<3 Smash 4 Casual Spectators!

[<π]

Hey again guys! Just like my last thread, this video is going to sum up the post for those of you who don't have the time to sit through a few pages of text but still want to be a part of the conversation. It's also great to share if you want to get someone talking about the subject but they don't want to be bothered with SmashBoards (yet). And don't forget to subscribe to my channel I plan on doing these every Friday.

The topic of this one is about how to improve viewer count by targeting the casual. (read as people who are not yet interested in mastering the game.) I'm also giving away prints so check out the video for info on that!

First... I want to say even though we've come a long way with smash I don't think we've even chipped the Ice Berg as far as Smash as a spectacle. Gonna throw out a few facts here...

Super smash brothers melee set records (for fighting games anyway) with over 130,000 congruent viewers for the games 2013 EVO event. That is a lot of people...

The smash invitational DESTROYED that record nearly doubling it with 250,000 congruent viewers... that's a quarter million that's A LOT!.


But... when you compare that to the Riot Games' LCS they get these numbers almost every weekend. In fact League still holds records at something like 30 million viewers world wide for their World Cup event.

As a competitive community we started before the internet was what it is today. We were at the infancy of online console gaming. There was no (real) social media, no YouTube, and no streaming. However, through smashboards we were able to link ourselves together and form a group called the “Smash community”. And shortly after Melee's release we were using the boards as a way to meet with one another and figure out who was the best at the game. And then as events got larger they became even more player focused since he players themselves funded these events. I think with these as our core foundations it has never, or at the very very least not till recently, been a goal to draw casual viewers. The focus has always been on gaining more hard core players. But with Nintendo and Riot's events the sole goal is making the experience for the casual viewer.

So specifically what is the Big N and Riot Games doing that we as a community are not? Well... lets explore that for a bit.

-Building Interest before the event.
6 weeks before E3 Nintendo announced the smash brothers invitational and the smash brothers smash-fest at best buy. Using a funny short featuring the Nintendo of America president and super star Regie Fils-Aime.

Another 2 weeks before the invitational they produced another video featuring 16 smashers and 3 commentators. (And announcing the new GC controller adapter for the WiiU )

Nintendo did a great job of keeping interest and raising awareness for this event targeted ONLY at spectators. And they did a great job of using people to make it a human experience that spectators could connect with before the event had even begun.

Evo did (at least in my opinion) a very poor job of getting their event out there beyond that core gamer audience. It was mostly word of mouth and very little effort put in to advertise it to any one who wasn't a core part of the communities it was representing. How awesome would a 5 gods commercial of been for EVO? Even with a very small budget (practically nothing, I know all of the smashers would have done it for free) Someone at evo or withing the smash community could have made a commercial for each “god”.

Something like mango holding his trophy looking intently at the camera... a narrator asks viewers “Will he keep his title 2 years in a row? Find out at EVO 2014 insert date and time here!”

Or... “HungryBox is from Florida... nuf' said! Melee at EVO 2014!”

You could call the viewers to action with:
“Last year we broke records...” show cool clips from last year “WERE YOU THERE!” Don't miss melee at EVO 2014! insert date! Insert time!”

You promote these commercials through smashboards and social media, and it catches on and spreads. It get people hyped for the event!


-Commentators for the event.
Commentators are SO important for these kinds of events for so many reasons. They become a human that our casual viewer can relate to. They are the entertainment in-between and during the slow points of the matches. And I think more importantly the commentators are the bridge between viewers and the complex actions and choices of players.

It is so important that players who don't have a mastery level grasp of the game have a likable personality to bridge that gap in understanding for them. And there are a number of different ways to do that. Riot Games does a GREAT job having a multitude of different personalities. You have people like Phreak who are always throwing out some silly pun to get a laugh. Or guys like Kobe who are a little more calm and collected pointing out the different aspects of the game no one knows. That personality that people can connect with is very important.
During down time in a game commentators elaborate and break down the major actions that had just occurred, or give tips to help newer and very experienced players replicate good plays, or avoid the mistakes they see. Between matches the commentators can try and be a gateway into a player's head after a debilitating loss or an unbelievable comeback. It can turn”... man he is getting stomped, why am I watching this...” into “Wow... I hope he can do it! LOL M2K”
More important than all of this they help to make these complex masterful plays simple and easy to understand for people who are not masters. Remember like I said last week, simple means more people.
“Wow! What a great guess there! If he didn't wave dash right then he would have been dead.!That was huge for him, he really needs everything he can get out of this stock.” Even simple statements like those can make the match much more engaging for people who haven't mastered the game, and get them more invested in the match.
Once you get the people watching the event the Commentators have the most important job of anyone. Riot games invested a lot of time, energy and money into their commentators, because they understand these ideas. We need more commentators like Prog and D1 who study the players, the game, and way to communicate these ideas to people who do not play the game at high levels.

