Can a mod please change the thread's title to "One Group, One goal, Together to the top"
Quick update : Since it might take some time for me to get the website up and a lot of you have been asking for something right now, simply use the chat channels called
group group1 group2...
Use them to connect with eachother and feel free to use any ventrilo servers listed below or any others you can find.
Update: I feel like I owe everyone an apology. I promised to provide a service but I had no idea what I was getting into. I have spent the last two days putting all my thoughts on paper and brainstorming. I completely neglected the e-mails.
This community is amazing. I came home from work today and decided to take a look at my inbox. I opened up excel and started copying all the details players gave me. A whole lot of you wrote me huge essays that made me realize how motivated and awesome you people are.
I will have to stop accepting e-mails for the simple reason that I have decided to make this project my life for the next month or so.
I copied around 3/4 of the e-mails, and I have organized most of these players into groups which are available below in the spoiler.
I'd like to thank everyone for giving such positive feedback and writing those e-mails. Even if you don't support my project or you feel like going off and doing your own thing, I still encourage you to make progress in this game with other players and help each other out. Most importantly, I hope you continue to support e-Sports and have a great time playing games.
I'm going to spend every dollar I have on this website in order for it to be flawless when it is released.
I can't explain exactly what the website will do, all I can say is connecting with others will never have been easier.
See you all in 3 weeks-2 months, hope this works out.
If you sent me an e-mail before I stopped taking them, you will find yourself in one of the groups below. Ignore the random ventrilo server names, they are not my own, I got them from a list of public servers.
I have assigned each group a ventrilo server you can use, but feel free to use any other method of communication, such as skype, although I don't think you can have more than 5 people in a call on skype. Teamspeak is another alternative.
The ventrilo servers are listed as Hostname : Port
If you don't know how to set up or use ventrilo, here is a link to a tutorial right here on TL.net : Tutorial
Playing Starcraft II can be boring when you have no one to discuss the game with. Teams have so much success because they have structure. Someone can go weeks and weeks without improving if they have no goals or are just bored and decide to play 4v4/2v2 instead of grinding 1v1's. Ladder can be stressful and annoying when you are on your own and you are spending hours looking at your replays trying to figure out what went wrong.
What a lot of people are missing is the structure that comes with being with other players. This game is obviously played on the computer, which opens a lot of doors compared to the console gamers.
Before I was a Starcraft player, I was a Halo/CoD player. On consoles, it was fairly difficult to connect with others in order to form a team and practice together because there was simply no way for us to communicate if we didn't have access to a computer all the time. I was on a team once where we exchanged phone numbers because of how ridiculous it got.
I say all this because I feel like a lot of players, casual or competitive, are not getting the most out of their gaming experience. We need to come together and talk about strategy. We need to get structure and we need to make a plan and stick to it.
I understand most of us work or go to school and don't always have time to scan around the forums looking for the next build order they are going to try. 60% of my computer time is used watching starcraft streams or looking at threads about Starcraft, but I can never find anyone to talk with about it. Day9 has touched on the idea of gaming as a group on many of his dailies and I think many people are missing out on this.
What I'm suggesting is that we form several practice groups. The goal of these groups would be for everyone to all improve at the same time and bounce ideas off each other. I would call this a team, but since we aren't aiming to compete any time soon, it is more like a group of friends trying to get better and reach their goals. I know there have been countless threads with an idea similar to this one, but I think its time for starcraft players from all over to form groups and turn this whole community into skilled starcraft players.
We need to get players out of bronze,silver,gold,platinum and diamond and flood the masters league with all kinds of different players, or simply help each other reach our goals in the game. This is how starcraft will change and get better. We need to get together and get better instead of giving up. I know there are some of you who take breaks often because you simply have no more motivation to ladder and get better.
To fix this problem which I've had countless times, I'm going to invite all players to send me an e-mail so that I can organize everything and get everyone assigned to a group to practice together/talk about strategy.
