On July 15 2011 02:23 lorkac wrote: Siege tanks, burrowed banelings, forcefields, concussive shell, creep spread, dark Templars, etc...
And that's only counting what's being used in the current metagame.
Broodwar has what--3 units fo zone of control? Siege tank, Lurker, um... Reaver? Dark Templar?
Ok I'm done with it... The same exemples have already been used on page 19 and were easily coutered in the next pages. So be it, I'm done arguing about obvious things.(again it seems you disagree with the most respected forumgoers concerning the decrease in "zone control" (read day9)...)
you were the guy who brought it up.
You not liking the zone control that is available does not mean it's not there. Once again, that's opinion pretending to be fact.
I'm not the only one it seems because a part from TvT and TvZ to a lesser extend there is a lot of blob vs blob...
On July 15 2011 02:30 corumjhaelen wrote: Edit : @lorkac Your last sc2 examples don't work. For BW you forgot mines and dark swarm I'd say. Also note that BW zone control is way more efficient than what's left in sc2. As for vulture being less efficient than hellion at harass, I'm a bit speechless, because the difference must be marginal (plus mine do help harrasment a lot). Edit : I don't know in which world sc1 mechanics are 80% of the game...
You're right. BW has 5.
I also agree that zone of control was stronger in BW.
But zone of control options being weaker does not mean it is non existent.
On July 15 2011 02:30 corumjhaelen wrote: Edit : @lorkac Your last sc2 examples don't work. For BW you forgot mines and dark swarm I'd say. Also note that BW zone control is way more efficient than what's left in sc2. As for vulture being less efficient than hellion at harass, I'm a bit speechless, because the difference must be marginal (plus mine do help harrasment a lot). Edit : I don't know in which world sc1 mechanics are 80% of the game...
You're right. BW has 5.
I also agree that zone of control was stronger in BW.
But zone of control options being weaker does not mean it is non existent.
Finally omg you're finally agreeing with my point...
Brilliant piece: I completely agree. This is a general phenomenon for any competitive activity--the lower the skill ceiling the more variance there will be in results. Another way to look at this is when the skill ceiling is lower the skill gap between the best players is necessarily smaller, hence luck or randomness plays a greater role.
On July 15 2011 02:23 lorkac wrote: Siege tanks, burrowed banelings, forcefields, concussive shell, creep spread, dark Templars, etc...
And that's only counting what's being used in the current metagame.
Broodwar has what--3 units fo zone of control? Siege tank, Lurker, um... Reaver? Dark Templar?
Ok I'm done with it... The same exemples have already been used on page 19 and were easily coutered in the next pages. So be it, I'm done arguing about obvious things.(again it seems you disagree with the most respected forumgoers concerning the decrease in "zone control" (read day9)...)
you were the guy who brought it up.
You not liking the zone control that is available does not mean it's not there. Once again, that's opinion pretending to be fact.
I'm not the only one it seems because a part from TvT and TvZ to a lesser extend there is a lot of blob vs blob...
yes. When I think of pvp I think 200food blobs.
When I think of pvz I don't think about the forcefield usage literally changing the terrain to prevent units from pouring in.
Also, zvz, nothing but blob fest, large armies, no micro.
Or maybe I think about pvt like the puma vs MC game where puma did not multipronged harass and MC did not deny drops by having a squad of stalkers prevnting units from running around the top half o taldarim.
I agree with most of your points, I still think Flash, Jaedong and maybe Stork are better than any Sc2 player right now, but Sc2 has been out for what 1 year? Give it time.
I don't agree with your statement that Foreigners are closing the gap, look at the NASL finals, the Left side of the stage was foreigners and the right was all Koreans (ill say sen is not a foreigner, for sake of the point). I mean Idra, who is the best foreigner Zerg is not best Foreigner didn't even make the finals ... i think that foreigners have a lot of ground to make up, if anything i think the are falling behind again as people like Puma come out of nowhere.
