sc2 has lost a huge amount of its playerbase and thats only going to continue, im not too bothered personally because i seldom watch tournaments and all that stuff but I can see a more radical decline in the future. But that is fine, the purists will stay, the tourists will go and there will always be people to discuss sc2. The only problem is when the purists start to go because Blizzard is so fucking useless about shaking up the maps.
Zombie Monkey on
League of Legends - Enzo III
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KlykaDO you have anySPARE BATTERIES?Registered Userregular
Anecdotal evidence mostly, both on Eu and US the numbers of people playing "in your region" is nowehere near what it used to be, even a month ago, its hard to find games sometimes whereas it used to take no time, in all of the leagues ive been in between 50 and 60% of players arent laddering at all. Hell in my Diamond division i think only 2 people are laddering at the moment on EU. Couple this with declining stream views, tournament views (in general) and SC2 has declined some.
I had a friends list of about 80 or so and only 5 of them are playing sc2 on any regular basis now
Zombie Monkey on
League of Legends - Enzo III
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KlykaDO you have anySPARE BATTERIES?Registered Userregular
edited February 2011
Hm, it's true sometimes I saw "Games being played in your region = 2000" when before it was 10000 or more.
Guess that just happens when the Gaming Industry churns out awesome games every month now
It's true that the "new book" smell is starting to go away from SC2, but man it has so much potential.
This is what I usually cry myself to sleep with:
"Zerg literarily use every single tech tree to stay alive and win... and the others have so many abilities not being used."
I won't start another "bm op!" discussion but I'd like to see people come up with new ways to play rather than just following the latest bo fads that they see in tournaments.
Well i think the long term of sc2 was always going to be this way, and that doesnt mean that the viewing aspect cant be huge. Brood war was not, by any real standards, hugely popular, it had a very niche and very solid community behind it, very few casuals, the people who were involved got involved, be it on communities or stream watching. Sc2 will be like that too, it should be bigger but we're not going to see it on tv regularly having "swept America". But thats fine, the expansions will bolster it for the next few years and hopefully the tournaments will stick around, though i question how long the gsl will personally.
Zombie Monkey on
League of Legends - Enzo III
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
I am also playing Warsow instead of SC2 mostly. And some SFIV.
There are too many worthwhile games at the moment. I should probably end it all now.
I am also playing Dwarf Fortress along with some online edition of the Carcassonne board game with a German client.
You never played SC2 anyway don't lie
I totes played a bunch in beta !
The whole SEA debacle wasn't great for me, being forced into 500 ping kind of sucks !
that was ages ago that that was fixed it is a dumb reason to be using now
Sort of lowered my interest by a large amount though because I was unable to do it for a month or two.
Then people started playing Warsow again. Then AUSPAX. Then it is now and I am an alcoholic.
Anecdotal evidence mostly, both on Eu and US the numbers of people playing "in your region" is nowehere near what it used to be, even a month ago, its hard to find games sometimes whereas it used to take no time, in all of the leagues ive been in between 50 and 60% of players arent laddering at all. Hell in my Diamond division i think only 2 people are laddering at the moment on EU. Couple this with declining stream views, tournament views (in general) and SC2 has declined some.
I had a friends list of about 80 or so and only 5 of them are playing sc2 on any regular basis now
There was a very noticeable decline after the release of Cataclysm. However, I disagree with your statement that the number of people playing "in your region" isn't close to what it was a month ago. I look at those numbers daily, and I have consistently seen higher numbers over the last few weeks than I did in December. All extremely anecdotal evidence of course, but I do not believe the sky is falling by any means. The stream viewer numbers also seem around the same they always have. Day9 had 6.3k last night. The TL Open last Saturday peaked at around 7k. The SCReddit tourney peaked at 15k or something I think? That was just last month. That is no more or less than what we had 6 months ago. I've watched streams/tournies religiously since the beta and I am pretty confident in that statement.
I definitely agree that ladder map pool changes are extremely necessary for the long term health of the game, but short term I personally see SC2 more as stabilizing than declining. Has it declined from release till now? Obviously yes, but all games do. I think people who expected this game to take the west by storm were a bit unrealistic. There was a large pop at release, a natural decline, and now is when it stabilizes and grows. It's up to Blizzard for that to happen obviously, but they have never let me down before and I don't see how it will be any different with this game.
the number of players has definitely dropped. The skill level of silver-plat players that I am playing is far higher than silver-plat players at the first two months of launch because mostly noobs left.
the number of players has definitely dropped. The skill level of silver-plat players that I am playing is far higher than silver-plat players at the first two months of launch because mostly noobs left.
and there will be a rebirth of newbies and numbers when each exp pack is released.
the number of players has definitely dropped. The skill level of silver-plat players that I am playing is far higher than silver-plat players at the first two months of launch because mostly noobs left.
and there will be a rebirth of newbies and numbers when each exp pack is released.
