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On Quora, a site where people ask and answer non-trivial questions (often related to business and entrepreneurship), somebody asked the following:
What are some skills learned through playing StarCraft that are useful in other parts of life?
There is an excellent answer which I wanted to share with you. It's written by Charlie Cheever, who is the co-founder of Quora (which is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of $, i.e. that guy is pretty successful) and also a passionate SC2 player. Here's an excerpt:
Macro is usually more important than micro but at critical moments, micromanagement can mean the difference between massive success and disastrous failure. For example, if you are making a movie, building a great team of actors and other people to work on the movie and getting enough funding, etc. is generally going to drive the success of the film, but if there's just something off about the story, then the movie can fail so that's something that might need good micro. (Star Wars I-III could be considered examples of this.) For a StarCraft example, see 8:30 - 9:30 into InCa vs. Rain M4 Set 1 here for an example of having a good strategy and good macro but then screwing everything up with bad micro at a critical moment.
>> Read the rest here.
// Article on Business Insider:
Facebook Millionaire Charlie Cheever: All I Really Need To Know, I Learned Playing Starcraft
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I think if you play a lot you become fast at typing. This is kind of an important skill.I know before I played computer games I did something like 20 WPM but can now do upwards of 100.
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Dedication, repetition and learning how to focus upon something.
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On April 27 2011 18:55 DoXXaN wrote:
multitasking...
lol i dont think so.
I multitask awesomely in SC2.
But then i have more than 3 msn convos going on net and i forget whats going on in some while im surfing the web. =/
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great emphasis on problem solving
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Certainly my typing, i can type so much faster now than before i played Starcraft, and with more accuracy. I guess its just to do with using your hotkeys loads.
Also, doing stuff while under pressure has improved, for example I had to type up an essay in an hour a few days ago and I did it no problem without really feeling stressed out or anything.
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Being focussed on the learning aspect. Whenever i watch of play some Starcraft i always ask myself: what am i learning at the moment or how can i learn from this.
I think that emphasis has some effects on my normal life.
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On April 27 2011 18:49 Highwinds wrote:
I think if you play a lot you become fast at typing. This is kind of an important skill.I know before I played computer games I did something like 20 WPM but can now do upwards of 100.
My typing has become worse as I have played more games. You tend to only use three fingers on your left hand during Starcraft, but you should use five when typing. Obviously the space bar isn't included in Starcraft, but the fact that most people don't use their pinky while playing means that they don't learn proper typing habits. This was even worse in Brood War, where you had to hit buttons on the right side of the keyboard with your left hand.
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On April 27 2011 18:57 andrewwiggin wrote:lol i dont think so. I multitask awesomely in SC2. But then i have more than 3 msn convos going on net and i forget whats going on in some while im surfing the web. =/
I actually take pleasure in doing many things at the same time (multitasking in the morning =D) and I save a bunch of time this way =D
Typing is also a big factor. Good response by the guy though!
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On April 27 2011 18:49 Highwinds wrote:
I think if you play a lot you become fast at typing. This is kind of an important skill.I know before I played computer games I did something like 20 WPM but can now do upwards of 100.
i typed 110 wpm before i ever touched starcraft2
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On April 27 2011 20:03 alepov wrote:
i typed 110 wpm before i ever touched starcraft2
How many of them were of interest to anyone?
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sc2 has helped me with many economic assignments. no joke!!
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just no, starcraft doesn t help in real life, no game does...
These brain games for DS dont work as well...
it is just publicity, many tests had shown that
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On April 27 2011 20:33 BlACKTrA wrote:
just no, starcraft doesn t help in real life, no game does...
These brain games for DS dont work as well...
it is just publicity, many tests had shown that
Have you even read Charlie Cheever's post?
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catching the train because of perfect timing :D
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Charlie Cheever is actually really active in the StarCraft2-part on Quora so I'm not so surprised.
He's even an old BroodWar fan which you can see here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=570415904791 (with special shout-out from Tasteless)
And also - Quora is an awesome site and the SC2-part on Quora starting to grow and it could actually become a really good part of Quora. So please give this guy some love and register for Quora :D.
