I'll try to organize the feedback I gave in the shout box:

1. Proper pre-planning. Decide beforehand who will be commentating and at what times. Ensure that the commentary is on topic with minimal distractions. It's okay to have color commentary, but realize that new audiences will begin to lose interest, and that purists may be turned off by the lack of discussion surrounding gameplay.
2. Commentators should always know what's going on at all times. These details should be provided via a runner. (off mic)
3. Designate appropriate times for social activity. Drinking, casual games, etc. should be held on the first day of the event to give players time to interact and enjoy being there. Tournament days should be treated as such by the event organizers - It's serious time. Some competitors may not care so much about this aspect, but that's okay, however, the event organizers should care about representing a good image of the community.
4. The singles tournament should be the main event and should accommodate competitor travel schedules. There's no reason why we should all be scratching our heads saying things like: "Um, where's [insert player]?"

On my last point: I know Friday everyone had a great time, but it spilled into the weekend and there were some very distracting moments. With that:

I am NOT trying to tell *individuals* how to act.

This feedback is for the the event organizers so that they can produce a quality time for ALL. Also, consider that you may have younger viewers in attendance. I know this was billed as a mature event, but let's not be prohibitive to possible newcomers. After all ... I started VF at a young age myself.

Thank you to the event organizers and all in attendance. I really missed being up there this weekend - I literally spent 2 days in my sports room following every moment of this classic event. Until the next one.

Edit: added extra point for singles.

Let me just say I enjoyed the NYGX stream! There were hype moments and upsets that glued you to the screen and wanting more of the action. Everyone supported each other during the event which shows that even a small group of players/technicians can work together to make any event a huge success!

I liked the idea of having two setups so that the tourney flowed without having to wait for players to finish a match, then the next set get ready. Also, having different VF games there made it more enticing to see that you can still get VF fill and more (if you played those games before or not).

With watching the stream, I did get to see some amazing matches (waiting for YouTube videos) that showcased the variety of characters in the game and anyone can be picked, even if you never used them before. Also, that the game isn't as difficult or eye catching as people would say. If you take the time to sit and learn the game, you'll enjoy its simple complexity in all its glory.

There were some issues that I saw on the stream. Although the commentary being done well by the players, there were some missing commentary gaps in between the matches where you didn't know what was going on or no one was commenting (if you never played VF before, you would be lost). Also, the game speaker was going off at times where you couldn't hear the left side (some things you can't control).

With that said, NYGX was great! I can't wait to go to it and see all the action that everyone is talking about. Congrats to @cruzlink2 and the team for showing 10 years of VF love and continue to making it better in the future!

I'll just throw some thoughts out as a viewer on this. Keep in mind that while focus on things I didn't like it's not like I didn't have a blast watching. It was awesome!

1. Audio issues
This bugged me the most during the event. There was a problem with the left sound channel getting muted / falling off several times every day. This was for all sound including commentators, not just game sound like said above. Not sure if any of the stream handlers watched the chat but it got brought up several times during the event. Harpooner said it was because people keep shaking the table, probably a bad cable there. What ever it was it was very annoying and I was surprised it didn't get fixed during the event.

2. Stream starting time
This was a saturday thing. I dunno what was going on there but it seemed like the stream started several hours later than it was supposed to. In case something like this happens some communication about what going on would be much appreciated. We got questions going on about it in shoutbox and stream chat and no one who was there said anything.

3. What's on stream and when
This is a minor after thought. You have 3tb, 4FT and 5R in there. Apparently R was showed at some point during friday and we got some 3tb matches on stream too. I don't think we saw any FT. Maybe if it was scheduled we could have had set time of each of those on stream? I haven't thought about this much, I'm just thinking that if you want to have those games on stream some prehand planning might go a long way. Or maybe you just switched to them when someone was playing them?

Other stuff:

Team tournament was mad hype but singles should have been on saturday, so many people were not there. Was the singles tournament random seeded BTW?

Were the tournament rules set up somewhere for reading? I noticed a player not knowing character lock for teams, some confusion about changing stage (random or by choice), someone setting the rounds to 2 during tournament and it also felt a little weird that during teams the player could choose whether he takes a round or a match instead of it being dictated.

Sometimes there were 4 people commentating and at times I think there was no-one.

Overall it was a very good event to watch and I had a great time. A little bit more planning and communication (with the viewers too) would definitely not hurt, though.

Just want to say thanks to the NYC crew who set this event up and all the commentary team and people that showed up and also the people that tuned in to watch. This was a good experience and a fun event. Sorry about my early departure from the singles tournament. I had to get on the bus to get back to CT with my nephew who enjoyed the event as well. Once again thanks to all for the great matches and maybe we can do it again next year. Be well and play hard.

Don't give haya drinks if you want him to commentate, it's a bad combo. Some people mute their stream out of annoyance. Also know what you're talking about... And always have denkai on commentary.. Always.

