Hahaha. Thanks for all the suggestions guys. But how would you think the next event would go? If I decided to step away withdraw all of my equipment and arcade hardware and allowed you guys to take over and make it your way?.

Before I put in my two cents I would like to say I am trash commentator and did it to see what it feels like to commentate.

I would like to say VF IMO is way harder to commentate than some other fighting games. SF you can commentate like baseball. You can clearly see whats going on and everybody knows the rules, but VF is different. If I would compare VF to a commentary I would say it's more like poker. VF is more about reads and bluffs and its commentary should be commentated that way. That's why @Denkai, @Rodnutz , and @Shidosha work so well IMO. They're in the players' heads. Frames and tech are good, but to a casual gamer they are not going to know what is going on. Don't get me wrong, lets not get rid of the frame stuff, but make it more about whats going on in the player's head.

Also I know it's a tuff sell, but the reason poker got popular is cause it is commentated in a way that if a guy goes in and doesn't know anything about how to play poker he can still know whats going on. If we can do that with VF we would have something special.

jerky.... We take it serious... But it's not like Sega funding us and giving us tourney planners.. Totally understand what your saying.. Next year.. Things will shape up better and drunk uncle Haya won't commentate but just be featured lol..... I think the mystique about it is done independently and the stream is great quality. It's not like it's a large venue with spectators.. Just a band of brothers playing vf and enjoying the atmosphere.. Now let's say we stream a TOURNEY CALLED VF X SF.. THEN WE WOULD HAVE TO BE PROFFESSIONAL.. DAMN.. DID I JUST THINK OF THAT? Only if Fuudo and Itazan could show up lmao.. I might make that happen... Street fighter has entry fees right hmmm lol... Naaaahh

Thanks Rodnuts, your advice was very helpful and it actually made me more hyped up, motivated and determined to go for the win. I am always open for learning especially from the vets that have been in the game much longer then I have. Helping each other out is what makes a good team. Thank you, that was a really good and fun tournament. We got 3rd place.

come on man, this isn't about that and no one wants NYG without you. let's try and keep an open mind, just wanna talk about how people liked the event.

I agree with @ShinyBrentford in regards to how hard it is to be a commentator. This is why I say we should start now trying to pair up some peeps who could get better at calling the game. I'm not saying dress up in a suit and tie while calling matches, but at least try to get to a level where someone watching for the first time can make sense of what's happening.

Where did the EVO thing come from? NYG is no EVO, but I agree with @Jerky that if we want the community to grow we have to take things a bit more seriously and apply a tad of professionalism.

IMO all the people against this move are still living in the past and are just being to stubborn to accept change. We are not living in the 90's anymore. A standard has already been set in regards to how streams should be done and if we don't adapt no one but us will watch. It's really that simple. Either adapt like the way of VF or get left behind still whining and complaining why no one cares, comes to our tournaments or doesn't want to watch.

Lastly I hope no one is taking any of this feedback to heart. If you can't take constructive criticism then you aren't truly willing to grow IMO. Everyone who contributed to make this the best event ever should be proud of themselves. Everyone attended should also be proud of yourself. This thread is nothing more than a HOW-TO (so to speak) make NYGXI or X2 100% better. Get hype now for what will be better than what we had this past weekend.

Rod.. This is how MY evo talk came about... People wanted professional style planning. You need sponsors or funding for.. Cruz was working with all he had....Real simple. If Shidosha was here... NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT COMMENTARY. (Being that everybody knows. Vf is a bit tricky on commentary ... SO IF YOU WANT JAMES CHEN STYLE COMMENTARY WE CAN PAY SHIDOSHA TRAVEL COSTS THEN.. Other than that.. It was put together nicely WITH ALL DUE RESPECT. No one is stuck in the 90s. We need funding... That is the most part. Money talks...

You don't need funding to develop another good commentator! And when I say professionalism I don't mean suit and tie. I mean we need some structure so we are taken seriously. We need to TEACH people how to watch and enjoy the game. Educate people on the players as well as the meta / mind games. How can we teach that now when everything is so out of order? Come on man I think with given time you could be a Shidosha level commentator. The question is do you want to get there or not? And that question is not just directed towards you it's directed to everyone who wants to see this scene grow. If you want it to grow well then let's create some order instead of this free for all brawl style that we are currently producing. The guys who have been going there every Tuesday have created something great. It just needs a little fine tuning to reap the fruits of their labor.

You only need to look towards the community itself. It's not about paying to get some guy to speak on a microphone it's:

"Hey, we need commentators for the upcoming event. Who would like to volunteer?"

"Hey, we're going to need support for xyz. Who would like to volunteer?"

"Hey everyone, we appreciated all of you attending NYG this year, but we're going to need your help to make the next one even better. If you like weekly streams and uninterrupted VF please consider donating! [link to donations in a very public forum] Again, thank you for your support."

I'd like to give you props for taking an initiative to address the NYC crew on Facebook. That's a fire under everyone's ass ... You want better? Be a part of something better. EVO was not the event it was overnight, and even until this day they get help from the countless volunteers in order to run their tournaments smoothly. Right, @Shag?

