End of March Online Event

[ElkyDori]

I think a lot of us aren't very happy with how our game is being seen in streamed tournaments.

We have a community of very dedicated players that happen to be spread out all over the map. We also have the best netcode available to a fighting game. We may grow old waiting for TOs to give us a stage to shine on, so let's build our own with what we have.

I'm putting together a 3-4 hour online event for the end of March. I want to showcase great match-ups with the highest quality presentation I can produce.

What I mean by this is a stream that includes graphics, video clips, two-person commentary, minimal downtime, the clearest audio and video my setup can support, and most importantly, the best card of SG matches possible.

This sounds like a long way off, but I'll need the time to put everything together. Especially since I'm hoping to support both PC and PS3 on the same stream, since the PS3 patch is very likely to be out by then.

What I need from you guys is this:

Time and Date - I'm looking at Saturday, March 29th or Sunday, March 30th at 9:00 pm EST. This is very flexible, so please chime in with whatever works for you.

Suggested Matches - Just what it sounds like. Let me know what YOU want to see, or who you think you could have the nail-bitingest match against. Tournament runbacks and dream matches are what I'm striving for in the main events. However, if your match is straight up beef, take it to Who Y'all Like!? because @keninblack and the D I C K S Q U A D get totally turgid over those fights. I want to establish the lineup early, so that I have time to include background info on the competitors in the promo clips.

Feedback - Any tips or suggestions for making this the best event it can be. If you want to help in some way, by all means contact me.

IF this show ends up meeting the quality that I am hoping for, I will plan to do an event about every two months. (This means adding XBOX 360 matchups down the line if my computer can hold onto three video sources at once without blowing up.) And if people really seem to like it, I'll try to get the word out as best I can.

 

[mcpeanuts]

The weekend of March 29th is probably fine. I don't think that's the same weekend as any other major fighting game events. I thought maybe it was the same weekend as Final Round, but I checked and it isn't, and I don't think there's anything else big that happens in March.

I'm a little unclear on the format? It doesn't really sound like you want to organize a tournament. It sounds like it's what Keninblack is already doing on Thursdays. Some sort of other format might be a better idea, it's not gonna be very hype to see the same format we already see every Thursday anyways.

 

[Zidiane]

Like the idea, but I dont want to see anymore 7-0's.

 

[ElkyDori]

I'd be fine with making it a tournament series. If I did that, it would have to be restricted to one platform per show, at which point I'd feel the need to make it more frequent. I would like to leave the opportunity for exhibition matches to be included now and then.

 

[Zidiane]

What about a round robin tournament, Monster Rancher style? Get 8 or 10 players, maybe through a straw poll?

 

[mcpeanuts]

I'd be fine with making it a tournament series. If I did that, it would have to be restricted to one platform per show, at which point I'd feel the need to make it more frequent. I would like to leave the opportunity for exhibition matches to be included now and then.

Another option is something similar to the Iron Fist League or whatever it was called for Tekken. They had a format similar to professional sports leagues, where players were in divisions and had a set schedule each week, and at the end of a season the players from each division with the best record would move on to a single elimination tournament. I thought that was really neat.

 

[ElkyDori]

Oh man, a weekly show that builds to a blow-off show. It would be a lot of work, but could be pretty exciting.

I'm really nervous about a fixed roster of players being available that many consecutive weeks. It would probably give me grey hair in four months.

 

[Zidiane]

I think it'd be much easier to get together a small number of players for one day. I just remember how much of a pain the Beta tournament was.

Either way, here's some Monster Rancher pics that could be used as references for graphics and banners and such.

Spoiler

Banner like this for the tournament itself would be pretty cool. All fancy and junk.

You could make fake little stat sheets like this, or just the circle thing, for each player. "Such and such manages to stay alive forever and he's fast, but his damage is lacking", or "he hits like a mountain, but he has a rough time getting the hits".

You could have these things while you wait for the next matchup to start, using your fake stats as well here.

You could make one of these for the players, and have a little box at the corner of the screen showing this at all times. You could also enlarge it after a match is done.

 

[dekillsage]

I just want to shake the hands of the people I play.

Kenins streams don't even have grudge matches except for like the first week. It's mostly been hey what players do you want to see play each other/ is any1 free to play.

I would love to see something along the lines of this though

Obviously online and all, but you can probably just get to ask the individual players what they think is gonna happen in their set on skype or something. idk I don't really care for online much but better production value is something that would be nice to have.

 

[keninblack]

Once the console patch comes out we'll get stream time I promise <3 ECT <3

BUT ANYWAY, yeah man this sounds hype as hell.

I like the strawpoll idea. Have a poop ton of various active players in a poll (US/Canada cuz lag :/) and have the top 8 play in a double elim bracket or something.

I'm fine with anything though this seems swell.

 

[Kai]

Start with your original idea, man. Don't get crazy just yet. I'll be on hand to watch/participate, this sounds great.

 

[RetroStation]

I'll definitely be down for commentary/participation/watching, so yeah :)

 

[Vadsamoht]

I'm totally on board with this. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

EDIT: I think the biggest thing you need to figure out is who is going to play. Is this going to be people selected because they are arguably the best of the best? Because they run specific teams? etc.

EDIT2: I'mma spoiler this one because it really would require a fair bit of work and I don't expect it to happen, but could be cool:

Spoiler

Like McPeanuts suggested, each week does a round robin for a certain area, simply because we know that people should have decent connections with each other. Then, for the final single-elim we could maybe look at an opportunity to get those finalists in the same room (nobody wants net issues during finals) and perhaps record it from the EVO suite or something?

 

[ElkyDori]

Tournaments are the de facto format for FG events, but I always liked the boxing/MMA/pro-wrestling format of an assembled card of matches.

I don't really want to have an entire show of killers. I only want two for a main event. I'm looking to see new names and some new playstyles featured. I have a list of players in mind that I want to book, and I'll put it together from whoever agrees to be in.

I've had a couple people ask about co-commentary, and I don't know who it's gonna be yet. Still looking for the best software solution for it. Is Steam chat usable for something like this or would Mumble work better?

 

[RetroStation]

I think Mumble's better for that.

 

[Kai]

I've had a couple people ask about co-commentary, and I don't know who it's gonna be yet. Still looking for the best software solution for it. Is Steam chat usable for something like this or would Mumble work better?

I think Mumble's better for that.

Mumble is cool, but for a mere 2 people (co-commentary) steam voice chat is totally fine. the real trick is making sure the sound mix is good.

 

[mcpeanuts]

I've had a couple people ask about co-commentary, and I don't know who it's gonna be yet. Still looking for the best software solution for it. Is Steam chat usable for something like this or would Mumble work better?

Steam chat works yeah. I just streamed last Saturday using it and it worked fine. Probably a good idea to test it out beforehand to make sure the audio levels are reasonable though.