On July 15 2011 02:23 lorkac wrote: Siege tanks, burrowed banelings, forcefields, concussive shell, creep spread, dark Templars, etc...
And that's only counting what's being used in the current metagame.
Broodwar has what--3 units fo zone of control? Siege tank, Lurker, um... Reaver? Dark Templar?
Ok I'm done with it... The same exemples have already been used on page 19 and were easily coutered in the next pages. So be it, I'm done arguing about obvious things.(again it seems you disagree with the most respected forumgoers concerning the decrease in "zone control" (read day9)...)
you were the guy who brought it up.
You not liking the zone control that is available does not mean it's not there. Once again, that's opinion pretending to be fact.
I'm not the only one it seems because a part from TvT and TvZ to a lesser extend there is a lot of blob vs blob...
yes. When I think of pvp I think 200food blobs.
When I think of pvz I don't think about the forcefield usage literally changing the terrain to prevent units from pouring in.
Also, zvz, nothing but blob fest, large armies, no micro.
Or maybe I think about pvt like the puma vs MC game where puma did not multipronged harass and MC did not deny drops by having a squad of stalkers prevnting units from running around the top half o taldarim.
Yes, no zone control in any of those matches.
Omg will you be arguing on the validity of the term "blob" now? Blob vs blob as nothing to do with the size of the army and again forcefield is clearly not a "decent" zone control ability(it can prevent unit to enter a perimeter but that's just because of the design of the map(a ramp or a choke...))...
On July 15 2011 02:30 corumjhaelen wrote: Edit : @lorkac Your last sc2 examples don't work. For BW you forgot mines and dark swarm I'd say. Also note that BW zone control is way more efficient than what's left in sc2. As for vulture being less efficient than hellion at harass, I'm a bit speechless, because the difference must be marginal (plus mine do help harrasment a lot). Edit : I don't know in which world sc1 mechanics are 80% of the game...
You're right. BW has 5.
I also agree that zone of control was stronger in BW.
But zone of control options being weaker does not mean it is non existent.
Finally omg you're finally agreeing with my point...
actually no. You said there's no zone of control, I said there are and even provided more examples of it than in BW. It simply means your comment on the vulture/hellion comparison is even more wrong.
A mineral line can disappear in 1-2 shots from a pack of hellions if the opponent doesn't respond properly. Hellions are much better at killing workers than vultures. Sure vultures are more dynamic, but hellions are more powerful. They also both have specific uses not akin to one another design wise. Namely, AoE attack vs mines.
For example on how silly you sound.
Would you compare the medic to the medivac because they both heal? Would you say that dropships in BW were bad because they don't heal? The correct answer all three of those units have very different uses.
On July 15 2011 02:30 corumjhaelen wrote: Edit : @lorkac Your last sc2 examples don't work. For BW you forgot mines and dark swarm I'd say. Also note that BW zone control is way more efficient than what's left in sc2. As for vulture being less efficient than hellion at harass, I'm a bit speechless, because the difference must be marginal (plus mine do help harrasment a lot). Edit : I don't know in which world sc1 mechanics are 80% of the game...
You're right. BW has 5.
I also agree that zone of control was stronger in BW.
But zone of control options being weaker does not mean it is non existent.
Finally omg you're finally agreeing with my point...
actually no. You said there's no zone of control, I said there are and even provided more examples of it than in BW. It simply means your comment on the vulture/hellion comparison is even more wrong.
A mineral line can disappear in 1-2 shots from a pack of hellions if the opponent doesn't respond properly. Hellions are much better at killing workers than vultures. Sure vultures are more dynamic, but hellions are more powerful. They also both have specific uses not akin to one another design wise. Namely, AoE attack vs mines.
For example on how silly you sound.
Would you compare the medic to the medivac because they both heal? Would you say that dropships in BW were bad because they don't heal? The correct answer all three of those units have very different uses.
