EPTHULK SMASH!!
As some of you know, I have only been playing StarCraft 2 for about 6 weeks, and it is my first foray into any kind of multiplayer RTS game. So it was inevitable that there was going to be some rage at some point in time, but I honestly thought I would be out of Bronze league before I had to hurl a pillow across the room in anger. That's right, even in a fit of cannon-rush-induced rage, I still manage to refrain from throwing anything important or expensive, thankfully.
Perhaps it is because of the stress of other life issues, but I realised that I am quite familiar with this experience. The experience of believing that you have something, some strategy, worked out. Done. Sorted. You don't have to worry about it, because you practised your ass off, and now you can beat it! Yeah! Alright. Awesome.
Then a week later you lose to it.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
What happens is you go through a couple of stages:
Firstly: It's bollocks, it's broken, it shouldn't be allowed. (This is where most newbies or inexperienced players just stop however.)
Secondly, you begin to calm down a little and realise that several factors contributed to your loss, and none of them were your opponents doing, or a problem with game balance.
You fucked up. Badly.
Usually, just realising this is enough to enable you to consciously improve your game, for example I have started to scout earlier on Stepped of War and Xel'Naga Caverns. But for a lot of people, they go a step further and become incredibly demoralised, this is something I have suffered from previously in Street Fighter. It has cost me entire sets because one small thing I did wrong in the first game will play on my mind, and eat away at my performance. It just leaves you feeling shitty.
But in the end, you are better off for it, because you can learn a lot from those mistakes. After a particularly brutal session in which I lost to 3 Cannon Rushes and 2 6-Pool's in a row, I thought I was gonna shit a brick. But once I had calmed down, I realised that, actually no. I don't know how to deal with these kind of early rushes at all, I just thought I did.
With this in the forefront of my mind I was able to try several thing to improve my early game. Tightening up my build a little, and varying it depending on what I scouted. I began (rightly or wrongly) to do things like forgoing my expansion for an Engineering Bay and a third Barracks if I suspected an early Air assault, or a rush. I got a little better at moving my SCV's around when the Lings inevitably appear at 3 minutes. Etc.
These are all goals to work towards however, as another thing I have realised this week (which should have been obvious anyway) is that this game is so flexible, and fluid that you cannot practice against something for 2 or 3 days and then say "Done. That will never bother me again". You need to be aware of your weaknesses at all times, and even if you think you know how to beat something, someone might just come along and show you otherwise. Three times in a row...
Putting up One Helluva Fight
There has been some discussion recently, I have noticed, about which ladder is 'more difficult', the North American or European Ladder.
The response has mostly been "Who cares?" but it got me to thinking, while I have no experience at all of higher leagues, so I cannot comment on which upcoming pro's might be better, NA or EU, I have noticed that when I watch replays online or shows like Day[9]'s Newbie Tuesday, NA Bronze League games... Are incredible.
I have encountered a lot of stiff resistance in the EU Bronze, and am slowly climbing my way out, and while I cannot claim to have anywhere near a big enough sample from either ladder, what I have seen has had me wishing I was playing on the NA ladder. It seems bonkers easy.
Day9 Wants a Video! Well Get The Man a Video, Right Quickly!
I am sure that most of you watch the Day9 Daily, I have been enjoying it an awful lot since I discovered it. Not only do Sean's antics brighten my day, but they provide a constant stream of information for my brain to absorb.
Recently, the Newbie Tuesday Dailies have been focussing on basic game mechanics, and this week viewers were asked to submit videos! What an opportunity, I jumped on StarCraft 2 right away and in my rush to record something awesome, played 2 or 3 good games before realising my recording software was not recording... D'Oh!
So anyway, I recorded a couple more, and converted the best one into a high quality upload, and sent it in. Fingers crossed, you might all get to see my terrible terrible mechanics in action on Tuesday!
Progression and Goals
I feel I have done a decent job so far of keeping up with my weekly goals, focussing mostly this week on general game mechanics. I am getting a little better at using the screen hotkeys, and units are being produced much more smoothly than they were last week. I notice quite an improvement between some of my older replays and my latest ones.
Significantly, I am managing to do a lot more harassment, even if it is not always successful, it has been quite surprising to me how much scouting info even a failed drop can glean.
Looking forward however, I will continue to work on my basic mechanics, I am still having a lot of trouble stopping myself scrolling the screen with the mouse. This will be my main focus, I should only be doing that while advancing with an army.
This Week's Replays:
TvT Bio vs Mech
TvZ: A good game against a friendly Zerg. If he had added a few banelings I would have probably lost.
TvP: I get Probe Rushed...
TvP: Standard game on Metalopolis
Overall I think I am improving steadily, and still have less than 100 games under my belt, with more time to play I think I would be in a strong position to move out of Bronze League.
Have a great week everyone! And don't rage as hard as I did this week, you might regret telling some innocent Terran you hope he gets hit by a car... I shouldn't oughta have done that.
