Also what happened to going through the builds of each sides ships quickly before each match?
Not going through the builds of the ship gives them some conversation material when the match starts. Sometimes there's shooting right away - sometimes there's a lot of careful manouvring before any action.
It's good that they can just switch from ship to ship going, "Oh and it seems like this captain and his crew have decided to take a gatling today with two mercs on the side let's go look at the Galleon" etc etc
I like the fact it gives them something to talk about before something hits the fan;- but I don't know if that's the motive.
I suppose, but they could just give you the facts, or at least show each ships blueprint before the match, and talk about it once its started.
They shouldn't let fluff get in the way of the core, and not knowing what each ship is running can make it less enjoyable to watch, for me anyway.
As far as the webcams go, good for pre stuff, and maybe some chatting, but I would much rather not have them on when the match is ongoing. It blocks a large lump of the UI, including lots of indicators for part health etc as well as the distraction thing.
It would be ok if they say had both the webcam views to one side, so it wasn't obstructing any of the game, but I am not sure if thats doable from a technical standpoint.