PG | SKD @ Home... · @SuperKawaiiDesu
29th Jul 2015 from TwitLonger
MY EVERYDAY LIFE AS THE IZAYOI MODERATOR OF DUSTLOOP DOT COM
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tl;dr HERE CAUSE THIS IS A LONG FUCKIN POST
http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php/topic/10651-cpex-izayoi-general-qa-do-it-for-her/?p=928209
-I want presentable, accessible, intuitive, useful video posting thread.
-As a mod i am cry because i feel like the current video thread model is whack as hell.
-I destroyed the video megathread.
-In its place, hand picked videos (by forum members) for match analysis / discussion thread.
-Hopefully this thread facilitates the kind of discussion that actually helps players improve instead of talking about purple throw unblockables.
-Misc/raw match video dumps in character matchup subforums (so these get actual use) or in a separate thread so they can be found easily if desired.
-**************Focus on making the video discussion thread readable and succinct for important concepts in player analysis, reasoning, and character usage**************
im pretty sure something like this has been attempted before, or this might be a shot in the dark, but heres hopeless romantic skd's twitlonger on dl.
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Well, a lot of people are talking about how to improve dustloop nowadays so here goes. I think this is the most subjective thing i've ever put up.
Being a moderator, I was pretty puzzled with how to manage character specific subforums. There are some very loose guidelines, so it's a kind of...strange "job" to take, not to mention feeling like a lot of the work is redundant or even useless, IMO.
Redundant work was honestly the biggest deterrent. I'd love to answer questions or take part in dynamic discussion but nothing ever facilitated that on a level deeper than "yo do you have a cool combo off this starter" or random "tech" that people talk about. At least in the Izayoi subforum, not much discussion is around how to /actually play the character/. And wow, who better to talk to about how to play Izayoi.
"Flexing" my expertise, for lack of a better term, is what I feel like I should primarily be doing on dustloop, and being the moderator at the same time makes this very convenient. I can try to organize things in the way I see fit, working backwards from my understanding to make things accessible and useful. In my situation, I want a layout that makes it easier for me to teach people. On my end and their end, things need to be easier.
I feel like the video thread is useless, and it makes me not even want to touch it, and then by extension the forum takes a hit.
So, this is my idea: for my sanity as a moderator and someone who wants to teach, my video megathread needs to die.
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There's kind of model that most character subforums have. General discussion thread, Video thread, Combo thread. As a moderator, honestly most of the work comes from maintaining the subforum (rather than being a janitor), and almost all of that comes from the video and combo threads.
Combos, I think need character specific organization and the threads offer a certain complement to the wiki. Combos get enough discussion where a thread is warranted, yet organization is a bit of a question. But once you get the combo thread conceptualized, it's pretty smooth sailing from there. Character combo theory does not usually change much. However you tackle it, its a bit of work but its not very redundant.
Definitely a bit of a controversial opinion, but I think video megathreads are useless in character specific subforums. yet almost every character subforum has one stickied. And that is what i want to talk about.
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As a developing player, back in like 2010 or some shit I would go into these fucking threads to learn about a character and be like what the FUCK DO I CLICK. Obvious easy references were combo videos and tutorials, but those didnt really teach me how to play.
There was a list of matches, i'd be lucky if they were organized by notable players. Organized by matchup, dated, but what did that even mean? I was kind of mislead into thinking that I needed to watch videos of my character by the huge number of video references I had in the thread.
I was lost, and spent a lot of time watching videos to only realize the video really had nothing for me. Maybe footage of an uncommon matchup, but i'd be able to figure out how to play the matchup like that just dipping my feet in the water. What was the point? Many of the videos were intermediate level play. Simply put, any video that featured the character / matchup ~IN JAPAN~ made its way into the threads.
I didnt get anything substantial, I didnt find things that displayed higher understanding of the character or implementation of their tools. It was literally just watching play. Sure, maybe something "interesting" every 20 matches but...eh. The useful things the videos would convey to me at midlevel were situations i had not experienced or thought about, but after a point these things became repetitive.
