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Has BW turned into a macro game? - Page 2

Forum Index > BW General
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I-Emerge
Profile Blog Joined December 2005
United States435 Posts
January 23 2006 06:32 GMT
#21
This is a phaze and it is healthy. If you study the history of Chess you will know what I mean. The players are maturing and becoming more intuned to the subtle things in the game much more than before. Also, it may seem boring to many people because their brain is not thinking at a level where they would "SEE" all of the exciting action taking place right in front of them. From a Macro perspective (the overall view) it jsut looks like the players are just massing but from a Micro view ( all the little things the pros do the we can't see) there is so much going on that makes the game awsome.
A punch is just a punch. Then a punch becomes more than a punch. A punch becomes just a punch again.
Purind
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
Canada3562 Posts
January 23 2006 06:35 GMT
#22
WTF? BGH rocks. There's way more creativity involved in BGH than on Luna. And you don't see FE every game like on Luna.
Trucy Wright is hot
Knickknack
Profile Joined February 2004
United States1187 Posts
January 23 2006 06:55 GMT
#23
A mass unit game as opponsed to what what a non mass unit game?

You can obvisouly see which is better. The game played well always been mainly macro with smaller incidences of micro.

Decision making and overall game plan is still the most important factor though. Like others have said maps play a role as does a general improvement of the players. People try to play the best way and they see this way as the best.

Now i dont know what the game was like before, when macro was generally worse. Was it smaller armies and more frequent battles? What would you like to see it as now? What map alteratinos would help?

| www.ArtofProtoss.vze.com |
EAGER-beaver
Profile Joined March 2004
Canada2799 Posts
January 23 2006 07:01 GMT
#24
It really comes down to the players. Bad players have to play macro because they're too crappy to go on the offensive. Great players can attack non stop with varied attacks everywhere... and mass macro at the same time.
Simon and Garfunkel rock my face off
Starparty
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
Sweden1963 Posts
January 23 2006 07:18 GMT
#25
On January 23 2006 13:39 {88}iNcontroL wrote:
The reason you think this is because of the huge influx (spelling?) of FE for p/t. Namely with maps like Luna this has become familiarized and common. From there i would contend that p's and t's try to do that on alot of the other maps and it works out ok (some not so much ie P on Rush Hour = they bitch about it being a z map cause they forgot how to play outside of FE). I dont think its become fully a macro game, nobody will go anywhere STILL solely on macro. You have to have control of the stuff you make. YES this game features more macro now that P/T's think they have to get an expo as fast as the zerg does.


should we mapmakers start striving from getting out of the standard LT 8-8-6 pattern and create different expansion layouts? Would a map like that be accepted?
The artist formerly known as Starparty
ROOTheognis
Profile Blog Joined January 2006
United States4482 Posts
January 23 2006 07:21 GMT
#26
make maps with cliffs... allows for more builds. also maps with small ass chokes = fe every game

so boring
If you avoid your weakness, it will remain your weakness. www.twitter.com/#!/rootheognis Follow me!
Luhh
Profile Joined October 2003
Sweden2974 Posts
January 23 2006 07:27 GMT
#27
How about releasing more starved maps. The problem though will be to balance the game for zerg, since they are dependant on a natural, where as terran and protoss are not.

Blizzard botched things a bit with balance when they made zerg units expensive, and cheap infrastructure and the need for sunkens for defense early rather than units, larva spawn rate considerations etc etc.

Protoss and Terran are similar, but zerg has more considerations than the other races, which limits map creation.

That is why we always see these macro orientated main, natural, mineral only maps nowadays I'd say. Zerg basically needs to be altered to allow a change in the maps and game style I feel. Perhaps it was a mistake to go with reduced larva spawn rate, cheaper hatcheries and increased sunken defense.

But, perhaps there's still someone out there who will discover another twist to the game to shake things up once again, but it doesn't seem likely right now. Changes today are pretty minor, and the largest was the Boxer rush TvZ that certainly didn't help zerg at all that already was struggling against T, though perhaps not on all skill levels.
I wouldn´t call him stupid, but let´s just say he´s unlucky when thinking...
-_-
Profile Blog Joined November 2003
United States7081 Posts
January 23 2006 07:33 GMT
#28
Hmmm, that's a good idea. A map with only one normal mineral amount base would be kill. Every unit would be precious.
EAGER-beaver
Profile Joined March 2004
Canada2799 Posts
January 23 2006 07:34 GMT
#29
Zergs can play just fine without a natural. Just goes to show how every "pro" map has warped our view of this game by introducing constants: ramps and naturals you can defend with a fast expo no prob.
Simon and Garfunkel rock my face off
Liquid`Jinro
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
Sweden33719 Posts
Last Edited: 2006-01-23 07:46:39
January 23 2006 07:44 GMT
#30
On January 23 2006 13:34 Kaotu wrote:
OK, this was inspired by 1) FA's reflective thread about zerg, and more importantly 2) watching some very new replays and some old, 'classic' replays.

