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The end of an era?

Blogs > Sega92
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Sega92
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States467 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-14 10:26:20
July 14 2011 10:01 GMT
#1
Hello everyone,

I recently took a little break from sc to go back to a game I've loved just as long, counter strike. Now while I was never a great player I recently got fed up with playing in 30+ person servers, it just wasn't the cs I knew from the old CAL days so I went ahead and got myself an ESEA subscription. And I have to say...I missed you all.

from the time I spent playing ESEA games I learned just why people say cs is dying, if you aren't a player with skills comparable to the pros you are literally forced to leave games from the constant harassment from your team. In that way new/less skilled players are forced out before they even get a chance to begin.

now I get to my point, Thank you Starcraft fans, this is truly the nicest group of gamers you'll find in gaming, I mean to this day someone can go get BW and find a friend to help them train and enjoy the game.

but back to my other point (sorry its early mind is jumping and no time to re-organize this whole damn thing) cs has been slowly declining in player count the past few years and many people wonder why...its because (from what I saw these last 2 weeks) if you aren't masters/A+ level skill wise on cs you are harassed and never learn a damn thing that way no new pros will be able to move up in skill for example if iccup made D level players play against A+ level players there would be no noobs left and the game would kill itself


TL:DR, FUCK yeah SC fans lets keep being awesome!!


P.S <3 you all !

Also, I am unsure about the Euro scene but in the US...its rough

****
Piste
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
6180 Posts
July 14 2011 10:04 GMT
#2
<3 lov you too
Darth Saros
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Czech Republic245 Posts
July 14 2011 10:21 GMT
#3
Are you talking about source, or 1.6? Not to mention you can't compare BW with any of those games. First off, BW is not a teamgame(mostly). Then you have the skill and knowledge required to actually play... There is plenty of steam and nonsteam servers crawling with noobs. You just have to search for them. If you were used to play on some l33t sk1llz server with only good players no wonder you suck now(but as I said, CS is a joke compared to BW, you could be back in your shape like in a week)...
Only BW...And everybody and your granny should know about CYBERPUNK 2077.
Sega92
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States467 Posts
July 14 2011 10:23 GMT
#4
1.6, and it's just sad that the "better" players don't want to let their game grow and are content to watch it die. every time I get on iccup and see less people on I am sad that its going that way, where as in cs it seems like they say "awesome, less noobs"
FreshNoThyme
Profile Joined March 2008
United States356 Posts
July 14 2011 10:24 GMT
#5
NOTE: All of this only applies to the U.S. scene. CS is still big in Europe, for the most part. Not as big as it used to be, but still big.

CS didn't die out because of the reasons you stated, really. People have always been like that. I had an ESEA account the first week it opened (years, and years, and years ago) and people have always been extremely elitist in the game. I started playing in 2003, and most people I still game with today started in 2000. People were extremely hateful from the day I started playing. The dying out has more to do with the way events were going down, and that resulted in less coverage. So many people won events and didn't get paid that they just ended up moving away from the game.

The game was also simply old. CS was a rarity in the gaming world; few games have ever pulled 100k+ viewers per event for that many years in a row. Very few games in history ever had that big of a following. As with everything, it eventually began to lose players as people lose interest. All of the guys I started playing with were teenagers at the time, and now are 25~ years old. They are either in grad school or have families and careers. They simply don't have time for the games anywhere. Many top players are/would be 30 years old now, and like the rest of us, just moved on.

After CAL died, and CEVO began going to shit, people just gave up. Until CAL finally closed, thousands and thousands of players were still making new teams and joining CAL-Open.

CS hasn't really been active in the U.S. for a long time, really. I'd say it peaked in 2004-2006 in popularity. It tried to keep going, but past 2008, it really has just been a blip on the radar. Pubs used to be booming, #findpug #findscrim #findringer #calscrim were always full of people spamming to play, 10mans were abundant, and finding a top team to play nightly was easy. It really hasn't been that way in years.

I absolutely loved the game. Most people who played competitively were dicks, but the people I played with always made it fun. I was stuck in CAL-P and CEVO-M most of the time I played, but it was still enjoyable. I played 10~ hours a week for 6~ years and had a blast doing it. It was the best period of my life as a "gamer", but even I realize it is just a shell of its former self.

But yeah, don't bother with ESEA. It seems like a great idea, and there are nice people, but for the most part, it breeds negativity. Having a public stat system conditions people to not only play different (extremely annoying at times, but that's just part of the game, so not a big deal), but act different (which is the problem).
Sega92
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States467 Posts
July 14 2011 10:31 GMT
#6
precisely the problem I was noticing, no one talks shit on esea until .stats (your name here) then the fuckin horns come out
Mithriel
Profile Joined November 2010
Netherlands2969 Posts
July 14 2011 11:12 GMT
#7
I still LOVE cs to death, don't play it that much anymore because a proper public server is hard to find. Most have a shitton of annoying mods running and every single fucking server is de_dust2 24/7. While i actually enjoy some variation in maps (how bad some might be).

I know public servers are terrible, but just not looking to join a clan again.
There is no shame in defeat so long as the spirit is unconquered. | Cheering for Maru, Innovation and MMA!
TheGiz
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada708 Posts
July 14 2011 12:43 GMT
#8
Love CS and I never really caught onto it until 2008. I joined this one server that I stumbled upon and kept going back. I learned a lot and was able to hold my own as a top 3-4 player every single match.

Thinking of going back to it now that I reinstalled Steam. It's one of the few games I'm able to run flawlessly on my abysmal computer. Starcraft team games are often slideshows...
Life is not about making due with what you have; it's about finding out just how much you can achieve. Never settle for anything less than the best. - - - Read my blog!
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