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Why is SC1 called BW

Blogs > Zandar
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Zandar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands1541 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-14 19:18:36
May 14 2012 19:17 GMT
#1
When I was playing Starcraft with my friends in the late 90's we always called it just that, "Starcraft".
I saw some pro games the years after, but was never really into the scene. For us Starcraft meant getting our pc's together and make a lan (with Coax!!!) and have fun.

When SC2 came out and I found out about TL etc I noticed SC1 was called BW here, after Broodwar, the expansion.

I can understand that Broodwar fixed and added a lot to the original game but so did TFT, the frozen throne, for WC3. And that game is still referred to as WC3.

In the same fashion, are we going to call SC2 HotS when that expansion goes live? Probably not.

So I kinda wonder why it's different for SC1 and why we don't call it just SC1. Could one of the old schoolers of this site enlighten me?


***
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
PrAeToR.FeNiX
Profile Joined February 2010
Canada361 Posts
May 14 2012 19:23 GMT
#2
its gonna get call HotS ...
En taro Adun!
Zandar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands1541 Posts
May 14 2012 19:28 GMT
#3
If that's right in a few years the column header on the left will be "Legacy of the Void" instead of Starcraft 2
You really think so?
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
blubbdavid
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Switzerland2412 Posts
May 14 2012 19:30 GMT
#4
For the same reaons why SCtoo is called SCtoo. So that we can distinguish.
What do you desire? Money? Glory? Power? Revenge? Or something that surpasses all other? Whatever you desire - that is here. Tower of God ¦¦Nutella, drink of the Gods
virpi
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Germany3598 Posts
May 14 2012 19:30 GMT
#5
it's pretty simple: during the heydays of BW, there was no SC2, so there also was no need to give the game a number.
btw SC without BW is also often called "vanilla".
first we make expand, then we defense it.
Cokefreak
Profile Joined June 2011
Finland8095 Posts
May 14 2012 19:31 GMT
#6
Since nobody plays SC1 anymore, everybody plays BW.
metbull
Profile Joined April 2011
United States404 Posts
May 14 2012 19:34 GMT
#7
Not sure exactly, but didn't SC1 popularity (especially in the pro sceen) shoot up after Brood War released?
fabiano
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Brazil4644 Posts
May 14 2012 19:37 GMT
#8
BW was released only 6 months after SC vanilla. There was no such thing as SC vanilla pro-scene......
"When the geyser died, a probe came out" - SirJolt
Sinensis
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States2513 Posts
May 14 2012 19:38 GMT
#9
Whenever I play SC1/BW the game always asks me which I want to play... SC1 or BW, and I choose BW every time. I guess since the game makes the distinction I make the distinction too.
Gogleion
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States534 Posts
May 14 2012 19:39 GMT
#10
People used to call it sc more often than bw before sc2 was a big deal, but now everyone calls it bw just so it's not confused with sc2.
EffOrt. That is all.
Zandar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands1541 Posts
May 14 2012 19:43 GMT
#11
I guess I have to rephrase the question a bit.
I understand how it happened.

But what I wonder about is why other games like for example the other blizzard games WC3, Diablo, Wow aren't generally referred to by their expansions.
Of course occasionally they are, especially when you need to make the distinction between expansions. But SC1 seems to always be called Broodwar, even when compared to SC2, which doesn't makes much sense to me.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
May 14 2012 19:47 GMT
#12
Before SC2 was around "Starcraft" and "Brood War" were used interchangeably, convention here on TL was slightly more towards using BW but hardly noticeable. I think you're just wrong in how War3 isn't/wasn't referred to as TFT, because within the Warcraft community it was always called RoC/TFT on the big Warcraft sites, saying a generic "WC3" is something you only see when it's discussion from outside that space. It's common from within communities to use the most specific terminology possible whereas anything less specialized will tend towards the more generic SC1/WC3 stuff.

It's pretty likely people will start referring to the expansion as HotS to avoid confusion between games when discussing what's happening now vs what happened a year ago.
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
Zandar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands1541 Posts
May 14 2012 19:51 GMT
#13
I see. Thx for the insight heyoka

I don't agree to the TFT part though. For example it's "Ex wc3 pros" not "ex tft pros", while it is "ex broodwar pros".
Also ex pro's like grubby always refer to it as wc3, never tft.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
Cokefreak
Profile Joined June 2011
Finland8095 Posts
May 14 2012 19:53 GMT
#14
I've heard TFT and RoC used quite a lot myself.
Zandar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands1541 Posts
May 14 2012 19:56 GMT
#15
Me too but not as a general name for the game, only when to distingish
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
bgx
Profile Joined August 2010
Poland6595 Posts
May 14 2012 20:05 GMT
#16
On May 15 2012 04:30 blubbdavid wrote:
For the same reaons why SCtoo is called SCtoo. So that we can distinguish.