I used the vulture to illustrate my point please read my post before posting crap and yes you're agreeing with my post because last page I said that the interest of zone control as decreased because of those "weaker abilities"
Fine. How how many units count as a blob and how "strong" of defense must there need to be to count as zone of control. Tell me. Numbers. Facts. Specifics. How big of an army must the zone of control stop, how few units need to be used. Let's stop the argumet and tell me what numbers do you want.
On July 14 2011 23:47 IGotPlayguuu wrote: Seriously, do you think SC2 has more strategies than BW? I'm not saying BW strategy>SC2 strategy, but SC2>BW strategically is just retarded... I want some proof to actually see that SC2>BW strategically
In any given game there X amount of clicks that are made by a player (between his mouse and keyboard) in order to win the game. Of those X clicks, Y% is dedicated to menial tasks while Z% is used for strategic tasks. BW has a bigger Y% than SC2 because BW has more menial tasks. This means that SC2's Z% is larger than BW's Z% mathematically.
If you want the cold hard numbers, SC2 has more strategic potential than BW. That's just the cold hard math of it. It's actually physically impossible for this not to be a true statement.
A player not reaching the full potential of a game is not the game's fault.
BW players have had more time and talent maximizing their Z% score while SC2 pros still struggle with being supply blocked. But since SC2 will always have less menial tasks than BW, it will always have more potential for strategic play than BW.
Anyone who doesn't believe this does not believe Mathematics.
Just because you throw variables into something does not mean its a relevant mathematical model or that any conclusions can be drawn from it. Your argument is worthless because your assumption is wrong. A larger percentage of apm going toward strategy does not mean that said game has a larger potential for strategy. To show this, let's extend your model to two new rts games.
In the first game, all "macro" tasks are automated for you completely. SCVs are built for you automatically, minerals are mined automatically, your units are produced automatically, your minerals are kept low automatically doing the perfect task at the given time. Any menial task is automated, so your Y is 0%. Therefore your Z must be 100%. However, in this game, there is only one attacking unit: a ranged unit that can move and attack. Think of it like an unstimmed marine.
Now in the second game, all those menial tasks must be done manually. You must send SCVs to mine, you must built units yourself, etc. So Y > 0%, and Z < 100%. Now let's say you again have one attacking unit, but this time the unit can do all sorts of things. It has every spell in BW or SC2, it can move, it can shoot, it can stutter step, etc.
Game 1 has 0% Y and 100% Z. Game 2 has >0% Y and <100% Z. But if you're going to argue that game 1 has more strategic potential, with its simplistic unit, than game 2 with its complicated unit, then I'm going to stop arguing with you because there is no point.
I do think BW units are more interesting. The Vulture is still my favorite Starcraft Unit and that was even before I watched Broodwar tournaments.
My finding the vulture more interesting than a hellion is a pure subjective opinion and is irrelevant to the overall discourse of strategy and mechanics. My personal opinions of the aesthetics of the game, are also irrelevant.
Every strategy that can be done on BW can also be done in SC2 but faster and in a more unforgiving pace. The main thing about BW vs SC2 is that BW is physically and mechanically harder to play because you have to baby a LOT more stuff in BW than SC2.
Some people believe that it's important for things to be hard to be impressive. Once again, that's opinion not fact.
Some people believe that unit A is more interesting than unit B. That is also just an opinion.
If you want to get to the nuts and bolts of it--SC2 has more potential for being more strategic. But a game is only as strategic as you allow it to be. Most SC2 players just puts their army in one hotkey. That is not the fault of the game. That is the fault of the players.
Don't let your nostalgia dictate what is or isn't true.
I edited my post concerning the "interesting" part but the conclusion remain the same that's a question of option. Objectively a vulture gives more options than an hellion so my point stands and don't bring back the nostalgia argument because it's completely irrelevant and dumb. Also you still didn't proove your point that "SC2 has more potential for being more strategic" the truth is that we don't know yet.
