Generally I think that you can be analytic or entertaining, but you should pick your style for each individual cast. The principle three casters that I watch are Gyle, BRNKoINSANITY and RuneNorse, and they span this spectrum rather well.
Gyle does great work giving an 'entertainment' cast. He updates people about the details and what's on in the community, he tells you about the people playing and their styles, he glorifies the UEF. His casting tends to be reactionary: he describes what's happening and clues you into things which might be on the cards without telling you what's a 'good play' or what 'should be done in this situation'. Gyle took a break a little while ago, and since he came back his casts haven't quite been the same. I assume part of this comes from his disconnect with the community.
BRNK, on the other hand, does a good analytic cast. He tells you why people are doing things and what is a good idea in that situation. He also tells you about the roles of positions people are in, and when to expect certain plays and how they might be countered. He offers advice to the players in his games, and hence to the viewers. To be honest, BRNK's casts didn't interest me much when I wasn't playing FAF, but they've become more useful now. To a non-player, they're full of jargon and time wasted talking about statistics which could be spent showing off explosions.
RuneNorse is a newer caster, and hasn't really found his voice/style. He obviously takes a fair amount of cues from Gyle, but likes to add his own advice, as well as chastise players. Sometimes he seems to get bored with casts and start rambling. This isn't explicitly bad, but I am more in the casts for the casts than the characters. That's just me, though. RuneNorse might turn out to be a great caster with some more practice, so I'm keeping an eye on him.
This is a tricky one. I think it would be best if a caster had watched a game before and knew when important things were happening (such as ACU or eco snipes), but given the length of supcom games I feel that asking a caster to do that is doubling his workload, and is hence a little unfair. It's probably worth watching things through on +6 and noting down times of important events when checking for descyncs. I don't have any casting experience, but from watching replays I think that it should be possible to get some critical information like that.Do you prefer the caster to have viewed the game previously or no? (and why)
I for sure think that analytic casts have the potential to improve the play of viewers. Especially for people like myself, who fall in the middle of the road in terms of skill. There's a lot of little things to improve on and even more things that just need constant reminders. What is the exact range of a t2 stationary arty? How many mass points does a TML need to hit to be cost effective? That sort of thing.Do you think analytic casts have the potential to improve the play of viewers?
Do you think entertaining casts have the potential to improve the play of viewers?
Entertaining casts... less so. You're more likely to get information such as; "Loyalists reflect TMLs" or "Harbringers can reclaim" from these casts, which I suspect players of at least average level to already know. They're more game facts than play improving tips. However entertainment casts serve another very useful purpose: they attract new players to the game. Watching giant experimentals walk forwards an destroy armies before getting nuked might not be good play or teach you anything, but it's damn fun and makes you want to participate.
I like these casts conditionally. When the player is telling you -why- they're building tanks now and why they switch up to air then it's really insightful. However when they're just playing the game, then you often spend most of your time looking at factories and getting bored. When it's a team-game with people on chat it can be entertaining, but I think I'd get more fun from watching an 'entertainment' cast with full view of both sides of the battlefield.Do you like POV casts where the commentator can take you through their own decision making in depth?
Do you dislike when casters casts themselves?
