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On August 09 2013 19:54 Gonzo103 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2013 19:42 Snowbear wrote: SC2 is actually pretty good. The problem is that people prefer these MOBA games which 1) are played in team, 2) are easier, 3) are free (LoL at least). Imagine these MOBA games weren't there. There would be much more sc2 players. as stated in the MLG thread by many's already ... the 4.) problem is that Sc2 is not that good of an spectator sport!
Still much better then any MOBA though.
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On August 09 2013 19:53 Big J wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2013 19:50 Rabiator wrote:On August 09 2013 19:42 Snowbear wrote: SC2 is actually pretty good. The problem is that people prefer these MOBA games which 1) are played in team, 2) are easier, 3) are free (LoL at least). Imagine these MOBA games weren't there. There would be much more sc2 players. The problem is that SC2 is not easy to play because of the "millisecond response time" you get due to the massive armies (which result in massive dps and thus lower the reaction time to "less than a second or your forces are dead"). This is a design flaw. The antisocial aspect of lacking chat channels doesnt help form / support a community either. The massive army aspect really makes team games (like the Day[9] classic BW BGH 2v2v2v2 game) really terrible in SC2) due to the "too high army dps" problem. It's funny, you didn't complain about SC2 being "too fast" in WoL. But then blizzard introduced the medivac boosters and gave mutalisks a 6.25% speed buff, and you have been pesky about it ever since. One may even think you just like to bash on everything SC2 is that BW was not
I don't want to go into balance, but a bit slower pace and/or reduced damage overall would give good players more/better opportunity to react. In the state its now, some strategies and timings or situations give you no time to react and I don't speak for me that I cannot react in time, but neither can the very top. If a warpprism lands in your base and the forcefield is casted, there is nothing more to react. Even if you realized it, physically giving the advice to the troups can never be as fast as the thought. When its a bit slower, you might give the troops the order so you could potentially defend.
I think Starcraft 2 is a very good game, but overall reduced damage or speed might increase the skill ceiling and potential of the game. I don't know, but it would be easy to find out :D
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On August 09 2013 19:54 Gonzo103 wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2013 19:42 Snowbear wrote: SC2 is actually pretty good. The problem is that people prefer these MOBA games which 1) are played in team, 2) are easier, 3) are free (LoL at least). Imagine these MOBA games weren't there. There would be much more sc2 players. as stated in the MLG thread by many's already ... the 4.) problem is that Sc2 is not that good of an spectator sport!
You kidding right? SC2 is perfect as a spectator sport. It's amazing to see the top sc2 players play. Watching good micro, multitasking, sick strategies etc...
On the other hand LoL is boring as fuck to spectate: first you see some laning, then you see some teamfights where you think "wtf is happening", then the teamfight is over.
SC2 > LoL as spectator sport IMO.
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Ah, I'm glad someone is striking at the heart of the issue instead of blaming production quality, other business, etc. After watching Starcraft 2 for 3 years, I started to realize how just how much this community is held back by the quality of the game. Sadly the only one that can make a difference is Blizzard, and I find it highly unlikely that will ever happen. They have one more shot with legacy of the void before Esports hangs on the hinges of Moba's. ...which is incredibly unfortunate.
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Is it possible to pass Starcraft 2 in Free to Play? imo F2P = more players = more viewers on streams event = more money for organisers = everybody happy no?
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Even if Blizzard decides in theory that something needs to be changed, they'll do it their way and they'll do it much much later than needed. Hey how are they gonna sell LoV if they put everything we want in HotS.
There is that thing about Dota2/LoL being f2p, while blizzard games are too costly, that hinders a lot of players from entering the SC2 scene. The starter edition is miserable, it offers nothing and by playing it, if I didn't know beforehand I would've never bought the game.
Why don't they start to control their greed a bit and offer an alternative, they can't compete with f2p like this. I was thinking something along these lines:
1) Have 2 versions of SC2. One competitive as f2p and one as a complete package for the same price they are selling WoL and HotS.
2) Let the complete package have everything the intended to put in the game like single player, multiplayer, skins, decals, portraits, all achievements and so on
3) Let the competitive versions have only matchmaking (ranked, unranked, custom), watching replays, chat channels and other things that are needed for someone who wants to play competitive SC2.
That way new players can try the game, play with their friends after watching WCS and if they want more achievement points, or some portrait they can buy the complete package.
Moreover I can't help but feel that Blizzard is always many steps too late in everything they do.