Really? a vulture gives more options than a hellion? Are those options a-move stutter shoot and drop a mine? That's about all I can think of, and the stutter shooting is only hitting one target.
Now think about the 360 degree angle the hellion can shoot from, and the angle of the target, then you have to find the perfect angle to shoot the target to maximize damage on surrounding targets. It's like a firebat on the back of a vulture, that doesn't drop mines, but instead extends the range of the firebat and roasts the hell out of mineral lines, zealots and marines.
That is what is annoying about these threads. "BW Loyalists" seem to think SC2 will never live up to BW because of X Y Z, and fail to realize how SC2 can or already does live up to it, and "SC2 Loyalists" say A B C things. It sounds silly and all the threads are the same. Yes, BW requires immense control and mechanics to be able to play on a pro level, it requires more "control" than SC2, only because of horrible AI/pathing, now that you eliminate the need to compensate for stupid AI, you are free to explore the boundaries of the game, which some people say have been met, yet new tricks, new standards etc are constantly being found.
Yes my point remain the same, a vulture is good at area controlling(mines) at harassing and a good overall support unit for your mech because it takes the shot so that your tank count is pretty much unchanged. Now an hellion doesn't give the same area control. I am not talking about micro possibilities jeez...
A hellion, one of the fastest units in SC2 does not give area control? You can't build them fast and get them to expos, through the use of Medivacs you can't drop harass? Because blue flame hellions don't just destroy slings/hydras at all, right?
Your entire argument against the hellion is
"It doesn't give map control"
Seriously, listen to yourself, one of the fastest units in the game does not give map control with perfect micro. This is how silly some of the arguments sound from both side loyalists.
That's so dumb I don't talk about MAP CONTROL I talk ABOUT AREA CONTROL you know mines etc
Um, the area you are playing on is a map? That's like saying i'm not talking about a cow, I'm talking about a heifer. Really? This is the end result of how stupid the argument is comparing the two...
But you know what, I conceed you are correct:
Where the vulture is good at locking down a bridge via mines and nothing else, the hellion doesn't lock down a single bridge, it only locks down 3-4 expos worth of area, without it's medivac help. You win, your opinion is now fact and BW is better because of spider mines.
Well if you don't like the exemple of the vulture we can talk about the lurker... Maybe it will be easier to understand...
It's not the example he dislikes
Well if you don't understand that this concept is clearly not as important (like almost useless) in sc2 as he was in BW (god even day9 say that it is the case in his daily concerning happy vs socke on tal darim from not so long ago I believe) I can't do anything for you.
Well, they never played BW and SC2 is seriously lacking any unit that controls area (neutered siege tank being the only i suppose) you can see how they can confuse vulture mines/lurker on a cliff being area control and a totally different concept than a hellion that moves fast.
(Honestly they are just arguing in bad faith and/or dense so you should give up~~)
But to those who genuinely wonder here are some examples:
Mutas are Map control but not Area Control
They exert Map Control because they are very mobile and therefore you are able to shift your military influence very quickly across the map. Therefore, if you are active, you create the battlefield and the opponent has to play reactively to the skirmishes you create. Therefore, you control the flow on military influence across the map.
But they do not Area Control. Why? Because mutas cannot cost effectively sit and fight the opposing army. So if the Terran suddenly decide to move out with his mnm (marine medic) force towards your 3rd expo you cannot deny him this. You control the map in the sense that you choose the point and time of the engagement but you cannot meet his army in an Area he controls.
The zerg sounds pretty boned. Once that mnm group arrives at his 3rd the zerg cannot save it, because engaging the mnm with mutas will result in heavy losses and turn over map control completely to the terran.
Now suddenly a wild lurker appears. While your mutas were busy harassing the terran you had taken a 3rd expo and prepared 2 lurkers on the narrow cliff leading to your 3rd. Suddenly the terran player is forced into a dilemma.
