Call to action - Let's Be Awesome Together

Obviously Noun's post was inspired by #AmiGate . I hope something good comes out of this. I like Wuff's idea about maps.

This would have been the same regardless. We've been looking at how we're dealing with content creators as we focus more on making cool stuff ourselves. We put a lot of focus into SNF, though obviously the team here on COH2.ORG and on SNF did the bulk of the work.

But as Season 5 came to an end, we've been thinking about how we move forward and redistribute some of the attention and focus.

I should be clear, that overall Relic are happy with SNF Season 5. We were glad to take part, glad to be a sponsor and glad to do what we could to promote it.

This unending negativity is really dragging everyone down. As I said in Sib's stream the other day, this community is like a bunch of heroin addicts complaining about their needle. If you don't like the game, stop playing it and GTFO, please. Noun's "wall of text" is chock full of good ideas about how casters could make more entertaining videos and support the game.

For myself, I have to say I was casting a bit when it came out but stopped because of lack of viewership. I never got many comments, good or bad. I tried to do a more tactically focused cast with specific explanations of what was clever or how someone won engagements and so on, with a dose of humor. They're here if you want them: http://www.youtube.com/sluzcast.

I think Noun really wants to see more highlights and so on, and this is not really in the COH casting tradition at all, but serves as something to draw people into a game. But let me tell you that takes real editing skill and time. Editing video is not easy, you need a powerful computer, etc., whereas talking over a replay is not very hard at all. I might go back to some regular casts if there was interest and particularly if I could find someone who I really "banter" and have good casting chemistry with, but editing is certainly not my forte, though it's a really good idea.

Coming from the words of BeltFedWombat: "I wouldn't say CoH2 has a community. It's like the lower decks of a rancid pirate ship, a hive of debauched scum and villainy."

I think Noun really wants to see more highlights and so on, and this is not really in the COH casting tradition at all, but serves as something to draw people into a game. But let me tell you that takes real editing skill and time. Editing video is not easy, you need a powerful computer, etc., whereas talking over a replay is not very hard at all.

Spot on.

But that's why it's important to understand your own goals. If just having some people watch you play and talk is your goal, then that's fine.

But if you're looking to take this to the next level, then video editing is absolutely something to consider. Maybe you don't need to do it, but it's worth taking the time to think about.

It's a question of goals and priorities.

Hanging out with your buddies and playing CoH on a stream is different than wanting to make a serious go at gaining the sort of audience that could potentially offer financial support.

Give one of the better casters (say Hans) a lucrative contract and youll probably see a lot more proffessional casts in coh2. Carrots sometimes do that to people.

I have wondered if one of the daily casters has some sort of contract with the company.

Give one of the better casters (say Hans) a lucrative contract and youll probably see a lot more proffessional casts in coh2. Carrots sometimes do that to people.

Doing something like that would be pathetic, for Relic and Hans.

Noun, I think it's also important to differentiate the livestreamers from the casters. Streaming is mostly a social activity, as most people can't provide detaied descriptions of what they're doing and why while playing. Casters can provide that, if they have enough expertise, or other entertainment value (ie., Rogers & Pounder).

Relic could support casters/content creators they like in many ways, I think giving them money is amongst the worst.

For Mapmakers of course the possible addition to map rotation.
For replay-casters or such a highlighting on the main page.
For streamers commander-give-aways and additional promotion on twitch
For awesome people like myself all I want.
Et cetera et cetera

Making one contract with one person would be bad. First of all, all other creators will most likely be disappointed, second it will most likely decrease overall motivation (due to lower comperition) and lastly it would put quite some pressure on the caster. Now he does not represent his own opinions, but any faults by him can easily fall back on Relic itself.

In the end I guess we can all agree on one thing - Bananas are yellow and should stay yellow.

This unending negativity is really dragging everyone down. As I said in Sib's stream the other day, this community is like a bunch of heroin addicts complaining about their needle. If you don't like the game, stop playing it and GTFO, please.

People dissatisfied with the game stopped playing long ago, don't worry about that.
They/We don't leave the forum because the game still has a lot of potential to be a great game if the right decisions were made. That is the reason we, dissatisfied players, still lurk the forums waiting for the next patch notes to see if there's time to reinstall the game again or not.

Still there's hope, but each day is less and less probable that the big issues were addressed properly.

I sense a trap.

The force is strong with this one.

People dissatisfied with the game stopped playing long ago, don't worry about that.
They/We don't leave the forum because the game still has a lot of potential to be a great game if the right decisions were made. That is the reason we, dissatisfied players, still lurk the forums waiting for the next patch notes to see if there's time to reinstall the game again.

Still there's hope, but each day is less and less probable that the big issues were addressed properly.

I dont mind ppl not liking the game as it is sticking around. Its that every time there is a slight possibility to bash the game is taken that makes me tired. I am very confident they heard you the first 10 times. And its good to remind relic what you want in the game, but after a while it gets... noun said it very well, toxic. Not fun to read.

I am not entirely sure which audience this thread/post concerns but it seems to be aimed more so at casters and such than streamers. I never stream to make money out of this game and will never do so for the obvious reason that it'll make my stream a million times worse if lucrative gain was my primary motivation.

