Final Thoughts - Future of eSports?

As this blog and class come to an end I look back on this blog and am forced to really consider the role of video games in culture. Specifically, Starcraft II. I have seen video games ruin lives. In highschool my roommate senior year discovered World of Warcraft during spring finals week. He almost failed that semester and has since failed out of college. On the other hand, another one of my highschool friends is currently in a WoW league, sponsored by T-Mobile, making $35,000 a year.

A quick check of the Starcraft Prizemoney rank sheet on TeamLiquid's site shows the top two players earning alomst $100,000 each. And that's just from this year. The spread of I have seen several tournaments and many different replays. It's fascinating to watch and utterly exhilarating to win, especially in 1v1 matches. I watch replays and am interested in improving my play-- even spending a few nights awake this break playing the game. But I think it's clear that I will never pursue this game seriously. However, I do anticipate, with the rise of popularity in eSports in general and the rise in numbers of players around the world, that in the next few years the docket of video game tournaments will be seen on the side of ESPN. It will probably be at 2 in the morning but I'll see it. And I'll probably be able to take my kids to see legendary players play in stadiums like they do in South Korea. By then Starcraft 3 may be out, but knowing Blizzard I won't hold my breath.

Thanks to wikipedia for saving my life as always, and thanks to the casters who have helped my play immensely over the course of this blog.

-Ian

Replays

This list of replays comes from a website I found by accident and I didn't anticipate anything coming from it, however this is a war between two borthers and notable casters. I mentioned Day9 fore, and he fights his brother Tasteless who casts games in Korea. They are both very high level players who have played against each other a lot and you can see them both mess with the other's head.

http://day9fan.com/day9fanupdates/sean-day9-plott-vs-nick-tasteless-plott

Especially game three showcases a masterful battle between professionals. An epic, epic battle.

Korean Gaming Scandal

South Korea is the unofficial Starcraft capital of the world. There are two television channels dedicated to the coverage of Starcraft leagues starting in 2002. Consider ESPN, which until a few years ago only had ESPN and ESPN 2-- for all sports in america. It's a big deal. Sponsors for the teams in the leagues include Samsung among other major Korean companies. In April of this year, it was revelaed that a number of high ranking players and gaming officials were implicated in a ring of match fixes and thrown games. This scandal has been compared to the Black Sox of baseball and shocked the esports world. On June 9th 11 players were banned from esports for life and in October sentences were handed out, primarily punishing programmers and ex programmers for gambling treatment.

Thanks to Wikipedia and TeamLiquid for sources. Also, Kotaku.

World Events Surrounding Starcraft Development

March of 1995 was an important month during the development of Starcraft, and I'm sure some of the events influenced the designers. Here are some of the events that resonate with me when I think of the orginial Starcraft. March was just before the game went into full-time development, as Blizzard was ejnoying the success of Warcraft II.

March 1 – In Moscow, Russian anti-corruption journalist Vladislav Listyev is killed by a gunman. March 3 – In Somalia, the United Nations peacekeeping mission ends.
March 14 – Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American to ride into space aboard a Russian launch vehicle (the Soyuz TM-21), lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
March 20 – Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult release sarin gas on 5 subway trains in Tokyo, killing 12 and injuring 5,510.
March 22 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in outer space.
March 24 – For the first time in 26 years, no British soldiers patrol the streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
March 26 – The Schengen Agreement, easing cross-border travel, goes into effect in several European countries.
March 30 – A police officer tries to assassinate Takaji Kunimatsu, chief of the National Police Agency of Japan.
March 31 – Tejano superstar Selena is killed by the president of her own fanclub, Yolanda Saldívar.

This month in particular saw a number of tragedies and events that I remember, even though I was just 5 when they occured, especially the Sarin gas attacks. I see themes of treachery, great violence, imperialism and space achievements. Who can say if these events translate directly into elements of the game but the themes undoubtedly run parallel.

