The Fanfiction Issue

In response to “A Master Craftsman” from The Escapist forum:

Future Hero:
Wow, the escapist dedicated an entire article to silencing old curmudgeons like myself.
Hats off to you, sirs (and ladies).

As an afterthought, what does it really say about the RTS genre when the most expected title of the genre is primarily based on game mechanics that are more than 10 years old. Quick someone make some comparison with old wine and quality!

The comparison between old wine and quality holds true here because the original concept isn’t actually broken.

I don’t grasp how people can insist that the game needs a cover system when that lends itself to smaller games. It’d work in WC3 before it worked in SC2. It works in CoH and DOW but not SC2. You’re trying to put something in the game that just isn’t needed.

In all honesty if Blizzard did decide to do something like that they’d likely make a whole new IP to do it. People are coming to SC2 with a lot of expectations, but throwing them for an unnecessary loop by making it very much not SC would be a huge problem.

If nothing else if you really want to be that anal about SC2 not having some random feature you want it’s easy enough to add it through the map editor.

– acosn

Also, all this talk about the lack of LAN overshadows the BIG thing I love about Blizzard RTS’s.

I love creating custom maps. No other company (as far as I know) has given so many tools to the fans to create content. There hasn’t been much talk about it unfortunately. I love making maps to share with hundreds of people (getting their feedback, adoration, hate, etc.) Back with Frozen Throne I made a few that proved somewhat popular, maybe because I would actually make tournaments for my custom games.

I can’t wait until I actually start creating content to share. I also enjoying playing what other people make especially when you find the rare gems. I already have ideas in the noggin’ that must be released on the unsuspecting public.

– sillyiggy

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In response to “Slave to the Overmind” from The Escapist forum: A very nice article, and in fact a lesson I could extrapolate to more general circumstances.

“Are you having fun playing this entertainment game RIGHT NOW?” Awkwardly-phrased question, but important to ask. I’m not asking “Are you having fun once this quest is finished and you have the Sword of Enlightenment” or “Will you have fun once you’re good at the game and are killing noobs left and right”. Just ask yourself whether this video game is currently fun.

And if not, why are you playing it? (In the author’s case, it was a form of social recognition. For others, it could be addiction, indications of slow progress like levelling, you paid $50 for it, etc)

– Katana314

It reminds me of my time indulging in the world of competitive raiding in WoW. Self-doubt is a HUGE factor in what makes a great player, unfortunately, it can take you to the point where you don’t know whether you are actually a good player anymore. Nobody around you will tell you that you’re doing a good job since they are either your opponent and don’t give a shit how you feel or they’re your teammate and only focus on your imperfections.

Every night our raid leader would yell and scream at us on ventrilo saying that we’re playing like shit, that we’re not going to be able to meet our goals, pull our heads out of our asses, nobody cares, etc. And yet, nobody ever really acknowledges the fact that we were in the US top 10, world top 15, and that there are so many players out there that would kill to be in that position. Other players look up to us on how to play the game, they read our log parses, and the videos that I put up would get thousands and thousands of hits, but I would only see that other guilds’ videos would get more hits. Competition becomes an obsession.

You’re not allowed to “have a bad day” or “take it easy.” It’s full throttle all the time. Get on it or get lost.

– Proteus214

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In response to “BoxeR in Brief” from The Escapist forum: Living in South Korea, I can testify that the “unflattering stereotypes” mentioned have not been dismantled entirely. Games are popular, yes, and pro-gamers may be more well known due to the TV coverage, but the hobby overall is still seen by many as a waste of time. It’s changing though.

– copycatalyst

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In response to “Only Zerg Rush In” from The Escapist forum: Like Brenden Main said he used to, I approach RTS scenarios as puzzles, which absolutely led me to prefer groups like the Protoss. It also led me to lose nearly every multiplayer match I ever tried, because I’m used to sitting back, building defenses capable of withstanding the (admittedly anemic) computer attacks, and planning a destruction of guile and precision. This is a great strategy for some situations, but it is rather too slow (or at least, I am) for the realities of multiplayer combat. With a real, live opponent, speed is absolutely essential, especially for a game like StarCraft. A good commander must be lightning-quick, both in developing overall strategy and delivering the orders to carry it out; these are two things of which I am not particularly capable in a time-sensitive environment.

– Chasmodius

With all the hullabaloo about SC2, I recently decided to pop back into the original and take it for a spin. I failed spectacularly on the first mission you can get zerg rushed in. It’s the one where you have to hold a Terran base for something like 20 minutes to a half hour, or just go and destroy the Zergs if you’re good enough. Since I hadn’t played in years (it actually took me about an hour just to find my discs) I decided to just wait out the timer.

That… didn’t work so well. I technically won, but it was ridiculously close. The Zerg swarmed my defenses and slaughtered all my units, then started destroying every building I had. The timer ran out and I was “rescued” with one building left and even that about to fall.

I’ve since regained some of my previous abilities, but that was an eye opening moment. The years had dulled the memories of getting zerg rushed, something my friend loved to do. I would always turtle, and hope to withstand his initial barrage long enough to build superior units and tactically eliminate him, but it was always a battle between rushing and planning.

– mikekearn