The Starcraft II beta is kind of horrifying--their excellent matchmaking ensures games are always very intense. Pardo actually commented on this at the Game Developer's Conference:
"If your matchmaking is really good, it means that for every single game, you're kind of the edge of your seat," Pardo said. "After you play an hour or two of games like that, you're kind of exhausted. So we're actually talking about, 'Is that the right matchmaking approach?' You might want to add a little sloppiness to the matchmaking. Maybe that means sometimes you get stomped, but sometimes you have easier games. And sometimes you have the really competitive games. It's got better pacing.
So there's that interesting human element there--how wide do your want your matchmaking algorithm to get? Personally, I enjoy the nightmare intensity; it means I more easily get my fill for the night. Is only being able to play a few games at a time actually a bad thing? I guess it might be from Blizzard's perspective.
If you're in the beta, try playing 2v2 with a friend against the Internet. If you're losing you can at least lose together. Think of it as a co-founder ;)
It tries to match you as evenly as possible to start.
If you get hot, it will find better players.
If you lose a bunch, it will try matching you with worse ones.
(based on ranking)
I play platinum 2v2 and gold 1v1 and that's been what i've noticed. It feels like it's sorta testing out where you belong and fit in at every point in time. It also widens the matching if it can't find anyone rather than waiting... those games can get ugly fast in any direction.
PS - cheesy strats sometimes work on really good players because they forget how silly they are. I cannon rushed a guy sitting in the top of platinum league yesterday and I haven't seen anyone rage that hard in a while.
So after playing LoL for awhile, which has a much sloppier matchup algo (it's harder to do accurately in 5 v 5 than 1 v 1) I have to tell you, better is better. The intensity of matches is part of what's made me switch to SC2.
The problem with the sloppy algo is that it's rarely fun. 45% of the time you're crushing the other team so easily that it's kinda boring. 45% of the time you have 0 shot of winning, and know this in a few minutes but it takes a half hour or more. 10% of the time it's close and then it's actually fun.
I've been in the beta for a while now and I can confirm this is the case. I actually laughed when I read your post, because I definitely play 2s to relax after an intense 1s session.
Well, I am not in beta but I like this approach. It is much better to play a close game than to get destroyed by someone that is so much better than you that there is no contest. And of course while it is sometimes fun to stomp on a newbie, that gets old too.
You learn the most from close games. You learn nothing from beating someone much worse than you. And when you are destroyed by someone much better you also usually do not learn much because you are so far behind that usually you do not know what hit you.
2v2's are fantastic, but sometimes a chosen team gets matched against a random team, which usually results in a lame game. Hopefully this is due to the beta having fewer people
I prefer being optimistic: it gives me a great incentive to have the new product launched (and thus past the point where I work long stretches of consecutive hours) by 7/27.
If I'm still knee deep in Twilio code then, well, no Starcraft for me. If I'm launched and just waiting for Google to start ranking me, blocking on A/B test results, or otherwise not very active, well, I know how to make the waiting more pleasant.
as a Beta participant I'll testify it is addictive. However Ladder games are just high speed chess and really get your mental juices flowing in general.
For those who didn't know, you can pre-order from Amazon, Best Buy, or Gamestop and get a beta key, so that Starcraft II can destroy your life before it even ships.
Last night, at 7 PM, there were 25,000 people on Battle.net, so it's a fairly large beta.
And speaking of Starcraft 2 and coding, here is a Raphael.js / jQuery web app that matches up units currently in the Beta against each other: http://scstrategy.com/matchup
>According to Lee, there are almost 20,000 PC Bangs in Korea and they collectively make about 120 billion wons (about 100 million US dollars) every month. Lee has also stated that “This is not the only source of economic influence achieved by gaming. There are three cable channels for starcraft leagues and tournaments, as well as thirteen other professional teams. These game broadcasts have potentials to be exported into other countries, just like how Korean dramas were actively exported throughout Asia during 2002-2006.”
Really way too soon for me to start promoting my little side project, but I guess I could use some feedback on the idea before I start investing too much of my spare time...
Anyway, I'm planning on launching something I call the Starcraft 2 University (http://sc2uni.com), which (hopefully) will help people find tutors for personal training sessions (the idea comes from online poker where this is quite popular). I'd love some feedback on the idea - the site currently up is simply just for collecting some e-mails - none of my actual code is up yet (although I'm planning to go with this layout and "design language").
