EPTStarcraft 2: Wings of Liberty was a momentous game. It was released at a time when I was the target audience(early teens) and as a result influenced my entire perspective on gaming.
Let's get this straight: Starcraft 2 was fun to watch. There's no denying it. The fact of the matter is that I am an HDstarcraft convert. Here is my noob flowchart of getting to the pinnacle of all internet discussion that is Teamliquid:
Buy Starcraft 2
Play Custom Games
Watch HDstarcraft
Play 1v1 and make one void ray and win
Watch H to the usky Husky
Watch Day9
Go on battlenet forums
Discover TL looking for guides
Never leave and frequent the site daily even if im too busy to follow the scene
As you can see, I'm an early adopter of SC2 only, and was only around for it's entire lifespan. No BW roots. So, I'd like to put forth my perspective on the storylines of WoL and it's impact on progaming as a whole.
Is balance whining good?
I still wonder, to this day, if Blizzard could of possibly balanced SC2 in a less boring way. Zerg as a race has destroyed the entertainment value of a large amount of games. But there are many many fun to view series that WoL will forever perpetuate in my heart for.
The Beta and Protosses
I'll keep this short and sweet.
Hongun: Void ray stalker rushes are badass.
MC: Being the god of war and fucking destroying everyone is badass.
San: On scrap station, pure blink stalker micro to wear down a zerg for minutes and minutes finally worked in GSL. I'm still inspired by that game.
MKP/MMA vs MVP
I was once much more naive about my gaming interests than I am now. The fact of the matter is, the era of GomTvT's was an era I could never get enough of. TvT is such a dynamic match up and truly watching Marineking's ridiculous style work against people and then fail was epic everytime and MVP's godly meching that was finally stopped by MMA....the nerdchills will never end.
This is an omage to
1. GomTvTs
2. Mech vs Bio
3. The Perfect Hierarchy of 2011 that was ruined in 2012.
DRG and the impending ruin of Starcraft
DRG was actually the best ever person. He came at a time when the only zergs in my mind were Losira and Nestea, and because I never followed GSTL he came out of nowhere. His epic skills were wonderful.
1. DRG somehow gave MKP the energy to be god.
2. PARTING VS MKP all those series were actually my favorite things to watch live ever, I was even there in MLG Columbus.
3. If you look at the finals that DRG won, he doesn't deserve it. Some games were Genius's but he executed terribly, and the final map was not a way for Genius to come back by any means. DRG showed prodigious skill, but in my mind his GSL championship is a farce.
The Queen Patch
No.
Zerg's lategame potential had yet to be unlocked fully, since TvZ was the BEST matchup ever(including snipe) and was constant pressure on one another.
Too many zergs. I could detail the rest of SC2 which does indeed have wonderful stories and I still enjoy watching most matchups, but zerg's dominance is and was too much.
The Elephant in the Room
People like to argue if this has been proved. If you want to present an objective opinion, it appears that people who were good at BW, especially kespa pros, are good at SC2. However, a large portion of esF lives. It can be said that BW players who were not the highest tier tend to have higher success in SC2 for some reason.
Where do we go from here?
I've encountered the complaints in the HOTS forum. Some things may not be balanced. But the prospect of reliving the balancing(BFH by slayers, thorzain's thors, mvp's snipes) is a wonderful one. The game is new and unexplored again, and much fun and epicness is to be had.
Blizzard has a second chance at balancing. I won't say they did it wrong in WoL, but the game itself suffered for their balancing. They have a second chance to create a balanced, fun game.
I believe they can do it(I have to) and I earnestly look forward to next month when my overbearing schedule frees up and I can watch Starcraft again.
So, as far as puns go, I love you teamlquid, you are an integral part of my life. We may have had a terrible game, we may have killed BW, but
All's well that ends WoL
-Bippzy
