EPT
Here is a copy/paste of an old rehash of the original post done by Nitefox in 2002. This is mainly for those who are prone to nostalgia, those who missed it and especially all the new players out there since 2006 since I rehashed it.
http://forum.samods.org/index.php?topic=8036.0
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First thanks a big thanks to Magic for digging up* this archaic post for me, back when this site was samods.com (who remembers alliance.thewar.net!), from the back up files and then I would also like to thank Nitefox for allowing me to re-publish his old article. I basically want to re-publish this article and offer people a chance to read it, i.e. the new generation of Starcraft gamers and some old schoolers that might have missed it. In fact for those that did read it a long time ago, it is more interesting to read it now that we know how history, has unfolded (finally?).
It is the best historical piece of the classic theme "Starcraft is dead or dying." It has special value because a) it was written 6 years ago, and like most of these posts, they all usually do not give our game, Starcraft, more than a few months to a couple years of life; b) it is one of the very best that I have read during the past eight years or so; and c) the most important point, it carries a message that still holds true today. I had to removed 4000 words because this forum supports only 20,000 characters per post, which is in itself a tribute the poster that wrote it. You can find a link with complete text at the end but the essence is still all here.
Since this article, we have had we have had 11 patches*, four WCG events, Blizzard Mystery Map Invitational Tournament, a Blizzcon in California, the World Blizzcon in Korea and now Sandlot. StarCraft has only grown in the e-sports scene, and in Korea it’s still a national sport that moves millions of WONs, not WoWs. For the most part there is still 35,000 Starcraft users at any given second in the Battle.net server, very much the same number over the past few years, i.e. it has remained stable with one very important caveat: today there is probably as many people playing Starcraft outside of Battle.net, than on Battle.net, in private servers across the world. We have gone as far as fixing our own game bugs, creating our own game tools, anti-hacks, our own fan novels, our own movies and why not, a massive online community. I am not even going to into the fact that both command & conquer and warcraft 3 have been modded back into Starcraft. There are more mods out there of this game than you can count, and some have even improved upon it. Not bad for a dying game. And yet, every time I see a post about our game dying, I always shudder, maybe it will be this time, specially when I myself have started to write a few.
But I take comfort, that even this very smart, witty and funny critique, was wrong six years ago. One thing for sure, I learned more from this one post alone, than the hundreds that I have read, at least when it concerns to the Starcraft community. The final message, its original intent, is the main objective of this exercise in resuscitation, pun intended.
* http://216.148.223.72/support/?id=msc0411p (patches)
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It Could Be Worse...
Prelude to Destruction
And so it came to be that the StarCraft 1.09 patch was released and immediately downloaded by all the adoring fans. Following the initial euphoria over the fact that Siege Tanks no longer exploded on beacons and the Victory/Defeat screens were as they should, a grim wave of realization swept across the StarCraft community. There would be no more bitching about the Victory/Defeat screen bug, Siege Tanks would no longer explode on beacons, there was nothing more to complain about. Their entire source of entertainment and Internet forum space wiped away with one 2.4 megabyte executable.
Eventually, with nothing to complain about, the StarCraft community died out. Many of the respected community elders had long since made their departures, long before 1.08 screwed up their creations, and those who remained either became the most respected, or eventually gave up and vanished. StarCraft, the game that brought the name "Blizzard Entertainment" into the Favourites folders of more people than any other game, died because the fans finally got what they wanted.
Grim, isn't it. For months, nay, the last year I have been hearing reports and hearsay of the death of StarCraft and her community. For some odd reason this has never come to pass, given that for every apocalypse that has occurred, something new and interesting was thrust into the community and lapped up by the adoring fans. However, these events be they campaigns or even patches only provided a short-term revival, a jolt of adrenaline for an already dying heart and one that barely waited until the next shot to arrive before expiring. The last year has been a rollercoaster ride for the SC community, many ups and downs, much vomiting and wailing, but eventually the ride must come to an end.
See that window? No, not the one on your screen, that glass thing on the wall that leads to the big blue room (also known as "outside"), you might want to open it and jump out of it now. If you do so, and you return to read this, then you live on the ground floor. If not, then you must have been so disillusioned with the state of the community that the only sensible course of action is suicide. Can I have your stereo since you can no longer hear it?
There's no denying the hysteria, StarCraft is a game that is now pushing five years old now, and one that isn't automatically in veteran gamers top ten list of games they can remember off the top of their head. I've known people who have played StarCraft but frequently have to be reminded about the game, often with the reply "Oh yeah, I remember now... *FORGETS*"
Let's haul out all the clichés: It's worse than that, she's dead, Jim. This game is dead, deceased, bleeding demised, if you hadn't nailed it to the CD-Drive it would have fallen out. See ya, and have a nice afterlife. "Brood War..." "Yes StarCraft?" "We're dead." "Whoa. Drag."
Assuming you're still reading (after all, the first few paragraphs are the most interesting in anything longer than three pages. Usually) then you're probably wondering why I'm wasting time stating the bloody obvious, after all I have work to do, maps to make, reports to write, code to swear at and debug until my eyes implode. Well, maybe it's the melancholy, maybe it's the whiskey talking, maybe it's the concussion, maybe it's the masked terrorist with an AK-47 pressed to the back of my head yelling "Type you capitalist dog!"
