[Maro]

First off, congrats to Kelly for getting the gig, and all zee best in this new experience.

Next, I echo some earlier comments where it'd be good for the viewers if the commentators don't simply state the obvious, but instead 'paint up' a story to 'mess up' the viewers' imagination. Tastosis and Day9 were masters of this 'commentating' skill and I suppose it'll take a bit of time to adjust to a different level of commentating, as portrayed by Kelly.

She's still young, so she can only get better, especially her diction and clarity. Less slurring, less 'kentang-slanging', and more emotions into her casting/commentating and she'll do awesome.

Just sayin..

[protoss-my-salad]

Originally Posted by kellyMILKIES

Mozart,

To address some of your issues. The terms I use have been discussed prior to the cast. I am suppose to say blue / red zerg because for people it will be easier to see on the screen. As viewers, there is always going to be 2 side, example "Why does she keep saying leenock, I have to scroll over to see what their names are."
^ example shows that there is going to be different response to how I call out the players.

I will keep in mind not to use Toss if you feel it's such a big issue. That can be fixed easily.

As for self marketing, fuckslits was my old blog name and mostly only my friends read it. I have since changed it to my nick name.
For Milkies, I am sorry. I don't see what the big deal is unless your mind is already set on it to be something other than a nick I used to use for a MMORPG named RoseOnline which then stuck.
It is not meant to be what you might be thinking it is -o-"
My friends all decided to use the nick name ****ies.
There were Drummies, Smarties, Yukies, Panties, Cookies, and I decided to use Milkies -o-
Hope that clears up some issues

Are you really saying that the GOM staff wants you to not say the players names when you're casting, and just call them by what race they are?

I don't understand why they would want you to do that for Code A, when Artosis and Tasteless always use the players name during the cast. Also you're example of us having to scroll over the units to see the players name doesn't really make sense, since we can see the names on the top of the screen. It also shows what color and race they are along side there name.

Plus we don't even control the camera obviously so we wouldn't be able to scroll over the units to see the name in the first place. That is why they have the scoreboard thing on the top of the screen like I said.

I think you are doing a better job than you did on the first day. You've improved slowing down and not getting too excited.

It was funny Tasteless on game 3 Rain vs. Yeah when you said Tore and he laughed at you. You should smack him next time he does that.

Okay so... I just watched the moonglade vs zenexjjun and you almost never said Zerg player, you said his name. You didn't do the same for the "Terran player" aka ZenexJJun.

[bovineblitz]

Originally Posted by protoss-my-salad

However I am watching last nights code A and I must say, I see improvement. I really didn't think you could do it, and showing improvement in only 1 day, that's really impressive so hats off to you. The whole stim-talk thing.. didn't even notice that once. Very good job controlling that.

I was thinking the same thing, then I watched YugiOh vs Leenock.

I was really frustrated with Kelly's casting. Beyond the things that have been brought up before (talking about obvious things for too long, echoing tasteless, calling players by colors makes it feel like she's unfamiliar with the players, etc) some stuff she said was just straight up in accurate. The most glaring example was game 2 at the end when she definitively said YugiOh had no upgrades but he actually had 2-1 (while she said that the observer clicked on one of YugiOh's roaches, lol). Another was saying speedling upgrade + banelings nest = speed banes. She was saying (and reiterated later) that Leenock could've ended the game at 17min, but there's no way his roach army could've broken the spines/roaches/infestors of YugiOh. Also, not every natural expansion is a fast expansion. There were a couple more things but I don't feel like rewatching just for the sake of criticism.

She seemed a little better in terms of theory in the previous games, idk what happened that made the casting of the last match weaker.

To be fair, the observer was horrible at the beginning of the last GSL and now does a really good job and even occasionally brings viewers' attention to important things, so there's definitely a learning curve to casting live with the pressure of so many viewers and TL.

[EveMassacrisM]

Mancannon you're one sick **** and i love you

[Usul]

Your post got deleted but you still feel the need of posting it again? Please, go fap somewhere else.

Originally Posted by ManCannon

i shall behave b4 i get banned

[ManCannon]

I shall manner up b4 i join my friends in 4chan land

[JacziE]

Criticism is fine, full-on flame is not. Feel free to post that on 4chan but it's not welcome here.

[Usul]

Nice editing, me likey!

[ManCannon]

I like how you lot fill it up with criticism and i get labeled flame? XD

[JacziE]

I'm sure 10x worth of 'fap' is criticism.

[Usul]

Originally Posted by ManCannon

I like how you lot fill it up with criticism and i get labeled flame? XD

Your post was nothing else than you telling us about your latest masturbating habits. Keep it to yourself, we don't need to know. Now, Mr. Fap, meet Mr. KY, have fun and GTFO. Thank you.

[Usul]

Originally Posted by ManCannon

I agree, im a moron and will not post on this site anymore

Very constructive comment, it was great knowing you.

ps: I'll pass on your offer though.

Edit: kekeke

[dKiWi]

Today's Singaporean daily paper featured Kelly. Quite well written i have to say

[Usul]

Hey, welcome back. I'd like to thank you for your heartwarming PM. Sadly, I have to decline your offer once again... Have fun getting your message edited/erased for the third time

[nirvAnA]

looks like some guys posted it on tl!

+ Show +

and some dude typed it all out

+ Show +

A Singaporean commentating in one of the world's biggest computer gaming leagues is getting flak for her supposedly incomprehensible pronunciation.

