This was originally meant to be a reply to "The Starcraft Crisis", but I realised it was probably better suited as a thread (but, given the large amount of "OMG STAGNATION"-threads over the last few days, I decided I'd make a blog). I suggest reading that thread first, for context.
I think a huge part in the stagnation of the scene lies with the community. When someone goes a little out of line or says something that could be interpreted as offensive, people jump on reddit and e-mail the sponsors (See orb incident or the whole Destiny thing). This means that pro-gamers eventually, if not already, are more afraid to speak their minds and be themselves than they perhaps would have been otherwise. This doesn't have that much of an effect on the game in itself, I think, but it may very well contribute to the stereotype of a "faceless Korean" that seems to be so rooted in the foreign community.
As for the meta-game and current balance, I think the fault lies not only with Blizzard and their original game design, but also a lot with the community and its aptitude for whining. When Blizzard proposes a change, people laugh and rage and talk about how they're no good and can't even balance their own game. But when they don't change things because they feel everything is all right, the reactions are the same - Blizzard is no good, Blizzard sucks, Blizzard knows nothing about balance. If they do, they suck, and if they don't, they also suck. What reason would there be for Blizzard to make any changes when the community backlash is that violent?
I think we should, mostly, leave discussion of balance to the pros, because wide-spread forum whining is just as likely to ruin the game as anything else. Why the fuck would you invest yourself in a scene where most community members are raging and whining like spoiled brats because they don't get what they want? I mean, I think TL is a great community. I really do. But I don't think the hostility towards the "Mr. 50 posts" and people with unconventional ideas is bad. Oftentimes there are actually a lot of good ideas coming out of the community, and a high amount of posts does not necessarily equal quality posts.
But I digress. I think - but I have no more inside information than anyone else, that Blizzard might even be afraid to make too big changes in fear of violent community backlash. Changes to the infestor, though everyone has been asking for them, would break the PvZ match-up for a few weeks or even months, and everyone would, again, be complaining about Blizzard's incompetence. Despite having asked for the same very change. No matter what change they made to the infestor (this includes removing it in its entirety), would be met with harsh criticism. There's no guarantee the changes would be good, of course, and they should be called out if that was the case, but I feel Blizzard gets a lot more criticism than they deserve.
It's stupid, really. The community complains that the game has stagnated and has become boring, but any attempt to change things up would be met with either ridicule or very limited feedback (see map forum), hostility because it "doesn't work" (see general and strategy forums). But that's mainly, I think, because nothing is really given the chance to.
Tl;dr: Criticism is fine as long as it's constructive. If you're only going to whine, you're as much the reason for the scene stagnating as Blizzard is, because they'll never feel inclined to change things if people protest and rage at every turn, without giving constructive criticism and alternative solutions in return. Or, preferrably, leave balance to the pros.
what perplexes me the most, is why people disregard such a simple thing that the game is not fun. Thats the core problem. And rest of problems come of it. Having LAN, in-game streams, chat lobby's will never fix the game as long as it is not fun. And don't try to blame the community. TL community is the best so far I've seen in Internet. Do you see LoL stagnating eventhough it has the worst community?
SC2 is bad game, blizzard failed and there is nothing wrong with community complaining about it, it has to be addressed.
On October 18 2012 20:59 bokeevboke wrote: what perplexes me the most, is why people disregard such a simple thing that the game is not fun. Thats the core problem. And rest of problems come of it. Having LAN, in-game streams, chat lobby's will never fix the game as long as it is not fun. And don't try to blame the community. TL community is the best so far I've seen in Internet. Do you see LoL stagnating eventhough it has the worst community?
SC2 is bad game, blizzard failed and there is nothing wrong with community complaining about it, it has to be addressed.
I think as a collective community, starcraft people's tend to value their own skill level and resume too much. "oh im grand master pewpewpeee"
No one is really playful or trollish, everyone is after ladder points and money for the wrong reasons. Ok of course this can't be everyone, I'm sure there is genuine love out there somewhere.. But certainly some magic has been lost since the days when noone expected money for playing BroodWar. Some professional players still can't even take a loss with good sportsmanship..The essence of good starcraft, is being so extremely and particularly resourceful that it's almost silly... like so
You never see any of the funny stuff that made Broodwar so great.. Like dudes showing up in flame retardent suits... and those korean announcers... man... they just got it. They taught me more about starcraft than any english commentator ever and i don't even speak a word of korean...
On October 18 2012 20:59 bokeevboke wrote: what perplexes me the most, is why people disregard such a simple thing that the game is not fun. Thats the core problem. And rest of problems come of it. Having LAN, in-game streams, chat lobby's will never fix the game as long as it is not fun. And don't try to blame the community. TL community is the best so far I've seen in Internet. Do you see LoL stagnating eventhough it has the worst community?
SC2 is bad game, blizzard failed and there is nothing wrong with community complaining about it, it has to be addressed.
You're welcome to your opinion, but the truth is that most of the people who say this log in and continue to play. This means that they are either sadists, or their anger is misdirected. In my opinion, from ladder, and reading these forums, people seem to just plain be angry little brats (This is true for people in general and yes, I too have raged). It's ok to bring up problems you see with a game. I for one feel that Zerg is too powerful and has been for some time. I find it extremely frustrating that blizzard continues to rely on "metagame" adjustments instead of just plain balancing some aspects of their game. I detest the Colossus, and think that all of the "super units" are a poor addition in general. However, this game is pretty damn good, and most of the people who spend their time whining about how much it sucks have absolutely no idea what it is to create something of this magnitude and balance it. No idea.
From the very beginning Blizzard said that they weren't going to create BW 2.0. If you want BW 2.0, go get a loan, get some friends together and YOU try to program something liket his. They wanted to go different directions and from a creative standpoint, I completely understand that impulse and respect it.
They didn't go in a different direction though. It's a simplified version of BW with a pretty limited amount of new ideas at all. A child could have made up the units they added and the less said about things like destructible rocks the better. Or completely broken concepts that they have now had to work around the entire life of the game; ie: warp gates. That 'feature' alone shows massive incompetence on the part of the developers; did they not watch a BW PvP ever? Or test PvP before the beta release AT ALL? Why would you add in the ability to remove rush distance early game in a matchup with almost no defenders advantage. Do they even understand defenders advantage at all i wonder, since it's been completely messed up from the beginning (and also has had the side effect of ruining teamgames completely too, which as Destiny pointed out, was what the majority of casual players even played in BW).
I understand people will be defensive about a game they actively play but it's been excuses and 'give it time' from the very beginning, even when every single person experienced in BW could tell you all of these problems that are only now being widely accepted. Gameplay-wise high level people like ClouD said all this ages ago. Outside of the gameplay itself, Bnet 2.0 has been torn apart over and over again and so has Blizzards complete stifling of the competitive scene.
EPT
