@kusch_AOE Hey Kusch! Well, we did work together (though for only 1 day 😅) in RedBull 4 and we're "friends" on Discord, so if he didnt answer I just have to accept he's simply not interested. Which is totally fine of course!! Pretty sure he has better things to do than to sit for an hour with a nerd like me! 🤣 Having said that, it's over a year now since I last asked and seeing how many upvotes this comment has I'm tempted to reach out again!
@@MasmorraAoE There is no better way to "convince" someone of what they are missing in a colaboration than obnoxious fans of the other party telling them that. ;) Afair Memb wasn't too keen on the interview either but we still got it eventually. So fingers crossed. :) By the way, I think a queen would also be a very interesting guest. By the way², when people are asking for specific people to get interviewed it can come off as just being interested in those people. At least in my case that's... uhm... not the case. I'm interested in the interviewer and would want him to interview roughly everyone AoE related eventually. I just love hearing the story of those people. :) By the way³, where is the reverse interview? We need someone interviewing you!
@@kusch_aoe3040 You're too nice as always, my friend! I'd absolutely love to interview Gabi and I'm trying to reach out to her as we speak. I believe in her case, it would have to be an interview in Portuguese, as I believe she's not comfortable speaking in English. Would add subtitles of course. Well I can't force anyone to interview me hahaha I've thought about making a Q&A video, but I don't know if there would be any interest in that...Maybe I'll make a community post and see how many questions come up!
Really interesting to see a different kind of personality on the show! PS: Id love to see Ornlu or some of the arena clowns (Modri?) in on a classic interview!
Heard many good things about that game, but am not really well-informed on what makes it special. Care to summarize what the game is about and why are people so hyped about it?
@@MasmorraAoE it’s being made by original starcraft 2 devs. So a lot of hype within the starcraft/blizzard community. Even if half of the starcraft community move to it, it will be huge.
I love memb and all the things he's done for the community, but it would be really nice to have a play by play caster that has the ability to dose his enthousiasm xd
Man this interview sent me down such a reflection rabbit-hole. Around 18:00 when you talk about the feeling of first seeing people being out-and-out passionate about esports - I just remember seeing Dreamhack for the first time in like 2012. Before then I'd literally never met an adult who played a video game. I'm from bumblefuck Denmark, and everyone around me were farmers or mechanics and so going online as a 15 year old and seeing that there is an adult world where I would still be accepted and would be free to actually enjoy the thing that I cared so much about was a relief like nothing else. Before then adulthood had been sold to me as "when you stop with those stupid screen-games" which, tbh, wasn't a very exiting pitch. Dash was a big part of my enjoyment of esports in those early years, and if it wasn't for him making me care about competitive gaming I might not even be playing AoE2 today. When I, after like 8 years of not watching LoL, suddenly heard his voice on a T90 stream I remember freaking out lol. Anyway, thanks as always for the great content Nelson, you're a gem to our little community.
Nelson! You are not only a hardworking person, you are truly blessed with a talent to uncover amazing people and their personalities. Thank you for the great interview ❤
Interesting interview. I miss an intro section where you tell those of us who have never heard of him before who he is and why he is there (he's been in the current AOE2 scene longer than me but no one has heard of me either). It is so adorable to see you also think of yourselves as the old guys, which makes us Gen X and older to be ancients!
Thanks! I usually shy away from introductions, as it makes the whole conversation sound a bit too formal! :) There's a short introduction in the description box and James' socials are also tagged!
Yeah, they're "old guys" who remember the gaming disk era.😅 My first PC was a Commodore PET, in 1979. It cost as much as a new family car, and used cassette tapes to load games.
Hahaha I'd love to have a few folks from the Rage Forest community at some point! I thought about organizing a quiz with a few of them first, not sure they'd be interested though... Thanks Wenegor!
AS a viewer of LCS since season 1 and a viewer of AoE2DE for the last 2 years, I am excited to see Dashs talents get a chance to show in another game he is so passionate about. I hope him coming into the scene (hopefully more content on streams as well) will help show off this game that I have so much nostalgia for playing as a kid (Cereal box demo child here!). What a great podcast.
Thanks man! I actually had like 10 further questions prepared, but since Dash was so good at elaborating on his thoughts - which is obviously the dream scenario for an interviewer - I tried to keep this at the usual 60-75mins length!
