I stumbled across a very interesting guide on teamliquid in which the merits of studying pro games are discussed, and the process of doing so. Things that are discussed include why study pro games and not amateur games, try to predict moves and try to figure out why the pro did something else then you expected,... It seems like something every go player that is into starcraft (and even the ones that aren't) should read. You can find the guide here: Guide on How to Improve by Ver

Also: yoyoma: The beta is back up, yeey! ^^

Starcraft II cost $100 million to develop. Insane.

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We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are.
Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.

I wonder how interesting the single-player campaign will be, as the multiplayer portion is dull as heck. It made me think of the reasons why I picked up Go. To be a good SC player, you have to be a multitasking beast. Maximize mineral production, maximize tank production, check that attack on side base, drop those marines to enemy base, remember to scout, don't forget to set waypoints, control groups, attack-moves, buildorders, ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

You get carpal tunnel syndrome before you get 400APM.

WOW revenue at work


eh, I have heard claims of hundreds of APM, but I can't imagine how it is possible. 300 APM = 5 actions per second. I would have a hard time just clicking the mouse aimlessly that fast, never mind keeping it up for more than a minute, or clicking intelligently.

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Main Entry: zing·er Pronunciation: \ˈziŋ-ər\
1 : something causing or meant to cause interest, surprise, or shock
2 : a pointed witty remark or retort

And yet Starcraft pro players often hit those numbers -- in full length matches (averaging those numbers).

Some thing else to remember, it is not only counting mouse clicks. That also counts all of the shortcut keys used to create units, create action groups, recall action groups, etc.

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KGS: schultz [?].

There are some videos up on youtube showing the keyboard of madfrog (a former and my favorite wc3-pro) while playing. Although warcraft generally is behind starcraft when it comes to apm, madfrog had around 300-400 apm when in battle. If you watch the video you'll freak out, it looks so insane how awesome fast all the keys are pressed.

RTS's aren't the only games that have over 300 APM.

I'll bet you didn't think players in Super Smash Bros. Melee were capable of 300+ APM, but they are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17J6BbaTR18

Those 400 APM include hotkey spam. Many players quickly switch through their group hotkeys. I think that's use to check the status of the units and to prevent slowing down so you don't have to suddenly jump up you APM once a fight starts. If you check the APM with a program that filters "useless" actions the APM of most players drops a lot. (See Liquipedia APM).
And the APM demands of SC2 are significantly lower, but of course you still need multitasking.

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Sanity is for the weak.

I played the beta too and my impression was the same. Pretty much the reason why I never really played the original beyond the single-player campaign. I still ordered SC2 (actually just got it in the mail, but can't install it before the 27th), just for the campaign, but doubt that I will play it online.

I also agree with the multitasking. I am tempted to blame it on my "advanced age" (38 now), but in truth I didn't even really enjoy RTS games as much as TBS ones when they were new. There are some exceptions, like Majesty (Majesty 2's pretty nice) and various economy sims (Anno series, Patrician games, etc.) or building sims (Caesar 1-4, SimCity, etc.), but the SC, AoE, Warcraft, etc. titles were always too heavy on the multitasking for me -- at least past the "casual", single-player way of playing. But I get overwhelmed when it gets very competitive and micro-management becomes a key factor. It stops being fun for me then. I like to think rather than react.

One thing I've been frustrated with regarding SC2 is the rating/league system. Placement matches...iffy, but I can deal with that since in a sense KGS also does that (ideally, I wish they followed the model they used for WC3). Things like bonus pools...eh. But I was mostly frustrated when I got placed into gold league and, despite being 1st in my league 150+ points ahead of 2nd, winning 8/10 games against plats and diamonds, and having ~500 points, BNet still refusing to promote me. A well-known player "qxc" had it even worse, having 900+ points but never bumping beyond platinum league. Hopefully with more users this system gets fixed up, or at least provides some clarification.

Anyways, I can't wait for the big day . If anyone wants to add me on BNet when the game gets released, just PM me for my email or send me yours.

I just wanted to post in this thread and say that I'm crazy excited for SC2. I am a total noob, as I've never played an RTS online (I've always sucked at them, so I've only played single-player campaigns), but I've decided to take a break from go and focus my gaming energies on SC2 1v1. So if anyone here wants to play a game or two with me and teach me a few things, I'd be delighted. My battle.net username is BillyTheBanana (EDIT: I just read that SC2 names will have to be 12 characters or less, so I'll just make it BillyBanana). I'll be picking up my Best Buy pre-order (had a gift card) Tuesday morning and playing all day.

I haven't been serious at all about PC gaming in many years, I'm wondering if SC2 is an opportunity to get back into it. It sounds like the kind of game that would fill me with self-loathing, much like go. That would make it right up my alley.

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KGS 4 kyu - Game Archive - Keyboard Otaku

Fwiffo, SC2 is the exact game for you.

So I saw a thread linked on teamliquid irc which seemed interesting to me: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmes ... _id=137993

The computer APM are what I find the most interesting. It also seems to me that these computers are quite good compared to the average new person. It looks like a good place to start learning this game if you are not comfortable with humans.

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I know nothing.

ITS OUT

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"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Been playing all morning. The campaign is superb. Bit tempted to play online after all, but for now I'll continue with the campaign and try to collect those achievements!

Went to the midnight release, ran into an old HS friend which helped waiting in line less painful, got pulled over for speeding (you can tell how excited I was to play) but the Xel'Naga gods must have heard my prayers as the police officer let me off with a warning. Decided to twirl with campaign first and I am blown away by it right now. Haven't had this much fun in a while!

I haven't bought one yet. Need a new computer first. And then I need to figure out if I can buy the German version (which is cheaper than imports) but use a completely English client.

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Sanity is for the weak.

I played the first two missions of the campaign and two games against the computer to get a first feel for the game and take a look at the hotkeys before I resisted th urge to try it online.



I downloaded the English version for Europe on battle.net and activated it with the copy I bought at the mall. So far, it works fine.

I hate you all. I won't be able to play until Thursday night.