In your opinion, has BW become what so many people without a real grasp of the game have called it: a mass unit game? Has dependence on a stable economy replaced reliance on micro and timing? I'm debating it in my mind. It seems to me that thanks partly to nada but moreso to the oov generation of terran, predictable macro builds are becoming the norm. Of course on the pro level we can see variety, but then again, I would venture to say that on the pro level too macro fights have become significantly more common.

Perhaps it is merely the games I have recently watched/played, but I am somewhat saddened by the rise of predictability across the board and the huge economy battles. Some people like it. How about you? Do you agree with my analysis? Do you like the rise of macro (if you agree that there has been such a rise?)

Hm, it's just that things that used to work before don't work anymore because people are more well-rounded.

There's still a LOT of timing/cheese tho, and AnyTime represents this even newer generation of players quite well.. (timing/strategy) Tho I guess that might be less evident in replays posted on sites and more so in actual tournaments of some importance :o

Oh.

And maps as everyone else said (they are the no.1 contributor, but I imagine that some of the older maps would be quite impossible in PvsT vs a terran of oov's caliber, yes?).
Moderatortell the guy that interplanatar interaction is pivotal to terrans variety of optionitudals in the pre-midgame preperatories as well as the protosstinal deterriggation of elite zergling strikes - Stimey n | Formerly FrozenArbiter
FalliNinLove
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
Slovakia865 Posts
January 23 2006 07:45 GMT
#31
Agree with all, maps, and the fact ppl like to copy not think what is less time consuming still i think it will change in time. Like it always do, just w8 for pros do some other builds I am zerg player and i cant complain. I like to fight T/P fast exp everygame... cos there is so many choices zerg can counter tham
Liquid`Jinro
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
Sweden33719 Posts
January 23 2006 07:48 GMT
#32
On January 23 2006 16:18 Starparty wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 23 2006 13:39 {88}iNcontroL wrote:
The reason you think this is because of the huge influx (spelling?) of FE for p/t. Namely with maps like Luna this has become familiarized and common. From there i would contend that p's and t's try to do that on alot of the other maps and it works out ok (some not so much ie P on Rush Hour = they bitch about it being a z map cause they forgot how to play outside of FE). I dont think its become fully a macro game, nobody will go anywhere STILL solely on macro. You have to have control of the stuff you make. YES this game features more macro now that P/T's think they have to get an expo as fast as the zerg does.


should we mapmakers start striving from getting out of the standard LT 8-8-6 pattern and create different expansion layouts? Would a map like that be accepted?

Rpoint is 8-7-.. Uh second nat is 7 too? Or 8? In any case, the second nat gas is only 2500.
Moderatortell the guy that interplanatar interaction is pivotal to terrans variety of optionitudals in the pre-midgame preperatories as well as the protosstinal deterriggation of elite zergling strikes - Stimey n | Formerly FrozenArbiter
Day[9]
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
United States7366 Posts
Last Edited: 2006-01-23 07:59:35
January 23 2006 07:57 GMT
#33
early expanding + safe play + macroing is the easiest way to play honsetly

that's part of the reason why its so common

but once you get higher up and start playing w/ people who realize more interesting dynamics of the game, you realize how many people oftentimes favor extremely aggressive play. I encounter just as many 1 base Protoss/Terran players in the A PGT range as i do fast expoers, yet at the lower levels its almost exclusively fast expoing/cheesing Terrans.

Again, just easier to win when you fast expo
Whenever I encounter some little hitch, or some of my orbs get out of orbit, nothing pleases me so much as to make the crooked straight and crush down uneven places. www.day9.tv
tKd_
Profile Joined February 2005
United States2916 Posts
January 23 2006 08:06 GMT
#34
I think as a zerg player, it gives us a lot of freedom to not go purely macro defensive style unless we are stuck with a turtling bitch!!!!!!!! or camping outside base
Day[9]
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
United States7366 Posts
January 23 2006 08:14 GMT
#35
this is a really interesting question/thread by the way

i think i'll write an extended essay on this, as to why i think the answer is a solid "no, BW isn't a macro game," despite the fact that it seems like BW has developed into a macro game.