I think if you look at what the most traditional play by play sports are, the game moves pretty slow. Espescially if you look at sports like baseball and soccer.
For sure. I'm not even sure what a PbP caster would be doing for like 75% of an arena game lol. I think the game moves so relatively slow, and fights are not so much "fights" as they are battles for resource efficient trades, that a traditional pure PbP caster is both unecessary and also kind of impossible. In AoE2 a fight is rarely important in and of itself, but is important for it's long term consequences. Whereas in basketball, soccer, LoL, CS:GO etc, the fight = the game. That said, I am sure Dash is well aware of all that and that he'll do a great job at NAC4.
I have a question: Can somebody explain to me the play-by-play caster type and the colour thing they are talking about? What is the approach with casting there?
Usually the play-by-play caster will mostly narrate what's happening on the screen and creating hype whenever appropriate. The color commentator will usually speak much less frequently and only to give more "high-level" analytical information. Again, these roles are a lot more blurred in AoE 2 than in other games. For example in CS:GO, during rounds it will mostly be the play-by-play caster speaking and the color commentator usually speaks inbetween rounds.
Back in 2019 I was just getting started with casting, and I covered a tournament for Voobly. That was my first time providing coverage for more than a handful of people, but when I saw Dash was there watching that probably made me more self-aware than everybody else being there combined 😅. As you'd expect, he was super kind and said we were doing a great job, even if now looking back I see so many of my own shortcomings more evidently. Great interview, as always. I'm glad we get to see some of the flesh and bone behind these amazing personalities!
Would have help if you would start by introducing who this person is, i follow more the pros themselves... also, sorry, im old, i checked, he is huuuuge:De
Another fantastic interview, you are doing amazing work man! Also doubling another comment, as a recommendation to have Riley on. Can't believe I didn't think of it before 11 He's an awesome guy and would make for a great interview!
@@MasmorraAoE Ah that’s a shame. I have faith in you though, if you managed to get the elusive Mr Spirit of the Law on the show then you’ll get Riley too eventually :)
He played Putt Putt! I remember getting AoE1 full game in a cereal box with a AoM demo. Got AoE2 Kings sometime after. Going to keep listening, cheers Nelson always love your interviews and quizzes!
Great interview once more Nelson! Dash brings a nice, enthusiastic but realistic energy to the table which might be something needed for the age community to grow. I also felled confused to not see Memb on the casting list but with how Dash formulated it it sounded logical. We’ll have to wait and see how it turns out in the future. Also you mentioned you’re not sure if you’re going to be in Berlin, but that means you’re working with Nili to make something happen?
Glad you enjoyed it! No, it would be purely as a viewer, I believe there will be a meet and greet on the last day! I suppose if Nili wanted to have me involved in the event in any capacity he would have reached out already, which wasn't the case. I'm still veeery very hyped for it though! 😊
Thank you for these great interviews and especially this time to let the people that didn't know Dash from LoL get to know him before NAC. Now I am even more hyped to see him cast at this event!
What an amazing interview!! The questions were super insightful. He made one amazing point. The scene is very healthy that you dont need all the casters in one place. We've had a ton of tournaments lately and I hope it only grows bigger. Im overly ambitious but I would love a half or a million dollar TG one day.
Great video as always, but after 22 episodes I think it's fair to say that everybody wants to see the real legends of the game, the likes of Tetraides, Kellar and Coccolino.
When was this interview done, because wasn't it announced that LCS would do away with the Analyst desk in early Jan? Edit: So if my detective skills are up to scratch, this interview took place on 31st Jan? Edit2: Editing again so I don't spam your comments section... Just wanted to say that was a fantastic interview, I like the way you're not shy to ask difficult questions (Memb). That hour and a bit flew by. Brilliant stuff.
Ok last comment now that I've finally seen the whole thing haha. Great discussion on the future of e-sports. I completely agree that the industry is facing a market correction - that much is obvious from just seeing how much time and energy ex Faze clan members are putting into promoting their roles as influences and marketing-people - they wouldn't be doing that stuff if they weren't pressured to do so by an industry in need of funds. However, I don't think AoE2 scene is likely to feel much of this except maybe some slightly lower co-investments by Microsoft and possibly a year or two with no RBW. Fortunately there is so much of a culture of prize-pools based on community donations, and with the community growing day-by-day we are able to make it worthwhile for players to show up regardless of the decisions from the big guys. And lets be real, all our pro's came up in a time when the biggest tournaments had $500 prizepools.They aren't here for the money like CS:GO players are. So overall I wouldn't worry at all about this.
