Every day before I start laddering I play about 20 minutes of Marine Split Challenge, mostly because it´s a great warm-up exercise. But I´m also fascinated by the concept of micro, and as a Warcraft 3 pro I loved honing my ability to as close to "human perfection" as possible.
But what if in the future professional gamers aren´t constricted by the equipment we use, and by the speed of our hands. What if in Starcraft X, you´ll be controling everything with your mind. This is the way we´re headed, slowly but surely. Even if it seems like sci-fi right now, technology will get there. It´s inevitable.
Morpheus preparing Neo for his match against EG.Machine in the grand finals of WCS anno 2197.
Browsing the Starcraft 2 forums today I stumbled across THIS THREAD.
"If you could have one ability from Starcraft 2 what would it be?"
The vast majority picked things like Blink or invisibility. As an aspiring progamer, I´d go in a completely different direction.
As long as my mouse-speed and accuracy is the limiting factor in trying to achieve flawless micro - I´d go with Stim Pack every time. Out of all the abilities in game, Stim seems to be the only one that could make you a better Starcraft 2 player in real life. If my memory of the Starcraft lore serves me correctly, Stim Packs are basically a futuristic and highly effective performance enhancing cocktail of stimulants, amphetamines, adrenaline, endorphins etc. I´d simply fly out to every tournament, winning all da moonies by microing my Marines like this:
"MVP who?"
Maybe do the occasional race switch. "ZvZ Life, let´s go."
It´s hard to imagine seeing this kind of control performed by humans in a live tournament. Ultimately, though, when the brain - an unfathomably powerful piece of machinery - is the only bottleneck... Well, you can read for yourselves and just imagine the APM chart: http://www.merkle.com/brainLimits.html
... It seems reasonable to conclude that the human brain has a raw computational power between 10^13 and 10^16 operations per second.
Sky is the limit my friends - all I know for certain is that eSports is the ultimate competitive platform of the future.
Well, Glaive, people are lazy by nature. Even most of the inventions are made, so we do not have to work as hard. Alas, for me, the beauty in the game is, that you constantly raise the wall you have to climb, in order to get better. Never stale, always something to aim for. If there was an easy route for that, at least for me, the beauty and the challenge would be gone, and as such, sense as to why to play the game would be gone.
But yeah, that thread was about having an ingame ability in real life. I'd prolly go with cloak myself, so nobody could see me. And when nobody can see me, no anxiety issues, bwhahaha ;D
No, I understood the thread It was meant as a joke serving to segue into the real topic of this entry; my thoughts on the concept of flawless micro and the computational power of the human brain. And what the raw, untapped power, of the human brain might one day allow us to achieve when it comes down to unit control.
This my biggest problem with blogging in english, I can´t quite get the humor/irony to translate and people misunderstand my meaning. I´m working on it! I meant no offense to anyone who prefers comfort over performance <3
Out of all the abilities in game, Stim seems to be the only one that could make you a better Starcraft 2 player in real life.
If my memory of the Starcraft lore serves me correctly, Stim Packs are basically a futuristic and highly effective performance enhancing cocktail of stimulants, amphetamines, adrenaline, endorphins etc.
On June 09 2013 23:01 Targe wrote: I think you may have misunderstood that thread, it was about having a single power in real life, not in game.
Stim Pack makes every part of your body move and process information at inhumane speeds. How else would Marines be able to react the way they do? With a Real Life stim pack ability you can play Starcraft at startling speeds and, by extension, micro like a boss. The OP even mentioned how fast a brain operates in case Stim Pack only affects muscles. OP is very much operating within the boundaries of the thread in question... Playing Starcraft is, in fact, part of Real Life
I believe the Automaton 2000 (the flawless micro bot in the videos) still "only" has ~2000-3000 APM. Imagine what you could do with potentially 10^16 "actions" per SECOND.
On June 09 2013 23:01 Targe wrote: I think you may have misunderstood that thread, it was about having a single power in real life, not in game.
Stim Pack makes every part of your body move and process information at inhumane speeds. How else would Marines be able to react the way they do? With a Real Life stim pack ability you can play Starcraft at startling speeds and, by extension, micro like a boss. The OP even mentioned how fast a brain operates in case Stim Pack only affects muscles. OP is very much operating within the boundaries of the thread in question... Playing Starcraft is, in fact, part of Real Life
Stim Pack only lasts 15 seconds though, you would stim yourself to death playing a game of sc2 o.0
I think you´re reading a bit too much into that part of the post But since I like doing that myself, let´s for the sake of argument do some Theorycrafting-maff! ^^
15 in game seconds, the duration of Stim, is equal to 20.7 real time seconds - that´s how long the effect would last in real life in this extremely hypothetical scenario.
