Patch 1.3 is up! Well, it was for a while. Now B.Net is down, but I did manage to sneak in a few ladder games. I'm psyched. I got a new mouse (nothing special, but the left click was getting hard to press on my old one), a new focus, and stim timing attacks are worse. What could be better?
I love all the little interface improvements of the new patch, like showing the resources of both players at all times during replays and the ability to hide the menu bar and the control group buttons. I can now sleep easy knowing that the custom game interface makes sense, although I won't use it much unless someone ever makes a custom that is based on something more interesting than fetishistically leveling up everything in sight to the point of orgasm. The balance changes are all no big deal, although I instinctually frown at the idea of shifting the use of Fungal Growth more toward a damage spell rather than a freeze spell. I think one of the game's greatest assets is the interesting tactical situations created by terrain and positioning, which is why I believe forcefields to be an elegant stroke of design genius, and why abilities like spider mines are fundamentally good for the game (here's hoping for something like it in one of the expansions).
So what's my new focus? I've decided to focus less on traditional strategy and tactics and more on my own state of mind. Playing the game can often be stressful, confusing and frustrating, so I'm working to try to replace all of those with fun and satisfaction. For example, I've realized that one of the big reasons I can get stressed while playing is that I constantly encounter waves of little questions and self-doubt about minor actions, and I don't allow myself time to answer them. Take something as seemingly simple as setting up a third base. Just send a Probe and build it, right? Well, sure, but should I also build a Pylon next to it? When exactly? Where exactly? If there is an enemy unit watching, should I take any time to try to kill it before I build anything? Should I put down Photon Cannons? How many? When? In what exact position? Should I put down two Assimilators right away, or make the effort to time it so they finish at the same time as the Nexus? When exactly should I transfer Probes, and how many? Should I build more Pylons nearby? What if I already have plenty of supply, should I still build a back-up Pylon to power the Cannons right away? And on and on. It's not as if these questions are impossible to answer, but it doesn't feel like I have the time to answer them. My mind doesn't like the uncertainty that these questions bring, so in the heat of the RTS moment it automatically flushes them away and makes me just rely on habit and doing what is quickest and easiest. The end result is a lack of confidence and a general icky feeling after every game, win or lose.
My answer is to train myself to bring those little questions to full conscious awareness so that I can take a few seconds to come up with an honest answer about what I think is theoretically best. I feel it is fundamentally important for me to master this skill, for which I see many advantages: 1. I will begin to do not what is easy but what is right. This will always make me play worse in the short term but better in the long term. 2. I will get better in unusual game situations since my style will rely less on habit and more on rational thought. This also opens the door to impress myself (and others?) with moments of ingenuity in which I may think of some outlandish solution to a problem that actually ends up working. 3. Perhaps most importantly, I will gain a sense that I am playing MY game, following what I think is best and pushing my abilities to their limit in order to do so.
Along the same lines, I am using a new mantra while I play. Now that I have "Pylons and Probes" pretty much down (although not entirely, which is a topic for another day), I'm moving on to "1. What is the situation? 2. What should I do now? 3. What should I do later?", which should help me keep that conscious state of mind as well as scout more (whenever I can't fully answer number 1). Ultimately I hope to ingrain all of this into my mental behavior so that I can take it for granted and let my conscious mind focus on the next level of abstraction, which is perhaps the psychology of my opponent.
Incidentally, I am currently using one build for each matchup. For PvT, it's 2gate Robo (which I switched to from 3gate expand, after a free coaching session from Coolent over at thesc2school.com). For PvZ, it's the iNcontroL 3gate Sentry expand (I'm having doubts about making as many as 8 Sentries since it's so difficult to go on the offensive to punish excessive Droning, but for now I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and working on my forcefield micro). For PvP, it's the IMYongHwa 3-Stalker Robo, or just 4gate on maps that don't allow it.
p.s. I notice that I was already thinking about this "new" focus back in December! Really, it's been on my mind since I started playing. But I think I've done a good job with finally recognizing, codifying, and proposing a concrete solution to it.
---
Games played: ?? (thanks, Blizzard); 771 wins
League/Points: Diamond/3395 (+8 bonus pool)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Here's to the next 500.
