Sunday, October 19, 2014

Thoughts on SeatStory Cup


Are we looking at the future of ESports?


TaKeTV is an ESports organization led by Dennis "TaKe" Gehlen from his studio apartment in Krefeld, Germany. This weekend we have seen the TaKeTV team run the SeatStory Cup II; an outstanding event with the help casters Frodan, Artosis, Lothar, Gnimsh, and a host of others making appearances & working behind the scenes. The event includes 24 invited players, featuring many of the top players in the game, and 8 players who have proven themselves through online qualifiers. These 32 players traveled to Germany for the 4 day event, broadcast live on their twitch.tv channel.

The Format
The tournament format features a 32 player double elimination group stage (8 groups of 4), with the top 2 in each group advancing to the next phase. The 16 players then play another double elimination stage (4 groups of 4), the top 2 advance once again. This leaves 8 players advancing to a single elimination grid stage. Each player brings 5 decks; a match opens up with a ban on one of the opponent's decks, and the format is an all kill (players continue using a deck until it loses, and once a deck has lost it cannot be used until the next match). The group stages are best of 5, the grid stage are best of 7, and the finals best of 9. The tournament has some twists as well: each player picks the deck that their opponent will use in the first game, creating new and interesting strategy in deck selection.

The Cast
The cast of the event has been exceptional, the main casters were joined by some of the players on the stream; bringing the games to life with commentary, jokes, and high level insight. 
Overlay Screenshot from TaKeTVRed's Twitch Channel
The overlay graphic itself was very well made, and the production team proved themselves to be adaptive during the event: initially the overlay covered the top player's first secret placement, but a fix was added on the fly shortly after the problem was identified. All of the player and caster cameras were well placed, and video clips were created from the footage and used throughout the weekend to highlight some of the best moments of the event. The only minor issues came from the audio: some players had a hard time understanding where to hold the mic, and the caster's headset microphones did give some tapping sounds when being moved or adjusted. Overall the production was very well done, and I expect we will continue to see this style of stream in the future.

The Community
The tournament staff & organizers have done an exceptional job of integrating the SeatStory Cup II with the community through Twitch and Twitter. Casters and organizers were watching and replying to their twitter feeds over the course of the event, and combined with the relaxed and personal atmosphere, the viewers and fans have been well connected to all of the action. The sponsors of the event provided a great spread of goods for giveaways including chairs, peripherals, and clothing. The adverts during the stream were relevant, tasteful, and some were quite funny. TaKeTV has proven that a professional crew can produce an outstanding event with just an apartment, some tech equipment, and the right group of people. The production cost of this event is significantly lower than many of the larger tournaments, but the production value did not suffer in the slightest. It was a pleasure to watch, and a great event for the Hearthstone community.

The Future
TaKeTV has proven that with the proper understanding of the community, the game, and the pro scene you can create outstanding events; and that quality is not directly tied to resources. Their new Pimp the House project will take their organization to the next level, and provides a model that we can expect to see replicated in major cities around the world. They are creating a community around them that has a personalized local atmosphere that translates seamlessly in to the online world. Every city big enough to support a hearthstone community needs its own TaKeTV style house, and I hope to see more events like this from other organizations in the future.

Links
If you missed any of the action you can find vods on TaKeTV's twitch channel
For more info on upcoming tournaments and events check out the TaKeTV website

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