: ]
Whenever I encounter some little hitch, or some of my orbs get out of orbit, nothing pleases me so much as to make the crooked straight and crush down uneven places. www.day9.tv
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28738 Posts
January 23 2006 08:21 GMT
#36
it's very very possible to win without being a "macro player"
the problem is just that you end up being far less consistent, because as a micro player, one slight fuckup might get you raped. while if you macro and you accidentially press 4sj instead of 4sh a couple times during a game it really won't kill you.
Moderator
oneofthem
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
Cayman Islands24199 Posts
Last Edited: 2006-01-23 08:34:35
January 23 2006 08:25 GMT
#37
There is more room for development macro and strategy wise than micro/ministrat wise. Strategy changes gradually through trial and error, discovery and failure, while macro is something that requires a complete grasp of the game, knowing what to do at every moment. Sure the best micro is still distinguishable from the general pro level micro, but this difference does not translate into general superiority in nearly the same degree as a good macro, simply because as armies get larger micro becomes more cumbersome, and there is only so much attention a player can give to his units, see the idle workers mid/late game.

We can generally see macro as maintaining maximum productive efficiency, while strat determines the shape of this curve.
We have fed the heart on fantasies, the heart's grown brutal from the fare, more substance in our enmities than in our love
[X]Ken_D
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
United States4650 Posts
Last Edited: 2006-01-23 08:36:47
January 23 2006 08:35 GMT
#38
UPKEEP *gasp*!
[X]Domain - I just do the website. Nothing more.
Guybrush
Profile Blog Joined December 2002
Spain4744 Posts
January 23 2006 09:43 GMT
#39
I've always ment that the reason why koreans generally were better than nonkoreans was the fact that they played microintensive from the very start, while nonkoreans played completely opposite relying more on macro. Boxer is a perfect example on that. Nada is a player who managed to combine these, doing the micro WHILE macroing(i.e his TvP) THEN making the massive attack afterwards. Oov is the player who focused more on the macro part and less on the harrass/micro part. Yet Oov has a less predictable style than for example Nada who has a tendency to follow the same forumula in each matchup. Boxer = micro/strategy Nada = micro/macro Oov = macro/strategy. This is of course not perfectly true and can be argued over, but to me those players have made the OVERALL impression to let me categorize them in such way. To me the perfect player is the one able to combine these three aspects equally in his game.

I have to agree with Day[9]s post on that it is EASIER to learn and play macro style, and it doesnt require that much of you as including harrass in your game, and that's the reason you'll encounter such players in about every level. As soon as you reach the very top tier players however you'll see the players focusing more on harrass yet still they're able to uphold the usual macro.

The timing part is also an important thing, but to me that goes under macro. Decisions go under strategy however, but it wont help you to make the right decisions if your timing and macro is off. I dont feel BW has become a macro game. The lower level of players have discovered that it's easier to play this way and just make more units than your opponent, but if you look at how the best players play you'll see that fundamental things such as macro/timing/micro are there, while it's the decisions and strategies that seal the outcome of the game.

An example is Oovs recent game against JJu at Rush Hour, where Oov was 90% sure his opponent would drop him, and adapted perfectly to that. Would JJu have enough to stop Oovs push if he hadnt wasted those units ? Maybe, most likely not though since he got hurt early on by Oovs M&M killing drones and his gas. Did JJu adjust his gameplan to doing a drop after that happened because he thought his chances were slim to stop Oovs push straight up ? Most likely since those drones WILL hurt later in the game, but Oov read his thoughts, and figured he'd only have to wait for that counterattack before attacking himself. This wouldnt have been the case if it werent for that HARRASS that oov did though. If Oov woulda just sat in his base waiting for his 10 tanks to be done I dont think JJu would have done what he did. Some players have their gameplan ready before the game though and will do it no matter what the opponent does. Nada even said he does this in an interview.

JJu vs Nada a couple of weeks ago showed another example on decisionmaking being important as JJu hurt Nada early on and forced Nada to lift his CC. Nada tried to continue playing normal, but I think he knew JJu would take the time to get the adventage and outmacro him. However I noticed JJu made some STRANGE decisions and actually LOST some battles which WOULD most likely have cost him the game if it werent for Nada being set back early and this is imo the difference between good and great players. A player like GoRush would probably avoid any contact before his 3 defilers were finished, ultra cavern being down and 8 scourges ready along with one and a half group with lurkers + 3 groups of lings before attacking. SAFING it in(i.e Gorushs game vs Nada in KT-KTF groups@Luna in 2004 I think)

This is my thoughts on how BW has evolved. Macro is where it's been for a while. At it's peak. The decisions and strategy is still evolving, and as someone mentioned Anytime being an example on that. Harrass is always going to be evolving, but I can understand players not willing to rely on it because a missclick can be so fatal.
Live2Win is awesome. Happy new year scarabi!
decafchicken
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
United States20141 Posts
Last Edited: 2006-01-23 09:52:39
January 23 2006 09:52 GMT
#40
On January 23 2006 16:34 EAGER-beaver wrote:
Zergs can play just fine without a natural. Just goes to show how every "pro" map has warped our view of this game by introducing constants: ramps and naturals you can defend with a fast expo no prob.

2 base zvt is soooooo much easier than 1 base
how reasonable is it to eat off wood instead of your tummy?
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