He can choose to engage the 2 lurkers but will face heavy losses, worst case he could lose his whole mnm force for the cost of 1-2 lurkers. Suddenly the equilibrium shifts and the terran is forced to make some serious decisions.
The key difference being that a lurker while having zero map control in the sense that they can rarely dictate the location of the battle (because they have a long setup time the enemy can just retreat) however can area control, because once setup they can delay a greater enemy force to buy you time and/or fight at a very resource efficient manner. (2 lurker swipes can massacre a whole mnm force)
Another example of Area Control
TvP match up is the ultimate example of Area Control Vs Map Control.
The Terran Mech army offers the greatest Area Control possible in the game, but provides zero map control.
Meanwhile the Protoss has near 100% mapcontrol in this matchup but very little Area Control.
Once Terran Mech army has setup, the Protoss army can never engage and come out on top resource wise. So how does the Protoss combat this? Knowing that they control the map they expand like crazy and abuse their superior mobility and the Terran's immobility.
When the terran unsieges to move out they trade in their area control for map control. Now the protoss can choose to fight by either engaging before the terran has time to resiege and re-establish their area control or simply recall into a vital location on the map to tie down the terran so its not economically feasible for him to move out.
An amazing game between Flash vs Best to use as an example~
One person arguing that forcefields can't control area on a map... because of map design. Map design is part of what makes the game what it is - if forcefields control area on most maps in the game, they control area. No need to be contrary about it. Forcefields control area - that is what they do.
In line with this, it is common misunderstanding that BW was balanced on the maps it came out on. In fact, it was horrifically imbalanced, although of course back then macro was only just being used as a term and competitive RTS gaming was practically non-existent. BW was only seen as balanced because community maps solved so many problems, like the ICCUP (I think it was ICCUP) one with the one mineral patch blocking the path round to the opponent's base which you had to mine. This gave Zerg more attack paths and made play more dynamic on that map.
Kanku missed the sarcasm in the post about Puma vs MC... and then claimed the other poster, lorkac, was "posting crap". Congratulations, you've earned yourself a hypocrit Gold Star! In general, I wish there was less vehemence in the posts in this thread. You say anything that can be misinterpreted and suddenly 3 different people jump down your throat. Nobody is willing to compromise, or accept others' viewpoints. It's just a bitchfest, plain and simple, and it fits into the stereotype of the Internet so well. Thanks guys.
On July 15 2011 03:08 SeaSwift wrote: Bleeugghh... this thread is soul-destroying.
One person arguing that forcefields can't control area on a map... because of map design. Map design is part of what makes the game what it is - if forcefields control area on most maps in the game, they control area. No need to be contrary about it. Forcefields control area - that is what they do.
In line with this, it is common misunderstanding that BW was balanced on the maps it came out on. In fact, it was horrifically imbalanced, although of course back then macro was only just being used as a term and competitive RTS gaming was practically non-existent. BW was only seen as balanced because community maps solved so many problems, like the ICCUP (I think it was ICCUP) one with the one mineral patch blocking the path round to the opponent's base which you had to mine. This gave Zerg more attack paths and made play more dynamic on that map.
Kanku missed the sarcasm in the post about Puma vs MC... and then claimed the other poster, lorkac, was "posting crap". Congratulations, you've earned yourself a hypocrit Gold Star! In general, I wish there was less vehemence in the posts in this thread. You say anything that can be misinterpreted and suddenly 3 different people jump down your throat. Nobody is willing to compromise, or accept others' viewpoints. It's just a bitchfest, plain and simple, and it fits into the stereotype of the Internet so well. Thanks guys.
Obviously you completely misunderstood my point... I said that FF were BAD zone controllers because of the requirement of a choke or a ramp wich is totally different than let's say lurker that can be burrowed everywhere and still do massive damage.(of course it's better in a choke...) Edit: Oh and concerning the sarcasm I totally understood but I can't do everything at once like answering to posts that completely missed my point...
