Streaming Fail at the LVO

Just a small rant.

A tiny rant.

I thought the Warhammer 40K live stream from the LVO was a failure this year. 

I was hoping it would be better. 

Instead, two guys just talked about the game being shown and they talked about the chat that came in while they broadcast.

How had would it be to really be better broadcasters?

Watching 40K is not like watching e-sports, in that the game has turns and phases and larger scale strategy.  It takes time to develop. 

An e-sports match can be 5 minutes of action packed game time, sometimes just an animated fight between two characters. The screen often shows the score as it develops, and the action can be visceral.

Warhammer 40K is more like a football game or baseball game with no substitutions and injured players cannot be replaced. 

How can it be fixed?

In the edited taped versions of 40K, I think Tabletop Tactics and Veterans of the Long War are the gold standard of non-live games. Some of their theatrics, comedy, and insight and such lend well to a live game.

I'd say that the only real way to address the livestream broadcast issues are to add a third reporter - located ringside - with a camera of their own to hold, and one pointed at a nearby broadcast point.  They need to have their own version of the game scoring system up - and keep record of the status of each element and talk live to keep the "booth" up on exactly when player turns and turn phases change.  The "scoring sheet" could be kept at a location facing away from the players - so as not to provide a reminder or advantage to either, and the ringside reporter can, using a headset mike - can talk in a way that provides instant information to the booth and viewers, that would not disrupt the game. The booth pair themselves need to have more data at their fingertips - what are the actual placings of the opponents? Where are they from? How many wounds does a model have and its save?  They need to just say those things.  Is there a presumed real strategy being played, or is it just "target priority". Color commentary is key. 

It was awkward throughout the LVO livestream this year to know that Frankie and the other guy had no idea at times what was going on, no idea what spells or cards were played, etc.  Thus, unless you loved seeing monocolored dice rolled in a small box, it became boring.  Heck, you could not tell what was being targeted until it was picked up as a casualty.  All of that was due to the distance of the booth from the action on the field.

Overall, if the livecast of these games is to rise in viewership, it is critical that the broadcast gets better for the viewer. 

Back to the drawing board,

MING