AGDQ 2015 Feedback

Cool Matty

Edit history:

Cool Matty: 2015-03-14 03:00:58 pm

Cool Matty: 2015-03-14 02:58:00 pm

2015-03-14 02:56:10 pm

Crawlathon WR, get down on my level.

Quote from joe40001:

Hello, I'm just a fan of the GDQs and have been watching since 2012. I love the community and how upbeat and positive you guys are and so I do feel bad making a criticism, but as a viewer and (admittedly meager) donator I feel like the speedruns and speedrunners took a diminished priority this year compared to previous years. I'm currently going through all of AGDQ 2015 that I missed and I think the "World of Illusion" run is a good example of what I mean:

The runner cam is entirely too small and both game screens could be blown up too. (Make them half the screen in width all the way up top and put the runner came below as big as possible). In previous years you could even see the layout be adjusted to maximize the game screens and runner screen and watching this I just feel like that focus on the runs and runners is clearly being downsized. I acknowledge that the sponsors are important, and that there are likely many many many considerations that I am simply oblivious to, but I feel that clearly the most important thing is raising money for the PCF and the way that that money is getting raised is through donations for a speedrunning marathon. If you diminish the entertainment value of the speedrunning marathon then you diminish the very thing that all these donators came to see.

The sponsors can be big during all the setups and intermissions, but making them big at the expense of the very core of this million dollar raising charity event to me seems like a bad idea. And although I love you guys and all the hard work you do, it can leave me as a viewer and avid fan frustrated. And if I am frustrated then I cannot be the only one. I don't want frustrated viewers tuning out from such a great cause for such a silly thing as screen layout, which is why I felt compelled to share my feelings about it. I hope this was the appropriate forum to do so.

My thoughts on the layout aside, you are a terrific community doing a great job putting on such an event that I have loved for many years now, so thank you to all of you here who are involved.

A few things:

1. If you make the games take up half the screen, the runner cam could not be made bigger. Take a look at AGDQ2014 videos for examples. Even with zero spacing/artwork around the games and runner cam, the runner cam wasn't any bigger (just widescreen is the only difference there).
2. The sponsors are in support of the charity. There might be exceptions that I'm not aware of, but most of the listed sponsors are donating to the charity (in large denominations), not to us. Stuff like Humble Bundle and The Yetee definitely donated to the charity. World9 Gaming provided the event with hardware. Twitch also often donates money to the charity. Stuff like that. We may have more sponsors of the event in the future, as our costs grow, but you get the idea. We will be reworking how ads are displayed on stream regardless (they were given more screen time than was intended). But the size of those ads was simply because we needed something to go there. Which is why prizes and other info also appears there.
3. We are going to rework how things are laid out, especially stuff like ads, but just keep in mind the limits of what can be achieved. We also don't have any desire to go back to pre-AGDQ2015 lack of styling, which I think was more a detriment to how our stream was received than anything.

[quote="joe40001"]Hello, I'm just a fan of the GDQs and have been watching since 2012. I love the community and how upbeat and positive you guys are and so I do feel bad making a criticism, but as a viewer and (admittedly meager) donator I feel like the speedruns and speedrunners took a diminished priority this year compared to previous years. I'm currently going through all of AGDQ 2015 that I missed and I think the "World of Illusion" run is a good example of what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I0avg-7aSI

The runner cam is entirely too small and both game screens could be blown up too. (Make them half the screen in width all the way up top and put the runner came below as big as possible). In previous years you could even see the layout be adjusted to maximize the game screens and runner screen and watching this I just feel like that focus on the runs and runners is clearly being downsized. I acknowledge that the sponsors are important, and that there are likely many many many considerations that I am simply oblivious to, but I feel that clearly the most important thing is raising money for the PCF and the way that that money is getting raised is through donations for a speedrunning marathon. If you diminish the entertainment value of the speedrunning marathon then you diminish the very thing that all these donators came to see.

