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Competitive Gaming Article by Day[9] - Page 2

Forum Index > BW General
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jkillashark
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
United States5262 Posts
January 02 2008 19:52 GMT
#21
*clap clap clap*

Well said bro.
Do your best, God will do the rest.
Zelniq
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
United States7166 Posts
January 02 2008 19:55 GMT
#22
very awesome article, well written and I agree completely. I really dont have anything to add on this subject, you covered everything already. This is so central to the concept of competitive gaming, and I think it's a major reason of why they are so much fun to play and watch. I remember clearly back in my WC3 ladder days I would feel the excitement of the marginal advantage that must be held or how my opponent was marginally ahead and I would try to see if I could take it back in any way that I can. God I love games.

Oh I also think this deserves to be in the FE, but that is not my call.
ModeratorBlame yourself or God
Avius
Profile Joined October 2007
Iraq1796 Posts
January 02 2008 20:03 GMT
#23
Wow, awesome article and I agree with you to the fullest. When I watch my friends play Warcraft 3 (amateurs, such as me) they do exactly what you said. After having won a battle, they often go creep or do unneccessary things instead of building up some pressure or anything.
aka. Samael
Zherak
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Norway256 Posts
January 02 2008 20:08 GMT
#24
Very good article.

I think you should have mentioned the inverse, the marginal disadvantage, and the kind of play it creates.

For instance, hockey teams switching their goalie for an attacker in the last minutes, Jaedong's muta-scourge rush vs Stork after losing 4 drones to zealot harass.
The bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes...
blagoonga123
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States2068 Posts
January 02 2008 20:18 GMT
#25
The only part I didn't like about this was

"First, there is no such thing as a good competitive game that has an obvious optimal strategy. For example, there is no competitive tic-tac-toe gaming, as two logical players would tie every time. I remember playing an old real-time strategy game called KKND, where one of the units was clearly the strongest unit in the game. Playing against my brother degenerated into a fray where we hurled masses of the same unit at each other until one of us got bored and stopped playing. On the other hand, a superior game like StarCraft presents a completely intractable problem. There is no best race, no best strategy, and certainly no best way to win."

Because there are optimal strategies in games like Chess and Go, and I'd venture to say that theyre some of the best competitive games in the world.
FOOL! Pain is my friend! Now let me introduce you to it!
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
January 02 2008 20:20 GMT
#26
Very nice. Much appreciated for sharing :D
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
tonight
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
United States11130 Posts
January 02 2008 20:23 GMT
#27
Very well written and enjoyable to read all the way through.
if I come without a thing, then I come with all I need @tonightsend
Day[9]
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
United States7366 Posts
January 02 2008 20:36 GMT
#28
On January 03 2008 05:18 blagoonga123 wrote:
The only part I didn't like about this was

"First, there is no such thing as a good competitive game that has an obvious optimal strategy. For example, there is no competitive tic-tac-toe gaming, as two logical players would tie every time. I remember playing an old real-time strategy game called KKND, where one of the units was clearly the strongest unit in the game. Playing against my brother degenerated into a fray where we hurled masses of the same unit at each other until one of us got bored and stopped playing. On the other hand, a superior game like StarCraft presents a completely intractable problem. There is no best race, no best strategy, and certainly no best way to win."

Because there are optimal strategies in games like Chess and Go, and I'd venture to say that theyre some of the best competitive games in the world.


err nono !! i think you misunderstood me.

chess and go don't have optimal strategies. that is, the game has not been "solved." the fact is, the best move is sometimes ambiguous. sometimes, there are CLEAR correct moves to make, but this does not imply an overarching correct way to play EVERY single move in the game.

if there was an absolute 100% correct move in every circumstance, THAT would be an "optimal strategy." (I'm using optimal in a mathematical sense, in that an optimal play will always at least draw all other types of play).

hope that clarified

(ps, <3 chess and go haha)
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
Response
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
United States1938 Posts
January 02 2008 20:50 GMT
#29
that was an interesting read...although GO is extremely boring imo
the REAL ReSpOnSe
Naib
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
Hungary4939 Posts
January 02 2008 21:04 GMT
#30
Yes, blagoonga, Day is using the world "optimal" in a context that means "one and only at all circumstances". Chess and GO doesn't work that way (I only played Chess on a moderately high level of the two though, bit clueless about GO).

On the article, I also can just add my support, I agree with the points you made, loud and clear. Blizzard employees should read this (I'm sure they do since we're told they keep a close-eye on TL.net anyway).

This reminded me of my games where I banged my head to the wall after doing the mistakes you describe, loosing the game because of it every now and then. I also figured this thing out on my own - isn't so hard imo - , and I always had to cool myself during games not to make hasty moves. Often you could see me having a huge advantage but instead of going for the kill - I just took the map , defended vs harass opportunities and waited for my opponent to act while expoing, waiting patiently. It isn't sparking, but it works

Complete the cycle!
Bartar
Profile Joined December 2004
Greece83 Posts
January 02 2008 21:58 GMT
#31
very interesting indeed. thx -)
intrigue
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
Washington, D.C9935 Posts
January 02 2008 22:09 GMT
#32
agree with everything
belongs in FE or strategy forum, or both!
Moderatorsloppy little slug
Disarray
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States1164 Posts
January 02 2008 22:13 GMT
#33
Great great article, but I REALLY couldn't help but nitpick one thing you said.