I don't have the experience, so feel free to take my post with a grain of salt.
I just strongly disagree with the sentiment that SC2 has a much lower skill ceiling than BW. It's just that in my opinion the skill ceiling is in different places.
Say for example in BW the skill ceiling is mostly high in overall macro and micro, and managing both of these. The pro players are at the top of these ceilings, and the bonjwa's are also at the top of the strategy ceiling.
The SC2 ceiling is definitely lower in these areas, I agree, but I believe there are other skill ceilings that have yet to be developed/realised that will in the future trim the cream from the crop. Simply because while I don't watch Every. Single. Game. As a (relatively) casual fan I DO consistently see the same names, sure they may not be there every time, but it really seems far from random or a roll of the dice as to who is at the top.
I made a little (oversimplified) graphic, because I'm finding it hard to get my point across.
On July 15 2011 01:01 mmdmmd wrote: The person who authorise the "auto" features in SC2 should be demoted like the SC2 head of Korea. He failed.
I suspect the "older gen" BW players had something to do with these decision. Back when SC2 was in development, Blizz asked BW pros for advice but due to the problem with Kespa, they were only able to reach a few. The problem is all these are slow/slumping players. Of course they would want these "auto" features. Hence what we have now. It's a shame really, BW being a more difficult game never stopped people from enjoying it in their own way. Blizz somehow failed to see that.
As for the "random SC2 champ". I disagree with the OP that we should just "get use to it". It can NEVER be allow to happen. Every and I mean EVERY successful game needs an icon where people look up to.
Yes. Without the Yankees, American Baseball will be ruined forever.
ANd Basketball would have never been invented if it wasn't for Michael Jordan. I mean, yeah, I know, basketball was already around for almost a hundred years before Michael Jordan. But my point still stands! Basketball would be nothing without him!
Nestea and MC winning a GSL every year means nothing as well. MKP getting to the finals all the time--not at all relevant. I mean c'mon, it's not like they're considered consistent, macro, micro players who are always favorites to win wherever they go.
How are these 2 sport doing outside of America? Two words for you my friend: Think Bigger!
Think about what Yao Ming has done to NBA(China). Yes, basketball has been invented ages ago, but it took a 7 ft 6 giant to really expand it outside US(now that he is retiring, NBA probably going to be US only again ).
Your points are fundamentally flawed, and I will offer the counterpoint herein.
First off, Starcraft 2 is still in its infancy, and at best can be compared to the beginning days of SC1 and SC:BW, not the peak of their competitive heights and/or where they stand today. Brood War's "Mechanics" requirements are simply because the game is old and couldn't (or chose not to) support the kinds of features you think are ruining the game today (and all other modern RTS's). I am referring, of course, to your so-called simpler mechanics. Yes, it is infinitely easier to macro in SC2 then in Brood War, and it should be. This, contrary to your assertions, actually increases the skill cap of the game as players must now focus their attentions into doing other things better* then their opponent in order to be on top. Yes, it's easier to carpet-storm/fungal/emp an entire enemy army but the skill required has shifted from the caster to the defender, who now is punished much more severely for clumping units then in Brood War, because there are more incoming abilities which can be used more effectively in less time by his opponent that he must deal with in order to succeed.
Secondly, You say that the game will not be great in the same way as BW because the players are forced to use more strategy and intelligent play in order to win. Guess what? It's a strategy game. An increased emphasis on decision making, positioning, and timing will not only make the game much more entertaining to watch (encounters will necessarily be more interesting, perhaps not today, but like I said, give the game time to mature as BW has) and ultimately more difficult to play since you aren't automatically good by being able to click buttions fast, you have to make the correct decisions within a very narrow time frame, which makes the game more mentally demanding of the player.