Oh man soon it will spread like a disease, i mean BW is ScToo.
Stork[gm]
Josh-FiveO
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
Denmark174 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-14 20:13:50
May 14 2012 20:13 GMT
#17
On May 15 2012 04:53 Cokefreak wrote:
I've heard TFT and RoC used quite a lot myself.


Most people called it TFT in my days of playing hero line defence, vamp speed and shit.
A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-14 20:35:57
May 14 2012 20:33 GMT
#18
I like how BW sounds more than SC1. It used to always just be 'StarCraft' and that was ok, but I don't like apending a number to the first in a series, and I don't want to cause confusion either.

Simple as that. You can probably blame me in part for popularising that distinction, but I think a lot of people were of the same mindset. In some very subtle, very minor ways, I think people wanted Brood War to have more seperation from the StarCraft brand too, without even realising it. SC2 really tarnished what we had come to think of when we said "StarCraft" and the word StarCraft lost so much of its value.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Forikorder
Profile Joined August 2011
Canada8840 Posts
May 14 2012 20:37 GMT
#19
On May 15 2012 04:43 Zandar wrote:
I guess I have to rephrase the question a bit.
I understand how it happened.

But what I wonder about is why other games like for example the other blizzard games WC3, Diablo, Wow aren't generally referred to by their expansions.
Of course occasionally they are, especially when you need to make the distinction between expansions. But SC1 seems to always be called Broodwar, even when compared to SC2, which doesn't makes much sense to me.


because if you say Starcraft people dont know if your taking SC vanilla or SC two so you can either say SC1 which doesnt make a whole lot of sense because the game is not called Starcraft 1 or you can call it broodwar since thats the game everyone plays

alot of people played WC3 before the expansion so they call it WC3 not alot of people (professionally) palyed SC they played BW so people call it BW
CaucasianAsian
Profile Blog Joined September 2005
Korea (South)11580 Posts
May 14 2012 20:49 GMT
#20
i just call starcraft 1 (broodwar) star1, and starcraft 2 is star2. much easier to say "star one" than "es see one" or "star two" instead of "es see two", cuts away a whole syllable!
Calendar@ Fish Server: `iOps]..Stark
m3rciless
Profile Joined August 2009
United States1476 Posts
May 14 2012 20:51 GMT
#21
brood war is also a sick sick name. So much better than wings of derpatron.
White-Ra fighting!
jpak
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States5045 Posts
May 14 2012 20:52 GMT
#22
On May 15 2012 05:05 bgx wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2012 04:30 blubbdavid wrote:
For the same reaons why SCtoo is called SCtoo. So that we can distinguish.

Oh man soon it will spread like a disease, i mean BW is ScToo.


But if BW is SCToo, then what are we going to call SCToo?

On an more serious note, I agree with Chef. BW makes it more distinct from that other game.
CJ Entusman #50! #1 클템 fan TL!
laLAlA[uC]
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Canada963 Posts
May 14 2012 20:53 GMT
#23
On May 15 2012 05:49 CaucasianAsian wrote:
i just call starcraft 1 (broodwar) star1, and starcraft 2 is star2. much easier to say "star one" than "es see one" or "star two" instead of "es see two", cuts away a whole syllable!


Pretty sure this is what koreans use iirc?
I'm an old man now
jpak
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States5045 Posts
May 14 2012 20:54 GMT
#24
On May 15 2012 05:49 CaucasianAsian wrote:
i just call starcraft 1 (broodwar) star1, and starcraft 2 is star2. much easier to say "star one" than "es see one" or "star two" instead of "es see two", cuts away a whole syllable!


That is how koreans say it. Pronouncing "Brood War" is hard for them, so they just say it like that.
CJ Entusman #50! #1 클템 fan TL!
PH
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States6173 Posts
May 14 2012 21:02 GMT
#25
On May 15 2012 04:39 Gogleion wrote:
People used to call it sc more often than bw before sc2 was a big deal, but now everyone calls it bw just so it's not confused with sc2.

This is pretty much it.
Hello
Tobberoth
Profile Joined August 2010
Sweden6375 Posts
May 14 2012 21:04 GMT
#26
Well, nowadays, I just assume people mean SC2 when they say starcraft, and I will usually just say starcraft to refer to SC2. BW however means SC1 as it's played today. Thing is, vanilla starcraft wasn't balanced and is pretty much not worth a dime except for the campaign. BW is simply the game you play.
3FFA
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States3931 Posts
May 14 2012 21:28 GMT
#27
I agree with each and every post that came before me.
"As long as it comes from a pure place and from a honest place, you know, you can write whatever you want."
Skwid1g
Profile Joined April 2011
United States953 Posts
May 14 2012 22:24 GMT
#28
Vanilla was barely playable, so it's a lot different than just an expansion, it basically brought a pretty garbage game and turned it into (arguably) the best game to have ever been created.

