Aspiring Streamer/Caster seeks Experienced Tutor(s)

Greetings, folks! Thought I'd introduce myself a little better and get information for what I'm trying to do out there.

My name's Austin, commonly referred to as Charcoal by people who have not eaten in the same room as me. I'm a 20 year old student at North Carolina State University and a lover and player of all sorts of games. I've been playing RTS games casually since I was very young (I started with Empire Earth when I was 9 or so) but never tried to take them seriously until the advent of Starcraft II a few years ago. With the rise of the second era of eSports, streaming and casting have become very intriguing to me. I've done a fair number of casual streams and gotten a bit of casting practice previously with some minor Dota 2 inhouse leagues, but that scene has basically cemented itself- DotA has been around for ages, and enough major production studios have formed around Dota 2 over the past few years that there's not much more room (or need) for any more casters.

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However, Planetary Annihilation is shaping up to be a wonderful prospect for an eSport. The concept is a fresh new (spherical) spin on a classic tried-and-true concept, and the devs are already putting several features in place that will make it viable to play at a competitive level very early on. I'd love to be one of the many to help PA gain a competitive scene and a consistent viewership, but I'll need a little help. I can bring most of the streaming components to the table, from the actual production and broadcasting to the commentary and personality, but I don't have the years of competitive experience and knowledge with games like Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander that I know many of you do. I'm looking for one or more experienced players to help bring me up to speed on the concepts I'm missing. I'm not a complete and utter novice, but I'm still very shaky on the much larger macro game compared to quicker and smaller-scale RTSes like Warcraft, Starcraft, and any other games that end in -craft. Comfortability in front of a camera and being compatible with a US Eastern Standard Timezone are nice pluses, but far from necessary.

In the future I'll be looking to organize, host, and cast tournaments, but I need to take things one step at a time. Step one is knowing what I'm talking about, and I'm not going to get there in time without your help. As I build my way up, I'll keep you all posted on my plans and call out for help in any additional roles I might need filled. Until then, I need folks to show me the ropes and destroy me in practice matches until I finally get the idea.

If you're interested, add me on Steam or Skype- my username is charcoalcoyote for both. If you want to check in on my progress, check up on me at twitch.tv/charcoalcoyote. Eventually I hope to stream daily, but things will be spotty as I start up. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions, PM me on the forums or add me on the aforementioned accounts and I'll be happy to listen!

I think you should play the game a lot and get the feel of it. Come to the Irc and Jump into ladder games and watch how the best play and cast them. I'd be happy to watch. Then I recommend watching each of zaphodx1 videos. Other than his charisma and super sexy voice, it's his knowledge of PA which makes him the best caster at the moment.

Anyhows best of luck with it.

I'm having a look at his 2v2 finals cast currently. Already picking up a lot more than just by playing randomly. I'll try to weasel my way into the IRC today after class gets done (3:00 or so), and snoop around from there.

Unrelated PS: These verification captchas are mind boggling to read.

Slightly Related PPS: Having player names over commanders is definitely a suggestion on the top of my list of things to add eventually.

You're going to need to prove yourself before someone will be interested in sitting down and tutoring you.

25,000 new players were just added to the game – lots of them are aspiring commentators.

I'd start with watching matches and get a feel for the game, commentating styles, and the like.

Here's a collection of commentated matches from multiple commentators: http://pamatches.com/pov-commentary/commentary/

Well, I'm not -entirely- inexperienced. I've had the game since night one of alpha, but I've not been playing it as my 'main game' due to one reason or the other- machine lag, internet lag, other games, all of which are now-rectified issues. The game's evolved a fair bit from the endless ant spam and brutally OP walls that I remember. I can play the game, I just can't play it anywhere near as well as the people who played Total Annihilation or Supreme Commander competitively for a few years. That said, I've already been watching the videos and I've got some folks in line to play with later today.

Good to hear.

Practice practice practice.

As the manager of PA Matches, I watch tons of videos. I've noticed that the skill of the commentator nearly directly correlates to to their in game skill. Commentators who don't really know how to play the game well generally aren't very good at commentating.

Gain experience. Watch videos. Learn. Make your own videos and you'll get there. The best way to learn is to do.

Looking forward to watching your videos!

Hey there,

There are a whole bunch of Youtubers and Live casters that hang out on my teamspeak. Hop on anytime and join us.

Teamspeak 3 - 37.59.165.109

We are always happy to help or exchange ideas

Cheers.

My advice is to get in with a clan and people within it would likely be to able tutor you. We are recruiting but ideally we want people who have youtube channels as well. At some stage I need to talk to the candidates. Our philosophy is today's newb could be tomorrows pro. Pm me of you are interested in joining our clan for now and if you have any videos on say Youtube.

Clans are a great way to connect with people and expand your knowledge. They can help you get to where you want to go and also give you opportunities to even work within the clan itself.

We are recruiting as are Ballistic Logistics and others.