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On August 09 2013 19:50 kaluro wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2013 19:08 Strelok wrote:On August 09 2013 19:00 saddaromma wrote: Strelok, you should participate in some show like SOTG or Inside Of The Game, and give your insights. If you, progamers, group up and right a real letter maybe blizzard will start listening. Its better if you write it directly to Blizzard's CEO. I already pointed out, that Blizzard doesn't talk with progamers. Not only me. For example, Grubby has stated on several occassions, even in interviews, that he is approached by blizzard quite often. For both general feedback as more balance-wise feedback. Also you say sc II is stagnating, I say sc2 is reaching the highest viewer numbers it ever has, on twitch and gom.tv combined. And if you see how many new players are playing the game right now ( Look at all those diamond players getting pushed upwards into masters league, because the lower leagues are now taken by the mass of new (or returning) players), I say sc2 is doing pretty damn well. It will never be and has never been as popular as the Easy-to-understand and free-to-play League of Legends, but that was never the case in the first place. Compare sc2 to sc2 3 years ago, not sc2 to LoL at the moment. Not doing well enough to compete with Dota and LoL as an e-sport. Other games increasing their bases way faster than SC2 does so it's considered "declining" cuz money rolling in sc2 is decresing because of that. One of the reason MLG doesn't want sc2 anymore.
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On August 09 2013 18:34 Strelok wrote: SCII becoming less popular. By little or by much? I don't know. But you can't ignore the fact, that instead of developing we start to get at least stagnation, if not worse. I was trying to contact Blizzard for several reasons during WoL. The reasons were different. I didn't get response for my feedback even a single time. I tried to talk with stuff from Blizzard, but no success. Even special meetings which were made for such a "discussions" were just for "V" in their diaries, not for discussion. I still remeber how in august 2012 in Germany progamers gathered together and tried to discuss with David Kim infestors and their imbalance in very late game, but he simply refused to listen. During next several months after that - huge number terran/protoss players retired. Noone wants to loose just because it's almost impossible to win. Maybe, if he listened, that wouldn't happen.
So i am writing here the open letter to Blizzard. Maybe now, they will answer for at least some of those questions.
1. Do you like how Starcraft develops? What do you plan to do to remain on level with such games as Dota, World of Tanks and LoL?
2. How WCS develops SCII scene? What will you say if WCS will be having top-8 each region as koreans? How will it help to develop young talents all over the world? How in general the participation of korean players who live and practise in Korea and then come to Europe and NA for 1-2 days for playing WCS and taking money away to Korea "develops" European and NA scene of Starcraft II?
3. In continuation to previous questions. Don't you fear that WCS will simply kill small(medium) online/lan events, because noone takes care of them, since WCS is always on a screens? And if it will be happening like that, how young potential stars can develop? There won't be small cups and big cups are taken by koreans in all 3 regions? Who will invest money in youngsters then?
4. Which are your nearest plans regarding battle.net upgrades? Why during all that time you still didn't make channels, like in SC:BW, where people from 1 region appear in a channel and can easily discuss stuff with friends? Don't you feel like every person feels "forever alone" in SC2? Why person can't race pick against every race, because it doesn't like, for example, mirrors?
5. What do you think about situation, in which terran as race almost disappeared from GML league in EU and NA servers? (47 from 200 in NA, 49 from 180 in Europe). Not so long ago you said that "Protosses simply lack of good players". So what happened to terrans then?
Dear community, if you agree with me - spread this letter wherever you can, add your questions (the biggest ones i will add in my first post). Only together we can manage to reach Blizzard and make them to answer to REALLY PROBLEMATIC questions. And even if with our efforts - we won't manage to get the answer... Well that will be also an answer from Blizzard to all of us. Now we can change something to a good side. Later - who knows?
1. Remain on level? Too late bro....now we're playing catch up from waaaaaaay behind.
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On August 09 2013 19:59 Snowbear wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2013 19:54 Gonzo103 wrote:On August 09 2013 19:42 Snowbear wrote: SC2 is actually pretty good. The problem is that people prefer these MOBA games which 1) are played in team, 2) are easier, 3) are free (LoL at least). Imagine these MOBA games weren't there. There would be much more sc2 players. as stated in the MLG thread by many's already ... the 4.) problem is that Sc2 is not that good of an spectator sport! You kidding right? SC2 is perfect as a spectator sport. It's amazing to see the top sc2 players play. Watching good micro, multitasking, sick strategies etc... On the other hand LoL is boring as fuck to spectate: first you see some laning, then you see some teamfights where you think "wtf is happening", then the teamfight is over. SC2 > LoL as spectator sport IMO.
SC2 is hard to understand if you are not playing/watching it. LoL too, but more people play LoL. I don't think either of them is a good spectator sport compared to the simiplicity of watching football. They won't ever exceed their player base in terms of viewer numbers.
