Outpost on Fire 4 is fast approaching and the event is almost sold out. Today we also bring you the broadcasting partner for the event.
With the support of Thermaltake eSPORTS we were able to secure a two day streaming partner on-site for the upcoming Outpost on Fire event. The guys over at Kaos TV (powered by medionshop.nl) will be coming down both on Saturday and Sunday to stream you the live action from the event. As a caster we will have the legendary Matthijs "A_Spec" Hoving present, most known for his performances over at QuadV and more recently the IEM World Finals at CEBIT.
They will be bringing you interviews and match coverage, live from the venue of Outpost on Fire 4 in Antwerp. Needless to say that the casts will also be made available afterwards as VOD's. If you become part of the Kaos TV crowd on Ustream you will also be notified via email when the streaming starts. http://www.kaostv.nl/live
We also wanted to update you on the attendance list. There are just two slots left and both are currently being processed and should be filled in a matter of days. This means that Outpost on Fire 4 will be officially sold out in a couple of days!
Updated team list (14/16)
Antwerp Aces Team Winfakt CEFO Dfiance Playing Ducks In7 Team YoYoTech Buttonbashers TLR.eSports animus Team Anonymous RG eSports Adeks ROX.KIS
hes a really decent caster, hes up there there in the tosspot/deman/redeye standard, he just doesnt have the knowledge of the game that others do. I think if he has a decent co-caster with him who does, then all will be good.
still better than H2k in my opinion ,but ye codtv would've been better as they have more experienced shoutcasters but i think a_spec will do well, i hope nyway :d
eh eventhought codtv casters might be more experienced @ cod. their cast overall is so fcking boring that i usually turn of the stream after 5mins. while the e-series cast by a_spec was imo brilliant. was the first cast i've really enjoyed since ages.
Of course A_Spec will do better ;). As stated in the reply bi iLLuuuu he is extremely experienced and brings a more interesting shoutcast than most competitors.
It's important to know the game but maybe even more important to know how and when to bring the action into the cast.
Anyone can setup a little broadcast suite with Xsplit and connect their headset to a computer nowadays :P. There is a big big difference if you use the right hardware and the right people :).
hes a really decent caster, hes up there there in the tosspot/deman/redeye standard, he just doesnt have the knowledge of the game that others do. I think if he has a decent co-caster with him who does, then all will be good.
It's a work in progress, been mixing hardcore for the last 5 weeks
i think caesium means the quality of the stream tech wise. QuadV had the best casters by far (tosspot-deman-redeye) but the quality of the stream was never that good from what i remember.
as if you wouldcare if you watch something in lq or in 1080p..
i more would like to see a stream which works, has good casters and is also not lagging for people with lower bandwith, like the one esl tv has on own3d.tv.
You know what the big problem is with own3d. Stats. If you cast as a commercial entity i.e. a company that needs to get their costs covered and make a profit...then you need stats.
There isn't a single advertiser that is 'gullable' enough to trust you on the stats. The live viewers are good to see, but it doesn't tell you anything on the viewer hours, the total views and so on and so forth.
From what i've heard own3d is working on it. If they do...we'll switch as their german based so higher uptime guarantee when it comes to streaming.
Justin.tv has a new function that automatically scales a stream into 240p, 480p, 720p and 1080p. But sadly that functionality isn't 100% public. Otherwise it would solve all stream problems with people that have lesser connections.
I was implying that sponsorship from other companies would increase how much they can spend on casting.
Can't be that expensive, they could always just get QuadV to put the logo of whatever company sponsors the events coverage in the bottom corner. ~2000 people watching the stream, great advertising :).
It's not exactly a question of 'put a logo out'...would be sweet if it was. To give you an estimate, 2000 people watching gets you about € 40 advertisement income...if you get it sold (which you won't in most cases). The last E-Series averaged out at 10.000 viewers and 10.000 youtube views.
The costs are as A_Spec states higher than expected. We have two HD camera's, a pool of hardware software which costs around 15.000. A team of 2 techy's and 1 caster need transport, need a hotel, need food and drinks. An entire casting team has a bare minimum in €1000 per day. And then they don't end up making any money ;).