I want to incorporate some sort of reward system in the future that involves these groups of people reaching their goals together and put a spotlight on how much fun these groups can have if they get organized and have a lot of interests in common.
I'm not saying nobody can reach their goals without support from other people, but it is simply not as enjoyable to grind alone and end up at the top with nobody there that you know and that you can talk with.
Just emailed you, this is such a good idea, I know another player who has mentioned to me he was looking for something similar, so I'll be sure to link him as well.
On September 01 2011 08:49 Judgey wrote: Just emailed you, this is such a good idea, I know another player who has mentioned to me he was looking for something similar, so I'll be sure to link him as well.
i just emailed you as well, this is exactly what needs to be done with this game for the lower/mid leagues to develop and advance. i forgot to list what race i play -.- I play protoss, just a heads up
Great idea, I would like to see more narrowed groups like gold+plat and diamond+masters. Seems like you will find plenty of players for these groups that this would be possible. I say this because I am in masters and wouldn't like to spend all my time lecturing gold/plat players. Anyway, love the idea, hope it works out!
Great to see others embracing this idea! I encourage anyone who wants to do something like this to start their own practice group (assuming this group fills up quickly).
Sent in an email, hoping to get in. Need something like this since all of my friends do nothing but play LoL and act like they know everything Starcraft because they watch GSL.
ishyishy: I think the purpose of something like this is to form a small community of players who can practice together in a "casual" atmosphere. Forming a SC2 clan would imply a more serious take of competing and practicing. As far as I can tell a lot of people want something like this where they can casually work on their game whilst having fun in a less competitive atmosphere.
The goal is to get better, but sometimes the rigorousness of training can be burdensome. Hopefully groups like this make practicing more fun!
On September 02 2011 05:56 macgiver wrote: ishyishy: I think the purpose of something like this is to form a small community of players who can practice together in a "casual" atmosphere. Forming a SC2 clan would imply a more serious take of competing and practicing. As far as I can tell a lot of people want something like this where they can casually work on their game whilst having fun in a less competitive atmosphere.
The goal is to get better, but sometimes the rigorousness of training can be burdensome. Hopefully groups like this make practicing more fun!
I would agree with you if this thread was posted on the gamefaqs forums. I think you're underestimating the TL Community as a casual atmosphere.
On September 02 2011 09:01 i am maverick wrote: I sent an email as well. And why only ten? I always say the more the merrier. Especially if it's sc2 related
I think the idea was to keep it in a tight knit group, which would allow easier organization and such.
On September 02 2011 21:58 Pogo0o wrote: Why dont u spread this community to the european server. I feel that u can find an admin with ease. GL with this project.
I totally sign this. Sadly I dont know how much time I would be able to invest when university starts again. Apart from me having just started contributing to this awesome community, this is the main reason why I cant take this “job“. But I would like being a part of this project if, or better when, it comes to the EU server.
You might want to add timezones and regular playtime to the list of information to provide. It will make it easier to see with whom you could be matched.
I havent checked it out cos I dont use it but why dont you see if you can use the TEAMSPEAK server that TL hosts if you cant find a ventrilo server big enough for your group.
We have something similar on the EU server: Its called Mixed Fruit. Just join their chat channel ( and check out www.mixedfruit.org ) to see how it works and get to meet the people.
On September 02 2011 23:28 StatX wrote: You might want to add timezones and regular playtime to the list of information to provide. It will make it easier to see with whom you could be matched.
Just a suggestion.
Might also be good ato ask what time of day people are online also.
On September 02 2011 02:07 xyious wrote: I don't meet the requirements I'm top gold, though and think this is a really good idea.
lol? its gold league and above
also requires a working microphone, plus:
- Friendly, easy to talk to?
- Able to maintain a good mood?
Do you
- Welcome constructive criticism?
- Have realistic goals?
- Like to work as a team?
So maybe he's missing one of those, also.