Yeah folks making a living from AoE 2 are doing so through streaming mostly. I believe even Liereyy who places high in virtual every single tournament has a side job, as far as I know. And seeing as streaming is very clearly not going anywhere any time soon, I'm not worried for the longevity of AoE 2 either. Excited to see what the Xbox release will do to the size of the player base! What do you think Nicholas? Will it have a big impact?
@@MasmorraAoE I can see the Xbox release leading to an increased playerbase, not just from the game itself - which I doubt will become super popular just because it's an RTS on a console. More so I think specifically because it's a Microsoft title on a Microsoft platform which means it's going to be featured heavily in the shop and other high-visibiliy places (even more so if it's underperforming on launch and organic sales). I don't think a lot of people are going to buy it from there, but it might put the game on a lot of people's radars and make them buy it on PC or check it out on streaming. I don't think AoE2 has hit it's plateau yet.
Actually, I don't think anyone has asked before hahaha This is not the type of music I usually play, so not a professional setting per se, but there's this: th-cam.com/video/ICWE17zMkZo/w-d-xo.html 🙈🙈
I haven't watched the video but just based on the text I see on the thumbnail, I may know where this is going. It is hard to quantify what value that "e-sports" brings to gaming. I think Blizzard realized this when they cut funding to all kinds of e-sports. Maybe MS is heading down that same path. It's good to have hype and esports / tournaments do bring hype, but do they bring sales? And do they bring enough sales to offset the investment? The ROI if you will.
All I know is that for Overwatch's main competitor, Paladins, the playerbase dropped significantly after they decided to close the esports scene Hell, even with AOE2, watching those big events is what makes me want to pick up the game again and play more
@@DaddyMouse Undoubtedly the esports scene helps the company in a lot of ways for certain games. It is just a constant balancing act by the dev/publisher to find that sweet spot of investment to return.
What MS has sponsored for the aoe competitive scene is like a drop of their money. Since aoe2 DE came out, typically they sponsored less than 10 S tier tournaments(less than 500k USD price pool in total) for aoe2 annually. If you consider the sales number(aoe2 DE is one of the most popular RTS games on steam), that's a pretty good investment
Sometimes it's all just about keeping the current player base happy and engaged. Finals of big events regularly pull 6 figure viewership numbers on TH-cam. It's probably hard to quantify the benefits of such a stat, but there's no doubt there's massive interest in these events.
I was so happy that you asked Dash about the Memb-thing with NAC4 - and even happier to hear his reply. The old farts who think we need our primary 4 casters at every event are stuck in a time when caster's werent making much money and there werent a lot of overall viewers on twitch, so back then bringing all the hosts together was the only way to bridge all the audiences, and make sure there'd be at least 10k viewers on a tournament. What the "our 4 primary casters should be the only ones to cast S-tier tournaments" crowd are missing, is that this arrangement is unsustainable in the long term. If Nili or T90 were to, god forbid, suddenly become chronically ill or the like, then suddenly we would have no replacements and no one to pick up the pieces. With the possibility of sounding like the snotty business student that I am - In order for AoE2 to scale as a business case the industry has to reduce it's overall risk profile, and the best way to do this is to introduce and train more hosts, casters, organizers, map scripters, observers, admins etc. so that there are backups to our backups. It's for the same reason I was so happy to see Ellie host TGM - we cannot have only one main host (RLY) be the face of the industry. Memb not getting in on NAC4 is a sign of a healthy community. And, more importantly, it's a sign that there is enough money in being an AoE2-professional (player and otherwise) that Memb can afford to sit one out. If you'd told me this would be the case when I came back to the game in 2017 I'd told you to go f yourself. We would have never believed it for even a second. Btw. I love Memb as much as anyone. I regularly think "THOS-E CROSSBOWS ARE GOING TO THE DAMNED HELL!!!" to myself and just chuckle randomly.
I guess when it doesn't hit us personally, it's easier to see the big picture like that right? But if you're Memb and this is your job, a LAN event obviously brings a ton of exposure which he will be missing out on. Just like with all other entertainment industries, Esports is very very cut-throat for broadcast talent unfortunately... I'm very happy Nili made it open streaming though, with access to a high quality feed, definitely the correct decision.