The sponsors can be big during all the setups and intermissions, but making them big at the expense of the very core of this million dollar raising charity event to me seems like a bad idea. And although I love you guys and all the hard work you do, it can leave me as a viewer and avid fan frustrated. And if I am frustrated then I cannot be the only one. I don't want frustrated viewers tuning out from such a great cause for such a silly thing as screen layout, which is why I felt compelled to share my feelings about it. I hope this was the appropriate forum to do so.

My thoughts on the layout aside, you are a terrific community doing a great job putting on such an event that I have loved for many years now, so thank you to all of you here who are involved.[/quote]

A few things:

1. If you make the games take up half the screen, the runner cam could not be made bigger. Take a look at AGDQ2014 videos for examples. Even with zero spacing/artwork around the games and runner cam, the runner cam wasn't any bigger (just widescreen is the only difference there).
2. The sponsors are in support of the charity. [b]There might be exceptions that I'm not aware of[/b], but most of the listed sponsors are donating to the charity (in large denominations), not to us. Stuff like Humble Bundle and The Yetee definitely donated to the charity. World9 Gaming provided the event with hardware. Twitch also often donates money to the charity. Stuff like that. We may have more sponsors of the event in the future, as our costs grow, but you get the idea. We will be reworking how ads are displayed on stream regardless (they were given more screen time than was intended). But the size of those ads was simply because we needed something to go there. Which is why prizes and other info also appears there.
3. We are going to rework how things are laid out, especially stuff like ads, but just keep in mind the limits of what can be achieved. We also don't have any desire to go back to pre-AGDQ2015 lack of styling, which I think was more a detriment to how our stream was received than anything.

joe40001

2015-03-15 06:32:52 am

Quote from Cool Matty:

A few things:

1. If you make the games take up half the screen, the runner cam could not be made bigger. Take a look at AGDQ2014 videos for examples. Even with zero spacing/artwork around the games and runner cam, the runner cam wasn't any bigger (just widescreen is the only difference there).
2. The sponsors are in support of the charity. There might be exceptions that I'm not aware of, but most of the listed sponsors are donating to the charity (in large denominations), not to us. Stuff like Humble Bundle and The Yetee definitely donated to the charity. World9 Gaming provided the event with hardware. Twitch also often donates money to the charity. Stuff like that. We may have more sponsors of the event in the future, as our costs grow, but you get the idea. We will be reworking how ads are displayed on stream regardless (they were given more screen time than was intended). But the size of those ads was simply because we needed something to go there. Which is why prizes and other info also appears there.
3. We are going to rework how things are laid out, especially stuff like ads, but just keep in mind the limits of what can be achieved. We also don't have any desire to go back to pre-AGDQ2015 lack of styling, which I think was more a detriment to how our stream was received than anything.

I can appreciate that but if you upscaled the screens you could still fit a bigger streamer cam too, even without overlap. Here's a super quick mockup I just did (with slight overlap):

In that the game screens are 135% as big and the runner screen is 150% as big, and there are even still rooms for ads.

I truly appreciate that these sponsors have donated to the cause, but my point is that unless they are donating something on the order of several hundreds of thousands of dollars their donation isn't comparable to the donations of the viewers, which is why I think we need to remember how paramount the viewers are to this marathon's success. And the viewers are tuning in for the speedruns and speedrunners. This isn't a zero loss proposition to make the ads and other clutter as big as it is, you do risk turning away viewers. I'm sure a lot of money comes from viewers who weren't planning on donating at first but then felt compelled to because of an amazing story they heard or a great moment they witnessed. These are the people you risk losing if they get frustrated with the layout, and these people are important.

The sponsors still get repeated mentions during so many runs, all the visibility possible during set-up, and whatever small space is left after the screens are maximized, but the actual content people tune in for has to take priority. Again it's not a zero loss proposition to compromise the layout, and these sponsors are kind well-meaning people, so I don't think any of them would want the quality of the charity marathon to suffer on their account, and I feel like some of the layout choices were compromising the entertainment value for the viewer/donator, which is why I really wanted to speak up.

