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Giving a university lecture on Starcraft! Part 1/2

Blogs > Imagist
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Imagist
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Australia484 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-15 11:45:51
April 15 2011 11:42 GMT
#1
Imagist is a PhD candidate in Multimedia, with a focus on interactive media and video games. Every now and again, he will bring you...

[image loading]
A blog about game scholarship and other goings-on in the ivory tower


What better way to start this blog than with an event that I've known about for some time but have only now figured out the details and underlying theme of. This Tuesday, I'm giving a one-hour guest lecture for an introductory game studies course on Starcraft and methodologies for studying history. [[If you're in Melbourne and you want to attend, PM me.]]

Why, Imagist, those sound like pretty wildly unrelated topics!

It does sound that way, but actually, they aren't. Now, I'll be the first to admit that academics make tenuous connections between barely related things. There are certain attitudes and people that I blame for this, mainly Immanuel Kant's attitude and him specifically.

Hold it, Imagist, what does a moral philosopher who propounded the ethical notion of a categorical imperative have to do with academics writing intellectually dubious stuff?

Actually, an awful lot, since the modern university has been organized around his ideas and those of the then-Prussian Education Minister, philosopher Wilhelm van Humboldt. Their ideas combined formed the basis of the modern university (the first example of which is the University of Berlin, founded in 1810 by Humboldt.) The idea of a philosopher in such a position today is sadly laughable, but then again, it may be for the best considering the gripe I'm about to make. In any case, Kant proposed the organization of the university centering around the development of increasingly specialized sub-fields and bits of knowledge. Because of the university being organized toward this, that's exactly what a lot of academics do, and why they make such bizarre connections in their writing.

Nice tangent, wiseass.

I'll take that. I like to rant about it for reasons I may explore in a future blog entry. But let's get back on topic, then. Starcraft is what we came to read about.

Perhaps the biggest problem that people have discussing the cultural phenomenon of Starcraft is assuming that there is something particular in the Korean national psyche that lends itself to this phenomenon picking up. The problem: You can't verify it and your conclusion can only be a stereotype. If we avoid that, what's left? As it happens, an awful lot.

There are three particularly useful ways to look at the Starcraft phenomenon historically. There are probably even more, but these strike me as especially important. These are:
  • Material History: Looking at the economic conditions around an object, activity, state or society.
  • Social History: Looking at the way that people form groups and relationships in relation to an object or event.
  • Design History: Lookng at the way that design strategies affect designed objects and their reception over time.


None of these, on their own, are adequate to explain why Starcraft caught on to the extent that it did, becoming an e-sport, pardon me, E-SPORT, and cultural phenomenon in Korea, and differently elsewhere. This is partly because they are overlapping parts of the entire history of any event, not just Starcraft, which provides an excellent and topical example.

It isn't enough to say that economic conditions alone led to Starcraft's success, this ignores design factors and player/spectator/community dynamics.

It isn't enough to say that social conditions alone led to Starcraft's success, this still ignores design factors as well as the role of economic conditions.

In spite of this community and some of its figureheads (hi Artosis!) claiming that Starcraft is the best-designed game ever, a plausible if debatable claim, that isn't enough to explain its success on its own, which might be as surprising to this community as it was to my students when I lectured on a similar topic in a third-year course last year. Again, those other two sets of factors, economics and social dynamics, are crucial to a domplete understanding of the Starcraft phenomenon.

Of the three, I think that this community is more likely to understand and relate to the role of communities and group organization (obviously, given what this community is and does), as well as the role of design. The economic history, however, is instrumental, and something that I'll expand upon at a later date, either in long-form writing or preferably with the lecture materials, because it's a huge topic.

Next blog, Imagist gives you a roadmap to these analyses by posting his PowerPoint slides and an audio recording of the lecture if one is available, along with more views from the academy, perhaps including responding to questions and feedback on this blog.

I enjoy Starcraft when I'm not too busy being dynamic and attractive.
Tschis
Profile Joined November 2010
Brazil1511 Posts
April 15 2011 11:51 GMT
#2
Looking forward to it!

At first I thought it was just about StarCraft itself, but if I understood correctly, you're going to explain how and why the StarCraft was successfull, right? Sounds very interesting :}
"A coward is not someone that runs from a battle knowing he will lose. A coward is someone who challenges a weak knowing he will win."
Imagist
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Australia484 Posts
April 15 2011 11:57 GMT
#3
Why Starcraft was successful is the thematic example that the lecture uses to discuss material, social and design history. In terms of broad ideas, it's more about history than it is about Starcraft, but in terms of how those broad ideas are presented, it's all about Starcraft.
I enjoy Starcraft when I'm not too busy being dynamic and attractive.
ShadeR
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Australia7535 Posts
April 15 2011 12:57 GMT
#4
I'm interested. I most likely can't make it but im curious which uni?
Ghostcom
Profile Joined March 2010
Denmark4782 Posts
April 15 2011 14:25 GMT
#5
I will eagerly be awaiting your next blog and the pp - fingers crossed for audio as well!
qdenser
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada133 Posts
April 15 2011 16:54 GMT
#6
it's all about money bro
BW is still out there and a lots of people still watch it. SC2 is a different game and different people. Please go back to BW if you think sc2 is not suited for you - Dustin Browder
Noev
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States1105 Posts
April 15 2011 16:58 GMT
#7
wow would be really cool if someone at my school did this. Oh well i hope to be able to listen to the audio recording of it.
Starshaped
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Sweden575 Posts
April 15 2011 17:25 GMT
#8
People who refer to themselves in the third person piss me off.

User was warned for this post
My Starcraft 2, gaming and e-sports-related blog: http://starshapedthoughts.blogspot.com/
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