Briefly, my experience so far has been awesome. That said, I need to point out something hilarious:
There's basically a war going on at Amazon.com over whether StarCraft II should be rated 1 or 5 stars. People are posting reviews essentially to counter the other group, and both groups are uprating their own reviews while downrating their mortal foes'.
Personally, if a repulsive man makes a beautiful work of art in a blameless way, I can still dislike the man without such feelings affecting the appraisal of the art itself.
Showing posts with label StarCraft II. Show all posts
Showing posts with label StarCraft II. Show all posts
20100728
20100512
Crossing the Streams
I am tempted to set up a live video stream of my StarCraft II games. It seems to be the "in" thing to do these days.
The concept creates a tempest of confused half-thoughts suddenly ceasing as--livestreaming, would I really--my skill is barely--would that affect my computer--maybe I should play Zerg.
The concept creates a tempest of confused half-thoughts suddenly ceasing as--livestreaming, would I really--my skill is barely--would that affect my computer--maybe I should play Zerg.
20100511
Great Expectations
Enterprising professional gamers are going to be running a StarCraft 2 Training Camp in June. However, they are obviously hacks. They put "sleep" on the proposed schedule.
20100426
Bronze
I am good at video games, a fact known by anyone familiar with me. This fact is responsible for two traits of my character I am very knowledgeable about, and one I had little or no idea existed until very recently.
The first two are straightforward, though I won't go into deep explanation. To summarize, my stubborn, never-say-die challenges against players better than me is one trait, and the second is my inability to focus on any one pursuit/choice within a given game. I have known for a while the madness which spawned these characteristics, and they have long since ceased to surprise me.
Recently, however, my joining the StarCraft II Beta confronted me with an aspect of my character I had never seen before.
Despite my general quick acclimation to new games, good reflexes, past experience and stubbornness, I found myself fearful of actually testing my abilities against other people. I could not understand what was wrong with me. Why would I have any reason to be afraid to find out where I stood? If I was better than everyone, no big deal. If I was a terrible player, even better. I had no reason I knew of to be in a catatonic state of terror.
Eventually, after forcing myself through the obstacle, I understood. What I feared was the unknown, a genre I hadn't touched seriously in a decade. The fact that my brother proved head and shoulders better than me in both the original and StarCraft II didn't bother me directly, but it opened the door to doubts. I doubted whether I would be any good, whether I would learn and improve, and most critically whether I would live up to my name and history.
I was unknowingly wrapped up in the mythos of Me, the Undeniably Awesome Gamer. StarCraft II represented a grave threat to my understanding of me as a good gamer. I have failed utterly at other games and genres, but I never was particularly serious about them so they didn't matter (I'm on to you and your tricky oceans, Ace Combat). StarCraft II, however, whispered to me sweet, sickening invitations to prove myself a sham.
Afraid I would turn out to be normal, I shied away, forgetting that everyone starts a new or forgotten genre a complete nub and goes from there. As it turns out, everyone includes me.
Having gotten over myself, we'll see if I can't turn up the learning machine and become a kick butt player. In the mean time, I'll sit in the Bronze loser's league and nub it up.
The first two are straightforward, though I won't go into deep explanation. To summarize, my stubborn, never-say-die challenges against players better than me is one trait, and the second is my inability to focus on any one pursuit/choice within a given game. I have known for a while the madness which spawned these characteristics, and they have long since ceased to surprise me.
Recently, however, my joining the StarCraft II Beta confronted me with an aspect of my character I had never seen before.
Despite my general quick acclimation to new games, good reflexes, past experience and stubbornness, I found myself fearful of actually testing my abilities against other people. I could not understand what was wrong with me. Why would I have any reason to be afraid to find out where I stood? If I was better than everyone, no big deal. If I was a terrible player, even better. I had no reason I knew of to be in a catatonic state of terror.
Eventually, after forcing myself through the obstacle, I understood. What I feared was the unknown, a genre I hadn't touched seriously in a decade. The fact that my brother proved head and shoulders better than me in both the original and StarCraft II didn't bother me directly, but it opened the door to doubts. I doubted whether I would be any good, whether I would learn and improve, and most critically whether I would live up to my name and history.
I was unknowingly wrapped up in the mythos of Me, the Undeniably Awesome Gamer. StarCraft II represented a grave threat to my understanding of me as a good gamer. I have failed utterly at other games and genres, but I never was particularly serious about them so they didn't matter (I'm on to you and your tricky oceans, Ace Combat). StarCraft II, however, whispered to me sweet, sickening invitations to prove myself a sham.
Afraid I would turn out to be normal, I shied away, forgetting that everyone starts a new or forgotten genre a complete nub and goes from there. As it turns out, everyone includes me.
Having gotten over myself, we'll see if I can't turn up the learning machine and become a kick butt player. In the mean time, I'll sit in the Bronze loser's league and nub it up.
20100422
Artificial Incompetence
The StarCraft II beta is very much designed to be played against people. There is Artificial Intelligence you can choose to play against. However, Blizzard has perfectly simulated how a Ritalin driven child would play while being sedated and restricted to the use of only one finger.
They label this difficulty "Very Easy" and there are currently no others. I can think of very few friends of mine who, without ever having played StarCraft before, wouldn't be able to defeat one of these on their first try while blindfolded and forced to recite the Gettysburg address backwards. That's fine, it's labeled exactly what it is, but if you're an anti-social hermit the beta will not be for you.
They label this difficulty "Very Easy" and there are currently no others. I can think of very few friends of mine who, without ever having played StarCraft before, wouldn't be able to defeat one of these on their first try while blindfolded and forced to recite the Gettysburg address backwards. That's fine, it's labeled exactly what it is, but if you're an anti-social hermit the beta will not be for you.
