Since there’s a bunch of wild threads right now, figured I’d add another interesting debate that’s been going on a little on TYM and a lot on Twitter.
The pausing before the match has concluded, and instantly rematching in NRS games.
Now, I have zero problems with this OFF STREAM. It makes sense to want to get to the next match as quickly as possible. Other than the victor not getting his satisfactory ‘ality, no harm no foul.
The problem to me is doing it on stream. Whether you want to admit it or not, viewership and the viewership experience matters a lot in building our scene/community. You WANT people watching NRS tournaments, you want them to WANT to watch them as well. This helps with a few things. Gaining interest from viewers who aren’t already playing so they want to try out the game. Gaining interest from existing players to actually want to compete in tournaments. Viewership numbers also helps gain outside interest from sponsors. More eyes on you means more eyes on their brand. Tons of benefits to go around.
So, why is the instant pause rematch ON STREAM a bad thing? Firstly, it kills the hype. Pretty simple, there’s no satisfactory resolution. Every match tells a story. There’s a beginning, middle and end. To me it feels like you cut the ending a little short. You technically saw the ending, but it’s as if the climax of a movie happens, then automatically a new movie starts playing. Usually there’s a small amount of aftermath after the ending of a movie/story. That aftermath in this case is an ‘ality, win pose, and the commentators quickly reflecting on what just happened. Or even the viewer processing what just happened. It takes away the awe factor when they have ZERO time to reflect.
When you instant pause rematch, you get none of that. As a viewer, you don’t get the gratification of a true, and full ending. The commentators don’t have time to say really anything without interfering with the next match. And all the suspense and hype is sucked out of the air.
I understand the argument of “those 10-15 seconds add up, I want to get to the next match” as a player. But I’m not talking about sitting there and waiting during casuals, off stream pools, etc. This only affects matches on stream. If all you had to do to dramatically increase the viewership experience is to let it rock ONLY while you’re on stream, what realistically is the harm in that? Also, it gives you a few extra seconds to process what just happened as a player. I understand some players don’t need that time and they think it’s beneficial to them to instant rematch, totally get it. I would be very interested to know the statistic though of how often someone who just lost that instant rematches won that next match.
Anyway, I just wish every tournament player who plays on stream would let it rock. At the very LEAST while in top 8. Obviously you don’t have to, you can do whatever you want. I just think it would be more beneficial to you and the scene in the long run, if you just. Let. It. Rock!
Thoughts?
The pausing before the match has concluded, and instantly rematching in NRS games.
Now, I have zero problems with this OFF STREAM. It makes sense to want to get to the next match as quickly as possible. Other than the victor not getting his satisfactory ‘ality, no harm no foul.
The problem to me is doing it on stream. Whether you want to admit it or not, viewership and the viewership experience matters a lot in building our scene/community. You WANT people watching NRS tournaments, you want them to WANT to watch them as well. This helps with a few things. Gaining interest from viewers who aren’t already playing so they want to try out the game. Gaining interest from existing players to actually want to compete in tournaments. Viewership numbers also helps gain outside interest from sponsors. More eyes on you means more eyes on their brand. Tons of benefits to go around.
So, why is the instant pause rematch ON STREAM a bad thing? Firstly, it kills the hype. Pretty simple, there’s no satisfactory resolution. Every match tells a story. There’s a beginning, middle and end. To me it feels like you cut the ending a little short. You technically saw the ending, but it’s as if the climax of a movie happens, then automatically a new movie starts playing. Usually there’s a small amount of aftermath after the ending of a movie/story. That aftermath in this case is an ‘ality, win pose, and the commentators quickly reflecting on what just happened. Or even the viewer processing what just happened. It takes away the awe factor when they have ZERO time to reflect.
When you instant pause rematch, you get none of that. As a viewer, you don’t get the gratification of a true, and full ending. The commentators don’t have time to say really anything without interfering with the next match. And all the suspense and hype is sucked out of the air.
I understand the argument of “those 10-15 seconds add up, I want to get to the next match” as a player. But I’m not talking about sitting there and waiting during casuals, off stream pools, etc. This only affects matches on stream. If all you had to do to dramatically increase the viewership experience is to let it rock ONLY while you’re on stream, what realistically is the harm in that? Also, it gives you a few extra seconds to process what just happened as a player. I understand some players don’t need that time and they think it’s beneficial to them to instant rematch, totally get it. I would be very interested to know the statistic though of how often someone who just lost that instant rematches won that next match.
Anyway, I just wish every tournament player who plays on stream would let it rock. At the very LEAST while in top 8. Obviously you don’t have to, you can do whatever you want. I just think it would be more beneficial to you and the scene in the long run, if you just. Let. It. Rock!
Thoughts?
