EPTSecondly, yes, I need to get my CAP/TAP/MAP better. My CAP can be good but it slips when I take a break. My TAP hasn't really been that good (unless I actually forget it altogether or feel like I can't interrupt whatever I'm microing (I know microing pays less than macroing but this is less simple in some tight situations), I look at resources and touch-type selection & production without really looking at anything). And never been that great about MAP. I can pay attention subconsciously to moving coloured blocks but I don't drag the zoom box around the minimap, I still scroll or double-tap whatever selection should be close to the problem location.
As for what leagues etc. matter. Not that much. As in I realise your skill is something different from whatever placement you have. And your potential is something yet different. But the "shiny badges", milestones and the like are a reflection, a product, dunno, something akin to school grades. They can't replace your knowledge (or lack of it) but there is something about them that you try to get better marks, move a grade up, graduate. Plus, since I don't play tournaments, ladder along with its statistics provides some kind of approximate ranking (without obsessing about details).
Right now, largely due to our conversation, I've decided not to make Starcraft 2 a priority in my life. I have other urgent priorities, without getting into details, but mostly a degree for which I need to write, submit and defend a paper since all hours of credit are already there. On the other hand, since I'll be working hard on it, I'll probably be playing hard too. Just not that much. And probably not with the goal of league promotion or anything of the sort but just to play hard. With its 10-40 minutes games and no story exploration, engaging and distracting plot etc., a multiplayer RTS seems good for that (i.e. for playing to unload). And if I lose, I don't care, since by definition I won't be committing to any formal schedule.
Meanwhile since this was a holiday season and I wasn't really working, I'm glad to have seen the last dailies from Day9. He shot a Terran week, from TvT (Thorzain style, which is focused on having more stuff than your opponent and "scooping" the opponent by drawing smart tank lines) through TvZ (Bomber style, where there are little to no shenanigans, there's a safe macro defence and a big push that works even if you haven't applied pressure on the zerg) to mech TvP (similar in concept to what I've been doing and what I'd like to be able to be doing vs Protoss, except more thought-out and with a better econ than my game). I liked them all and I might steal them all. But for the coming weeks there'll probably be not much analysing or devising or scheming, just practice that comes from playing the games. I only really expect my execution to become sharper and knowledge of opponent moves to grow as a side-effect. In a way, it will be like quitting, since I won't be giving a dime about leagues or even actually getting better per se. Might keep you posted depending on how things go.
