Suggestion for the live events, adding an analyst desk

  • Thread starter SkyPikmin
  • 11 comments
  • 769 views

Would an analyst(s) fit well in GT live events

  • Yes

    Votes: 23 92.0%
  • No (explain why)

    Votes: 2 8.0%

  • Total voters
    25
54
France
France
Hello everyone, today I will present you an idea that I think could be great to improve the live event experience for the viewers, but maybe I'm the only one thinking so :lol: so before trying to send it to Polyphony, let's have a debate.

So I will present this idea to you in 3 parts, first I'll explain the general idea of what is an analyst desk, then why in my opinion it would be nice to have such a thing in the live events and finally what would indeed be the job of the said "analysts", and finally simply sum up what would they have to do in order to be able to do the job.

Intro:

So first I want to say that I respect the commentators and that they always do an amazing job, (at least I can talk for the English and Spanish broadcasts that I watch after the events and I always find them very entertaining) ;), keep it up guys, you're amazing.
This was just to say that the analyst desk would work like an "assistant" for them, and by no means it would take to much of their role.

Part I: What is an analyst desk ?

So let's jump right into it, if you are familiar with other esports broadcasts, or even some other real life sports broadcasts, you might be aware that there is often at least two different person (or group of person) talking during the live broadcast, and that they are not doing exactly the same thing, some of them are indeed referred to as "commentators" that is to say they describe what is happening, what they see during the game/match..., and they try their best to make it as entertaining as possible, then sometimes what I would call a "field reporter" is walking between every player/manager... to get their feeling before/during/after the matches, and finally we come to the said "analysts" who are usually people who know the game/sport by heart, all the rules, the strength/weaknesses of each player/car, (each bump on the nordschleife... :lol:) etc... So basically they are the pros when it comes to go more in detail on what happened during a race (let's talk in our words :lol:) that led to the result it led to, and what should happen in the next one given the datas they have gathered by playing/talking to the players...
They usually appear during the live events between each game, (the commentator announces them after the summary of the previous game, they do their thing and then they give it back to the commentators to start the next game). So I would definitely see it happening in GT live events, like 3 to 5 minutes between each race, time to let the drivers practice a bit a the commentators getting ready for next round.
So now let me explain how to implement it to the live events, that is to say what would they have to know/say....

Part II: Why would they be here for ?

So I can already see you all thinking, "we already have the commentators saying a lot of stuff during the live events, what would these plebs say that we don't already know ?"
First, when it comes to live events, and I'm sure a lot of you are aware of this fact, there is often a custom BoP (for the nations cup at least) to try and balance the cars, but only the guys that are taking part in said events actually know the BoP. That makes a lot of difference than just thinking "Yeah this car was OP on my daily race so this guy will win", you have to talk to all the drivers to get a feel on which car is in fact really strong and which car will send you directly to repechage (or even to end oft he event after one race), obviously for new cars you can't know until the very end before the race, for example, I knew the Ferrari and Lamborghini for DT gardens where strong cars because I went to watch all the practice sessions, something that the commentators can't afford because they have no time (briefings, rehearsals...), I also knew the Ford GT and the MP4 were beasts on Fuji because I asked the guys that were going to do the race to tell me what were the best and worst cars and again I watched the practice session and it confirmed what had been said. There is also the mental side of being in a live event, after spending some time with every driver, you can determine how he feels racing on stage, which is a crucial part when it comes to perform on live events, again something that commentators can't afford spending to much time. The analysts would also be able to interview the drivers at the end of a race to get his feels on the moment. And an other important thing, they would be able to pick some interesting moments of the race and explain what happened in detail, to help the viewers understand how pros are planning overtakes, defending, lines....
That might also release some pressure of the commentators who have to stay on point during more than 2 hours, and I have to say that even if I would really enjoy being able to commentate the races for the french viewers, it must take some endurance :lol: (particularly on the side of MC_Epsilon (for spanish) who is giving it all during all the live events, such a legend :lol:).

Part III: How would an analyst(s) work on live events

So I thought that it would be great to say how could someone become an analyst on the GT Sport live events, so to begin with, you have to be a great player, not mandatory to have the level to be able to compete on the events but it would be great, obviously if you're at this level then you already have all the basic knowledge for when it comes to analyze moves/crashes... Then obviously gathering datas has to be your full time job when on live events, talking to all the drivers, going to briefings to have the last rule changes, watching every practice session, studying the race settings, Bops, to determine which strategy should work and which shouldn't before the races are run, and know which car would be better if they were all driven by the same driver (because of course there will always be some cars better than others for a given track).

That's pretty much everything, if I think of something to add I'll edit this post and tell you the update in the comment section, thanks to everyone who will take some time to read and answer, and it's very important that you answer with constructive criticism, I have no problem with people that don't think it's a good idea as long as they explain why in a clear and understandable way ;)

If there is a point on which you want more explanation then feel free to ask and I'll try to answer quickly and clearly ;)
 
Actually, they could employ top players who didn’t qualify to do this.

Not a bad idea at all. Just needs to be balanced right with the commentators.

