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StarCraft 2 is no longer the top e-sports dog. For a while, there has been this trend of people pretty much throwing their hands up in the air and pinning the blame directly on Blizzard for either not supporting e-sports enough or not making the game fun enough to play. While Blizzard is not at all guiltless in SC2's "drop" in popularity (I put quotes, because it is less a drop in popularity and more a rise in popularity of LoL and DotA2), it is extremely detrimental and toxic to put the entire blame on Blizzard without realizing what the community can do. Yes, the community can do something about this.
Who am I? Just real quick, I've been in "e-sports" since the days of Counter-Strike, WarCraft 3, and BW. I remember when CPL was the biggest thing ever and I remember when it folded. I've recently left SC2 to head for greener pastures in the FGC, and I've come back to bring knowledge and practices that I believe can shock SC2 back on top. The twist? The changes don't come from Blizzard, they come from you. I'm sick of people pushing the blame to Blizzard. If being competitive has taught me anything, it is that sometimes you are dealt shitty cards, but you win not by blaming the cards but by playing them right. If you want to be on top, you learn how to play shitty cards. The SC2 community has been dealt a "shitty" (because they honestly aren't that bad) card in the form of Blizzard. If you want SC2 on top, forget about complaining about Blizzard, focus on things you CAN control: yourself.
So back to the FGC. How exactly are they similar? SC2: HotS metagame is starting to stagnate in some matchups, and BW is honestly more fun to play. SF4's metagame is starting to stagnate, and ST/3S is honestly more fun to play. I'd say these aren't disputed facts from most OG SC player or SF player. HotS's predictable deathball matches do not compare at all to BW's dynamic back and forth duel, and SF4's vortex-friendly one-knock-down-and-you-lose mechanics doesn't compare at all to the footsies and brutal gameplay of ST. Why do both games get played? Because that's where the money is at. While Blizzard has been slow to the punch on the e-sports game, losing out to VALVe and Riot's e-sport's initiatives, Capcom has been even slower. The main difference between the two is that in the FGC the continuing growth has brought excitement while in the SC2 community the popularity of DotA and LoL has brought a doom-and-gloom attitude for a significant portion of the community.
What needs to change? The attitude. You are not going to get new players and fans if the moment they get into the community they are hit by a wave of negativity. So what can you do?
1.) Stop being such an elitist bastard
Oh you are Gold V in LoL? That's pretty cool. Oh you are 1000PP on AE? Well, PP doesn't mean anything, but that's pretty cool too. Oh you are Rank 1 Gold in your league on HotS? Get the fuck out of here noob, your opinion isn't shit until you hit high Masters.
2.) Stop being so anti-social
Twitch chat and forums are cool and all, but the real community building events almost always happen in local meet ups. You are definitely going to be more involved in a game if you are surrounded by people who are as well. One silver lining in fighting games is that online play will always be less than optimal due to lag, therefore local meet ups happen all the time. Another good thing about local meet ups? You won't be getting BM'd in real life anywhere near the amount you are BM'd on ladder. Start a BarCraft. Why the hell are they only in the select cities? With the amount of SC2 fans, they should be in every major city for every event. It's possible, but only if you aren't afraid to take initiative.
Also, while we are on this topic, remembering to put on deoderant at events would be nice.
3.) Stop being so insecure
So LoL and DotA viewerships have taken over SC2's. Big deal. Just keep playing your game, and if you are having fun then people will want to come and check out the fun you are having. Your attitude shouldn't be "what can we do to get LoL and DotA's numbers," but rather "all these people playing LoL and DotA are missing out on the fun that is SC2." I personally don't think that the FGC's continued success and the "e-sports" labelling fiasco of last year are independent events.
Don't you ever worry about SC2 dying due to LoL or DotA. If older competitive games (Quake, ST, BW) teach us anything, it is that games only die when their communities say they do. So the answer? Don't say it's dead/dying. Keep playing as long as it is fun for you, and if you are playing then others will want to as well. Forget about numbers, and worry about how much fun you are having.