OK, some points that I believe should be improved next time from my POV:

COMMENTARY
1) content. It is nice to hear comentators having fun. It is annoying to hear them "bun bun bun bun bun" for several minutes, with few laughts in between only
2) understanding. I know I am not native but sometimes it was virtually impossible to understand what they are speakign about, esp when more of them talked at the same time.
3) a bit of technical note comming from what I like - I will enjoy more camera showing the peeps on place that camera showing comentators

SCHEDULE
It was virtually impossible for me to plan in advance my days/nights because I was not able to find what and when will happen. Even when asked on stream directly, answers did not match reality much

STREAM
I believe it will be nice to show inside of the stream directly what is going on, so newly comming viewers do not need to ask. Are this friendlies? Is this some FTwhatever? Is the tourney already goign on? What part of tourney are we in now?
This can easily be in one small techbox on the stream and will really help to know what is going on ATM.

OVERALL
I love to watch the tourney(s) and I really enjoy the stream. The comments above are what I think should be better, but overall I really enjoy the whole show. Rly looking forward till next year peeps

What I missed was giving some time to cruz - we know he is the man behind, so giving him 3 minutes on stream just to speak up to viewers will be nice (if it was there and I missed it by faling asleep out of sheer tiredness, sorry).

EDIT: Also, dotnaiton link shoud work just fine

I can only say so much as I only caught bits of casual play on Friday and singles finals on Sunday but the overall I enjoyed what I saw. VF4:Evo was the first fighting game (first game at all, really) that I really practiced at and watching this weekend really really makes me want to get back into Virtua Fighter. The players and commentators really gave the impression that they were very passionate about the game and that was great, it really gave a sense of a strong community.

My only negative thing to talk about was the overall professionalism of the event. It really felt like a weekly tournament rather than what is supposed to be a premier (the premier) VF tournament. This wasn't a production value thing either, it was that the commentary was very casual and the structure of the tournament wasn't very strict. Grand Finals were going on and people were just sitting around in the background of the player-cams not caring, going about their business. It made it difficult to be excited for the match.

End of the day you've cost me $15 because I am really excited about getting back into VF, so you're growing the community and representing a strong aspect of it, but it didn't come across as a premier VF event that should be on peoples' radars.

I don't know if my opinion matters, but here are a few things I think need improving.

1) You guys really need to find about 4 KNOWLEDGEABLE and dedicated commentators who complement each other's weaknesses very well. For example one who is argumentative that just disagrees with everything and the other who can be someone optimistic and always seems to prove that person wrong or just tell them to shut the hell up. If you can find a pair of individuals like this who can educate the viewers while providing fun commentary you guys wouldn't lose so many viewers. There were many times throughout the weekend where viewers were just dropping like flies and honestly I feel it's just because the game is playing but the majority of the time the commentators are not even talking about what's on stream. They are usually making unnecessary noises, yelling or telling old war stories. I know commentating a game like VF is not easy but if we start working on this now I think by the next event you could have a pair or two of individuals who could be just as good as James Chen and Ultra David.

I'm all for everyone having an opportunity to put in some mic time but that can be done via an interview setup at a completely different station. There you can tell all the war stories you want. Perhaps you can use an event like that as a replacement for when you are having technical difficulties rather than having everyone watch your struggles on stream. Technical difficulty.... cut to an interview.

Also you guys really need to seclude the commentary area. It's to crowded and the station where everyone plays is just to close to it. I tried to commentate for a little bit and through the headphones I was wearing I could hear all the unnecessary noise from people yelling that the mic was picking up. I think you guys should turn the table and put it towards the back wall so the commentators are further away from all the chaos. Plus from that spot you can get a better view of what's going at all times.

2) The stations that are used for tournament play needs headphones. I for one cannot stand unnecessary noise (sorry Haya) because it's very distracting. The place is already loud, people are talking loud to talk over the noise and then you have your personal cheer leader yelling at the top of his lungs to get everyone hype. While I get it and it does bring hype. I think it's disrespectful to the players who are trying hard to focus. Giving them headphones allows them to be alone with just the game sound / music and their thoughts to properly assess how to cope with the fact they are winning or losing. If people want to cheer then perhaps they can do it in the middle or around the projector screen and not at the stations where the players are.

And we should not have to borrow other people's equipment so that donation link needs to be setup ASAP.

3) Do more team battle events! They are seriously fun and highly underrated. I really enjoy playing with my team and actually have a new found respect for @SNAKE BOSS. Watching him take down @Terracrush with the advice I was giving him reminded me of the old days. Plus with team battles everyone does well because even if you play bad there is always someone on the team that comes through leaving all team members feeling like a winner.

4) Players who are serious about helping the scene really need to get a twitter account. Every commentator on stream had the same @NYC_VF handle smdh. I think that was a wasted opportunity to attract a few more people to VF. We are seriously under estimating the power of social media. While many viewers may not care about 99% of the players. There is still that 1% who might be an Eileen fan and wants to follow @Tricky now. Who knows maybe he may even start playing or get other people to watch events when his favorite player Tricky is on stream.

Hahaha speaking of wasted opportunities I could have plugged Win Streak *shakes fist*

5) Make all tournaments free for now to attract players. Perhaps all these shout box warriors will stop flapping there trap and start showing up since the only thing on the line is a little trash talk and some fun.

