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Why you shouldnt be playing random on ladder. - Page 5

Forum Index > SC2 General
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FliedLice
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Germany7494 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-22 23:33:54
August 22 2012 23:33 GMT
#81
I think people should stop playing Protoss and Zerg.

I hate PvP and XvZ

You're killing my esports
Kevmeister @ Dota2
Yorbon
Profile Joined December 2011
Netherlands4272 Posts
August 22 2012 23:37 GMT
#82
I actually like playing against random. Not knowing your opponents' race gives an interesting dynamic.I would urge all my opponents to play random!
tehemperorer
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States2183 Posts
August 22 2012 23:38 GMT
#83
On August 23 2012 08:29 Fyrewolf wrote:
This argument can only work if there is one and ONLY one viable way to play a matchup. Since there are many viable ways to approach each matchup, "standard" is a highly relative term that encompasses multiple styles. You can learn about the matchup from any game just fine regardless of the opener, including practicing/learning relative timings, mechanics, scouting, everything else, etc. If you are trying argue for practicing/learning to perfect a specific build for a specific matchup and complaining that ladder isn't giving you that specific matchup, well that's what practice partners are for, so it's entirely moot.

I read it like this: The OP has a (decently defensible) belief that there is only one "best" way to play PvZ. Because this "best" way can only be done against Zerg and not the other races, the random race mechanic forces him to play a small number of PvZ's (the PvR*Zs) suboptimally, according to his views on the matchup. If you believe FFE is the best way to play PvZ, then yes, playing against a Random player as Protoss is a disadvantage for the Protoss player.
Knowing is half the battle... the other half is lasers.
OkStyX
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
Canada1199 Posts
August 22 2012 23:39 GMT
#84
Well to be honest random is there for people who actually enjoy playing the game and they enjoy the fact that the game for them is more dynamic
Team Overklocked Gaming! That man is the noblest creature may be inferred from the fact that no other creature has contested this claim. - G.C. Lichtenberg
thurst0n
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States611 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-22 23:51:36
August 22 2012 23:40 GMT
#85
Perhaps...there will evolve a 'metagame' for PvR, TvR, and ZvR?

Also, you are not playing random. By definition of your description of how you choose to play the game, and by association your race. You state: "Like I choose terran for 10 games in a row then switch, etc.", by any vernacular definition of the word random that is not random. I believe you meant to say "I play all races". If you were to roll a dice to decide what race you would then play, you could claim that you play random. You could also try to claim that you have advantage over 'True Random' players because you are allowed to practice the current metagame in all of your games from the very beginning of the game. (which I believe is wrong, because as I'll explain below, it would be better to create a new meta-game)

I'm not sure if it's hatred or if it's fear of random that everyone seems to have, perhaps both.

By your method of choosing a race to play every benefit that is inherent to random is given up, and yet you still have every disadvantage that trying to learn 3 different races entails. You are allowing your opponent to play their most prepared build order, and know that they are doing that before the game starts. All the while, you still have to learn how to play all 3 races against his or her particular race.

It seems to me that the best players quickly learn how burdonsome playing random can be. I can only imagine the thought of doing decently well in a tournament, and just that nagging feeling of what 'could have been' if you only had to study/prepare for 3-matchups. I believe this to be the main cause of random not being represented in tournaments.

In your example, the zerg player up against a random player is FORCED to play a certain way. Isn't that like the best definition of what metagame truly is on it's most basic level. It's what inherently comes out of what your opponent is ABLE to do. + Show Spoiler +
Hint: They can't do X because they were FORCED to do Y...OR... They were only ABLE to do Y because doing X will get you killed + Show Spoiler +
;-) see what I did there?
So if zerg's were forced to have whatever reaction they will naturally have to an abundance of random players, then wouldn't it follow that they should probably practice that, and so naturally should the random players. I personally don't think this applies because nothing is standard until you reach a certain level of macro. The pro players and to an extent some non-pro grandmaster players are setting the metagame, not someone in diamond, or mid masters. We don't see an abundance of pros in tournaments, so there is not a following on the ladder. There is however a solid population of random players. What if there WAS a pro player who embrace random?...