I think once you have sponsors funding your events instead of players there should be SET commentators who are paid for their services. It should be made clear to sponsors that these personalities really add to the viewers experience and keep them around to view a sponsors product just as much if not more than the players themselves.

-Getting the spectator involved & More than Just the event.
I know I could play or watch a smash stream for hours non-stop... I mean I have. I'm sure a lot of you guys have. But there is something wrong with us! We are not normal people, sakurai calls us manias for a reason!

Normal people need breaks in the action and often times during our streams we don't give them meaningful or engaging ways to take a break from the action. One thing you notice at Nintendo and Riot's events is that there are breaks in the game play. Riot Games does this expertly by talking with players after important matches and further breaking down things the choices they made. Asking about future matches. They do twitter polls and ask questions to further get the spectator involved and go over these during down time.

The Smash Invitational did the fan vote, The crowd was involved they could physically decide who would move on as a “Fan Favorite”.

Both Riot and Nintendo would cut to the crowd and get their reactions. (Picture in picture is a great way to do this so nothing get missed) This makes the spectator feel like they are right there at the event if done well. And adds to the emotion of whatever the crowd are reacting to.

How do we do this with smash streams? Well... this isn't an exhaustive list, there are unlimited ways to do this better than we are doing now and definitely better than I'm suggesting.

Create a twitter account for your tournament series.

-Use it to poll viewers, show results on stream.
-Use it to have players ask questions.
-After high priority matches run an interview (prerecorded or live) with the players instead of doing a low priority match.
-Between pools and brackets do small events like a mii fighter free-for-all tournament, Break the targets, HRC, combo exhibition, whatever.
-Before finals interview each player or if you have a long break between top 8 and the rest of the tournament film interviews and edit up a short clips for the start of each set. (these are also a great ways to humanize the players which is great for the scene)
-Live contests for viewers! (great way to make sponsors more relevant too)

-Remember if the goal is to gain more viewers you we need to broaden the appeal. Getting the viewers involved and engaged with more than just the sets is a great way to widen the appeal and keep it exciting and interesting even for viewers that aren't shffling all of their aerials, or B-reversing their specials.

So I'll conclude with this:
Let's get some more viewers!





Heh... but seriously, Like nintendo lets go out of our way to hype up and advertise our events before they begin, not just for the professional player, but for the casual viewer as well.
Like riot games, lets invest more effort into our commentators and their experience with the viewer.
And life both of these big names lets keep the viewers engaged once they show up by giving them MORE. Giving them something to do besides watch the match.

The way we've been doing it works for us, sure. But if we want to move beyond just us we need to make it work for the casual viewer as well.

So guys... share your thoughts? What are your ideas on how to better this hobby we have and make it a true spectators sport? Let us know bellow.

 

[Raijinken]

Part of getting a bigger viewerbase and being able to target new viewers is that it depends on a feedback loop. You cater to newcomers when you have newcomers, and you have newcomers when you cater to newcomers. One thing that Valve did with TI4 this year was to have both a regular stream and a Newcomer stream (I don't follow Riot, so bear with me while I use Dota as an example instead), and stream the Newcomer stream not only in-game and on Twitch, but also experimentally on ESPN3. This brought their views up tremendously, despite the tournament otherwise being aimed at Dota players, because that existing playerbase could tell their friends "Hey, they've got this thing going on where you can get some things explained and not have to worry about all the Furions and Rampages and CSes and Sheepsticks". It boosted the word of mouth (and youtube videos made by Dota-centric groups like DotaCinema) by expanding the target audience.

What Nintendo did with E3 was similar. They took a game, took some of the most popular and skilled players from past entries in the series, and made an event out of it. Putting that sort of show together for a 50-100-viewer stream, though? Not only infeasible, but fairly likely to turn off the majority of that stream that came for the game and doesn't want the extra stuff. It's also hard for what amounts to a fan-run spectator aspect to reach similar production values like what Nintendo, Valve, and Riot are capable of. Of course, big tournaments like EVO, Apex, and Zenith can more than afford to put a little effort into making things accessible (and personally, I think it's an expected effort from any group trying to promote a game as a competition or esport). It's up to them to weigh the pros and cons of having things like a hybrid stream or multiple streams.