Yeah I thought that was strange as well
actually the only thing in the requirements was the working microphone which i lack, i definitely wouldn't have a problem with any of the other things
If you have a pair of stereo headphones (ie headphones with the ear cups, not earbuds) you can plug the headphone cord into the mic in and speak through one of the ear cups. It works since the actual cable of a stereo headset is bi-directional, and can transmit as well as receive audio. It's surprising but it actually works.
In regards to the Vent setup - PLEASE have speex enabled as a codec. Some of us are on Mac computers, and therefore can't talk or listen to vent channels/servers without the Speex codec.
This sounds great, my friends have all left SC2, would be nice to meet some folks playing SC2 again to take some of the faceless anonymity out of laddering :D
guys I have a feeling this guy is a little overwhelmed if you still want to get into a practice group go to this thread we have already started getting together.
[b]Edit: Due to the huge amount of responses I got from the community, I am going to try to expand this idea and include everyone that wants to join into one big place where you can hop in and talk strategy with fellow SC players. This will take some time, so if you sent an e-mail please be patient and I will get to you eventually so you can get set up and start having fun in the game.
I think it might be too early to give up on him. Have some patience!
so if he isnt accepting emails at the moment, how do we get involved in this? (i know there is to be a website at some point, but im talking something more immediate =P)
Group 10 is up and running if anyone there reads it we get on vent anytime were on SC2. So it is pretty loose schedule but were a pretty chill group Smoke and Blazinghand are pretty awesome!! :D
I'd really like to join this, especially with my recent switch to terran. Do you know when you'll be able to take more emails/get an alternate method in?
Obviously this is a huge project, and I congratulate you on starting it! I'd love to join, but more importantly, I would love to help out as well. I have some coding experience and could offer myself as a resource, possibly. I'll watch this thread and GL!
On September 06 2011 08:10 Ayrleand wrote: I believe I was one of the first to send an email, but haven't heard anything back yet. What are these groups people are talking about?
Check the OP, it's been updated with a list of groups, included with usernames and character codes. You're to add everyone and work among yourselves.
Also, I'm having trouble connecting to the Vent server. I keep getting an error about invalid characters, anyone else getting this?
Added everyone to friends list in group 11, I'll be messaging all of you in the next few days to get the chat channel up and running and to get everyone setup in Ventrilo.
I organized a team in my local area that is pretty much just this. We're mostly sub-diamond players to drill and practice together to improve our rank. If you'd like to trade notes and talk about some of the pitfalls we ran into, send me a PM and I'd love to chat.
On September 07 2011 17:24 Synthien wrote: Hi i noticed, that all groups seem to be on the US server. Can we create a Group (or more) for EU Server ? would be awesome thanks for this
that's a pretty good idea. I'm also lookin for a practice group,so lets create an awesome group by ourselfs.^^
Other people seem to use the vent picked for group 4 pretty regularly. I have a server I can set up to host vent for us, but it'll probably be until the weekend for me to do this. When it's up, I'll post the info here - other groups can feel free to join as well until/unless you start lagging my awful internet. :D
I'm also friending everyone in my group who gave their full ID so I can send them this info, so if you're in my group, you didn't give your full ID, and you want the vent server info, send me a PM with your full ID on TL, or just watch this thread!
EDIT: Velocity and marimano are the only people I still need character codes for.
On September 08 2011 13:21 DayDayTV wrote: I'm in group 5, but I can't seem to login to vent server you listed due to password authentication? is there a password I need to know to join vent?
On September 05 2011 11:33 Haegr9599 wrote: so if he isnt accepting emails at the moment, how do we get involved in this? (i know there is to be a website at some point, but im talking something more immediate =P)
On September 05 2011 11:33 Haegr9599 wrote: so if he isnt accepting emails at the moment, how do we get involved in this? (i know there is to be a website at some point, but im talking something more immediate =P)
I would like to know this as well
Heh. I was one of those not placed in a group in the first batch. Judging by the sheer volume of responses here, there are probably dozens of others already in the queue with me in addition to all those waiting for applications to open again. Which, as stated, is still weeks away.
