On April 14 2012 04:59 Micket wrote:
How do you explain Bronze players who watch day 9, strive to improve, practice hours a day, and follow the tournament scene and watch lots of streams. I'm not baffled by people who don't understand RTS's and are doing random stuff. I'm baffled by the people who try and be good and probably play more than me, but are stuck in bronze regardless.

I think you should be more concerned with the people that play less than and also beat you

Clarity_nl

Netherlands6826 Posts

April 13 2012 21:44 GMT

#43

Amazing read every time you blog Gheed, thanks.

Although my advice to people new to the game tends to be "macro better" although I'm a bit more descriptive and tend to add: "have a plan", this actually helped me and will make me try some new things next time someone just starting out asks for help.

itkovian

United States1763 Posts

April 13 2012 22:07 GMT

#44

I love the chat most.

I remember back when I played warcraft 3, for a while the only way I knew how to attack was by right-clicking units. So I guess I can empathize with the people here who don't know how to a-click yet haha

DustyShelf

United Kingdom111 Posts

April 13 2012 22:15 GMT

#45

Wow, just wow. You've captured it.
The thing, that ephemeral thing that has eluded me for so long that I have hunted. The counter point to the "macro better" argument that I always felt (as a fellow plat considering the lower leagues) was so mistaken.

Fantastic write up. I always enjoy reading these not just because they're amusing but because you have a great talent in writing. Keep writing and I'll keep reading!

Nyctophobia

Canada99 Posts

April 13 2012 23:12 GMT

#46

Gheed.

Bear my children.

goldendwarf

Canada170 Posts

April 13 2012 23:14 GMT

#47

great blog, love the bonus pics, hilarious as always.

Thaniri

1264 Posts

April 13 2012 23:32 GMT

#48

I don't understand at all how bronze players can think like this.

I started in the depths of bronze and I cannot think of why I got past that league.

Thinking for a little bit, I would say that I did in fact think. In bronze league my strategy revolved around getting mass vikings because they are good anti-air and I could also harass with them. This is admittedly incredibly stupid from any skillful standpoint but I did actually THINK about what I was doing with my 10 APM.

I think I was promoted to silver when I was introduced to what a build order is.

Aalo

United States33 Posts

April 13 2012 23:54 GMT

#49

oh god the last picture is just such an epic one.

'do you have a blog on liquipedia?'

priceless...

Zariel

Australia1285 Posts

April 14 2012 00:42 GMT

#50

excellent read. 5/5

Got into trouble at work for reading this lol, too epic.

Cassel_Castle

United States820 Posts

April 14 2012 01:45 GMT

#51

After the blog before this one I decided to do this on my own, unfortunately for me almost every silver/gold leaguer knows how to a-move.

Then I decided to switch to 12 drone rush and won almost every ZvT and ZvP. The reactions were really boring though, I even got a "gg" most of the time.

HyperionDreamer

Canada1528 Posts

April 14 2012 02:04 GMT

#52

Awesome again.

Absolutely love the rationalizations of these players. "I attack moved! Yes, I did! Pay no attention to the fact all my scvs sat around wondering what to do. Yes, I did!"

Alacast

United States205 Posts

April 14 2012 05:37 GMT

#53

My understanding of this phenomenon is that people have inherently different ideas of what a "game" is and what makes it "fun." Some people, for better or worse, just want to make some shit, build some cool buildings, and try to win. They have no desire to improve or dedicate thought to analyzing the mechanics and fundamental concepts that exist within the confines of the game structure; they treat it like a T.V. show that's only slightly less passive. This approach has never appealed to me personally, but if that's how people want to spend their time, so be it.

I do agree with your analysis of the 'macro better' fallacy and have been guilty of it myself. It is, in my opinion, simply a consequence of information, or lack thereof. We cannot know by watching a replay what a person is thinking, we can only watch their units and critique things like macro/micro. We are, unfortunately, stuck inside our own heads with our own thoughts which makes it very difficult to imagine the game from a naive player's perspective and see the game from their point of view. Your mention here will hopefully bring the fallacy to more peoples' attention and inspire them to think differently about their own play or in offering advice to lower-skilled players.

LemoNNA

Australia8 Posts

April 14 2012 07:35 GMT

#54

Wow, I am about 1/3 of the way through this page but, wow. I would pay to get this as a legitimate and published book. 5/5 please keep going I am enjoying too much to stop.

GiggleParade

United States3 Posts

April 16 2012 01:29 GMT

#55

DoppelBlock was reciting "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I'm not sure how that relates to anything anybody has ever done in StarCraft, unless they killed a Muta and later regretted it.

Besides that, this was fun to read. I like how your focus shifts so frequently, but the blog overall stays cohesive.

dreamseller

Australia914 Posts

April 16 2012 14:02 GMT

#56

underpinning this is your finding that one needs to take a holistic approach to teaching a bronzie.

CaptainCrush

United States785 Posts

April 16 2012 18:16 GMT

#57

There are times when I feel like I cant get any worse at this game, especially as a plat terran these days. But even if I start to play a few gold players and really feel bad for myself, I come read these blogs and find that I don't suck nearly as bad as I thought =]

Keep up the excellent work!

Vod.kaholic

United States1052 Posts

April 16 2012 18:25 GMT

#58

Well, I have to say this is one of my favorite blogs you've written. I like that you're always making an effort to get at the root of the bronzie's plight, and I think you made a major breakthrough with this blog. 5/5

Side note, I've had similar thoughts about how you're supposed to play LoL/Dota/HoN. The way I imagined it, is you always have to know what to do, and I pieced it together after reading enough advice along the lines of "if you won a team fight, go push." From that one piece of advice I extrapolated other shit that needed to be done and at what times, and it made me a slightly better player. Hooray for thinking.

Blazinghand

United States25553 Posts

April 17 2012 06:43 GMT

#59

Another great gheed blog! I like the insight into the bronze mentality. It's possible these people just play for fun, rather than actively trying to improve... and they dont' want to spend the effort on this sort of critical self-analysis.