The third Tavern Takeover took place this past weekend. And though the video production quality was among the best seen in Hearthstone to date, the broadcast was dogged by serious sound problems throughout.
Different sound issues were prevalent throughout each day of the tournament, and this clearly affected viewer numbers. The tournament only attracted around 3-7,000 viewers on Twitch, far less than would be expected for a top level tournament with big name players like Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh, Cong “StrifeCro” Shu and Sebastian “Xixo” Bentert.
The problems were serious enough that, in a statement to the Daily Dot, the CEO of PVP Live apologized directly to the community.
“This past weekend, PVP Live failed to execute on our goal and your expectation,” CEO Casey Wehr said. “ Not only did the show not flow with the momentum and efficiency that has been a hallmark of our productions, the audio problems rendered the show, as many fans told me, completely unwatchable.
“I agree with them and there is absolutely no excuse for this.”
Wehr also said that the company had recently broken ground on a new studio that is “designed specifically with maximum production value in mind,” and that this would ideally prevent similar problems from occurring again.
Outside of the sound issues, the tournament had its good moments. The event was won by Jan “Faramir” Engelmann, who continued his great form to round out the year, having won his first major tournament earlier in the week at Heroes of Cards 4. Engelmann defeated renowned deckbuilder Brent “Backspace” Kaskel of Team Archon 4-1 in the final.
Faramir closes out the year as one of the top in-form players, giving both be he and his team IHearthU great momentum going into 2015. “We are really proud of Faramir and what the team has done to prepare him for these back to back wins,” IHearthU team manager “Poach” said. “This was a great way to close out the year for both Faramir and Team IHearthU.”
Wehr requested we print his statement on the event in full. You can read it below:
PVP Live was founded with the goal of professionalizing and raising the production value of esports. Based on prior broadcasts, esports fans have come to expect a high quality PVP Live production. This past weekend, PVP Live failed to execute on our goal and your expectation. Not only did the show not flow with the momentum and efficiency that has been a hallmark of our productions, the audio problems rendered the show, as many fans told me, completely unwatchable. I agree with them and there is absolutely no excuse for this. I want to apologize to every single esports fan who tuned in.
Moving forward and looking towards the future, PVP Live has already broken ground on our new studio. The space was designed specifically with maximum production value in mind. To be more blunt, there will no longer be audio issues.
I want to personally thank Nathan Zamora, Bri Desiree, and Isaac Cummings-Bentley for bringing their enormous talent to bear on carrying our broadcast, and I want to thank the players who participated in the show for delivering to fans, myself included, some of the most incredible and dramatic games in the history of Hearthstone.I have no more promises to make, only a mission: Going forward into 2015 and beyond, PVP Live will deliver the absolute highest quality content in esports, period.
Image via PVPLive
