Ever since they started introducing all these interviews and player introductions (and most recently map picks) in broadcast streams my interest in watching the game has waned a lot. I just find it all really boring at best, and incredibly awkward/annoying at worst. At this point I just mute the stream and check out something else everytime a set finishes, hoping I'll come back to a game when I check back in. I get that the players were annoyed about casters getting all the glory, but doesn't the players actually have to step up and be interesting for it to work ? While there certainly are a few that can put on a show (and even then it feels quite cheesy), the majority of them just doesn't belong infront of a camera.

Players livelyhood often depends on how much recognition they receive. Often the most marketable players aren't the best skill wise. So I like the idea of lesser known players getting random face time, if they blow it then thats their own fault. I'm not sure what streams you're referring too, but I agree overall it can be awkward, but it'll most likely get better as the players get more used to it. Just look at IdrA and how he's evolved PR wise compared to 2 years ago. So overall awkward but necessary imo.

It's mostly to do with how long it takes for players to get set up and ready to play. I don't really mind it, I usually mute streams till about 5 minutes into a game anyway.

I know GOM started to streamline a lot of that stuff as the production got tighter. Remember the 15 minute breaks between games as Tastosis came up with something, anything to talk about? It was fun, but I wasn't working at the time and had plenty of time to kill. Can't say I've kept up with streams lately, but at least that sort of thing mixes it up between games.

I haven't watched for awhile, but a little fluff probably is essential to getting new and casual fans to watch.

Most non-hardcore people would be totally lost watching a stream

Someone else is watching Dreamhack huh? I do agree that it's majorly awkward at best, but as Starcraft 2 grows as a spectator sport the production teams will figure out what works and what doesn't. As others have said, what we have today is light years ahead of the first few months of SC2, and it will only get better, if only because it can't get much worse...

They really need to tighten up how long it takes between games. You don't need to analyze ever serve of a tennis match for 10 minutes.

Hey, but KPop and Dubstep music videos are alright guys? Right?

(Gangnam style gets a pass for being epic.) Genuinely I'm almost down on random music videos inbetween games. I guess.

If you're referring to the Dreamhack finals, yes, the interviews are really awkward. I'd put the blame on the players for the most part though, even someone like Stephano, who should be used to being interviewed by now gives terrible one-line answers that don't answer anything.

The player interviews and the part where they talked with Thorzain's oldest fan were better than any of the matches this weekend

In somewhat related news, White-Ra is awesome:

Anyone got any links or videos to share of this fluff?

I only watch GSL VODs so I just skip over everything a lot of the time but yes, I hate all the time they waste on a lot of that stuff. Winner interviews are fine but when they focus on the maps a ton it's kinda dumb, especially since almost all the non-GSL tournaments use the same map pool now. I stopped watching MLG, Dreamhack because of that (and also because I have literally no time whatsoever).

It's too bad, if Starcraft players had more personality they could cut old school WWF-style promos with just them and like a manager against a wall, yelling about fucking nothing. I'd totally pay to see those streams.

league of legends tourneys have the same problem, alot of extra stuff between games that is usually badly produced and or cringeworthy. 'Esports' broadcasting just needs to find it's groove, it just seems very thrown together and sometimes unproffesional as is.