I just got my 500th 1v1 league win! My opponent must have sensed the momentous occasion and saw fit to bestow his distinguished congratulations. Here's the entire chat log:
In all seriousness, I'm glad to say that I'm back in the swing of things. Since Thanksgiving, I haven't been practicing nearly as much as before. I was feeling frustrated about losing to the same things I always have, and I started to feel nervous about laddering. Thoughts of giving up on SC2 started creeping into my head. But those thoughts have not prevailed. I know this road all too well, having let Go become a terrifying specter. This time, I am determined not to give up or to let my emotions turn into thoughts (a phrase borrowed from Day[9], which is to say letting "I am frustrated and sad that I keep losing" turn into "I am bad at this game and should stop trying.") One of the most powerful thought tricks I have found to help me persevere is to imagine how good I could possibly get in one, two, five, ten years. If I let go of every misgiving and just think matter-of-factly about the level of skill I am capable of achieving, my mind boggles. I could become one of the best players in the world, a true master. Now that's an exciting thought.
Ironically, a recent viewing of Day[9] Daily #208 "Live Coaching with DJ Wheat" seemed to actually hurt my play for the day after I saw it. In the video, Day[9] coaches Wheat to play slowly and focus on macro above all else. At one point he even tells Wheat to completely ignore a battle just to make sure he was 100% on top of Larva injections and such. Hint: This is an extreme approach! I think Day[9] knows that's extreme, but his audience was lower league players who pay too much attention to pretty explosions and not enough to macro. In other words, I'm past that point. I honestly don't remember the last time I got behind in macro because of some distraction. Wow, that really is true. I'm just now realizing that as I type. I guess it goes to show that it pays to reflect on how you've improved. Anyway, the other reason that that Daily didn't jive well with me was the slow play aspect. I think he was trying to counter the panic that pervades the emotions of so many RTS players. That certainly applies to me, but in trying to calm down I became detached from the game, which decreased my response time and removed my instinctual rhythms, making my macro worse instead of better. Ultimately the main reason I panic and worry during a game is because I don't have a good enough understanding of the game to know how well I'm doing and how to reasonably maximize my chances of winning. So the answer for me is to become acutely aware and involved with the game but remain detached from the result. Of course I cannot always know what optimal play is, but if I "stay conscious" and make deliberate choices based on best guesses, then it should be a simple matter to do a post-game analysis of the effectiveness of those choices.
Recently I've been thinking a lot about the early game, which is a very fascinating and critical part of the game that is so easy to overlook. For example, there is virtually nothing to lose but plenty to gain in sending your first Zealot over to a Terran's base across a small or medium rush distance. Maybe you'll kill a Marine or an SCV building a Bunker at the top of the ramp. If they've walled off, at least you'll get some scouting info. Worst case scenario, you simply have to retreat. It's not like they're going to have Stim or a Marauder with Concussive Shells. Your Zealot is 100% safe! What a revelation. I am seeing the power of knowing timings. And the veil of mystery begins to lift ever so slightly.
p.s. Another interesting area to look at timings is the Zerg fast-expand. They are utterly vulnerable for a while, lulling you into a sense of safety, and then BOOM they've got two Spine Crawlers up and you're being surrounded by twenty speedlings. I'm thinking about posting a little PvZ analysis of that build soon. It's about time I get some real strategy content in this blog.
---
Games played: 960
League/points: Diamond/2310
Thank you, sir! Unfortunately I am not quite as good as you suspected, for I had managed to make only three Gateways. I am nonetheless gratified to have earned your accolades.00:00:04 - BillyBanana: gl hf
00:08:22 - [name removed]: i think every single faggot ive played today has 4 gate
00:08:26 - [name removed]: good job youre so good
In all seriousness, I'm glad to say that I'm back in the swing of things. Since Thanksgiving, I haven't been practicing nearly as much as before. I was feeling frustrated about losing to the same things I always have, and I started to feel nervous about laddering. Thoughts of giving up on SC2 started creeping into my head. But those thoughts have not prevailed. I know this road all too well, having let Go become a terrifying specter. This time, I am determined not to give up or to let my emotions turn into thoughts (a phrase borrowed from Day[9], which is to say letting "I am frustrated and sad that I keep losing" turn into "I am bad at this game and should stop trying.") One of the most powerful thought tricks I have found to help me persevere is to imagine how good I could possibly get in one, two, five, ten years. If I let go of every misgiving and just think matter-of-factly about the level of skill I am capable of achieving, my mind boggles. I could become one of the best players in the world, a true master. Now that's an exciting thought.