Or maybe it's because it's not as bad as we all thought.
Well, actually it is because it's not as bad as we all thought. You see, from our point of view, "our" being "the SC community" the game is dead and the only reason we're still involved is to put of reality for a few more months. Amazingly, an outsider looking into our little niche of existence might be wondering why we're complaining as our community is better than theirs. Probably.
History Lesson
(missing text) But the main part of my experience is that I've played a helluva lot of games.... (missing)] So what's my point? As far as I'm aware there was no online fan-based community for Mario Bros. at the time... Dammit, there wasn't even an Internet at the time for one to exist, but the main thing is that, if there was, then the community could still be operating today. Scary. That community would have survived many years of depression, especially the long stretch between the arcade version and the NES version, but it would survive.
I agree that this is amazingly unlikely. Mario Bros. is hardly a game that would generate it's own community. As games go it's a small, petty game, what you do in one level is what you do for all eternity and the game has about as much depth as roadkill. There is no micro-management, no force-rotation, no "should-I-rush-him-now-with-my-Drones-or-wait-for-a-Pool?" Just jump, kick, jump, kick, jump, butt the POW block, repeat to infinity, rip tape out of deck, play Foxx Fights Back.
But it's still generating cash. Shigeru Miyamoto is a very rich guy, and he's getting richer every day off a character he thought up nearly two decades ago. Most importantly this game, this utterly simple game that took an age to load off cassette, is still generating enjoyment for the masses, and there really is no reason why StarCraft couldn't do the same.
Care for the Elderly
To the right of me is a tray. It's actually three trays stacked and separated by a stand, and it contains manuals, registration cards, bits of tech, and enough AOL CDs to decapitate half of Paris if they were all thrown off the top of the Eiffel Tower. In short, whenever I buy a game or read a magazine, all the junk found within my purchase ends up in one of these three trays. Speaking of magazines, there's also quite a few of them on the top tray. I won't ask anyone to hazard a guess as to what is currently on the top of the stack because I'm just going to tell you. Currently on the top of the stack is a copy of Super Play issue 21 (July 1994)....(missing)
This isn't a "old games are the best" argument, though I daresay I agree. Quake was a better game than Quake II and Quake III Arena. Return to Castle Wolfenstein doesn't have the raw playability of Wolfenstein 3D. What do I prefer; Diablo or Diablo II? The point is that in a few years, all of these arguments will be utterly irrelevant. Diablo II will be remembered more fondly than Diablo III: Belial's Revenge, Pizza Delivery to Castle Wolfenstein will be criticised harshly as Return's weaker cousin. More people will be playing Quake IV than Quake XI. If you think I'm lying, then consider the age-old argument that most of us are familiar with: What is the best Final Fantasy game? (missing)
We're all begging for StarCraft 2. If Blizzard asks us all to procreate so we can sacrifice our first born in exchange for it's release, then so be it, and pick your partners. To many people the release of SC2 will be the only thing that will save the SC community from utter oblivion.
Then we get our wish, like we did with 1.09, and it will be the death of us. We will all play StarCraft 2 and regret the fact that it wasn't as much fun as the original. The fact is that 90% of our efforts are focused into wondering what SC2 will be like and 10% is bitching about the fact that the other 90% is all for naught. When SC2 comes out, we will still be playing SC1 and waiting with baited breath for SC3. Amazingly this is what I've seen with the Diablo series: People are wondering what the next installment will be like while ignoring the current one. I find the Diablo 1 DSF (Diablo Strategy Forum) more agreeable than all of the Diablo II forums on Battle.net, there's a better quality of poster there. The DSF folk are satisfied, and they've seen what has happened to their beloved game's sequel. The funny thing is that I'm laughing along with them.
The reason why is this: The future is uncertain and exciting, the past is comfortable and familiar, the present is boring. We are creatures that exist in time, unfortunately not in the time we're supposed to be stuck in. We look to the past for inspiration and memories, we look to the future for deliverance and fulfillment, there is nothing in the present to sustain us.
It's the truth, we hate the community as it stands this very moment. The future is filled with possibilities, and the past was a golden era that will never be experienced again. Unfortunately, there will be another golden era, and we're living it right now. Those possibilities will be fruitless and uneventful, and today will be yesterday and fondly remembered.
Rather than despising the present, we should be embracing it. I've been to the future, the future was today when 1.09 was released and I was disappointed like many others. We all kidded ourselves that 1.09 would save the community this time last week, and now we're all calling for Tuesday because life was so much better then. Rather than shun the present, we should protect it, care for the elderly though it is middle-aged today.
We're not alone, they are
All in all, the StarCraft community is a pretty excellent place to be. Fresh new talent appears every day and become jaded and cynical within a week, which is always fun to watch. There are a great many things on the horizon, and the fact that the horizon now will be the edge of the world when it comes around is irrelevant. Though there is not enough adrenaline to keep the heart beating perpetually, the fact that the adrenaline is there is pretty soothing and comforting.