If it were just me who was somewhat frustrated I would remain quiet, but I've seen many many viewers of AGDQ across different places on the internet have the same frustration. So I just wanted to make my and their point heard.

But that's all, it's just feedback, you are all doing amazing work for a great cause. I bring up what I bring up because I feel like my considerations about the layout could be important to many viewers and thus donators, and doing the best job we can for the donators and thus raising a lot of money for this great cause is what matters most. I wish you all the best moving forward.

[quote="Cool Matty"]A few things:

1. If you make the games take up half the screen, the runner cam could not be made bigger. Take a look at AGDQ2014 videos for examples. Even with zero spacing/artwork around the games and runner cam, the runner cam wasn't any bigger (just widescreen is the only difference there).
2. The sponsors are in support of the charity. [b]There might be exceptions that I'm not aware of[/b], but most of the listed sponsors are donating to the charity (in large denominations), not to us. Stuff like Humble Bundle and The Yetee definitely donated to the charity. World9 Gaming provided the event with hardware. Twitch also often donates money to the charity. Stuff like that. We may have more sponsors of the event in the future, as our costs grow, but you get the idea. We will be reworking how ads are displayed on stream regardless (they were given more screen time than was intended). But the size of those ads was simply because we needed something to go there. Which is why prizes and other info also appears there.
3. We are going to rework how things are laid out, especially stuff like ads, but just keep in mind the limits of what can be achieved. We also don't have any desire to go back to pre-AGDQ2015 lack of styling, which I think was more a detriment to how our stream was received than anything.

[/quote]

I can appreciate that but if you upscaled the screens you could still fit a bigger streamer cam too, even without overlap. Here's a super quick mockup I just did (with slight overlap):

[img]http://i.imgur.com/N1osABS.jpg[/img]

In that the game screens are 135% as big and the runner screen is 150% as big, and there are even still rooms for ads.

I truly appreciate that these sponsors have donated to the cause, but my point is that unless they are donating something on the order of several hundreds of thousands of dollars their donation isn't comparable to the donations of the viewers, which is why I think we need to remember how paramount the viewers are to this marathon's success. And the viewers are tuning in for the speedruns and speedrunners. This isn't a zero loss proposition to make the ads and other clutter as big as it is, you do risk turning away viewers. I'm sure a lot of money comes from viewers who weren't planning on donating at first but then felt compelled to because of an amazing story they heard or a great moment they witnessed. These are the people you risk losing if they get frustrated with the layout, and these people are important.

The sponsors still get repeated mentions during so many runs, all the visibility possible during set-up, and whatever small space is left after the screens are maximized, but the actual content people tune in for has to take priority. Again it's not a zero loss proposition to compromise the layout, and these sponsors are kind well-meaning people, so I don't think any of them would want the quality of the charity marathon to suffer on their account, and I feel like some of the layout choices were compromising the entertainment value for the viewer/donator, which is why I really wanted to speak up.

If it were just me who was somewhat frustrated I would remain quiet, but I've seen many many viewers of AGDQ across different places on the internet have the same frustration. So I just wanted to make my and their point heard.

But that's all, it's just feedback, you are all doing amazing work for a great cause. I bring up what I bring up because I feel like my considerations about the layout could be important to many viewers and thus donators, and doing the best job we can for the donators and thus raising a lot of money for this great cause is what matters most. I wish you all the best moving forward.

Habreno

Edit history:

Habreno: 2015-03-15 11:45:14 pm

2015-03-15 11:43:12 pm

Yes, those are bigger, but the runner cam is also cutting into the game areas, which is bad. Also, it's cramped. Granted, you did say that was a version with overlap. If you move to no overlap, you either have to make the runner cam smaller or make the game screens smaller. Ultimately, there's no good solution, becasue there is a thing called "white space" that is very important. You make the game cams and runner cam too big, you have no room for the screen to proverbially breathe. You make things too small, then you have the squinting syndrome. AGDQ 2015 was decent for this- the 2P races had enough room for the game cams and runner cam.

