This is my first Hidden cup, I only started following the scene from mid-2020, (around BoA2, which was the first tournament I watched) so I cannot compare it with the past editions of HC.
After learning about the format and the hidden aspect of the tournament, I was quite hyped and was really looking forward to the event. I think the aim of 'hidden' hero names is to create a hype and it surely delivered, for me atleast. I literally cleared my schedule for 4 days and expected to have a great time.
But towards Day 3, the hype kind of died off. I think the length of the casts were a main factor and after spending ~15 hours in 2 days to watch all the series, I simply did not have the motivation to continue watching ~20 hours for another 2 days. So I think this is something that could be improved. Maybe make it a 5 or 6 day event and spread the games, idk. But also, the main reason I watched all the games in the first two days was because I did not know who was playing. In the other tournaments I followed, I mostly watches only the games of players I like or the games which I think are between players of equal level and thus should be interesting. I simply do not have the attention span to sit for 10 hours a day and watch all the games. So in the end, I only kind of watched bits and pieces of the games on Saturday, but managed to watch most of Sunday's games mostly because I know its the final day.
Having experienced this once, I really doubt if I will watch HC5 in the same manner as I did with HC4. I think I would right away skip the live casts of the R16 and watch the VODs in 1.25x, skipping through some parts and then follow it live from the quarter finals as much as possible.
There is already more than enough posts about the fixed maps, recorded games for finals, so I will skip that. I also think chat should have been removed from the overlay as I and others mentioned earlier.
Of course, there are also good things I really liked. The Overlay guy was great, I think it was very professional. There were some meme-y facts in there that were too meme-y for my liking for a tournament of this level, but its a fine line and over time, I am sure it will be ok. Also, the player showcases were interesting, I would have liked to see it for more players. The casting was great, and Capture age was amazing with the rewind and replay feature. I think Memb used it best though. If he noticed that he missed something, he right away rewinded the game and watched what he missed, then caught up with the live game. But T90 clipped it and showed it at the end, when the clip probably has lost its context.
After learning about the format and the hidden aspect of the tournament, I was quite hyped and was really looking forward to the event. I think the aim of 'hidden' hero names is to create a hype and it surely delivered, for me atleast. I literally cleared my schedule for 4 days and expected to have a great time.
But towards Day 3, the hype kind of died off. I think the length of the casts were a main factor and after spending ~15 hours in 2 days to watch all the series, I simply did not have the motivation to continue watching ~20 hours for another 2 days. So I think this is something that could be improved. Maybe make it a 5 or 6 day event and spread the games, idk. But also, the main reason I watched all the games in the first two days was because I did not know who was playing. In the other tournaments I followed, I mostly watches only the games of players I like or the games which I think are between players of equal level and thus should be interesting. I simply do not have the attention span to sit for 10 hours a day and watch all the games. So in the end, I only kind of watched bits and pieces of the games on Saturday, but managed to watch most of Sunday's games mostly because I know its the final day.
Having experienced this once, I really doubt if I will watch HC5 in the same manner as I did with HC4. I think I would right away skip the live casts of the R16 and watch the VODs in 1.25x, skipping through some parts and then follow it live from the quarter finals as much as possible.
There is already more than enough posts about the fixed maps, recorded games for finals, so I will skip that. I also think chat should have been removed from the overlay as I and others mentioned earlier.
Of course, there are also good things I really liked. The Overlay guy was great, I think it was very professional. There were some meme-y facts in there that were too meme-y for my liking for a tournament of this level, but its a fine line and over time, I am sure it will be ok. Also, the player showcases were interesting, I would have liked to see it for more players. The casting was great, and Capture age was amazing with the rewind and replay feature. I think Memb used it best though. If he noticed that he missed something, he right away rewinded the game and watched what he missed, then caught up with the live game. But T90 clipped it and showed it at the end, when the clip probably has lost its context.