Also, I was absolutely stunned/dumbfounded to find out that @cruzlink2 puts up the majority of his time and resources solely to provide VF for the NYC community. He needs help, people. Again, if you like having weekly VF streams and gatherings - Help a brother out.

And I'm going to address the veterans now:

Either be part of the solution or Get. The. Fuck. Out.

I see a lot of bullying going on, and it's fucking disgusting ... Live and let live for crying out loud. There is a new generation that is finding enjoyment in VF and you're fucking ruining it for them.

This game was here before you, and it will be here after you.

Let the new kids play.

Nobody said paying.... I said paying for his travel ticket on the bus if need be.. If people wanted to commentate they would learn or just say what they see but people are playing. I have no trouble on the mic.. But it was occupied... Shidosha has his own businesses to mind so it whateva.. Shit will get done.. Just a lot of you dudes are unappreciative in chat streams.. It I'll handled that on air Tuesday.

NYGX -Day 1 Playlist (let the first video cook for a while, come back later)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO1y4utLw8I&list=PLeJJlpcP8-2Gqkbw3wfytfmJI7yUFxu6Y

NYGX -Day 2 Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3htDXc3fRTU&list=PLeJJlpcP8-2GhrpVNnJjlFlQS3IkH6X2p

NYGX -Day 3 Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRsHjIYA0dg&list=PLeJJlpcP8-2G9WN_E5sfHD3P9voap2SXL

If I get the green light from @cruzlink2, I'd like to get started on the logo design and what not again. I had fun creating the NYGX logo.

(Possibly throw in a couple ideas for possible t-shirt ideas. If @oneida wants to collaborate, I'd be down to help again.)

@Kobi I said it before, and I will say it again, I want a t-shirt with Eileen zenk flipping over a hot dog cart stealing someone's hot dog while the vendor is serving it. As well as Wolf BHing a metal beam.

I get where people are coming with the professionalism, and even during the event I was taking notes on what to do differently.

Before getting into that though: I am seeing lots of talk over here about tournament this, tournament that. The point of the whole weekend was not to have tournaments to see who is the best. The "G" stands for gathering, and the event is tailored for the enjoyment of those present. While we want you guys at home to have a great experience, we are putting this thing together to have a good time. The tournaments this year went off really well compared to last year, and will improve further.

Some notes I took so you guys know I heard you:
1. Pre-registering and set times for events.
We were doing a lot of bracket juggling for people who were showing up late or leaving early. I had set times in the thread but they were ignored and we had to change things a lot. Next year we will have people register themselves in advance and will disqualify people for not showing up when the tournament starts. Brackets started off random, and then we had to adjust for people who weren't there yet. Not a good look.
Also we should have a separate thread with the sole purpose of letting people make teams. We had people make their own teams this year, none of this "keep it balanced" stuff, and it definitely was a better experience. I want to do that next year.

2. Not streaming the entire event.
I think the big complaint from people is that they want pro commentary during the stream. This is a bad thing to ask at a gathering, and a good thing to ask at a tournament. I'm not going to ask blackstar, made man, oneida, other guests to stop playing casuals and come talk on the mic for you guys. They traveled to play, not talk. At the same time we do lots of work and spend money to make this event happen, and we want to play people when there aren't tournaments going on, so NYC guys may not be available for commentary outside tournaments. The entire event doesn't need to be streamed, especially if the people watching the stream don't like what's going on. I'd rather do it this way than changing the point of the whole weekend to serve an audience rather than the players, and I think you guys would rather have it that way too.

3. Commentary Volunteers.
If we go with note number 2, we can secure time in advance for commentary blocks and ask people to volunteer for those blocks. There was really good commentary this weekend by many people, but you never knew who would be willing, and I was yelling on a megaphone for people to do commentary. Setting up volunteers in advance would be better.
Probably more important: I don't see the need for more than 2 people on the mic. 4 people talk over each other too much. Keeping a discussion-style format works well. If we decide to have commentary during non-tournament activity, it should probably be just one guy talking to the chat.

4. Donations.
This might not be a bad idea. I see a lot of misunderstanding about the nature of the equipment and the tournament. This event was free to attend, and the tournaments were free as well. In addition, the shirts I made were free (unless you got 2), the prizes were donated by NYC VF guys, and the stream equipment was all bought by @cruzlink2 and others. We spent lots of money on this thing, and maybe its not a bad idea to open it up for other people to chip in if they want.

Please feel free to donate as much to your liking for The next event.. Ensure "NYGXI" be a bigger success. I will post a itinerary of what the Money will go to and it's purposes.

http://www.gofundme.com/NYGXI

The link should be posted on the front page too so there is no excuse for missing it especially for those that don't come here to VFDC everyday like the usual people here do. If people from other game communities come here to donate, they won't know where to find the link to donate money too right away

I think we'll start pimping that gofundme on the stream. I'm trying to plan out additional small weekend gatherings this year so we can get more turnout. People maybe interested in watching that and we could use it as a platform to get attention.

This is what we were missing.. The monthly gatherings... I miss those... Ill ask Myke to make if front page material. But Kobi is going to make up the new Banner for the go fund me page