On that note I have stated many times that i'm not afraid of competition because as people have said out there our competitors are not favoured. We stream quality, we utilize A_Spec which is quality and we have a pool of camera's and hardware that once again our competitors don't.
We stream 800kbit (0.8mbit) which in 90% of the cases is easy to buffer for most internet connections. But on a general note we receive about 5 complaints on 10.000 viewers regarding the stream buffering. And I don't think we should downscale for those 5 people :P.
But aside from the good comments about our stream...all I can say is...just watch and give us feedback. You'll most likely not be dissapointed.
What Smuggy is trying to say is that there is a lot more effort involved then you'd expect. Like any business we're trying to bring an as professional product as we possibly can. Costs are ofcourse always an issue, but we do try to give the best possible experience as we possibly can.
I have nothing against KaoSTV and i think i saw the stream you did of FoM or e series (it was a local dutch LAN) very briefly. I've just found as a whole no one has come close to QuadV since they stopped being hired for COD4.
I didn't really factor in everything i suppose, i just presumed with COD4 being a smaller esports title there wouldn't be massive leaps in cost to hire, from my personal experience, a team who is extremely good.
The pause and rewind feature is not a QuadV feature. That's something Bitgravity has implemented. Everybody could potentially use that feature. But that would require a shit ton of money to go to bitgravity.
But I'm hearing some rumours that it might be implemented somewhere else as well :)
Saddens me to still see people holding onto this long lost hope that the knights in shining armour (QuadV) are going to return and save you from all these casters/casting companies who hold no comparison to their epicness. Fact is, they don't care about you. They simply don't, they don't care about the game, otherwise they'd still be casting CoD, and would've been doing so for many months. They aren't. The money is not in it for them. It's that simple. CoD4 compared to the other games and tournaments the guys from QuadV are casting is peanuts. Nothing. They won't return unless they're offered vast amounts of money (when you put it into perspective.)
The companies people have mentioned thusfar have one resounding thing in common - unless I'm completely out of the loop - they do it for free. That's right, they do it for the community. For you. They don't demand huge amounts of money or make ultimatums, they do it for free.
There are two things you can do if you don't like the selection of casters and companies out there at the moment.
1. Pick up a mic, put your money where your mouth is and show everyone how its done. Clearly you're naturals.
2. Make a company, invest large amounts of money into it and show the managers/producers how it's meant to be ran.
QuadV were good, no doubting that, but this illusion they cared or will return someday will NOT happen. Unless something drastically changes within the scene and suddenly there's more money about.
Best of luck KaosTV and Aspec, I'll definitely be tuning in.
ehm, as far as I know QuadV in general is not providing cast's anymore. Only WCG's I guess and that only for the money.
The fact that QuadV won't ever return is true, but its still possible that casters like deman and redeye are once going to cast some cod4 games again. And isn't that what the people actually want? I mean who can be arsed if its under the flag of quadv or not?
I don't speak for the people merely myself. I'd rather an up and coming caster get the opportunity over guys who left CoD4 behind due to financial reasons. Perhaps I'm the only one that feels that way, take it for what you will.
@ Aspec - Paul did a number of CoD4 casts for a while.
QuadV isnt what it used to be, im not sure it really has anything to do with CoD4. The organisation just isnt anywhere near as active as it used to be and when it is, its all about money for them. Other organisations have taken their former place as a 'community shoutcaster'.
Post nails it for me, personally haven't listened to many casts but i think so far from what I've heard, metuz as the commentator and someone like diablo as the analyst works well.
With commentating, there needs to be a balance between a natural flow of commentary and analytical input.
Not sure who the american is as well (is it ozbot?) but he has a natural enthusiasm that makes games interesting coupled with scene knowledge.
I definitely also remember redeye casting cod4. I'm certain he casted at least a few i-series games way back.