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I am convinced that BW and SC2 have helped me immensely to improve my multitasking. It sounds funny but for example while cooking I am so much faster and multitask so much more than before (and I still just cook once a week ;p). The difference is really enormous for me, but I have to admit that I also played quite a lot 
Another aspect is that it helped me to concentrate much better over long periods of time. For example if I have to finish a research paper for a certain day the main difference between me and my friends is not that I start with the work earlier but that I am amble to work concentrated over a longer period of time and thus my results are usually better.
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My putting on the golf course has improve like 200 fold since i started playing sc2 hardcore. No joke. Helped me to drop my handicap to 6.3 :D.
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Ya learn to stick with your decisions. My ability to make split decisions and make the best of it if they are wrong has greatly improved. Im no longer so wishy washy in my decision making process.
Also it helps develop "build orders" for basic tasks in life. Making them harder to forget. Lets not forget increase typing speed and multitasking.
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On April 27 2011 19:53 TurtlePerson2 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 27 2011 18:49 Highwinds wrote:
I think if you play a lot you become fast at typing. This is kind of an important skill.I know before I played computer games I did something like 20 WPM but can now do upwards of 100. My typing has become worse as I have played more games. You tend to only use three fingers on your left hand during Starcraft, but you should use five when typing. Obviously the space bar isn't included in Starcraft, but the fact that most people don't use their pinky while playing means that they don't learn proper typing habits. This was even worse in Brood War, where you had to hit buttons on the right side of the keyboard with your left hand.
I dunno maybe im weird but I use 4 fingers and my thumb to play starcraft. Thumb for Spacebar, m, n , L, weird stuff.
Just talking from myself and friends we became much faster typers than we used to from playing things like starcraft. And proper typing habits don't matter! I never understood why people cared about that stuff. It's like starcraft where you can have your standard play which is fine but you also have those unique styles of play but for me its a unique style of typing.
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ok seriously
Unless you typed like a snail, i don't see how playing starcraft would increase your typing speed. If anything it'll just cause you to form bad finger-keyboard interaction habits
The limiting factor in SC APM, for ME anyway, is not my finger speed, but my brain's inability to handle more
Let's say you play SC2 at 200 apm
200 actions per minute in typing translates to.....
A paltry ~40 words per minute?
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On April 27 2011 20:33 BlACKTrA wrote:
just no, starcraft doesn t help in ReaL Life, no game does...
These brain games for DS dont work as well...
it is just publicity, many tests had shown that
Of course it has real world value, just like any competitive activity does. Starcraft trains one's critical thinking and decision making skills and encourages the development of the thought processes required for multi-tasking. It teaches you to think on you're feet and it rewards and nurtures creativity in a controlled but competitively motivated setting. And, when you get to the upper levels of play it teaches you how to listen to and then rely on instinct in situations that require fast action. More importantly, it breeds dedication and fosters healthy determination. It also teaches you how to accept, deal with, and move on from failure by learning from your mistakes. Not to mention the social aspect of being a strong and contributing member of a community like ours. Finally, it allows you to practice some basic mechanical skills like typing and hand-eye coordination both of which are important skills for kids to develop at a young age right now.
You get out of the game what you put in. If you put in the time and effort to become better at the game and a respected and contributing member of the community, your investment will be handsomely rewarded. When you win a game it is not the fault of luck or circumstance but only because you thought about and executed you decisions better than your opponent. It is your fault you became so good at something so hard. And likewise, when you lose, it is only because you made a mistake which you can then use as an opportunity to learn from. Check out Sean's ( Day(9)) 100th daily on his Blip.tv here for his take on what Starcraft has taught him: http://blip.tv/File/3486428
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It has helped me with driving. Check rear view mirror (money and supply), side mirrors (mini map), speedometer (production facilities) and back to front for whats on the screen.
It's been working great! Accident free for almost a week now.
