Adding another broadcast is not a simple solution, unfortunately. ESL will have a whole other team, stage, and set of production equipment running that. With that said, I'm very interested in seeing if we could leverage observer mode for later open events to run a more cost effective secondary broadcast while still delivering a quality experience.
That's the idea! :]
Definitely heard all of the feedback and would probably make a couple key tweaks to qualification format if I could go back in time. Currently, HCS actually has strong momentum with growing viewership, as well as participation at open events. I also think the open events with Gfinity in Mexico and London were crucial for those scenes, and am very happy we were able to deliver our first official open events in those regions. There's definitely a lot room for improvement and we have already taken steps to grow the entire scene more (Summer and Fall 2017 Finals being open events, and crowdfunding going to open events).
I personally feel we need to do a way better job at communicating rules, formats, reasons for decisions, and timelines further ahead. Believe it or not we have improved in these areas but still not where I want us to be. I also want to focus on building relationships with more players in the amateur scene to get better feel of what motivates them, what are their wants/needs, etc. I also want to ensure all HCS events provide unforgettable experiences that people regret not attending. Those are just a few of my goals for 2017.
Lastly I think it's important to note that the HCS team is small, but we're tough and extremely passionate. And just like any other team working on a program/project, we have logistical and resource boundaries that we must work within.
BTW - I absolutely love how much HCS talk there is in HaloGAF these days. Years ago, people only really spoke about it around major events. I'm also noticing more chatter in general Halo communities like on Waypoint and r/Halo.
