My winter break officially started on December 17th. By that day, all of my grades were in for my classes, and I had handed in my last paper for the semester. My jobs both as professor and student were done for the year, and I barely had any tutoring left to do (as all of my clients were also quite ready to enjoy the holiday season and winter break). Already knowing what classes I was teaching and taking in the spring (which starts around January 21st), I decided to do something that I haven't done in years: relax. And when I say relax, I mean start grinding through some of my favorite N64 games, which I hadn't really played in years.
So I made a list, and created an informal order:
1. Quest 64 2. Super Mario 64 3. Banjo Kazooie 4. Banjo Tooie 5. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 6. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 7. Donkey Kong 64
I've finished 1, 2, and 3 already, mainly because I've played each of them countless times and have the entire games memorized. I'll be done with 4 before New Year's (halfway done; just got Dragon Kazooie), and I had forgotten how amazing of a sequel Banjo Tooie was. Far and away the best sequel to any game I've ever played.
That brings me to January, where I should have enough time to bang out 5, 6, and 7 (although I'll be getting busier and busier as the month progresses, so I may not have time for DK64). But it's nice to have downtime for once; I was relatively overwhelmed during this past semester, so I totally feel justified in rewarding myself with a little "Fuck it; pretend you're a kid again and play N64" time.
Now where does SC2 come in to all this?
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to play the last few seasons because I've been so busy with real life, so I went from being a high diamond player playing master league players to... according to my new placement a la MMR decay, gold league, playing bronze and silver players. And it's absurd, because from time to time I'll still play with (and against) my diamond and master league friends who have been active over the past 2-3 seasons (and therefore retained their proper league placement), and I'm still just as good as them. So I've pretty much lost all faith in the ladder system, and I don't want to focus countless hours of repetitive rushes just to get promoted to a league that I'll lose for next season's inactivity.
But I did have the unique opportunity to be matched against players who were far below my level. After the first few games of playing against bronze and silver players, I realized that most of them were immediately intimidated by the fact that I was in gold league. They would type to me things like "Oh great, you're gold" and "Well I'm dead, I'm in bronze". I tried playing against them but it really was a free win for me, and an auto-loss for them. And I did really feel bad for them. And for me too; it was wasting everyone's time. I didn't really want to play them, and they didn't really want to play me either.
Plus, I wanted to focus on grinding out those N64 games, so I decided to run an experiment. Over the past week or so, I've picked only Terran and searched only for 1v1 Ranked games. Then at the start of the game, I would kill one of my six starting scvs, load the other five into my command center, and float off to a corner of the map. Takes all of ten seconds... then I'd go play N64 for a half hour, then return to see if my opponent had found and killed me, or left the game out of confusion.
Here are the last 34 games that I "played":
Yes that's right, I'm 18-16 over the past 24 hours, in games where I was afk the entire time. That's a winning record, and I've been getting about 50/50 over the past week or two. Not only that, but I'm now playing more gold players and fewer bronze players. And here's my ranking for the season (I started around rank 92):
Probably all 95 of my wins were from me lifting off and flying away. Every other game I win, I get messages like this:
So ladder has essentially devolved into this for me, unless I find another free month and the willpower to grind through the rest of the bronze, silver, and gold players. But knowing that everything's going to reset back to this crappy situation if I don't keep playing, makes it hard to bring myself to waste my time on the ladder. So I'll start a game, go do actual work (or play something else), and return to an apparent coinflip win.
On December 29 2013 06:34 Nerchio wrote: That's mean
I was pretty torn as to how to approach my ladder situation. I originally thought that the best thing to do was to win everything now so that I can get out of the lower leagues faster and not have to play them anymore... but I won't be able to play much next season (or the one after that, etc.) so I'll just keep getting dropped down to the same lower leagues again and again... I felt like Sisyphus, trying to rank up, only to have my league get dropped down automatically over and over again.
So I figured, if they take the time to look for me, they're more than welcome to a free win.
The other option I had was to never play ladder ever again, but once in a while I'd like to play lol >.>
I would be surprised, build up a huge army of 200/200 Ghosts or Stalkers or Queens, and then just move everything just so that it can't attack you but has you surrounded, and then AFK to beat the afker
I would also set up a couple at the other mineralfields.
On December 29 2013 07:25 3FFA wrote: I would be surprised, build up a huge army of 200/200 Ghosts or Stalkers or Queens, and then just move everything just so that it can't attack you but has you surrounded, and then AFK to beat the afker
I would also set up a couple at the other mineralfields.
lol touche, although I'm in no rush to play the next game.
On December 29 2013 07:28 Golgotha wrote: dude. dont ladder then. thats fucked up
It puts the ball completely in my opponent's court as far as their win is concerned, and I'm fine with that for now.
On December 29 2013 09:16 speakerbox wrote: I guess this could be considered douchey, but I found it pretty funny. GL with 64 grind!
