• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 13:09
CEST 19:09
KST 02:09
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists16[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers17Maestros of the Game 2 announced92026 GSL Tour plans announced15Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid24
StarCraft 2
General
Maestros of the Game 2 announced 2026 GSL Tour plans announced Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists MaNa leaves Team Liquid Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool
Tourneys
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers INu's Battles#14 <BO.9 2Matches> Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 522 Flip My Base The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss Mutation # 520 Moving Fees
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion Data needed ASL21 Strategy, Pimpest Plays Discussions Pros React To: ASL S21, Ro.16 Group C BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro16 Group D [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro16 Group C Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Dawn of War IV Diablo IV Nintendo Switch Thread Total Annihilation Server - TAForever Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Strange computer issues (software) [G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Sexual Health Of Gamers
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2258 users

In Defense of Blizzard

Blogs > Sc1pio
Post a Reply
Sc1pio
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States823 Posts
March 03 2010 22:53 GMT
#1
I will preface this by saying that I don't have a key. It shouldn't affect what I write here but for full disclosure I felt like it was necessary to say.

Something which commonly is being viewed as undesirable is SC2 being easy to pick up and play. It's fairly obvious why SC2 is easier to pick up and play; MBS, lack of "wrestling with the AI", etc. But is this really a bad thing?

Let us consider what Blizzard's ultimate goal is. Essentially, they want to create the ultimate western e-Sport. The way that this will be accomplished is through mass appeal, both in spectatorship and in playing. The former is fairly obvious to understand: nobody will want to watch something which doesn't appeal to the masses in terms of spectatorship. To do this, there needs to be some high skill ceiling. The biggest and most valid criticism of SC2 in its current form is the lack of a high skill ceiling, but it is entirely too early to determine if this is actually true: if, a year from now or even further down, players are no better than they are when the game is released, then Blizzard has clearly failed.

So Blizzard wants to have a high skill ceiling. This is nothing new. But what Blizzard also wants is a low entry point. Why is this? Imagine trying to watch a Brood War match without having played Brood War before. Sure, you could understand what was going on, but it's pretty difficult to be a fan of it. Therefore, a required part of fandom is attempted emulation. Your parents not "getting" BW is not based on age, it's based on lack of experience. Even in the case of other gamers this occurs. A prolific FPS gamer watching BW will have one of two reactions: either they will dislike the game (game meaning BW, not the individual game being played) or they will want to try the game. They aren't "fans" of BW, they're looking at it in terms of how fun it would be for them to play.

True, we enjoy strategical depth in BW, but it's literally impossible to understand strategical depth fully without playing the game in the first place. You may understand in a general sense, but not in the deep sense which drives fandom and therefore an increase in audience. BW is popular in Korea as a spectator sport because it was incredibly widely played, and it isn't as popular internationally because it isn't as widely played.

So Blizzard wants as many people as possible to play SC2, in order to maximize the e-Sports audience, which in turn maximizes the playerbase, etc. The second half occurs as people randomly turn on the TV or see a link to a stream through some website and see how awesome SC2 looks and therefore purchase the game. In order to start this chain reaction, and to retain the casual audience of SC2 as an e-Sport, it needs to have a low entry-point in terms of skill. Everybody sucked when they first picked up BW; they only got better through practice. SC2 will be the same way, but Blizzard wants to nurture the players, easing them into a clearly competitive game. They want to turn the typical MW2 player into a competitive SC2 player, and the only way to do this is to ease the entry-point.

So when you toss around that SC2 is too "easy" at this point, remember why it was made easier in the first place: to increase mass-appeal, which in turn increases the competitive base, which in turn increases the appeal, and so on for a decade. Essentially, Blizzard wants a game like the card game Bridge: simple enough to learn the rules, but with strategical depth so strong multiple volumes have been written about it.

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few. " -Shunro Suzuki | fortuna fortes adiuvat
ErOs_HalO
Profile Joined January 2010
United States167 Posts
March 03 2010 22:55 GMT
#2
It's really not easy.
Pretty imaginitive, huh?
Sc1pio
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States823 Posts
March 03 2010 22:57 GMT
#3
On March 04 2010 07:55 ErOs_HalO wrote:
It's really not easy.


Easy is an oversimplification. In terms of the skill ceiling, hopefully it's not. But there are several reasons to believe Blizzard is making the game easier to pick up and play, which is what I'm talking about.
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few. " -Shunro Suzuki | fortuna fortes adiuvat
MasterReY
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Germany2708 Posts
March 03 2010 22:57 GMT
#4
SC1: Easy to learn, impossible to master.
SC2: Easier to learn, still impossible to master.

I dont know why people complain.
https://www.twitch.tv/MasterReY/ ~ Biggest Reach fan on TL.net (Don't even dare to mention LR now) ~ R.I.P Violet ~ Developer of SCRChart
TL+ Member
The6357
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
United States1268 Posts
March 03 2010 23:07 GMT
#5
i complain because i lack beta key....fuck
2010 worldcup!! corea fighting!!!
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Big Brain Bouts
17:00
#113
PiG vs DeMusliM
Reynor vs Bunny
RotterdaM511
Liquipedia
RSL Revival
17:00
Season 5 Europe Qualifier
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RotterdaM 591
UpATreeSC 108
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 7978
EffOrt 1493
Soma 1096
Stork 400
Snow 371
ggaemo 366
firebathero 173
Hyun 151
Barracks 63
JYJ 54
[ Show more ]
sSak 49
Sea.KH 37
soO 36
Free 24
Rock 21
Terrorterran 18
Shine 14
scan(afreeca) 13
Sacsri 5
BRAT_OK 3
Dota 2
Gorgc7146
qojqva1441
Counter-Strike
byalli485
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King63
Other Games
singsing1566
B2W.Neo1160
FrodaN799
Grubby300
QueenE149
ArmadaUGS149
Liquid`VortiX113
Fuzer 97
KnowMe73
Trikslyr56
Dewaltoss52
Liquid`LucifroN26
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream20925
StarCraft 2
ComeBackTV 379
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• intothetv
• Kozan
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• 80smullet 10
• FirePhoenix8
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV350
League of Legends
• Jankos1769
Counter-Strike
• Nemesis1306
Other Games
• imaqtpie208
• Shiphtur178
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
6h 51m
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
17h 51m
Classic vs SHIN
MaxPax vs Percival
herO vs Clem
ByuN vs Rogue
Ladder Legends
21h 51m
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
21h 51m
BSL
1d 1h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 16h
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
1d 17h
Ladder Legends
1d 21h
BSL
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
2 days
Wardi Open
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Soma vs hero
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Leta vs YSC
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
5 days
KCM Race Survival
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Escore
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-04-23
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Escore Tournament S2: W4
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W5
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.