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if you play zerg : dealing with overwhelming stress and depression
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while i think online games in general help typing speed, sc2 didint really help me much compared to sc1/d2/war3/wow. i do almost no typing in sc2 compared to those other games (even sc1/war3 had a better channel system so id spend less time in game per session and more time writing)
i think its helped me with things like being able to handle loosing and not blame it on anything but myself. when you loose and blame imbalance your hurting your self in sc2 and irl, take accountability and realize theres more you can do. life is never fair either but work can get you in a good spot from a bad one.
i dont think it helped my irl multitasking but it did help my deciding the order of priority to do things in. sc multi tasking is not so much doing 2-3 things at once, but doing things super fast so you have time to fit in more stuff.
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On April 27 2011 21:05 aScle wrote:
if you play zerg : dealing with overwhelming stress and depression
lmao, zerg: sad.
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SC - When refining a build you can observe little things.
RL - When taking the bus you know theyre never on time.
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On April 27 2011 21:06 Gfox wrote:Show nested quote +On April 27 2011 21:05 aScle wrote:
if you play zerg : dealing with overwhelming stress and depression lmao, zerg: sad.
Rofl... I think what you meant to say is stress, depression, disappointment, and sadness if you play Terran right now. I'll just assume "Zerg" was a typo.
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learning to accept that there are people that are just better than you (atm, in sc2 and even when there total retards.) always be openminded and try to see a chance to learn in every situation.
Learning that its important to set yourself realistic goals, cause you won't reach your goal without having one.
Maybe also endurance.
Make sure to see daily 100.
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I really think that playing starcraft improve my typing speed because when you play starcraft you need to be very accurate in the keyboard while looking at the screen.
And Starcraft can improve your hability to concentrate and be focused in what you need to do.
I alltough manage to stay focus on something while listening to music ^^
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When I started this game, I just had to look at the main screen. I couldn't watch the supply or I screwed up my build (how ironic). This is the same with driving a car. I just couldn't look in the mirrors or screw up what I was doing (ie speeding). Now I can easily multitask, and drive a car like it's no big deal.
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I'm starting to notice that both irl and in sc2, when i usually think that i'm at terrible position, most of the time my oponents(or peers irl) aren't doing much better....does that make sense/
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I doubt any of sc2 skills, such as macro and micro can really help you in reallife somewhere.
But.
If you had a long road from a total noob to a relatively high skilled player, you obtain the knowledge of how become succesfull. This knowledge can be applied to almost every part of life. Now you will know, that whatever you do, you have to put a lot of time in this to become good, to overcome difficulties, you will know that success and skill imporvment will eventually come, you'll know the way how to train you increasing skill, you'll know the importance of sharing you experience and taking advices of the higher skilled "opponents". This will make your pesonality way more competitive, than it was in past.
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On April 27 2011 21:38 Runaground wrote:
I doubt any of sc2 skills, such as macro and micro can really help you in reallife somewhere.
But.
If you had a long road from a total noob to a relatively high skilled player, you obtain the knowledge of how become succesfull. This knowledge can be applied to almost every part of life. Now you will know, that whatever you do, you have to put a lot of time in this to become good, to overcome difficulties, you will know that success and skill imporvment will eventually come, you'll know the way how to train you increasing skill, you'll know the importance of sharing you experience and taking advices of the higher skilled "opponents". This will make your pesonality way more competitive, than it was in past.
Exactly !
One of the most important thing which could be learn with Starcraft is how to allways improving yourself and use right ways to do it in practicing a lot
It can alltough help you to find a goal and stick to it. For exemple, I want to enter in Master League (that is true). I need to improve myself in practicing smartly.
It's the same in life if I want to be an Astronaute =)
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The only thing i can think that helped me is that i learned how to focus on thing that i'm trying to learn.
Remebered one more thing.
SC2 teach you that like a patch that mess up you whole game, in real life, shit happens too.
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The thing you can learn the most is probably focus. Focus on one thing. Multitasking is bad for the majority of things you want to do, which is why SC2 is good, it teaches focus at the exclusion of multitasking.
Do you see top pros talking to the person standing next to them (about something not related to that game) as they play the game as best they can? Doing that is multitasking, playing the game and talking to somebody else at the same time.
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Making calm, rational, and quick decisions while under stress.
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On April 27 2011 23:07 KimJongChill wrote:
building pylons
And making probes
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If you play SC2 anything other than relaxation (for fun) or professional competition (for business) and expect anything out of SC2 beyond fun, you aren't having the right mind set.
