I think the marathon was great, all together. The idea of having skype callers, arranged call-in discussions, and guest commentators helped keep the marathon moving without any dull, empty spaces, unlike several marathons that I've seen before. Personally, I find after this bit, it's a little better to have too many people on the line at once than only one who's doing the bare minimum of talking and commentating.
This is probably going to be feedback about everyone involved in the event, together, in one post. That includes hosts, callers, chatters, and everyone in-between.
The Metroid Prime series, in my opinion, isn't great for a marathon. They're a little bit lengthy to chug through if you don't know precisely where to go at the specific time necessary, and unless the individual viewer knows what they're looking at, the pace of movement, as well as map navigation can be a little disorienting. That's got little to do with the events that occurred during the marathon, of course, but just my two cents about the game.
If a caller/commentator has backed off and not given input, or even more, audibly moved on to something else, I think the person should probably go ahead and be dropped, since, well they're not really participating... That's not to be confused with someone who's involved with the discussion, but is looking for a chance to speak his or her mind; to maintain a diverse range of views, sometimes you have to wait to speak or hear yours, and there's no problem with that.
While I feel the chat can honestly be regulated mostly by those in the chat, I would say that in most cases, anything off the topic of video games, as in completely unrelated to video games, the staff, NWR, or anything in that realm (Read: Baseball), should be left out of the verbal discussion. While viewers, readers, and even chatters can easily ignore parts of the chat they dislike or wouldn't follow, the same can't be said about what whomever on the feed says. Leave that stuff off the skype calls, and I think most would be happier.
I also know I called up and spoke for hours, overall, and I definitely would not have been offended had anyone, in the chat or hosting the marathon, wanted to disconnect my call or something similar. Even if people found me a relevant and interesting speaker this time, I know that depending on the circumstances and even something as simple as my mood, that might not be true. Since this is the case, it should be said that anyone calling in, myself included, should just about always be prepared to end the call, and if removed, wait some time and ask privately to get back in the call. Speaking of private... Chessa (and maybe Nick) need to learn to check private messages in chat! I sent one or two the first day, and found I'd be more likely to get a response via the skype messenger. Ultimately, it might be best if there were a liaison to transmit important private talk to them, in order to weed out things that might make that responsibility unmanageable during busy times. Any staffer would probably do.
If possible, though I know it would be difficult, I'd much prefer to be able to hear everyone there while on a skype call. Often, the game's player and/or navigator could be heard via the feed, but not by the skypers, and I read a few people complaining about confusion and too many conversation. With that said, don't complain about chat being off-topic of whomever is speaking. It's a chat; people will say what they want, when they want, and I'd hope regulation would only need to be at a minimum there. The chat isn't just going to jump on what's being said, especially if there's already disconnect between the hosts and the commenters, so just take the chance to discuss whatever you'd like in chat. I speak as a caller when I say seeing "Three conversations...
" posted in the chat is difficult to deal with. Every time I saw that, I'd listen in to hear Nick and Chessa's line, and couldn't hear anything from them, at all. Taking it further, when I was listening to the feed, I saw people say that, while at the time there were only two, and my impression was the third referenced the chat. The truth was, it was confusing and annoying as a caller and a chatter to see someone complaining about things in the chat and on the feed at once, so don't do it, jerks :p
If you ask me, I personally try not to be too vulgar, however, I don't mind offensive things, one bit, and if they get to be too much, I'm a pretty good selective hearer. I found the things Nick and Chessa said, at several points, to be absolutely hilarious, especially when Chessa was playing. I would encourage a little more active switching between the two just because I felt bad hearing that Nick's hand was beginning to hurt from playing the game.
Yes, yes, I know that was mostly criticisms, but I want to leave with saying it's the best marathon I've ever watched, and the only one I've chosen to be even a part of the chat. I critique because I enjoyed it, and I want to add in my thoughts to perhaps spark an idea that would make it better, Chessa (Don't hunt me down! You'll probably just attack the other Jason on accident, anyways). Most everyone had great chemistry for having never spoken with each other, and I felt often meshed well with NWR staff. Nick and Chessa played the games great, and were impressive, given how vast the MP series really is. Every aspect of the event blended very well, so let's see it again some time.
Thanks!
Topic: Metroid Prime Trilogy Marathon Weekend (Read 22130 times)
