I notice that almost everyone spams their APM at the beginning of the game by boxing workers and mashing buttons. What I don't get is the purpose of doing this. Does it keep you more focused later on in the game? Is it to be able to perform high APM actions quickly? Is it just for bragging rights? I am currently at around 2.6k points and I've never spammed (I've tried it a few times before) and I was thinking of spamming in the beginning of the game but I don't really know what the point is, and I don't know how either. Should I just box all my units over and over again? One of my friends gets up to 400 APM in the beginning and I'm not sure how he does it and what the point is. Thanks

Moonling

United States987 Posts

December 25 2010 01:43 GMT

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/search.php?q=apm spam&t=t&f=-1&u=&gb=date

Basically switching back and forth from workers to base is the same as switching back from army to base its a warm up hopefully to continue throughout game but this has been discussed

rebdomine

6040 Posts

December 25 2010 01:43 GMT

Some people like to do it to keep their hands used to moving fast the whole time through. Others simply do it because it's what the pros do.

It's more a personal preference really. If you feel like you need your hands moving fast from the get-go, you should spam. But if you're getting by fine without doing it, (and you're able to pull off high apm when you need it) there's no real need for you to spam.

cripsybacon

United States24 Posts

December 25 2010 01:43 GMT

Some do it out of habit, but most do it to keep their hands "warmed up" and "ready" for when the action starts.

Terminator(471)

United States243 Posts

December 25 2010 01:44 GMT

I don't understand the point of spamming apm. I think that a fairly high apm is needed to make sure that you are constantly injecting larvae, making overlords, making drones, making units, making buildings, spreading creep, microing your army, and watching your scouting units as a zerg. Apm isn't however a game deciding factor unless your apm average is in the general area of 0. I think that around 80 is a decent apm to average on your games. My apm is during games sometimes as low as 20 and as high as 280 during extremely micro intensive battles.

Supamang

United States2298 Posts

December 25 2010 01:44 GMT

it supposedly helps warm you up for those tight spots when youll actually need the click and move the mouse that fast. ill be honest i only started spamming because i saw pros doing it, but id like to think it helps. there are often times when im just starting a game and im feeling cold, spamming a lot helps both calm any nerves and warm up my fingers.

id still be lying if i said i dont like seeing the high apm numbers though

eth3n

718 Posts

December 25 2010 01:44 GMT

I was a new player to sc2 (super casual scbw) and I also was like wtf is going on. I assume its an artifact of scbw, and I assume at some point people are like "LOOK AT THE APM!" and then everyone started spamming it. But who knows, maybe it gets your prepared to spam like mad later in game.

I have heard TLO mock the practice multiple times, so I assume it confers no other advantages (FINGER EXERCISE MFER!!!). Of course for those who actually want to see if their overall APM is steadily improving, to do it throughout the game makes it meaningless (if you only do it in the beginning then you could of course still check your legitimate APM in fights i guess ^_^)

bobucles

410 Posts

December 25 2010 04:14 GMT

You do stretches before exercise, right? Pro players spam APM for the same thing. It's done to warm up.

Freeheals

United States488 Posts

December 25 2010 04:49 GMT

I find it very hard to get my apm up to speed when you need it when the game heats up if I don't warm up my hands with apm spam at the start of the game. It's pretty much essential

kurrysauce

272 Posts

December 25 2010 04:56 GMT

#10

Im new to RTS and all . first time i started I was as slow as hell. i was missing my injects in the first 10minutes of the game. I'm averaging around 180 - 200 apm right now. I would say do whatever it takes to get your fingers flexible so you can keep up with your brain. No point going up to 400 apm , 250 + or 300 would be fine for an early warm up

Geovu

Estonia1344 Posts

December 25 2010 04:59 GMT

#11

In early game I spam because otherwise I feel like I don't know wth I'm doing, and my focus will waver and I'll miss simple stuff like my gases and 2nd pylon. Later on in the game if am not doing anything and I need to collect my thoughts about what to do I will spam for a bit until my brain figures everything out. It's also a decent idea to spam between hotkeyed buildings to make sure they are building/researching, but that is more relevant to a Terran IMO.

Getz

United States559 Posts

December 25 2010 05:04 GMT

#12

I do it to keep my hands used to the movements and to keep my fingers warm.

Leviwtf

174 Posts

December 25 2010 05:07 GMT

#13

Its pointless, if you tell your scvs to stop mining or move them even once in a 1000 games it wasn't worth it. I think alot of people need to play calmer and slower instead of trying to hype themselves up. You only need about 100 apm to do everything you need to do.

I can see the purpose of it back in the BW days when APM was a requirement to macro well.

coreydota

United States180 Posts

December 25 2010 05:09 GMT

#14

I do it mainly because the early game gets super boring after a while, but still partially to get warmed up

Hollywise

France112 Posts

December 25 2010 05:09 GMT

#15

Instead of retarded meaningless boxing try forcing drones on closest minerals. It's still 250+ apm and gives a 0,00001% economy boost!

DarkRise

1644 Posts

December 25 2010 05:11 GMT

#16

well i spam APM at the beginning for warming up and because I'm pretty comfortable at my race

pwnageplus

34 Posts

December 25 2010 05:12 GMT

#17

On December 25 2010 14:07 Leviwtf wrote:
Its pointless, if you tell your scvs to stop mining or move them even once in a 1000 games it wasn't worth it. I think alot of people need to play calmer and slower instead of trying to hype themselves up. You only need about 100 apm to do everything you need to do.

I can see the purpose of it back in the BW days when APM was a requirement to macro well.

When I spam I press 4/5 along with highlighting all of my workers. No fingers go anywhere near the stop or hold command, or even the right click. I will never mis-micro my workers early as a result of spamming.

Deathmanbob

United States2356 Posts

December 25 2010 05:16 GMT

#18

I like it as a warm up just to get my brain and fingers going. I dont spam a crazy amount maybe only 150 to start and then level off to my average of 80 but i have noticed in games i dont spam to start my apm is lower

BMSupreme

United States24 Posts

December 25 2010 05:22 GMT

#19

I do it when I wanna feel gosu during a replay

But I average around 40-50, and pull off more when i have to

Selkie

United States530 Posts

December 25 2010 11:06 GMT

#20

The thing I've noticed in my tries, and watching my friends do it- they're completely aware of where they are at all times. You won't see them try to make an scv while on the worker hotkey, in spite of them switching back and forth rapidly. Personally, I'm thinking of starting to spam slowly, and going faster with it, just to learn army-base-army-base in my mind as I hit.

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