Taking the Blizzard time factor into account that would translate to (20.7 *1.38) = 28.566 in game seconds.
Most 200/200 fights don´t even last much longer than that, and is way more than you need to make use of your super human speed and reaction time.
So you certainly wouldn´t stim yourself to death in a single game, since you´d only need one per game to take a swift and decisive victory.
The real question is, how many Stims can your body take over a 3-4 day tournament like Dreamhack/MLG? I guess you´d have to also assume that a Medic would patch you up after each match, just like in every other sport where competitors suffer physical complications. And that you´d recover even further over night. Which would make it ideal for a tournament formal like GSL, where, in the later stages of the tournament, you only have one series to focus on per day, with several days inbetween. Allowing you to be a bit more liberal with your use of Stim.
Enough to get you to the finals? With 3-4 clutch Stims left in you to take out INnoVation in a Bo7 and collapsing immidiately after kissing the trophy? Perhaps :D
I was hoping the discussion in the comments would revolve a bit more around the future of RTS games, and not the hypothetical side-effects of Stim Pack on a nerd body. I´m really hoping I get to experience a virtual RTS interface that let´s me control things with my mind in my lifetime. I don´t think that´s all too far-fatched with stuff like this, already being ancient history. (Mainly just showing that there is serious reserach going into improving on the control interface of competitive games)
I think you´re reading a bit too much into that part of the post But since I like doing that myself, let´s for the sake of argument do some Theorycrafting-maff! ^^
15 in game seconds, the duration of Stim, is equal to 20.7 real time seconds - that´s how long the effect would last in real life in this extremely hypothetical scenario.
Taking the Blizzard time factor into account that would translate to (20.7 *1.38) = 28.566 in game seconds.
Most 200/200 fights even last much longer than that, and is way more than you need to make use of your super human speed and reaction time.
So you certainly wouldn´t stim yourself to death in a single game, since you´d only need one per game to take a swift and decisive victory.
The real question is, how many Stims can your body take over a 3-4 day tournament like Dreamhack/MLG? I guess you´d have to also assume that a Medic would patch you up after each match, just like in every other sport where competitors suffer physical complications. And that you´d recover even further over night. Which would make it ideal for a tournament formal like GSL, where, in the later stages of the tournament, you only have one series to focus on.
Enough to get you to the finals? With 3-4 clutch Stims left in you to take out INnoVation in a Bo7 and collapsing immidiately after kissing the trophy? Perhaps :D
Edit: I was hoping the discussion in the comments would revolve a bit more around the future of RTS games, and not the hypothetical side-effects of Stim Pack on a nerd body. I´m really hoping I get to experience a virtual RTS interface that let´s me control things with my mind in my lifetime. I don´t think that´s all too far-fatched with stuff like this, already being ancient history.
They say the space is the final fronteer, personally I think it´s the inner working of our brain, creating an interface that allows for input/output between a computer and your mind.
Yeah, sorry for derailing :/
I think the message of the OP is great and esports especially with games like LoL and CoD will further itself into mainstream popularity, I do think however that RTS will remain a slightly more niche genre due to its complexity, difficulty and it's lack of teamplay.
On June 10 2013 02:28 Targe wrote: Yeah, sorry for derailing :/
I think the message of the OP is great and esports especially with games like LoL and CoD will further itself into mainstream popularity, I do think however that RTS will remain a slightly more niche genre due to its complexity, difficulty and it's lack of teamplay.
No worries mate! And thank you
And ah, there you hit the nail on the head! Doesn´t the complexity and lack of teamplay make it the perfect genre for a virtual interface - where your mind alone does all the work?
They say the space is the final fronteer, personally I think it´s the inner working of our brain, creating an interface that allows for input/output between a computer and your mind.
There was an incredibly interesting episode of Through the Wormhole (With Morgan Freeman) - about longevity and immortality. Where some scientists argued that the most realistic way to achieve immortality lies not within solving the problem of our deteriorating cells, but rather inventing a storage device that allows us to download a human mind. Perhaps - if this planet survives another couple of hundred thousand years - maybe even the collective conscience of an entire generation.
