[Megathread] Starcraft Franchise

[Lilithvia]

Yes, I know we're pretty late on getting a megathread for the Starcraft Franchise (I, Brood War, II, HotS, LotV), but here we go, discuss your favorite Angry Coach/BLH/WCS/KSL games, upload replays, salt about why the latest balance patch has made X race impossible to play against (in your opinion), and more, right HERE on MMO-Champ!


Serral is the current WCS world champion. He hails from Sweden.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Couldn't care less about SC2 competitive multiplayer. As someone who has tried to play multiplayer RTS matches, it's just not fun. Unlike a turn based strategy game, you're not rewarded for taking your time to evaluate the situation, think through your options, and lay out a plan before proceeding. You have to be ALWAYS doing something. RTS games inherently reward the player who makes the most moves, not the best moves. Thus, it just devolves into hotkey button smashing, and I can't keep up. SC2 games are incomprehensible to watch, as all I see are people clicking across the map doing things so fast I can't understand what's even going on, and then suddenly one player loses and I have no idea how that happened.

I was interested in Starcraft's story. The Koprulu sector being based on the Confederate south (but in SPAAAACE!!!) made for a unique setting. The first game was pretty innovative. In prior RTS games, most of the lore and story was in the manual that came in the box, and even then it was pretty sparse. Warcraft II had a narrator who gave some details in between missions, but again it was pretty sparse. Starcraft had characters who talked during the actual mission, as well as in between missions. Starcraft 2 had rad cutscene direction. If you look at the dialogue transcripts, it's amazing how much character and lore the writers were able to pack into short conversations. Wings of Liberty had the best story, and then it just kinda fell apart in HotS. Legacy of the Void was really boring. Don't get me started on the ending.

[kieraTM]

I enjoy StarCraft and its lore. I've played through all the game. I don't know what 'Angry Coach/BLH/WCS/KSL games' are though. Along with the 'X race impossible to play' this just seems like a ranting thread? I'll bite, though.

My perhaps strangest, yet fondest memory, of StarCraft was trying to figure out if you could actually access some of the features on the battle map. Those Terran buildings with walkways going inside, lit up by signs. Some caves on an uninhabited map, etc. When I started getting into SC I used to exclusively play Terran and I'd always use a setup of blocking my base with bunkers, with siege tanks deployed behind. I would always try and sneak a ghost in late game via transports (i read you 5-by-5!) to nuke the enemy base. All the awesome voice lines stick with me now though! What an awesome original game! It was so great to see the next iteration updated with newer graphics, but retaining some of what made the game great. The thing that still really irritates me with the entire franchise is the weird inconsistency of unit size, but that is nothing new in a RTS game.

[George Costanza]

Coop is the only good part, and the campaigns are fun.

Multiplayer is too 5Head for me.

Altough it is the best Esport blizzard has to offer.

[Lilithvia]

Coop is the only good part, and the campaigns are fun.

Multiplayer is too 5Head for me.

Altough it is the best Esport blizzard has to offer.

You seem to be the same level I'm at. I get cheesed too often by cannon-rushing protoss, so when I do multiplayer to be able to learn anything but how to fail to counter cannon rushes, I do it against friends.

[david0925]

Couldn't care less about SC2 competitive multiplayer. As someone who has tried to play multiplayer RTS matches, it's just not fun. Unlike a turn based strategy game, you're not rewarded for taking your time to evaluate the situation, think through your options, and lay out a plan before proceeding. You have to be ALWAYS doing something. RTS games inherently reward the player who makes the most moves, not the best moves. Thus, it just devolves into hotkey button smashing, and I can't keep up. SC2 games are incomprehensible to watch, as all I see are people clicking across the map doing things so fast I can't understand what's even going on, and then suddenly one player loses and I have no idea how that happened.