I'm actually happy with the large drop in players. You get rid of the people who don't really care to play the game or play it well. I really hate getting cheesed and those players who will cheese as their only build should get tired of the game after a while (or at least playing a single build). Of course there will always be trolls. But I think the game will mature well as time goes on. Losing players may not be so bad.
Jesus christ, like, this game's interesting but these casters are so obnoxious, on top of making factual errors left and right and sounding bored as hell.
kedinik on
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MaratastikJust call me Mara, please!Registered Userregular
While it's obvious that BW had harder mechanics, I'll always find it ridiculous when people say how easy SC2 is when so many people, including pros, suffer so badly from 1 control group syndrome
If it really is ez mode people should be all over the fucking place with that excess apm
Actually this is something I been meaning to discuss and since you brought it up....
Currently, I believe "1 control group syndrome" is more the fault of the game/map pool than the players. IMO there just isn't an incentive to keep your army split up. Maps are small, which means you can cover your territory pretty easily with one big group of units...and it also means your enemy can hit you with his deathball at a moments notice and if your units are spread out all over the place well...
I also think that the mechanics of the game/current meta game also favors keeping all your units together. B/c your opponent is going to be attacking with his big blob of units...so you need your big blob of units to defend. Starcraft 2 favors the deathball. It just seems, in my view, that other than drops or keeping a couple units back to defend against drops, there isn't much reason not to keep your whole army together.
Personally, I wish the game was more dynamic than two deathballs going at it...hopefully different maps will change this.
Jesus christ, like, this game's interesting but these casters are so obnoxious, on top of making factual errors left and right and sounding bored as hell.
Ragequit sets the standard in horrible, horrible casting.
While it's obvious that BW had harder mechanics, I'll always find it ridiculous when people say how easy SC2 is when so many people, including pros, suffer so badly from 1 control group syndrome
If it really is ez mode people should be all over the fucking place with that excess apm
Actually this is something I been meaning to discuss and since you brought it up....
Currently, I believe "1 control group syndrome" is more the fault of the game/map pool than the players. IMO there just isn't an incentive to keep your army split up. Maps are small, which means you can cover your territory pretty easily with one big group of units...and it also means your enemy can hit you with his deathball at a moments notice and if your units are spread out all over the place well...
I also think that the mechanics of the game/current meta game also favors keeping all your units together. B/c your opponent is going to be attacking with his big blob of units...so you need your big blob of units to defend. Starcraft 2 favors the deathball. It just seems, in my view, that other than drops or keeping a couple units back to defend against drops, there isn't much reason not to keep your whole army together.
Personally, I wish the game was more dynamic than two deathballs going at it...hopefully different maps will change this.
yo olorin i got a new build ima try against ur build.
and we can try that marine timing push if i can execute it right.
hit me up
I should be on around the same time I was last night.
Too much unit cohesion?
Ezekiel on
I will throw you on the land and hurl you on the open field. I will let all the birds of the air settle on you and all the beasts of the earth gorge themselves on you. I will spread your flesh on the mountains and fill the valleys with your remains. I will drench the land with your flowing blood all the way to the mountains, and the ravines will be filled with your flesh. - Ezekiel 32: 4-6
While it's obvious that BW had harder mechanics, I'll always find it ridiculous when people say how easy SC2 is when so many people, including pros, suffer so badly from 1 control group syndrome
If it really is ez mode people should be all over the fucking place with that excess apm
Actually this is something I been meaning to discuss and since you brought it up....
Currently, I believe "1 control group syndrome" is more the fault of the game/map pool than the players. IMO there just isn't an incentive to keep your army split up. Maps are small, which means you can cover your territory pretty easily with one big group of units...and it also means your enemy can hit you with his deathball at a moments notice and if your units are spread out all over the place well...
I also think that the mechanics of the game/current meta game also favors keeping all your units together. B/c your opponent is going to be attacking with his big blob of units...so you need your big blob of units to defend. Starcraft 2 favors the deathball. It just seems, in my view, that other than drops or keeping a couple units back to defend against drops, there isn't much reason not to keep your whole army together.
Personally, I wish the game was more dynamic than two deathballs going at it...hopefully different maps will change this.
I agree with the map thing, but still stand by my point. Even if it's not spreading out ones army across a map, basic positioning, like zealots at the front and not letting ultras get stuck behind hydras, is often neglected.
