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SC2 beta came out in February of 2010, just as TSL2 was wrapping up. Naturally, TL picked up coverage of how the beta was developing.
Shortly after the release of the beta, TL asked its users what the most imbalanced unit in the game was. Keep in mind that some of these units have changed barely at all, while some have changed greatly. While the roach has seen little change as of late, during the beta it was patched several times, the most infamously changing its supply cost from 1 to 2, as well as having its rapid regenration ability only work while burrowed. However, places 2-4 have seen significantly less change, especially the mutalisk. The major change to the colossus after a slight damage nerf was making it fire faster while turning down the amount of damage per swipe (keeping the DPS exactly the same, however), while the immortal has only seen one change through SC2s history, a build time increase of 15 seconds.
March 19th saw the first "What league are you?" poll. Beta keys were notoriously difficult to get back then (I begged a friend for a friend invite, myself), so the 56% figure of those who said they did not have a key was very unsurprising. What may surprise newer users, however, is the lack of diamond league and the addition of copper league. For some reason, Blizzard felt that they needed to get rid of copper and shift every league down one. For a while, being platinum league meant you were part of the best group of SC2 players, whereas now all it means is that you can't macro.
The most interesting beta poll, in my opinion, was the "What is your favorite map?" poll. The difference between the beta map pool (besides the short inclusion of the laughable Inceneration Zone) and release was the addition of Delta Quadrant and Xel'Naga caverns on release day. Note that maps we now laugh at in terms of how bad they were top the poll. Lost Temple being number one is unsurprising, considering the history of that map in Blizzard RTS games. However, Steppes of War being number two is a hilarious relic of the fact that 1basing was the major playstyle of the time.
The last early beta poll to note is the "What is your biggest worry with SC2?" poll. Number one is the lack of a highground advantage. SC1 featured a percent chance of missing an attack when attacking higher ground, while SC2's only advantage was that no sight was given. TL wrote an article on how this was a huge piece missing from the puzzle of the game, which is why it tops this poll. Obviously balance is a huge concern for all, but number three, that is lack of unit control, was another big criticism of the game back then. It was (and still is by some people) viewed as a game of ball vs. ball, where each player took what units they had and a-moved with little exception (minimal sentry use, maybe ghosts). The game has evolved slightly, but this still could be a concern for how SC2 plays out.
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I haven't played SC2 for a while, but I'm assuming everything but the last poll's changed now right?
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what diamond is now, I believe.
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On June 21 2011 04:49 seRapH wrote:
I haven't played SC2 for a while, but I'm assuming everything but the last poll's changed now right?
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what diamond is now, I believe.
Platinum was the highest league...
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On June 21 2011 04:49 seRapH wrote:
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what masters is now, I believe.
FYP
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On June 21 2011 04:49 seRapH wrote:
I haven't played SC2 for a while, but I'm assuming everything but the last poll's changed now right?
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what diamond is now, I believe.
I was a solid 1600 ICCup player and I'm masters now, so it's not terribly difficult to get this high.
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On June 21 2011 04:52 skindzer wrote:Show nested quote +On June 21 2011 04:49 seRapH wrote:
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what masters is now, I believe. FYP
Platinum was the same as modern Diamond + Masters + Grandmasters. It made up over 10% of the player base, if I recall correctly.
They changed it because they said Bronze and Copper were too similar. I remember initially there was a bit of a backlash against it, haha.
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Heh jeez. I almost forgot how hated roaches were for a short while in beta.
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aww no polls about 60 second Warp Gate research time. That was the best.
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Hahaha oh man Metalopolis below Blistering Sands and Steppes of War. That's a massive /facepalm
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These are very interesting.
I was in platinum.
Still in platinum 
Man i used to hate roaches.
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Most people don't know the difference between copper and bronze. Bronze = Copper + Tin, c'mon now, didn't you guys play RuneScape?  That's why they got rid of it though, when people were talking to each other they would mix the 2 up not knowing which was actually lower.
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On June 21 2011 05:47 aike wrote:Most people don't know the difference between copper and bronze. Bronze = Copper + Tin, c'mon now, didn't you guys play RuneScape? That's why they got rid of it though, when people were talking to each other they would mix the 2 up not knowing which was actually lower.
I always thought they changed it because the name could be taken to negatively, and it was more a namechange to make players in lower leagues feel better
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Anyone remember how Scrap Station was one of the favorite "balanced" maps for macro games?
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1 supply 2 armor roaches were amazing....ah, those were the days. huge macro games on metalopolis, lose your entire zerg army and instantly remake 100 roaches in what...3 key strokes?
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On June 21 2011 04:49 seRapH wrote:
I haven't played SC2 for a while, but I'm assuming everything but the last poll's changed now right?
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what diamond is now, I believe.
nah, d is like masters, diamond is d- sc2 is just so easier when it comes to the ranks
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Yeah, Mutalisks were imbalanced as all bloody hell before they added the Thor's splash damage, and gave Phoenixes the ability to kite. Any early Muta build was pretty much guaranteed to succeed. Of course, most Zerg had a serious boner for the Roach/Hydra ball (while simultaneously complaining how boring the race was to play...). Immortals were just hilariously overpowered with the short build-time, too. You could just crush your way through a Terran's bunker defense with minimal effort. I'm surprised the early Immortal push tactic hasn't made a comeback as people have gotten more comfortable and greedy with their expansions. I guess 4-Gating is just much easier to pull off.
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United Kingdom14464 Posts
Why was Metalopolis hated? Surely even back then people liked the bigger maps?
(I wasn't around)
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On June 21 2011 09:44 MCDayC wrote:
Why was Metalopolis hated? Surely even back then people liked the bigger maps?
(I wasn't around)
It wasn't that people hated Metalopolis, they just liked the other maps they voted for (read: What is your favorite map?) more than it, mostly due to how games played out at that point in time (very 1basey, rarely getting to three base or more).
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On June 21 2011 06:47 thOr6136 wrote:Show nested quote +On June 21 2011 04:49 seRapH wrote:
I haven't played SC2 for a while, but I'm assuming everything but the last poll's changed now right?
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what diamond is now, I believe. nah, d is like masters, diamond is d- sc2 is just so easier when it comes to the ranks
There is really no point in comparison - I was C- ~ in scbw, and in sc2 I'm high diamond.
But I don't cheese very much, so maybe there is that.
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On June 21 2011 13:05 Comeh wrote:Show nested quote +On June 21 2011 06:47 thOr6136 wrote:On June 21 2011 04:49 seRapH wrote:
I haven't played SC2 for a while, but I'm assuming everything but the last poll's changed now right?
And platinum wasn't considered the best of the best back then either, it was still D/D+ from iccup, similar to what diamond is now, I believe. nah, d is like masters, diamond is d- sc2 is just so easier when it comes to the ranks There is really no point in comparison - I was C- ~ in scbw, and in sc2 I'm high diamond. But I don't cheese very much, so maybe there is that.
Nah, cheese has nothing to do with it (sure it gets you higher easier but doesn't really matter imo). But c- in bw and not being masters damn i don't understand that :S Well, i guess its a different game but still, bw is just SO MUCH harder. Maybe you just don't play the same amount of games as you did before and not really focusing on sc2 so much?
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EPT