I always called it Broodwar because it asked whether you wanted to play vanilla or BW on start-up though, maybe that's just me.
NaDa/Fantasy/Zero/Soulkey pls
Fishgle
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States2174 Posts
May 14 2012 22:43 GMT
#29
hmm i think because the term "Brood War" sounds awesome, whereas starcraft is kinda meh. BW = hardcore badassery, starcraft = some game thats kinda cool i guess

broodwar by any other name wouldn't sound as l33t
aka ChillyGonzalo / GnozL
iSometric
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
2221 Posts
May 14 2012 23:27 GMT
#30
Don't think alot play vanilla that much anymore.
strava.com/athletes/zhaodynasty
Antimatterz
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States1010 Posts
May 14 2012 23:51 GMT
#31
On May 15 2012 04:28 Zandar wrote:
If that's right in a few years the column header on the left will be "Legacy of the Void" instead of Starcraft 2
You really think so?


It is essentially a different game, so yeah I will probably call it HotS to anybody who plays the game but still SC2 to people who don't play it.
"HotBid [11:45 AM]: i dunno i kinda like the big muta shooting smaller mutas out"
yoshi_yoshi
Profile Joined January 2010
United States440 Posts
May 15 2012 00:09 GMT
#32
Yep, it's probably a mix of a lot of the reasons given, plus "Brood War" sounding cool to put it over the top.
Luepert
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States1933 Posts
May 15 2012 00:14 GMT
#33
Nobody actually calls it WoL... Why would they call it HotS?
esports
Bub
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
United States3518 Posts
May 15 2012 00:24 GMT
#34
I can relate to CaucasianAsian's way, it's easier that way
XK ßubonic
JerKy
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Korea (South)3013 Posts
May 15 2012 00:45 GMT
#35
Agree with CaucasianAsian, been using that for as long as I can remember
Only time I bother saying BW, SC2, etc is around friends who dont know what Star1 and Star2 refer to

As for the actual BW vs SC thing, I've always used them interchangeably, and I still do
When I want to talk about SCII: WoL, I just say Star2 or SCII
I have a feeling that when SCII: HotS comes out, itll be abbreviated to just SCII because people will assume that someone playing SCII will have the latest expansion (or at least that's how I'm going to refer to/treat it)
You can type "StarCraft" with just your left hand.
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10163 Posts
May 15 2012 00:57 GMT
#36
no one likes vanilla because it was horribly unbalanced, while BW is very balanced :D also, since BW came out very shortly after vanilla, everyone jumped into BW and just started saying BW instead of SC1.
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
gameguard
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
Korea (South)2132 Posts
May 15 2012 02:13 GMT
#37
probably been already answered but the reason is to distinguish it from sc2 i think.

Just think back on it. Before sc2 came out, im sure most people just said stuff like "do you play starcraft?" If you say that now, its ambiguous which game you are talking about.
v3chr0
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States856 Posts
May 15 2012 02:32 GMT
#38
On May 15 2012 04:47 heyoka wrote:
Before SC2 was around "Starcraft" and "Brood War" were used interchangeably, convention here on TL was slightly more towards using BW but hardly noticeable. I think you're just wrong in how War3 isn't/wasn't referred to as TFT, because within the Warcraft community it was always called RoC/TFT on the big Warcraft sites, saying a generic "WC3" is something you only see when it's discussion from outside that space. It's common from within communities to use the most specific terminology possible whereas anything less specialized will tend towards the more generic SC1/WC3 stuff.

It's pretty likely people will start referring to the expansion as HotS to avoid confusion between games when discussing what's happening now vs what happened a year ago.


I agree, what you've said is true, and most probable. I played WC3/RoC/TFT for a long while, and I'd always have to say RoC or TFT to people who knew the games to differentiate, hardly ever did you say WC3, unless you were making generalizations. Especially once a few years has gone by, the difference is very large as you have an old game which is largely stagnant and the new expansion which has basically taken over, so it's only natural for the expansion to most likely take the name in the end.
"He catches him with his pants down, backs him off into a corner, and then it's over." - Khaldor
Mobius_1
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United Kingdom2763 Posts
May 15 2012 03:00 GMT
#39
On May 15 2012 05:49 CaucasianAsian wrote:
i just call starcraft 1 (broodwar) star1, and starcraft 2 is star2. much easier to say "star one" than "es see one" or "star two" instead of "es see two", cuts away a whole syllable!

But this is the internet where we type stuff.

BW is easier than Star1, and SC2 is easier than Star2.
Starleague Forever. RIP KT Violet~
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