6) Like Jerky said... SET UP A DONATION LINK! You should not have to bare that burden alone.

7) Lastly there needs to be better communication and a tremendous level of respect for the work that @TechnicalMonkey does. While he looks like he is just sitting in the corner chilling I don't think we realize how much responsibility the guy has. The information he needs to get on stream info correct needs to flow to him rapidly but very smoothly. Perhaps getting some walkie talkies that gives the organizers like @Harpooneer and @cruzlink2 direct contact with him at all times. This way all the back and forth walking to get his attention is eliminated. And for Christ sakes keep that man refreshed with some beverages!

8) Advertise those shirts on stream. Along with asking for donations why not offer your views an opportunity to buy a shirt that way they feel they are getting something for their money. Just price it right so you guys make a decent profit that can go towards buying equipment. If you are just breaking even then it's not worth it, but I think you should sell those 2 shirts and in various colors.

Anyway that's all that I have and sorry for any typos .

Everyone who chipped in to make this event what it was I just want to say thank you. This turned out way better than last time, exceeded my expectations and was definitely one of the best VF events ever made.

Oh wow! Kick in the gut! some people in the chat wanted me to be on mic! that's not my fault if you guys hated me! I did do some good COMMENTARY but thanks for letting me know.

But you know what's funny I was talking about the game and trying to make it better but by all means next time YOU guys make it down to NYGX and be on mic. The people who stood home and complained

I like how jerky said it in the very beginning regarding the professionalism part of it. aiming it towards the tournament organizers not the casual person there playing. It had the feel of a weekly with all the casual drinking etc going on but we are trying to enjoy the game we love at the end of the day. I bet they were trying to the viewer a more indepth view of what is really going on instead of just showing the games on stream and commentators in a very bland and conventional style. I do agree that the "bland and conventional style" should be done for the main event at least so it makes our scene look better somewhat in a professional point of view for viewers of other games and younger audiences too. At the same time it should allow the viewer to try to understand how much fun it is to be there as well to some degree. You don't see that in most streams of other gaming events, it shouldn't be cut out entirely either. It is all about finding that healthy balance of fun and professionalism the best streams have an equal amount of both.

I like how they did it at NYG and they should continue it to allow the viewer to understand what it was like to be there. The next one should require a player to preregister so we know who is playing what tourny and we can hold people accountable more if they don't show. I think they did a good enough job considering how big an event NYG is and the next one should be better hopefully.

Don't take it personally, Haya ... You were kind off the chain during a key segment of the tourney. I love ya bud, but there needs to be a discernible time for viewers where commentary is dedicated to information and engagement.

Big kiss buddy.

Haya, you're not a professional commentator. Don't be offended, it is what it is. Of course some like your commentary since it can be entertaining but it's more suited for a casual stream like a next level day. For NYG tournaments it doesn't really work out IMO when it's time for professionalism.

Nobody is a professional commentator I just did what I did and try to make the game more fun and hype but if that really bothers you then thanks for letting me know so that next time I wont be on the mic. But please do not ask me to come on the mic next time because it makes me look like a dick because some you were ASKING me to come on. People in the chat were crying because one guy was talking forever and not about the game. I'm not putting names but please next time say it in chat and i'll leave the talking to the professionals who are far away from the event and didn't have time to come down but complain.

Can we also get that ding dong ding picture down as it's not a professional thing?

I watched as much of the event as I could on the stream. I really enjoyed what I saw, made me want to play VF, which I havent really had time to play in the past few years. So, congratulations to the organizers and to the players, well done.

My only criticism is that I had no idea about the schedule, and I wanted to see people play VF3 and the older games. Maybe next time decide in advance when games will be played, and maybe have a stream dedicated to minor events? Anyway, I would still like to hear comments and comparisons between FS and the older games.

We should treat VF like smash bros. fans treat the older games in the series, that is, give them some spotlight, hype the lore of the series. I think it would make people pay attention, maybe want to take part!

As far as Commenting goes.. If shidosha showed up.. All this commentary bullshit would be null void.. He couldn't make it.. It hurt presentation wise. Everything else was great.. There is no money in vIrtua fighter so it's no need to run it like a business trying to make a profit or break even. This isn't Evo... It's NYGX!!!! X for R-Rated. If we had sponsors and Donations then we can send for shidosha, clean up and be professional.

I want to say that no one should take this personal or make this personal. this is a community!

also, credit where it's due: this was the best video game event I've attended and I have a tremendous amount of respect for EVERYONE involved in making it happen, cruz, tech, haya, alec - we wouldn't have NYG without you.

I see your point SDS, but I disagree. Why not take ourselves seriously? We want more players, right? We want bigger tourneys, cash prizes, the works, right?

You don't get there by selling the community short. People put time into this game - They are serious. Come on, man let's have some vision regarding the welfare of the community and the players in it. Why do we need to be EVO? You're right, it's NYG (motherfucking 10th anniversary of a long standing tradition) X. Holy shit, be proud of that man.

The astonishing, most impressive fact about it? It was run by completely new faces that were inspired by the efforts of veteran players of past who carried the scene before them.

The baton has been passed.