Playing Random has Unmatched and Untapped Potential.
What if Jaedong started playing random? He would literally create a new meta-game for each match-up. And some of the 'meta's' would even be specific to playing against other random players. Just like you said, you have to adjust to a random player if you come across them on ladder. Now you're playing a sub-optimal build in order to be more safe early. The random player should know this(before the game even starts) and be able to take advantage of their opponent being restricted/limited in their choice of build order. Of course if the 'Natural Race' player knows that the Random player's best play would be to exploit that weakness, then he/she should be able to overcome any inherent build order loss by 'meta-ing' their opponent, but of course the random player knows that etc, etc....etc.

If you look at normal Meta's like TvP, or PvZ, or TvZ. There are certainly disadvantages to choosing any given build, but they are accepted disadvantages because they provide an advantage somewhere else. If you go fast expand, you have less units now, but more econ now, which means more units later than someone with low econ now and lots of units now.

When one plays against a random player they could potentially force their opponent to play sub optimally, with very little if any benefit or collateral advantage somewhere else, this is the true untapped and unmatched potential of random + Show Spoiler +
QED
.

I'd like to take a minute to state that this only really applies once there are absolutely no supply blocks, and no macro mistakes. Skipping scvs is fine if it's intentially part of your build to optimize an attack timing, perhaps allin but not a macro mistake.

When the macro reaches that level it's the decision making, positioning, control, build order choice, strategy choice really start to determine games. Currently If the best players in the world dedicated themselves to Random, they would have a tremendous advantage because everyone else would be on the back-foot doing something they aren't used to doing.

If the top players in the world dedicated themselves to random, the masses would follow, then your argument would be completely moot, because now there would effectively be 4 match-ups/meta's to practice(instead of 3) for tournament play.. (assuming random gets up to 25% of the population..)



+ Show Spoiler +
I tried to keep everything very abstract because it's pointless to talk about when you're doing your pool etc. Especially in your examples a lot of what you purport as standard are things I've only seen in team games.

I really hope my post is coherent, I kinda just went with it.


P.S. I'm nub. If you'd like you can follow me @xthurst but its not worth it ill be honest
blabber
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4450 Posts
August 22 2012 23:40 GMT
#86
maybe people that play random just want to play the game for fun. we pay $60 for the game, might as well play all 9 matchups.
blabberrrrr
dynwar7
Profile Joined May 2011
1983 Posts
August 22 2012 23:44 GMT
#87
Seriously.....I dont see any point in this thread.....

Blizzard made "random" available, so stop thinking and just play it.........
Regarding the imbalance, hilarious to see Zergs defending themselves....
Boxihobo
Profile Joined December 2010
Hungary37 Posts
August 22 2012 23:49 GMT
#88
This thread was the final push for me to start playing random :D
This is Puruttyaaaa
Rah
Profile Joined February 2010
United States973 Posts
August 22 2012 23:50 GMT
#89
Another thread like this? Leave the randoms alone yo, some people like rolling the dice. Everyone should play as random, then there wouldn't be as much bias or ignorant race bashing that plagues almost every thread.
Streaming on twitch. http://www.twitch.tv/rahsun86
Disposition1989
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Canada270 Posts
August 22 2012 23:51 GMT
#90
Broken record here, I just want to have fun too. I'll play Random so I can play 9 different matchups rather than 3 where I get bored. Sure, I could just choose my race to begin each match. Or not. I don't always want to care about timings and little greedy tricks I can do because I know my race sooo well. How often do you even play random people? I play maybe 1 in 20 games vs random.
Whitley
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States238 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-22 23:52:21
August 22 2012 23:52 GMT
#91
Do we really need ANOTHER thread about this?
Fyrewolf
Profile Joined January 2010
United States1533 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-22 23:57:43
August 22 2012 23:54 GMT
#92
On August 23 2012 08:38 tehemperorer wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 23 2012 08:29 Fyrewolf wrote:
This argument can only work if there is one and ONLY one viable way to play a matchup. Since there are many viable ways to approach each matchup, "standard" is a highly relative term that encompasses multiple styles. You can learn about the matchup from any game just fine regardless of the opener, including practicing/learning relative timings, mechanics, scouting, everything else, etc. If you are trying argue for practicing/learning to perfect a specific build for a specific matchup and complaining that ladder isn't giving you that specific matchup, well that's what practice partners are for, so it's entirely moot.