Ironically, a recent viewing of Day[9] Daily #208 "Live Coaching with DJ Wheat" seemed to actually hurt my play for the day after I saw it. In the video, Day[9] coaches Wheat to play slowly and focus on macro above all else. At one point he even tells Wheat to completely ignore a battle just to make sure he was 100% on top of Larva injections and such. Hint: This is an extreme approach! I think Day[9] knows that's extreme, but his audience was lower league players who pay too much attention to pretty explosions and not enough to macro. In other words, I'm past that point. I honestly don't remember the last time I got behind in macro because of some distraction. Wow, that really is true. I'm just now realizing that as I type. I guess it goes to show that it pays to reflect on how you've improved. Anyway, the other reason that that Daily didn't jive well with me was the slow play aspect. I think he was trying to counter the panic that pervades the emotions of so many RTS players. That certainly applies to me, but in trying to calm down I became detached from the game, which decreased my response time and removed my instinctual rhythms, making my macro worse instead of better. Ultimately the main reason I panic and worry during a game is because I don't have a good enough understanding of the game to know how well I'm doing and how to reasonably maximize my chances of winning. So the answer for me is to become acutely aware and involved with the game but remain detached from the result. Of course I cannot always know what optimal play is, but if I "stay conscious" and make deliberate choices based on best guesses, then it should be a simple matter to do a post-game analysis of the effectiveness of those choices.
Recently I've been thinking a lot about the early game, which is a very fascinating and critical part of the game that is so easy to overlook. For example, there is virtually nothing to lose but plenty to gain in sending your first Zealot over to a Terran's base across a small or medium rush distance. Maybe you'll kill a Marine or an SCV building a Bunker at the top of the ramp. If they've walled off, at least you'll get some scouting info. Worst case scenario, you simply have to retreat. It's not like they're going to have Stim or a Marauder with Concussive Shells. Your Zealot is 100% safe! What a revelation. I am seeing the power of knowing timings. And the veil of mystery begins to lift ever so slightly.
p.s. Another interesting area to look at timings is the Zerg fast-expand. They are utterly vulnerable for a while, lulling you into a sense of safety, and then BOOM they've got two Spine Crawlers up and you're being surrounded by twenty speedlings. I'm thinking about posting a little PvZ analysis of that build soon. It's about time I get some real strategy content in this blog.
---
Games played: 960
League/points: Diamond/2310
Saturday, December 4, 2010
PTR and the Wolf
Like a surprise wild animal attack, Blizzard has shot forth with the release of the new Public Test Region, along with a trial of the big new patch that will be applied to the regular servers at the end of the month. I only won two of my placement matches and got placed into Bronze, so it will be funny to see how quickly I can get promoted to Diamond. I'm SallyBoBally.331.
Overall I love the new patch, but there are a couple things that make me frown. Here's what hit me the most:
Features
On a related note, I wish they would improve the social experience at the end of each game. You shouldn't get kicked out of the game's chat when you quit to the score screen. It's strange to suddenly get left out in the cold after the game, unable to talk to your opponent(s) unless you send them a PM. They could even make it so that when you surrender a game, you just become a spectator. There's really no reason why "resign" and "leave" need to be married as they are.
Balance
Pure Comedy
---
Games played: 920
League/points: Diamond/2153 (+31 bonus pool)
Overall I love the new patch, but there are a couple things that make me frown. Here's what hit me the most:
Features
- Battle.net Chat Channels have been added
On a related note, I wish they would improve the social experience at the end of each game. You shouldn't get kicked out of the game's chat when you quit to the score screen. It's strange to suddenly get left out in the cold after the game, unable to talk to your opponent(s) unless you send them a PM. They could even make it so that when you surrender a game, you just become a spectator. There's really no reason why "resign" and "leave" need to be married as they are.
- The game will end in a tie for all remaining players if no players have income, production, or destroyed any structures for three consecutive minutes.
- In-game help is now available in Battle.net.
- When selecting a Vespene Geyser, the number of current harvesters will be displayed in the info panel.
- Customizable Hotkey Support has been added.
- A new Master League has been added.
Balance
- -- Hallucination research time decreased from 110 to 80.
-- Observer cost decreased from 50/100 to 25/75.
-- Phoenix build time decreased from 45 to 35.
- Void Ray now deals 20% more damage to massive targets. Flux Vanes speed upgrade removed.
- Repairing SCVs now assume the same threat priority as the unit they’re repairing.
- Fungal Growth no longer affects air units.
Pure Comedy
- Protoss structures can no longer be powered without a power source if constructed while powered by a Warp Prism under the effects of Neural Parasite.
- Mass Recall can no longer target larva or eggs.