I just find this stuff extremely fascinating, mind-bogglingly so. I´m feeling all existential and shit today :D
Your knowledge of Starcraft lore does not serve you well. Stim packs are both absurdly addictive and extremely harmful for your body, mentally and physically, long-term and short-term. Hell, that shit severely injures full-blown motherfuckin' space marines in an instant, what do you think it's going to do to you?
On June 10 2013 02:33 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote: Your knowledge of Starcraft lore does not serve you well. Stim packs are both absurdly addictive and extremely harmful for your body, mentally and physically, long-term and short-term. Hell, that shit severely injures full-blown motherfuckin' space marines in an instant, what do you think it's going to do to you?
(More lore off the top of my head)
So the studies have shown! But in spite of that its effectiveness is proven - and still in use, the petition/proposal to outlaw the drug unsuccessful. I believe because most Marines refused to go into battle without it?
Besides, in my hypothetical scenario I was only aiming to use it over the course of a few days to win a single championship. No nasty long-term side effects :p
Edit: For the record, I´m a full-blown 2.03m (6´7) Swedish viking myself - with a pretty scary pain threshold to begin with. And due to the nature of my illness, very used to dealing with withdrawal from highly addictive substances like oxycodone and buprenorphine inbetween surgeries. I´d take my chances ;D
On June 09 2013 23:01 Targe wrote: I think you may have misunderstood that thread, it was about having a single power in real life, not in game.
I'm the OP of the original thread and I understand what you're saying, but the reason I made the thread was to get people to think creatively. As long as people are exploring new ideas I don't see anything wrong with taking the thread and expanding on it/taking it in a new direction. The one thing i didn't like about how i made the thread was me not telling people that they didn't have to think in a certain way or even think about it the same way as other people. For example, some people were dismissing other people's choice for stim because it would take up 22% of health with no way to regen. I just could have been more clear.
Lol you can't use a stim pack to win SC2 tournaments. That would be insta-banned as a performance enhancing drug. It's like steroids in baseball, man. To be honest, it says a lot about your character when you talk about how you would use stim-pack to win competitions. :\
On June 10 2013 11:00 MichaelDonovan wrote: Lol you can't use a stim pack to win SC2 tournaments. That would be insta-banned as a performance enhancing drug. It's like steroids in baseball, man. To be honest, it says a lot about your character when you talk about how you would use stim-pack to win competitions. :\
So you mean it would be used all of the time then, just like in Baseball?
Thank you, Senior Obvio. Now, I was awful mood already, so you might suffer some extra remarks for your uninformed post. For any undeserved ones, I apologize in advance.
It was forum a game where you were supposed to get creative with in-game abilities in "Real Life", I linked to the thread in the OP and it cotinues more or less in every comment on this entry.
I guess my choice in this alternatate reality where everyone gets one magic wish, I´m a cheating douchebag. But hey, at least I´m not walking around murdering happy people full of energy with Feedback or robbing banks/snooping on girls with Cloak like were some of the other choices in the thread.
How any of this is of any relevance to the integrity of my character, or says anything about me as a person is beyond me. Does me sacrificing an SCV to scout in the beginning of Starcraft tell you that this guy has no regard for the sanctity of human life as well? Please read and think before posting, especially when you´re insulting someone in their own blog. That says more than something about you.
TL staff wrote:
3. THOU SHALL THINK BEFORE POSTING Please, think before you chime in with your opinion on a given post or series of posts. There will usually be some history behind a given exchange in our forums, so take the time to observe what might really be going on and put the conversation into context before you decide who's "right" and who's "wrong." Above all, take into account who is posting - context is everything. Chirping in with your grossly uninformed opinions will only make you look dumb and irritate the heck out of the people who do know what's going on.
Let me highlight some of those for you:
On June 09 2013 23:11 Glaive wrote: No, I understood the thread It was meant as a joke serving to segue into the real topic of this entry; my thoughts on the concept of flawless micro and the computational power of the human brain. And what the raw, untapped power, of the human brain might one day allow us to achieve when it comes down to unit control.
On June 10 2013 02:07 Glaive wrote: I think you´re reading a bit too much into that part of the post But since I like doing that myself, let´s for the sake of argument do some Theorycrafting-maff! ^^
On June 10 2013 02:06 Glaive wrote: ....I was hoping the discussion in the comments would revolve a bit more around the future of RTS games, and not the hypothetical side-effects of Stim Pack on a nerd body...
