EPTThe Dark Cloud
Brood War, apparently, is dying. The MSL, a whole one half of the starleagues, has been discontinued. There are only 8 teams left to battle for the glory of the Proleague title. Player retirements are popping up more regularly and less new blood is being brought into the game than ever before. These are all symptoms of lower viewership and therefore less willingness by sponsors to put money into the game. They're simply not getting the returns on their investments. And who can forget the blow that the pro scene took when 11 players were implicated in the match fixing scandal and had to hang up their mice and keyboards, never to return to the stage as a progamer. And now some Brood War players, from middling A-teamers to legendary bonjwas, have turned their back on this 13 year old game as they are drawn towards the glittering lights of Starcraft 2.
![[image loading]](http://i40.tinypic.com/243kw9c.jpg)
Starcraft 2 doesn't have ALL of the glittering lights! Granted this was from over 5 years ago...
Not only were BW players persuaded by the potential of Starcraft 2, so were sponsors, league organisers, and much weaker players. Blizzard as well knew that they could have Starcraft 2 ride on the back of the colossus that was the legacy of the BW proscene, in order to bring it to great heights. They felt they had to trample on it a bit in order to thrust Starcraft 2 into the limelight, highlighted by the KeSPA/Blizzard/GOM legal battles. So no one can blame these ex-BW players for making the switch, it was an obvious choice for a lot of them.
We're losing Brood War to forces outside of our control, and to forces that might one day match the greatness of what it is helping to destroy. I hope this is the case because Brood War is an amazing game.
The Thing That Only Brood War Has
Brood War is an immensely polished game with great sound effects, graphics (even though I admit they are dated now) and smooth gameplay. There are plenty of other games out there that have these attributes too, but they don't hold a candle to Brood War. Anyone who has been a fan of the game at its highest level for more than a few months will not deny this. Even most newcomers are entranced on their first few viewings of progames, and anyone that puts a bit of time and effort into understanding the game will know how good it is. So what makes Brood War so great? It's something almost undefinable. It has a certain magic.
![[image loading]](http://i44.tinypic.com/250m73c.jpg)
It's basically Warcraft in space! How you so good Starcraft?!
Here is my attempt at explaining why Brood War is so wholesome and marvelous. There are 2 cardinal reasons:
Character
Every time I see a control group of M&M engage a pack of zerglings I can imagine the hardened criminals in their space suits hitting up their stimpacks and feel absolute hatred as their guass cannons rip into zergling flesh. I can imagine the zerglings rip and tear at the fearful marines with their claws, teeth and whatever other razor sharp protrusion they have on their hideous bodies. Every time I see mass archon/zealot engage with ultra/ling, I can imagine the zealots not caring for their own life but just wanting to fight for their people and homeland, alongside these massive balls of psionic energy. Every time I see vultures sneak to a protoss expo and destroy innocent probes, I can imagine those smug little fuckers on their hover bikes being so proud of what they've done, not because they followed an order out, just because they're dicks.
Every single unit in Brood War has character, while still having a use in gameplay (I think the scout is the only unit that is completely useless, apart from as a hilarious BM and tilt-inducing technique!). Every unit is unique but not overly complex. The unit's spells are always congruent with the race and unit while still staying fresh. Even similar spells such as lockdown and maelstrom, or maelstrom and stasis field, have completely different applications and uses.
![[image loading]](http://i40.tinypic.com/wjcsvd.jpg)
Hueeuhaeuhuahe, silly terran, you can't move through stasised units.
These things make Brood War a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
Other RTSes don't have anywhere near what Brood War has in this regard. Even Starcraft 2. It feels like the units in Starcraft 2 were crowbarred into certain roles that each race had requirements of. Oh, terran needs a mech harass unit? Have the hellion! It's like a vulture except it has no mines and is totally one dimensional. Zerg needs a generic damage soaking unit? Have the roach! It's like a hydra except it looks shitty and can't morph into a completely different unit. Starcraft 2 was a lose/lose situation for Blizzard with regards to making it a competitive game. You have to have an almost perfect balance between the 3 races while also maintaining the Starcraft feel. This is absolutely impossible. If you put zerglings and zealots and dragoons and marines and medics in the game and then start tinkering with them slightly, turning medics into medivacs, turning dragoons into stalkers and immortals, you change the unit roles and are therefore left with role holes that you have to bung shut with lacklustre units to stop all the delicious balance from leaking out. So Blizzard were never going to succeed in staying true to Starcraft while also keeping the game balanced.