Perhaps instead of having the runner cam between the games, put the game information there, above the timer, and the Twitch ad/logo there, below the timer. Beneath that, have the runner cam, slightly larger. You put the rest of the ads/logos on the sides. If you don't have enough room for all the ads on the sides, consider choosing another sponsor and putting them below the timer instead of Twitch, and moving Twitch above the game information. Maybe this would look like absolute crap, but unfortunately I don't have the tools available to me to make a mockup to know that. And who knows, maybe that was your non-overlap version.

Anyway. AGDQ was successful-we saved the animals. That's all that matters. Cheesy

Yes, those are bigger, but the runner cam is also cutting into the game areas, which is bad. Also, it's cramped.  Granted, you did say that was a version with overlap. If you move to no overlap, you either have to make the runner cam smaller or make the game screens smaller. Ultimately, there's no good solution, becasue there is a thing called "white space" that is very important. You make the game cams and runner cam too big, you have no room for the screen to proverbially breathe. You make things too small, then you have the squinting syndrome. AGDQ 2015 was decent for this- the 2P races had enough room for the game cams and runner cam.

Perhaps instead of having the runner cam between the games, put the game information there, above the timer, and the Twitch ad/logo there, below the timer. Beneath that, have the runner cam, slightly larger. You put the rest of the ads/logos on the sides. If you don't have enough room for all the ads on the sides, consider choosing another sponsor and putting them below the timer instead of Twitch, and moving Twitch above the game information. Maybe this would look like absolute crap, but unfortunately I don't have the tools available to me to make a mockup to know that. And who knows, maybe that was your non-overlap version.

Anyway. AGDQ was successful-we saved the animals. That's all that matters. :D

Buddy

2015-03-30 09:05:59 pm

Quote from romscout:

Bonus Stream

ded doggy. We wanted to try a different direction with bonus stream this time, making it less about speedruns and more about wacky games and multiplayer madness like it used to be about, but the community response to this was 99% of people leaving right after the main marathon ended. Between this, the staff being even more burnt out than usual as these events grow and more work is required to make them run, and the increasing need to start tearing down quicker, it seems best that bonus streams be discontinued at future events.

Hey romscout. My apologies if there's been feedback or updates on this already but the thread is 15 pages long now...

As the guy who cuts up and posts all the Bonus Stream videos, I felt I should chime in with information. I have no baseline for what it means in contrast or comparison to other GDQ runs/videos/etc but here it is regardless:

Objectively: The videos range from a few hundred views to several thousand. I receive new subscribers year-round. People continue to view and comment on the videos year-round. The most successful videos (highest views, thumbs up, and comments) tend to be multiplayer games (Smash bros, Mario Party, Goldeneye types) and RPGs (Fire Emblem, KH 1.5, and Duckfist's great breakdown of FF3).

Subjectively: I'm a fan of the relaxed atmosphere, and I think an emphasis on multiplayer games and RPGs is worth keeping it alive. Furthermore, the Bonus Stream always feels a little "warmer", like watching good friends fight and laugh and have a great time in a multiplayer game. All said, I am one opinion.

If Bonus Stream is simply infeasible to keep, then it's infeasible. But I felt I should share the data. Thanks.

[quote="romscout"] 
[b][size="16"]Bonus Stream[/size][/b]
 
ded doggy. We wanted to try a different direction with bonus stream this time, making it less about speedruns and more about wacky games and multiplayer madness like it used to be about, but the community response to this was 99% of people leaving right after the main marathon ended. Between this, the staff being even more burnt out than usual as these events grow and more work is required to make them run, and the increasing need to start tearing down quicker, it seems best that bonus streams be discontinued at future events.
[/quote]

Hey romscout.  My apologies if there's been feedback or updates on this already but the thread is 15 pages long now...

