Starcraft II

[tkrow21]

STARCRAFT II AND E-SPORTS

 

I feel that an essential part of Starcraft II is not being acknowledged as much as it should be, and that is its role in e-sports.

 

To start off, it is necessary to define what e-sports is. It is literally the abbreviation of electronic sports, which may sound ridiculous to someone not familiar with the "scene". But, it is legitimate, it is growing, and it is a core part of gaming. It is a model very similar to that of more typical and recognized sports. High caliber players and teams play each other for fame, money, and for the passion of doing so. The money comes from the same place - advertising and sponsorships. When you watch the Superbowl, companies pay the producers of the Superbowl to host their advertisements during the airtime of the show, because it is a given that many people are going to be watching. For e-sports, hardware manufacturers jump on the idea of advertising their products during such events. The viewer base is 100% full of gamers, so their advertisements are relevant to 100% of their viewers - something that is almost impossible to accomplish on regular television. Now that you know the gist of what e-sports is and how it is financially viable, it is time to delve into Starcraft II and what kind of a role it plays in e-sports.

 

Starcraft: Brood War is the most successful e-sport of all time, in Korea. It never became mainstream in the "foreign" (outside of Korea) scene, which includes Europe, North America, and other regions. However, with Starcraft II, that is not changing, but already has. Don't believe it? MLG, otherwise known as Major League Gaming which is the premier North American e-sports organizer, brought Starcraft II into its lineup in 2010, alongside titles such as Halo 3, Halo Reach, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Modern Warfare 2, and Tekken 6. Not only has Starcraft II stood alongside such big titles without an issue, but MLG has come out and said that for 2011, Starcraft II will be their main stage focus, as its success was simply astonishing.

 

Sure, now you know Starcraft II is a successful e-sport and that it's legitimate, but you're probably wondering: where do I start?

 

The best answer is the GSL (Global Starcraft II League) - this is the largest, most successful, most mainstream, and most competitive tournament, hosted in Korea by GOMtv. You can watch the stream (not a flash video like Youtube, but at a set time like on television) for free in Low Quality. Or you can pay $10 for a 720p stream and Video on Demand (pretty much flash videos on the website). The GSL hosts prize pools in excess of $100,000 pretty much every month. Now you're saying, but, what if I pay $10, and I don't even like it? Don't worry, the GSL has the GSL World Championship free to watch! At this point it's inexcusable to skip out on at least trying to get into Starcraft II as an e-sport and following the scene. If you like what you see, buy the ongoing $10 access to the tournament, and watch!

 

Want to go into the scene even more? Look no further than TeamLiquid, they are the number one source for anything Starcraft II, including e-sports. Over 10,000 active users at any given time, a huge group of moderators, etc.

 

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This is the thread for all things Starcraft II.

 

Heart of the Swarm Teaser leaked!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ycqJblhKRs&feature=player_embedded

 

List of Starcraft II Battle.net names:

 

Edit: Just a reminder, post your character code and your character name. I will not be putting e-mails on the first post due to potential spam and phishing.

 

Bizzlenitch - Bizzlenitch / 324

ballist1x - Ballistics / 672

Psywar - Psywar / 209

greengiant912 - greengiant / 290

tkrow21 - Lowkontrast / 618

bp9801 - Troy / 303

ClayMeow - ClayMeow / 563

Cheeseman42 - Tucker / 359

 

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is scheduled to be was released on July 27, 2010.

 

Phase 2 of the Wings of Liberty beta is scheduled to begin at the very least two weeks before launch. has ended.

 

Links:

Starcraft II Official website.

Excellent Starcraft website with lots of info.

.

New Starcraft II policy for forum names. (Blizzard took it back)

Catch up on the story of the first game. (Thanks Claymeow).

Heart of The Swarm teaser.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_E83GfWM-A&feature=player_embedded

 

^ Posted by Greengiant.

