EPT
Hi everyone,
As many in the BW community are aware, the release of Starcraft II several years ago and the end of competitive BW, namely OSL and PL as well as the rising popularity of LoL as an e-sport in Korea has caused a decrease in the number of players that play BW. Aside from that, the lack of auto matchmaking and the inability to host games without forwarding plugs on routers made it even more difficult for players to play on iCCup. The other option to use was fish but that comes with its own problems to manage.
The practice partner thread in the BW Strategy section was a great idea. You can find other people to practice with or play some team games etc... This can help negate some of the problems mentioned above. The only problem with the thread is that it has grown a lot. As a result, it has become quite unorganized and outdated seeing as the first post is from 2010. I believe that having a more organized and up to date thread will make it easier for new players to find other players to play with.
After much thought, I decided to update and organize the thread. I have already asked the majority of people in the previous thread through pm barring a few(usually banned) whether they are still active and for details if that's the case. I believe that an excel spreadsheet that can be edited is the best method to keep it organized. I can check in every couple of days to make sure that the spreadsheet is organized and to maintain it if need be.
Excel Spreadsheet:
There are 6 different columns in the excel spreadsheet. The columns are in order: TL id, iccup id, rank, max rank, race and extra info. The headings should be self-explanatory for the most part. Rank is just your current rank on iccup. Max rank is the max rank you've reached on iccup in past seasons. Max rank and rank are the same unless the player indicated otherwise. Extra info is the section where you can indicate what times you are able to play on to facilitate easier match organization.
In terms of race, I just separated the three races starting with Terran then Protoss and finally Zerg. Random players are right underneath zerg players in the list. Different colors were used because it made it easier on the eyes. In terms of rankings, this spreadsheet was organized based on rank. In other words, even if you got a B as your max rank, if your current rank is a C and another player is a C+ then they are higher in the rankings. The point of this is to make it faster for players to find someone near their current rank(first is highest ranking for each race and it decreases systematically) and maybe even promote some competition between players of the same race.
New player?
Please refer to update at end of post, thanks.
If you are a new player and want to join, then by all means go ahead. All I ask if that you enter your information in each column following column headings. You are free to place yourself in the list of your respective race as long as you make sure that you place yourself based on your current rank.
Little explanation: If your current rank and max rank is the same as someone else, then it doesn't matter if you enter your information above or below theirs. If your current rank is the same but max rank is less, then enter your information below theirs. If your current rank is the same but max rank is higher, then enter your information above theirs. If this is all confusing, then just enter your information towards the end of the spreadsheet and I'll move it to the right section
Potential problems/Solutions:
Since the spreadsheet is open to editing, I realize there is a chance that someone can just erase everything on the spreadsheet. I see two choices to rectify this problem. First option is to keep copies of the most up to date spreadsheet every time I check it. It's not a lot of work to do so I'm more than capable of handling it. The other option is for me to lock the spreadsheet for editing and have players post in this thread their information. When I check this thread, I can add their information to the spreadsheet. In this option, the spreadsheet can still be viewed but only be edited by me. Both options are fine so I'll leave it to you guys to decide(poll at end).
Aside from that, some people change their names on iccup every season or may go inactive and stop playing BW. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about either of these issues unless the player notifies me since this spreadsheet doesn't auto update.
Prognosis:
I'm starting getting pm's and updating the excel document as time passes. So far, I've had a decent portion of posters replaying back on whether they are playing or not and expect a bit more responses. There are a couple of people's names that I recognized in the thread from my time on TL and a decent portion are in CRTL or DRTL and have a team so I wasn't sure if you guys wanted to be in the list or not. If you guys are still interested, feel free to pm me the info so that I can add you or you can add yourself
+ Show Spoiler +
ghrur, L_Master, don_kyuhote, puppykiller, LightingStrike, Rlentless, Falling
Arca, t0ssboy, ImbaTosS, dRaW, GGzerG, WandS, pebble444, KaiGreene and G5
Arca, t0ssboy, ImbaTosS, dRaW, GGzerG, WandS, pebble444, KaiGreene and G5
The Starserver which is going to have automatic matchmaking, automatic port forwarding as well as a bunch of other features will likely go into beta November or December of this year if we are to believe birdie(I don't
) so I figure that this thread/spreadsheet will have a lifetime of 6 months before the server is finally online and most make the switch to Starserver. Final words:
If it's possible at all to embed the excel spreadsheet into this post, that would be great. I tried searching on how to do it but no luck and I believe only a mod can probably do it anyways. If anyone has any questions, concerns or ideas on how to improve this, please feel free to present them here and I'll answer them promptly. I hope that this helps the BW community. GL HF GG!
Link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuOQQasG5xmXdFlOQkxGSkxuMnhiLTlseVF0NTN0aWc&usp=sharing
Poll: Should I make spreadsheet editable?
No (72)
70%
Yes (31)
30%
103 total votes
Yes (31)
103 total votes
Your vote: Should I make spreadsheet editable?
BW FIGHTING!
![[image loading]](http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj236/BigFan_2008/fightingsheep6_zpsc35bf1cc.png)
Update: After further consideration, I think it's best that I just add the names in but the list will still be viewable. Anyone who wants to be added please just post your information(TL id, iccup id, rank, max rank, race and any extra info) in this thread. I'll add it in asap. Thanks!