@@MasmorraAoE I understand Memb might be bummed not making that money in the short term, but I think that even he will realize that it's better for him and his economic circumstances in the long term. Creating a sustainable business environment will mean Memb can keep his job for decades to come - whereas without these growing pains and short-term reconfigurations there is a very real risk that someone like Viper, Nili, or T90 disappear from the scene for whatever reason, and then our growth might stagnate and turn into decline, which would be way worse for Memb's ability to support himself and his loved ones.
@@nicholaswoollhead6830 I get Dash's point about it potentially reaching more viewers and therefore more $$, and that's great, but this is a kick in the balls for Memb. It's not just about the money, it's about being in close proximity with the core of the scene who have bled together for 10 years to get the game where it is today. To be ommitted from that for an outsider is a bit of a middle finger. I'm sure Dash will be great (personally two American-style accents are enough for me) but surely there could've been room for both.
@@Cheximus I guess he could have been invited over, but like, there is just a finite number of casters required for an event. Unless we want to do like a Battle Royale cast where we get 6 casters on the same match haha. I understand that Memb might be a bit annoyed, but to call it "a middle finger" is crossing a line into some motive speculation and some assumptions that I dont think Nili has deserved. And besides - how the fuck are we going to grow if no outsiders are permitted in? there is still open casting, Memb is still invited for RBW and all sorts of things - it's ridiculous to think that only a set number of people can be allowed to represent and work for our community. So to be clear - I understand every emotional impulse at play. It's just that letting our ideas of loyalty win out over what's best for our community is foolhearted and short-sighted.
@@nicholaswoollhead6830 I refer back to my point about a core group of people, who are more like friends than colleagues. A LAN event is probably more like friends of old gathering together than a professional tournament. To have been invited before and then not this time, there is no other way but than to take that personally. I see the point about it reaching a wider audience. Perhaps just casting one or two matches would've made the trip pointless for him and streaming from the comfort of his own home makes more sense.
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.82[1/2] แก๊ง 3 สาวเพื่อนซี้บุก CAMPปลิ้นครั้งนี้ห้ามเสียอาการ](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_6WUjXHe1TM/mqdefault.jpg)
Another great interview, with a great guy!
Keep up the great work!
Yeah man what a great guy Dash is, was so surprised to see how much he knows about the scene!
Bipah
Would love an interview with Riley - he’s been so much fun for the scene
As I said to another user, I did invite him several months ago, he didn't reply unfortunately!
@@MasmorraAoE Looks like we just have to ask him "nicely" at the next Red Bull Wololo and/or ask Dave/T90/... "nicely" to ask Riley "nicely". 😉
@kusch_AOE Hey Kusch!
Well, we did work together (though for only 1 day 😅) in RedBull 4 and we're "friends" on Discord, so if he didnt answer I just have to accept he's simply not interested.
Which is totally fine of course!! Pretty sure he has better things to do than to sit for an hour with a nerd like me! 🤣
Having said that, it's over a year now since I last asked and seeing how many upvotes this comment has I'm tempted to reach out again!
@@MasmorraAoE There is no better way to "convince" someone of what they are missing in a colaboration than obnoxious fans of the other party telling them that. ;)
Afair Memb wasn't too keen on the interview either but we still got it eventually. So fingers crossed. :)
By the way, I think a queen would also be a very interesting guest.
By the way², when people are asking for specific people to get interviewed it can come off as just being interested in those people. At least in my case that's... uhm... not the case. I'm interested in the interviewer and would want him to interview roughly everyone AoE related eventually. I just love hearing the story of those people. :)
By the way³, where is the reverse interview? We need someone interviewing you!
@@kusch_aoe3040 You're too nice as always, my friend!
I'd absolutely love to interview Gabi and I'm trying to reach out to her as we speak.
I believe in her case, it would have to be an interview in Portuguese, as I believe she's not comfortable speaking in English. Would add subtitles of course.
Well I can't force anyone to interview me hahaha
I've thought about making a Q&A video, but I don't know if there would be any interest in that...Maybe I'll make a community post and see how many questions come up!
Really interesting to see a different kind of personality on the show!
PS: Id love to see Ornlu or some of the arena clowns (Modri?) in on a classic interview!
Yeah, I have the feeling we will be seeing more of Dash in the community in the near future!
