Starcraft 2: Please Explain To Me

Photo-Sniper

Hi Guys,

Been wanting to get Starcraft 2 for a long time and I am still not totally convinced. Basically, when I start playing a game I try and focus on it till I master it.

Can someone please explain to me the objectives of the game and how good the online game is.

Should I get "sucked" in? Thanks

Gbear

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Been wanting to get Starcraft 2 for a long time and I am still not totally convinced. Basically, when I start playing a game I try and focus on it till I master it.

Can someone please explain to me the objectives of the game and how good the online game is.

Should I get "sucked" in? Thanks

You can probably get it for cheap enough in most places at this stage, I think. It's been out for 2 years. So it shouldn't cost you much to find out.

I enjoyed the campaign but the 1v1 online play is where the real challenge lies.
It's basically just a really good RTS. The activity of the community, the number of players and the standard of play are what make it stand out.

If you're looking to master a game and spend a lot of time on it SC2 is perfect for you. There's a huge number of resources available dedicated on discussing strategy and helping people get better. Youtube has thousands of videos alone.

Ultimately, what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. If you're willing to spend several hours a day practicing you'll get very good very quickly. If you just want to mess around a little every now and again it's good for that too.

The learning curve shouldn't be too steep if you've played RTS games before. It's pretty standard - get money, build stuff, build an army, fight.
If you're bad at it you'll get matched with other unskilled players - giving you a chance to be challenged but not demolished in every game.

I don't think most games have the depth of quality players that allows you to improve so much and still feel like you have a lot to learn. That's where you get motivation - improving yourself and aspiring to be as good as someone who beats you.
It's the same in any competitive endeavour.

SeantheMan

SC2 is an amazing game,

I actually "watch" more than I play. I pay to watch the professionals play in the biggest tournaments.
I maybe play once or twice a month at most though.

If you are looking to master it, best of luck is all I can say, it is probably the most highly skilled game in the world, and if you manage to master it you will be earning serious money !!

As explained above though, it is an RTS so its your army vrs other army.

The thing about SC2, is that there are 3 completely distinct races, and the game is balanced in such a way that none is more powerful than the other, even though they are completely different.

Watch some VODs of the professional if you want to get a taste of how epic it can be

http://tv.majorleaguegaming.com/events/9-2012-winter-arena#866/868/1

or here is the "premier league" SC2 league equivalent where the top players in the world play if you wanna watch

http://www.gomtv.net/

Once you get into SC2 you'll love it. And Day9 will be a huge help, check him out when you can.

Kirby

SeantheMan wrote: »

there are 3 completely distinct races, and the game is balanced in such a way that none is more powerful than the other,

Er, I think you may be overselling it a bit. Blizzard should be applauded for constantly patching their games as they strive for balance. Their actual ability to achieve balance is not great. I mean they have admitted in the past that they just chuck units and abilities in and hope for the best.

Photo-Sniper

Ok you guys have sold me. Getting it tomorrow

Thanks

Gbear

Kirby wrote: »

Er, I think you may be overselling it a bit. Blizzard should be applauded for constantly patching their games as they strive for balance. Their actual ability to achieve balance is not great. I mean they have admitted in the past that they just chuck units and abilities in and hope for the best.

I think the important point is that it's incredibly balanced given the number of units and the diversity of different game mechanics between races.

Photo-sniper: If you're having any problems check back into this thread.
I just don't have the drive to get anywhere beyond silver or gold league but I watch a fair bit and I've been playing Starcraft since about 1998.

There's probably lots of other better players than I around here to give you a hand as well.

If you want it to be I think SC can be more of a hobby and not just simply a pass time.

Photo-Sniper

Whats this whole "Zerg" "protoss" etc.. Do I pick who I want to be or what?

Gbear

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

Whats this whole "Zerg" "protoss" etc.. Do I pick who I want to be or what?

There are 3 races.

Terran (people) and two alien races; Zerg and Protoss.

Zerg are kinda reptilian/insectoid in appearance. Their general mechanic is speed and numbers as well as having lots of bases.

Protoss are sort of super-advanced typical alieny with lots of shiny gold-coloured things.
They tend to have strong units that cost a lot.

Terran tend to be quite flexible and their units are mostly halfway between zerg and protoss in strength.

The singleplayer campaign is mostly from the Terran perspective but you also get to play with Protoss.
The campaign of the expansion coming out will be Zerg focused. There'll be another expansion in 3 years or so focusing on Protoss.

In multiplayer you can play any of the races or pick random which means you don't know which race you have until the game starts.
You can switch as you like.
I've played mostly Terran but I think I might switch to Zerg. I like their speed, map control and the way greedy gameplay is encouraged.

SeantheMan

Kirby wrote: »

Er, I think you may be overselling it a bit. Blizzard should be applauded for constantly patching their games as they strive for balance. Their actual ability to achieve balance is not great. I mean they have admitted in the past that they just chuck units and abilities in and hope for the best.

I dont think so.
If one race was more powerful than the others, then all the top pros would clearly choose that, regardless if it was their favourite or not.
Terran were historically the better performing race, but it seems zerg lately.

