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Intersted in helping? Head here: TLBWInitiative
We'll we've had a nice couple weeks of discussion in various threads about foreign BW, its problems, its awesomeness and possible ways to improve some problems it has. Now its time to do something about it.
We've got three areas we're looking at here. The first is what can be done to give BW more exposure, how do we perk more interest and get more people to experience BW. The second is what can we do to make BW as accessible as possible to newer players. Finally, there seems to be quite a bit of difficulty for mid range players C-low B+ in that they get stuck in a void and have no good mentors to play with and improve with given the clan situations and ICCup stagnation beyond C-.
In here we want to discuss what were going to do for more BW general exposure
So far the things I've heard are:
Raising Interest/Exposure
+ Show Spoiler +
Regular Releasing of Cool Content/Videos/etc: This is basically the idea of consistently (bi-monthly) putting out some short little hype videos of cool games or things that have occured in the proscene. Could be submitted to places like youtube, reddit, etc.
Reddit Upvoting: Pretty straightforward. Post awesome things about BW (games, tourneys, hype vids, good guides, etc) and upvote the shit out of them
English Casts: We've got a couple awesome casters in Sayle and NuketheStars. I'd like to see that stepped up to the next level and try to consistently have an english cast of proleague. If we could get a couple duo's of people willing to cast they could alternate having a nice 2 person cast every few days and we would consistently be getting english commentary for PL
Guide for New Players to Watching BW: Cocky talked about this. Lets get a good guide written up about watching BW. What to looks for, significant events, general basics etc (Cocky if you can flesh out what you want to be included in this that would be awesome)
Cool Streamers:Pretty Straightforward. If we could get a featured streamer or two to make it a point to be engaging, informative, and funny on stream it could only be a good thing. Think SlayerS_Dragon type antics with some good explanations and such in there while playing.
New Players/Barrier to Entry
+ Show Spoiler +Liquipedia Updation:Everyone bitches about liquipedia and how the builds and ideas are outdated and not useful. Well, enough with the bitching lets edit the damn thing, make it friendly to the beginner and were golden.
Low Level Clan: sGs was originally intended for this purpose. Let's get that back up and running. Having a low level clan and gathering place where everyone is trying to be friendly and willing to help each other could go a long ways and even start to generate a nice communal sense, rather than strugguling alone by yourself in the void of ICCup
Weekly TL BW "Fun Session": Exactly what it says, weekly event where TL gets together and does some goofy BW fun, whether its 2v2v2v2 BGH, team melee, island map 4v4, whatever. Just a community get together to have fun and dick around on BW
Proper Serious of VOD's for low level players: This would ideally complement the updated liquipedia and could be linked to as a quick, efficient source of advice for learning BW
Match-Making/Scheduled Times for new players to be able to play: Could go along with sGs, but having a designated time or two a week where low level people can get on and play vs each other (even better if we could have a yellow rank for every 4-5 ppl to help out) and just learn the game would be good.
Mid Level Player Stagnation
+ Show Spoiler +Clans: Apparently many clans don't even consider <B- which creates a big gap for yellow rank players looking to try to break into the "name player" level. AoV is one attempt to fix this.
What else?: Not really super up to date on this problem so you guys tell me what needs to happen.
Who Is doing What:
+ Show Spoiler +Hype/Highlight Video Makers:
Casters for PL: L_Master
Fixing Liquipedia: L_Master (obviously gonna need help. and expertise.)
Low Level Clan: L_Master
Reddit Upvoting: Community Undertaking
Submitting Content to Reddit:
VOD/Tutorial Series:
Streamers:
Guide to Watching BW:
What each thing entails:
Hype/Highlight Video Makers:Once a month or so make an interesting hype/highlight video showing some of the cool happenings in BW over the past time month.
Casters for PL:Straightforward. Cast PL games once or twice a week so we can have English casts for newcomers on a regular basis
Fixing Liquipedia:Be willing to update articles or right new ones to replace liquipedia's wholes and outdatedness and/or be willing to lend your knowledge and understanding to make sure guides are accurate
Low Level Clan:Help me create a great place for new players to come and thrive, plus get a little coaching. Anybody that's wants to help would be awesome, and any of you yellow ranks that could do a little coaching would be fantastic
Reddit Upvoting: Community Undertaking
Submitting Content to Reddit:Make a point to submit cool matches, videos, tutorials, articles, etc to reddit and let us know so we can go upvote it
VOD/Tutorial Series:Help produce (or assist knowledgewise) a little set for beginning players getting into the game
Streamers:Willing to step up and make a serious effort to be a super entertaining/instructive streamer of BW. Think really informative streams like NonY and Day[9] or hilarious and entertaining ones like SlayerS_Dragon.
Guide to Watching BW:Cocky, this is your brainchild so let me know exactly what you want to see, but basically just be willing to write a guide explaining what to watch for and be interested in for a BW game.
Well that about covers it. These are the main things I've been seeing discussed that can be done to make the BW community an awesome experience. This thread is mostly about signing up and getting people onboard with the project, but if you see glaring things that could/should be added then definitely let me know.
