Back to my roots - "Inside the Championship"
Hugh
CameramanSan Francisco, CA Join Date: 2010-04-18 Member: 71444NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
CameramanSan Francisco, CA Join Date: 2010-04-18 Member: 71444NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
Since I started working for Unknown Worlds, I've always had to put NS2 as a whole before my inner fanboy. That means my YouTube channel, NS2HD, the one that got me this job in the first place, always got second best.
The NS2 World Championship was a wonderful melding of developer and player. I felt very strongly about it, because I feel that I myself am a melding of developer and player. Like so many people working at Unknown Worlds, I came from the player base. At heart, that's where I am.
When the Championship rolled around, I decided I would take the opportunity to return to being a player - And make the best piece of NS2 community content I possibly could. With the help of Jess behind the camera, and the cooperation of lots of wonderful players, I set out to create a behind-the-scenes series.
Over the coming week, there will be a new episode every day. Episode 1 is live now. This series really does mean alot to me as an NS2 player. It might just be the best series of episodes NS2HD has ever had. I hope many of you enjoy it, and that it can help cement and preserve the memory of a defining weekend in the history of Unknown Worlds, NS, and all of us players.
The NS2 World Championship was a wonderful melding of developer and player. I felt very strongly about it, because I feel that I myself am a melding of developer and player. Like so many people working at Unknown Worlds, I came from the player base. At heart, that's where I am.
When the Championship rolled around, I decided I would take the opportunity to return to being a player - And make the best piece of NS2 community content I possibly could. With the help of Jess behind the camera, and the cooperation of lots of wonderful players, I set out to create a behind-the-scenes series.
Over the coming week, there will be a new episode every day. Episode 1 is live now. This series really does mean alot to me as an NS2 player. It might just be the best series of episodes NS2HD has ever had. I hope many of you enjoy it, and that it can help cement and preserve the memory of a defining weekend in the history of Unknown Worlds, NS, and all of us players.
Comments
While I haven't been able to watch many of your videos (bloody youtube) you do put lots of effort into them, and its really cool we get this from you. Looking forward to it.
However....
:P
Episode 3 goes live 0600PDT Tuesday
That's a big question @ellnic, it's a good question, and it's a question I can't properly answer in a concise way. Even after I joined UWE, I did continue to make public gameplay commentary videos. As of recently, I've decided to take my YouTube channel in a new direction. I've asked myself: What differentiates me from every other 'lets play/review/preview/impression' gaming channel out there in the world? The answer is: I am part of an actual development team, I am fortunate enough to travel the world and see inside events that define gaming culture (PAX, NS2WC, GDC, Steam Dev Days, GamesCom, Rezzed, etc), I regularly meet highly influential gaming people, I have high-quality video recording equipment, and birth lottery gifted me an accent that, for reasons I don't understand as I think I sound silly, other people seem to find interesting.
So I was faced with a choice: Do I attempt to leverage all those unique characteristics, or do I continue to make 'lets play' style commentary? Do I seek to grow the NS2HD audience, or do I let it tread water for years on end? The answer I've come up with is: Maintain the core NS2 focus, but create a new type of video. Shorter, punchier, higher quality, often episodic, broadly meaningful, and not necessarily NS2 related. The first real test of this was GameAperture 1, which was very successful. GameAperture 2 and 3 were also much more successful than my average 'lets play' style NS2 video. The second big test is this Championship series. I'll be watching the data develop over the coming months to determine if people like this kind of high-quality content more, and if it grows the NS2HD/GameAperture audience.
Not all of these episodic pieces will be eSport/tournament/show related. I am planning one that involves Kerbal Space Program space planes, one that explores a Subnautica development build, and another one involving interviews with influential people in gaming. I also want to do one about Natural Selection 2 commanding - But I'm not sure what form that will take yet. The Hugh that made NS2HD[1] has evolved, grown, and is seeking new experiences: Standing still, or treading water, is not an option. I understand that I will lose many subscribers in this process, but I hope (and my initial data shows this to be happening) that I will gain more than I lose, and that those new subscibers will be more entertained, more engaged, and walk away from a video on my YouTube channel having had a more meaningful experience than they otherwise would have.
And... Episode 4 is live!
Indeed!
Sorry @Asraniel! I was the one loser to crash out instead of partying. After I walked bags of equipment back to my hotel, I sat and waited 20 minutes for a cab that never came, by then it was 2am, and then gave up like a surrender monkey.
That's it for the biggest NS2HD series ever produced!
Spanish people don't have middle names, so removing words just botches our names, we usually omit the second "last name", though. We do have 2 last names. No, do not remove the first last name, that's the important one... It's not the middle name! PLS.
Damn, we need to conquer America again to right this wrong.
Awesome videos nonetheless!
Still liked the videos though