- Fixed an issue where a Medivac would be able to continue healing a unit that was stuck in a Graviton Beam if the Medivac had started healing the unit before it was picked up by the Graviton Beam.
- Fixed an issue with the Ultralisk being unable to attack a row of sensor towers.
---
Games played: 920
League/points: Diamond/2153 (+31 bonus pool)
Monday, November 1, 2010
the cycle
I can't let this become a bad thing. I can't let Starcraft 2 become an obligation, a source of stress. First it happened with Magic, then with Go, and it may happen with Starcraft. It starts out fun and with plenty of winning. I improve every day, and my skill rating shoots up week after week. Then I start to play more and more, and my rating finally begins to level off. As my opponents become more skilled, fewer and fewer of my mistakes slip through unpunished. I start to feel an obligation to play well, and that turns into something more like a fear of failure. Every time a game starts, I can feel my heart pounding out of my chest. If I can't do well, then what has all my time playing been for? Am I just no good? Am I not as smart as I thought I was? Sure I seem to pick up on things faster than average, but what about delving deep and swimming with the big boys? As all these thoughts pass through my mind, I begin to cling to my rating, creeping up ever so slowly. If I lose several games and it goes down, I'm devastated. If I win, I'm afraid to play more for fear of losing it. Eventually even the thought of playing makes me nervous.
With Magic (that's Magic: The Gathering, the trading card game) it was the worst, because I was actually paying money to participate in every tournament, on- or offline. If I won, then the prize would make my net loss negligible (or sometimes even give a net gain). But a loss meant I had to face my financial irresponsibility head on. I imagine that's how amateur poker players feel. And I was, essentially, gambling. Come to think of it, considering you can easily sell the virtual prize packs on eBay for a consistent monetary value, Wizards of the Coast (the company that makes Magic, among other games including Dungeons and Dragons) really is treading a fine, fine legal line.
Then I discovered Go and KGS (in July of last year), and switching games was the easiest decision I'd ever made. After all, KGS was totally and completely free! I felt like such a sucker for having handed over all those hundreds of dollars to WotC over the years. It's such a shame, because Magic really is a deep, interesting game. Maybe someday when I have riches pouring out of my ears, I'll dabble in Magic again. I certainly plan on returning to Go, which I still consider to be easily the greatest game I've ever played and probably ever will play. I love the way the stones flow across the board with complete logic but complete freedom. My mind tends to conceive of everything in terms of shape and texture, and the gameplay of Go is communicated by nothing but that. There is no symbolism as in Chess: you don't need to know that the piece shaped like this moves diagonally and the piece shaped like that moves in an L-shape. All the pieces are simple circles, and none of them have special properties. The shapes you see on the board are the game. Pure elegance. And when the game became stressful, I would try to return to that state of mind. I would go into a game trying to forget all the rules I had learned or made for myself, just letting myself freely drop the stones wherever my heart desired. And that helped. But ultimately I just couldn't tear myself away from the responsibility of winning, away from the devilish allure of that cursed strength graph!
And so it goes, and so it goes. Now, with Starcraft 2, my rating has stopped shooting up (except for the artificial shooting up that comes from Blizzard's insidious bonus point system, which is obviously there to give every idiot the impression that they're improving but which Blizzard creepily claims to be in place so you can catch up after being away from the game, ignoring the fact that if there were no bonus points, there would be nothing to catch up to--but that's a rant for another day). It does still go up very slowly, and I try not to watch it. Part of the problem is that it takes a lot of mental energy to play the game as I should, having concrete goals in mind, evaluating what I did right and wrong each game, and most importantly keeping an alert and adaptive state of mind during the game instead of letting the multitasking numb me into a trance. When I have it in me to give it that attention, things are great. But sometimes I just want to relax and play a few games, and that's when I start caring too much about winning or losing. I guess that's why modern single-player games are so focused on letting the player make steady progress without much effort. When all you want to do is relax, you just want that steady stream of positive reinforcement.
In writing this out, I've given myself the idea to take preparatory measures the next time I get into a really good state of mind. I'll decide what I want to focus on over not just the next few games but over the next hundred, and I'll take copious notes. The next day, even if my brain is feeling tired, hopefully I'll be able to refer back and know what to work on, even if I don't get any new ideas.
Also, maybe I should go back and watch some Husky casts to rekindle my childlike appreciation for game pieces shooting at each other.