Dash seems to really love and know the community! Time to get him on a quiz... ;)
if you havent mention it, i wouldn never noticed the grand piano behind you. and now i am totally envious you have that at home :D
Ohh there's a bunch of pianos here!
I have 2 grands and 3 vertical pianos! 😅😅
@@MasmorraAoE well, my envy is gone, i am now just glad for my roland FP-30, because i dont have to pay to someone for tuning 5 pianos :D
hahaha true that!
Hopefully Dash is keeping an eye on Stormgate. That will be huge i think
Heard many good things about that game, but am not really well-informed on what makes it special.
Care to summarize what the game is about and why are people so hyped about it?
@@MasmorraAoE it’s being made by original starcraft 2 devs. So a lot of hype within the starcraft/blizzard community. Even if half of the starcraft community move to it, it will be huge.
Ah gotcha!
Will it be geared towards competitive folks?
I guess I'll have to read a bit on it!
@@MasmorraAoE yes, the main focus is competitive esports i believe. Haha yes, i don’t know enough about it i’m afraid
I love memb and all the things he's done for the community, but it would be really nice to have a play by play caster that has the ability to dose his enthousiasm xd
Nice interview*s
Man this interview sent me down such a reflection rabbit-hole. Around 18:00 when you talk about the feeling of first seeing people being out-and-out passionate about esports - I just remember seeing Dreamhack for the first time in like 2012. Before then I'd literally never met an adult who played a video game. I'm from bumblefuck Denmark, and everyone around me were farmers or mechanics and so going online as a 15 year old and seeing that there is an adult world where I would still be accepted and would be free to actually enjoy the thing that I cared so much about was a relief like nothing else. Before then adulthood had been sold to me as "when you stop with those stupid screen-games" which, tbh, wasn't a very exiting pitch.
Dash was a big part of my enjoyment of esports in those early years, and if it wasn't for him making me care about competitive gaming I might not even be playing AoE2 today. When I, after like 8 years of not watching LoL, suddenly heard his voice on a T90 stream I remember freaking out lol.
Anyway, thanks as always for the great content Nelson, you're a gem to our little community.
Spot on, Nicholas! Hahaha I feel the exact same way!
Thank you so much!
Nelson! You are not only a hardworking person, you are truly blessed with a talent to uncover amazing people and their personalities. Thank you for the great interview ❤
Heeeey Arsenii thank you man, I appreciate the nice words!
Dash and T90s cast of Battle of Africa 2 is one of the most epic casts I have watched. Thank you for this interview!
Thanks for the interview Masmorra! Watched the whole thing - so great to have both of you in our community. Looking forward to seeing Dash in NAC!
Dash seems like a genuinely nice guy. Looking forward to NAC
Edit: Awesome interview! Couldn't stop laughing all the way through.
Thanks Josh!
Interesting interview. I miss an intro section where you tell those of us who have never heard of him before who he is and why he is there (he's been in the current AOE2 scene longer than me but no one has heard of me either). It is so adorable to see you also think of yourselves as the old guys, which makes us Gen X and older to be ancients!
Thanks!
I usually shy away from introductions, as it makes the whole conversation sound a bit too formal! :)
There's a short introduction in the description box and James' socials are also tagged!
Yeah, they're "old guys" who remember the gaming disk era.😅
My first PC was a Commodore PET, in 1979. It cost as much as a new family car, and used cassette tapes to load games.
Many thanks for the interview, very good introduction to Dash for those of us who didn't really know him.
amazing video as always
Hahaha I'd love to have a few folks from the Rage Forest community at some point!
I thought about organizing a quiz with a few of them first, not sure they'd be interested though...
Thanks Wenegor!
AS a viewer of LCS since season 1 and a viewer of AoE2DE for the last 2 years, I am excited to see Dashs talents get a chance to show in another game he is so passionate about. I hope him coming into the scene (hopefully more content on streams as well) will help show off this game that I have so much nostalgia for playing as a kid (Cereal box demo child here!).
What a great podcast.
Why does this 1hr 15 min interview feel short?
All of Nelson's interviews feel short haha, he's too good at bringing the best out of his guests.
Thanks man!
I actually had like 10 further questions prepared, but since Dash was so good at elaborating on his thoughts - which is obviously the dream scenario for an interviewer - I tried to keep this at the usual 60-75mins length!