As the guy who cuts up and posts all the Bonus Stream videos, I felt I should chime in with information.  I have no baseline for what it means in contrast or comparison to other GDQ runs/videos/etc but here it is regardless:

Objectively:  The videos range from a few hundred views to several thousand.  I receive new subscribers year-round.  People continue to view and comment on the videos year-round.  The most successful videos (highest views, thumbs up, and comments) tend to be multiplayer games (Smash bros, Mario Party, Goldeneye types) and RPGs (Fire Emblem, KH 1.5, and Duckfist's great breakdown of FF3).

Subjectively: I'm a fan of the relaxed atmosphere, and I think an emphasis on multiplayer games and RPGs is worth keeping it alive.  Furthermore, the Bonus Stream always feels a little "warmer", like watching good friends fight and laugh and have a great time in a multiplayer game.  All said, I am one opinion.

If Bonus Stream is simply infeasible to keep, then it's infeasible.  But I felt I should share the data.  Thanks.

Cool Matty

Edit history:

Cool Matty: 2015-03-31 09:56:26 am

Cool Matty: 2015-03-31 09:53:43 am

2015-03-31 09:53:31 am

Crawlathon WR, get down on my level.

Even if we were to reconsider bonus stream, it will not be at SGDQ2015. We have contracted our space for the main event only, and the day after the event will be entirely spent tearing down.

My personal opinion is that IF there were to be a return of bonus stream, it would need to take place prior to the event, not after. Then it could serve another purpose as testing setup for the main event. It would be a much better use of the time, since otherwise the bonus stream is a really poor use of resources as far as bringing in donations.

Buddy

2015-03-31 11:17:55 pm

Hey CoolMatty. I understand. And yes, having it be a test run before the main event would be a better use of time. Given the growth and setup required for GDQ events I'm not surprised this came about; simply wanted to provide some feedback. Thanks.

Naegleria

(user is banned)

2015-03-31 11:28:25 pm

Quote from Cool Matty:

IF there were to be a return of bonus stream, it would need to take place prior to the event

I like the sound of this.

Sonikkustar

2015-04-01 06:16:00 am

The Great Farming Empire

Quote from Cool Matty:

Even if we were to reconsider bonus stream, it will not be at SGDQ2015. We have contracted our space for the main event only, and the day after the event will be entirely spent tearing down.

My personal opinion is that IF there were to be a return of bonus stream, it would need to take place prior to the event, not after. Then it could serve another purpose as testing setup for the main event. It would be a much better use of the time, since otherwise the bonus stream is a really poor use of resources as far as bringing in donations.

Personally, I wouldn't mind having bonus stream be before the marathon. I'm not sure if the term "Bonus Stream" could be applied to it anymore since this would technically be more of a "pre-Stream" if anything. I guess I could imagine it being sort of a "pre-GDQ Show", showcasing more of the event itself as well as the venue with all the people. I remember hearing talks about the possibility of having interviews of runners or attendees at the event, and I think that it could also work here given that this would generally be a chance to test out the setup.

I think that the idea of having bonus stream before the marathon could potentially open up a few more possibilities. And to be honest, It kind of makes me a little excited to wonder about what could happen. I may be jumping the gun a bit here, but I wouldn't mind the change if it means lifting the stress of the staff at the event a bit.

[quote="Cool Matty"]Even if we were to reconsider bonus stream, it will not be at SGDQ2015. We have contracted our space for the main event only, and the day after the event will be entirely spent tearing down.

My personal opinion is that IF there were to be a return of bonus stream, it would need to take place prior to the event, not after. Then it could serve another purpose as testing setup for the main event. It would be a much better use of the time, since otherwise the bonus stream is a really poor use of resources as far as bringing in donations.[/quote]

Personally, I wouldn't mind having bonus stream be before the marathon. I'm not sure if the term "Bonus Stream" could be applied to it anymore since this would technically be more of a "pre-Stream" if anything. I guess I could imagine it being sort of a "pre-GDQ Show", showcasing more of the event itself as well as the venue with all the people. I remember hearing talks about the possibility of having interviews of runners or attendees at the event, and I think that it could also work here given that this would generally be a chance to test out the setup.

