EPT
A Brood War story.
A story that begins, as all good stories do, with a Korean BW tryhard: my cousin.
My Family
My mother is Korean-American, and comes from a large(ish) family. As a result. I grew up surrounded in part by Korean-American relatives my age. We spoke in English together because only some of them had parents who taught them Korean, and those of us who had similar interests stayed in touch even as our families moved to different parts of the country.
Nathan was my age; we were born within a year of each other, and got along terribly in our childhood. Both relatively ostentatious children, we butted heads often, sometimes literally. When his family came out to the SF bay area in my early teens, we got back in touch and became fast friends. We shared interests in computer games, and it was Nathan who introduced me to battle.net. I'd played through the SC and SC:BW campaign, of course, but hadn't clicked on that lovely satellite that brought me in touch with the rest of the scene.
The Beginning
My first experience playing online was playing a UMS game called Evolves. In this game you control a science vessel and a bunker (full of hero marines). The science vessel constantly spawns units, and you get experience points by destroying your opponent's units. The more experience points you get, the better units you spawn. Eventually, you roll over him with your army. Somehow, I managed to overpower my opponent, despite this being my first play of the game. He immediately began asking for mercy and calling me a newbie. "Why are you killing me you are noob." My teenage wit immediately retorted "2 prove I am not a n00b." His response, "UMS isn't recorded in W/L" bounced right off of me. He left the game, and all was well.
In time, I played melees and became strong. I mained Zerg and my favorite unit was the Zergling. Every game I would make drones until I had 9, but then I wouldn't be able to make drones any more, so I'd make a spawning pool, and then an overlord. I bragged that I once won a game in under 5 minutes because I'm so much better than my opponents. Yeah, I was that guy-- the 14-year-old 9-pool-every-game guy.
And in time, I found out about them. They were those who I hated, those who I detested-- the rating inflators. These players, unwilling to play fair games, would host games called "7v1 COMPSTOMP" with a varying number of exclamation points. Sometimes it would be 6v2 or even 5v3, but mostly it was 7v1, and the pattern was always the same: several players against a small number of AI opponents.
"But Blazinghand," you ask, "Why is this fun? What value could this possibly achieve?"
Well, my reader, you must understand-- this was battle.net. It was the old days. When someone joined a game, the server would print his win/loss record. And if your record was something like 753-0, well, that would surely strike fear into the heart of your enemies! And the easiest and quickest way to amass the necessary wins? Make stacked games. Pit yourself and your 6 allies against the 1 Very Easy AI. Collect the win and press on. Game the system. Inflate your record.
The Background
It was my cousin who first did it. He was one of the first, if not the very first, to do this. I saw him do it one Thanksgiving I was over at his place. This was before AllyAlert and other tools/hacks were developed to counteract this exact sort of thing. This was the Wild West of battle.net, and in this lawless land he stood strong. I don't even remember his handle any more, all I remember is his clan tag, K0rrupt-- he switched handles and accounts fairly often, but always was K0rrupt. It was fitting enough, since his goal became to subvert these 7v1 compstomps, to stand as a lone scion of some unseen justice against these win farmers.
First, for those of you who didn't play BW: To make a 7v1 game and have it count, you need to make the game as a "Melee" game, which means every player is a free agent. In order to win, all surviving players in the game must be A) Allied and B) have Allied Victory turned on. In the Alliances Menu you could set Allied and Vision for each player individually, and at the bottom was a checkbox for Allied Victory. If just one person in the alliance of 7 didn't have Allied Victory on, even if everyone else did and everyone was allied, the game would not end.
Now you're starting to understand, right? Nathan would join the game, help his allies defeat the computer, and not check the Allied Victory box. He would create, in a sense, a high-paranoia game of Mafia, or Phantom Mode. In this game there were no rules, except that nobody wanted to lose and tarnish their 0 losses record, and somehow they weren't winning. There was a wolf among the sheep, a mobster among the townspeople, and as long as he lived, nobody could win. It was brutal. It was brilliant. It was exhilarating. And most of all? It was JUSTICE.
The Game
Things would always progress in the same way.
The first step is always confusion-- Did the AI have a building left somewhere? What about an Overlord? Is that a building? Okay, he doesn't have any left. Wait, does everyone have Allied Victory checked? Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes.
Slowly, it would dawn upon them that someone just lied. Just now, JUST NOW, someone just lied. Someone had allied victory unchecked. Someone was a Wolf. The second step begins at this realization: bargaining. The townspeople would beg. Please, I know one of you doesn't have it checked. Just check it so we can leave. Please. Sometimes intermingled would be threats of hax, or of reporting him for hax. This wouldn't last long, though... and soon it would be the final step.
Step Three: Phantom Mode / Mafia / The Game. Here is where the game truly begins. Everyone has Alliance and Shared Vision, and everyone is afraid. The clock is ticking. You're slowly mining minerals and gas, but you're not gonna run out (this was usually held on the FASTEST POSSIBLE MAP EVER). But you're afraid, too. You know someone out there is a traitor, and he might be building an army. You start making more gateways, out of fear or out of anger. You see someone else doing the same-- is he planning to betray you? Tension runs high, and tempers run hot, to the breaking point. Someone in here is a TRAITOR.
The argument becomes more frantic, more poorly l337spoken, and more typo-ridden. People's nerves are fraying. Suddenly, someone unvisions someone else. Shouting ensues. Accusations fly out. Everyone is afraid. Nobody who's sunk hours upon hours of time into becoming 150-0 wants to become 150-1. Finally, someone is targeted. "ORANGE IS MAKING MUTALISKS" or some similar nonsense is shouted, and the other 6 descend upon him madly, 1a2a3aing their armies to freedom, glorious freedom. Orange protests, briefly, but realizes he can't afford to do so any more. Sadly, he unvisions and unallies his former allies and gather together his troops for one final stand at his choke, but no army could stand against the combined armies of the other players. As he dies, he curses and begs for mercy.
xXxDrAgOn_SlAyErxXx has left the game!
For a split second, all is silent. Everyone holds their breath, hoping, praying that the Victory! screen will appear for them. But nothing comes, and the horror of realizing they just killed a fellow victory-seeker weighs down on them. They quickly turn on eachother, angry and confused, arguing once more. And so the process of this high-stakes, beautiful, involuntary Brood War Phantom Mode / Mafia game would continue. Deeper into blood would the win-farmers wade, until the blood consumed them whole.
Sometimes, Nathan actually won these games. Most of the time, he'd die before killing them all off. Almost always, several of the farmers would die before he was found out. And with every disconnect he would smile broadly, for justice had been wrought upon the unworthy. I could only watch in admiration at his skill both at Sc and at speechcraft. Truly a better thanksgiving was never had.
2 months later
In a game lobby: 7v1 COMPSTOMP NO NOOBS!!!!
D)A-Blazinghand has joined the game!
The player list gradually fills up. 3, then 4, then eventually 6 players are in the game. We only need one more player to get started. To begin the treason, the lies, and the slaughter. To begin the game behind the game. To bring justice upon the unjust.
K0rrupt_K0r3an has joined the game!
I smile to myself. This should be good.