In the meantime, there's not much to do without taking the initiative to form our own little groups.
A Battle.net channel is a reasonable place to start. How about we all hang out in "Together to the Top" (after the project motto). If it can garner a critical mass of users, or at the very least a few regulars, it could be a useful resource. We could use it for discussing ideas, finding pickup games, building informal groups, trading Skype contacts, and so on.
On September 06 2011 03:32 alwaid wrote: Obviously this is a huge project, and I congratulate you on starting it! I'd love to join, but more importantly, I would love to help out as well. I have some coding experience and could offer myself as a resource, possibly. I'll watch this thread and GL!
Hmm... yeah. One of the earlier updates mentioned building a team to develop the project website and such. What's the status on that, and how can geeks with appropriate skills get involved?
It's apparent from the responses to this thread and others like it over the past few weeks that there's overwhelming demand for such practice groups--certainly more than the people starting them can easily handle. With rare exception, they've all filled up within days, or even hours. I think it would be a good idea for people to throw their support behind a project that can spread out and/or automate the administrative workload so to get as many people practicing together as possible.
I still think this is a supremely great idea. I'm wondering if anyone who's in one of the groups could let us know how it's going. Have any of the groups actively started playing together?
None of this is really anything that a group of 5 couldn't do on their own, so Axx is really a superhuman, trying to not only create but orchestrate the entire idea. I think that one of the other posts' ideas to join a "Together to the top" channel on bnet is a great idea for those of us not taking the initial plunge. I'm definitely going to start joining that (or "to the top" if together makes it too long, no idea what bnet's requirements are) and looking for pickup games, and some friendly advice giving/receiving.
I don't think for the purposes of the rest of us, that mic's are necessary. There's really nothing that we can't type to each other, but vent/skype/teamspeak are all great tools to use if available.
I also think that while Axx has plenty of work on his hands already, there's no reason not to open it up to masters players. Mostly because if a Master's player wants to spend his time giving a bronze player advice, that's nothing but helpful, but also because even a novice can throw ideas at a pro even that they might not have thought of. There was some quote that said the most dangerous swordsman is an untrained one, and perhaps the lack of knowledge over what cant be done could be beneficial.
Regardless, amazing idea, and I look forward to being a part of it. Hope to see you guys in the channel.
From what I can tell, this *IS* open to Master League players. Taking a look at group 10:
That 10th guy down the list looks like he's in master league, and possibly a suave sexy individual just in general. Ladies should call him, is basically what I'm saying-- not that I know for sure, I just have a feeling. So yeah, ladies in the house should chat that guy on b.net I bet he's super cool since he's master league right ladies.
So from what I can tell this is open to Master League players, who either want to improve their own play or help coach/teach etc.
If you're in Group 6, I run a vent server for a bunch of friends on a co-located hosted server so I'll make a channel for you guys on there - I'm not a fan of public vents . Just hit me up in the Group6 bnet channel and I'll get you the login info.
P.S.: For the other groups, I'm going to see how taxing this is on my server/bandwidth to add a group of 10-active users. If it isn't too bad, I'll definitely be open to creating other channels for you guys if you want to use my server as opposed to the public ones that are posted.
On September 10 2011 01:54 Noobity wrote: I think that one of the other posts' ideas to join a "Together to the top" channel on bnet is a great idea for those of us not taking the initial plunge. I'm definitely going to start joining that (or "to the top" if together makes it too long, no idea what bnet's requirements are) and looking for pickup games, and some friendly advice giving/receiving.
We had several people join "Together to the Top" shortly after I posted last night. Hopefully we'll get enough to put together a small group on our own come the weekend. Do try to keep the channel warm whenever you're online, so newcomers don't feel too lonely. Maybe I'll see some of you guys around there.
Perhaps some of the already established groups could also use it to pull in stragglers when they're running a practice session.
I don't think for the purposes of the rest of us, that mic's are necessary. There's really nothing that we can't type to each other, but vent/skype/teamspeak are all great tools to use if available.
