and AoC civs so considerably.Why the community chose only expansions civilzations for the tournament pool while all civs were an option?
BfA was an invitational, EtS had no top players, this too is practically an invitational. In any case, the answer would be money, and in case of BfA, natural interest-reaction for something new. Nothing here to bolster an argument that HD would be better than AoC for tournaments (this is the essence I assume you wanted to question), in fact the opposite.If HD is a different game why top AOC Players have signed up for the tournment?
Because TheViper is simply a superior player? TaToH is a mere 2k-2k1 after all, whereas TheViper is 2k4+.If the meta is so different why TheViper is able win against TaToH who plays alot more HD from much more time?
Because TheViper is simply a superior player? TaToH is a mere 2k-2k1 after all, whereas TheViper is 2k4+ and is or has been a competitive player. TaToH plays for fun, and does not play competitively.
It does not stop new players playing it, since they don't necessarily know of anything better and so acquiesce to HD's low effort content, functionality above all. Yes, it does stop good quality tournaments from being hosted on HD, hence only one 'semidecent' tourney.Does the problems HD has stop thousands to play it or not? How about tournaments than?
'the community' you think made that decision is mainly the group of HD enthusiasts and newer players/viewers who still have faith in HD after the continuous disasters in it's development. Your argument assumes that the community is undivided, which it clearly is not, since the new (more numerous, but tough to discern since SP/MP arent separated on HD's player amounts's logging) playerbase of HD clearly differentiate themselves from average Voobly players and AoC players regarding opinions of HD and especially the DLC content, new civs, which have, as OneMillion aptly stated, diverged from the design style of AoK and AoC civs so considerably. [/quote]Why the community chose only expansions civilzations for the tournament pool while all civs were an option?
BfA was an invitational, EtS had no top players, this too is practically an invitational. In any case, the answer would be money, and in case of BfA, natural interest-reaction for something new. Nothing here to bolster an argument that HD would be better than AoC for tournaments (this is the essence I assume you wanted to question), in fact the opposite.If HD is a different game why top AOC Players have signed up for the tournment?
Because TheViper is simply a superior player? TaToH is a mere 2k-2k1 after all, whereas TheViper is 2k4+ and is or has been a competitive player. TaToH plays for fun, and does not play competitively.If the meta is so different why TheViper is able win against TaToH who plays alot more HD from much more time?
If Wololo Kingdoms is the right platform for expansions tournaments to be hosted why for the past 2 years we have seen 1 semidecent tournament run on it?