I think that the idea of having bonus stream before the marathon could potentially open up a few more possibilities. And to be honest, It kind of makes me a little excited to wonder about what could happen. I may be jumping the gun a bit here, but I wouldn't mind the change if it means lifting the stress of the staff at the event a bit.

Sir VG

2015-04-01 06:32:28 am

Fucking Weeaboo

Call it the Hpye Stream?

HPYEEEEE

Naegleria

(user is banned)

2015-04-01 09:40:53 pm

Quote from Sir VG:

Call it the Hpye Stream?

HPYEEEEE

No.

Emptyeye

2015-04-20 09:31:32 am

Talk to the Hand

Quote from Sonikkustar:

Quote from Cool Matty:

[...]
My personal opinion is that IF there were to be a return of bonus stream, it would need to take place prior to the event, not after. Then it could serve another purpose as testing setup for the main event. It would be a much better use of the time, since otherwise the bonus stream is a really poor use of resources as far as bringing in donations.

[...]I think that it could also work here given that this would generally be a chance to test out the setup.

A bit late here, but yes yes YES to this. This goes double if some of the tech volunteers are there early. Then you're killing two birds with one stone--you're testing the setup/s, while ALSO giving the tech crew precious experience with DOING STUFF in a comparatively low-pressure environment, instead of fretting about whether they're messing stuff up during the marathon proper. (Which, I think, also addresses the "We don't want it screwed up so we'll just do it ourselves" that affected some of AGDQ2015).

I understand that it won't happen for SGDQ15, but a form of pre-stream for AGDQ2016 (Even if it's not the same format as the "bonus stream" of marathons past) could definitely be a good thing.

[quote="Sonikkustar"][quote="Cool Matty"][...]
My personal opinion is that IF there were to be a return of bonus stream, it would need to take place prior to the event, not after. Then it could serve another purpose as testing setup for the main event. It would be a much better use of the time, since otherwise the bonus stream is a really poor use of resources as far as bringing in donations.[/quote]

[...]I think that it could also work here given that this would generally be a chance to test out the setup.
[/quote]

A bit late here, but yes yes YES to this. This goes double if some of the tech volunteers are there early. Then you're killing two birds with one stone--you're testing the setup/s, while ALSO giving the tech crew precious experience with DOING STUFF in a comparatively low-pressure environment, instead of fretting about whether they're messing stuff up during the marathon proper. (Which, I think, also addresses the "We don't want it screwed up so we'll just do it ourselves" that affected some of AGDQ2015).

I understand that it won't happen for SGDQ15, but a form of pre-stream for AGDQ2016 (Even if it's not the same format as the "bonus stream" of marathons past) could definitely be a good thing.

kirbymastah

2015-04-20 12:38:23 pm

<(^_^)>

Whoa, while bonus stream has kinda been killed off, a pre-marathon stream would be a great idea IMO.

JTBeezy

Edit history:

JTBeezy: 2015-04-20 01:36:44 pm

2015-04-20 01:36:14 pm

words on words on words

While that might seem good on paper, I think in practice it would diminish the quality of the stream (not the marathon). One of the biggest moments of the stream is when it begins, the viewers excitement value is at its max after waiting half a year to see this wonderful event again. Start the stream a day or so early when everything is still being set up takes away from that initial moment when the marathon actually begins and could potentially lose viewers since uninformed people won't know when the actual event begins.

PX_

2015-04-21 01:08:11 am

twitch.tv/pxmacaiah

Against a stream before the marathon because then set up would have to be done even earlier than the day before/of the marathon, and then people will ask if this is all set up then why not just start the marathon then, etc.

Emptyeye

2015-04-21 09:35:44 pm

Talk to the Hand

Quote from JTBeezy:

While that might seem good on paper, I think in practice it would diminish the quality of the stream (not the marathon). One of the biggest moments of the stream is when it begins, the viewers excitement value is at its max after waiting half a year to see this wonderful event again. Start the stream a day or so early when everything is still being set up takes away from that initial moment when the marathon actually begins and could potentially lose viewers since uninformed people won't know when the actual event begins.

