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This essay made me sad. It is the typical product of a society where everything you do is evaluated with regards to some sort of utility. If A does not improve your (ability to show) performance in some way it cannot be good.
What happened to A is valuable because you derive fun from it? Not saying that you do not enjoy playing starcraft but the whole essay seems like a justification based on side-effects. Also, the benefits of playing SC2 you mention are not very specific to the game (contrary to what you call an "exception to the rule") but may as well apply to other popular competitive games.
Edit: Just to avoid misunderstandings - I think you did a good job with the essay and it is cool that you convinced your parents that you playing SC2 is not a waste of time. It is merely sad that you had to that in the first place.
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France287 Posts
On August 09 2011 00:47 Electric.Jesus wrote: This essay made me sad. It is the typical product of a society where everything you do is evaluated with regards to some sort of utility. If A does not improve your (ability to show) performance in some way it cannot be good.
What happened to A is valuable because you derive fun from it? Not saying that you do not enjoy playing starcraft but the whole essay seems like a justification based on side-effects. Also, the benefits of playing SC2 you mention are not very specific to the game (contrary to what you call an "exception to the rule") but may as well apply to other popular competitive games.
Edit: Just to avoid misunderstandings - I think you did a good job with the essay and it is cool that you convinced your parents that you playing SC2 is not a waste of time. It is merely sad that you had to that in the first place.
His essays simply details what exactly is the "fun" that he obtains through practicing SC2...
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I thought this was an awesome essay. I have been arguing the similarities between basketball and SC2 with people for a while, and you pretty much nailed it right on the head. Of course they're extremely different games, and all I ever hear is how ridiculous it is that I can compare a real life sport to a video game, but it has the same principles of self-improvement (perhaps not teamwork if you don't play 2s/3s/4s) that are undeniable, whether you choose to see it or not.
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The essay lacks any sort of content. You mention "aggressive self improvement" many times in your essay (a lot) yet fail to provide any real examples where starcraft specifically improved yourself. The only real connection you are making is that starcraft enables you to make decisions and later reflect on those decisions, which is hardly unique to starcraft.
As an essay directed towards people who do not understand starcraft and meant to convince them that it is not a waste of time, I think you have failed to communicate your idea. The essay is really general and does not get specific at all. You could switch Starcraft with Competition or any sort of competitive-play sport/game/hobbie etc. and it would still yield the same results.
You reference Day[9] three times in your essay and he's someone who's devoted his life to starcraft. That is too many references on one person and is a really biased view, especially if you are trying to convince people who's original stance is that starcraft is a waste of time.
Your use of vocabulary is nice which makes this an easy/nice read (except for your preaching of aggressive self-improvement), but without any content its just a bunch of fluff. Take some time to find some concrete, real examples related to starcraft and how its transferable to something in your life in a positive way and you'd be well on your way to an A or A+ essay. But for now, its far too general and seems like it was written in under 30 minutes. I hope I wasn't too harsh.
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The essay makes a few great points. If you play it competitively, you put in a lot of effort into it and think about your development. I like to compare SC2 to an instrument. As you learn more techniques, songs and patterns, you develop the things you mentioned (teachableness, humility, decision-making skills etc.).
However, there is more to the picture and I'd like to bring up a few things. First of all, the community. Sure, you meet like-minded people, you interact with them, maybe even join a team. This is comparable to a WoW clan (I used to play WoW, so that's my experience that I think I can use here as well). The problem with this type of community is that it basically isn't real. You will most likely never meet those people, and you will not interact with them in any way besides the game. That in itself is ok of course, it's similar to a choir or a school band. If you have enough other friends, that's fine. However, if people under the age of 20 indulge too much in this game, they might get sucked into it a little more than they should, and their claim that this was oh-so-social does not count in my opinion. If they spend too much time on the game, it harms them in the long run. Also, the people you meet online are very much alike, so you basically interact only with people that are like yourself. Not a great social training ground there. Secondly, I'd like to bring up something Artosis said during a SOTG when they discussed the sixjaxMajor tournament fraud issue. He said (paraphrased), "You know, it was a very immature thing that he did. All the time other people spent growing up, he played Starcraft. I was like that too, I was a huge dick back then." This summarizes my point. Sure you might develop in one field of personality (your points in the essay), but you run a very real risk of missing other developments that you should go through when you grow up. If you spend massive amounts of time playing Starcraft, and chances are you do if you play competitively, you'll miss important life lessons and by the time you should be a mature, grown man, major parts of your personality are still a kid. I myself have this problem to a degree, and I clearly see deficits in my personality that should be long gone by now (I'm 26). They are still there because frankly, you don't grow up while playing video games, even when doing so competitively. As a result, Starcraft and video games have their place, most definitely. I wouldn't want to miss the times I spent playing them, and some concepts you develop during them might be useful in other situations. But you can't blame parents of teenage, male shut-ins (and face it, that's what most Starcraft players are) if they try to get their kid to do something else.