The face that in 3 seasons of GSL, the 3 champions have been 1 of each race shows that it is balanced.
The Semi finals for this year (Season 4) also had 1 of each race (2 Terrans/ 1 Zerg / 1 Protoss)

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

no that's not true, a lot of people just gel more with one race than the other even if it's a weaker race

look at tod or sase, forever bitching about zerg but they'll never make the switch because they just consider themselves protoss players and even if they did try to switch they'd lose so much time trying to get to an equivelant skill level with a different race that they'd be out of action for months.. they might never even get back to the top (or as top as a mid-tier eu player can get)

Tenger

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

Whats this whole "Zerg" "protoss" etc.. Do I pick who I want to be or what?

Have you played RTS before? ie Command & Conquer etc


SC2 is great in that it gives you 3 very different races/armies/side to chose from. Most RTS game have 2 sides that are not really different in gameplay.

Zombrex

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Been wanting to get Starcraft 2 for a long time and I am still not totally convinced. Basically, when I start playing a game I try and focus on it till I master it.

Can someone please explain to me the objectives of the game and how good the online game is.

Should I get "sucked" in? Thanks

StarCraft is relatively easy to get going in but is a game with huge depth. As such it takes quite a commitment to get good at it. This includes a lot of learning from watching replays and learning builds from other players. As such I found it is more of an investment in terms of educating yourself than something like Counter Strike where basically you just keep playing until you get good. SC is really too multi-layered for that to work.

The reason I mention this is that I find this can be quite frustrating for a lot of people new to the game, who expect that simply by playing it they will master it. There is simply too much to learn about tactics and what works and doesn't work to figure it all out yourself by simply playing. You tend to just keep on the same tactic that some times worked, trying to master that tactic without even realising that the tactic is probably flawed.

The flip side of this is that by merely going online and learning from pro players, watching replays and casters you can pick up some really good advice very early on that really improves your game. It is hard for someone to teach someone else how to jump significantly in say CS or Battlefield, but in SC this is common, you will see a pro player do something and it will click and you will instantly be playing much much better than before. (a classic example of this is a new player learning how to stop a Zerg worker rush, or walling in their base to stop 6 pool rushes, these are things that when you discover them you just know them and no longer lose matches at all to these types of rushes)

So it is not really a question of putting the time in, but putting the time in correctly and constructively. If you do that it is one of the most rewarding games out there.

Dcully

Ive never been any good at rts games, when i first got SC2 i loved it.
I worked so hard on improving my game, i watched countless videos,streams,guides you name it i done it in a bid to improve, i really really tried to get better at the game.
It almost became an obsession for 2-3 months but eventually i just got tired of losing and faced up to the fact im poor at rts games.
I then quit playing and have never gone back.
I won maybe 2-3 out of 10 games at best and it just wasnt fun losing all the time.
Such a shame really because it really was a fantastic game when i was playing it.

Grimebox

Dcully wrote: »

Ive never been any good at rts games, when i first got SC2 i loved it.
I worked so hard on improving my game, i watched countless videos,streams,guides you name it i done it in a bid to improve, i really really tried to get better at the game.
It almost became an obsession for 2-3 months but eventually i just got tired of losing and faced up to the fact im poor at rts games.
I then quit playing and have never gone back.
I won maybe 2-3 out of 10 games at best and it just wasnt fun losing all the time.
Such a shame really because it really was a fantastic game when i was playing it.

What rank did you get to?

Gbear

I just got my PC up and running a few days ago after 3 months of it being out of action but I've been working a lot lately.

I really would like to have a go with the Zerg at some point.
As a Terran player since launch I've struggled with unit placement and defending more than one base, especially against zerg muta play.

From my experience of monobattling with lings and mutas I feel like that potential for map control gives me far more ability to play in the passive sort of way that I'd tend towards.

Hopefully I'll get a chance next week.:)

SeantheMan

Dcully wrote: »

Ive never been any good at rts games, when i first got SC2 i loved it.
I worked so hard on improving my game, i watched countless videos,streams,guides you name it i done it in a bid to improve, i really really tried to get better at the game.
It almost became an obsession for 2-3 months but eventually i just got tired of losing and faced up to the fact im poor at rts games.
I then quit playing and have never gone back.
I won maybe 2-3 out of 10 games at best and it just wasnt fun losing all the time.
Such a shame really because it really was a fantastic game when i was playing it.

I was sort of the same, but was actually doing ok, flying along in bronze-silver up at #1.
But I play too many games to dedicate myself to one, and when I'd come back to the ranking I'd be at number 15 or something, and it would mean I had to play so many games to try get promoted etc.
It's really a game you have to dedicate yourself to if you want to progress/improve.

I've not played in a few months now, but I still watch all the MLG/GSL.
I actually have watched and paid more money in watching than actual playing, and I probably enjoy it more too :P
MKP / DRG / Naniwa / MVP , it's so much better watching these guys than playing for me

Dcully

Grimebox wrote: »

What rank did you get to?

Not sure but i was stuck in the lower reaches of the lowbie league