Welcome to Achaea video

Cesarina

Latest video a lot easier to follow due to the slower talking. Really really good job. Everything seems great.

Sarapis

Thanks! 

(I do feel bad though, I have to say, about creating Achaea-related content that visually-challenged players can't appreciate. Apologies for that, everyone. Can't be helped, but sucks to exclude people.)

Achimrst

Valden said:

Finally, the pronunciation of Achaea can be laid to rest.

ETA: Sharing this around the office too.



Yay, I had it right.

I always had it wrong, I pronounced it Ack-ee-ah, of course I pronounce my name Ack-ee-murst so that could be why. I also always thought Sarapis was Sir-ah-pis. Since I'm on the subject by best friend ever thought Beau was pronounced Bee-ah-you. Pronunciation is fun!

Sarapis

So, Achaea is actually named after the city-state in classical Greece. Nobody knows how classical Greek was pronounced, so I could have it wrong, but regardless, that's how our world is pronounced. ah-KAY-ah

Keres

uh-KAY-uh or ? sounds different than ah-KAY-ah

not that i'm correcting Sarapis or anything

Sarapis

I suppose uh-KAY-uh is actually more like how I pronounced it, yeah.

Skye

I still think you're talking a bit fast IMO, although it's better than the last time. Also the sound has that weird "I am speaking through a mic" effect (I dunno how to describe it), but I figure that's cause you're doing it in your office.

The artwork is still moving pretty fast and that God's photozoom thing is also still a bit jarring to me. Maybe it's because the picture is actually a close-up of the god pic, I keep expecting to see more detail as the pic moves away from the camera and then it stops at a close-up quite suddenly.

I suggest either the picture moves slower and fades further and further backwards (giving viewers time to appreciate the artwork as a whole)  Or you have the pictures moving towards the camera instead. Either option will add a few more seconds to the video.

That will also give you time to pace your narration a little slower as well. My opinion is that if you get the pacing of the video to a comfortable level, the narration will follow naturally.

Also the very first line just bugs me. It sounds like you're saying "I'm Sarapis" which doesn't sound as epic god-like as a very clear and calm "I Am Sarapis".

Sarapis

Skye said:

I still think you're talking a bit fast IMO, although it's better than the last time. Also the sound has that weird "I am speaking through a mic" effect (I dunno how to describe it), but I figure that's cause you're doing it in your office.

The artwork is still moving pretty fast and that God's photozoom thing is also still a bit jarring to me. Maybe it's because the picture is actually a close-up of the god pic, I keep expecting to see more detail as the pic moves away from the camera and then it stops at a close-up quite suddenly.

I suggest either the picture moves slower and fades further and further backwards (giving viewers time to appreciate the artwork as a whole)  Or you have the pictures moving towards the camera instead. Either option will add a few more seconds to the video.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unfortunately, in the case of every picture but the Sarapis one, the picture is zoomed out to the maximum we can without exposing filler bars on the sides of the pictures and while preserving picture quality. 16:9 is the standard ratio for video, but almost all of our art is, inconveniently, in a vertical format rather than horizontal. 

Josoul

Sarapis said:

So, Achaea is actually named after the city-state in classical Greece. Nobody knows how classical Greek was pronounced, so I could have it wrong, but regardless, that's how our world is pronounced. ah-KAY-ah

Ancient greek pronunciation was indeed different than modern greek, but should be close enough. We still have a regional unit called Achaea and since I'm not familiar with writing pronunciation, that's pretty much how we say/pronounce it, if anybody's interested: 

http://translate.google.com/#el/en/%CE%91%CF%87%CE%B1%CE%90%CE%B1 (click on "Listen")

I understand though that when you turn the word to an English version or let an english speaking person say it, the pronunciation changes a bit (I also read it (almost) as you pronounce it in the video, it's written in english/latin characters after all, not greek..)

Iocun

Yeah, in Greek, the "ch" in Achaea would be pronounced like the Scotch ch in "loch" or the ch/x in German/Russian, etc. Since that sound doesn't exist in English, it's just typically replaced by a "k" sound.

