First off I'd just like to thank everyone that has commentated for smash - it's not an easy job and can take a lot out of you, so I'm glad there are people willing to put forth the effort to do that for the community. Still, I think some small changes can make smash commentary even better.
The biggest issue at the moment is rapport between commentators - often times we'll have two knowledgeable people on the mic but one of them is constantly saying "no, I think..." or "actually..." or "no way, he..." At best the commentator that's doing the denying is completely right and the viewer has learned a minute detail about the match or a player's history or whatever, and at worst there's unnecessary tension, awkwardness, and just a lack of comfortable rapport between the two commentators. There's a lot of improvisation in commentary and one of the guidelines of good improv is saying "yes, and..." You should add onto the scene/situation, not take away.
I think most of the time the commentator that's saying "no" is just trying to keep the viewer well-informed, but it kinda sucks for hype building and enjoyment of the match in general when the commentators keep trying to one-up each other. The most egregious offender is KirbyKaze who's knowledgeable about the game but should probably never touch a mic again, but Wobbles is somewhat guilty too and Dogy has been doing a lot of this at Apex 2013. Commentary is a lot more enjoyable when you do what Wife and Prog do and say, "You're completely right, and [adds onto analysis]." Thoughts?
The biggest issue at the moment is rapport between commentators - often times we'll have two knowledgeable people on the mic but one of them is constantly saying "no, I think..." or "actually..." or "no way, he..." At best the commentator that's doing the denying is completely right and the viewer has learned a minute detail about the match or a player's history or whatever, and at worst there's unnecessary tension, awkwardness, and just a lack of comfortable rapport between the two commentators. There's a lot of improvisation in commentary and one of the guidelines of good improv is saying "yes, and..." You should add onto the scene/situation, not take away.
I think most of the time the commentator that's saying "no" is just trying to keep the viewer well-informed, but it kinda sucks for hype building and enjoyment of the match in general when the commentators keep trying to one-up each other. The most egregious offender is KirbyKaze who's knowledgeable about the game but should probably never touch a mic again, but Wobbles is somewhat guilty too and Dogy has been doing a lot of this at Apex 2013. Commentary is a lot more enjoyable when you do what Wife and Prog do and say, "You're completely right, and [adds onto analysis]." Thoughts?