20100421
Purchasing Power
Thanks to Gamestop's current promotion by which one may obtain a StarCraft II beta key via a preorder, I am now in possession of the StarCraft II beta.
Wheeeeeeeeee...............
Wheeeeeeeeee...............
20090701
Today's Weather
Internet discussions are fickle things, rife with hyperbole and frivolous gestures. Watching them is often like watching weather patterns; while always unique, they invariable follow one or more predictable trends.
Today's trend is fairly familiar, though not as common as others. The often combative nature of discussions tends to draw roughly even or at least equally vocal battle lines. On some occasions, however, this equilibrium either fails to be established or is suddenly broken and the facts and fabrications of one splinter come to dominate a discussion.
The rough weather equivalent is a hurricane. The eye is the heart of the discussion. Here nothing is moving; the conclusions and premises that came to dominate the thread are now sacrosanct and untouchable. Surrounded by the swirling vortex of self-feeding repetition, no rhyme or reason may enter and break apart the storm.
A fairly good example of this, and the impetus for this post, is the Slashdot discussion of Blizzard's announcement that StarCraft II would not feature LAN support. The discussion is now thoroughly swamped with comments decrying the move. Playing over the internet will be many times slower than LAN play they repeat over and over, along with various comments about past transgressions by Blizzard and how they no longer care about customers. A general "woe unto us" attitude has developed, and any suggestion that things aren't as bad as they claim does nothing to stop the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The gale of self-pity is reinforced by the number of posters who join in. As each posts their lament it is validated by and adds strength to the others. No matter how solid the argument brought against them, their perception of majority status or superiority prevents it from being properly considered. Instead, their own repeated statements, whether they have any bearing or not, appear to them as nullifying the offending argument.
Eventually the frenzy will die down and the discussion moves forward. Until then nothing can be done but to find shelter and wait it all out.
This phenomenon is easily identifiable at a quick glance. Typically you will see a handful of instigators posting in constant repetition to one another along with the occasional individual, all sharing the same view. The chain is only broken occasionally by single posts which are never followed up upon due to either being ignored or the futility of the situation being self evident. On the rare chance that someone attempts to put up continued resistance, flame wars are often incited and the discussion is lost.
But fear not. Real life moves on, or as a wise man once said sarcastically, "Collective nerd rage on the internet is inherently representative of majority opinions."
Today's trend is fairly familiar, though not as common as others. The often combative nature of discussions tends to draw roughly even or at least equally vocal battle lines. On some occasions, however, this equilibrium either fails to be established or is suddenly broken and the facts and fabrications of one splinter come to dominate a discussion.
The rough weather equivalent is a hurricane. The eye is the heart of the discussion. Here nothing is moving; the conclusions and premises that came to dominate the thread are now sacrosanct and untouchable. Surrounded by the swirling vortex of self-feeding repetition, no rhyme or reason may enter and break apart the storm.
A fairly good example of this, and the impetus for this post, is the Slashdot discussion of Blizzard's announcement that StarCraft II would not feature LAN support. The discussion is now thoroughly swamped with comments decrying the move. Playing over the internet will be many times slower than LAN play they repeat over and over, along with various comments about past transgressions by Blizzard and how they no longer care about customers. A general "woe unto us" attitude has developed, and any suggestion that things aren't as bad as they claim does nothing to stop the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The gale of self-pity is reinforced by the number of posters who join in. As each posts their lament it is validated by and adds strength to the others. No matter how solid the argument brought against them, their perception of majority status or superiority prevents it from being properly considered. Instead, their own repeated statements, whether they have any bearing or not, appear to them as nullifying the offending argument.
Eventually the frenzy will die down and the discussion moves forward. Until then nothing can be done but to find shelter and wait it all out.
This phenomenon is easily identifiable at a quick glance. Typically you will see a handful of instigators posting in constant repetition to one another along with the occasional individual, all sharing the same view. The chain is only broken occasionally by single posts which are never followed up upon due to either being ignored or the futility of the situation being self evident. On the rare chance that someone attempts to put up continued resistance, flame wars are often incited and the discussion is lost.
But fear not. Real life moves on, or as a wise man once said sarcastically, "Collective nerd rage on the internet is inherently representative of majority opinions."
20070519
Warp Field Stablized
At the Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational in South Korea, StarCraft II was announced.
I'm sure there'll be an official English page later today, complete with screenshots, but until then make do with what I've linked.
It's been a while since I've played any RTS games. I'd looked forward to Supreme Commander, but was rather disappointed with the result. It had been marketed as a "macromanagement" game, one where the insane amounts of micromanagement done in StarCraft and WarCraft would be unnecessary. Playing the Beta, I saw a few interesting tools that reduced some forms of micromanagement, but not the most common ones. Coordinating attacks isn't hard, it's having to individually order several hundred units that's bothersome.
StarCraft II currently doesn't claim to be the end of micromanagement. Without that expectation, I'm assuming I'll probably like it a lot more than Supreme Commander.
It's inevitable I'll blog more about this later. Until then.
I'm sure there'll be an official English page later today, complete with screenshots, but until then make do with what I've linked.
It's been a while since I've played any RTS games. I'd looked forward to Supreme Commander, but was rather disappointed with the result. It had been marketed as a "macromanagement" game, one where the insane amounts of micromanagement done in StarCraft and WarCraft would be unnecessary. Playing the Beta, I saw a few interesting tools that reduced some forms of micromanagement, but not the most common ones. Coordinating attacks isn't hard, it's having to individually order several hundred units that's bothersome.
StarCraft II currently doesn't claim to be the end of micromanagement. Without that expectation, I'm assuming I'll probably like it a lot more than Supreme Commander.
It's inevitable I'll blog more about this later. Until then.
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