Monthly Archives: November 2011

A little thought about beta participation.

So, CS:GO is going to be the next video game to be hitting the beta testing chopping block. It will inevitably be subjected to the scrutiny of a game meant for release, even though it is a beta release and not a finished game.

Have I got that right so far?

How many of the people who are getting keys to the beta, expecting there to be some sort of paradise in the small player base the beta pool will have?

Will the prospect of having fun with a beta outweigh the price to play the beta when, undoubtedly, the chance of getting a code is relatively small and that game-altering bugs are present?

Personally, the beta isn’t something that I’m particularly looking forward to. I would likethegame to just get released tomorrow so I can take a look at the entire product. I have a feeling that this CS:GO beta might replicate the BF3 open beta experience that I had. Sure the games are different, but that didn’t stop those from exploiting what bugs the game had to ruin the multiplayer experience.

I guess BF3 just ruined beta testing things with the rest of the crowd for me, granted the Source engine might not have the same or as many issues as the Frostbite 2 engine has—I’m not entirely sure.

When do the gloves come off? (Part 1)

I’ve been doing a bit of thinking about some of the comments recently made by (some would argue) important people within the StarCraft 2 community. I arrived at the question posed in the title of this column after coming to the conclusion, that perhaps it is time to do so.

Kennigit brought this up on a recent episode of State of the Game. He made mention about the camaraderie within the StarCraft community that makes it seem difficult to break in and offer the hard-hitting content that was in one of the spotlights of panel member and all around buddy of the community InControl. One says freelancers are missing from the scene, the other says confidence is missing from those who are covering the scene.

I don’t want to be tooting my own horn, so to speak, but ESFI was mentioned as the example of a new source on the edge of progress in bringing quality production and journalism into the community. That kinda says a lot when there are certain personalities that have a larger reach than we do and yet have the inferior content (at least in principle).

I think there are some fundamental reasons as to why the envelope hasn’t been pushed up until this point. I want to break this down into parts and here is the first of this series of posts.

One of the goals of most websites and communities are to get hits and continue to get hits. In this way, fledgling community sites which are lacking a large number of hits might not fare well in the court of public opinion should they publish an article that addresses something controversial in the community. Numbers might be responsible for inflating what the definition of success is, but there is a certain critical mass that allows nearly any website to sustain readers unto itself.

One of the key things behind being able to generate numbers in this manner has to do with having a personality at the core of the brand. For a streamer, it might be BM. For a caster, it might be game knowledge. While opinions have a place with news reporting, objectivity isn’t exactly the most endearing personality trait.

Along those lines, avoiding favoritism in reporting is a big hurdle that many of those who will be joining with aspirations of journalism will have to overcome. Not favoritism in the manner of simply liking a player because that player won an event lately, but favoritism more in the style of believing that a player is the best without some sort of reason why.

Being able to argue for or against a particular player should always be something that you’re willing to do regardless of who it is or how prestigious that player seems to you or the community at large.

I’ll continue the second part in this series explaining my best guess for a timetable for glove removal.

Real time pressure.

When it came down to covering an event this weekend, every time I was asked to cover a specific event, I had a mini-panic. It was the first resorts event I tried to cover with some respect to real-time while not being in attendance. It felt like I had to force myself to get excited about certain aspects of the games. I had to write down notes for games that I covered in recaps.

I had to write down notes.

That might be one of the biggest failings that I’ve come to realize as I grow older is the fact that I just flat-out forget details all the time. This is why I’ve re-architeched my workflow at work to incorporate more written notes to myself and outlines in general so I don’t forget to say something important to my point or research that I’m writing up.

The other thought that crosses my mind is the realization that I have less skill than others in the field that I aspire to become a key mover in. I want to give exports journalism as much of a try as the opportunities come at me, but there are points where some of my writing just gets confused and boggled down in editing. For the most part, keeping tenses the same while I’m writing is not at the forefront of my train of thought, however it is important for certain write-ups… like recaps.

The lack of confidence that came from the editors notes from articles I submitted this weekend was quite apparent to people that I interacted with. “You look tired.” “Are you okay?” “Is work treating you alright?”

The first two I generally have responses prepared in reply and the third one is always something along the lines of “I’d be the last person to complain about work.” The latter statement is the truth and nothing but.

I’m sure that any reply to the belief that I’m exhibiting “writer’s block” or explaining that esports is ruining my confidence would only shorten the delay from that point in time to when I’m questioned about feeling depressed.

Of course that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? Life is about managing stress and depression and cultivating value and confidence. Perhaps I’m just not up to par with the people that I surround myself with.