Now that we have that unplesantness out of the way, I do have a question for you: Since you took such a strong stance on performance enhancer in a completely hyphothetical scenario in a magical universe, what about in reality? Do you also think that Scarlett and several other transgender Starcraft players should be banned from tournament/league play; or at least undergo some kind of test as the hormone treatments she´s undergone often improves cognition? Several have improved at insane rates after their treatments according to Cats. With "limitless potential", I think were the words he used.
On June 10 2013 11:00 MichaelDonovan wrote: Lol you can't use a stim pack to win SC2 tournaments. That would be insta-banned as a performance enhancing drug. It's like steroids in baseball, man. To be honest, it says a lot about your character when you talk about how you would use stim-pack to win competitions. :\
So you mean it would be used all of the time then, just like in Baseball?
Thank you, Senior Obvio. Now, I was awful mood already, so you might suffer some extra remarks for your uninformed post. For any undeserved ones, I apologize in advance.
It was forum a game where you were supposed to get creative with in-game abilities in "Real Life", I linked to the thread in the OP and it cotinues more or less in every comment on this entry.
I guess my choice in this alternatate reality where everyone gets one magic wish, I´m a cheating douchebag. But hey, at least I´m not walking around murdering happy people full of energy with Feedback or robbing banks/snooping on girls with Cloak like were some of the other choices in the thread.
How any of this is of any relevance to the integrity of my character, or says anything about me as a person is beyond me. Does me sacrificing an SCV to scout in the beginning of Starcraft tell you that this guy has no regard for the sanctity of human life as well? Please read and think before posting, especially when you´re insulting someone in their own blog. That says more than something about you.
3. THOU SHALL THINK BEFORE POSTING Please, think before you chime in with your opinion on a given post or series of posts. There will usually be some history behind a given exchange in our forums, so take the time to observe what might really be going on and put the conversation into context before you decide who's "right" and who's "wrong." Above all, take into account who is posting - context is everything. Chirping in with your grossly uninformed opinions will only make you look dumb and irritate the heck out of the people who do know what's going on.
Now that we have that unplesantness out of the way, I do have a question for you: Since you took such a strong stance on performance enhancer in a completely hyphothetical scenario in a magical universe, what about in reality? Do you also think that Scarlett and several other transgender Starcraft players should be banned from tournament/league play; or at least undergo some kind of test as the hormone treatments she´s undergone often improves cognition? Several have improved at insane rates after their treatments according to Cats. With "limitless potential", I think were the words he used.
Hahaha dude you really don't like that I told you off do you?
To your first point: I have read the other thread. I know what you're referring to.
To your second point: The argument: "Yes, my way of thinking about things makes me a cheating douchebag who relies on performance enhancing drugs to win money from honest players who worked hard for their skill, HOWEVER, because everyone else in the make-a-wish thread would have spied on girls with cloak in the shower room, this means that my choice does not show me to have bad character" is terrible.
What others would choose to do with their SC2 ability is completely irrelevant when it comes to evaluating your own choice. The idea that others doing worse things somehow makes what you would do okay is complete trash. The only thing relevant here is the fact that you would use your SC2 ability to cheat and win games over honest players.
To your third point: I think it's pretty clear how this says things about your character. The fact that, given the choice to do anything you want in life with any one SC2 ability, you would choose to use stimpack to cheat and win money is a pretty clear statement about the type of person you are. Think about this: If I asked you what you would do if you had the ability to point at something and make it explode, and you answered "Well duh, I would point at people I don't like and kill them.", then does that not say something about your character?
The idea that the choices you would make in a hypothetical situation do not come as a result of your actual real-life personality is unsupported by your silly SCV example, because in that case you're just sacrificing a game pawn. It is not the same as saying "If I were a commander in a real-life army, I would send my workers to die." That would say something about your character. But sacrificing an SCV in a game is NOT a hypothetical situation with ties to your real-life decision making, so it's clearly a completely different situation. Don't tell me to "think before I post", when your arguments don't even apply to the situation we are discussing. Maybe you should think a bit more before you post.
Now as for your question at the end: I'm not convinced that hormone treatments actually improve cognition. I think that's bullshit and I would like to see some research papers to back that statement up. But let's say for the sake of argument that hormone treatments like the ones you mentioned do in fact give players an advantage in game. In that case I think we would have no choice but to ban them from competition. However, I really don't think that's the case, so I don't really care too much about your question.
Oh okay, so just trolling. Or some how, some way, still not comprehending my posts even after I highlighted a few of them for you.