What i did not get from most videos, was better understanding of the game. Or how to implement things more effectively, how to play smarter. Those subtleties in good matches that i DID watch eluded me, because my level was not there yet. That, I had to grind out on my own. And once I had, videos were worth more to me because I could deeply analyze them, and much more quickly (what a waste of time it was to try to look at matches with a poor understanding).
Previously, I'd almost always benefit more from putting the time into training mode or matches. Sometimes i'd find something interesting, but most of the time /this came from me watching strong players play other characters/ and not the one i was looking for.
And there was no real way to know what I was getting into until I watched it. Watching videos of my character was honestly one of the biggest timesinks that I have put in playing fgs.
Match videos are supposed to help speed up the process by providing reference, but there was such a raw number of them that i had no clue what to reference, and even in the matches that would have served as good reference, it was difficult for me to expedite the learning process because I literally had to test everything before I developed a good sense and foundation for analyzing matches.
Despite giving me a very solid base, I dont think the learning process had to be so arduous. Sharing information is supposed to make this easy.
As an early growing player i think the video megathread format definitely made me super lost, and I think it only has a place for pretty experienced players. Even now, i find that the organization as a forefront for character videos is rough and could be better as someone looking for videos, as well as someone who is supposed to manage them. I think everyone loses.
Notable player videos are important for helping things along, but being ready to make use of them takes a certain level that not many people are at, and as such I think the main video threads should focus on hand picked examples with emphasis on match analysis. Having high level players who can offer this character specific insight is paramount to this kind of model succeeding, and as such i also feel like character experts are important.
Even if there are no super high level players of the character, working out analysis together is a great practice that i barely see on dustloop, and the kind of discussion that WILL make players better.
I had to teach myself to watch videos. And having a huge amount of them does nothing, because 95% of our players dont know how to watch videos. Watching videos does not teach you how to watch videos. Improving your understanding teaches you how to watch videos. And that takes a long fucking time. So we should try to convey how to watch videos of a character in the character subforum main video threads, because this also directly teaches you how to play the character.
It's a nicer job for the moderators, and its an important discussion for the participants. Its also much fucking easier to read and take something from. Direct examples, references, examples of player reasoning and logic (that are much easier to test and apply than formulating trains of thought and testing those without any clue how valid they are) condensed into pages with limited video posts and discussion. Im pretty sure thats what i'd like the video discussion/analysis thread to be, so here i am trying to implement it as such.
http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php/topic/10651-cpex-izayoi-general-qa-do-it-for-her/?p=928209
that post links to the video thread i made, which i started off with an analysis of what i think is a good match, and what i believe should and shouldnt be taken from the match. Instantly, there is direction for players looking to learn from the match, and an easy platform focused on video discussion (rather than just posting the newest videos) to ask questions.
hopefully they dont get flooded in a torrent of videos, but as a moderator i can help clean that up and keep the thread READABLE AND COHESIVE and hopefully portray the discussion in way that people can get something out of just reading the posts. A focus on match analysis and sharing that is important for all parties involved, i think. People can reflect on other's analysis, or see example of how other break down the game. These are the kinds of things we need to constantly share and be exposed to, not fucking combos.
My idea for raw posting of videos...well, it can be okay. But not as the main video thread. My opinion is that the character specific subforums should serve as the hub for dumping matchup videos because they hardly get any discussion, and it is the most convenient place to discuss the matchup specifics in those videos.
If those videos have anything notable or a forum member would like to talk about it, they can post it in the discussion thread to talk about. If it isnt so deep? I can move it into the matchup thread, no problem. If the discussion starts moving towards general questions rather than analysis? General thread!
But having a thread focused on analysis, theory, and discussion of it is pretty important. I'd have killed for something like this back in the day.
And for my everyday life as a moderator, it will make my work much more responsive and dynamic, and not the monotonous maintenance job i feel the video thread currently is. Videos are super useful, but we gotta work with them.