EPTStreaming
First off, I want to stream for my friends without heavy impact on my play, but my attempts at this have been unfruitful. Internet speeds are on the low side (600 kbps avg download, 300-400 upload), which may be a large part of the issue. When I'm streaming NA server, I'll get dropped about 1 every 5 games. Very unrewarding for me--particularly in those long games where you think you have a winning edge that just needs a bit of development. Streaming KR and EU games has same amount of disconnects, but also noticeable lag. No forcefields were even close to landing at the proper position at the right time while streaming on KR so that's out of the question.
Next idea was youtube videos, but I still need to research the proper methods to that. First one uploaded is a 3 Gate Expand on Slag Pits. The general fuzziness and lack of clarity I could not shake through multiple tries of quality of recording/exported file changes, following advice found through google about youtube uploads. Compare that to a random googled youtube video, and I'm like wow ... if only I could get that kinda look to it.
I coach players and answer Protoss questions in Protoss Strategy 1 on NA Bnet. Yet, a lot of times I wish I could just link a commentated replay of myself saying THIS is how you hold allins with 1gate expand ... THIS is how you scout a Zerg and adjust to what you're seeing. Hence my motivation to stream or youtube. I help others because not so long ago people helped me overcome difficulties I had in my play.
KR Ladder
God it's hard to ladder over here. Allin allin allin. Mistakes are death and I make plenty of those!
Zerg: "You're forge fast expanding? Not so fast, check it out ... 10 BANELINGS ... Micro or die, Sir!"
Terran: "2rax expand for me means 2rax marine/scv allin then expand. Oh, you defended that last time we met? Let's try your skill at marine/tank/scv ..."
Protoss: "The 2 gateways are right around the corner! Enjoy!"
It's trial by fire mode. I'm working on reaching some amount of stability on Chinese PvZ and Twilight Council PvP as these seem to fit my playstyle in the respective matchups, allowing some strength against varied opponent playstyles. Not that I like going from a 2gate/3gate Sentry expand PvZ to figuring out just where to put my pylon and cannons in a FFE on every map out there. I just like some of the benefits of going gasless to macro the economy before pumping out some third-threatening map-control-gaining pressure. The PvP build comes in the wake of needing to change up some PvP style I had been doing that won't work all so well if most of the PTR changes stick. I refer to ramp-warpin and ramp-vision changes affecting 4gate attacking. The blink style into chargelot archon is a pretty addicting strategy. You feel you can dance the map with blinkstalkers all day until his big robo-push comes out, compared to noodling about on the top of the ramp saving gas and chronos for colossus.
Combination of new builds and KR Ladder aggression keeps me very engrossed in laddering. NA just isn't the same. I mean, not that NA zergs don't apply aggression properly because they do. It's just at different times. KR Zergs will literally seek a kill off 2 base with baneling drops, something I rarely saw on NA at any time. Yeah, conventional wisdom is to take a third, but who knows how to say conventional wisdom in Korean, anyways? Joking aside, living on the razor's edge of losing to defensive mismicro puts more satisfaction into the wins where I make it after the 2 games where I don't. Maybe I'll be able to soon say I have FFE worked out to defend before plentiful forcefields, or maybe I'll go back to a gas-before-expand variant, who knows. I just love playing KR and really like the builds I'm looking at right now.
I'd like to specially mention of QTIP's thoughts on Terran 111 since I see that so much now. I literally did 1gas 1gate FE till the cows came home in PvT and now see that my success with it against 111 allin has some basis in theory and other player's experience. The rough hold is indeed rax-fact-rax marine/tank/scv allin on close positions; I'm barely breaking 50% winrate there. But if my Terran opponent wants banshees with or without a raven, bring it on you're going down! This also demonstrates the rare time I pretty much knew to do everything he suggested doing. But even though that defense felt natural (zealots for marines, guardian shield for zealots, forcefield for kiting, immortals for tanks, shrug banshees until main threat dealt with) there's TONS more AHHHH moments reading strategy guide in TL Strategy Forum. Keep up the good work [G] creators that deserve the tag!
Mouse
My 2 year old Logitech g5 is still hanging in there. I'm giving it a happy birthday cleaning for working so so long. So, I was rereading CecilSunkure's Improving Efficiently at SC2 (pdf) (and chuckling a little at his use of often times instead of oftentimes) and came across his section on the different ways to hold a mouse. I identify with the palm grip; it's what I've always done. I'm a pretty high sensitivity as far as slight movements of hand to cursor movements. 2k dpi, around 70% SC2 sensitivity. I was thinking about his suggestion of how to hold the mouse and his recommendation of the fingertip grip. Well, first I was shocked by his "palm grip is terrible for RTS play" comment. I've used palm grip through 3 RTS games (Total Annihilation, Age of Empires II, Starcraft 2) and never found my terrible mouse grip something keeping me off clan wars and tournament play. Reading on I discovered that the assumption of the palm grip is that the forearm (Cecil says shoulder?) is doing all the action and the wrist none/little. Reverse is true for me, very little is done with the forearm (bottom of wrist lies on mousepad) and much with the wrist. Hmm. This might come from table tennis or piano where the forearm and wrist work in harmony. How much benefit will I reap unlearning my position of the last 12 years (ugh that sounds long in retrospect) to learn another more accurate one?
I mean a substantial portion of the control of my mouse is my fingers pushing it side to side. Index and middle finger pull it back, and palm of my hand pushes it forward against the pressure of my fingers. Who knows? In the back of my mind, at the mid/masters level I play at, I doubt any significant difference could be realized at this time. I don't do a terrible amount of screen dragging, having learned in previous RTS that double tapping hotkeys is RTS gold. So much so that I look in incredulity when I find people that don't do that and didn't even know that was the way the best did? Chalk up one for born-and-bred on the RTS gaming field I guess.
Last Ramble I promise
Woah, Koreans have access to THIS level of coaching?
Visual Radio (nowadays known as Ready Action) is a very popular Starcraft 2-related liveshow on the Korean GOMTV website, hosted by GSL casters and people from the progaming community. It is sadly never translated, so it is unknown in the foreign community. This is why we decided to fansub the show.
No wonder Koreans are good (haha). Thank youuuu translation team.
