EPT+ Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAGVr-O-3E
With Brood War's future uncertain, and many new people here having never played it, I want to share some small facet of its past. That portion from which I draw my Starcraft heritage.
I first played Brood War sometime around '99. I would've been 12-13 at the time. I leeched off my friends until ~2002, when my parents finally got us a computer/internet good enough to run the game. There were 6 of us, together all through grades 7-12. We'd sit at lunch, playing various face card games and talking play-by-plays of last night's BW session. We had a clan, Mystical Ninjas, on USWest. I can still remember my first bnet account: ProbeRusher[MyN] (yeah I got a few laughs from it). Most of us were awful. We ran a lot of BGH.
Watch this and perhaps you will understand,
The Greatest Cast of All Time
I've sat through it 10+ times.
The Greatest Cast of All Time
I've sat through it 10+ times.
For me, Day9 will never top this cast. THIS is the Brood War I know. I clocked a thousand games on this single map over the years. Our matches would often play out just like this cast. I was there: placing hatcheries in seemingly random places. 50 food 10 minutes in. Filling mid with cannons. Getting rushed and begging to be allied. My favorite strat was massing wraiths and ghosts. Why? Because they're COOL.
When we weren't dominating, or getting dominated, on BGH, we'd play UMS. I sifted through hundreds of maps (courtesy of renaka.com), looking for the cream of the crop. Here they are, for your downloading pleasure:
+ Show Spoiler +
http://www.mediafire.com/?wejy1j2na5p95c4
Archon Tag – In Color
Final Fantasy III
Magic TG Arena v.Enigma
Raccoon City[Beta1.099]
Resident Evil Open RPG
Test of Terran Perfect 1.0
X-Men RPG Insane Platinum 2
Archon Tag – In Color
Final Fantasy III
Magic TG Arena v.Enigma
Raccoon City[Beta1.099]
Resident Evil Open RPG
Test of Terran Perfect 1.0
X-Men RPG Insane Platinum 2
I won't go through a rundown here, just know they were worth my time. Give them a shot if you've got some friends who still play Brood War.
My buds and I, plus my brother and a cousin or two, played consistently up through 2005, then on and off for a few years after that. Win or lose, I've never had more fun from a video game. It was hilarious. It was awesome. It was the greatest game ever made.
“But myopia,” you say, “what about the koreans? And you haven't even mentioned ICCup!” Believe it or not, I had no concept of professional Starcraft until 2009. I remember, years back, hearing about BW themed parades in Seoul, but I brushed it off as asians being asians. I didn't know about ICCup. I found TL looking for information on SC2. The first SC match I ever watched live was Chill V Combat-EX-. Casted games opened up a whole new world. I caught my first pro games thanks to a tipoff from one of my internet music bros (shoutout to jon arbuckle). The strategies I'd never dreamt of, the huge crowds and screaming commentators, it's still a bit surreal to me.
What I'm trying to say here is Brood War had so much going for it as a game, that I loved it for completely different reasons than the hardcore crowd. I sunk a thousand hours of my youth knowing nothing of Boxer, hold lurkers and reaver-shuttle micro. Competition and improving my skills meant nothing to me, Starcraft was all about having a good time with people I knew.
We're all in our twenties now, in college or graduated with careers. At this point in our lives, the less we invest in video games, the better. I don't even have BW installed anymore; I can't play it without my friends. I've got a few of them added on SC2, but it's just not the same. BW occupied a certain time in my life and there's no going back. I don't hate SC2, it just came at a 'bad time' for me. I'll never feel the same way about it. I haven't watched any tournaments so far (though I always check for NonY's results because NonY is awesome). Still,
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/OZiBt.png)
My forum tabs.
I keep an eye out for cool custom maps.
So here's to Brood War's past, a memorable part of my teenage years. And SC2's future, one that I may never have much of a part in. No hard feelings, Wings of Liberty. You're just not my Starcraft.