I was interested in Starcraft's story. The Koprulu sector being based on the Confederate south (but in SPAAAACE!!!) made for a unique setting. The first game was pretty innovative. In prior RTS games, most of the lore and story was in the manual that came in the box, and even then it was pretty sparse. Warcraft II had a narrator who gave some details in between missions, but again it was pretty sparse. Starcraft had characters who talked during the actual mission, as well as in between missions. Starcraft 2 had rad cutscene direction. If you look at the dialogue transcripts, it's amazing how much character and lore the writers were able to pack into short conversations. Wings of Liberty had the best story, and then it just kinda fell apart in HotS. Legacy of the Void was really boring. Don't get me started on the ending.

High apm isn't really important until your mechanics are solid. You can easily make it to Diamonds if not masters (20% and 2% respectively) with just around 100apm (which isn't actually high at all) if you have a solid plan, mini-map awareness, and knowledge of what units counter what strategy.

[zEmini]

I played a lot back in the day. I played Random and made it to Plat at my peak. I probably could of made Diamond if kept pushing. My problem however was the game went through too many major MP balance changes; so when I went back after a few months of not playing I had to relearn the basic metas and builds again. Another issue was the lack of single player campaign support.

[George Costanza]

You seem to be the same level I'm at. I get cheesed too often by cannon-rushing protoss, so when I do multiplayer to be able to learn anything but how to fail to counter cannon rushes, I do it against friends.

I havent touched multiplayer coz it seems to scary for me.

[CrawlFromThePit]

Couldn't care less about SC2 competitive multiplayer. As someone who has tried to play multiplayer RTS matches, it's just not fun. Unlike a turn based strategy game, you're not rewarded for taking your time to evaluate the situation, think through your options, and lay out a plan before proceeding. You have to be ALWAYS doing something. RTS games inherently reward the player who makes the most moves, not the best moves. Thus, it just devolves into hotkey button smashing, and I can't keep up. SC2 games are incomprehensible to watch, as all I see are people clicking across the map doing things so fast I can't understand what's even going on, and then suddenly one player loses and I have no idea how that happened.

I was interested in Starcraft's story. The Koprulu sector being based on the Confederate south (but in SPAAAACE!!!) made for a unique setting. The first game was pretty innovative. In prior RTS games, most of the lore and story was in the manual that came in the box, and even then it was pretty sparse. Warcraft II had a narrator who gave some details in between missions, but again it was pretty sparse. Starcraft had characters who talked during the actual mission, as well as in between missions. Starcraft 2 had rad cutscene direction. If you look at the dialogue transcripts, it's amazing how much character and lore the writers were able to pack into short conversations. Wings of Liberty had the best story, and then it just kinda fell apart in HotS. Legacy of the Void was really boring. Don't get me started on the ending.

You're absolutely wrong. Competitive SC does include every single thing you believe are only in turn based strategy games, it just happens at a pace faster than you would like it to be. And you're not used to doing things that way so in your perspective the only option left is spamming buttons. At a higher skill level the button spamming is just muscle memory and second nature, the thinking and strategy part is all you actually do.

[Orange Joe]

didn't we already have a starcraft megathread?


https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...ad-StarCraft-2

Says sc2 in title but it was for all things starcraft.

[Lilithvia]

I havent touched multiplayer coz it seems to scary for me.

Get some friends. If you are NA, we can play together. It's not too bad against friends.

- - - Updated - - -

I enjoy StarCraft and its lore. I've played through all the game. I don't know what 'Angry Coach/BLH/WCS/KSL games' are though. Along with the 'X race impossible to play' this just seems like a ranting thread? I'll bite, though.

My perhaps strangest, yet fondest memory, of StarCraft was trying to figure out if you could actually access some of the features on the battle map. Those Terran buildings with walkways going inside, lit up by signs. Some caves on an uninhabited map, etc. When I started getting into SC I used to exclusively play Terran and I'd always use a setup of blocking my base with bunkers, with siege tanks deployed behind. I would always try and sneak a ghost in late game via transports (i read you 5-by-5!) to nuke the enemy base. All the awesome voice lines stick with me now though! What an awesome original game! It was so great to see the next iteration updated with newer graphics, but retaining some of what made the game great. The thing that still really irritates me with the entire franchise is the weird inconsistency of unit size, but that is nothing new in a RTS game.