Someone, possibly here, brought up the fact that any "bonus stream" wouldn't necessarily have to take place on the official GDQ Twitch account. If what I quoted is your main concern, I'd argue that the same would be true for a pre-stream--make some kind of test account that isn't publicized (Or have one of the runners use their account), just to make sure everything is up and going (This applies if the primary purpose is to test the setups, as opposed to a proper "value add").

[quote="JTBeezy"]While that might seem good on paper, I think in practice it would diminish the quality of the stream (not the marathon). One of the biggest moments of the stream is when it begins, the viewers excitement value is at its max after waiting half a year to see this wonderful event again. Start the stream a day or so early when everything is still being set up takes away from that initial moment when the marathon actually begins and could potentially lose viewers since uninformed people won't know when the actual event begins. [/quote]

Someone, possibly here, brought up the fact that any "bonus stream" wouldn't necessarily have to take place on the official GDQ Twitch account. If what I quoted is your main concern, I'd argue that the same would be true for a pre-stream--make some kind of test account that isn't publicized (Or have one of the runners use their account), just to make sure everything is up and going (This applies if the primary purpose is to test the setups, as opposed to a proper "value add").

presjpolk

2015-04-22 06:00:09 am

HELLO!

Of course it's also not the case that the GDQ account is only ever active for marathons anymore anyway, what with the races they're running now.

Naegleria

(user is banned)

2015-04-22 11:28:32 am

Quote from Emptyeye:

Quote from JTBeezy:

While that might seem good on paper, I think in practice it would diminish the quality of the stream (not the marathon). One of the biggest moments of the stream is when it begins, the viewers excitement value is at its max after waiting half a year to see this wonderful event again. Start the stream a day or so early when everything is still being set up takes away from that initial moment when the marathon actually begins and could potentially lose viewers since uninformed people won't know when the actual event begins.

Someone, possibly here, brought up the fact that any "bonus stream" wouldn't necessarily have to take place on the official GDQ Twitch account. If what I quoted is your main concern, I'd argue that the same would be true for a pre-stream--make some kind of test account that isn't publicized (Or have one of the runners use their account), just to make sure everything is up and going (This applies if the primary purpose is to test the setups, as opposed to a proper "value add").

GDQ Second stream? Could be used for setup/bonus/backstage stuff. ESA did it and it was fun.

[quote="Emptyeye"][quote="JTBeezy"]While that might seem good on paper, I think in practice it would diminish the quality of the stream (not the marathon). One of the biggest moments of the stream is when it begins, the viewers excitement value is at its max after waiting half a year to see this wonderful event again. Start the stream a day or so early when everything is still being set up takes away from that initial moment when the marathon actually begins and could potentially lose viewers since uninformed people won't know when the actual event begins. [/quote]

Someone, possibly here, brought up the fact that any "bonus stream" wouldn't necessarily have to take place on the official GDQ Twitch account. If what I quoted is your main concern, I'd argue that the same would be true for a pre-stream--make some kind of test account that isn't publicized (Or have one of the runners use their account), just to make sure everything is up and going (This applies if the primary purpose is to test the setups, as opposed to a proper "value add"). [/quote]

GDQ Second stream?  Could be used for setup/bonus/backstage stuff.  ESA did it and it was fun.

Mylexsi

Edit history:

Mylexsi: 2015-04-23 02:44:54 am

Mylexsi: 2015-04-23 02:44:43 am

Mylexsi: 2015-04-23 02:43:55 am

2015-04-23 02:43:28 am

Quote from JTBeezy:

While that might seem good on paper, I think in practice it would diminish the quality of the stream (not the marathon). One of the biggest moments of the stream is when it begins, the viewers excitement value is at its max after waiting half a year to see this wonderful event again. Start the stream a day or so early when everything is still being set up takes away from that initial moment when the marathon actually begins and could potentially lose viewers since uninformed people won't know when the actual event begins.