Mics aren't really necessary if all you want to do play a few games off ladder. Where voice chat really shines is in taking the next step and reviewing your gameplay. That's unfortunately difficult to manage without voice chat, especially if there's more than one other person in the conversation. Having extra pairs of eyes on your replays (or live games, in the case of obs matches) is one of the biggest benefits of having practice partners, even if they're only around your level. By Platinum or Diamond, especially, it's often a matter of already knowing what you should be doing and just needing someone to point out your lapses so you remember to do it right next time.
Kinda sad that this project died. It looked like a really good idea. Is there any other groups together that are thinking of linking up and trying something like this? I seem to have hit a wall and can't get over it.
Oh, I didn't know the project was dead. Should I stop practicing with the people in Group 10? I think since we were doing fine without consulting this thread after receiving our assignment, we'll continue being a practice group regardless.
Since, Group 10 seems to be doing fine... anyone who wants to stop by come to chat channel Group 10 on North America server I'm on usually from 7:30 pm to 1:30 am US West / Pacific time, and other people have more flexible schedules.
Hi all! First of all I would like to thank Axx for this very good idea. I'm sad because this project died, are you totally sure in the project's death? I don't want to steal anyone's idea, but if Axx won't finish this project I will, because I see that there is a need for it and I have already started working on it. In a few days (a week at tops) I will invite everyone here and in another new topic i think for an open beta test of the site. This site will be totally just the beginning and I'm not sure about the capacity of the hosting what I use, but I will make it.
Functions: Automatic Registration (with only email verification) Choice of a bnet server (every server will be available) Group selection Ventrillo server (I hope) - Actually maybe I will need a bit of help with this one, never done that before
1. Are you interested? 2. What other functions should I include? 3. And how many members should a practice group consist of? Is 14 a good number?
EDIT: "See you all in 3 weeks-2 months, hope this works out." - Axx This is what he said on the 1st of september, so why is everyone sure in the death of the project did I miss someting? I really don't want to steal his idea.
BTW, don't worry about stealing an idea. If you want to make a website to organize everyone, I'm sure me and everyone else would love to use it, AND the original guy would love the help. Adding more tools and communities into this just makes it stronger, so feel free to help out and make things better
Here's currently what's happening in Group 10:
People randomly log in and out, but always autojoin chat channel Group 10.
We hang out and talk and theorycraft, and play games together and coach each other. Sometimes we're also doing our own things, laddering etc. Sometimes there's like 1-2 people in the channel, sometimes a bunch, it varies.
Hate to flame on the op, he looks like he tried to put in effort, but he did a lot of things really really wrong. For one, I really think he should have sent out a mass email saying hey check post for your groups. Instead, he expected people to constantly check the post to see when it would be done. For a lot of tl users, people browse the sidebar, and maybe first couple links, but anything past the first page generally isn't read, and there are a ton of posts on tl. Secondly the groups should have been much much bigger. Probably groups of 35-50. It sounds too big, but 1) a lot of people join these groups and then decide to back out really quickly after 2) you want to get people available at any time. Setting up close knit communities where 15 people all get on at x time to enjoy sc2 is nice, but unreasonable at the drop of the hat (the way he did). Let people crowd and form their own small groups. This is similar to what incontrol says about how he likes that mlgs never have enough chairs. These practice groups look much better if there are too many people rather than not enough.
That being said, I've tried to be active in my group, by simply being in the channel, but have yet to see a single organized custom game. (max 3 people) It just lacks organization.
For those of you still out there looking to join practice groups, check out the channels Game Time Practice Lounge Group 10 As far as I know, game time is a fairly active diamondish level, and practice lounge varies, but no matter what league you're in, you should feel comfortable chatting it up for help. Group 10 is kinda dead/new(if blazinghand is correct, I know for sure game time and practice lounge are active), but if you're still autojoining any other "group x" channel, join group 10 please.
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I'm excited to see how this turns out
I'm top gold, though and think this is a really good idea.