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On August 09 2013 19:47 Big J wrote: - Chatchannels have been improved a lot over the course of SC2. I don't quite understand the problem you have with them.
lol chatchannels have improved? then why is it when i join the TL channel of the TL group that i am the only one talking? i never go into chat channels because nobody pays attention to them, i am the only one talking and that is boring as fuck. when i played brood war last year on iccup there weren't many people but they were damn sure talking their ass off.
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On August 09 2013 19:42 Snowbear wrote: SC2 is actually pretty good. The problem is that people prefer these MOBA games which 1) are played in team, 2) are easier, 3) are free (LoL at least). Imagine these MOBA games weren't there. There would be much more sc2 players. Or they are just more fun to play? Ever thought of that possibility?
I've played a lot of SC2, problem is that I don't find the ladder very fun because it feels alone. Like I might as well go play 100 games vs bots and there won't be much of a difference really. The teamgames turned into cheesefests so I just stopped playing and only watched.
As a Dota player, even if it didn't exist I would still probably not play SC2 so it wouldn't increase the playerbase like you think. The game is not very fun to play for me and many others.
Biggest reason Dota/LoL has a big success atm is because their developers listens to the community. They realize that the best way to make money is to make the community happy.
"Do you really want chat channels?"
Valve and Riot wouldn't even have asked and just done it. That's the difference.
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On August 09 2013 20:04 SCguineapig wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2013 19:47 Big J wrote: - Chatchannels have been improved a lot over the course of SC2. I don't quite understand the problem you have with them.
lol chatchannels have improved? then why is it when i join the TL channel of the TL group that i am the only one talking? i never go into chat channels because nobody pays attention to them, i am the only one talking and that is boring as fuck. when i played brood war last year on iccup there weren't many people but they were damn sure talking their ass off. You cant really force people to use the chat channels. Unless you disable alt+tab. They exist and people are in them... they just dont use them for some reason.
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B.net channels is a good point, attention from WCS to ensure smaller leagues and tournaments get space to breathe is a good point.
Rest of your post I couldn't disagree more.
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Why do we always have these threads where we try to figure out why people like to play other games? And why does it always come down to chat channels, like they would "save" SC2?
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On August 09 2013 20:01 coyote37 wrote: Is it possible to pass Starcraft 2 in Free to Play? imo F2P = more players = more viewers on streams event = more money for organisers = everybody happy no?
=hackers get a new free account everytime they get banned. (not that blizzard is trying that hard on the hacking department)
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On August 09 2013 20:04 SCguineapig wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2013 19:47 Big J wrote: - Chatchannels have been improved a lot over the course of SC2. I don't quite understand the problem you have with them.
lol chatchannels have improved? then why is it when i join the TL channel of the TL group that i am the only one talking? i never go into chat channels because nobody pays attention to them, i am the only one talking and that is boring as fuck. when i played brood war last year on iccup there weren't many people but they were damn sure talking their ass off.
Is that the problem of the chatchannels? I enjoy playing the game very much without talking with 14yo's raging after everygame. From the experiences I have made with SC2 chatchannels they come down to: "PROTOSS IS SO IMBA. FUCK THAT RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - comments. The only useful Chatchannel in SC2 I still use is the Starbow channel, because everybody knows everyone around there and tries not to rage and whine after each and everygame.
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On August 09 2013 20:03 HeartOfTheSwarm wrote: Moreover I can't help but feel that Blizzard is always many steps too late in everything they do. This.
I've always disliked the fact that Blizzard were too slow in responding to community feedback with regards to gameplay, sometimes making extremely dubious decisions. Decisions like:
1. Ladder map pools, spawn positions, blockable ramps. 2. Late nerfing of Infestors (as opposed to really quick nerfing of hellions, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember) 3. The sad state of custom games.
I won't go into the business aspects of things as they probably have their own strategy with regards to that, but it's silly how decisions like that (which have almost 0 impact on their bottom lines) are delayed so long that it often comes too late. Its almost like it seems that Blizzard live in their own world which is separate from the world the rest of the community lives in.
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On August 09 2013 20:09 Plansix wrote: Why do we always have these threads where we try to figure out why people like to play other games? And why does it always come down to chat channels, like they would "save" SC2?
how can't you see that little kids raging against each other in the 60seconds before the matchmaking has found a new game for them does not save SC2?
I think people should be forced to whine at least once after everygame to be allowed to start a new one! That would improve our community so much.
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I find WCS has about 10k-20k per day for EU and for US. I'm asleep during Korea one but I assume similar or greater numbers.
It seems to me that more people are watching consistently *because* of WCS and then spike up during weekend events of which there is one every few months. This feels like a kind of ebb and flow that is desired. No overrsaturation, just consistency.
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I really hope Blizzard answers this community letter.
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