#professional behaviour

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This time last week I had this mad idea to share some of my thoughts about “exercise” – not thinking that post would create such a stir! Is it really so radical to recognise that not everyone likes That Word? And that for some, the benefits of exercise aren’t as valued as other important parts of life? And that movements, like people, come in all shapes and sizes so what YOU like might not be…

Once again, it seems that some SC2 commentators have gotten themselves in a fix for unprofessional behaviour that have surfaced during their broadcasts. In particular, the most recent case involves KatuStarcraft in one of Playhem TV's $75 Daily Tournaments where, long story short, he makes a couple of accusations against ex-SlayerS member Dragon for stream cheating during the tournament and the viewers got mad about it. Apparently, it has since led to his dismissal as a caster from Playhem TV.

Now, I'm all for commentators engaging in banter when there's nothing much going on but these guys should be mindful of when 'enough is enough'. Katu called it 'trolling' in his apology and even 'trolling' has its limits. The thing that really griped me was not that he called Dragon out for stream cheating or joked about Dragon's build orders / decision making - it was the fact that he wasn't mature enough, both as a person and as a commentator, to realise that he had taken the joke too far until shit had already hit the proverbial fan. His attitude towards the viewers when 'apologising' on air still carried a tone of nonchalance to many and it felt like he was brushing them off as petty or unimportant.

This reminds me sorely of an incident back sometime ago in the One Nation of Gamers tournament, where Stephano famously forfeited his finals because he was too tired to play. TumbaSC, one of the co-casters alongside MrBitter, apparently made a pretty inappropriate remark regarding the French in general. I'll leave you to sieve through the details over here. Though nothing much was raised about TumbaSC, possibly due to everyone's sights being trained on Stephano, it was still very unprofessional of Tumba to do so. Yes, we get frustrated when events don't go the way it was planned or players themselves are disrespectful, but as a caster you have to stand away from all that.

Commentators, no matter which sport, have to recognise that they are the face AND voice of the organisations that they are commentating for. Yes, super star commentators like Day[9] and TotalBiscuit are less likely to be tied to the bonds of an organisation, unlike HDStarcraft (who works for IPL), but you don't see them sprouting off nonsense inappropriately on air, do you?

The difference between top rate commentators like Day[9], Tastosis, djWHEAT etc and lesser known casters like Katu and Tumba is that in terms of professionalism, the former knows how to be professional even when things go wrong. It is not about exposure or the 'game' knowledge that everyone seems to keep harping on about - those things come eventually with experience and by being active in the community. In order to survive in a highly competitive market, top casters have to differentiate themselves from the crop by showing that they can be responsible with what they say on air.

Anyone can have a good understanding about build orders and strategies if they bother to sit down, read and learn the game. Anyone can try to be as entertaining as possible by talking, listening to their own voice and taking the painful steps to re-learn how they speak so that they would sound less monotonous and more interesting. It is, however, a lot more difficult to consciously 'learn' and prepare for a behaviour that happens in the heat of the moment - you absolutely have to be thinking about what you say before you say it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying that commentators should in any way attempt to self-censor because that will do more harm than good. What I am saying is that commentators looking to go 'pro' should adopt a more professional attitude towards their work. Yes, it is eSports and everyone thinks that we shouldn't try to be like the 'real world' and that we should have our own sets of rules - that's fine - but the fact is, the responses that we are getting from episodes like this proves otherwise. The community, while vocally expressing the wish not to be like the real world, still has innate desires for professional behaviour to exist.

To close off, I would wish for SC2 commentators in general to adopt a more professional approach when it comes to casting and interacting with the community in general. Perhaps in a later blog, I'll discuss a bit more on what I think entails a professional behaviour and how casters can achieve that.