EPTAn Opinion Piece #3
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Gather 'round children while uncle Chef rambles to himself
Gather 'round children while uncle Chef rambles to himself
Ladders
I fucking hate ladders. They're miserable, especially in SC:BW. Even if it didn't take forever to get a game, with most people banning you if you aren't their soulmate, that's not the real reason I hate ladder. SC2 fixes all that and I still don't like it. The whole mentality of a ladder is garbage.
Every once in awhile when watching SC:BW VODs (I can't believe I feel the need to be so specific already), I get the sudden urge to play SC again. I can't help it. I love this game. But then I remember all the people I used to play with are basically like me... We don't play anymore, and if we do it's on a random spur of the moment. So I go to play a game or two of ladder. It doesn't matter if I win or if I lose, I still feel shitty after. "What just happened? This was shit," I think. Why is this game I loved so much not fun anymore? Well I think I've figured it out: I hate playing strangers.
When you play a stranger, the banter is pretty limited (no in jokes, no history), most people don't even want to talk... Okay, that's fine. I like a focused game as much as the next guy. But what really sucks? The question of whether there will be a re-game or not. It's pretty rare to get a re, especially against someone who just does one risky strategy every game. The games aren't friendly, so mistakes aren't as funny, and you don't even get the chance to rectify them in the next game... But the worst thing is that my favourite part of StarCraft is stripped away when I play ladder. That part is figuring out my opponent and playing TO HIM, rather than just playing my own game.
When I play ladder, it feels like it's fucking single player. There's no meta-game... Or if there is, it's really limited. I don't know how you personally define meta-game, but understanding popular trends is not interesting or fun. It's just 'wow, a lot of people do the same crap.' GREAT. You have to make such general and boring assumptions about your opponents that you might as well ignore them. For a casual player like me, this is nuts. It forces a style of play which is boring and repetitive. Macro and play safe. Wow SO fun. If someone catches you off guard, don't bother fixing that hole in your game cause it will never happen in the same way again.
This brings me to the virtues of playing someone you know, or at least just the same person over and over. As maps and matchups start to overlap, you get an overall picture of your opponent's style. You can find the holes in it, and fix the holes in your own game that he's exploiting. It's an intense mind game, where you can actually detect patterns in your opponent's play. 'If I do this, he always does this: What's the best way to abuse that?" It's specific, and means that between me and my opponent, our game is always evolving. Our strategies are complex. We don't have to play super safe and super standard and try to read every possible strategy in the game. We know what's in each other's repertoires; When something is added it's interesting and we can talk about it after. What's more, because we know our opponents style is limited (not playing 10 hrs. a day), you can think pretty far ahead with your strategies and get units you don't normally see.
That's what I miss most about having a rival to play all the time. The games were so varied and exciting. For the both of us, there is heavy motivation to keep the game fresh and interesting. I miss countering shuttle/reaver with lockdown ghosts because I KNOW my opponent has been in love with it lately. I miss feeling like I am playing my opponent, and not some faceless might as well be a computer guy. I miss feeling like I'm fucking good at this game when I play his weakness so perfectly. I miss not feeling bad about losses because I will always have a million chances at revenge. I liked not feeling shitty about a random mistake. I liked getting to know where I should place my army based on how my opponent moves his army... I just fucking liked StarCraft.
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Oh man, I was on such a good angry rant for the first 2 paragraphs... Then I kept being interrupted and it was hard to harness the angry while being nice to someone at the same time. Plus all my blogs are retarded 
