I have been watching competitive TF2 for a few years now and I have to say that the tftv's presentation of this seasons competitive tf2 matches has been excellent. I think the casters that have been bringing us content this season have reached a new level for TF2; namely Marxist, Shwan, Seanbud, Lange, Ruwin, cyzer, and a recent match i watched featuring Beasly. I am starting to see more talent and composure from these casters that has made the matches more fun to watch.
I have heard some sentiment that this season of ESEA has not been a good one, yet the content is more fun to watch than ever before.(IMHO) I think that is mostly due to the great casting and also to the new talent that has reached invite this season. So this thread is meant to be mostly a thank you to the casters and cameramen that have delivered the content via tftv, and I will say a few specific things that I think have made the casting exceptional.
1. Casters who have played with the competitors.
When the casters have some background knowledge with the players on a friend or teammate level they are able to provide an insight into the character of a team and strategies that a team might employ that are much more engaging to listen to than a simple play-by-play explanation of what is happening that second. When casters are able to offer us something that we can't see plainly in the match ourselves the level of engagement for the viewer is infinitely higher.
2. Casters who allow each other to speak and don't sound like they just met.
A match is more fun to watch when the two casters get along with each other and are able to evenly divide the talk time and maintain consistent banter without interfering with the game. This sounds like a tall order but tftv has demonstrated with a lot of their casters that this is where the bar is set. It is uncomfortable and distracting to watch a match when the one of the casters is frantically trying to announce every single frag in the fast paced invite matches while the other caster is left as the wise but silent observer with the rest of the audience. I am all for bringing in new casters and I totally understand a match or two to break the ice, but when long time casters sound frantic to announce rather than just excited about what's happening it get's a bit annoying. When the casters have good banter I will watch a match to the end even if I can tell the result after the first 3 rounds.
3. Great camerawork.
truktruk, mthsad and at least one more I think have really gotten good at sticking with the action, or in some cases the ridiculous and desperate attempts that are the most enjoyable to watch. It is so awesome when the cameraman has stuck with the play that the casters are really hyped about and I think all the cameramen have done an incredible job of achieving that. Whenever stream chat lights up with chatter it's because the cameraman has done a good job at capturing something for the audience.
4. Quickly uploaded VOD's.
I usually can't watch these matches as they're happening because of my work schedule, but thanks to tftv I can almost always catch them the next day. Being able to watch ESEA matches before the next weeks matches happen allows the spectators to keep on top of what's going on in invite without having to go click through the shitty ESEA website. For me this makes the difference between a season that I'm really excited about and a season where I just check in on the action every 3 weeks or so.
Thanks a lot to TFTV and all the people I mentioned.