I'm also extremely happy that it will be released on OSX too. I hope this is part of a new trend now that Macs are selling better than a few years ago (and the Intel hardware can't hurt).
I have always been AOE follower, I have been observing the hype over Starcraft lately and wondering how is Starcraft different from AOE? (its like is it something huge I am missing)
Totally different style of play. It's very similar to the difference between Halo and UT2k4. Not only do the econs function differently, I always felt that SC was more micro intensive, or at least when it actually comes to combat.
SC also used more soft counters compared to AOE with more hard counters. What I mean by that is that in AOE (from what I remember, its been years), counters are more or less put down in stone. If your mass of pikemen ran into a mass of footmen, then your pikemen would more or less get raped. Same with cavalry charging into pikemen. No amount of micro will save you. In SC, even when your army has been countered (your muta swarm runs into a huge mass of medics and marines), it's possible (very hard, but possible) to snatch away at least a partial victory with the proper application of micro.
The games also feel completely different when the three races are fundamentally different, as opposed to being more or less the same with different bonuses and special units.
Whatever I put above has been clouded by the fact that I have never seen really high level AOE play, and have spent days of my life watching high level SC.
The Mac beta is finally available for users in Europe, I'm currently downloading the 3 GB file, I'm assuming the latest patches are already included because the filesize is significantly larger then on Windows.
I've been playing on my MBP w/ 2.4 ghz c2d and 8600m and its been working surprisingly well. I dialed down the setting just to maximize FPS, but other than weird choppiness with the menu screen the game has been very stable.
I'm pretty new to the game but I'm starting to get the hang of it, if anyone wants to skirmish or give me some tips my id is corohd.warpath
I'm not sure exactly what hardware that entails, but I'll guarantee you can at least play the game. Perhaps not with every setting on Ultra, but with some fine tuning I'm sure it'd play fine. The game scales well.
I'm really lucky it runs really bad on a MBP, if I want to get into that timesink I'll have to invest on a gaming pc, hopefully I can fight the urge for a while.
[+] [-] matthew-wegner|16 years ago|reply
"If your matchmaking is really good, it means that for every single game, you're kind of the edge of your seat," Pardo said. "After you play an hour or two of games like that, you're kind of exhausted. So we're actually talking about, 'Is that the right matchmaking approach?' You might want to add a little sloppiness to the matchmaking. Maybe that means sometimes you get stomped, but sometimes you have easier games. And sometimes you have the really competitive games. It's got better pacing.
(From http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99211-Battle-net-S...)
So there's that interesting human element there--how wide do your want your matchmaking algorithm to get? Personally, I enjoy the nightmare intensity; it means I more easily get my fill for the night. Is only being able to play a few games at a time actually a bad thing? I guess it might be from Blizzard's perspective.
If you're in the beta, try playing 2v2 with a friend against the Internet. If you're losing you can at least lose together. Think of it as a co-founder ;)
[+] [-] ohashi|16 years ago|reply
It tries to match you as evenly as possible to start.
If you get hot, it will find better players.
If you lose a bunch, it will try matching you with worse ones.
(based on ranking)
I play platinum 2v2 and gold 1v1 and that's been what i've noticed. It feels like it's sorta testing out where you belong and fit in at every point in time. It also widens the matching if it can't find anyone rather than waiting... those games can get ugly fast in any direction.
PS - cheesy strats sometimes work on really good players because they forget how silly they are. I cannon rushed a guy sitting in the top of platinum league yesterday and I haven't seen anyone rage that hard in a while.
[+] [-] mattmaroon|16 years ago|reply
The problem with the sloppy algo is that it's rarely fun. 45% of the time you're crushing the other team so easily that it's kinda boring. 45% of the time you have 0 shot of winning, and know this in a few minutes but it takes a half hour or more. 10% of the time it's close and then it's actually fun.
[+] [-] tsally|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hristov|16 years ago|reply
You learn the most from close games. You learn nothing from beating someone much worse than you. And when you are destroyed by someone much better you also usually do not learn much because you are so far behind that usually you do not know what hit you.
[+] [-] hassy|16 years ago|reply
who wants a game?