Why the hell does everyone flame A_Spec, the man has so much more casting experience than codtv/h2ktv/whatever. He's improved his COD knowledge as of late and he's contributing to our community along with the great guys of Kaos to get their tiny 6 team event streamed in a very professional way.
No one is flaming A_Spec, Everyone just loved QuadV but we have to face the facts QuadV is not gonna do cod4 ever again A_Spec is a great caster and im sure he will learn more about cod4 with ever game he casts
Couldn't have picked up a better partner for streaming. If people knew about the work and time the Kaos TV crew (including A_Spec) put into actually producing the casts, then they'd maybe show a bit more appreciation.
Congratulations to Kaos TV and Steven on this partnership. It's made this event more attractive, in my opinion.
There's a whole load of assumed information in the vast majority of comments regarding QuadV fluffed up by a lot of bullshit.
QuadV will next be at The UGC in Italy at the end of March casting CoD4, SC2, Quakelive with in house casters TosspoT & Deman and external casters provided by UGC, Joe Miller, James Harding and some SC2 Casters (not sure who yet). We will be debuting our HD Streaming setup whilst I don't think the upload capacity from the venue will be able to handle 1080 upload, it'll be as HQ as the connection allows. The following week QuadV will be at Gadgetshow live.
@ Metuz - this idea that we never cared? If you ever think there is a reasonable amount of money in eSports to make the people at QuadV do this only for the money then I'd love to know what you smoke. For CoD4 Deman more than anyone casted his arse off for many an online tournament from Day 1 not receiving a penny. Yes for LAN's and rare online tournaments there was a whiff of money but trust me that money doesn't come near to the amount of hours we've all put into this. I've been casting games since 2003, I don't know whether thats something to be proud of or not but if you dare try and say people like myself 'never cared' you're a complete idiot with zero information on the people you're talking about. I've put more hours into CoD4 through casting, LANs, online tournaments, newsposts and team sponsorship assistance than you ever will and I've been inactive for the past 18 months.
The easy and correct answer is that for the casters mentioned in this thread, Deman, ReDeYe & TosspoT we've all taken on new challenges outside of eSports that have limited our availability to do work within it.
Tosspot, I didn't pluck the things I said from my anus, I've spoken with a variety of people and came to my own conclusion. If I'm mistaken then the people that have passed this on were clearly misinformed or not exactly being honest. I apologise if the financial points were off, but to tell us that QuadV didn't ask for money for Lans or that you guys don't make a decent living from it I find hard to believe.
I didn't say you 'didn't care' about all games, simply that in my view CoD4 isn't one that you hold up there with the rest. The case in point being QuadV haven't cast CoD4 for how many months? I have no idea. At least 6 I'd say and that might be kind.
Here's the thing. If you do read this then why not try employing more casters? I don't mean pay them but get more casters/streamers in and start casting more CoD4. If there is a reason then fair enough but if the people are crying out for QuadV, deliver.
'I've put more hours into CoD4 through casting, LANs, online tournaments, newsposts and team sponsorship assistance than you ever will and I've been inactive for the past 18 months.'
Absolutely no idea where you got that from when I didn't compare the two of us, but it just goes to show the mentality behind it all.
You probably haven't heard me cast nor care, but I'm here everynight available if I'm needed, I don't wish to compare a guy who by his own admission has been casting for near on 8 years with someone who's been casting half a year. I'm not really into the whole e-peen measuring contest.
Take it for what you will, nearly every casting thread you see on Tek9 is full of the same comments - 'I miss QuadV.' The people seemingly want QuadV to be around more, get people in and make it happen. There's no reason not to if there is more behind the casting than financial gain. Good luck.
Agree with metuz, QuadV is only around for the money they dont care about the scene if the moneys there they will cast, not out of intrest anymore because in all trueness your stuck up your own ass and only care about an endless supply of money not the community. oh and cringed at when u said we have done more casts than u ever will, sort it out
Oh and 6 months was way too kind. It's more like a year. I can't grasp saying I'm an idiot when the only important fact is they have been utterly abscent from CoD4 casts for nearly a year if not more. There are a multitude of up and coming talent out there to pick up to provide CoD4 casts and it's not being utilised. At the end of the day, all the financial points are obsolete, can argue the toss over them but the important fact is CoD4 hasn't got any casts from QuadV in a long, long time. That's the only fact or point I give two flying monkey shits about.
