No one watches sc2 matches by loading up the game and running a live replay -- it's all video streaming/streamcasting. Casters do use a live (delayed) replay, letting them poke at any arbitrary object in the game, but a video stream of that is what gets broadcasted.
Low bandwidth broadcast isn't really relevant I think to esport success -- the "complete" replay aspect to even 1 viewer (the caster) however might be
Sort of -- im saying that for streaming, this doesnt much; deterministic lockstop does little for the general viewership, and saves relatively little processing compared to recording the stream directly on the player's machines.
Much more notable is the impact it has on casting, where it's presence is clearly felt -- casters are granted much more freedom, and can be much more thorough and descriptive, when complete replays are available (versus simple dumb video).
We agree about the technogoly -- we disagree on its impact
Low bandwidth broadcast isn't really relevant I think to esport success -- the "complete" replay aspect to even 1 viewer (the caster) however might be