Games played: 632
League/Points: Diamond/1527
With Magic (that's Magic: The Gathering, the trading card game) it was the worst, because I was actually paying money to participate in every tournament, on- or offline. If I won, then the prize would make my net loss negligible (or sometimes even give a net gain). But a loss meant I had to face my financial irresponsibility head on. I imagine that's how amateur poker players feel. And I was, essentially, gambling. Come to think of it, considering you can easily sell the virtual prize packs on eBay for a consistent monetary value, Wizards of the Coast (the company that makes Magic, among other games including Dungeons and Dragons) really is treading a fine, fine legal line.
Then I discovered Go and KGS (in July of last year), and switching games was the easiest decision I'd ever made. After all, KGS was totally and completely free! I felt like such a sucker for having handed over all those hundreds of dollars to WotC over the years. It's such a shame, because Magic really is a deep, interesting game. Maybe someday when I have riches pouring out of my ears, I'll dabble in Magic again. I certainly plan on returning to Go, which I still consider to be easily the greatest game I've ever played and probably ever will play. I love the way the stones flow across the board with complete logic but complete freedom. My mind tends to conceive of everything in terms of shape and texture, and the gameplay of Go is communicated by nothing but that. There is no symbolism as in Chess: you don't need to know that the piece shaped like this moves diagonally and the piece shaped like that moves in an L-shape. All the pieces are simple circles, and none of them have special properties. The shapes you see on the board are the game. Pure elegance. And when the game became stressful, I would try to return to that state of mind. I would go into a game trying to forget all the rules I had learned or made for myself, just letting myself freely drop the stones wherever my heart desired. And that helped. But ultimately I just couldn't tear myself away from the responsibility of winning, away from the devilish allure of that cursed strength graph!
And so it goes, and so it goes. Now, with Starcraft 2, my rating has stopped shooting up (except for the artificial shooting up that comes from Blizzard's insidious bonus point system, which is obviously there to give every idiot the impression that they're improving but which Blizzard creepily claims to be in place so you can catch up after being away from the game, ignoring the fact that if there were no bonus points, there would be nothing to catch up to--but that's a rant for another day). It does still go up very slowly, and I try not to watch it. Part of the problem is that it takes a lot of mental energy to play the game as I should, having concrete goals in mind, evaluating what I did right and wrong each game, and most importantly keeping an alert and adaptive state of mind during the game instead of letting the multitasking numb me into a trance. When I have it in me to give it that attention, things are great. But sometimes I just want to relax and play a few games, and that's when I start caring too much about winning or losing. I guess that's why modern single-player games are so focused on letting the player make steady progress without much effort. When all you want to do is relax, you just want that steady stream of positive reinforcement.
In writing this out, I've given myself the idea to take preparatory measures the next time I get into a really good state of mind. I'll decide what I want to focus on over not just the next few games but over the next hundred, and I'll take copious notes. The next day, even if my brain is feeling tired, hopefully I'll be able to refer back and know what to work on, even if I don't get any new ideas.
Also, maybe I should go back and watch some Husky casts to rekindle my childlike appreciation for game pieces shooting at each other.
Games played: 632
League/Points: Diamond/1527
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Choosing Prodoss
So, picking up from my last post, I stopped four-gating a while ago. I wanted more variety, so I went back to playing Random. I stopped relying on what had been easy win builds and just started doing whatever. And losing. A lot. I couldn't spend all my money, often because of a shortage of either minerals or gas. I realized I'm just not experienced enough to fly by the seat of my pants, because I haven't developed a feel for how to sustain whatever crazy build pops into my head. And I really wasn't learning anything or getting better. I guess I'm kind of stubborn about wanting to be a jack-of-all-trades. It's the same reason I never look up build orders online. Instead of following the instructions of those who have tested these things extensively, I wanted to get to the point where I would just naturally do efficient builds, based on an understanding of the game. But that's just too extreme. I should treat build orders like I treated joseki in Go (I'll eventually create or link to glossaries for my two games some time, but a joseki is sort of like a Chess opening). I used them as a study tool, trying to understand why each move was made rather than simply memorizing them. Similarly, I can study particular build orders (especially via replays of top players) and copy them to the extent that I understand them. After all, build orders only ever cover the first few minutes of the game, so it would be impossible to rely on them completely.
Speaking of BOs, this is an interesting thread on TL about someone who claims to have built a program that can tell you the fastest way to get to any set of Zerg units. There are the obligatory know-it-alls saying that it's crap because it doesn't take everything into account, but I think it could be a valuable tool to point toward better strategies.