Commentators definitely help a lot. The difference between an experienced AND exciting commentator versus a commentator who only has one of those traits is massive. Everyone has to start somewhere, of course, but the hype-est Melee commentator who doesn't know any of the new PM meta (insert any other pair of different games in thsoe two spots) will fall short, just like a boring expert.

 

[Shiliski]

The only thing that stopped me from watching the competitive scene as a spectator was the fact that I went so long without even being aware that a competitive scene existed. In fact, I didn't even learn this until I started to look up videos on "how to wavedash".

I agree that advertisement is necessary. Getting the word out would go a long ways towards getting more spectators.

I also notice that, at football games, there tends to be camera shots that pan across the crowd. This creates a sort of "I wish I was there" feeling in those who are watching the stream, and as you said it makes the spectators who are there feel as if they are a part of it.

The problem is that advertisement isn't usually seen as cheap. You'd need to target places that potential Smash spectators would go (such as conventions and so on) and then use those as avenues to advertise for EVO, possibly by having a booth and/or passing out fliers. That to me seems like a cheap but effective way to advertise, especially if you're already going to these conventions for fun anyways.

Having a "Champions of Smash" sort of campaign is also really important, as it gives people someone to identify with and root for. Also, such advertisements should point to common Smash streams and youtube channels. VGBootCamp comes to mind.

For the in-between match entertainment, it might be nice to have some kind of short blurbs that explain ATs, what they're used for, and how they function. This might get repetitive after a while, so I'm not 100% behind this, but some splash screen that explains Wavedashing or some 5 second video that happens before or after commercial breaks might be a good idea. Something like that would be easy to ignore for those who already know these ATs, but would be informative to new spectators.

For example, on Melee or Project M streams:
"Wavedashing is performed by air-dodging into the ground"
(insert pictures of different characters wave-dashing, perhaps one doing a shorthop, one landing with the smoke clouds, and one performing an attack out of wavedash)
"If you shorthop and then immediately air-dodge downwards, you can perform a Wavedash without actually leaving the ground! This is a great approach option and an alternative to regular dashing. Watch for the clouds of smoke to tell when a player is using the Wavedash!"
"Find out more at <insert link here>"

Precision and detail in these things might occasionally have to be sacrificed for brevity. For example, "dodging into the ground" could describe Wavelanding as well as Wavedashing. That's why there's a link included at the end, so that the spectator can be pointed towards some kind of Smash-related resource that explains all these ATs in detail. Without the link, the player at least is a bit more informed in regards to what's happening in the match.

If we reach a point where these screens become common sense for spectators, then we can cut them out. Until then I think it'd be important to explain this kind of thing. You could have one for Dash Dancing, DACUS, SHFFL, so on and so forth... pretty much any AT could become one of these splash screens.

It might also be fun and informative to have character-specific ATs (Such as Zelda's Love Jump) on splash screens like this, and then use these screens before or after matches where those characters are relevant. Alternatively, if that's too hard to predict, they can just be shown at random for the same general effect.


Personally, I think that building up a huge spectator crowd is going to be a long campaign, and it wont happen overnight. The bigger it gets, the more hype it will get, and the more popular it will get... but then that puts a greater strain and more scrutiny on those being spectated. Commentators will become that much more important, and there's a chance for some of these spectators to become competitive players thereby increasing the size and popularity of such events. You can curb that last problem a bit by having the highest levels be invitation only or by using regionals to eliminate the weaker competition (which you already kindof do, I think?), but that translates to either the regionals getting bigger or to having more regionals.

Those running it will have to keep up with the crowd, and the scene might turn into something completely different once it becomes popularized.

 

[Raijinken]

The only thing that stopped me from watching the competitive scene as a spectator was the fact that I went so long without even being aware that a competitive scene existed. In fact, I didn't even learn this until I started to look up videos on "how to wavedash".

I agree that advertisement is necessary. Getting the word out would go a long ways towards getting more spectators.

I also notice that, at football games, there tends to be camera shots that pan across the crowd. This creates a sort of "I wish I was there" feeling in those who are watching the stream, and as you said it makes the spectators who are there feel as if they are a part of it.

The problem is that advertisement isn't usually seen as cheap. You'd need to target places that potential Smash spectators would go (such as conventions and so on) and then use those as avenues to advertise for EVO, possibly by having a booth and/or passing out fliers. That to me seems like a cheap but effective way to advertise, especially if you're already going to these conventions for fun anyways.

Having a "Champions of Smash" sort of campaign is also really important, as it gives people someone to identify with and root for. Also, such advertisements should point to common Smash streams and youtube channels. VGBootCamp comes to mind.