SC2 is a GAME. There are much better way to learn everything this guy mentioned.
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I think it's mostly your mental approach
When you hit a wall do you blame it on external factors (imbalance)
Or do you take it upon yourself and try to mend internal factors to manage it in the future
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my apm as a checker at a grocery store has increased pretty well. =P
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I think the best thing you can learn from playing sc2 is how practice and dedication to improving has an enormous impact on your performance at anything. Sure people know this already, but with playing Starcraft you get to see it very clearly, and thus it gets much easier to apply.
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WhiteRa coments his games in live... He explains to the viewers a lot of things while playing =)
I can't because i'm too focused on my game... He really can multitask better than my in real life ^^
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On April 27 2011 19:39 KaidaN wrote:
raising guinea pigs
Haha, so true. ^^
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I think the best thing it teaches is a relaxed mindset, it teaches how you can get better, the work ou need to put in etc.
The only way your WPM increases is you haven't touched a computer before SC2 and then you get faster at typing for obvious reasons. Like someone mentioned earlier, bad habits grow on you like typing with 3 fingers... Actually some people even type with 2 fingers.
I personally do believe that SC2, most of it is understanding what beats what, and the most of it is reflexes taking it away, that's why generally speaking, the first time you see a build, you'll lose to it. Then however you have the reflex to knowing how to respond and you'll say how easy it's to deal with.
Actually the other thing that SC2 really improved for me, is my mouse accuracy, I can browse the web so quickly now, which is just great.
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Making carriers is a useful skill to have.
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If I was interviewing this guy for a job unrelated to game industry and he told me things like this:
In StarCraft, this can mean something like getting map control with a mobile army then using that to expand safely, which gets you an economic advantage, which then lets you get a huge doom army which will let you win the game. In life, this might mean something like being born into a famous Hollywood family which makes it easy for you to become an actor which makes it possible for you to star in a bunch of movies which let you get a starring role in TV show like Two and a Half Men which leads to #winning.
He's never getting that job, and I've been a huge starcraft fan since 1998.
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I'm trying to learn cloak at the moment. Need to practice more though.
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Learning how to lose gracefully.
Identifying pros and cons of a scenario and quickly making the best decision even though neither choice is ideal.
And also, oddly, playing starcraft seriously has made me a much better chess player.
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Problem solving under stress.
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On April 27 2011 20:59 Teael wrote:
Let's say you play SC2 at 200 apm
200 actions per minute in typing translates to.....
A paltry ~40 words per minute?
Thats exactly my cases
It is not helping with wpm but you learn the mechanics of learning new skills with practice, witch will lead to a bigger wpm score in the future, The quick brown fox jumps over the dog anyone?
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I would say the ability to make good decisions in pressured situations.
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On April 28 2011 00:58 Sein wrote:If I was interviewing this guy for a job unrelated to game industry and he told me things like this: Show nested quote +In StarCraft, this can mean something like getting map control with a mobile army then using that to expand safely, which gets you an economic advantage, which then lets you get a huge doom army which will let you win the game. In life, this might mean something like being born into a famous Hollywood family which makes it easy for you to become an actor which makes it possible for you to star in a bunch of movies which let you get a starring role in TV show like Two and a Half Men which leads to #winning. He's never getting that job, and I've been a huge starcraft fan since 1998.
Well, considering how incredibly successful he's been in creating facebook and now cofounding Quora, I'd say that's a pretty terrible decision.
BTW this isn't a job interview, its a post in the starcraft section of a Q&A website
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Investing: After playing zerg, I know how important it is to invest money into a savings account in order to accumulate more and more money and that it is important not to spend money on things until I actually need them. jk
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Australia8532 Posts
I think these are more analogies between Starcraft 2 terms such as macro and micro in relation to real world applications. Rather than actual skills; the only actual skill you learn in real life from having solid macro is the ability ot multitask/focus on multiple things at once. It has nothing to do with the overall management of projects, that is simply an analogy not a direct translation of skill.
