It has been a great just over two years since I joined TL. There is just so much on this forum that many, well most others, lack. The awesome mods, the constantly growing community united behind the great game that is Starcraft, and the people in it. In August, I noticed my post count was around 900, so I decided I was going to try to get to 1000 by my birthday, and try to also make quality posts along the way. I personally feel like I lacked in the quality part, but I hit my goal, barely. I am not too sure how I can really contribute something with this, so I guess I will throw out a bunch of random stuff. Enjoy.
My History in Starcraft
I started playing Starcraft in early 2009. I had three friends that played and each played one of the three races. I ended up choosing my Protoss buddy because I thought he would be able to best explain how to play this game the best. We started out playing 2v2s a lot and Team Melee (which was a great game mode and I wish they implemented it into Starcraft 2). I can't say how many times we played this on Winter Conquest. Such a terrible map now that I look back on it. My Terran friend's one base Battlecruiser strategy was unbeatable for the other three of us. One day I somehow stumbled upon fantasy Starcraft on Teamliquid. We thought that would be interesting, so we signed up on the website.
+ Show Spoiler [the greatest map ever] +
We quickly became immersed in the Brood War scene, watching Proleague, OSL, MSL, streams of our favorite players, reading all the amazing history, watching the infamous games, all of it. Yet we still sucked. One friend and I were most interested in improving. He found iCCup, and from then on, we set ourselves on improving. After finding Teamliquid, we subsequently found Liquipedia, which is by far the most in depth place to visit regarding Starcraft strategy I have found.
Starcraft was my first competitive game. Before this game, I barely knew how to do anything on the computer other than use the internet and write a paper. I couldn't even type properly. It took my friend 45 minutes on the phone to explain to me how to install the game. Not my greatest moment to say the least. Fortunately, I improved quickly and by my fifth season in iCCup, had reached D+. I didn't end up as D+ that season, but I knew I had accomplished something. Among my friends, I had gone from being clearly the worst to competing for the top spot. I had gained a reputation among us for doing “crazy” strategies like hidden expansions all over the map, dark templar builds, not making units, the fun stuff.
my great records on iCCup
We had watched the 2009 Batoo and Bacchus OSLs, but the first finals we watched live was the 2009 Ever OSL. 4:00 am watching the pregame performance was my introduction to Kpop. Watching a dance like that intrigued me, and off I went to learn about this new found music genre.
I eventually found my favorite players, which included Hyuk, Bisu, JangBi, and NaDa. My friends nicknamed me Hyuksu because I was a Protoss player that lost (and still lose) a majority of my games because I did something foolish to lose the game myself. Since Hyuk was known for that, this name was born.
Finally, Starcraft 2 was released. I didn't get into the beta until gamestop had their promotion where you get a beta key if you reserve the game there. The first build I did was a dark templar rush because they are the best. I stayed Protoss because I couldn't see it any other way. I was always one league below the top league, starting at plat, then moving to diamond once masters was created. I have yet to break the threshold towards masters yet, but I know that I am close.
I still like to play Brood War, as I feel that it is a much better game, and I do not like parts of the design of Starcraft 2, but I don't have the time to play both, so I stick with Starcraft 2 most of the time because the games tend to be shorter overall.
Kpop
Like I said, the first two songs I heard were Wanna and Mister by KARA.
Other groups I heard soon after were 2NE1 and SNSD.
If I had to rank my top ten artists:
1. 2NE1
2. G.NA
3. T-ara
4. Younha
5. 4minute
6. IU
7. Kara
8. Miss A
9. BoA
10. Se7en
I am all over the place with the stuff I like it seems.
These are the songs I have been listening to the most of late.
+ Show Spoiler [Stop] +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSSp1RArzHw
+ Show Spoiler [Lonely] +
+ Show Spoiler [Heart to Heart] +
+ Show Spoiler [Banana] +
+ Show Spoiler [Black & White] +
+ Show Spoiler [Hello Bus] +
Does anyone have suggestions of perhaps less mainstream songs or artists similar to these?
People I would like to thank:
-Day[9]. You do so much in and for the community. Watching your dailies is always entertaining and insightful, they have helped me improve a lot. Also, playing through Amnesia takes a lot more manliness than I have, and I am sure once you finish it, you will brag about how you were able to get through the whole game. And, you are a sexy man.
-NuketheStars. One of the few remaining english Brood War commentators. Your commentaries are always great, and for anyone that hasn't heard of him, they should check him out.
-Nanashin. I tend to pop in to your stream and watch it if I am ever bored. It is definitely my favorite stream to watch, although it is usually random stuff it is definitely entertaining to watch.
-All the Brood War streamers. Just because.
-Liquid`HerO and oGsMC. Quite inspirational people to learn from in Starcraft. I also like HerO's potential so I am glad that TL signed him.
-NaDa. NaDa's Letter to the Sky has an amazing story behind it, and it is one of the reasons why he is one of my favorite players. Watching his comeback and dominance just after he returned was something special, and I wish I could have been around here when that actually happened.
Besides, how could you turn down this?
Things that don't make sense.
-Why people are so obsessed over specific milestones. To me, birthdays are days Anniversaries are days. Milestones, much like . Nothing special. I am a bit hypocritical here, because I am religious, so Christmas, Easter, and days like that are important, but I don't get why everyone makes such a big deal over birthdays and anniversaries. Last year, I had a presentation on my birthday, and someone in my class shouted happy birthday to me. Another kid whom I had never talked to before asked why I hadn't told him it was my birthday. That just doesn't make sense to me. If he barely knew my name, why would he have cared whether or not it was my birthday?
-Why people party and get wasted so often in their university years. I just don't see the appeal in it.
-What else? Oh yeah. Girls. This sums up my thoughts perfectly.
+ Show Spoiler +
Oh yeah, what a great song.
+ Show Spoiler +
Well that wasn't as long as I expected, but I guess it is good enough. I think I like using the spoiler tag a bit too much. I guess here's to getting another relatively unscathed, intelligent 1000 posts?