All we need to do now execute. Walk the walk. It's easy to talk all day about what would be nice, but who here actually wants to help save/improve BW and walk the walk?
Intersted in helping? Head here: TLBWInitiative
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As one of the last surviving members of the old sGs I'd love to see some new faces, the clan is pretty barren right now. And the whole idea of getting more of the foreign community just playing BW on a regular basis really appeals to me, and as a (barely) D player I'd like to help - maybe providing some insight into how to make the game more accessible for players starting out.
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+1 sir
definently a good move, we can't deny that BW will eventually die but I would agree a few things can be done so spur some life into it.
I mean I swapped from SC2 and Broodwar and I can't believe how much of my time as a kid i wasted played warcraft 3 when I should have been playing Broodwar
It is the most amazing RTS/Game I have ever played and the community is amazing.
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I still play on sGs
I plan on getting to C- in 2v2 tonight... i'm at like 2860
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Though your initiative is admirable, I fear it might not be as useful as you think it is. SC:BW may have a huge history and many forum veterans may be emotionally linked to this game, but it is an understatement to say that SC:BW is overshadowed by his little brother.
You speak about helping new players. That's always a great idea, but who is going to start BW now that SC 2 is out. I'm not speaking about gameplay but about opportunity, most high-level BW foreign players have switched over to SC 2. Why would a brand new player chooser BW over SC 2 when his favorite players are playing SC 2? Who is going to learn about Flash greatness when this guy never appears on streams ? You will certainly have some SC 2 players who will try out BW in order to improve drastically their mechanics/APM, and that should be your public not brand new players.
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Don't worry more people will get into watching bw when the PL and OSL, and hopefully the MSL start again. The reason for this is because it's much more exciting to watch an event when it's live and with other fans that just go through VOD's. And of course some of these people who have never played bw will want to try it, and will start playing it and others who haven't played in a long time will get nostalgic of times past and will start playing again.
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On September 29 2011 17:07 Otolia wrote:
Though your initiative is admirable, I fear it might not be as useful as you think it is. SC:BW may have a huge history and many forum veterans may be emotionally linked to this game, but it is an understatement to say that SC:BW is overshadowed by his little brother.
You speak about helping new players. That's always a great idea, but who is going to start BW now that SC 2 is out. I'm not speaking about gameplay but about opportunity, most high-level BW foreign players have switched over to SC 2. Why would a brand new player chooser BW over SC 2 when his favorite players are playing SC 2? Who is going to learn about Flash greatness when this guy never appears on streams ? You will certainly have some SC 2 players who will try out BW in order to improve drastically their mechanics/APM, and that should be your public not brand new players.
I'll try not to be too antagonistic (and spark a 45 page long argument about BW and SC2), but I feel that there is a large majority of people who don't care about "opportunity" but think that the BW experience is superior (for them), and thus will play BW over SC2. I myself don't really plan on going anywhere with Starcraft (and that is my own choice), but it's a fun experience, and I think you may be generalising the entire community with your own opinions (which I'm not saying are wrong).
How was that for being neutal?
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On September 29 2011 17:48 AroundTweed wrote:Show nested quote +On September 29 2011 17:07 Otolia wrote:
Though your initiative is admirable, I fear it might not be as useful as you think it is. SC:BW may have a huge history and many forum veterans may be emotionally linked to this game, but it is an understatement to say that SC:BW is overshadowed by his little brother.
You speak about helping new players. That's always a great idea, but who is going to start BW now that SC 2 is out. I'm not speaking about gameplay but about opportunity, most high-level BW foreign players have switched over to SC 2. Why would a brand new player chooser BW over SC 2 when his favorite players are playing SC 2? Who is going to learn about Flash greatness when this guy never appears on streams ? You will certainly have some SC 2 players who will try out BW in order to improve drastically their mechanics/APM, and that should be your public not brand new players. I'll try not to be too antagonistic (and spark a 45 page long argument about BW and SC2), but I feel that there is a large majority of people who don't care about "opportunity" but think that the BW experience is superior (for them), and thus will play BW over SC2. I myself don't really plan on going anywhere with Starcraft (and that is my own choice), but it's a fun experience, and I think you may be generalising the entire community with your own opinions (which I'm not saying are wrong). How was that for being neutal?
You mean neutral .
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Maximus Brood has taken in several low level players in the past few weeks and I have personally helped them move forward little by little. I myself am not a good player, but have and always will support and train new players. That includes working with them, helping them work through mistakes, and teaching them how to watch their replays in order for them to find what they need to improve.
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So, first thing first, we need to get a wider audience, thus spreading information/streams/live gamestream to other websites is important. Some of those new spectators will wanna play BW and thus we'll have more newer players.
I think I might be able to help with submitting content to Reddit...only used reddit once to upvote something though...
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I like the idea of a low level clan. I was looking to start playing BW again (and by "again" I mean I only ever played like 30 games several years ago, majority of which I've lost  ), but I've been kinda lazy about finally doing it. Having a group of people start at the same time and someone I can just play with anytime would be great.