@@MasmorraAoE cant wait for part 2 now!!
Really well done!
It was great to hear how engaged Dash is with the game. I hope we get to see more of him in some streams soon!
Yeah I was so surprised to see how familiar he is with the community!
I think if you look at what the most traditional play by play sports are, the game moves pretty slow. Espescially if you look at sports like baseball and soccer.
For sure. I'm not even sure what a PbP caster would be doing for like 75% of an arena game lol. I think the game moves so relatively slow, and fights are not so much "fights" as they are battles for resource efficient trades, that a traditional pure PbP caster is both unecessary and also kind of impossible. In AoE2 a fight is rarely important in and of itself, but is important for it's long term consequences. Whereas in basketball, soccer, LoL, CS:GO etc, the fight = the game. That said, I am sure Dash is well aware of all that and that he'll do a great job at NAC4.
I have a question: Can somebody explain to me the play-by-play caster type and the colour thing they are talking about? What is the approach with casting there?
Usually the play-by-play caster will mostly narrate what's happening on the screen and creating hype whenever appropriate.
The color commentator will usually speak much less frequently and only to give more "high-level" analytical information.
Again, these roles are a lot more blurred in AoE 2 than in other games.
For example in CS:GO, during rounds it will mostly be the play-by-play caster speaking and the color commentator usually speaks inbetween rounds.
@@MasmorraAoE merci. That gives me a good insight.
Again Nelson you’re doing AOE God’s work! Thank you!
WOLOLOOOOOO
Back in 2019 I was just getting started with casting, and I covered a tournament for Voobly. That was my first time providing coverage for more than a handful of people, but when I saw Dash was there watching that probably made me more self-aware than everybody else being there combined 😅. As you'd expect, he was super kind and said we were doing a great job, even if now looking back I see so many of my own shortcomings more evidently.
Great interview, as always. I'm glad we get to see some of the flesh and bone behind these amazing personalities!
Would have help if you would start by introducing who this person is, i follow more the pros themselves... also, sorry, im old, i checked, he is huuuuge:De
Another fantastic interview, you are doing amazing work man!
Also doubling another comment, as a recommendation to have Riley on. Can't believe I didn't think of it before 11 He's an awesome guy and would make for a great interview!
Thanks ar1sm!
Invitation to Riley has been sent many months ago, was unfortunately ignored! 🙃
@@MasmorraAoE Ah that’s a shame. I have faith in you though, if you managed to get the elusive Mr Spirit of the Law on the show then you’ll get Riley too eventually :)
great stuff Nelson. Love goes out to Dash, NAC4 gonna be hype.
Thanks Akeno!
Great interview! Dash seems like a very good contribution to the AoE-scene.
Dash?! League of Legends Dash?! In AOE2? I am gonna so watch this!
yeeeeeahhh haha
Hopy you like it!
He is a good slick talker, I give him that. Would be a good politician too.
love dash , so amazing hes not stuck in toxic league :-)
1.3k is lower than dave playing with a playstation controller
He played Putt Putt! I remember getting AoE1 full game in a cereal box with a AoM demo. Got AoE2 Kings sometime after.
Going to keep listening, cheers Nelson always love your interviews and quizzes!
Thank you so much Henry!
These interviews are amazing. I'm really enjoying and appreciating your content. Please keep this up!
You bet!
Thank you so much Tyler! :)
Great interview once more Nelson! Dash brings a nice, enthusiastic but realistic energy to the table which might be something needed for the age community to grow. I also felled confused to not see Memb on the casting list but with how Dash formulated it it sounded logical. We’ll have to wait and see how it turns out in the future.
Also you mentioned you’re not sure if you’re going to be in Berlin, but that means you’re working with Nili to make something happen?
Glad you enjoyed it!
No, it would be purely as a viewer, I believe there will be a meet and greet on the last day!
I suppose if Nili wanted to have me involved in the event in any capacity he would have reached out already, which wasn't the case.
I'm still veeery very hyped for it though! 😊
@@MasmorraAoE I see, just fan boying around all the top players 11
And the hype is indeed real!
Thank you for these great interviews and especially this time to let the people that didn't know Dash from LoL get to know him before NAC. Now I am even more hyped to see him cast at this event!
Thank you David!
What an amazing interview!! The questions were super insightful. He made one amazing point. The scene is very healthy that you dont need all the casters in one place. We've had a ton of tournaments lately and I hope it only grows bigger. Im overly ambitious but I would love a half or a million dollar TG one day.