Micro versus Macro

In all Real Time Strategy games like Starcraft there is a dichotomy of concepts known as "macro" and "micro" and these refer to two very different aspects of gameplay. "Micro" is short for "micromanagement" and refers to the individual attention paid to units. As I select a unit and tell it to do something, be it move, attack, or use an activated ability, I am "microing" this unit. Micromanagement can be the difference between a win and a loss as certain tactics favor caertain units. Zerg are most powerful when they surround units so being able to swarm in and overwhelm an enemy is crucial to playing zerg. Terran units benefit from staying in a large ball, as long as other units don't surround them.

Naturally, "macro" refers to "macromanagement," which refers to the general upkeep of your economy and production of units and buildings. In order to maintain a healthy economy you need to build workers, in order to keep building troops you need to provide supply, or "food" for them, and in order to survive deeper into the game you need to build more advanced units.

Proper play and a balance of macro/micro is essential to becoming a good player.

This is the seocnd part of a video showcasing Starcraft II to someone who has never played an RTS before. This section is redundant for most people who have played any of these types of games before but HuskyStarcraft illuminates in plain language the main differences between micro and macro and suggets rudimentary applications of these principles.

Day [9] Daily

I said I would post important replays, and this is perhaps the most important replay for an aspiring Starcraft II player. It's hosted on blip.tv so I can't embed it, but here it is: Day[9] Daily #132: Back to Basics. I mentioned a few of my favorite shoutcasters in a previous blog (to which I now add PsyStarcraft- talented and hilarious, if irreverent) and Day 9 focuses on what makes for good, solid gameplay. He asks how we can become better gamers. This post identifies many components critical to better gameplay but the most important is the subtitle of this post, The Mental Checklist. It comprises the following essential points:

1. "Keep your money low." Spending means creation or research, and this means a stronger army.
2. "Am I building units?" All unit producing facilities should be constantly producing units. If they are not, why aren't they? Are more resources required? More supply?
3. "What's going on on the mini-map?" Keep an eye on the small map in the lower left-hand corner, which gives important information about enemy movement.
4. "What do I need to do next?" Coming into battle with a plan, there are coherrent steps to achieving a goal. Be aware what needs to happen next this informs each building/unit created.

These basic points have already helped my game immensely. The video is lengthy and some times he belabours his points, but very important for new players. He details the importance of Hotkeys, buttons you can assign units and buildings to access them quickly and also building mouse precision (a concept I have yet to really incorporate into my game). Many of his posts are about advanced gameplay and go over my head regularly but they're still great. Starcraft II is rapidly gainaing in popularity and I may watch national championships on television with my children. Day 9 may cast those very games and its exciting to watch him as a growing expert in the field.

Live for the Swarm

Few video game creations creep me out as much as the Zerg race. As I detailed in an earlier post, they are bug-aliens that earn their power in numbers and rapid mutation. Comparatively weak, there are basic restrictions on unit creation that make for a very unique type of play style. All Zerg units are hatched from larvae birthed out of the basic building, the Hatchery. The hatchery will only produce three larvae at once, and it takes time for them to regenerate. Similarly, all buildings are created from Drones, the basic mining unit. The drone gives its body up to the creation of the building, changing its basic structure in the creation of the building. Zerg are also limited by a substance called creep, which spreads out wherever zerg buildings are created. All buildings except the hatchery must be created on creep. All Zerg units also receive movement bonuses while on the substance (except drones).

The basic melee unit, the zergling, is inexpensive, very fast and very weak. Their power lies in overwhelming numbers. Zergling groups can become very intimidating, as two zerglings spawn from a single larva.

Starcraft II introduced a new unit called the Queen to help overcome some of the Zerg deficiencies. Queens are inexpensive, and can attack ground and air units. Using energy, they can stimulate four additional larvae to be produced each time the spell is used. A hatchery can support up to 19 larvae. Queens also produce creep tumors, capable of spreading creep. These tumors can only be created on existing creep, but each subsequent tumor can produce a tumor of its own, allowing the swarm to sink its grasp deeper into the planet it is on.