Maybe, and thanks! Banjo Tooie is a lot longer than I remembered lol... mostly because of how many worlds you have to revisit several times... the non-linearity is very well done ^^
Id consider it douchey but youre such a good guy, I just cant bring myself to ^^
Also have fun playing through them zelda games , man that does bring me back. Makes me start wondering when my inevitable replayings are due... I should really play those games again..
On December 29 2013 11:00 solidbebe wrote: Id consider it douchey but youre such a good guy, I just cant bring myself to ^^
Also have fun playing through them zelda games , man that does bring me back. Makes me start wondering when my inevitable replayings are due... I should really play those games again..
Haha thanks Yeah it's been like 10+ years since I've played some of these games... Ocarina of Time came out in 1998 and Majora's Mask came out in 2000 O.O The N64 is just over 17 years old too...
Haha, I wish my mmr was low enough to hit you on ladder. The fact that you have a winning record doing this says a lot about the basic game knowledge of the people you're playing. I think this is pretty hilarious, and you can hardly call it mean or douchey since all they have to do is build one air unit and get a free win.
You're a badass dpb.
Also I love your game selection. I rented quest 64 a few times back in the day, but never made it past the first boss guy in the forest. Is the rest of the game sweet? My roommate still had an n64 so maybe I'll pick it up and play through it for real.
On December 29 2013 11:53 ReketSomething wrote: I approve of everything in the blog. Nothing but awesomeness
Thank you
On December 29 2013 12:38 Kommatiazo wrote: Haha, I wish my mmr was low enough to hit you on ladder. The fact that you have a winning record doing this says a lot about the basic game knowledge of the people you're playing. I think this is pretty hilarious, and you can hardly call it mean or douchey since all they have to do is build one air unit and get a free win.
You're a badass dpb.
Also I love your game selection. I rented quest 64 a few times back in the day, but never made it past the first boss guy in the forest. Is the rest of the game sweet? My roommate still had an n64 so maybe I'll pick it up and play through it for real.
Thanks Yeah, you got stuck on Solvaring. Quest 64 makes the early bosses a nightmare and then the later ones pretty easy (there are a few overpowered spells you rush for once you have enough elements). It's actually my favorite video game period, despite it being pretty bad overall (N64's failed attempt at an RPG). I'm not sure exactly what I'm drawn to about it, but I play it once a year just for the hell of it I'd play it once through if I were you, but you need to grind a bit before taking on Solvaring (I'd get Water up to 7 points for Healing first, then grind up to Fireball Level 3, which needs 16 points in Fire... then you'll win pretty easily by attacking and dodging from afar).
Most recently, I beat it in under 3 hours (I suspect that enemy battles didn't count towards the saved time lol):
But yeah, this game reviewer totally hits the nail on the head with many of his criticisms for the game (and he's pretty funny about it too, although perhaps a bit biased in his simplicity; you should make your own judgment on the game):
Good thing you made and linked that blog, cause it covered your ass that I was about to shit all over for not including so many other amazing N64 games that happened to be in that top 25 list
On December 29 2013 14:01 Grobyc wrote: Good thing you made and linked that blog, cause it covered your ass that I was about to shit all over for not including so many other amazing N64 games that happened to be in that top 25 list
Haha I would certainly be remiss in my duties as an avid N64 gamer if I didn't know more than just a few games ^^
On December 29 2013 14:30 Azera wrote: Dang your 1v1 record is better than mine!
Haha well I barely earned mine lol
On December 29 2013 13:12 GalDiator wrote: Thats funny. Keep doing it ;D
You evil evil guy! On a more serious note, that's hilarious lol. I've watched a video where a player did just that and he ended up winning a long time back so if I'm ever presented with that situation, usually I'll double check they didn't land their cc somewhere else then just tech to air = easy win lol.
I also think the ladder situation is horrible. I was plat(almost diamond) in WoL and then gold in HoTS. Stopped playing after several weeks, now in bronze. I win most of my games with protoss doing the most random strats although against Zerg, I still have issues rofl. I've even won with really horrible and delayed 4 gates and tried quadruple stargates against marines lol.
As for N64, where's Mortal Kombat? :O How can you forget one of the greatest fighting games of all time!
I had a friend who used to "ladder" like this from time to time. He would play Xbox and when he joined a game he would just put like ERROR TYPE 5562 PLAYER NOT FOUND then kill an scv, float the to corner, and wait it out for the guy to either figure it out or leave. I believe he also said he had a winning record and he was in gold.
On December 29 2013 15:42 BigFan wrote: As for N64, where's Mortal Kombat? :O How can you forget one of the greatest fighting games of all time!