Does seem a bit odd to bring up the whole 'I've done more than you ever will' line up in this context.
Seems out of place and a bit egomaniacal. However, there's no doubting he has so it's also true.
It's good to hear QuadV will be making a return into CoD4 territory, and hopefully there's much more to come.
Antwerp Aces
Team Winfakt
CEFO
Team YoYoTech
Buttonbashers
animus
Adeks
ROX.KIS
Aces or BB to take this lan :D
ontopic:
good news, aspecs good to listen to and like chenson said, throw a few co-casters in there for some tactical analysis and its goooooooooood shit
nice Aspec is sick!
edited 2011-03-08 18:58:24
i dont know if thats correct, and if its not then i apologize, might be totally wrong :D
he's a good casterr so will probably be good!! aslong as u show some EMOTIONS WHEN I RAPE!!!
edited 2011-03-08 14:21:36
edited 2011-03-08 14:30:25
It's important to know the game but maybe even more important to know how and when to bring the action into the cast.
Anyone can setup a little broadcast suite with Xsplit and connect their headset to a computer nowadays :P. There is a big big difference if you use the right hardware and the right people :).
It's a work in progress, been mixing hardcore for the last 5 weeks
*trollface*
edited 2011-03-08 16:19:38
H2k have a great stream but are boring
CODTV are naff in most respects
RAGE (idk if they are even still going) were decent but got boring
QuadV will always be the best, don't see anyone ever topping/ coming close
i more would like to see a stream which works, has good casters and is also not lagging for people with lower bandwith, like the one esl tv has on own3d.tv.
There isn't a single advertiser that is 'gullable' enough to trust you on the stats. The live viewers are good to see, but it doesn't tell you anything on the viewer hours, the total views and so on and so forth.
From what i've heard own3d is working on it. If they do...we'll switch as their german based so higher uptime guarantee when it comes to streaming.
Justin.tv has a new function that automatically scales a stream into 240p, 480p, 720p and 1080p. But sadly that functionality isn't 100% public. Otherwise it would solve all stream problems with people that have lesser connections.
And i don't think teams that are going want to pay more/ get less prize money just so the ppl at home have a decent stream
Can't be that expensive, they could always just get QuadV to put the logo of whatever company sponsors the events coverage in the bottom corner. ~2000 people watching the stream, great advertising :).
The costs are as A_Spec states higher than expected. We have two HD camera's, a pool of hardware software which costs around 15.000. A team of 2 techy's and 1 caster need transport, need a hotel, need food and drinks. An entire casting team has a bare minimum in €1000 per day. And then they don't end up making any money ;).
On that note I have stated many times that i'm not afraid of competition because as people have said out there our competitors are not favoured. We stream quality, we utilize A_Spec which is quality and we have a pool of camera's and hardware that once again our competitors don't.
We stream 800kbit (0.8mbit) which in 90% of the cases is easy to buffer for most internet connections. But on a general note we receive about 5 complaints on 10.000 viewers regarding the stream buffering. And I don't think we should downscale for those 5 people :P.
But aside from the good comments about our stream...all I can say is...just watch and give us feedback. You'll most likely not be dissapointed.
edited 2011-03-08 18:52:47
I didn't really factor in everything i suppose, i just presumed with COD4 being a smaller esports title there wouldn't be massive leaps in cost to hire, from my personal experience, a team who is extremely good.
But I'm hearing some rumours that it might be implemented somewhere else as well :)
^^
cheers
The companies people have mentioned thusfar have one resounding thing in common - unless I'm completely out of the loop - they do it for free. That's right, they do it for the community. For you. They don't demand huge amounts of money or make ultimatums, they do it for free.
There are two things you can do if you don't like the selection of casters and companies out there at the moment.
