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Interview with Smite Caster Aggro On The Differences Between Casting Esports and Traditional Sports
Sports broadcasting and esports broadcasting are two different art forms that require different precision to execute correctly. However, for North American Smite caster, Aggro, the transition from traditional sports to esports was a change he was willing to try out. With a love for sports broadcasting, he pursued it in college in hopes that he would one day do it as a profession. Aggro is now a Smite caster for the North American Smite Pro League where he combines his love for sports broadcasting with his love for Smite in hopes he can create a narrative for less experienced viewers. DIG Sage delves more into these nuances and captures his excitement in casting The World Championships this January.
How has your time off from the string of tournaments been? What have you been doing?
Aggro: It's definitely been nice to get a moment to step back and relax a little before HRX, since that is going to be such a crazy time. That's not to say we haven't been working hard though. We have a ton of video and website content planned to release during this month (December). We've also been looking ahead to Season 4, trying to help shape those changes to promote a healthy competitive state for next season.
To go more into context, you started out as an avid sports fan I believe. Could you run me through how that background helped you contribute ideas to improve High-Rez?
Aggro: Yeah, I actually worked in sports broadcasting. I went to school with the idea of being a sports anchor for a local TV station or working somewhere like ESPN. In college I interned at a local TV station in their sports department and once I graduated was hired to be a producer at a sports radio station. I learned a lot about the sports broadcasting world in my 5 years of working in the field. I think that bringing some aspects of traditional sports, such as focusing on star players, could really help grow our scene. On the other hand, it's important to make sure we don't fall into some of the same traps that I think have really hurt the sports broadcasting industry. A lot of those types of pitfalls are easy to avoid in Esports, situations like worrying more about getting a story to print before other outlets instead of worrying about credibility aren't a problem in this field yet.
Going more on these problems that plague traditional sports, a lot of fans and bypassers will draw the question if esports is a sport. Is this a possible answer as to why Esports does not worry about the same things traditional sports does?
Aggro: Media coverage and pressure definitely play a big factor in traditional sports, so there is definitely a difference there. I look at Esports as related to, but not the same as sports. They are related in the sense that professionals usually have a mixture of natural gifts for their skill mixed with hard work and dedication. The differences are fairly obvious, one being sports are played using your whole body whereas Esports are not. But both require their participants to be willing to sacrifice, work extremely hard, and be at the top of their game under pressure - both mentally and physically. One of the things that excites me most about Esports is that this is still the beginning. Fans, players, casters, organizers, sponsors all have the ability to help shape how this industry will look 10, 15, 20 years from now and that's really cool.
Do you believe esports would have more trouble with growing media coverage than traditional sports because of the stereotypes that surround gaming?
Aggro: I think that if Esports grew to the point where it was getting media coverage similar to a mainstream sport like baseball, we would already be past that "overweight gamer in their parent's basement" stereotype.
What do you feel are things that make casting Smite different than any other traditional sport?
Aggro: In traditional sports there is a ball. Anyone can sit down and watch a basketball game and watch the ball to have a rough understanding of what is going on in the game. In Smite, there is no ball. It is entirely up to us as casters to inform the less knowledgeable viewer what is happening, what is important, why it is important and how a team is doing it.
Aggro(right) and fellow High-Rez Caster Hinduman while casting a game. Image courtesy of High-Rez.
Can you pinpoint a game that has importance to you whether it be because of your performance or the hype of a match? Or do you treat all games the same and all equally special?
Aggro: Casting the Super Regionals games definitely had a different feel than a regular season match, so in some ways yes. But overall I try and bring the same energy to every game I cast, but for the really important games they do feel a little different.
Are there any games that you maybe are hoping to see or definitely will see at The World Championships?
Aggro: I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the regions we don't get to see a whole lot of - Brazil, Oceania, LatAm and China - to see how much they've progressed and how they measure up to the SPL teams. I think it's very likely we see a NRG and SoaR rematch, which would be super exciting. And if the two number 1 seeds, NRG and EGR, meet in the finals, that would definitely be an interesting match to watch
In an interview with DJPernicus, he stated that Latam would show the most progress. Do you think this would be enough to take wins off teams like Luminosity and Obey?
Aggro: I think that we could definitely see some competitive games out of the other regions, but I think the star power from teams like LG and Obey will make it difficult for team from other regions to compete.
At this World Championship, which role do you feel will be the most influential in potential upsets?
Aggro: It's tough to say, but I think it will most likely be the solo laner. From what I hear, invades and early pressure are pretty prominent so making sure you control the right side of the map will be critical.
Is there anything that you can tell us about the upcoming plans for Hi-Rez?
Aggro: Unfortunately nothing specific, but I can say I'm excited for you guys to see the stuff we have been working on. I think you'll really like the first Celtic god/goddess :)
Do you have any final statements?
Aggro: Thanks for the interview, I hope to meet a bunch of people at HRX and to provide a good experience for everyone watching. This job is a dream come true for me and I plan on killing it at HRX!
Make sure to follow Aggro on his social media outlets and stay tuned for The Smite World Championships starting January 7th!