EPTThis here is blog post number 2 from yours truly. Before we get to the TL:DR part, a quick question: Does anyone know if the QXC v Sheth games from MLG Dallas 2011 were casted? I can’t find VoDs anywhere.
On to the meat of the post:
When I started this blog, I did so with the intention of making some SC2 friends. It totally worked! I now have a buddy list of people of which I can ask questions, and, more importantly, with whom I can play.
As pretty much a direct result, for what may be the first time, I’m starting to win on the ladder. For me, the trick to winning on the ladder is to make marginal improvements in play in custom matches or training, and then go play ladder matches while battle.net still thinks it’s placing that n00b on this account who last played the weekend before. It’s also really taken the sting out of laddering – I was terribly ladder phobic, but now that laddering is really a way to test myself, to see whether I’m improving, rather than the scenario in which I’m just supposed to GET BETTER, it doesn’t sting nearly so much. I still get nervous before I click that 'find match' button, but I can definitely do it now. And, because I search for my next 1v1 when I believe I HAVE gotten better, I go in with a lot more confidence. Which probably helps me win games.
Are you like me? Would you like to shake your fear of the ladder? Would you like to make SC2 friends? Here’s how I did it:
1) I joined channel Buddiship.
I don’t think it’s any sort of secret, ‘cause SirKibbleX wrote about it in a comment to my first post. Every time I log on to bnet, I join channel buddiship, which usually has about 15-20 people in it. They rap about their recent matches, or their builds, or esports or what a badass day[9] is, and then, most importantly, THEY START PLAYING WITH EACH OTHER. And other people in the channel observe! Showmatches from bronze to diamond! There are people of all skill levels there, all with the shared goal of not sucking so hard next time they click 1v1. You play with these people, and you get to know them, and then you start skyping with each other, and then, like last night, in the middle of the night you decide to form a 4v4 team and 8pool your way through placements just for lolz.
That’s how I got SC2 friends in a week.
I’m sure there are all sorts of private channels out there. Buddiship is just the one that found me. If you’re like me, you should find one, too, because it makes the rest of the whole ‘friend’ thing so much easier. Assuming you’re not a total dick, you can try joining buddiship, too.
Don’t like buddiship? Can’t find your own private channel? You can always start a blog on TL.net. I know someone always links to the practice partner thread in the comments to new friend blogs…but that guy always sounds like kind of a jerk – he never made me want to check out that thread. So just start your own blog, if you’ve got the time. It worked for me, and it’s day[9] approved.
Or you can just comment here, and I, at least, will totally be your friend.
2) I was a really cheerful loser on the ladder, and someone took pity on me.
People say you’ve got to make the effort to go make friends, and that no one’s going to do it for you. That’s true, if you’re unlucky. I was lucky, and I don’t even really remember how. But I do know how to stack the odds. As I recall, I got crushed in a ladder match, but I was really good-natured about it – humble about my total lack of macro, and appropriately impressed by the total dismantling of my army. I probably made some vaguely witty remark, and asked a question about what I did wrong.
And my opponent, Marc the Canadian, offered to give me a few pointers, and I accepted. He gave me great advice on simple things I could improve based on our replay. Stuff like “you need to make drones,” and “you need to rally your drones to your minerals” – corrections to basic, basic mistakes I had made in our game. Then he invited me to skype. Then he invited me to watch and participate in some games he was playing with his friends. As a result, my game has improved.
Your chances of making friends in any given ladder match are very bad. But you can at least make them non-zero. So how do you improve your chances of making random friends on the ladder? Here are my protips:
A) Whatever you do, don’t rage, and don’t ragequit. In fact, after you lose, try asking a question before you quit. You’ll never make friends if you don’t talk to people. Are you going to lose? Sure you are – ‘cause you’re like me, and I lost a lot. Is it appropriate to concede? Of course it is. But that also just means the pressure is off, and you’ve got time to type something. Like, “dang. Howdja get a million mutas at 10 minutes?” (Answer: he made drones.) It’s okay to ask a question you already know the answer to, like the above, if that’s all you can think of. It’s just an icebreaker. And the game’s over anyway, so you can just quit if your opponent turns out to be a giant d-bag.
B) Use some grammar and spelling. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve got a strong preference for people who sound like people when they type. Particularly if you want to make a friend, I think it helps to sound like a person yourself.
In summary:
If you do the above: If you expose yourself to other players who also want friends, if you participate in some kind of conversation or activity, and if you aren’t a dick about it, you will make Starcraft friends - or at least Starcraft acquaintances. Accept help. Join activities, even if only to chat with other observers. It's okay to start in the shallow end. I’m a pretty introverted guy, and this turned out to be much easier than I had thought. AND, AS A RESULT MY GAME HAS IMPROVED AND I CAN LOOK FORWARD TO LADDERING. Maybe I’ll talk about how I’ve improved my game in the next post.
One last note for other n00bs like me, especially older n00bs. If you don’t skype – and I didn’t before a week ago – it takes about 5 minutes to set up an account and it makes channel based activities way more fun. And my computer, at least, has a built in mic, which meant I didn’t need to shell out for any extra hardware. If you WANT Starcraft 2 to be fun, but at the moment you just find that playing ISN’T ACTUALLY FUN, skype may help a lot.
Okay, that’s it. Bye!