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just being more efficient with your time in general. In sc2 i developed the mindset that I should constantly be doing something, spreading creep, injecting larva, scouting, building stuff. So in real life before something's finished I want to optimize my time. Ex: I was cooking dinner for me and my girlfriend, during which I did multiple things at once, so instead of just sitting there watching the penne pasta soften, I would fetch plates, set the table, go back to check, pull out the vinaigrette, chop the tomatoes, all "simultaneously" it's pretty awesome
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making carriers a very useful talent toi have.
+ Show Spoiler +no seriously stuff like focus, attention, and multitasking.
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Sorry, but Starcraft is all about using a keyboard and mouse and there aren't any skills that are going to carry over into real life. What Cheever said was purely in the abstract, as no SC2 player making a movie would have any need to think about SC2 micro and macro while making the movie.
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On May 14 2011 16:48 snozberry wrote:
just being more efficient with your time in general. In sc2 i developed the mindset that I should constantly be doing something, spreading creep, injecting larva, scouting, building stuff. So in real life before something's finished I want to optimize my time. Ex: I was cooking dinner for me and my girlfriend, during which I did multiple things at once, so instead of just sitting there watching the penne pasta soften, I would fetch plates, set the table, go back to check, pull out the vinaigrette, chop the tomatoes, all "simultaneously" it's pretty awesome
lol you needed starcraft to teach you that?
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this sounds stupid but...
it's keyboard and mouse stuff, but in a work environment now, i'm constantly looking for 'shortcuts' and other efficiencies in the same way that, in learning SC2 and SC you need to learn hotkeys and other quicker, smarter ways to do things. a simple example being CTRL-U and CTRL-Q to mark emails as read and unread. I think my SC mindset makes me want to look for these things.
when i realised how much more efficient than my colleagues i am at times, I sort of thank SC (and not my amazingness) for this.
On May 14 2011 17:17 Doodsmack wrote:Show nested quote +On May 14 2011 16:48 snozberry wrote:
just being more efficient with your time in general. In sc2 i developed the mindset that I should constantly be doing something, spreading creep, injecting larva, scouting, building stuff. So in real life before something's finished I want to optimize my time. Ex: I was cooking dinner for me and my girlfriend, during which I did multiple things at once, so instead of just sitting there watching the penne pasta soften, I would fetch plates, set the table, go back to check, pull out the vinaigrette, chop the tomatoes, all "simultaneously" it's pretty awesome lol you needed starcraft to teach you that?
clearly some of the people posting that SC cant help at all are perfect in real life already
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On May 14 2011 17:17 Doodsmack wrote:Show nested quote +On May 14 2011 16:48 snozberry wrote:
just being more efficient with your time in general. In sc2 i developed the mindset that I should constantly be doing something, spreading creep, injecting larva, scouting, building stuff. So in real life before something's finished I want to optimize my time. Ex: I was cooking dinner for me and my girlfriend, during which I did multiple things at once, so instead of just sitting there watching the penne pasta soften, I would fetch plates, set the table, go back to check, pull out the vinaigrette, chop the tomatoes, all "simultaneously" it's pretty awesome lol you needed starcraft to teach you that?
well i mean obviously i knew that in principle.. starcraft just made me start doing it. Multitask like it's second nature and just being constantly active when you're doing an activity. Which maybe makes me stupid but I definitely didn't do that as much before
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On May 14 2011 17:22 snozberry wrote:Show nested quote +On May 14 2011 17:17 Doodsmack wrote:On May 14 2011 16:48 snozberry wrote:
just being more efficient with your time in general. In sc2 i developed the mindset that I should constantly be doing something, spreading creep, injecting larva, scouting, building stuff. So in real life before something's finished I want to optimize my time. Ex: I was cooking dinner for me and my girlfriend, during which I did multiple things at once, so instead of just sitting there watching the penne pasta soften, I would fetch plates, set the table, go back to check, pull out the vinaigrette, chop the tomatoes, all "simultaneously" it's pretty awesome lol you needed starcraft to teach you that? well i mean obviously i knew that in principle.. starcraft just made me start doing it. Multitask like it's second nature and just being constantly active when you're doing an activity. Which maybe makes me stupid but I definitely didn't do that as much before
I don't have any multitasking things that sc2 helps like cooking, but for me, taking notes for a class has been helped a lot by sc2. For instance, I will deliberately take notes on things that I know I need to know, I will write the notes concisely, and I will know that if I keep taking notes like this I will become better at it.
