Brendan Morley Portfolio
Social Media
Please check out my profile page where you can learn a little about myself and what I do, and I hope you can join me on some future streams. I am here to sit, play, cast and have a good time. Serious opinions and discussions are to be left at the theoretical door here fun is the aim and shall be achieved through the power of games. So, I look forward to seeing you all join me in this journey of gaming and entertainment.
I created this page to give people a sense of my brand and personal image that would assist me in attracting an audience to my videos and streams. When deciding my brand, I felt it best just to use my own image as that would incur the least amount of risk from areas such as copyright infringement. For the sake of simplicity, I have tried to keep my profile short as long walls of text if seen by those looking at my social media page would likely cause the viewer to immediately look elsewhere as most people do not have the time nor the inclination to look at long descriptions. So, my profile bio was made up to get my core message out there about who I am and what I am about as quickly as possible to get more people interested in the kinds of things I do.
Community engagement
Here I am engaging with my community with this tweet adding points such as my local time which allows people to know that my audience would preferably be European/English as I not only speak the English language but I also am located in the UK so if people wished to view me I am letting them know it would likely be best for them to view me if they are from the UK or nearby as other places around the world would have to watch me at much later times which is simply not possible for most people.
My role as Play-by-play
Demonstrating below I have made use of several video clips to show how I tackle the role of play-by-play casting. My first demonstration of this is in the clip below showcasing myself introducing the game. I make a slight mistake to begin by giving the game the wrong title however I can save it and use my mistake to my advantage by acknowledging it quickly then explaining the real title of the game in an entertaining way. This reads into keeping the viewers engaged and ensuring that my audience stays with me and does not get confused or bored from what they are watching. (Video reference: 1st video 0-28 seconds)
Another example of this can be seen when my attention is directed to the vampire players lord where I then immediately raise my voice to emphasise my coming comments about him and the critical role he plays within the match. I also build tension here as I explain that if the lord is lost during this battle then the vampire's leadership would be in “dire straits”. (Video reference: 2nd video 0-23 seconds)
This line of thought is carried on in the shown clip until the vampire lord is indeed killed at which point, I raise my voice again showing hype in the match once again keeping the audience's attention fixed and keeping them informed about the major on-goings of the match as the death of the vampire lord is very much a turning point in the battle and could have possibly been the final nail in the proverbial coffin for the vampire player. Video reference 2nd video 30-51)
Colour Caster
As it is the role of the colour caster to keep the audience informed and understanding of the battle/game that is in front of them. As Warhammer 2 can be a very complicated game to easily understand due to there being so many things happening all at once it is my job to break the game down clearly and explain what is happening. To give an example in Warhammer points such as the teams battle plans, unit roster, unit abilities and key units on the field must be broken down and explained otherwise audiences will not understand what is going on in the match.
I make a concerted effort to give the audience as much information as I possibly can. When looking at one of my first examples I go into detail of the two different factions starting with the dwarves. Where I then explain they are excellent attrition units and that they “will last forever” whereas the vampires on the other hand due to their low leadership are quite the opposite. I then bring up one of their elite units and explain they will die very quickly as their low leadership would quickly lead them to crumble and die. Explaining that they are better utilised as a get in and get out kind of unit so the vampire player would have to keep a close eye on them to ensure they are used effectively. (Video reference: 24-66 seconds in)
I then note in another clip the battle plan of the vampires which is to flank round behind the dwarves avoiding their main battle line and attempt to remove the weaker support units from play first before attacking the dwarves’ front line. Here I am demonstrating my knowledge of the game and explaining the thought process of both the dwarf player and the vampire player. Once again demonstrating my own knowledge of the game and keeping the audience informed so they will not lose interest in the match and carry on watching. (Video reference 4th Video 0-42 seconds)
What I did well
When self-reflecting I can see that there are areas where I am stronger and some areas that need to be improved upon in the future. Whilst not being perfect of course I feel I was able to articulate my thoughts well enough to explain clearly what was happening in the match with an acceptable number of mistakes, so it did not disrupt the broadcast to any large degree. Throughout the broadcast there are no points where I lose myself and I am unable to continue for any extended length of time. Maintaining a certain level of professionalism and keeping the audience informed clearly and concisely.
Further when looking at my colour casting ability for example the battle plans I explained between the two races were clear. As my points were put simply and clearly explaining that the dwarves would stay where they are and play defence while the vampires would try to flank behind the dwarves and attack their missile infantry from the rear. Demonstrating my knowledge of the game and even providing lesser-known insights into the characters themselves such as explaining the Vampire lords ‘corpse cart’ was being pushed by his four dead brothers adding some story building to the broadcast. (Video reference: 5th video 20-90 seconds)
Room for improvement
Whilst I was indeed able to have a peak level of hype immediately after the death of the vampire’s lord, I failed to really build that hype and tension up. This failure shows that the sudden uptake in hype and volume does not give the audience time to prepare mentally for what is happening in the match. It is far better to slowly build hype until it reaches its peak and then trail off as if it were a curve. Giving the broadcast a better level of consistency, making the match seem more professional and easier to follow. (Video reference: 2nd video 0-51 seconds in)
Another issue I came across is in my role as colour caster I could have better explained the different stat levels for each of the units. Whilst I did mention the factor of leadership, I did not consider other equally important factors such as armour, damage output, melee defence etc. (Video reference: 3rd video 25 seconds in)
This is all valuable information for the audience to have particularly if it is an audience somewhat new to the game. Explaining this would have allowed for the match to have made more sense and given the audience a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the different units from the two armies. In future I should identify more key points to talk about to better assist the audience in understanding how the game will be played out.
A further error from what I can see is that I also failed to introduce a proper narrative into the game. I should have attempted to have created a story of some description to create more of a vested interest among viewers watching the match. To do this I could have created a storyline between the two fighting races for example saying that the vampires are coming to finish off the last few remaining dwarves near one of their few remaining strongholds in the snowy mountains of “Karaz-a-Karak” after a long and bloody war. Will the dwarves hold out or will the vampires add more soldiers to their undead ranks? This would assist in raising tension and making the match more fun to watch as people have been hard wired to enjoy stories for thousands of years.