1. Pick up a mic, put your money where your mouth is and show everyone how its done. Clearly you're naturals.
2. Make a company, invest large amounts of money into it and show the managers/producers how it's meant to be ran.
QuadV were good, no doubting that, but this illusion they cared or will return someday will NOT happen. Unless something drastically changes within the scene and suddenly there's more money about.
Best of luck KaosTV and Aspec, I'll definitely be tuning in.
The fact that QuadV won't ever return is true, but its still possible that casters like deman and redeye are once going to cast some cod4 games again. And isn't that what the people actually want? I mean who can be arsed if its under the flag of quadv or not?
QuadV isnt what it used to be, im not sure it really has anything to do with CoD4. The organisation just isnt anywhere near as active as it used to be and when it is, its all about money for them. Other organisations have taken their former place as a 'community shoutcaster'.
With commentating, there needs to be a balance between a natural flow of commentary and analytical input.
Not sure who the american is as well (is it ozbot?) but he has a natural enthusiasm that makes games interesting coupled with scene knowledge.
I definitely also remember redeye casting cod4. I'm certain he casted at least a few i-series games way back.
Get a fucking grip, heroes @ the sideline
Congratulations to Kaos TV and Steven on this partnership. It's made this event more attractive, in my opinion.
gl tho a_spec i'm sure you'll do just fine ^^
:D
QuadV will next be at The UGC in Italy at the end of March casting CoD4, SC2, Quakelive with in house casters TosspoT & Deman and external casters provided by UGC, Joe Miller, James Harding and some SC2 Casters (not sure who yet). We will be debuting our HD Streaming setup whilst I don't think the upload capacity from the venue will be able to handle 1080 upload, it'll be as HQ as the connection allows. The following week QuadV will be at Gadgetshow live.
@ Metuz - this idea that we never cared? If you ever think there is a reasonable amount of money in eSports to make the people at QuadV do this only for the money then I'd love to know what you smoke. For CoD4 Deman more than anyone casted his arse off for many an online tournament from Day 1 not receiving a penny. Yes for LAN's and rare online tournaments there was a whiff of money but trust me that money doesn't come near to the amount of hours we've all put into this. I've been casting games since 2003, I don't know whether thats something to be proud of or not but if you dare try and say people like myself 'never cared' you're a complete idiot with zero information on the people you're talking about. I've put more hours into CoD4 through casting, LANs, online tournaments, newsposts and team sponsorship assistance than you ever will and I've been inactive for the past 18 months.
The easy and correct answer is that for the casters mentioned in this thread, Deman, ReDeYe & TosspoT we've all taken on new challenges outside of eSports that have limited our availability to do work within it.
Sensational
I didn't say you 'didn't care' about all games, simply that in my view CoD4 isn't one that you hold up there with the rest. The case in point being QuadV haven't cast CoD4 for how many months? I have no idea. At least 6 I'd say and that might be kind.
Here's the thing. If you do read this then why not try employing more casters? I don't mean pay them but get more casters/streamers in and start casting more CoD4. If there is a reason then fair enough but if the people are crying out for QuadV, deliver.
'I've put more hours into CoD4 through casting, LANs, online tournaments, newsposts and team sponsorship assistance than you ever will and I've been inactive for the past 18 months.'
Absolutely no idea where you got that from when I didn't compare the two of us, but it just goes to show the mentality behind it all.
You probably haven't heard me cast nor care, but I'm here everynight available if I'm needed, I don't wish to compare a guy who by his own admission has been casting for near on 8 years with someone who's been casting half a year. I'm not really into the whole e-peen measuring contest.
Take it for what you will, nearly every casting thread you see on Tek9 is full of the same comments - 'I miss QuadV.' The people seemingly want QuadV to be around more, get people in and make it happen. There's no reason not to if there is more behind the casting than financial gain. Good luck.
Does seem a bit odd to bring up the whole 'I've done more than you ever will' line up in this context.
Seems out of place and a bit egomaniacal. However, there's no doubting he has so it's also true.
It's good to hear QuadV will be making a return into CoD4 territory, and hopefully there's much more to come.