Shibumi

I have an education in ancient Greek and Latin (5 years on both, in a Classic Lyceum). As far as I know, @Iocun and @Josul are correct. I can confirm the following:

Α is like your A pronunciation in Alpha

χ is like your .... no, you do not have it. It should sound like K in Kilo, but with aspiration (Loch is a perfect example).

αΐ is like your E in bed, and where the accent is.

α is like your A pronunciation in Alpha.

Funny thing is that while I still remember Latin, Ancient Greek is something you easily forget. Anyway, why the realm was named Achaea in the first place?

Jhaeli

Sarapis said:

Ok, here is a new version. I speak slower, the vocal tone and volume should be consistent (and better), and there are some minor changes to the video too. @Jhaeli Thanks for the Audition tip. That's some great software.

That sounds so, so much better now. Good job on the read.

Prythe

Matt - 

You have a great voice. Did you want some voiceover work?

I love the video!

My only concern is that while I understand that it requires neat graphics to appeal to the masses, you may want to do some text along with it, so that people do not think they their ears are deceiving them and they are looking at a graphical game (or :: shudder :: WoW!).

By the way, is it bad that my mental images are *nothing* like I just saw?

Answer: No it is not! Woot!

Deborah

on behalf of Prythe

P.S. Agree with @Valden about pronunciation of the game (drat, been doing it wrong all these years) and of Sarapis as well. Oy!

Berenene

I don't know how people can be getting the pronunciation of these words wrong considering there's this 

Sarapis

Shibumi said:

 Anyway, why the realm was named Achaea in the first place?

Well, I was quite into classical history at the time, and because Mudconnector (which used to matter) had a giant mud list ordered alphabetically (and was the main list of MUDs people looked at), I wanted a name that would come towards the top of the list. Nothing more complicated than that!

Achimrst

Berenene said:

I don't know how people can be getting the pronunciation of these words wrong considering there's this 

OMG you just blew my mind.... all this time and I never saw this thing...how the **BLEEP!** did I ever miss this!!! 

(╯° _°）╯︵ ┻━┻ REVOLT!!!

Keres

Sarapis said:

Shibumi said:

 Anyway, why the realm was named Achaea in the first place?

I wanted a name that would come towards the top of the list. Nothing more complicated than that!

Sarapis is win.

Elynull

I apologize for the ignorance, as I'm a new player - but what GUI interface is this?  Mine looks a bit different loading from a web browser. 

Kazu

@Elynull It's the new version of the html5 client that's supposed to be released soon.

Berenene

Achimrst said:

Berenene said:

I don't know how people can be getting the pronunciation of these words wrong considering there's this 

OMG you just blew my mind.... all this time and I never saw this thing...how the **BLEEP!** did I ever miss this!!! 

(╯° _°）╯︵ ┻━┻ REVOLT!!!

It's awesome isn't it.  I espcially love how one of the examples out of the whole list which includes things like Achaea, Sarapis, Hashan, is sewers.

Sultani

Great intro video and most importantly I learned I was pronouncing Achaea incorrectly for a very long time.

Sarapis

Kazu said:

@Elynull It's the new version of the html5 client that's supposed to be released soon.

Very soon. Hopefully this week, after which we'll be making another round of improvements to it.

Achimrst

Sarapis said:

Kazu said:

@Elynull It's the new version of the html5 client that's supposed to be released soon.

Very soon. Hopefully this week, after which we'll be making another round of improvements to it.

Squeeeee! On and will I have to redo my reflexes and all that jazz once it is released?

PS. Squeeeee!

Azi

Started playing again because of this video.

Sarapis

@Azi How'd you hear about the video?

Azi

@Sarapis A friend who belongs to the same video game/nerd group on Facebook linked it to the whole group.

Sarapis

Very cool.

Panian

Greetings, a friend sent me that second video and it caught my interest.
Hopefully I'll have some fun here. Oh yeah @Sarapis sent me.

Achimrst

Looks like we need to spam facebook with this video some more!

Sarapis

@Achimrst By all means, please do.