Urza's Hot Tub

7idledays · 7 months

Yes. The potential is limitless if ESPN actually wanted to put money and effort into making a good stream.

TempletonFisk · 7 months

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index

"This program is available only to customers of cable providers that offer WatchESPN"

Oooooooooooh! That sounds A LOT better and more accessible than Twitch. Please, please, please, segment and add a media wall to our streams.

GhostofEnlil · 7 months

I don't watch MtG matches at all but I probably would all the time if it were on ESPN.

Dangevin · 7 months

My sole concern is to have commentators who are both knowledgeable and interested in Magic. Repackaging your sportscasters or poker color commentators will not work - you will need to have a mix of M:TG writers, pros and podcasters. Don't worry, we work for cheap.

Barring that, you could broadcast a black screen and I would tune in. More than 80% of the M:TG content I consume is in podcast form, which I listen to during my commute. If you could harness that love and energy into a visual format, even with the "low tech" you mentioned from the old ESPN2 broadcasts, I would be a watcher in prime time.

I would always rather play a game, than watch other people play. To sell me, add value to simply watching - and I don't mean Hi-Def so you can read the cards - I can see what my friends are playing at the kitchen table. I need a guide - someone who can talk out their thought processes as they sit there with their hand on their head for minutes. Give me insight.

Also, stealing from poker - you need a hand-cam. One thing lacking from almost all M:TG event coverage is that omniscience of knowing what the "hole cards" are. Arguably, watching a match and not knowing what the players' cards-in-hand are can offer benefits to viewers looking to learn, but I will always argue that the more information, the better - and let the viewer decide what is useful.

Touch_Of_Red · 7 months

The barrier to entry to M:tG is probably equal to that of poker, which is on ESPN all the time.

That's not even close to correct. The basics of poker are understood by most anyone watching TV, and even if someone is brand brand new to it, you can explain to them hand rankings and chip values in about 2 minutes. You know the splash screen with "rules of the game" or "how to play texas hold em" at the beginning of every ep? That's all that's really needed to get someone into the program. There are a massive amount of people just in the demo that have no clue how to play Magic, and probably have never really heard of it before. It would take 10 minutes of one-on-one education just to have them understand what lands do.

But, I think having more magic on TV/internet is a good thing.

SimTheGeezer · 7 months

Right after dodgeball on ESPN 8 "The Ocho"

chuckiefresh4 · 7 months

More than anything else, MTG needs a "hole cam." Don't even consider it unless you can provide one.

branewalker · 7 months

I'd love to see what professionals could do to MTG coverage. The numbers currently indicate this is a very under-served market.

There is a problem, however. Let's see if I can illustrate.

OP:

Magic players have always been on the forefront of utilizing the internet as a means to better access this game that we all love, and streaming basically goes hand in hand with that.

ESPN's website:

Programs on ESPN require you to sign-in with your TV provider.

Magic players ... on the forefront of utilizing the internet:

What's TV?

So, the coverage needs to be accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. Support it with ads, or make it PPV (LGSs or nerdy/hipster "sports" bars are also possible sources of revenue.)

If you wall this off like Game of Thrones, people who want to watch it aren't going to be able to do so (legally).

HaplessMagician · 7 months

Um, I dont' have the numbers in front of me, but the maximum viewers I've ever seen was like 20k. If ESPN picks up magic with those numbers, someone will get fired.

sirolimusland · 7 months

Small correction-

The entry barrier to Magic is higher than poker. Most people understand the basics of poker intuitively (values, bets, bluffs, etc.) they might not get positioning, pot-odds or shifting betting patterns, but they get the gist. They also only need to know 52 cards, compared to the roughly 100 very different cards played in Standard at any given time (sometimes with alternate art from past sets).

Demppa · 7 months

There are so many quality online streams nowadays that I don't think it would be very necessary or successful.

vednar · 7 months

I think the online feed should be interactive in a way that allows us to see all the cards in their deck when they are known. So when the announcer says, "He just played a Lilly", whenever we want, we can scroll over lily on the sidebar and see what it is.