Edited May 28, 2011 by tkrow21

[ClayMeow]

Collector's Edition pre-ordered from GameStop.

[FUZi0N]

Collector's Edition pre-ordered from GameStop.

 

Same but at Best Buy..

[RADEON]

This game is all ready out dated. It does not look that impressive to me. I have not seen any thing from star craft that you can not get from other games. Although the fact that Korea has teems of tweens professionally playing this game is kind of entertaining.

[ClayMeow]

This game is all ready out dated. It does not look that impressive to me. I have not seen any thing from star craft that you can not get from other games. Although the fact that Korea has teems of tweens professionally playing this game is kind of entertaining.

Really? How many other real-time strategy games feature three distinct, balanced races? The only one I can think of off the top of my head to have accomplished that since the original StarCraft was Rise of Legends.

 

Furthermore, from what I've read, the missions are extremely unique and varied, and not your typical RTS fare.

[tkrow21]

+1 it uses dated mechanics but they're mechanics that work. It's like calling a shooter boring because you use W, A, S, D to move and Mouse 1 to fire, it just doesn't work like that.

 

From playing the beta (not even the final game), I've got to say I'm blown away. The balance, even for beta, is unmatched by any RTS out on the market today. The pacing is just incredible and really demands a lot from the player to keep up with his macro and his micro. The polish is ridiculous, and once again, this game is in beta. The huge amount of variation in build order, tactics, and strategies is innumberable. Yet all of this is so approachable. I've never touched an RTS for longer than a few weeks, and yet I'm hooked on the beta version of this RTS that doesn't even have most of the features in it yet.

 

And face it, the current RTS genre is in a pitiful state. Don't get me started on Command and Conquer 4, and Supreme Commander 2 rarely puts the REAL TIME in RTS (that game moves at a snails pace.

[UkJenT]

I agree w/ both Clay and tkrow. I'm totally not impressed with the RTS genre. I used to be a big fan of C&C, but it went totally downhill after Westwood was taken over be EA. They totally screwed it up. Starcraft is in a league of its own. No other RTS game can compete w/ it.

[nahuelcutrera]

well I agree the RTS are screw in the last years, I would say since warcraft III but you got to give credit to such a company like blizzard thay never put a game in the streets until it's perfect...

[greengiant912]

Collector's Edition pre-ordered from GameStop.

 

Same, I look forward to owning all you biatches online!

 

As for being old and outdated, you cant say that. This game has graphics on par if not better with many games of its type. To Blizzard graphics isn't everything, they will be the first to admit that. One of the reasons that PC gaming is failing is because you need a very expensive machine to run many of the games out there (example Crisis when it was released). Blizzard has taken the approach of making games that can be played on any computer out there. Starcraft II is a perfect example, it features amazing graphics for the high end systems but dosen't lag out when your playing on a lower end system.

 

Graphics are not what makes most games that last for years. Look at the original StarCraft and how its graphics are sooo outdated. Yet it still remains on of the most played RTS's in the world! What makes great games is the gameplay, the community and developer support for the game. Blizzard is a company that has never stopped supporting any of their games! They still patch Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft!!!!

 

Blizzard is a company that only makes games that win Game of The Year.

[Whisk3y]

Agree with you, we may say the graphics is just a second factor why games stay alive even in high and competitive competition and that’s Blizzard key of success.

[l1o2l]

If you guys can't wait for the release, look up SC2 beta AI launchers. Not promoting anything ;P. It will help you prepare to transition from SC1 to 2.

 

Gameplay is indeed much faster than SC1, and many other RTS games. Also, the Map Editor is just awesome. So many maps are being developed right now. To name a few - Tetris, World of Starcraft, DOTA-like maps, etc.

 

As for outdated? Really? Than whats up to date?

[Fogel]

By the time the original StarCraft came out you could say its graphics were already out dated.

But look how much that affected its success...

 

Speaking of which, finished the single player campaign SC1 - now on to Brood War!