Angry Coach is something a couple streamers do. Basically you tip them x amount of money with a link to the replay, they load it up, and yell at you for your mistakes.
BLH = Bronze League Heroes. some of the most hilarious matches I've seen have been BLHs casted by either Husky Starcraft or WinterGaming.
WCS = World Championship Series. Thats the series that goes on all year, with a champion crowned at Blizzcon.
KSL = Korean Starcraft League. A league of Korean players who only play the original starcraft. It's where most of the Starcraft champions prior to SC2 played.

[Cidzor]

I've loved Starcraft for over half my life. In my teenage/college days (ie, when I could still function properly the next day on 4 hours of sleep after I stayed up half the night), I'd play Brood War with friends until 3-4 in the morning. But for some reason, Legacy of the Void was where I lost interest. I think part of it is that I'm just not as good at RTS games as I used to be.

I did recently try to fire up SC2 and play some of my old replays. Found out that, apparently, I can no longer watch replays that are older than a certain patch (which includes...my entire collection of replays). So all of my old replays are now useless. I thought that was lame.

[Lilithvia]

I've loved Starcraft for over half my life. In my teenage/college days (ie, when I could still function properly the next day on 4 hours of sleep after I stayed up half the night), I'd play Brood War with friends until 3-4 in the morning. But for some reason, Legacy of the Void was where I lost interest. I think part of it is that I'm just not as good at RTS games as I used to be.

I did recently try to fire up SC2 and play some of my old replays. Found out that, apparently, I can no longer watch replays that are older than a certain patch (which includes...my entire collection of replays). So all of my old replays are now useless. I thought that was lame.

I can loan you my collection of BLH replays

[Lilithvia]

Dropped into ranked play again today. Dude comes up with his macro scripts as zerg. Replay shows he was hitting 14k with his scripts trying to keep his units from taking liberator and tank fire. Ended up exploiting his scripts for my benefit, got the win.

[Majestic12]

All right, I'll chip in.

Kerrigan is an awful character since SC2 started and the whole romancing Raynor bit is dumb as hell.

I used to love the story in Starcraft 1, but SC2 and forward has been a shitshow.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

All right, I'll chip in.

Kerrigan is an awful character since SC2 started and the whole romancing Raynor bit is dumb as hell.

I used to love the story in Starcraft 1, but SC2 and forward has been a shitshow.

She was alright in Wings of Liberty because she was pretty much a non-character. The only time we saw her as the character Kerrigan was in the cinematic when she was left behind. Otherwise, she only appears for a couple minutes in the entire game as your usual "muwahaha I am evil I am going to kill everybody" The Queens of Blades. Kerrigan worked well as a plot device for Raynor's motivations.

She takes center stage in Heart of the Storm, and she's just not an interesting character. She escapes and goes on her quest to find her "destiny" and to take revenge, blah blah blah. They just didn't get me invested in her.

I'd prefer to just forget that the last three missions of LotV.

• The story is a really cliche "space western, end of the universe, rebels fighting against evil empire" story, but it's executed well. The characters are archetypes but they are likable. We are invested in Raynor as our hero, as the man who has had a hard life and has lost much, but continues the good fight. Just a fun journey.

• This is where the Amon plotline begins to takeover the story. Blizzard just can't do cosmic horror, and the prophesied showdown with destiny and all that jazz just isn't interesting. Kerrigan isn't interesting. The zerg characters aren't interesting. It's just a very... "meh" game.

• Amon is the center of the story and boring as usual, but the Protoss characters and their story is compelling enough.

WoL (8/10 very good) > LotV (6/10 fine) > HotS (5/10 meh)