Many people do not know how to improve in something systematically. Sc2 helps you understand that there is always a way to consistently improve.
Multitasking is a similar matter -- it's not about necessarily doing many things at the same time, but about doing things as efficiently as possible with smooth transitions between doing things. When you get used to the idea from Sc2 I feel like it becomes easier in applications like cooking.
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this is interesting the only thing is all his parallels between starcraft and rl are not lessons he learned but similarities that can be advantageous in both starcraft and life
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I really think starcraft has made me more alert IRL, as well as being a better multitasker
And i'm much faster at the PC as well, with normal browsisng,typing,hiding windows ( ) and all
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SC has vastly improved the quality of my RL bm, insults are second nature now and I always feel like i'm right.
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Successfully being able to play Starcraft 2 teaches one to deal with stressful situations. What does a good player do when he gets an unexpected drop? Deals with it, and makes the best out of it. Laddering also teaches one not to panic, when panic is otherwise appropriate. This is extremely useful in any i.e. job related situation.
In fact, I answered a question of "how do you deal with stress?" in an interview the way I learned to deal with stress during sc2 games. You take a deep breath, make sure you keep doing the basic stuff and deal with it good as you can, making sure not to stress out. I got the job 
Macro and micro, and all the successful high APM button pushing is also really good for anything related to using a computer and keyboard. Also lots of good background for office related jobs where you need to do several things at the same time.
All in all, some stressful and difficult situations in life aren't that scary after you learn to deal with stress during starcraft games. It generally just gives good training for doing your best, reacting, and making the best out of each situation, with the purpose of success (=win).
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I've learned not to open my door if some one says its 6 lings.
Harsh memories.
Also I've learned how small mistakes matter immensely at first then decay in importance over time.
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Sorry to bump this old thread, but could someone send me an invite for quora?
my mail: bona75@free.fr
Thanks anyway. 
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Not learned, but realized the importance of: That counsciously learning from mistakes makes them a success.
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On April 27 2011 19:53 TurtlePerson2 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 27 2011 18:49 Highwinds wrote:
I think if you play a lot you become fast at typing. This is kind of an important skill.I know before I played computer games I did something like 20 WPM but can now do upwards of 100. My typing has become worse as I have played more games. You tend to only use three fingers on your left hand during Starcraft, but you should use five when typing. Obviously the space bar isn't included in Starcraft, but the fact that most people don't use their pinky while playing means that they don't learn proper typing habits. This was even worse in Brood War, where you had to hit buttons on the right side of the keyboard with your left hand.
Wait what? that's completely wrong. How do you know that 'most people' only use 3 fingers when (i'm assuming) you only use 3 fingers?
I use my pinky to hold down shift or control. And you're meant to use spacebar to return to town screen to start my inject cycle, it's half the action of double tapping 5/6/7 or where ever you hotkeyed your hatch.
Just pointing out that you can't just generalise like that without proper research put into it. But starcraft especially brood war helped increased accuracy of my typing, but obviously having to type regularly improves it even more (TL improved my grammar and punctuation =D )
OT: like Disasfear, starcraft helped increased my alertness irl. If only because my head is constantly going over situations that can happen and what the best response is. It also clearly helps with my cooking where I think of everything in terms of Build order now lol.
OH it also helped improve my driving where I'm constantly check around me ( I think of it as 'map awareness' lol). Once on the freeway, a small truck swerved quite suddenly (something dropped from the car in front of it) and came to a sudden stop. I was with my gf and we were rushing off somewhere and was closer to it than we were supposed to be. Pretty much, I nearly tail-ended it, but my starcraft training let me be cool as a cucumber and just changed lane (because my awesome 'map awareness' knew that there was no cars in the lane next to me). My gf didn't even noticed the awesomeness that was me saving our lives (she was searching for something in the back T_T) but I know...
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EPT