On December 31 2007 10:44 Day[9] wrote:
On the other hand, excellent competitive games, such as Marvel vs Capcom 2, allow for huge diversity in response. In Marvel vs Capcom 2, players can elect three characters to form a fighting team. With fifty-six characters from which to choose, Marvel vs Capcom 2 offers over 25,000 combinations of possible teams, presenting the player with virtually unlimited options. At the highest level of play, strong competitive players can be seen using drastically different teams and styles.


now I know you've played MvC2 (i've seen your wcg replays where your name was striderdoom, got a kick out of that) and you cannot honestly tell me this statement is true. at tournaments theres really about 3 teams you ever see played, and about 9-10 characters that are actually used.

also a really small nitpick at the same statement.... i didn't do the math but i'd assume how you got 25,000 combinations from 56 characters means "Sentinel-Cable-Magneto" and "Cable-Sentinel-Magneto" count as different teams, wich would mean its not really 25,000.

agian i'd like to strongly emphasize that i loved the article and it was great, but having watched how actual mvc2 tournaments breakdown, i could not resist this nit-pick.
Input limit reached. Please wait to perform more actions.
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary26003 Posts
January 02 2008 22:18 GMT
#34
On January 03 2008 07:13 Disarray wrote:
Great great article, but I REALLY couldn't help but nitpick one thing you said.



Show nested quote +
On December 31 2007 10:44 Day[9] wrote:
On the other hand, excellent competitive games, such as Marvel vs Capcom 2, allow for huge diversity in response. In Marvel vs Capcom 2, players can elect three characters to form a fighting team. With fifty-six characters from which to choose, Marvel vs Capcom 2 offers over 25,000 combinations of possible teams, presenting the player with virtually unlimited options. At the highest level of play, strong competitive players can be seen using drastically different teams and styles.


now I know you've played MvC2 (i've seen your wcg replays where your name was striderdoom, got a kick out of that) and you cannot honestly tell me this statement is true. at tournaments theres really about 3 teams you ever see played, and about 9-10 characters that are actually used.

also a really small nitpick at the same statement.... i didn't do the math but i'd assume how you got 25,000 combinations from 56 characters means "Sentinel-Cable-Magneto" and "Cable-Sentinel-Magneto" count as different teams, wich would mean its not really 25,000.

agian i'd like to strongly emphasize that i loved the article and it was great, but having watched how actual mvc2 tournaments breakdown, i could not resist this nit-pick.


http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=56 choose 3&btnG=Google Search&meta=
Moderator
crazie-penguin
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
United States1253 Posts
January 02 2008 22:19 GMT
#35
^^ Agree with whatDissarray says, but honestly, very nice article, I learned a lot, or had my thoughts conveyed into words. Concise but detailed.

I DEMAND YOU WRITE MORE OF THESE
Day[9]
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
United States7366 Posts
January 02 2008 22:20 GMT
#36
On January 03 2008 07:13 Disarray wrote:
Great great article, but I REALLY couldn't help but nitpick one thing you said.



Show nested quote +
On December 31 2007 10:44 Day[9] wrote:
On the other hand, excellent competitive games, such as Marvel vs Capcom 2, allow for huge diversity in response. In Marvel vs Capcom 2, players can elect three characters to form a fighting team. With fifty-six characters from which to choose, Marvel vs Capcom 2 offers over 25,000 combinations of possible teams, presenting the player with virtually unlimited options. At the highest level of play, strong competitive players can be seen using drastically different teams and styles.


now I know you've played MvC2 (i've seen your wcg replays where your name was striderdoom, got a kick out of that) and you cannot honestly tell me this statement is true. at tournaments theres really about 3 teams you ever see played, and about 9-10 characters that are actually used.

also a really small nitpick at the same statement.... i didn't do the math but i'd assume how you got 25,000 combinations from 56 characters means "Sentinel-Cable-Magneto" and "Cable-Sentinel-Magneto" count as different teams, wich would mean its not really 25,000.

agian i'd like to strongly emphasize that i loved the article and it was great, but having watched how actual mvc2 tournaments breakdown, i could not resist this nit-pick.


i get 25,000 by evaluating the binomial coefficient (56 choose 3) which evaluates to 56*55*54/3*2*1 = 27720, which, combinatorially, is the number of ways of having distinct subsets of 3 from a set of 56.

that is, cable-sentinel-magneto is not double counted with sentinel-cable-magneto would be.

Also, although you definitely do not see close to the 25,000 actual teams, you DO see a wide variety of different teams being used (3 is kind of an exaggeration). I mean, you could probably name a large amount yourself . Still, i liked using the number 25,000 in the article because its kind of a waste of effort to type "there are 25,000 possible teams, and although only a small subset is used, there's still a big variety." Any MvC2 player would agree that there is a great deal of diversity in teams chosen.
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
Disarray
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States1164 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-01-02 22:27:04
January 02 2008 22:21 GMT
#37
perhaps our definitions of "great deal of diversity" differ then = P
Input limit reached. Please wait to perform more actions.
Cascade
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
Australia5405 Posts
January 02 2008 22:34 GMT
#38
Great read. Great insight. Thank you.

Featured thread at least?
FakeSteve[TPR]
Profile Blog Joined July 2003
Valhalla18444 Posts
January 02 2008 23:17 GMT
#39
great article!

moved to Featured Threads
Moderatormy tatsu loops r fuckin nice
Woyn
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
United Kingdom1628 Posts
January 03 2008 01:15 GMT
#40
aha! KKND! I also played this, I still have my original copy that I picked up in a sale
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