I read it like this: The OP has a (decently defensible) belief that there is only one "best" way to play PvZ. Because this "best" way can only be done against Zerg and not the other races, the random race mechanic forces him to play a small number of PvZ's (the PvR*Zs) suboptimally, according to his views on the matchup. If you believe FFE is the best way to play PvZ, then yes, playing against a Random player as Protoss is a disadvantage for the Protoss player.


If he believes FFE is the only one "best" way to play PvZ then either
A. He thinks the game is imbalanced (dominant strategy) or
B. He may be wrong (if there actually are other viable approaches to the matchup).

Considering how many people went back to or still do gateway expands and other non FFE strategies in their PvZ's and have shown that they are indeed viable, "FFE is the best way to play PvZ" of option A is highly debatable.
"This is not Warcraft in space" "It's much more...... Sophisticated" "I KNOW IT'S NOT 3D!!!"
Darneck
Profile Joined September 2010
Sweden1394 Posts
August 22 2012 23:54 GMT
#93
I'd say that this is all wrong, you need to think of random as a race who has their own openings against them.

If you play random in tournaments, you won't be playing the same meta game there either, you never will as random is the race in itself. All the openings against you will be different and those are the openings you should practice against on the ladder.
Sated
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
England4983 Posts
August 22 2012 23:54 GMT
#94
--- Nuked ---
IcedBacon
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada906 Posts
August 22 2012 23:59 GMT
#95
On August 23 2012 08:54 Sated wrote:
Seriously, another thread whining about Random players..?

Random is its own race, it is not the race your Random opponent spawns in any particular game. The XvR match-ups are different to their XvZ/T/P counterparts because they have a different meta-game, they require different builds and they require different skills. Whining about Random opponents won't make them go away, so just get fucking better at playing against them.


My thoughts when I saw this thread. Literally laughed out loud when I saw another random crying thread.
"I went Zerg because Artosis is a douchebag." -IdrA
IceteaGuy
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany95 Posts
August 23 2012 00:04 GMT
#96
Rather:
Why I shouldn't be constantly creating pointless threads on TL.net

Also I really don't get this funky new anti-random bias. Learn to adapt. Even though it may not be a typical human strength.
AndAgain
Profile Joined November 2010
United States2621 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-23 00:08:22
August 23 2012 00:08 GMT
#97
I think some people play random just because they want to play all races. That's unnecessary because you can just use a random number generator and alternate races. Only reason to play random is if you want to hide your race.
All your teeth should fall out and hair should grow in their place!
HeeroFX
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States2704 Posts
August 23 2012 00:14 GMT
#98
Honestly, the majority of people play the game for fun. Random is an option, why not use it if you don't know what race you wanna play? Sure you reasons make sense in the OP. But I promise you when player John Smith logs on and plays the game and just wants to have fun. He doesn't think about what happens to the game if he is playing random. Random won't go away, and the % of players who play random is very small ( i am just assuming this, because random is really hard.) I think a better solution is finding a way to open when you play random that can keep you safe until you figure out whats up. Even scouting earlier is a better option.
malaan
Profile Joined September 2010
365 Posts
August 23 2012 00:22 GMT
#99
Maybe I am being a dick move, but if I come up against random on ladder I just leave.... it always turns out to be a totally awkward / funky game that more or less ends because he does some crazy all in and fails / succeeds that you can only get away with playing Random..

I've only ever lost hard to one random player who was high masters, mostly because I failed to scout his tech in time. Checked replay, insanely high 350+ apm the entire game, assumed it was probably a pro smurf account? the username was DiceRoll or something similar
-orb-
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States5770 Posts
August 23 2012 00:32 GMT
#100
You could always just tell your opponent what race you play...

This entire thread is pointless and misguided
'life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery'
how sad that sc2 has no shield battery :(
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