So anyway, I've decided to stop playing Random so that I can focus on refining a small number of builds with only one race. In choosing a race, I ruled out Terran because I didn't want to put up with people saying that my race is OP and that's the only reason I ever win, blah blah blah. But then I was torn between Zerg and Protoss. On the one hand, I love how Zerg is fundamentally different from the other two races and how it gives you more flexibility in terms of expanding and tech switching. But I decided to go with Protoss just because I love using forcefields, blink Stalkers, Observers (who needs hax) and Void Rays. I've been opening almost every time with 3 Gateways and 1 Robotics Facility, but I haven't bothered to refine it to the same pattern each time, especially in deciding when to get the Robo. So establishing that exactly will be my next step. Another exciting thing I've been doing in quickmatch is working on late game macro. Earlier I made the decision to always stay on only two bases because I knew I couldn't handle the multitasking involved with keeping any more than that. But I can handle it now, and it's really fun. I can already see that if I get fully comfortable with that, it'll easily add at least 200 points to my rating.
Speaking of points, I haven't improved since after my 4-gate winning streak from last time. You get 1 bonus point added to your pool every two hours, and if you take that into account, my rating has actually gone down slightly since my last post. That's a little discouraging, but I want to be dedicated to this pursuit. I want to see just how good I can get at this game, no matter how long it takes me.
On another note, WTF?! They shut down Nexus Word Wars because the word "dyke" was in it?! That's a perfectly benign word (it means "dam", people) unless you specifically use it in an offensive way. I'm pretty sure I played that game about 50 times. There's something about this sort of typing game that I just love, probably the frantic pace and the thrill of having your fingers flying every second as you try to make intelligent decisions (probably why I like sc2 itself).
--
And finally, I made this post to reddit.com/r/starcraft, and I have to say I was surprised by the negative reaction (right now, 21 up votes, 24 down votes). I've been frustrated for a while about casters mispronouncing words, because (1) I'm always frustrated by people misusing English, and (2) I don't want to believe that video games, even at the highest level and most cerebral, are exclusively the realm of twenty-something basement dwellers. I've seen many posts on Reddit about individual words, including zealot (many people seem to finally grasp the first syllable but not the second), centrifugal, and barracks. Day[9] also recently jokingly bragged (I think it was during his sc2 release party) about knowing how to pronounce all the difficult words in the game, including chitinous, which is one I didn't know. And after hearing one or two people pronounce the word Templar (I thought it sounded like pulsar) as "tem-pler", I looked it up and found to my delight that I was wrong and those one or two people were right (although in both games, it is pronounced the "wrong" way). So I got curious as to whether there existed a "Starcraft glossary" to help with pronunciation and in some cases definition. I couldn't find any, so I had my idea for my first Reddit post. I've always been fascinated by languages and understanding the correct way of speaking and writing them (fun fact: I speak fluent French). And I love to find out about misconceptions, particularly when it's my own. Turns out not everyone likes to be corrected. Perhaps pronunciation is tricky because it's the least concrete of language skills since there are so many minor variations from person to person. There were some positive comments, but the general message was, "Don't tell me I'm wrong! This is how I'm used to it! Language can't be pinned down to what you find in a dictionary! Your pronunciations sound dumb, anyway." I wasn't sure how to feel in response. There was a part of me that just wanted to be angry and hoity-toity about people getting upset about me writing down what was in the dictionary. But in general, I don't like to be elitist. If so many people thought I should shut up, there had to be some sort of validity in that. I'm still struggling with coming to a conclusion, but here are my main ideas:
(1) I simply cannot allow myself to hold to a belief that others should use correct language if it is only for the sake of correctness. I get annoyed when people complain about there being too much foul language on TV, and my justification is that there is no inherent evil in it other than that which you create by the arbitrary rule that certain words shouldn't be used. It would be hypocritical of me to treat grammar/spelling/pronunciation/usage mistakes any other way. Just because I like to be right doesn't mean you have to.
(2) There are many good reasons, however, to be correct. The most important is that it facilitates communication. A great practical example of this comes up when you try to communicate with a non-native speaker of English. A mistake here or there might not hinder understanding since the context makes up for it. But if you combine too many mistakes into one sentence, you may start to have some real trouble. But that points to perhaps the core issue: it's not about speaking correctly according to the dictionary, it's about speaking according to what the listener is used to. In other words, we should make an effort to conform to the standard expectations of our community.
(3) What are the advantages and disadvantages of sub-communities developing their own variation from the wider standard? Perhaps it may instill regional pride, but it may also contribute to stereotypes from without. Consider, for example, the southern U.S. accent and all its effects.