For the in-between match entertainment, it might be nice to have some kind of short blurbs that explain ATs, what they're used for, and how they function. This might get repetitive after a while, so I'm not 100% behind this, but some splash screen that explains Wavedashing or some 5 second video that happens before or after commercial breaks might be a good idea. Something like that would be easy to ignore for those who already know these ATs, but would be informative to new spectators.

For example, on Melee or Project M streams:
"Wavedashing is performed by air-dodging into the ground"
(insert pictures of different characters wave-dashing, perhaps one doing a shorthop, one landing with the smoke clouds, and one performing an attack out of wavedash)
"If you shorthop and then immediately air-dodge downwards, you can perform a Wavedash without actually leaving the ground! This is a great approach option and an alternative to regular dashing. Watch for the clouds of smoke to tell when a player is using the Wavedash!"
"Find out more at <insert link here>"

Precision and detail in these things might occasionally have to be sacrificed for brevity. For example, "dodging into the ground" could describe Wavelanding as well as Wavedashing. That's why there's a link included at the end, so that the spectator can be pointed towards some kind of Smash-related resource that explains all these ATs in detail. Without the link, the player at least is a bit more informed in regards to what's happening in the match.

If we reach a point where these screens become common sense for spectators, then we can cut them out. Until then I think it'd be important to explain this kind of thing. You could have one for Dash Dancing, DACUS, SHFFL, so on and so forth... pretty much any AT could become one of these splash screens.

It might also be fun and informative to have character-specific ATs (Such as Zelda's Love Jump) on splash screens like this, and then use these screens before or after matches where those characters are relevant. Alternatively, if that's too hard to predict, they can just be shown at random for the same general effect.


Personally, I think that building up a huge spectator crowd is going to be a long campaign, and it wont happen overnight. The bigger it gets, the more hype it will get, and the more popular it will get... but then that puts a greater strain and more scrutiny on those being spectated. Commentators will become that much more important, and there's a chance for some of these spectators to become competitive players thereby increasing the size and popularity of such events. You can curb that last problem a bit by having the highest levels be invitation only or by using regionals to eliminate the weaker competition (which you already kindof do, I think?), but that translates to either the regionals getting bigger or to having more regionals.

Those running it will have to keep up with the crowd, and the scene might turn into something completely different once it becomes popularized.

I really like the "This is how ____ works" idea. Another way to do it (less informative, but potentially quicker) would be to make it sorta like the clips in-game and on the Dojo

Not necessarily for something as basic as launch percentage, but that sort of thing. Show the start of a move, pictures of the inputs, and the end result. Maybe put a quick blurb for "Useful for: Spacing damage escape pressure" type thing at the bottom. And while some of the sponsor ads on Twitch and whatnot are nice from some standpoints (they get around Adblock, whether that's a good thing or not), replacing some of the slideshow ads with informational tidbits (or focusing on those between matches, while focusing on ads in larger breaks) could be a good way to help newcomers fill the down time. Having similar things containing Smash Lingo could be nice, too (for things that have fan nicknames like Shining and Teching compared to their official names).

 

[ParanoidDrone]

I really like the "This is how ____ works" idea. Another way to do it (less informative, but potentially quicker) would be to make it sorta like the clips in-game and on the Dojo

Not necessarily for something as basic as launch percentage, but that sort of thing. Show the start of a move, pictures of the inputs, and the end result. Maybe put a quick blurb for "Useful for: Spacing damage escape pressure" type thing at the bottom. And while some of the sponsor ads on Twitch and whatnot are nice from some standpoints (they get around Adblock, whether that's a good thing or not), replacing some of the slideshow ads with informational tidbits (or focusing on those between matches, while focusing on ads in larger breaks) could be a good way to help newcomers fill the down time. Having similar things containing Smash Lingo could be nice, too (for things that have fan nicknames like Shining and Teching compared to their official names).

There's a guy on the Smash Bros. subreddit that's been making gifs of various character-specific ATs and quirks for a while now, working from the bottom of the tier list up. He just started the Ice Climbers this week. Those gifs might be a good starting point if this sort of thing ever came to fruition. (With his permission, of course.)

 

[RascalTheCharizard]

After reading through all of that, I appreciate the Invitational even more now (I mean I already enjoyed it but you know).

I remember watching the Extra Credits video on how to help make "professional gaming" big. One of their main points was the humanisation of players (like you talked about here). I think this is why the Smash Bros Documentary sparked such a renewed interest in Melee. Viewers learnt about the rivalries, the players' personal struggles and achievements and so on.