[+] [-] Psyonic|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baddox|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hartror|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] patio11|16 years ago|reply
If I'm still knee deep in Twilio code then, well, no Starcraft for me. If I'm launched and just waiting for Google to start ranking me, blocking on A/B test results, or otherwise not very active, well, I know how to make the waiting more pleasant.
[+] [-] metamemetics|16 years ago|reply
Any fans should check out the HDH Invitational tournament underway: http://www.youtube.com/user/hdstarcraft , http://www.youtube.com/user/HuskyStarcraft (these guys sportcast SC games and consistently have more viewers than ESPN's youtube channel)
[+] [-] ohashi|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ZachPruckowski|16 years ago|reply
Last night, at 7 PM, there were 25,000 people on Battle.net, so it's a fairly large beta.
[+] [-] hristov|16 years ago|reply
Boy did I waste enough time on battlenet.
[+] [-] light3|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] teebes|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] colbyolson|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Psyonic|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] heresy|16 years ago|reply
I just got myself off WoW.
Now this, and Diablo 3 coming later...
In other news, the Korean economy is expected to contract from August.
[+] [-] metamemetics|16 years ago|reply
>According to Lee, there are almost 20,000 PC Bangs in Korea and they collectively make about 120 billion wons (about 100 million US dollars) every month. Lee has also stated that “This is not the only source of economic influence achieved by gaming. There are three cable channels for starcraft leagues and tournaments, as well as thirteen other professional teams. These game broadcasts have potentials to be exported into other countries, just like how Korean dramas were actively exported throughout Asia during 2002-2006.”
[+] [-] vishaldpatel|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hobbe|16 years ago|reply
Anyway, I'm planning on launching something I call the Starcraft 2 University (http://sc2uni.com), which (hopefully) will help people find tutors for personal training sessions (the idea comes from online poker where this is quite popular). I'd love some feedback on the idea - the site currently up is simply just for collecting some e-mails - none of my actual code is up yet (although I'm planning to go with this layout and "design language").
[+] [-] truebosko|16 years ago|reply
Then I got the SC2 Beta from a friend. Oh man, so awesome.
(Not addicted .. but oh so fun. Love Blizzard)
[+] [-] MikeCapone|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hyperbovine|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] enterneo|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] apu|16 years ago|reply
The other difference is Koreans. They rule at SC.
[+] [-] baddox|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] icegreentea|16 years ago|reply
SC also used more soft counters compared to AOE with more hard counters. What I mean by that is that in AOE (from what I remember, its been years), counters are more or less put down in stone. If your mass of pikemen ran into a mass of footmen, then your pikemen would more or less get raped. Same with cavalry charging into pikemen. No amount of micro will save you. In SC, even when your army has been countered (your muta swarm runs into a huge mass of medics and marines), it's possible (very hard, but possible) to snatch away at least a partial victory with the proper application of micro.
The games also feel completely different when the three races are fundamentally different, as opposed to being more or less the same with different bonuses and special units.
Whatever I put above has been clouded by the fact that I have never seen really high level AOE play, and have spent days of my life watching high level SC.
[+] [-] bittersweet|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] city41|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MikeCapone|16 years ago|reply
Any idea how it would run on a 2008 Mac Pro with the base ATI GPU (2600 HD iirc)?
[+] [-] slyn|16 years ago|reply
I'm pretty new to the game but I'm starting to get the hang of it, if anyone wants to skirmish or give me some tips my id is corohd.warpath
[+] [-] Psyonic|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brianm|16 years ago|reply
Forum with mac beta system reqs listing is at http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=24630623195&...
In general, folks have been able to run much higher graphic settings on windows in bootcamp than on the mac itself.
[+] [-] albemuth|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] d0m|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JeeyoungKim|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rogermugs|16 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] nessence|16 years ago|reply
Say it with me:
I PROMISE NOT TO BUY SCII INSTEAD OF BUILDING MY COMPANY
I PROMISE NOT TO BUY SCII INSTEAD OF BUILDING MY COMPANY
I PROMISE NOT TO BUY SCII INSTEAD OF BUILDING MY COMPANY
I PROMISE NOT TO BUY SCII INSTEAD OF BUILDING MY COMPANY
I PROMISE NOT TO BUY SCII INSTEAD OF BUILDING MY COMPANY
[+] [-] sonofjanoh|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Psyonic|16 years ago|reply