(4) To what extent does social context play a role? Is there an obligation to have the ability to speak correctly even if we don't exercise it in informal contexts? Is pronunciation fundamentally different from the other language skills in this regard, since people tend to be comfortable with only one pronunciation per word?
So I'm going to try to relax about pronunciation, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop shuddering every time Artosis sits at a microphone in front of the biggest global Starcraft tournament of all time and says "zell-awt".
Games played: 514
League/Points: Diamond/1176
Speaking of BOs, this is an interesting thread on TL about someone who claims to have built a program that can tell you the fastest way to get to any set of Zerg units. There are the obligatory know-it-alls saying that it's crap because it doesn't take everything into account, but I think it could be a valuable tool to point toward better strategies.
So anyway, I've decided to stop playing Random so that I can focus on refining a small number of builds with only one race. In choosing a race, I ruled out Terran because I didn't want to put up with people saying that my race is OP and that's the only reason I ever win, blah blah blah. But then I was torn between Zerg and Protoss. On the one hand, I love how Zerg is fundamentally different from the other two races and how it gives you more flexibility in terms of expanding and tech switching. But I decided to go with Protoss just because I love using forcefields, blink Stalkers, Observers (who needs hax) and Void Rays. I've been opening almost every time with 3 Gateways and 1 Robotics Facility, but I haven't bothered to refine it to the same pattern each time, especially in deciding when to get the Robo. So establishing that exactly will be my next step. Another exciting thing I've been doing in quickmatch is working on late game macro. Earlier I made the decision to always stay on only two bases because I knew I couldn't handle the multitasking involved with keeping any more than that. But I can handle it now, and it's really fun. I can already see that if I get fully comfortable with that, it'll easily add at least 200 points to my rating.
Speaking of points, I haven't improved since after my 4-gate winning streak from last time. You get 1 bonus point added to your pool every two hours, and if you take that into account, my rating has actually gone down slightly since my last post. That's a little discouraging, but I want to be dedicated to this pursuit. I want to see just how good I can get at this game, no matter how long it takes me.
On another note, WTF?! They shut down Nexus Word Wars because the word "dyke" was in it?! That's a perfectly benign word (it means "dam", people) unless you specifically use it in an offensive way. I'm pretty sure I played that game about 50 times. There's something about this sort of typing game that I just love, probably the frantic pace and the thrill of having your fingers flying every second as you try to make intelligent decisions (probably why I like sc2 itself).
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And finally, I made this post to reddit.com/r/starcraft, and I have to say I was surprised by the negative reaction (right now, 21 up votes, 24 down votes). I've been frustrated for a while about casters mispronouncing words, because (1) I'm always frustrated by people misusing English, and (2) I don't want to believe that video games, even at the highest level and most cerebral, are exclusively the realm of twenty-something basement dwellers. I've seen many posts on Reddit about individual words, including zealot (many people seem to finally grasp the first syllable but not the second), centrifugal, and barracks. Day[9] also recently jokingly bragged (I think it was during his sc2 release party) about knowing how to pronounce all the difficult words in the game, including chitinous, which is one I didn't know. And after hearing one or two people pronounce the word Templar (I thought it sounded like pulsar) as "tem-pler", I looked it up and found to my delight that I was wrong and those one or two people were right (although in both games, it is pronounced the "wrong" way). So I got curious as to whether there existed a "Starcraft glossary" to help with pronunciation and in some cases definition. I couldn't find any, so I had my idea for my first Reddit post. I've always been fascinated by languages and understanding the correct way of speaking and writing them (fun fact: I speak fluent French). And I love to find out about misconceptions, particularly when it's my own. Turns out not everyone likes to be corrected. Perhaps pronunciation is tricky because it's the least concrete of language skills since there are so many minor variations from person to person. There were some positive comments, but the general message was, "Don't tell me I'm wrong! This is how I'm used to it! Language can't be pinned down to what you find in a dictionary! Your pronunciations sound dumb, anyway." I wasn't sure how to feel in response. There was a part of me that just wanted to be angry and hoity-toity about people getting upset about me writing down what was in the dictionary. But in general, I don't like to be elitist. If so many people thought I should shut up, there had to be some sort of validity in that. I'm still struggling with coming to a conclusion, but here are my main ideas:
(1) I simply cannot allow myself to hold to a belief that others should use correct language if it is only for the sake of correctness. I get annoyed when people complain about there being too much foul language on TV, and my justification is that there is no inherent evil in it other than that which you create by the arbitrary rule that certain words shouldn't be used. It would be hypocritical of me to treat grammar/spelling/pronunciation/usage mistakes any other way. Just because I like to be right doesn't mean you have to.