I have a lot of plans of expanding and being more than just a "Coh2.org" streamer who plays Company of Heroes 2 and is decent at it. I have a YouTube channel ready and I have ideas like commander reviews, replay day analysis for the community streams etc etc. but the time investment is too much at this point. I am not sure if you're worried that those of us that simply stream don't have bigger plans but believe me when I say that I am pretty sure everyone has ideas to improve. I've been trying to give this game as much advertising with my inhumane streaming hours at times and continue to do so because I thoroughly enjoy it so if you're genuinely interested in working together to move forward then lets do it because I, and I am sure a lot of others have been ready for a while.

I dont mind ppl not liking the game as it is sticking around. Its that every time there is a slight possibility to bash the game is taken that makes me tired. I am very confident they heard you the first 10 times. And its good to remind relic what you want in the game, but after a while it gets... noun said it very well, toxic. Not fun to read.

Well, the point of protesting is that, Le Wish. To make some noise and let others hear your discomfort as many times as possible.

And yes, my behaviour is toxic for the community, I don't deny that. But not as toxic for the game like releasing unbalanced P2W commanders and let it roam free during three whole months, ruining the game experience for everyone who doesn't like the turn the game has taken with these new commanders.
I'm pretty sure that Relic itself did more things to threw players away from the game than my petty bashful comments.

Btw, I only express my "toxic" opinion in threads talking about the state of the game or the community. I don't go to strategy or modders forums to troll.
If I'm talking in this one is because there was a misunderstanding about Noun's purposes in his first post.

I am not sure if you're worried that those of us that simply stream don't have bigger plans but believe me when I say that I am pretty sure everyone has ideas to improve.

That's not my concern at all. Some people who do shows have expressed the frustration that they're hitting an upper limit on audience size, and this was to help with that. They were all casters as far as I remember.

Hey look if someone suddenly turned into Day[9] here and was showing off CoH to a million+ people I wouldn't complain. But if you're happy with what you're doing, that's super cool with us.

Again set your own goals, whether you're a caster or a streamer.

That's not my concern at all. Some people who do shows have expressed the frustration that they're hitting an upper limit on audience size, and this was to help with that.

Hey look if someone suddenly turned into Day[9] here and was streaming CoH to a million+ people I wouldn't complain. But if you're happy with what you're doing, that's super cool with us.

Again set your own goals, whether you're a caster or a streamer.

That clarifies it a little bit. I have goals and it does suck that I've effectively reached my viewer cap at the moment but I am trying to break that and hopefully we can both help each other.

I think the problem here is that Noun is jumping to Point B on publicizing the game and making people interested in the game etc.

But he's skipping right over Point A which is right now the GAME is the problem.

FIX the game and then worry all you like about the streaming and the viewers and the casters etc.

Right now you have what, 3 casters that people watch of COH2 (Sib, Hans, VonIvan?) - and oddly enough most of the casters doing COH1 are getting as high (or often higher) levels of viewership.

You've had a LOT of community input on the games issues - why people don't partake in tournaments - why the community is toxic towards the game etc - fix those and the rest will fix itself.

I can certainly say that fixing COH1 and the DLC issues associated with COH2 will get you a lot of brownie points with a currently unhappy and shrinking fan base.

+1 you hit the nail on the head.

Just burst out laughing.

Too much efusiveness.

New DLC must be on the doorstep.

Nice write up Noun. I have been in this community since 2007, played all of Company of Heroes alphas and betas, I love the game and the community and have taken breaks, had my arguments with people and events but Ive always been here lurking or active and will continue to do so.

Pounder and I have some exciting ideas planned for a Sunday stream show in SNF's off season. Such as live replay analysis from all players, new and old. Trying to encourage help for new players, just like Zero and Ipkai were doing today on Zeros stream http://www.twitch.tv/z3r07 As well as streaming 2v2 ats, showing off tactics, hosting RnP challenges of the week which we have wanted to do for almost a year now but didn't have the adequate way of dispensing such challenge then showcasing said strat similar to Day9s challenges. And posting those strats that fail horribly and people want us to laugh at

Pounder and I have never claimed to be professionals. We are entertainers we do what we do and spend hours editing, taking time out of our days and lives to bring you guys shoutcasts for Company of Heroes because we care about the game and all you guys.
With that said RnP is back in full swing, Sunday release is going to be our designated day once more. So stay tuned guys, shits going to get exciting.

Interesting post.

Something I have noticed in the transition from vCoH to CoH 2 and from GR to CoH2.org is that the difference in the amount of content coming from the two sites.

In vCoH GR used to have a guide or tip out every couple of days, coh2.org has been very rarely releasing any content, although recently this seems to have picked up.

SNF 5 and streams are cool but as Noun points out not everyone has the time (or timezone) to follow those. Guides, strategies and tips can be consumed quickly and at will.

Perhaps more support for that kind of content could help?

I made a guide over at GR sometime ago, out of date now, ( http://www.gamereplays.org/companyofheroes2/portals.php?show=page&name=near-ultimate-osteer-guide-coh-2&st= ), that took me a ton of time, and never progressed past "part 1" because I was so underwhelmed by the response. Maybe I just suck at writing guides, but it would have been cool if it was able to be distributed more or supported a bit better. Then I would have definitely been encouraged to finish the series.

Edit: PS. I am also turned off creating community content by the huge negativity in the community. It seems any discussion in the forums quickly turns to Relic bashing and endlessly typing "MVGame" and "Kappa", which is just a beacon of which posts to ignore -.-.

I love this game. I don't mind expressing it. I wish others would too. That's why they are here reading this afterall.