4. Forget about professionalism and "e-sports"
Just play the damn game or tune in to the damn tournaments. Forget about whether or not the caster is wearing a suit, and forget about the production value of the tournament. The sad thing about e-sports is that we will never be a sport because the distribution of the game will always be limited by the company that made the game, and that there is always a life-span on video games due to graphics. So stop trying to make "SC2 as a legitimate sport" happen, because it probably won't happen and trying to make it happen produces too little result and too much negativity. Forget about watchability and balance, and focus more on is it fun or not. Maybe play some 2s or 3s with your friends because that is what is fun, and if you start playing 2s and 3s then more people will play team games.
In the end, just be happy and play the game. If you really want competitive SC2 to gain back the luster it once had, just play, have fun, and be inviting. It's really all you can do to help the community, and I personally believe that if all the people on Reddit and TL stopped preaching doom-and-gloom and start having fun, then the scene will grow and be more fun to participate in.
 
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"I've recently left SC2 to head for greener pastures in the FGC, and I've come back to bring knowledge and practices that I believe can shock SC2 back on top."
Maybe you should have stayed there longer because all the points you listed are really odd. People aren't doom-and-gloom about SC2 because LoL/Dota is popular - they're doing it because the game has become stale and boring. It's actually kinda funny; you went on this giant rant about how we shouldn't blame Blizzard, yet you failed to mention the (imo) really serious problem of over-saturation of WCS. Congrats m8 on this excellent blog.
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Oh you've been in "e-sports" since the days of Counter-Strike, WarCraft 3, and BW, thats pretty cool.
Take your own advice in point 1
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Bearded Elder29904 Posts
1.) Stop being such an elitist bastard
Oh you are Gold V in LoL? That's pretty cool. Oh you are 1000PP on AE? Well, PP doesn't mean anything, but that's pretty cool too. Oh you are Rank 1 Gold in your league on HotS? Get the fuck out of here noob, your opinion isn't shit until you hit high Masters.
What the hell is this? So if I'm not in high Masters I'm not allowed to post my own opinions on SC2?
Right, fuck logic.
1/5
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uhh, what is FGC? Fighting game competitions?
I get confused when people use acronyms they assume other people know (but I dont)
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On September 12 2013 15:25 vindKtiv wrote:
4. Forget about professionalism and "e-sports"
Just play the damn game or tune in to the damn tournaments. Forget about whether or not the caster is wearing a suit, and forget about the production value of the tournament. The sad thing about e-sports is that we will never be a sport because the distribution of the game will always be limited by the company that made the game, and that there is always a life-span on video games due to graphics. So stop trying to make "SC2 as a legitimate sport" happen, because it probably won't happen and trying to make it happen produces too little result and too much negativity. Forget about watchability and balance, and focus more on is it fun or not. Maybe play some 2s or 3s with your friends because that is what is fun, and if you start playing 2s and 3s then more people will play team games.
In the end, just be happy and play the game. If you really want competitive SC2 to gain back the luster it once had, just play, have fun, and be inviting. It's really all you can do to help the community, and I personally believe that if all the people on Reddit and TL stopped preaching doom-and-gloom and start having fun, then the scene will grow and be more fun to participate in.
While I didn't necessarily disagree with anything that you said, I really particulary agreed with this part. As much as I love both Starcraft and Dota (to the extent that I don't even watch real sports, despite the fact that I actually like them a lot), trying to make them into something they aren't is maybe not killing them (they both seem to be doing pretty well) but it DOES seem to stir up a ton of absolutely unnecessary stuff when people should really be focusing on just liking the game they're playing.
Also, PLAY MORE GODDAMN TEAM GAMES PEOPLE. If you don't have friends then pick some random person off ladder who talked a lot when you played together. They're FUN. Maybe they don't make you a better player, maybe they won't let you 'practice', maybe they don't get you ladder points, but like... fuck.
On September 12 2013 15:53 739 wrote:
1.) Stop being such an elitist bastard
Oh you are Gold V in LoL? That's pretty cool. Oh you are 1000PP on AE? Well, PP doesn't mean anything, but that's pretty cool too. Oh you are Rank 1 Gold in your league on HotS? Get the fuck out of here noob, your opinion isn't shit until you hit high Masters.
