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Something happened in the last week that I wasn't sure would happen to me again, after the slump of Fall 2013 and even a bit before. I had gotten into the office at 6:30, wanted something to listen to but had no new podcasts, and couldn't find music that suited my mood; I then saw the SPL was on air in the sidebar and brought it up as a bit of background noise. What struck me as the stream ended, and what surprised me more than it should have was that I actually found myself enjoying the spectacle of the matches again.
It is no secret that 2013 was a rougher year for SC2, and I like many found my interest waning. Not just in the competitive scene but in my own play. Despite having made Masters, and being as good as I may ever be at the game in 2013 there was something I couldn't hold onto.
Since 2010, I was always a Starcraft player but things had eroded that up until last week I had barely glanced at a match in nearly six months though I would skim the front page of TL and feel frustrated at what seemed like an unending stream of bad news.
It was alarming to me, like watching a friendship decay and not being able to rectify the problem or perhaps more accurately it was like losing a part of myself that had always been there for the last four years.
In my free time, and this is still by and large the case, I've been dedicating more time and energy to chess. Checking out books from the library on the subject, spending more time on Chess.com and Chesstempo.com trying to work my way up to moderately competent in a much more...objective game.
While I am sure I would get there eventually, and what I am sure I am still unable to spot accurately in chess is the sense that I am playing the game my way; I wasn't and still don't get the sense that I was/am able to express myself with the same level of satisfaction on the 8x8 board as I am on a map in Starcraft.
So for the first time in many months I logged onto Starcraft, and there must have been something going on because many of my old teammates were playing Hearthstone. For the first time in a while we talked SC, and I stumbled my way through a number of games against the AI.
I knew the names, "Heavy Rain," "Habitation Station," and others, and had a general idea of the shape of things but wanted to familiarize myself with some of the nuances; if I am honest though, on a semi-unrelated note, the shape of Habitation Station still reminds me a bit of Shakuras Plateau.
I stumbled like a baby giraffe through my first few games. I hadn't challenged myself in terms of difficulty, it was that my hand movements felt stiff. Shift+F1 camera hotkey, Click s+d, click shift+3, set rally point, it was all familiar but buried. It felt like a teenager struggling to deal with growth spurts movements were either too far, or just off enough.
After a few games I was getting my sea legs back, and I realized that I was doing something I hadn't been when I had left the game that Summer: Having fun.
I didn't queue any ladder games, I decided I would wait until I had to play five placement matches and start from there. It feels a bit like I had come home. For the first time in a long time, I am excited to sit down and queue a 1v1. Though I am still brushing up on the meta, I feel like a big part of me is back.
  
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Glad you may have found your passion again. I love Starcraft, it's a great passion to have. I myself stopped watching pro games similar to you a while ago, but I have still played since the game was released. I am not sure why I stopped watching pro games but I think it mainly has to do with amount of time spent; any time I'm putting towards Starcraft I would just rather be playing. Which I think is a good thing, because while Starcraft is a great passion to have, playing it and consuming it for a huge amount of our time is probably unhealthy.
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Dota 2 largely filled that void for me during 2013 when I had lost my passion for SC2 as well. Roughly 3 weeks ago I found my passion again, similar to the way you did. Welcome back!
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Sounds like heaps of people are getting siked on the craft again.
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Welcome back! Hope that continues as you move on to ladder. Despite all the reports, there is a fair bit of manner on ladder (especially if you take the first step), and variety in strategy and play style. I too am enjoying my SC2 a lot these days.
Go well, and GL HF!
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On March 04 2014 00:44 Doodsmack wrote:
Glad you may have found your passion again. I love Starcraft, it's a great passion to have. I myself stopped watching pro games similar to you a while ago, but I have still played since the game was released. I am not sure why I stopped watching pro games but I think it mainly has to do with amount of time spent; any time I'm putting towards Starcraft I would just rather be playing. Which I think is a good thing, because while Starcraft is a great passion to have, playing it and consuming it for a huge amount of our time is probably unhealthy.
I'm also on the edge of re-installing starcraft. I miss it so much.
I wanted to ask though, because I vaguely remember your ID. Were you a masters terran?
I remember playing/practicing with Drunkenboi and also having met on ladder another masters T with an ID starting with D... but I can't quite remember.
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TLADT24920 Posts
I think it's always a good thing when someone's passion returns. I'm not playing SCII atm and haven't in quite a long time since I lost interest and it was killing my computer lol but I know that I enjoyed the game in its infancy due to passion and know just how amazing it must be to get it back. Hope it lasts a lot longer this time 
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Netherlands6192 Posts
I too have recently played more SC2 than DotA ^_^
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EPT