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First of all, the community. Sure, you meet like-minded people, you interact with them, maybe even join a team. This is comparable to a WoW clan (I used to play WoW, so that's my experience that I think I can use here as well). The problem with this type of community is that it basically isn't real. You will most likely never meet those people, and you will not interact with them in any way besides the game.
I agree with pretty much everything you said PraefektMotus except this. The community is extremely real, people in this community interact in real life fairly often. Events like MLG, Dreamhack, and other major events are proof of this.
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I think I didn't express that community thing well enough. Yes, there is a community. You might have a great time with those people, especially when you actually go out and meet them at LANs. Sure, why not. The problem I have with that is that a community like this is extremely homogenous. Almost everyone is male, 16-24 years old, a nerd (no offense!), kind of introverted, and has above average education. This homogeneity is great on one side ("finally more people that are like me"), but on the other it does not train you to deal with people that don't fit it (and there are LOTS of those). Chances are you have your nerd friends at school like I did, and then you go out and meet more nerds. I'll use the training ground argument again. If you're boiling in your own sauce for too long, it'll damage you in the long run. I'm specifically talking about the teenage school kid that hardly experiences anything besides parents, school and video games but then tries to mark Starcraft as a "social" experience, which in this case it just isn't in my opinion.
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"Starcraft II is not a simple tool of idle time-wasting, causing people to ostracize themselves, and to shut their doors to the world, as most of technology does. "
Starcraft 2 is technology? and how come mobiles,social networks,cars shut doors to the world?
Also i do not know how coaching "you tell people what to do" helps with psychology " you listen to people,try to understand and find some solution"
and basketball vs Sc ,i think oposite is true.It is about victory-victory is about improving mind and body,but you improve becose you want to be better,becouse you want to beat somebody.Not the other way around
It is good,yes ,but i am not convinced
and as said electric jesus ,you should do it for fun asn as PraefektMotus said,you miss something.I still have that burden
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On August 09 2011 00:33 dhe95 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2011 00:26 IvoryOwl wrote: MyKill would you mind explaining how you refute the argument on good character? I am interested in refutations. Starcraft created Combat-Ex, a player who lied about his rank and abused wins in BW to try to obtain donations from people who thought they were being taught by someone good at the game. Then in SC2 you have all the trolls and kids who believe that everything can be fixed with a balance patch. Basically they believe that improvement is not needed, that the problem is with the game, not themselves. They are also disrespectful, such as in many stream chats and even the booing at MLG.
"A bad blacksmith blames his tools."
The game didn't create the player (CombatEx), the player used the tool irresponsibly. There is always going to be "that guy" who is an asshole and tries to exploit every person they can. Just as there is always "that guy" at work who manipulates co-workers and customers at any cost for their own gain. You could lump "trolls" into this category by some margin. Kids are kids... they will eventually learn how dumb they were at times.
The system/tool/game will change and exploitation hasn't gone away, but its not the majority.
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A well-written college essay needs sources (as in other writings and/or interviews), you cant write a paper simply using your own experiences or opinions. If you were to have an argument or thesis, wheres all the resources and data you have collected.
I like the block quote you used from Day9 but you still need to cite the when he said it and everything. Here's your check-mark.
I've written more than enough essays through and im about to graduate. Just helping a fellow person. have fun.
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Very nice effort in this essay.
I have my reservations about it, but I will leave it at that.
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On August 09 2011 00:07 IvoryOwl wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Each race has a completely different set of units, buildings and abilities and is played very differently, though each race is balanced and equal in power.
that made me laugh.. good essay tho
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