What the hell is this? So if I'm not in high Masters I'm not allowed to post my own opinions on SC2?
Right, fuck logic.
1/5
I think you may not have understood... that was kind of the point, it's a stupid opinion that a shocking number of people hold tt
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some good points but I think the blizzard thing ia a major point. since they keep doing really messed up things and dont have as much as a community attafhment as say Valve or Riot. I was involved in sc2 for so long and had so many hopes till I watched them slowly be crushed.
then went back to dota and dota 2. where in dota 2 it seems valve are juwt so good at liatening and implementing things (lan being the least of it).
just my opinion (even though I am not masters)
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can this be a featured blog?
thanks
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On September 12 2013 15:53 739 wrote:
1.) Stop being such an elitist bastard
Oh you are Gold V in LoL? That's pretty cool. Oh you are 1000PP on AE? Well, PP doesn't mean anything, but that's pretty cool too. Oh you are Rank 1 Gold in your league on HotS? Get the fuck out of here noob, your opinion isn't shit until you hit high Masters.
What the hell is this? So if I'm not in high Masters I'm not allowed to post my own opinions on SC2?
Right, fuck logic.
1/5
Don't downrate blogs you haven't read properly, it's extremely obvious from the heading that he's imitating the people he find problematic. Now I'm forced to 5/5 this blog just to balance your vote.
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Blizzard is responsible for most of the problems with SC2. The community is just fine, it's just that the forums tend to be used for rage venting quite a bit.
On September 12 2013 16:27 FakeDouble wrote:
uhh, what is FGC? Fighting game competitions?
I get confused when people use acronyms they assume other people know (but I dont)
Fighting Game Community. I don't see the acronym often, but the phrase is used constantly.
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On September 12 2013 16:41 Cyx. wrote:
Also, PLAY MORE GODDAMN TEAM GAMES PEOPLE. If you don't have friends then pick some random person off ladder who talked a lot when you played together. They're FUN. Maybe they don't make you a better player, maybe they won't let you 'practice', maybe they don't get you ladder points, but like... fuck.
This.
Back when I was playing BW, my friends stopped after I started stomping them every game. None of them were too keen to study the game the way I wanted to.
I made friends with random people I met who talked a lot after gg'ing out. Discussing what he tried to do, asking what I did, etc.
People playing 1v1 games can be nicer than you think.
Try it out. Try to talk to your opponents. If you feel somebody outplayed you, tip your hat to 'em, ask them for practice. Ask them what they saw in your play, why they did things they did. I've done it in BW, in Pokemon NetBattle when it existed, and in SC2 when I dabbled in it a year or so ago.
If people love the game, they'd be happy to discuss it with you. What makes games fun are playing them with friends. If you enjoy SC2, there's a high chance that your ladder opponent might also enjoy the game. I personally don't anymore so I stopped playing it, but my opinion of SC2 isn't the point here.
I think people sometimes get too caught up on the whole competitive aspect of games and forget about the reason why games were made in the first place: A way to have fun.
Sure you may be an aspiring pro, but you need a way to unwind sometimes and having a friend around who might want to mess around in team games or UMS maps are a good way of taking out the stress of really trying hard to improve your overall game.
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On September 12 2013 17:58 rebdomine wrote:Show nested quote +On September 12 2013 16:41 Cyx. wrote:
Also, PLAY MORE GODDAMN TEAM GAMES PEOPLE. If you don't have friends then pick some random person off ladder who talked a lot when you played together. They're FUN. Maybe they don't make you a better player, maybe they won't let you 'practice', maybe they don't get you ladder points, but like... fuck.