Serendipity
How was Brood War so balanced then? Can't Blizzard just do what they did with Brood War to make Starcraft 2 magical also? No, because
competitors will always stretch the game to the absolute limit in order to win
Patrol micro is not something Blizzard put in the game. Muta stacking is not something Blizzard put in the game. The razor edge balance of the timings in ZvT, the initial M&M forcing the zerg to sunken up, the mutas keeping the terran contained while zerg takes his third, the push supported by tanks and vessels to pressure the zerg, who hopefully gets his hive tech just in time to thwart him, was something that could never be planned. The recent trend of terrans 1 rax expanding against tosses in response to 12 nexing tosses gaining an eco advantage is not something any game designer could ever foresee.
These are all things the players have come up with in order to get an advantage over his opponent. When Blizzard made Brood War they created a top quality and fun game with great substance. Then they let the players run free with it. Of course it's not as simple as this as there have been plenty of balance changes made by Blizzard over the years. But it's not like what they're doing with Starcraft 2, which is essentially telling people how to play the game. They're narrowing the framework in which the game is balanced, by giving each unit and each action by the player a defined consequence. It was a great chance that Brood War turned out to be so balanced after more than 10 years of thousands of players trying to exploit every single advantage of the 3 races to gain an advantage over another.
![[image loading]](http://i39.tinypic.com/1hqclk.jpg)
Somewhere in that mess there's proof that Brood War is balanced... (from http://mengsk.com/ratings/bw, check it out if you haven't already, it's an interactive graph of players' histories)
I can't even fathom whether a game can even be designed to be as perfectly balanced and interesting, with such a high skill ceiling, as Brood War. It's a mystery to me. A beautiful, serendipitous mystery.
All I know is I'm grateful for it, and all the amazing moments of joy that Brood War has given me as a fan.
The Radiant Silver Lining
Brood War is great and it's dying. All that leaves us with is a chance to enjoy what we have got. We now have a fiercely competed for proleague title, with the disbandment of the teams meaning that most of the teams are stronger than ever (sorry STX). No more ace match means that we get to see lesser known players more often and our favourite players get more of a rest. Combine that with the fact that there's only one individual league to practice for, and we should see a higher quality of games as practice time for each match goes up. I am really fucking hyped for the Starcraft that we have coming up.
And even when Brood War does eventually fade into non existence, we will be able to look back at its rich history, the player rivalries, the starleague storylines, the epic BoX's, the legends and the curses, and we will be able to smile. We'll smile because we were part of it in some way and we took great joy from it at some point. So all I ask is that all fans of Brood War take the positives out of the closing days of the competitive scene. And I ask any potential new comers to give the game a chance to show its magic.
BW4life yo.
Out of interest, how much longer does everyone think the competitive BW scene will last for?
Poll: How much longer will the Koren BW scene last?
BW WILL LIVE FOREVER IN MY HEART (101)
77%
More than 5 years! (13)
10%
Less than 2 years (7)
5%
Less than 5 years (5)
4%
Less than a year (3)
2%
Less than 6 months (2)
2%
131 total votes
More than 5 years! (13)
Less than 2 years (7)
Less than 5 years (5)
Less than a year (3)
Less than 6 months (2)
131 total votes
Your vote: How much longer will the Koren BW scene last?
(Vote): Less than 6 months
(Vote): Less than a year
(Vote): Less than 2 years
(Vote): Less than 5 years
(Vote): More than 5 years!
(Vote): BW WILL LIVE FOREVER IN MY HEART
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/5/55/Hydralisk.png)
