Again, i had exactly that misconception - "Drink and party because that's what everyone should do." These days, I drink and party occasionally because it's what a lot of the people I know and/or want to know do. It's not the parties or the drinks in themselves that are the main attraction. It's the people. Parties are absolutely the best way to get to know a lot of people in a short amount of time and find friends with similar interests.

I had a similar experience and I somewhat regret it. Don't look down on the partying/drinking scene until you've tried it in moderation a few times, and try to always be the one to suggest something to do. Find clubs and groups that you can go watch movies and play board games with, or shit on in games like SSB. Do the stuff that you think you might find interesting if you tried it. Now's the time for that.

And your analysis is generally good. I think "create" is too strong a word. Showcase is too weak. I'll be meeting with some dudes later tonight to basically discuss how we can implement "brand management strategy" for players to help them think about how to develop their public personas.

So the point is to market this to people who aren't in the know.

I was sent a podcast as food for thought. With regards to growing TF2 as an esport, there could be some good takeaways.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/bottomline
Look for the October 25 "Business of Sport" episode.

Some statements that got me thinking:
"Innovating to make the game more television friendly"
"Make it more theatrical"
"Find the right characters [players]" - "Sport is a soap opera"
"Create the characters that go into households and people can either like or dislike..."
"Think what would I want to be entertained by?"

-Started with a decent following but no major platform to distribute in the case of Formula 1... we have twitch and frontpage access so we have a different issue than this.

-The more "characters" you have, the more it becomes a soap opera and gains a following

-Broadcasters, strategists, organizers and idea people must work directly with the teams to push for wider viewership. Even in spite of Valve, ESEA, etc (preferably with them when possible!)

-Regular time slot for broadcasted games - must start on the dot, procedure always the same. This means when your team knows you'll be shoutcasted on the ESEA stream, for instance, you make absolutely sure that everyone is ready to go ON THE DOT. Forcing viewers to wait is detrimental!

-The story is always MAKE IT MORE AUDIENCE-FRIENDLY! Don't get "caught up in the rituals of the sport" - you MUST think how to make the viewers want to watch! Give these viewers value for money and time!

-The players are the people who should be the "Cherished" ones and get the most money

Here are concrete steps I see that need to be taken:
1) Sit down with players and determine the (or simply identify a pre-existing) "soap opera" then push it in a harder and more coordinated way.
2) Independently develop a much more viewer-friendly spectator mod.
3) Teamfortress.tv broadcast team must work with the spotlight teams to ensure they play on time and have a good formula every week.

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What do you guys think of the podcast, and of TF2's direction as an esport?

How feasible would it be to get a replacement or serious addition to STV to make it more viewer-friendly?

Am I even on the right track with any of these suggestions?

Which people stick around? How many do you have?

3 segments would be better so people can pick and choose. I strongly disagree that the show needs to be any longer. We are competing for everyone's time, and the more of it we ask to take, the more likely we lose out to TV or actually playing video games. I could be convinced to change my mind - but by data, not opinion. You'd have to take a sampling of current viewers and current non-viewers and show me whether the likelihood to watch the show would increase or decrease as a function of how long it is.

I mean, I could make a whole survey about it and regress the results. But believe me, doing it right takes a LOT of work.

Still - most of the feedback here is great qualitative analysis and I will be adjusting a lot of the show accordingly.

If you want to shoutcast a live TF2 match you just need STV. ESEA season 13 is starting up soon, so visit their website and find matches that work for your timezone.

As far as UGC Plat rumors are concerned, Hein says the team may be breaking apart - but he wasn't cut.

What makes you say that, specifically?

Seanbud thanks for the comments. I mentioned beforehand to djc that I'm OK with getting into the personalities a bit. I think it can help us build up the scene to have more fans interested in the drama among players. You're right, we don't want to blatantly offend anyone.

Hey guys! Let us know how it went!

Specifically, was today's episode better or worse than average? Better or worse than last time?

Is the change in format a good thing or bad? Is DJC a good 3rd panelist to have, or is it necessary to have 3 in the first place?

Should I have a beer before every podcast, or lay off the sauce?

Clock, in most cases I agree with you. This kid sounds like someone who was completely insufferable and was warned an astonishing number of times about it because it was clearly hurting Riot's brand.

Oh man, should I tell my parents? How?

"Mom, dad, we need to talk... I don't think I am attracted to cbear."

edit: A ninja battle, is it?