EPT
Blazinghand wrote:
First off, I'd just like to say that you have written an excellent post, and judging by your post count, you're clearly an excellent poster. I've gotten a fair amount of negativity in response to what i thought was a fairly benign blog post, and having veterans criticize me has brought me to reevaluate the way I've written/done things.
Having thought about the way I phrased the OP, that's a reasonable interpretation of what I've said. I think now I know what the problem is: I've represented myself poorly. I have a sentence or two at the beginning of a long blog post about how I occasionally use allins and 1 base attacks in my play, and I feel no qualms about doing so. I would like to note that this is by no means the only way that I play, nor do said allins make up the majority of my play.
It just so happens that I message most of my opponents after games looking for practice partners. Sometimes, I succeed. I have the most difficulty after games in which my opponents are upset after playing. As it were, some of these games are games in which I did a very early cheese attack or a 1 base all-in. I thought I'd make a blog post about how I try to help improve people's attitudes in Starcraft 2, and the strategies I have found most effective for getting to know people after games in which they are upset. Sorry if there was any confusion about the motivations behind my blog post
First off, I'd just like to say that you have written an excellent post, and judging by your post count, you're clearly an excellent poster. I've gotten a fair amount of negativity in response to what i thought was a fairly benign blog post, and having veterans criticize me has brought me to reevaluate the way I've written/done things.
Having thought about the way I phrased the OP, that's a reasonable interpretation of what I've said. I think now I know what the problem is: I've represented myself poorly. I have a sentence or two at the beginning of a long blog post about how I occasionally use allins and 1 base attacks in my play, and I feel no qualms about doing so. I would like to note that this is by no means the only way that I play, nor do said allins make up the majority of my play.
It just so happens that I message most of my opponents after games looking for practice partners. Sometimes, I succeed. I have the most difficulty after games in which my opponents are upset after playing. As it were, some of these games are games in which I did a very early cheese attack or a 1 base all-in. I thought I'd make a blog post about how I try to help improve people's attitudes in Starcraft 2, and the strategies I have found most effective for getting to know people after games in which they are upset. Sorry if there was any confusion about the motivations behind my blog post
Dealing with Bad Manner
Maybe you've met me on the ladder. Maybe we played. And maybe, JUST MAYBE, you BMed me at the end of the game. My style of play certainly warrants it, at times: I pull no punches, especially in TvZ; if you hatch first in close pos metalopolis, I will allin with 3 Marines and 10 SCVs. If you only make 2 or 3 queens, I will thordrop / banshee harass and allin you off of 1 base. I'll do what it takes to win. But that is where my no-holds-barred attitude stops.
I will never BM you. Even when I lose my scvs to superior drone micro, and you crush me and say "lawl noob terran only allins", or even when I successfully allin or harass you and you quit saying "omg terran can do an infinite number of allins on one base" or even if we play a straight up macro game and my MMMVG is overwhelmed by your wacky protoss antics, I will never end a game without typing "gg wp" (if I'm angry I might just type a curt "gg"). Somehow, somewhere I find it in me to always be good mannered.
I imagine this is not uncommon, either-- not everyone rages, and many people have excellent manner. Starcraft 2 has more in common with, say, fencing, or chess, than it does with pro wrestling. It's a gentleman's duel, and both sides fight with grit and respect. The other player is not your enemy, but rather, your adversary. He may be your opponent for the day, but you share a bond of being a Starcraft 2 player, a competitor in the greatest of great e-sports, even at the low level you play at. The good-mannered, quiet players vastly outnumber the ragers and bad-mannered people.
Where I differ is how I respond to those with bad manner. Should you leave without a "gg", should you angrily cry OP, that will not stop me. I will chat you after the game and I will QUELL YOUR RAGE. It's not enough to silently watch as my opponent ragequits our game. I cannot let that slide so easily. Indeed, as I open the "chat" button after the game, my stream viewers no doubt think I'm getting geared up to rub the salt in your wounds. "Nice queen micro", I would say, or "if I'm so bad how did I beat you" could be another triumphant, prideful response.
I can only imagine the surprise that you and my viewers feel as I send my first messages: "gg wp", I will begin, "you're clearly an excellent player. perhaps one of the best I've played in a long while." And you will respond angrily, hurt, not wanting to be kind, for fear of opening up, of showing your humanity to only be stung, and hurt again-- to open your doors to the praise to only find stinging insults that could follow this well-mannered opening phrase from me. But where there is fear, I shall replace it with calmness, with happiness. I will not betray you. I will not hestitate from my duty, the good-mannered player's burden. Even in your hesitant anger, I can sense the poor, hurt human within you, trying to break free from the Troll exterior.
"I enjoyed playing with you-- I was wondering, would you be up for some practice games in the future?" I send, again reaching out across the grim darkness of the internet to bring warmth to a cold, bitter soul. Another pause. Maybe you respond thankfully, the cold hard shield around your heart melted away by a human response in a foreign, digital land. Maybe you don't respond at all, or, still fearing for your own emotional state, continue to BM me. I will not falter. "I'm part of a practice group that hangs out in chat channel PEJ... I guess you're in a game because you're not responding. Feel free to drop by any time! We're always looking for more zerg players."
And sometimes, finally, you respond, forsaking the usual b.net aloofness you bear against the uncaring anonymous masses of battle.net. You say you'll drop by, or thank me, or even reply with a "gg", and if nothing else, even in silence, you will let yourself be touched by a stranger's kindness, if only for a moment. Maybe you'll play better in your next game, or maybe you'll just have better manner with your next opponent. Maybe all that will happen is that you'll feel a bit better about yourself, and about life. All that matters, though, is that for a moment we stopped being enemies and instead became fellow men, respected rivals, humans who could rise above the void of the electronic interface and find hope.
