14 DAY TRIAL // The Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void closed beta is in full swing, and I'm not glad to be reminded of a time when I used to be a better version of who I am now.
I used to be pretty good at Starcraft and then Starcraft 2, especially since I started cutting my teeth on the beta, but then I simply got tired of playing. It got to a point where I was saturated from playing and watching too much Starcraft-related content, and it became a rather tedious affair.
Now I have the chance to get back into the action and see some of the changes that Blizzard made to what I still consider the best real-time strategy game ever created, and I have to confess, there are some things that I find not exactly to my liking.
After getting completely wrecked in a ton of games against players of much greater skill and even getting schooled by players who seemed to move even more slowly than I currently do, I understand how much I had taken my former skill for granted.
I used to think that it came to me naturally. I'm smart, handsome and talented after all, and given that I also happen to be very impatient, a game that requires an ungodly amount of attention seemed to fit me like a glove.
One of the things I'm witnessing right now is how unforgiving the game is to someone who has been outside the loop for as long as I have.
The game's most precious resource is time. In order to efficiently control all its systems, you need a lot of time, and people who are good at the game manage to cut corners by moving with blinding speed across the map, from base to base, scouting, constantly moving their armies, harassing and expanding.
There's always something to do, and these little actions all tend to pile up as the game progresses, and half of getting better at the game is simply getting better at clicking really fast and jumping from one part of the map to the other before your eyes can adjust to the new scenery.
Getting a feel for the game
Aside from the mechanical requirements, Starcraft also demands that you be always well aware of what's going on. I used to be "afraid" to scout during the early game, as it is yet another thing you have to get busy with, and your brain is always trying to fool you into leaving it alone.
I used to fool myself into thinking that if I played well enough, knowing what my enemy was up to would be irrelevant. Needless to say, my enemy was always up to no good, usually coming up with the perfect counter to what I was doing, always prepared for my assault.
After I managed to bite the bullet and sit down and watch my replays analytically, my overall skill increased by a lot. I took notes of things that I was doing wrong and what to expect from opponents at certain time intervals, and I bullied my lazy brain into a corner and started scouting.
Losing a couple of units is well worth it if you don't just throw them at the entrance to the enemy's base, because you can get an idea of what is going to happen in the near future, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
No expansion and a big army? Prepare for an attack. Your initial harassment turned into assault failed and your opponent is getting overconfident with two expansions? A quick drop in the mineral line can take care of that.
Putting in the effort
Starcraft has always been formulaic to a certain extent, in the sense that being an artist can make the difference between a good player and a pro, but we all know that deep down we all are in fact accountants.
The more aware you are of everything that is going on in your base and in your enemy's base, the more likely you are to come on top.
Knowing what's going on is also a matter of playing the game enough that you start organically being able to call when the right time for an expansion is, when your opponent might be investing in tech and expansions instead of military power, and all the other things that can greatly improve your prowess without you even knowing it.
That is the part where I am greatly suffering at right now, as I have no awareness whatsoever. I have no idea what my opponent is doing, what development stage he is at, and all that stuff that I used to take for granted years ago.
I used to be able to approximate how many bases my opponent had, or whether he was overextending, just by glancing at the map and seeing his army clump. I could scout and identify weak points in my enemy's defenses or offenses, and I could tell what I needed to build next in order to maximize my chances to victory.
Not so anymore. The harsh truth is that being good at anything requires a lot of dedication, and a sizable time investment. My ability to predict my opponent's actions and to gauge his overall skill enabled me to know which games were going to be short, which were going to be hard, and which a drawn out test of attrition.
Now, everything is gone. I get beat up, I watch the replay, I write down what I did wrong, how I wasted time, what I should have done instead, and try to put it all into action in the next game. But it's hard.
Many tempting alternatives
Doing rifts in Diablo 3 is streamlined and borderline boring, there is little challenge, aside from those moments during greater rifts when you have to keep on the move because pretty much everything can shot you.
Heroes of the Storm basically plays itself, and with the shared experience pool, lack of items and carries, you can fall asleep and then jump right in and turn around the match most times. It only requires that five people are present, not necessarily good at what they're doing.
Hearthstone is a similarly forgiving game. If you have all the good cards and make yourself the shiniest decks, you can still get screwed over by luck. Your calculations are an average of games played in the long run, and even if you track your score, your goal is to reach a certain rank by the end of the month.
Even when you lose, most of the time you chalk it off to a bad matchup or bad draws. Your individual skill is an important factor, of course, but there are numerous mitigating factors that make it less punishing.
Starcraft 2 is in a stark contrast to that. It's difficult and immersive, and the moment-to-moment action is what it's all about. Every game is a test, and it's all up to you to make it through. If you make a mistake and your opponent doesn't, you're already falling behind, with no way for the game to even the odds.
To some degree, the entire game is like a high-speed chess match, where you do your best to push your enemy to make mistakes by providing him with increasing opportunities to do so.
You harass him hoping to distract his attention from his economy, you feign an attack hoping to get a dropship into his base unnoticed, you blitz one of his expansions and then retreat, hoping to get his army to go back and defend, and so on.
The more you can overwhelm your opponent, the more likely he is to make bad calls. Basically, if you can't win through early game micro, your best plan is to divert his attention from constantly expanding and acquiring new resources with various busywork, and gradually increase your macro advantage.
But that only comes with practice. At first, it seems like an impossible uphill struggle. That's how it feels right now for me, but I'm determined to take it one game at a time.