This. Back when I was playing BW, my friends stopped after I started stomping them every game. None of them were too keen to study the game the way I wanted to. I made friends with random people I met who talked a lot after gg'ing out. Discussing what he tried to do, asking what I did, etc. People playing 1v1 games can be nicer than you think. Try it out. Try to talk to your opponents. If you feel somebody outplayed you, tip your hat to 'em, ask them for practice. Ask them what they saw in your play, why they did things they did. I've done it in BW, in Pokemon NetBattle when it existed, and in SC2 when I dabbled in it a year or so ago. If people love the game, they'd be happy to discuss it with you. What makes games fun are playing them with friends. If you enjoy SC2, there's a high chance that your ladder opponent might also enjoy the game. I personally don't anymore so I stopped playing it, but my opinion of SC2 isn't the point here. I think people sometimes get too caught up on the whole competitive aspect of games and forget about the reason why games were made in the first place: A way to have fun.
Sure you may be an aspiring pro, but you need a way to unwind sometimes and having a friend around who might want to mess around in team games or UMS maps are a good way of taking out the stress of really trying hard to improve your overall game.
SC2 wasn't built and designed to be a "fun" game to play when you hit higher level of skills. Dota (for example) still has a certain level of excitement to it because you aren't managing multiple things at the same time like you are in Dota. Having to both macro and micro constantly throughout 30 minutes isn't fun; but, people get "fun" and "satisfaction" after spending 30 brutal minutes giving it their best and coming out on top.
At least, that's what I think.
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On September 12 2013 15:43 beesinyoface wrote:
"I've recently left SC2 to head for greener pastures in the FGC, and I've come back to bring knowledge and practices that I believe can shock SC2 back on top."
Maybe you should have stayed there longer because all the points you listed are really odd. People aren't doom-and-gloom about SC2 because LoL/Dota is popular - they're doing it because the game has become stale and boring. It's actually kinda funny; you went on this giant rant about how we shouldn't blame Blizzard, yet you failed to mention the (imo) really serious problem of over-saturation of WCS. Congrats m8 on this excellent blog.
Also this http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=427549
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On September 12 2013 18:39 beesinyoface wrote:Show nested quote +On September 12 2013 17:58 rebdomine wrote:On September 12 2013 16:41 Cyx. wrote:
Also, PLAY MORE GODDAMN TEAM GAMES PEOPLE. If you don't have friends then pick some random person off ladder who talked a lot when you played together. They're FUN. Maybe they don't make you a better player, maybe they won't let you 'practice', maybe they don't get you ladder points, but like... fuck.
This. Back when I was playing BW, my friends stopped after I started stomping them every game. None of them were too keen to study the game the way I wanted to. I made friends with random people I met who talked a lot after gg'ing out. Discussing what he tried to do, asking what I did, etc. People playing 1v1 games can be nicer than you think. Try it out. Try to talk to your opponents. If you feel somebody outplayed you, tip your hat to 'em, ask them for practice. Ask them what they saw in your play, why they did things they did. I've done it in BW, in Pokemon NetBattle when it existed, and in SC2 when I dabbled in it a year or so ago. If people love the game, they'd be happy to discuss it with you. What makes games fun are playing them with friends. If you enjoy SC2, there's a high chance that your ladder opponent might also enjoy the game. I personally don't anymore so I stopped playing it, but my opinion of SC2 isn't the point here. I think people sometimes get too caught up on the whole competitive aspect of games and forget about the reason why games were made in the first place: A way to have fun.
Sure you may be an aspiring pro, but you need a way to unwind sometimes and having a friend around who might want to mess around in team games or UMS maps are a good way of taking out the stress of really trying hard to improve your overall game. SC2 wasn't built and designed to be a "fun" game to play when you hit higher level of skills. Dota (for example) still has a certain level of excitement to it because you aren't managing multiple things at the same time like you are in Dota. Having to both macro and micro constantly throughout 30 minutes isn't fun; but, people get "fun" and "satisfaction" after spending 30 brutal minutes giving it their best and coming out on top. At least, that's what I think.
Winning a 40 minute game in BW is equivalent to having an orgasm.
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On September 12 2013 18:53 thezanursic wrote:Show nested quote +On September 12 2013 18:39 beesinyoface wrote:On September 12 2013 17:58 rebdomine wrote:On September 12 2013 16:41 Cyx. wrote:
Also, PLAY MORE GODDAMN TEAM GAMES PEOPLE. If you don't have friends then pick some random person off ladder who talked a lot when you played together. They're FUN. Maybe they don't make you a better player, maybe they won't let you 'practice', maybe they don't get you ladder points, but like... fuck.
