Yes, Vuvuzelas. That's right. I said it... Now, that being said, a Vuvuzela in TF2 isn't exactly what I want, it's more of the concept instead of the constant buzzing. Sure, an alternate Buff Banner Vuvuzela model would be good fun (maybe?), but this idea is deeper then that.
One of the things most astounding about the world cup is seeing the devotions of the fans as they cheer for their teams. During the course of the game you'll see some fan get on their feet to scream in exuberance while other fans may be wallowing in misery. The most important aspect of watching sports with friends and strangers, is the ability to cheer loudly and emote with others.
A fond memory of mine thats relevent to this conversation about spectators is from a Manchester United vs. Glasgow Celtic exhibition game. Sat about a row down and half a row over from me was this family of scottish fans that were most definitely not local. Three boys and a dad all clad in the newest Celtic Green and White Hoop Uniform were singing songs and cheering very loudly before the game started. Once the game started however emotions started to swing the other way. I dunno if it was when Man-U went up 3-0 or 4-0, but the best part of the game was when the Dad stood over his sullen sons, shook out two fierce outward peace signs, and shouted out language not fit for GotFrag.
You evoke those sorts of emotions in people, and allow them to express it, then you have them hooked.
On the other side of the coin, one often hears professional athletes discussing the amazing atmosphere at big games, the roar of the crowd, and how great it is to play in those situations. I think even as an amatuer/school/semi-pro athelete it's often comforting to hear the cheer of the crowd, even if it's just 20 people with friends and family cheering for you.
Right now, one of the drawbacks of watching STV relays + live games is the ability for fans to express themselves. For very justifiable reasons, players are limited to how often they can speak in the STV chat. Writing a very long sentence is not always the best way to connect with a reader/audience/strangers/friends, especially during a live game.
I thus propose that Fans should be allowed to cheer.
I think that unlocking the voice chat, is unrealistic as 1 mic spammer could kill an event for 200 people. Plus there could be bandwidth concerns, fans would already be in seperate mumble parties, and an efficient mute system would have to be put in place. It could happen + work, but theres a better solution.
Valve should create a cheer button. When in a STV relay, spectators should be able to hit a button, spark some voice work and have that cheering be communicated to the rest of the fans, and even potentially to the players. So basically, the spectator would go "OMG" and hit the cheer button, relaying that info to the stv relay server. The relay simply keeps a tally of what percentage of the crowd is cheering, and then includes that information as packets get sent to the client. Depending on what percentage the server returns, the cheering will either be quiet, a smittering of hurrahs, or a raucous cacophony of celebration. The cheer button can fade / toggle off. So it's a 2-second cheer, unless jabbed multiple times or held down for tooo long (30 seconds?).
I mentioned the ability for players to hear it, but certainly that should be a toggle in the beginning. TF2 isn't quite as sound dependent as CS is, but hearing quiet sounds is still a large component of the game. However, it'd just be such a great thing for the game if players were able to hear some sort of feedback. This would make a huge change to the atmosphere of spectating TF2, whether it's Complexity whipping the crowd into a frenzy, stalling tactics in an Invite game on Granary leading to a snooze-fest, or even a low level team with just a few friends sitting in the stands.
It would be an innovative step forward for the process of watching eSports, while also totally being able to highlight the personality of the Team Fortress 2 world. Pick out a few cheer noises for each class, and let spectators choose who they cheer as.
Also. Everyone loves door prizes: Item drops at a reduced rate for spectators in active matches. Voice your support:
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