Spare a thought for the Wing Commander community. I've been lurking around there for the last few weeks seeing if there was a chance I could break into that community for kicks like I did here. The problem is that there is not.
Much of StarCraft's appeal is that any idiot can do something good with it. Ever wonder why there are lame newbie maps out there? The reason is because lame newbies can make maps. StarEdit is by far the most easy-to-use and accessible map editor I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of them. The StarCraft community was the only community I could get a break in. (missing)
Four years without anything new... Just imagine that. We went for over four months without anything new and we were already waiting for the apocalypse.
We're by no least the worst gaming community in existence, in fact we're probably one of the most productive. We're well onto our way for winning a lifetime achiever award. I have seen more new projects announced for StarCraft in the last month than I know exist for Wing Commander. Count your blessings son, for the next time you will there may be less blessings than there were a few minutes ago.
Cheer up bucko, things aren't that bad.
"What's your problem, man?"
Indeed. What is your problem? Something I'm not kidding about is the fact that the StarCraft community is on the way out, to believe so would be as having the world view of a stunned duckling. But we're not on our last legs either. Our auxiliary set, maybe, but not our last ones. The community can go on for a good few months, maybe even a year or so if we're lucky, and even when we do slip into the darkness retro-value will come along to change the light bulb. StarCraft was a highly successful game, and the fact is that most highly successful games will enjoy a period of second-chance after it's initial demise. We haven't had that period yet, so we shouldn't burn our bridges just yet.
StarCraft and Brood War is on sale over here for about £15 on Sierra budget re-release. That means that there is a whole new generation of people out there who want to be £15 poorer and one game richer. We owe it to them to still be here when they need us, to be on the search engines when they type in "StarCraft." Sure, we complain about the whorishly large file sizes, but by then broadband maybe so cheap that the new generation can download the entire of Celestial Irruption while making a sandwich.
But lets not kid ourselves here. No matter how content-filled a site is, no matter how many promises that it's administrator makes about "saving the StarCraft community" it will eventually fail if their hit counter remains in the triple-figures. No matter how excellent a campaign is, it will not be remembered if no one downloads and plays it. We can make all the promises and hyperbole we want to fill web pages, if there is no interest then there is no point. I feel that there is a great deal of interest both currently available and waiting to be harvested.
Communities do not exist to serve the needs of the few, they exist to serve the needs of the entirety; every man, woman and child who is a part of it. The funny thing is that it doesn't matter if a community is big or small but the fact that it exists. If tomorrow the community was reduced to five people and a duck, I would still continue to work in the community in order to maintain it, even if the duck can't use a keyboard.
If I could, I would bring Terry Pratchett in to make a comment here, but I can't so I'll just make it up. Communities can exist in numbers of five or fifty or fifty-thousand, the communities of five can be just as solid and productive and fun as the fifty-thousand but they will be, as Pratchett would say, the "small gods" of communities. The gods in Pratchett's books exist because they have followers, a god with five million followers will be a god and one with seven would be one as well, but the gods are weak without many followers, and with only a few they become "small" gods. It's the same with us, we must seek to avoid becoming "small communities."
Only when a community has zero followers will it disappear, so just as long as there are a few of us still actively working, willing to recruit fresh blood and above all have more fun than an elephant in a peanut field then we would still succeed.
We've all learned something from the community, I for one have learned a lot. I have gained skills and experience that would put me on a path in life that might make me a very rich man and all I lost was the time by me maintaining contact with all of you almost daily for the last year. I owe a lot to this community, a debt I could never pay back, and I am not the only one.
If you want to leave, go ahead, don't let the door slam you on the butt on the way out. It's not my job to try and keep you here, that's what the machinegun-wielding maniac standing with the "MUVVA" tattoo on his forehead behind you is for. If you have a genuine need to leave the community, real-life issues and so on, then you may. If however you're leaving because you're utterly disillusioned with the community then maybe you should rethink: Things aren't as bad as they seem.
I'm not ready to leave yet. It's inevitable that I will one day, but not yet. My real life hasn't suffered greatly with me being here so there is no real reason for me to craft a grandiose "Adios" thread. I'm not committed to the cause, I'm enjoying myself far too much for any commitment to form.
Admit it. Go on, admit that the community has been extremely kind to you through your stay. It is a certainty that this will not last forever, and when it does we will all be separated. Some of us will go together, others will become very rich. I've made a few good friends here, friends I'm glad to have. For all of us the forums have been an excellent outlet for creativity for all of us. We've vented our grievances on them, we've informed total strangers about our lives to make everything just a little better. You will look back on this and remember how much fun it was, and all of these petty little squabbles will be forgotten.
Some of us will be on our deathbed, living in our own filth, our lives flashing before our eyes. With our final breath we will utter "Gantrithor" as a little plastic model Carrier slips from our fingers and bounces on the carpet. At that moment the realization will come to us: Despite all the wars, the squabbles, the disappointment, the bitching, and the depression, the failed promises, the missed deadlines, the shoddy patches, and the complete utter bastards vying for our constant attention, it could have been worse.
Written by NiteFox circa 2002!
You are truly inspirational at times