This'd be easy enough to not only work around, but reverse. There are always those regular announcements about the charity, about SDA/SRL, etc. Make regular announcements along the lines of "Welcome to the GDQ 2101 pre-stream, where we speedrun the setting us up & testing of equipment. The real event begins in [some amount of time]" (except better-done than that). Some kind countdown thing towards the end, Build the hype up towards to beginning of the event proper.
(and then go into setup for the first game Kappa)

[quote="JTBeezy"]While that might seem good on paper, I think in practice it would diminish the quality of the stream (not the marathon). One of the biggest moments of the stream is when it begins, the viewers excitement value is at its max after waiting half a year to see this wonderful event again. Start the stream a day or so early when everything is still being set up takes away from that initial moment when the marathon actually begins and could potentially lose viewers since uninformed people won't know when the actual event begins. [/quote]

This'd be easy enough to not only work around, but reverse. There are always those regular announcements about the charity, about SDA/SRL, etc. Make regular announcements along the lines of "Welcome to the GDQ 2101 pre-stream, where we speedrun the setting us up & testing of equipment. The real event begins in [some amount of time]" (except better-done than that). Some kind countdown thing towards the end, Build the hype up towards to beginning of the event proper.
(and then go into setup for the first game Kappa)

Jepty

2015-04-25 03:15:20 pm

Hey, there's a few things I felt in this AGDQ that I feel really need to be improved on for the next gdq's.
(Sorry if some of these have been brought up)

1. Layouts
The one player layout was great, the 2-player wasn't up to par however, joe40001's layout idea would looks way better than the one on stream so you can see game/runner cam and you can still fit in info/ads. 3-Player/4-Player layout was also good too, I feel like there should be 2 camera's in those races. So you can see all racers (Look at diddy kong racing and megaman x1 this year\) and the audience too. (e.g. Megaman x2 at SGDQ 2014, Super Metroid at Agdq 2014)

2. Scheduling
The first day was really lacking the hype it needed. DKTF was a perfect start but then the rest of the day was just scheduled with good-meh runs. (with a few exceptions). This wouldn't be as big of a problem if it weren't for this being day 1. You need big runs on the day (while still balancing the schedule to be just as awesome the rest of the week). Not just runs that look decent on day 1. (This does have to do with game selection also). There were also a fair amount of awesome runs scheduled at a graveyard/crappy timeslot. But this part I can understand.

3. Room layout
I realise you addressed this in the first post but still, having only 3 rows of seats seeable really ruins the hype for a lot of these amazing runs. And if there is little amount of people in the room then zoom in on the first couple rows (like at sgdq 2014) instead of showing only those rows permanently.

Hey, there's a few things I felt in this AGDQ that I feel really need to be improved on for the next gdq's.
(Sorry if some of these have been brought up)

1. Layouts
The one player layout was great, the 2-player wasn't up to par however, joe40001's layout idea would looks way better than the one on stream so you can see game/runner cam and you can still fit in info/ads. 3-Player/4-Player layout was also good too, I feel like there should be 2 camera's in those races. So you can see all racers (Look at diddy kong racing and megaman x1 this year\) and the audience too. (e.g. Megaman x2 at SGDQ 2014, Super Metroid at Agdq 2014)

2. Scheduling
The first day was really lacking the hype it needed. DKTF was a perfect start but then the rest of the day was just scheduled with good-meh runs. (with a few exceptions). This wouldn't be as big of a problem if it weren't for this being day 1. You need big runs on the day (while still balancing the schedule to be just as awesome the rest of the week). Not just runs that look decent on day 1.  (This does have to do with game selection also). There were also a fair amount of awesome runs scheduled at a graveyard/crappy timeslot. But this part I can understand.

3. Room layout
I realise you addressed this in the first post but still, having only 3 rows of seats seeable really ruins the hype for a lot of these amazing runs. And if there is little amount of people in the room then zoom in on the first couple rows (like at sgdq 2014) instead of showing only those rows permanently.