When I first started I didn't know what many cards were and after they took them off screen I would have no clue when he would be like, he +1 liliy or -2'd her. I think we are at a point of technology where if the match was on T.V they could send us to a link online where we could do this.

xelajohn · 7 months

There are very simple ways to make this a good idea. First, get some commentators that are likable, know about the game, and can really comment on the game state. While you want some card and deck assessment, make sure to have them be appealing. And when I mean appealing, I mean to the three main viewer types. People who know basically nothing about the game, intermediate players, and those who have Magic down to a lifestyle. Explain how some of the game works to people just tuning, but don't have them be a how to play video. Let them discuss what makes these decks successful for intermediates. And for the pros, just have them discuss the playstyles we're seeing. Note: This will be the most difficult out of my three suggestions.

Secondly, make sure in your stream to have a chat box along with what you said about the card oracle. And also allow for each pile and card to be scrolled over and seen.(Excluding the deck of course. Unless you wanted to give people a "remaining cards in deck" list. That would be cool.)

Last, screw what cable company they have. EVERYONE should be able to see it. For free. You can still play an ad before the stream starts for the viewer, so not much would be lost.

Do that, I assure you I'll tune in. (Allow live phone calls with minor screening and I'll tell my friends.)

themast · 7 months

I think the biggest improvement for MTG casting will be a digital representation of the board:

can step backwards and forwards through turns to see what you missed
can stop to examine board states to get a deeper understanding of the game
can see what every card is, full text, etc.

Basically, you need a Cockatrice style board to exist side by side withthe video feed so that the depth of information can be properly presented. This could be maintained by the person at the table who is already doing play by play text coverage, they just need a good interface that links up to the server, which is then displaying it to viewers. If this can be done all digitally on the same stream (the hover functionality that you propose) that is even better.

Tristal · 7 months

If it will replace the spelling bee? Hell yes.

winterbean · 7 months

Honestly I don't think it'd be worth anybody's time, effort, or money to try to get M:tg on something like that right now. Something bigger would probably be better (League of Legends, DOTA2, Starcraft)

thelok · 7 months

I currently started watching streams and I would be interested in seeing MTG matches in higher quality broadcasts. Unfortunately I cancelled my cable TV so I would be able to watch online only.

You already mentioned being able to see the cards by hovering a mouse over it so I think it would be much more interesting in a interactive medium (e.g. internet/computer) than cable. That's what I do most of the time as a beginner, is look up cards if someone plays it. I am sort of annoyed by the crappy quality streams sometimes since I can't make out the cards or the names of cards.

I think the learning curve is pretty high for people that might just watch casually since there are so many cards out there -- so entry into non-interactable media such as cable would seem harder.

vladthor · 7 months

I would watch it. I already watch a lot of MTG Tournaments online and it would be nice to record and watch tournaments on TV as well. I don't know how well they would do on ESPN but maybe ESPN2 or another lesser known station. Like the "weird sports" network that shows international stuff maybe?

It would have to be on par or better than SCG coverage. I always thought they should do something like this on G4.

Purple-Is-Delicious · 7 months

WTF ESPN?! MTG?!, show some fucking HOCKEY.

(I like to play MTG, but it's a game and hobby, not a fucking sport)

mysticrudnin · 7 months

uh that hover thing sounds extremely awesome. high quality (beating twitch) would cause me to move to another service, yes.

Daiches · 7 months

In the words of Daniel Bryan: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Etc! Etc! Except I'll only be able to see it when somebody puts it on YouTube..

SleetTheFox · 7 months

I think it'd be great, but it really would be important to have the board state clearly visible in one form or another. Two people sitting around a table isn't exciting; if you can't see the cards, there's only so much worth watching.

thefifth5 · 7 months

Yes

collinstrader · 7 months

I would watch, as long as the commentators were knowledgeable, and the quality was clear. You could also have commercials for starcity or other large card sellers.

puppetmaster2501 · 7 months

If there was like 1 huge tournament per year with a gigantic prize pool so a lot is on the line, and it just streamed live on twitch.tv, with very skilled commentators/casters who know the cards and can get us in the heads of the players, and the image was high quality and we could see the cards, then yeah me and half of the people I know would watch that.

AJSacher · 7 months

I would love to discuss this with you. PMing you my e-mail address.

Urza's Hot Tub

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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Magic: the Gathering on ESPN again?