Thanks Krillin!
Amazing interview and great timing! Glad to see Dash involved in the aoe2 esport scene
Me too!
Thanks!
yet another fabulous interview!
Thank you so much Tim!
Great interview as always
Thanks for listening!
great interview!!! cant wait for NAC4 and for more interviews
Wooohoooooooo! Neeeelson! :D
55:30 - haha, yep! Many a conversation has been had with the wife that I have absolutely no recollection of, much to her anger!
Dash 😍
Great video as always, but after 22 episodes I think it's fair to say that everybody wants to see the real legends of the game, the likes of Tetraides, Kellar and Coccolino.
Coccolino!!!!! loooooooool
Man what a throwback, havent heard that name a looong time 😅😅
When was this interview done, because wasn't it announced that LCS would do away with the Analyst desk in early Jan?
Edit: So if my detective skills are up to scratch, this interview took place on 31st Jan?
Edit2: Editing again so I don't spam your comments section...
Just wanted to say that was a fantastic interview, I like the way you're not shy to ask difficult questions (Memb). That hour and a bit flew by. Brilliant stuff.
Thank you!
This was recorded on Wednesday, so just 2 days ago!
Ok last comment now that I've finally seen the whole thing haha. Great discussion on the future of e-sports. I completely agree that the industry is facing a market correction - that much is obvious from just seeing how much time and energy ex Faze clan members are putting into promoting their roles as influences and marketing-people - they wouldn't be doing that stuff if they weren't pressured to do so by an industry in need of funds.
However, I don't think AoE2 scene is likely to feel much of this except maybe some slightly lower co-investments by Microsoft and possibly a year or two with no RBW. Fortunately there is so much of a culture of prize-pools based on community donations, and with the community growing day-by-day we are able to make it worthwhile for players to show up regardless of the decisions from the big guys. And lets be real, all our pro's came up in a time when the biggest tournaments had $500 prizepools.They aren't here for the money like CS:GO players are. So overall I wouldn't worry at all about this.
Yeah folks making a living from AoE 2 are doing so through streaming mostly.
I believe even Liereyy who places high in virtual every single tournament has a side job, as far as I know.
And seeing as streaming is very clearly not going anywhere any time soon, I'm not worried for the longevity of AoE 2 either.
Excited to see what the Xbox release will do to the size of the player base!
What do you think Nicholas?
Will it have a big impact?
@@MasmorraAoE I can see the Xbox release leading to an increased playerbase, not just from the game itself - which I doubt will become super popular just because it's an RTS on a console. More so I think specifically because it's a Microsoft title on a Microsoft platform which means it's going to be featured heavily in the shop and other high-visibiliy places (even more so if it's underperforming on launch and organic sales). I don't think a lot of people are going to buy it from there, but it might put the game on a lot of people's radars and make them buy it on PC or check it out on streaming.
I don't think AoE2 has hit it's plateau yet.
It's probably been asked already but are there any videos of you playing the piano in a professional setting?
Actually, I don't think anyone has asked before hahaha
This is not the type of music I usually play, so not a professional setting per se, but there's this:
th-cam.com/video/ICWE17zMkZo/w-d-xo.html 🙈🙈
@@MasmorraAoE Thanks! Me likey :)
I haven't watched the video but just based on the text I see on the thumbnail, I may know where this is going. It is hard to quantify what value that "e-sports" brings to gaming. I think Blizzard realized this when they cut funding to all kinds of e-sports. Maybe MS is heading down that same path.
It's good to have hype and esports / tournaments do bring hype, but do they bring sales? And do they bring enough sales to offset the investment? The ROI if you will.
All I know is that for Overwatch's main competitor, Paladins, the playerbase dropped significantly after they decided to close the esports scene
Hell, even with AOE2, watching those big events is what makes me want to pick up the game again and play more
@@DaddyMouse Undoubtedly the esports scene helps the company in a lot of ways for certain games. It is just a constant balancing act by the dev/publisher to find that sweet spot of investment to return.
What MS has sponsored for the aoe competitive scene is like a drop of their money. Since aoe2 DE came out, typically they sponsored less than 10 S tier tournaments(less than 500k USD price pool in total) for aoe2 annually. If you consider the sales number(aoe2 DE is one of the most popular RTS games on steam), that's a pretty good investment
Sometimes it's all just about keeping the current player base happy and engaged.