(2) There are many good reasons, however, to be correct. The most important is that it facilitates communication. A great practical example of this comes up when you try to communicate with a non-native speaker of English. A mistake here or there might not hinder understanding since the context makes up for it. But if you combine too many mistakes into one sentence, you may start to have some real trouble. But that points to perhaps the core issue: it's not about speaking correctly according to the dictionary, it's about speaking according to what the listener is used to. In other words, we should make an effort to conform to the standard expectations of our community.
(3) What are the advantages and disadvantages of sub-communities developing their own variation from the wider standard? Perhaps it may instill regional pride, but it may also contribute to stereotypes from without. Consider, for example, the southern U.S. accent and all its effects.
(4) To what extent does social context play a role? Is there an obligation to have the ability to speak correctly even if we don't exercise it in informal contexts? Is pronunciation fundamentally different from the other language skills in this regard, since people tend to be comfortable with only one pronunciation per word?
So I'm going to try to relax about pronunciation, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop shuddering every time Artosis sits at a microphone in front of the biggest global Starcraft tournament of all time and says "zell-awt".
Games played: 514
League/Points: Diamond/1176
Saturday, September 25, 2010
4 Warp Gate is kinda good
Yup, it's true what they say. I just got done with 18 games in three hours, winning 16 of them. I used nothing but 4 Warp Gate. One loss was to 8pool on Delta Quadrant, and the other was to a fast-expanding Terran on Lost Temple who managed to defend his expo with SCVs repairing bunkers. Kudos to that Terran player. But I'm not sure what I could have done against the Zerg. I happened to scout their location last, so by the time I knew what was going on it was probably too late. I guess I'll have to start sending a second scout against Zerg.
Anyway, 4 Warp Gate is stupidly amazing. (Here's an example replay.) I think I'll try adapting it to include taking my natural expansion. Sometimes it can be difficult to break my opponent's defenses, but then I can usually contain them in their main base. And once my second base is up and running while they're still on one base, it's only a matter of time before I can overrun them with pure numbers.
Games played: 395
League/Points: Diamond/1039
Anyway, 4 Warp Gate is stupidly amazing. (Here's an example replay.) I think I'll try adapting it to include taking my natural expansion. Sometimes it can be difficult to break my opponent's defenses, but then I can usually contain them in their main base. And once my second base is up and running while they're still on one base, it's only a matter of time before I can overrun them with pure numbers.
Games played: 395
League/Points: Diamond/1039
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Greetings, Prophet. The great work begins! The Messenger has arrived.
This is where the real work begins and I start deciding how dedicated I truly want to be. After almost 400 games, I've finally stopped coasting. I don't just automatically win most of my games anymore. I can't just expand when I feel like it. Harassment isn't guaranteed to be profitable. Sloppy wall-ins get broken down, and sloppy macro gets outdone. And most importantly, just because I have a big army doesn't mean it's going to be a good idea to attack move into the opponent's main. Here's a good example of me losing to brazenness (ZvZ on Delta Quadrant).
It's time to start thinking a little more and polishing my game up a little more. I think I'll focus on just one race for a while, probably Protoss, my weakest of the three. Perhaps I'll start with the typical 4 Warp Gate push and see where that takes me. I like the idea of starting by using only one strategy. Eventually, you perfect it, and then you can look at the games you're still losing to see where that strategy's weaknesses really are, at which point you modify it as little as possible to accommodate encountering a similar problem in future games. As you continue to modify it over time, you'll in theory eventually end up playing a fully versatile, many-faceted game that may or may not even incorporate the original strategy.
Games played: 372
League/Points: Diamond/806
It's time to start thinking a little more and polishing my game up a little more. I think I'll focus on just one race for a while, probably Protoss, my weakest of the three. Perhaps I'll start with the typical 4 Warp Gate push and see where that takes me. I like the idea of starting by using only one strategy. Eventually, you perfect it, and then you can look at the games you're still losing to see where that strategy's weaknesses really are, at which point you modify it as little as possible to accommodate encountering a similar problem in future games. As you continue to modify it over time, you'll in theory eventually end up playing a fully versatile, many-faceted game that may or may not even incorporate the original strategy.
Games played: 372
League/Points: Diamond/806
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