Haha Mortal Kombat is indeed a good game, but there are so many other great N64 games (and other, better versions of MK too) that it didn't make the list ^^
On December 29 2013 15:51 Shellshock wrote: I had a friend who used to "ladder" like this from time to time. He would play Xbox and when he joined a game he would just put like ERROR TYPE 5562 PLAYER NOT FOUND then kill an scv, float the to corner, and wait it out for the guy to either figure it out or leave. I believe he also said he had a winning record and he was in gold.
I've heard such things as well (typing in some sort of ERROR line), but I just don't say anything at all ^^
There was a post about this on TL as well early in WoL. At the same time there was this rush where you build a PF in you opponents main to win games well into diamond (which at the time was the highest league)
On December 29 2013 15:42 BigFan wrote: As for N64, where's Mortal Kombat? :O How can you forget one of the greatest fighting games of all time!
Haha Mortal Kombat is indeed a good game, but there are so many other great N64 games (and other, better versions of MK too) that it didn't make the list ^^
On December 29 2013 15:51 Shellshock wrote: I had a friend who used to "ladder" like this from time to time. He would play Xbox and when he joined a game he would just put like ERROR TYPE 5562 PLAYER NOT FOUND then kill an scv, float the to corner, and wait it out for the guy to either figure it out or leave. I believe he also said he had a winning record and he was in gold.
I've heard such things as well (typing in some sort of ERROR line), but I just don't say anything at all ^^
I meant MK Trilogy
On December 30 2013 04:24 Antylamon wrote: I'm pretty sure that after 2 seasons or so your MMR is wiped, thus defaulting to Gold.
I don't believe this is the case. I ended up in bronze after many seasons of inactivity so I think the decay just continues regardless till you hit bronze.
On December 30 2013 04:24 Antylamon wrote: I'm pretty sure that after 2 seasons or so your MMR is wiped, thus defaulting to Gold.
Ah, I didn't realize that the default is always gold.
After 1 entire season of not playing a single game, you are forced to play 5 placement matches again. This is not inactivity as in, only playing a game once every month.. it really requires you to play no games at all.
The decay goes down to bronze, so if you play hardly any games you'll get in bronze for sure. If you stop playing at all for a complete season you'll have to do 5 placement matches and get placed into different leagues, from bronze to master. Although the exact formula to determine which league is not known. (and getting in masters from 5 placement is a rarity only seen at MMR resets like a new expansion).
This i've gathered so far from MMR topic and other sources.
OT: i've dusted off the N64 for some nostalgia sessions aswell; thanks for the inspiration
On December 29 2013 15:42 BigFan wrote: As for N64, where's Mortal Kombat? :O How can you forget one of the greatest fighting games of all time!
Haha Mortal Kombat is indeed a good game, but there are so many other great N64 games (and other, better versions of MK too) that it didn't make the list ^^
On December 29 2013 15:51 Shellshock wrote: I had a friend who used to "ladder" like this from time to time. He would play Xbox and when he joined a game he would just put like ERROR TYPE 5562 PLAYER NOT FOUND then kill an scv, float the to corner, and wait it out for the guy to either figure it out or leave. I believe he also said he had a winning record and he was in gold.
I've heard such things as well (typing in some sort of ERROR line), but I just don't say anything at all ^^
On December 30 2013 04:24 Antylamon wrote: I'm pretty sure that after 2 seasons or so your MMR is wiped, thus defaulting to Gold.
Ah, I didn't realize that the default is always gold.
After 1 entire season of not playing a single game, you are forced to play 5 placement matches again. This is not inactivity as in, only playing a game once every month.. it really requires you to play no games at all.
The decay goes down to bronze, so if you play hardly any games you'll get in bronze for sure. If you stop playing at all for a complete season you'll have to do 5 placement matches and get placed into different leagues, from bronze to master. Although the exact formula to determine which league is not known. (and getting in masters from 5 placement is a rarity only seen at MMR resets like a new expansion).
This i've gathered so far from MMR topic and other sources.
OT: i've dusted off the N64 for some nostalgia sessions aswell; thanks for the inspiration
Ah yes, I was aware of needing to take 5 placement matches all over again, although I usually play like ~5 games per season so I don't need to do that... maybe I should lol
And good luck with the old N64! What games are you going to play?
On December 30 2013 14:30 Kaizen[7] wrote: Dude, that is FUNNY! Got some serious LOL's when I saw the message. I'd love to see some more screen shots of those.
Haha I feel bad posting them though... although some of them are really hilarious ^^
On December 30 2013 14:30 Kaizen[7] wrote: Dude, that is FUNNY! Got some serious LOL's when I saw the message. I'd love to see some more screen shots of those.
I agree with this guy; that screen shot was pretty funny, we need more! Cool blog btw.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NFgHQWx.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/w8uGjcx.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/IrFxuFm.jpg)
Banjo Tooie is a lot longer than I remembered lol... mostly because of how many worlds you have to revisit several times... the non-linearity is very well done ^^ ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Vj3BDDr.jpg)