Lastly, you argue that because foreigners (a term which I firmly believe is now obsolete) can beat koreans that the game is somehow intrinsically bad. Implicit racism aside, Korea only became so much better at brood war then the rest of the world because the scene exploded there (and became a past-time) much much earlier then it did in the rest of the world, so it was much more accepted (not to mention, it was simply possible) to become a progamer there and devote your life to playing the game in much the same way as professional athletes do in other sports. This wasn't true with Starcraft 2. The playing field started even, with the overall popularity of the game (not to mention cultural acceptance and desire for competitive play) being fairly uniform across the globe. This has ruined the inherent "advantage" koreans had over the rest of the competitive world.
*You can counter this point by saying that we don't see this in high level play and "lesser" players are beating their superiors (of which, you have the evidence to support and I do not) but I maintain that the game is too young to make this conclusion and that this will rectify itself in time.
I do think BW units are more interesting. The Vulture is still my favorite Starcraft Unit and that was even before I watched Broodwar tournaments.
My finding the vulture more interesting than a hellion is a pure subjective opinion and is irrelevant to the overall discourse of strategy and mechanics. My personal opinions of the aesthetics of the game, are also irrelevant.
Every strategy that can be done on BW can also be done in SC2 but faster and in a more unforgiving pace. The main thing about BW vs SC2 is that BW is physically and mechanically harder to play because you have to baby a LOT more stuff in BW than SC2.
Some people believe that it's important for things to be hard to be impressive. Once again, that's opinion not fact.
Some people believe that unit A is more interesting than unit B. That is also just an opinion.
If you want to get to the nuts and bolts of it--SC2 has more potential for being more strategic. But a game is only as strategic as you allow it to be. Most SC2 players just puts their army in one hotkey. That is not the fault of the game. That is the fault of the players.
Don't let your nostalgia dictate what is or isn't true.
I edited my post concerning the "interesting" part but the conclusion remain the same that's a question of option. Objectively a vulture gives more options than an hellion so my point stands and don't bring back the nostalgia argument because it's completely irrelevant and dumb. Also you still didn't proove your point that "SC2 has more potential for being more strategic" the truth is that we don't know yet.
Really? a vulture gives more options than a hellion? Are those options a-move stutter shoot and drop a mine? That's about all I can think of, and the stutter shooting is only hitting one target.
Now think about the 360 degree angle the hellion can shoot from, and the angle of the target, then you have to find the perfect angle to shoot the target to maximize damage on surrounding targets. It's like a firebat on the back of a vulture, that doesn't drop mines, but instead extends the range of the firebat and roasts the hell out of mineral lines, zealots and marines.
That is what is annoying about these threads. "BW Loyalists" seem to think SC2 will never live up to BW because of X Y Z, and fail to realize how SC2 can or already does live up to it, and "SC2 Loyalists" say A B C things. It sounds silly and all the threads are the same. Yes, BW requires immense control and mechanics to be able to play on a pro level, it requires more "control" than SC2, only because of horrible AI/pathing, now that you eliminate the need to compensate for stupid AI, you are free to explore the boundaries of the game, which some people say have been met, yet new tricks, new standards etc are constantly being found.
Yes my point remain the same, a vulture is good at area controlling(mines) at harassing and a good overall support unit for your mech because it takes the shot so that your tank count is pretty much unchanged. Now an hellion doesn't give the same area control. I am not talking about micro possibilities jeez...
A hellion, one of the fastest units in SC2 does not give area control? You can't build them fast and get them to expos, through the use of Medivacs you can't drop harass? Because blue flame hellions don't just destroy slings/hydras at all, right?
Your entire argument against the hellion is
"It doesn't give map control"
Seriously, listen to yourself, one of the fastest units in the game does not give map control with perfect micro. This is how silly some of the arguments sound from both side loyalists.
That's so dumb I don't talk about MAP CONTROL I talk ABOUT AREA CONTROL you know mines etc
Um, the area you are playing on is a map? That's like saying i'm not talking about a cow, I'm talking about a heifer. Really? This is the end result of how stupid the argument is comparing the two...
