The Oceanink Stream Team consists of Streamers, Recorders and Commentators working together to exhibit players in streams and recordings for the Oceanink Series. The main goal of all Oceanink commentators is to breathe life into the matches exhibited on stream for the enjoyment and education of the audience.

This being the case, commentators are expected to have a above average understanding of the base game, the ability to properly work with assigned commentary partners, as well as be able to effectively communicate ideas to a wide audience.

Being a commentator, you are also often the face of the stream and are thus expected to properly conduct yourself when in the public eye. Below is an outline of what is expected of Oceanink Stream Team commentators.

This page outlines what is involved in commentating for the Oceanink Stream Team. If you are interested in a position as a commentator, please read this page carefully then follow the instructions on the Stream Team page.

Commentator Agreement

The following guidelines apply to all official Oceanink events and are provided to help casters understand the standards expected of them when they represent the Oceanink Community in a public-facing manner.

1. Casters are expected to abide by the Oceanink Code of Conduct.
2. Default to referring to players as “they/them”. If you have spoken with a player about their preferred pronouns you may use the pronouns that they have nominated.
3. Keep things all-ages, avoid swearing and do not use words that have harmful meanings.
   • For example, don’t use the term “cancer”/”cancerous” to refer to gameplay elements. Not only can it be insensitive, but it’s also a “lazy” way to communicate an idea. Think about how you can explain why you think something is “cancerous” instead.
   • Try to stay positive about the game itself. Jokes are OK, but it can be a real turn off to viewers who are excited to see the game in action to hear commentators talking about how something is “bad”, “not fun” or that they themselves are not interested in the result of a round.
   • If you slip up it’s ok to briefly acknowledge it and then move on. For example, “Sorry, didn’t mean to say that”.
   • If you say something that someone takes offence to, it is never appropriate to tell them to “get over it”.
4. Try and keep an upbeat and positive attitude.
   • For example, rather than talking down players for mistakes, talk them up for good ones. It’s better to focus on how one team succeeded than how the other team failed.
5. Use official terminology for in-game elements and try to avoid obtuse jargon.
   • Prefer “splat” over “kill” and “special” over “ult”.
   • Nicknames for weapons are fine if they are a shortened version (ie swig), portmanteaus (a blending of two words ie Squelchies for Dualie Squelchers), the Japanese name for the weapon, or just what it looks like (ie pencil), but you must say the full version at least once so that viewers who are new to the game can figure out what you’re referring to.

Technical Requirements

• A decent microphone and environment (i.e. audio is clear – not buzzing or randomly cutting in or out, minimal background noise or echo).
• Internet that can handle doing the following concurrently:
  • Being in a Discord VC with 1-2 other people without audio stuttering/dropping out/becoming robotic (for co-commentating and being recorded).
  • Playing Splatoon (as a spectator) or watching a match stream without disconnects or lag negatively affecting your ability to keep up with the matches.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements

Wondering what you need to know to become a commentator? Here are some basics:

• Be able to explain each Splatoon 3 mode at a basic level. For example: if someone in chat hasn’t played Clam Blitz before, can you tell them enough that they can follow what’s happening?
• Know all of the maps at least well enough to know objective paths (or zone placements in Splat Zones) and how they differ in different modes (which helps with understanding and describing what a team is doing and predicting game events). If the map is new or has been recently changed, this is also good knowledge to pass onto the audience, and will give you some leniency in specific knowledge.
• Some basic callouts for all the maps so you can describe what’s happening in a match. A helpful resource is the appendix of flc’s Callout Guide. Note: using more complex callouts can confuse viewers so sticking to simpler callouts is good!
• Know the names of all the weapons (even if we sometimes blank on them when we’re on stream) and at least the kits of the more common weapons.
• Be able to watch the inkling/octoling icons at the top of the game screen to know how many players are up, and how many specials the teams have prepared (so that you can call wipes, changes in momentum, etc.).

Extra tips for commentary

Memorising the kits of all the weapons in the game is a nice optional skill to have, especially if you want to specialise in strategic analysis. It can also be helpful to learn common compositions and strategies teams might use so that you can talk about a team’s play in reference to it.

Knowing trivia about the teams you will be commentating (roster, history, recent results, how to pronounce players’ names) can be very helpful. (but it can be hard to collate!). If you don’t know something about a team, we recommend trying to avoid speculating about teams and players (outside of what they’re doing in a match) if possible.

Don’t be afraid of silence. The game has a lot of audio cues and effects that can carry a moment, especially if you need to catch your breath or think on a new point. We don’t recommend filling space with half-baked ideas.

If you’re waiting too long for a match to start and run out of things to talk about, chat is there for you! Asking chat questions is free engagement, and will buy the players time to get things underway. If a significant delay comes up, there’s nothing wrong with throwing to a break either. The audience needs to pee sometimes too.

Solo Commentating

Solo commentating can get to be exhausting, as you’re the only person who can fill the air for potentially several hours. We recommend keeping the majority of the stream very chill. Focus on the vibes between games, ask the chat questions, talk about the players, and don’t be afraid to take breaks and bask in the silence a bit. You’ll need to conserve your energy for gameplay, where you’ll want to be calling all the plays.

During gameplay, don’t be afraid to let the game’s audio do some of the lifting. In the downtime sections of the game, let the spectator find something interesting, and just watch, while you prepare your next point or the next play by play.

Pairs Commentating

In a two person commentating team, you have to be able to learn verbal cues for when your partner is finishing up a point and when you’ll need to jump in. You’ll also need to practice telegraphing these signals too.

If you need a simple system for this, you can throw to your commentating partner by asking them a question. This very clearly denotes the timing, just make sure it’s a question they can answer, otherwise you’re throwing them under the bus.

Nobody likes it when their commentating partner calls the shots for 90 seconds straight (that can be half of a match in some cases), so be mindful that after 30 seconds, your partner almost certainly has a point to bring up or would like a turn at play-by-play.

It can be a good idea to figure out what style of commentating your partner likes to do before the match (maybe during sound check). If you both like to do play-by-play, then be sure to share it evenly. If one of you prefers colour commentary (analysis and strategy), that’s great! The colour commentator can take all the moments between the team fights and objective pushes to point out things they have noticed, and form theories.

Triples Commentating

This can get rowdy, unless you’re on an official Nintendo stream, in which case, the PR people will tell you what to do. Having one person do play by plays and throwing to the other two with questions is clean, but not as fun or charming as we can be here at grassroots, so maybe stick to 2 commentators if you can.