NAC2 - Feedback thread

[uberkerl]

This is what I liked in this event:
Great players, great plays.

This is what I think could be improved:

The group stage. for 8 players 5 days of Swiss is one day to much. almost all games on the last day of Swiss were between players far from each other in the standings and therefore predicatlbe or totally meaningless for at least one player.
4 days would be fine. together with the RBTV/FunFriday it was 2 days where the air was out.

generally 2 players casting together was not great. 1 caster/1 player was usualyl the best combo. And I didnt mind Daut/Jordan drunk casting. it was funny as hell.

This is what made me turn off:
RL ;(

General notes/ what I also wanted to say:
Ideally map and civ drafting brings players closer togerther bc there are other ways to gain advantages but we saw that the generally higher skilled players also drafted better.

 

[dodageka]

This is what I liked in this event:

- Mappool. I feel it was a diverse mappool that challenged players on many levels and made the draft massively important, which added another strategic dimension.

- Professionalism. Organisation, overlays, schedule, technology, set-up all worked super smooth and made it super pleasant to watch

- Casting. Loved the players casting, that was great (both player player and players to co-cast). Memb was really good (I think he has improved a lot over the last years, especially like his ability to interact with cocasters, imo he is the best caster with respect to that). I really liked the fact that there were so many different casting styles, the mix worked really well

- Pretty much everything else as well.

This is what made me tune in:

Many of my favourite players playing, great settings, high quality games, after NAC1 I knew I was going to experience something amazing.

This is what I think could be improved:

- Interviews. I think it would help if the interviews were more prepared in general (like having a list of potential questions that can be asked, so that players aren't always asked the same questions about the games). Also, I think it would be good if there was someone assigned to interviewing who is not a caster, and can watch the games with a focus on the interviews/potential questions. My ideal scenario would be that after the games are done, one caster keeps talking and wrapping up the series from their point of view, while the other caster and the dedicated interviewer meet with the players, and once they are ready the scene switches to them and the interview starts. Additionally, some people have been way better at interviews (Nili) then others (many of the players); maybe there is something to share.

- Maps. I think having the same maps all the time is less exciting. Maybe give a set of 7 maps for a BO5 so that every player can pick one and ban one, but change which 7 you have every day. From a viewers perspective I think a mappool of sth like 20 would be nicer as well for more variety.

- Civs. I think the current draft system has limitations when it comes to diverse map settings. I think insted of having the pick and ban afterwards system, I could imagine something along the lines of either a) hidden free pick no repeat from a civ pool that changes every day, b) draft by players but some global bans are set upfront by Nili (different per day) c) draft but certain civs are banned on specific maps (Indians on rehydration, El Dorado, Mayans on RF, Italians and Malay on tidepool, Franks on Land Madness, etc.)

- Downtime. Save some of the downtime videos for later in the tournament so that it becomes less repititive. Potentially also other formats, such as players Q&A, Interviews, behind the scenes footage, more of what the event is like for the players, some in-depth analysis (similar to what Nili did for the early escape events).

- Casting. I don't want to trigger any discussions here, so if either Nili or one of the casters is interesting in my feedback, I'll happily share via PM with them.

This is what made me turn off:

Nothing that was due to the tournament.

This was my favorite moment:

Hitting the 10k, the Microtournament, the double boar steal, the MbL interview, Liereyy and MbL cast, chat, interaction

General notes/ what I also wanted to say:

Thanks for the tournament, I am sad I could not come to the meet and greet and hope there will be NAC3 and will be able to come to Hamburg then.

 

This is what I liked in this event:

- social, with this kind of "appartement" cup
- players casting themselves

This is what made me tune in:

- AOE II HD reminder on startup screen
- friends reminding me
- RageOfEmpires reminder
- T90 talking about if he goes there

This is what I think could be improved:

Taking more responsibility for the fairness of games. An admin restart was less too often, even if needed to. If you see that a map is unfair, there should be someone in charge who says, nope, sorry - re! You cannot really rely on the players themselves to scout everything in time and then decide if they want a re. NAC3 needs either a referee with criteria for when a map is fair for both players or some maps which where previewed. E.g.: Review TatoH vs. Viper (final) the first three games ... two of them definitely needed an admin-re.
Funny stuff is, the criteria needed you already name as the casters: "Ouh, he has a really really forward gold and no wood at all, the opponent has three piles of wood around his base is easy to wall etc."

I know it is kind of hard to have certain criteria verbalised, but please try it. To make a fair game for all the parties in the game is not standing in contradiction to a randomly generated map.

This is what made me turn off:

- lack of time
- same kind of maps for the whole cup - didn't see all of the games


Thank you for all the effort and cheers!

 

[Dumbleboar91]

This is what I think could be improved:
- please brief the players and casters before the event how the sound equipment etc. works. so you don't have that many sound issues
- same with all the overlays etc (making crosses, which map will be played, how has to pick first...)
- the instant replay button didn't work (or just after some days) and it wasn't used that much as during NAC 1
- instead of the headsets a normal microphone in the center of the room would make sense. no one has to put on / off the headset and you can hear the players during the whole game
- camera of the players during the game
- would love to see a more smooth beginning of the tournament and days. maybe a lovely welcoming by yourself and the start of the tournament etc.
- introduction of all the participants
- (this is just a personal opinion (do not want to offend someone), but: i liked Killer_B and ZeroEmpires as casters much more)