But you know what, I conceed you are correct:
Where the vulture is good at locking down a bridge via mines and nothing else, the hellion doesn't lock down a single bridge, it only locks down 3-4 expos worth of area, without it's medivac help. You win, your opinion is now fact and BW is better because of spider mines.
Well if you don't like the exemple of the vulture we can talk about the lurker... Maybe it will be easier to understand...
It's not the example he dislikes
Well if you don't understand that this concept is clearly not as important (like almost useless) in sc2 as he was in BW (god even day9 say that it is the case in his daily concerning happy vs socke on tal darim from not so long ago I believe) I can't do anything for you.
Well, they never played BW and SC2 is seriously lacking any unit that controls area (neutered siege tank being the only i suppose) you can see how they can confuse vulture mines/lurker on a cliff being area control and a totally different concept than a hellion that moves fast.
(Honestly they are just arguing in bad faith and/or dense so you should give up~~)
But to those who genuinely wonder here are some examples:
Mutas are Map control but not Area Control
They exert Map Control because they are very mobile and therefore you are able to shift your military influence very quickly across the map. Therefore, if you are active, you create the battlefield and the opponent has to play reactively to the skirmishes you create. Therefore, you control the flow on military influence across the map.
But they do not Area Control. Why? Because mutas cannot cost effectively sit and fight the opposing army. So if the Terran suddenly decide to move out with his mnm (marine medic) force towards your 3rd expo you cannot deny him this. You control the map in the sense that you choose the point and time of the engagement but you cannot meet his army in an Area he controls.
The zerg sounds pretty boned. Once that mnm group arrives at his 3rd the zerg cannot save it, because engaging the mnm with mutas will result in heavy losses and turn over map control completely to the terran.
Now suddenly a wild lurker appears. While your mutas were busy harassing the terran you had taken a 3rd expo and prepared 2 lurkers on the narrow cliff leading to your 3rd. Suddenly the terran player is forced into a dilemma.
He can choose to engage the 2 lurkers but will face heavy losses, worst case he could lose his whole mnm force for the cost of 1-2 lurkers. Suddenly the equilibrium shifts and the terran is forced to make some serious decisions.
The key difference being that a lurker while having zero map control in the sense that they can rarely dictate the location of the battle (because they have a long setup time the enemy can just retreat) however can area control, because once setup they can delay a greater enemy force to buy you time and/or fight at a very resource efficient manner. (2 lurker swipes can massacre a whole mnm force)
Another example of Area Control
TvP match up is the ultimate example of Area Control Vs Map Control.
The Terran Mech army offers the greatest Area Control possible in the game, but provides zero map control.
Meanwhile the Protoss has near 100% mapcontrol in this matchup but very little Area Control.
Once Terran Mech army has setup, the Protoss army can never engage and come out on top resource wise. So how does the Protoss combat this? Knowing that they control the map they expand like crazy and abuse their superior mobility and the Terran's immobility.
When the terran unsieges to move out they trade in their area control for map control. Now the protoss can choose to fight by either engaging before the terran has time to resiege and re-establish their area control or simply recall into a vital location on the map to tie down the terran so its not economically feasible for him to move out.
An amazing game between Flash vs Best to use as an example~
I don't see why BW would be a better spectator sport because you have to be extremely good at wrestling the terrible UI before the strategy aspect shines through. It also only matters to the people who is "in the know" about the game as new viewers wouldn't now just how difficult it is to do what the progamers are doing mechanically as that portion of the game is entirely invisible from the spectators point of view. The fact that manouvers are more easy to perform mechanically actually (imo) allows the strategy aspect to shine through as it allows smart players to execute some really slick moves. There is no way that the progamers of SC2 has reached the skill ceiling yet. There is ALWAYS somewhere to put that extra APM through less crude and more precise playing and be rewarded for it.