I'm willing to help out with it as well from an organizational standpoint.
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I'll try to be a cool streamer. I'm c- trash but i think streaming motivates me to improve so i don't put on such a nasty show.
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Wow. I love those moments where someone else just blows your mind. My last rank before "quitting BW" was c-. You know what happened of course.
I got stuck on the quagmire of stagnation.
Thank you sir =)
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I submit BW videos every so often to Reddit, highlighting how the game is similar to SC2, but very different as a whole.
I'll probably post the Hyuk ALL-KILL video series by Cholera soon enough.
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sounds great, sadly I don't have too many abilities here and lately not that much time since I've started uni.
Something I had in mind of doing was coaching lower players on stream so everyone can take something out of it. But I first have to get settled at uni and wait another week or two to see how much workload it actually is before I know when I will have the time to actually still play BW which comes a little short lately and I am a little sad about that.
For videos, I guess I could find the time on weekends to make videos but my skills are very low, so don't expect anything more than BW in those without any effects;)
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Croatia9565 Posts
On September 29 2011 17:07 Otolia wrote:
Though your initiative is admirable, I fear it might not be as useful as you think it is. SC:BW may have a huge history and many forum veterans may be emotionally linked to this game, but it is an understatement to say that SC:BW is overshadowed by his little brother.
You speak about helping new players. That's always a great idea, but who is going to start BW now that SC 2 is out. I'm not speaking about gameplay but about opportunity, most high-level BW foreign players have switched over to SC 2. Why would a brand new player chooser BW over SC 2 when his favorite players are playing SC 2? Who is going to learn about Flash greatness when this guy never appears on streams ? You will certainly have some SC 2 players who will try out BW in order to improve drastically their mechanics/APM, and that should be your public not brand new players.
I think you're really overthinking this nice initiative and I really feel there is no place for negativity here. I mean why would you possibly be negative in trying to get some new players interested with BW scene... I don't think no one is delusional here in thinking we can get as many people as some of the newer games have, but that's not the point of this post. The point is even if we can help out a handful of people interested in this beautiful game, I'd say it's worth it.
And to be more on the topic, here's a nice guide written by Teamliquid staff on all BW leagues, including on how to watch them:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=75553
(guide might be a little outdated, but it holds valuable information nonetheless).
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Hey ! Really really nice post and guide, I like this idea and I think it will help strengthen foreign BW as a whole if we all worked together and kept each other posted and kept this thread updated, i'm only going to play BW now and i'll try to be streaming every day again from now on, so you could count me on the "Streamers" list, of course I have to get a mic so I can do some play by play analysis while im playing , and I can also stream in fullscreen.
My max rank was B- with Protoss when I played, I recently hit C+ with Zerg a month or so ago, C- as terran and C+ as toss as well, hopefully I can get back to the skill I used to be, I will gladly help anyone who wants the help, and if you need help with this clan I can try to help as well.
My personal opinion is that more and more BW streams are popping up everyday so that is a wonderful thing, people need to keep streaming so others can see and be encouraged to play as well, i'm having it a little rough because I just got back from sc2 , also I agree, there def. needs to be more featured BW streams... :-P
BW fighting
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Even with all new guys going along with little brother, BW still has tournaments with nice prize pool and ~700 live viewers. What I mean is, $1500 prize pool, sayle being the only guy streaming and we still have ~700 live viewers. There would be a lot more if more initiative was taken by more people and not just Game/Sayle/a small bunch of other people.
Except for the streams, ISL has Starleague level organizational structure. Sayle is great, awesome, all that good jazz, but a single guy streaming and casting all of these with some broadcasts taking 13ish hours with no break means streaming needs help. I also feel that I need to congratulate Sayle here because of the 13 hour solo broadcast. I wish someone else also stepped up for that. Elegant did this for quite a while but I don't see him under ISL any more.
So, you guys must be wondering why I took a paragraph to talk about ISL, let me connect it to the topic and continue with my seemingly tryhard motivational great wall of text. With TL as a brand pulling out of BW completely, we still have an exceptionally good tourney which is organized by literally some guys.
Speaking of "some guys", that is officially what we are (no offense to any of us, but TL BW community, which is some forum goers that play and watch BW together in a forum despite that forum being TL makes us some guys in the eyes of someone who is looking from outside).
Also, "some guys" is the form of anything, any organizational structure, any company when it's just founded. What I mean is, BW may be dying in the eyes of some, but it is reincarnating in my eyes. So, what I mean is that this is not a "last hurrah". This is an opportunity. To start a tradition. Just like TSL. We may expand this and eventually turn this into something big. But that is in our hands.
Enough with the motivational part, I think there can be another low level clan that can be founded initially. One means monopoly, 2 means competition, right? Other than that, well... Nothing that is not written by L_Master comes in my mind.
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This is great. Lots of people are switching to SCII because BW is getting stagnated. I hope this goes on really well 
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EPT
