EPTI will begin by saying, that I currently do not play SC. In total I have probably played about 20 hours worth, but that’s it. My brother recently moved out and along with that he took his gaming desktop with him, which leaves me with just my laptop. Although I made silver league with my first game, I am definitely still a huge noob when it comes to playing. But do I have to play Starcraft to enjoy it? Absolutely NO!
My brother had been trying to get me to play for months, and one day he showed me the Day9 trumpet video. At first I was like ‘omg this guy is a retard’, but then I figured, why not watch the rest. After that day I started watching Day9 regularly even before I played my first game of Starcraft.
It was hard to understand most of what was going on in his videos, but I was intrigued by how the game worked. This can be said about many things, rugby for instance, is a wonderful example. Many Americans do not understand the majority of the rules, but we enjoy watching people get tackled hard. So what’s the difference? As you watch more and more Starcraft you start to understand strategies and learn micro/macro, just as you start to learn the rules of a sport.
When I heard that MLG Anaheim was starting, I thought to myself that I would not want to watch because it would be boring watching that many Starcraft matches. Sadly I waited till Sunday to start watching and I was instantly hooked. However, the next two MLG events I was watching all three days and never left my computer! I also am a stream stalker now too! I constantly am looking at Teevox or Team Liquid to see who is streaming right now.
In just a few short months, I went from someone who had no idea anything about Starcraft, to someone who is fully obsessed with the game. I have not played a game in about a month, but has that hindered my love? NO! I fully believe that you do not need to play in order to love the game. It’s just the same as knowing all the teams and players in basketball, but not playing it. It is just fun watching people who are so good at the game. Watching people like Stephano, who at 18 years old won $30,000, people like IdrA who get frustrated a lot, and people like HuK who has fun chatting to his opponent during a major match.
So do I think Starcaft will be a success if it comes to television? Yes, I think after the first couple of showings, the new audience will begin to understand the game. A lot of people will probably watch it cause they are curious why a computer game is on tv, but hey whatever it takes to get them to watch! I think that they will need to be consistent though, showing a game every other month will not be good. The newer audience will need consistency to help them understand the game by watching it more.
So if you are reading this and you do not play Starcraft, you can love the game just as much as someone who does play. Hopefully more and more people will begin to watch.