BW had harder mechanics because of the 12 unit cap. That's about it.
And workers couldn't be rallied to minerals.
And you couldn't build out of multiple buildings in a control group, you had to select each building individually.
Neither affected gameplay significantly.
The inability to a-move my goons/zels into a T line however is much more prominent. Also hotkeys like Mr. Avenger said being literally across the gat damn keyboard.
At the end of the day we can all agree, Brood war is the greatest game of all time, and only open heart surgery compares to it in terms of mechanics. That people are still alive after a 20 minute game of brood war is nothing short of amazing.
Posts
You never played SC2 anyway don't lie
Where is that info from?
I totes played a bunch in beta !
The whole SEA debacle wasn't great for me, being forced into 500 ping kind of sucks !
I had a friends list of about 80 or so and only 5 of them are playing sc2 on any regular basis now
Guess that just happens when the Gaming Industry churns out awesome games every month now
This is what I usually cry myself to sleep with:
"Zerg literarily use every single tech tree to stay alive and win... and the others have so many abilities not being used."
I won't start another "bm op!" discussion but I'd like to see people come up with new ways to play rather than just following the latest bo fads that they see in tournaments.
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
that was ages ago that that was fixed it is a dumb reason to be using now
I am not better than a lot of the people that are under me. You fools should ladder, so less is expected of me
Sort of lowered my interest by a large amount though because I was unable to do it for a month or two.
Then people started playing Warsow again. Then AUSPAX. Then it is now and I am an alcoholic.
There was a very noticeable decline after the release of Cataclysm. However, I disagree with your statement that the number of people playing "in your region" isn't close to what it was a month ago. I look at those numbers daily, and I have consistently seen higher numbers over the last few weeks than I did in December. All extremely anecdotal evidence of course, but I do not believe the sky is falling by any means. The stream viewer numbers also seem around the same they always have. Day9 had 6.3k last night. The TL Open last Saturday peaked at around 7k. The SCReddit tourney peaked at 15k or something I think? That was just last month. That is no more or less than what we had 6 months ago. I've watched streams/tournies religiously since the beta and I am pretty confident in that statement.
I definitely agree that ladder map pool changes are extremely necessary for the long term health of the game, but short term I personally see SC2 more as stabilizing than declining. Has it declined from release till now? Obviously yes, but all games do. I think people who expected this game to take the west by storm were a bit unrealistic. There was a large pop at release, a natural decline, and now is when it stabilizes and grows. It's up to Blizzard for that to happen obviously, but they have never let me down before and I don't see how it will be any different with this game.
and we can try that marine timing push if i can execute it right.
hit me up
More good Black Dragon League games tonight, too.
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
and there will be a rebirth of newbies and numbers when each exp pack is released.
Joe's Stream.
I'm actually happy with the large drop in players. You get rid of the people who don't really care to play the game or play it well. I really hate getting cheesed and those players who will cheese as their only build should get tired of the game after a while (or at least playing a single build). Of course there will always be trolls. But I think the game will mature well as time goes on. Losing players may not be so bad.
I wish I had the same fucking utility that warp gates give you to warp in units WHENEVER YOU FUCKING WANT ANYWHERE YOU FUCKING WANT
Actually this is something I been meaning to discuss and since you brought it up....
Currently, I believe "1 control group syndrome" is more the fault of the game/map pool than the players. IMO there just isn't an incentive to keep your army split up. Maps are small, which means you can cover your territory pretty easily with one big group of units...and it also means your enemy can hit you with his deathball at a moments notice and if your units are spread out all over the place well...
I also think that the mechanics of the game/current meta game also favors keeping all your units together. B/c your opponent is going to be attacking with his big blob of units...so you need your big blob of units to defend. Starcraft 2 favors the deathball. It just seems, in my view, that other than drops or keeping a couple units back to defend against drops, there isn't much reason not to keep your whole army together.
Personally, I wish the game was more dynamic than two deathballs going at it...hopefully different maps will change this.
I should be on around the same time I was last night.
Ragequit sets the standard in horrible, horrible casting.
Too much unit cohesion?
I agree with the map thing, but still stand by my point. Even if it's not spreading out ones army across a map, basic positioning, like zealots at the front and not letting ultras get stuck behind hydras, is often neglected.
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
that is not accurate
And workers couldn't be rallied to minerals.
And you couldn't build out of multiple buildings in a control group, you had to select each building individually.
Neither affected gameplay significantly.
The inability to a-move my goons/zels into a T line however is much more prominent. Also hotkeys like Mr. Avenger said being literally across the gat damn keyboard.
and reavers
and firebats
B.net: Kusanku
B.net: Kusanku