This is also what I think VGBootCamp does so well. they've got the interviews, they have a weekly tournament with committed players and commentators who frequent them so it gives viewers a sense of familiarity, some of the "regular" players use ask.fm as well so people can communicate with them and ask them questions (Coney, Junebug, I think Pink Fresh has one too, etc.) and if JewChainz's recent status as fan-favourite is any indication, viewers enjoy knowing a bit about what players do outside of the game. It's really easy to objectify people who you don't know and VGBC in my opinion does a great job at showing us the "man behind the controller" so to speak.
As for what you said about commentators, this is why I love TK, EE and D1 so much. All three of these guys know their stuff and can very easily explain in less than 3 sentences every action a character makes and every thought a player has. But at the same time (especially for TK and EE) they're more than capable of making jokes about the match which helps keep them entertaining for those who aren't too deep into the competitive scene, as well as just soften an otherwise potentially serious aura. Oh yeah, I know I brought this up in your other thread, but there's a reason why I refer to this match so much. EE and Keitaro know how to make a rather stagnant match enjoyable.

/Xanadu gushing

 

[DairunCates]

Yeah. I don't have much to add on this one. I'm pretty much in exact agreement with most of the points made already. I will say good post, though.

I will add this, though. I brought this topic up with another friend that likes competitive smash, and he actually thinks Free-For-Alls are a good way of handling pools for smash tournaments (as done in BOTH Nintendo sponsored tourneys). Not only are they generally more exciting, but they allow you to eliminate people 4 times as fast. This allows for more time on the more important and usually more exciting matches (I found Smash pools for Evo this year pretty interesting, and I think MOST people here would too, but it was very obvious that it was boring as hell to most people).

Of course, I pointed out the immediately obvious point that FFA's are a bit more random, people can team up on higher level players, a bit less technical, and banned for a reason. Still, considering this is on a portable console, and we have the means to do a Swiss Bracket now (which allows higher level players to more consistently reach the top of tourneys), it's hard to argue there's not a POSSIBILITY at at least the 3DS tourneys (It's quite a bit harder at a Wii U tournament as you won't have 10 Wii U's set up).

Also, there's one thing that I think would be pretty amusing to setup during inbetween matches at Smash 4 tourneys. If the functionality is as detailed as we've been lead to believe and you really can "teach" them to adjust to certain tactics, I think Amiibo Side Tourneys would be an amusing way to add some extra things to fill the viewing time with. It'd be like fighting game Co- err... Chicken Fighting.

 

[<π]

I actually don't watch much of VGBootcamp's streams but I'm happy to hear someone is doing some of the things I was talking about. I hope we start doing this at and during regional and national level events as well though.

Getting veiwers personally involved with the people they are watching through interviews and shorts is a great way to get people interested in the community. I never made the connection before but @ R RascalTheCharizard is right when he said a lot of the growth in the melee community is likely because of the Smash Brothers documentary which got down a dirty with individuals in the community. SO now I can walk up to any melee guy and ask them "Hey... who is your favorite melee top player" and they could probablly give me a huge list of personal reasons why.

Back in my day if I was asked that I probably would have just said "I don't know" or if pressed enough, "DA Wes" but I think even that would have been because He was the only smasher I felt like I could relate to with the limited amount of information I had, similar-ish mindgamey samus play, and we are both black.
Now? I could name off a bunch of smashers I like and don't like just because of the huge amounts of information I have about all of these guys.
For example I'm an Hungrybox fan if you guys couldn't tell. Part of it is because I remember when he was asking ME about top players from up north and now he is literally one of THE top players. Its awesome to see that growth first hand. And another is because he is from FL, and though I'm FROM CT I still consider myself a FL smasher, thats why I turned down a spot on the melee CT PR. But the other part is I got to see how much he invested into keeping the community going. How hard he works not just at smash, but at life. His positive outlook in every situation in spite of for a long time being literally hacked during his sets. Those are things you can't get from just watching him back air over and over again. And its personality that get people rooting for their favorite guy, hoping he comes out on top. Tracking stats. Invested.
And then there is Mango, After watching the invitational I didn't like him AT ALL! I had to keep reminding myself that I didn't know him! But its awesome that you can pick people out like that for thier personality. or because they are your favorite's rival. It adds life to the game. It makes the grand finals even more worth watching!


Gonna side track a little. I didn't mention this in the post or in the video. But one of the pros of doing during stream contests and polls is. It makes watching live worth it for viewers. American Idol and So You Think You Think YOu CAn Dance take this concept to the bank for Fox every week, in a time where everything can be recorded, commercials can be skipped, and the shows can be watched when convenient. These generate some of the highest live view ratings in the television industry.
And when you are trying to show your sponsors your view count getting people's eyes glued to the screen is huge.