EPTI'm a programmer, specifically a reverse engineer. I got into it because of smaller online-only games that were also "free server" games in the Korean oline game communities. This was primarily rhythm games abandoned by their parent companies, reverse engineered to run on private, third party servers. The thing that has sort of killed this off over the years is legal action, but I would like to come in with a different idea.
As some people here may know, there are open source projects based on Brood War's 1.16.1 client, as well as Battle.net's leaked and reverse engineered server tools. I'm not here to discuss why that is the way to go forward, rather that there are frameworks available for the community to take charge.
StarCraft has matured a lot, both games at this point. The debate has always been about which version is better, or what company could come up with the best solution. After seeing some prominent people discuss StarCraft II's core issues, particularly ZombieGrub's video about the SC2 economy, I have come to wonder if it is worth spending personal time and resources to fix this game. I highly suggest watching her video:
I do not want to talk bad about any of thse developers as people. They are humans just like us, they are not bad people for the decisions they make. Nonetheless, David Kim is gone. People seem to believe he does not understand the arguments to be made about the game, but he does not work for Blizzard anymore. There is no point in talking about him when it comes to the future. We don't know who is in control now, we fight like animals over the game instead of figuring out where to go.
I have consistently tried to bring nuanced discussion about this video game model, as you could call it. The idea of deciding where to best put your attention and where to spend your mechanical skill based on limited information. You could simply say RTS, sure, but I would go as far as to say StarCraft is something different. There are many board games similar to chess, this is the chess of video games to me and it is bad to rely on a company that clearly does not care about the future of this game.
An entire game cannot simply be made, but I would like to bring a point to the community in a more thought-out manner. It has been made absurdly clear the people in charge mean well for the game but lack the knowledge necessary. It is simply a competitive video game to them, another esport, that is all it chalks up to for these guys and it shows in their work. Meanwhile online discussions devolve into nonsense constantly, it's a shame to see such a beautiful game get no real discussion out there about its future. If things keep going this way, the game will die of old age and neglect. Same as any other legacy online game.
https://github.com/lofcz/OpenSnowstorm---Brood-War
This is a wondeful example of a base framework for what free, volunteer work is already available for creative minds to begin experimenting with what could fix StarCraft. Instead of trying to make competing servers and argue over what is the best for tournament results, I believe organic community effort in times like this could save this game. This has happened with other games. Anyone here who has ever played a Quake-like knows what I'm talking about.
https://github.com/andreas-volz/starts
Here is another example, although much less complete. There are a few more online, but I will not flood this post with those links as they are publicly accessible. There are examples of reverse engineering of the SC2 client as well, and while little information about that is publicly available with IDB files closely guarded by the people making map hacks, there does exist a core busted open for the community to experiment with.
I am not a balance designer. I am not Grandmaster. I am a programmer however, and I would like to know what the community's genuine interest in fixing the core problems of StarCraft 2, which are so embedded in the game there is near zero chance of it ever being fixed. Again I highly recommend watching ZG's video on this issue before solidifying your thoughts on this. This would not be the first game I love to hit third party servers run by the community because the people who own the IP of the game simply do not care anymore.
The ladder is bugged, there are cheaters with no anti-cheat updates, simple updates for graphics or broken pages have been up for years. When the arcade was found to be abused, Blizzard's solution was to shut it down likely as to not tarnish their reputation with the awful shit people were putting up there.
Whether it be through a modified version of Brood War, a reverse engineered SC2, reverse engineered SCR (easier as well), or something else... is the demand there? Have we reached the point we can talk about taking this game forward ourselves? Fish Server is a wonderful example of what the community can do, and the death of it with SCR is a terrifying example of what happens when you take away all the QoL features the community has introduced over many years. We're almost ten years into the death of Fish with ZERO of its core features implemented despite being fully compatible with SCR's servers from the back end of things (minus RTMM).
From my perspective as someone who knows more than most about how those systems work through research and study, I am confused as hell. These features were already completed, why are they not there? My only reasoning is they don't have a single dedicated person on SC2 or SCR anymore. I don't know who the balance team is, that is not what this discussion is about. The people working on the game now don't have the permission to fix these problems, it seems. Or everything has to go through some sort of system and it's getting caught. There is internal mismanagement, this game is not even in their thoughts.
Would anyone want to contribute to something like this? What are your thoughts on what makes this model of economy, army, and attention management feel stuck? I would love to get the ball rolling, but I can't do it alone. I don't even know what the solution is, I just know this is a problem that won't be fixed. The game is too old to keep praying to the Blizzard gods in hope of a blessing.
From the border bug in SC2 to the clan system in SCR, there are lots of issues. SCR's biggest issue is the network and state of the ladder. The lack of features, the lack of a clan system Fish had which was already compatible. At the start of SCR Fish was on the official server list and everyone played there despite no RTMM because it had more features the community became accustomed to. The things that made 1.16.1 fun were taken away by a company that didn't do their homework on their own game. I could write a book about the things Fish had that SCR doesn't. Which is insane, I guess everyone here played iCCup.
I don't know if those things were fixed, which would be easier than redesigning SC2, would people move back? A second Fish or iCCup of sorts? I have IDBs I've been working on, this can be done. I am just one person though. The SC2 API is too limiting.
Thank you for reading.