This. Back when I was playing BW, my friends stopped after I started stomping them every game. None of them were too keen to study the game the way I wanted to. I made friends with random people I met who talked a lot after gg'ing out. Discussing what he tried to do, asking what I did, etc. People playing 1v1 games can be nicer than you think. Try it out. Try to talk to your opponents. If you feel somebody outplayed you, tip your hat to 'em, ask them for practice. Ask them what they saw in your play, why they did things they did. I've done it in BW, in Pokemon NetBattle when it existed, and in SC2 when I dabbled in it a year or so ago. If people love the game, they'd be happy to discuss it with you. What makes games fun are playing them with friends. If you enjoy SC2, there's a high chance that your ladder opponent might also enjoy the game. I personally don't anymore so I stopped playing it, but my opinion of SC2 isn't the point here. I think people sometimes get too caught up on the whole competitive aspect of games and forget about the reason why games were made in the first place: A way to have fun.
Sure you may be an aspiring pro, but you need a way to unwind sometimes and having a friend around who might want to mess around in team games or UMS maps are a good way of taking out the stress of really trying hard to improve your overall game. SC2 wasn't built and designed to be a "fun" game to play when you hit higher level of skills. Dota (for example) still has a certain level of excitement to it because you aren't managing multiple things at the same time like you are in Dota. Having to both macro and micro constantly throughout 30 minutes isn't fun; but, people get "fun" and "satisfaction" after spending 30 brutal minutes giving it their best and coming out on top. At least, that's what I think. Winning a 40 minute game in BW is equivalent to having an orgasm.
This.
SC2 is just not that good of a game and that is were ultimately all the problems come from. While in other games the social aspect can make up for this, there is next to no social aspect in SC2 (also thanks to late implementation of chatchannels and generally "awesome" Bnet0.2).
Allways when i hear FCG community i tend to think: "There is Evo and a whole lot of nothing?"
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United Kingdom14103 Posts
On September 12 2013 15:53 739 wrote:
1.) Stop being such an elitist bastard
Oh you are Gold V in LoL? That's pretty cool. Oh you are 1000PP on AE? Well, PP doesn't mean anything, but that's pretty cool too. Oh you are Rank 1 Gold in your league on HotS? Get the fuck out of here noob, your opinion isn't shit until you hit high Masters.
What the hell is this? So if I'm not in high Masters I'm not allowed to post my own opinions on SC2?
Right, fuck logic.
1/5
I think you got the wrong end of the stick here 739, he meant it the other way round.
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despite all the flaws in SC2, I still think it's just RTS is falling off from the genre.
Even if BW were boosted in HD with some new units and replaced SC2, it still won't be that much bigger than what we have today, a very well established global scene.
It's similar to some genres such as horror genre. biohazard and the modern control scheme just didn't do great and was criticized by old fans but it still sold well. And this is what we have, except SC2 isn't doing as good as what we hoped for in multiplayer wise.
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On September 12 2013 15:53 739 wrote:
1.) Stop being such an elitist bastard
Oh you are Gold V in LoL? That's pretty cool. Oh you are 1000PP on AE? Well, PP doesn't mean anything, but that's pretty cool too. Oh you are Rank 1 Gold in your league on HotS? Get the fuck out of here noob, your opinion isn't shit until you hit high Masters.
What the hell is this? So if I'm not in high Masters I'm not allowed to post my own opinions on SC2?
Right, fuck logic.
1/5
Yeah, he was pointing out the "elitist bastard" who does not accept opinions of non-master players.
Well I would only say that if the point of the person is valid then fine, but if you read "most" of the non-master opinions it is actually shitty, whiney, biased, as well as the masters comments are the elitist bastardly douchey.
But when it comes to legitimacy, I would still trust the master's opinion, he earned it. Unless the non-masters have a legit point I think they should really not claim shit and theory-craft.
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EPT