Then again only a fraction of the players gets involved enough with the game to even value more professional input. PD will most likely cater to the 80% that do offline mode against the AI, crash the whole field in corner 1 in Sport mode and „race“ on SSRX... :(
 
It should be done, and considering that there are loads of 'spare' players for any event where both Nations and Manu are featured, there are plenty of people possible for the role.

If it meant an increase in broadcast length, then I would prefer for any broadcast time increase to be used to have longer races as a priority however
 
A good Idea since many of us are interested in more details/ backrounds and it would make look the event more professional.

There can be many other improvements also, but it lacks unfortunately on broadcasting time. The races until the final race are to short. Not only that its a little bit to brutal for the drivers but also its less thrilling, because you already know that only the first quarter guys will have chances since its not possible to go from back to front in an alien grid in that short race.

So for example the repechage races are for the most drivers a joke. It would make more sense to make a short qualifying before to give the drivers a true chance.

All this makes the races not as clean as the top splits usually are, even almost dirty.

What I would love to see except of this is that they stream each racers view on a own stream. So you would be able to watch for example the race from seat nr.3 where driver xxx races.
 
Seems like either a waste of money for PD if it was paid or a waste of time for the "analyst" if it wasn't.

Or see it that way, the analyst is a player that has already been part of the live events and just loves the game and is willing to help it getting bigger and better, with no ****s given on being paid or not, this way he just enjoys being part of it like all the players do, on a side note, nobody talks about money in the events, and none of the player ever said they wanted a prize money. Even more, we all agree that prize money would be "bad" for the events as it would intensify the aggressivity of everyone and lower the family atmosphere that reigns during the events ;) Now I understand your point of view of "being paid for the work" but again I think if you really love the game and want to help, you won't feel the need to be paid at all, the simple fact of being there at the events is already amazing enough, you might need to already know how it feels to understand but trust me there would be no need to pay anyone to get them to a live event to do the analyst job ;)
 
Quick question - is fuel mapping allowed in the championships? I know some of the competitors when racing have mentioned they are saving fuel, but was wondering if they used that, as well. I really like the idea of an analyst desk at the championships. For example, in NASCAR, when Larry McReynolds on FOX does his racing analyst, I always feel like I learn something new and have a better understanding of the strategy and thought process teams make in the race. I think Jimmy would work really well in that roll
 
Quick question - is fuel mapping allowed in the championships? I know some of the competitors when racing have mentioned they are saving fuel, but was wondering if they used that, as well. I really like the idea of an analyst desk at the championships. For example, in NASCAR, when Larry McReynolds on FOX does his racing analyst, I always feel like I learn something new and have a better understanding of the strategy and thought process teams make in the race. I think Jimmy would work really well in that roll

Hi, yes fuel mapping is allowed during live events and yes some drivers are using the different maps to manage their fuel consumption, some only short shift, it depends and you can adapt depending on the race setting, thanks for your answer ;)
 
How about somebody who hangs out with the players to get the inside scoop? He’ll report back to Jimmy+Co to fill them in on what the players are talking about, the collective mood, the concerns.

Remember last year’s Manufacturer final where the pole sitter was punted into oblivion? Yeah we got none of the real player reactions, the frustration, the laughable penalty given etc.

All we got was a quick mic check with a player or two who couldn’t express none of their true thoughts or feelings, just remembering their PR training.
 
In concept this is a great idea, someone like yourself would be great always detailed reports and I do believe it would add something.

Realistically if there was someone like this, they would be very much part of the show, given this is a live show, they would likely have to be auditioned etc and would more than likely end up having to do the same briefings, rehearsals etc as presenter and commentators which would inherently go against the concept because they wouldn’t have the time to mingle.
 
I think this is an excellent idea. I noticed the (English) commentators made a few mistakes during the streams. Normally they come and talk to us to find out about the strategy and what each of the cars are like, but we didn't get the chance this event because they were so busy doing the presenting as well. They were all relatively minor things like how long the softs lasted at Catalunya or which cars have the best tyre wear.
I think having someone who knows the game inside out would really add to the broadcasts. I know Jimmy has starting to play GT sport a bit now he has a new rig so I expect him to improve on this
 
Or see it that way, the analyst is a player that has already been part of the live events and just loves the game and is willing to help it getting bigger and better, with no ****s given on being paid or not, this way he just enjoys being part of it like all the players do, on a side note, nobody talks about money in the events, and none of the player ever said they wanted a prize money. Even more, we all agree that prize money would be "bad" for the events as it would intensify the aggressivity of everyone and lower the family atmosphere that reigns during the events ;) Now I understand your point of view of "being paid for the work" but again I think if you really love the game and want to help, you won't feel the need to be paid at all, the simple fact of being there at the events is already amazing enough, you might need to already know how it feels to understand but trust me there would be no need to pay anyone to get them to a live event to do the analyst job ;)

I mean good luck if those people are out there but really I don't see much in what you've described that couldn't be covered by the live commentator so I dont see the value in having a separate analyst.
 

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