Finals of big events regularly pull 6 figure viewership numbers on TH-cam.
It's probably hard to quantify the benefits of such a stat, but there's no doubt there's massive interest in these events.
Dash hype ♡
Is it or is dash little bit jaundiced?
it's just early in the morning
is there a link to Dash twitch or socials?
I keep forgetting to add these things...
Just added it to the description, thanks!
I was so happy that you asked Dash about the Memb-thing with NAC4 - and even happier to hear his reply. The old farts who think we need our primary 4 casters at every event are stuck in a time when caster's werent making much money and there werent a lot of overall viewers on twitch, so back then bringing all the hosts together was the only way to bridge all the audiences, and make sure there'd be at least 10k viewers on a tournament. What the "our 4 primary casters should be the only ones to cast S-tier tournaments" crowd are missing, is that this arrangement is unsustainable in the long term. If Nili or T90 were to, god forbid, suddenly become chronically ill or the like, then suddenly we would have no replacements and no one to pick up the pieces. With the possibility of sounding like the snotty business student that I am - In order for AoE2 to scale as a business case the industry has to reduce it's overall risk profile, and the best way to do this is to introduce and train more hosts, casters, organizers, map scripters, observers, admins etc. so that there are backups to our backups. It's for the same reason I was so happy to see Ellie host TGM - we cannot have only one main host (RLY) be the face of the industry.
Memb not getting in on NAC4 is a sign of a healthy community. And, more importantly, it's a sign that there is enough money in being an AoE2-professional (player and otherwise) that Memb can afford to sit one out. If you'd told me this would be the case when I came back to the game in 2017 I'd told you to go f yourself. We would have never believed it for even a second.
Btw. I love Memb as much as anyone. I regularly think "THOS-E CROSSBOWS ARE GOING TO THE DAMNED HELL!!!" to myself and just chuckle randomly.
I guess when it doesn't hit us personally, it's easier to see the big picture like that right?
But if you're Memb and this is your job, a LAN event obviously brings a ton of exposure which he will be missing out on.
Just like with all other entertainment industries, Esports is very very cut-throat for broadcast talent unfortunately...
I'm very happy Nili made it open streaming though, with access to a high quality feed, definitely the correct decision.
@@MasmorraAoE I understand Memb might be bummed not making that money in the short term, but I think that even he will realize that it's better for him and his economic circumstances in the long term.
Creating a sustainable business environment will mean Memb can keep his job for decades to come - whereas without these growing pains and short-term reconfigurations there is a very real risk that someone like Viper, Nili, or T90 disappear from the scene for whatever reason, and then our growth might stagnate and turn into decline, which would be way worse for Memb's ability to support himself and his loved ones.
@@nicholaswoollhead6830 I get Dash's point about it potentially reaching more viewers and therefore more $$, and that's great, but this is a kick in the balls for Memb. It's not just about the money, it's about being in close proximity with the core of the scene who have bled together for 10 years to get the game where it is today. To be ommitted from that for an outsider is a bit of a middle finger. I'm sure Dash will be great (personally two American-style accents are enough for me) but surely there could've been room for both.
@@Cheximus I guess he could have been invited over, but like, there is just a finite number of casters required for an event. Unless we want to do like a Battle Royale cast where we get 6 casters on the same match haha.
I understand that Memb might be a bit annoyed, but to call it "a middle finger" is crossing a line into some motive speculation and some assumptions that I dont think Nili has deserved.
And besides - how the fuck are we going to grow if no outsiders are permitted in? there is still open casting, Memb is still invited for RBW and all sorts of things - it's ridiculous to think that only a set number of people can be allowed to represent and work for our community.
So to be clear - I understand every emotional impulse at play. It's just that letting our ideas of loyalty win out over what's best for our community is foolhearted and short-sighted.
@@nicholaswoollhead6830 I refer back to my point about a core group of people, who are more like friends than colleagues. A LAN event is probably more like friends of old gathering together than a professional tournament. To have been invited before and then not this time, there is no other way but than to take that personally.
I see the point about it reaching a wider audience. Perhaps just casting one or two matches would've made the trip pointless for him and streaming from the comfort of his own home makes more sense.
Please for the love of DauT bleep the curses, I don't know if I can survive listening to them :D