Ms. Kelly Ong, 21, is the only Singaporean working in the GOMTV Global StarCraft II League (GSL), a large tournament-based league held on location in Seoul, SouthKorea.
With 64 international gamers and $$158,000 in prize money for every tournament, it is broadcast on GOMtv.net six nights a week. It is now in its 6th season and the International GSL website draws 100,000 viewers daily.

The GSL claims to be the highest paying tournament in e-sports. Its commentators are a mix of nationalities, from Korean to American to Singaporean Ms Ong, who is better known by her handle kellyMILKIES.

Her appointment had itself generated controversey, with numerous gamers protesting over her "thick accent" and saying in various forums that she is "difficult to understand".
She has been on the job for more than a week and the criticism, mainly from Western gamers, has continued to pour in. One Singaporean poster even accused her of having a fake Australian accent.

However, other gamers have defended her commentating style.

In an email interview with LifeStyle, Ms Ong said that she received many "horrible, horrible emails" even before her first broadcast. But she is unfazed by the more extreme comments, "It's just the Internet talking."

"I think the spotlight is on me because I have an Asian accent and I am female. That makes me an auto-target in a male-dominated environment."

She points out that she has previously worked with British bosses "who did not have a problem understanding me from day one".

Ms Ong, who was handpicked from hundreds of other commentators, or casters as they are called, is relishing the opportunity to work with the big boys. Signed up for this season, she is currently casting three games a week with a co-commentator.
She does not want to disclose her salary.

"GSL is the pinnacle of professional gaming, so to be able to be a commentator here has been phenomenal," she says.

She started gaming competitively in 2005 through the ubiquitous Counter-Strike before moving on to casting. She has also competed in and casted regional tournaments, such as the Colosseum Singapore SC2 LAN.

She completed her secondary school education before dropping out of a private diploma course to work.

Local gamers told LifeStyle that they could not understand the furore over Ms Ong's accent. Game developer Joanna Lee, 31, gave her a seven out of 10.

She says: "Kelly's pretty all right, except for her pronunciation, but I have seen worse. Maybe they are just not used to the Singaporean accent and are being a bit too critical.
"Female gamers tend to attract more attention because the arena is male-dominated."

Gamers say:

Mog[skynet] from Arizona:
I watched that whole replay and I think my ears are bleeding. There are parts where she's not bad, but when she starts trying to explain strategy and/or tlaks fast, I can't really understand her.

zedman1991 from Seattle:
I didn't htink it was TOO horrible, but she definitely needs to learn a bit more about the game. Some of it was unintelligible, and some of it wasn't really correct or was missing some important points.

BryanTan123 from Singapore:
I have no respect for u Kelly Ong. Your faux Australian accent is ******* irritating. U haf no right commentating in Code A.

An1Ma from the Netherlands:
Though she is not speaking English fluently, it is good enough for me and her looks are great as well.

Thowky in Britain:
She's not the best caster in the world but she's decent enough and her accent really isn't as strong as people make it out to be, certianly not as strong as a lot of UK and other accents I hear on a daily basis.

[Makra]

Lol she gets criticised for having an asian accent by Westerners, and when she tries adapting that accent she gets criticised by asians for having a fake aussie accent....

[ke_ivan]

Hi guys,

We can fix the ST Life! article. If we show overwhelming support for Kelly in well-worded forum letters, there's a strong chance that the positive reactions will be published in this coming Sunday's Life!. Please do not tarry writing the letters, and send them in by Tuesday or Wednesday. Please send them to Nicholas Yong at nicy@sph.com.sg regarding 'Game Off for Asian Accent'.

Some pointers: Article balance, unfair/ unbalanced headline, un-nationalistic headline approach to the issue.

[ManCannon]

It's just retarded, Sc community is way too anal.

[JacziE]

ke_ivan, the article is fine, there's nothing wrong with it. The story wouldn't be picked up if it was just about Kelly going to GSL -- but criticism about the accent is, considering how the Singapore government is pushing for 'better english' campaigns. This is probably the main reason why the story was able to get there in the first place.

I think people shouldn't look at this article so negatively. What I get out of it is:

1) sg girl has accent
2) sg girl gets flamed
3) sg girl gets a prestigious job despite the accent
4) sg and sg girl still wins

No offense, but no need to go all out white knight to the writer for writing such an article.

[ke_ivan]

Originally Posted by JacziE

ke_ivan, the article is fine, there's nothing wrong with it. The story wouldn't be picked up if it was just about Kelly going to GSL -- but criticism about the accent is, considering how the Singapore government is pushing for 'better english' campaigns. This is probably the main reason why the story was able to get there in the first place.

I think people shouldn't look at this article so negatively. What I get out of it is:

1) sg girl has accent
2) sg girl gets flamed
3) sg girl gets a prestigious job despite the accent
4) sg and sg girl still wins

No offense, but no need to go all out white knight to the writer for writing such an article.

True, the article was balanced, but the headline was not. I was quite angry when I read the headline. The Sunday Editor was trying to sell papers with and provoke debate with that headline. I think there'll be people who will agree to the flaming. We should be the ones who "balance" it. Like SC2, you can't just think of the article as is, but the repercussions if they did promote forum replies. With forums open, you'll not only have linguists battling it out, but also people who already don't agree about her casting. We should show our support by pre-empting this and writing in. That's all I'm saying.