I mean ... This is just getting more and more silly:
On June 10 2013 12:51 MichaelDonovan wrote: To your third point: I think it's pretty clear how this says things about your character. The fact that, given the choice to do anything you want in life with any one SC2 ability, you would choose to use stimpack to cheat and win money is a pretty clear statement about the type of person you are. Think about this: If I asked you what you would do if you had the ability to point at something and make it explode, and you answered "Well duh, I would point at people I don't like and kill them.", then does that not say something about your character?
Sure, that would probably say something about someones character. But it´s hardly relevant here now is it? That´s you have a conversation with someone and basically offering them a lethal firearm, asking what he´d do with it. You know what it isn´t? Even remotely close to what I said (jokingly, mind you, something you still haven´t seemed to grasp). And it´s definitely a not a group of members playing forum game - coming up with creative uses for in-game abilities without any consequences or restrictions. Or did you not read that post from the threads OP either? So I´m not sure what that "point" brought to the table. And unfortunately I´m quickly noticing a pattern in your replies....
Either way your attempts at master suppression techniques are very entertaining to read now that I´ve narrowed it down to those two (sorry mate, they don´t work so well on me). Though you´re not very good at it. Here, let me show you:
You can either A) choose to recognize that there is no real difference between a sacrificial pawn being sent to his death, and a fictional Innovation losing a champtionship in the collective imagination of everyone in on this forum game. There are no "honest players" being cheated out of anything. Are you delirious? These are characters in a game who suffer no actual consequence of any hypothetical actions. Do you judge people who play Sith Lords in SWTOR the same? People who don´t always pick the Paragon option every single time in Mass Effect? Your argument is so ridiculous I don´t even know why I´m bothering with this reply. Ah... right, you´re the third person to insult and piss me off for no reason today!
Or B) Get through your thick skull that it was, in fact, a joke. Either one will do fine to close out this remarkably childish argument you felt the need to start.
Do you honestly believe that this is how I´d use this magical one-time gift from the allmighty Flying spaghetti monster, if I were to be actually presented with the choice? If that is the case, do yourself a favor and read none of my future blog entries. I´m far from perfect. But insults to my character or moral compass is something I do not take lightly. As it´s a reflection of how I was raised, and you´re by extension insulting my parents - and were it not for them I would have been absolutely nothing. I may be lazy and self-serving in thought sometimes, but my moral compass always points true north. Don´t you worry.
Given the choice, I opted for a joke that would segue into my actual topic of discussion and hopefully provide an enjoyable read. That is all you can derive from this, especially considering I´ve already told you. Twice now. Stop trying to hard so make me dislike you, it´s very unbecoming.
I love being interactive with readers, you, however, came in here insulting my character out of the blue after I´d just had a fight with a loved one - that got me riled up. Then flat out chose to ignore every highlighted post you didn´t comprehend the first time you supposedly read them... And I´ve had enough of that for one day. That´s right about where I usually draw the line when I´m actively blogging. Continue with this provocative nonsense and you´ll notice this is the last time I reply to anything you write in the future. Consider this your warning.
People are free to disagree with any opinions I share on this blog, most of the time I definitely encourage a healthy and civilized debate! But if you can´t refrain from personal insults, or if you can´t tell the difference between reality, the consequences of a forum game and a joke - this blog is likely not for you. I require slightly more from my readers than that. And if I see you start insulting other readers who are actually contributing to this project - by reading/discussing and giving me feedback - for equally groundless reasons, seemingly with no other goal in mind other than to provoke a reaction, there will be no second warning.
I just needed to make sure you´d actually read the posts so that there could be no possible misunderstanding. Now that I know you have and you´re still going at it, I feel much better. Having dealt with blog commenters of your nature for years. The type that simply goes away once you stop giving attention to their ignorant comments.
There´s always the small chance that I´ve misjudged you, so if you´re really interested in educating yourself before calling BS, there is some scientific data on cognitive effects after estrogen treatments readily available on the web. Nothing definitive as of yet, but many documented cases have resulted in improved cognition in the short-term. And if Cats word is any good to you, the before and after speaks for itself.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/05/30/article-0-016E95D800000578-473_468x286.jpg)
It was meant as a joke serving to segue into the real topic of this entry; my thoughts on the concept of flawless micro and the computational power of the human brain. And what the raw, untapped power, of the human brain might one day allow us to achieve when it comes down to unit control.
![[image loading]](https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/188299_5327692844_9007_n.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/255745_10150279561699664_5982922_n.jpg)
