EPTAn Opinion Piece #12
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Gather 'round children while uncle Chef rambles to himself
Gather 'round children while uncle Chef rambles to himself
Replay Culture
In a time before streams and a time before VODs there were replays. Streams are generic, boring: they literally show an average game. VODs are nice but you have no control over what you're looking at, and they're only worth making for tournaments. Replays are different.
The golden age of replays is not like the current age. Replays today are typically from progamers or top tier amateurs. They dictate an extremely high level of play which you can imitate. They are often watched because you want to learn and become better at StarCraft by seeing the intricacies of a progamer's movements and seeing when he gets such and such an upgrade.
Replays of the golden age were about gloating. They didn't focus on some ridiculous idea of getting better at StarCraft, they focused on showing the world what kind of stupid strategy you were able to pull off against your friend. You could be D, C, B or A, all that mattered was that it looked cool or you managed to make a weird idea work.
A Loss of Creativity
Phrases like "I want to be a better gamer" and "I want to get better at StarCraft" are a thorn in the side of creativity. They make StarCraft out to be some kind of life-long quest of self-worth. You are not a progamer, it does not matter if you use the most optimal strategy. It's fun to get better and it's fun to learn, but StarCraft is a game and should be treated as such.
One of the big motivators for creative play in the day was that very concept of bragging. It's not a bad thing. If you upload 50 replays of yourself doing the same standard build every game you're boring. If you upload 50 games of yourself building a pylon in your opponent's main on Destination and trying to 2gate zealot him or her, you're boring. The desire to create a replay of yourself doing a unique strategy that pays off, even if it is just in that one situation, is the grand birth of creativity and entertainment. No longer is it just about seeing the winner's score screen, but it is about the actual game you played and bringing joy to others. Paste the winners score screen on your desktop if that's all that makes you happy, because I play for the game.
The Downfall of Replays
GosuGamers.net, WGTour, RepsDepot... These are sites which hosted or host replays. In the age of replays GosuGamers was a vital source and their RR (recommended replays) truly meant something. RepsDepot came after the replay age, an incredible project which should allow players to share goofy replays and rate them, but which sees little usage due to the popularity of VODs.
The consequences of this have been dire. People complain about any kind of non-standard play. People only get a vague idea of what's happening in a VOD. They strive to play standard safe or standard cheese but never think that they should be creative, since there are no VODs being made of themselves. If you have the patience to create a battle report, this is your only outlet. Where have all the replays gone? Where have people who play for fun, not to get better, gone? Is it so noble to make your games look as similar to pro games as possible?
It's an idle complaint, I know. But if you've got exciting and unique replays, host them on repdepot and share them with the community. If you don't, then start making some.
