I've been playing the Starcraft 2 Starter Edition for a few days now and have watched hours of beginner's guides on YouTube, but I still can only win against the Very Easy AI. I really want to get into playing Starcraft, but I don't know if I will be able to. Should I buy the full game, and about how long should it take me to be any good (I don't care what level I'm at, bronze is fine, I just want to be able to win multiplayer matches)?
EDIT: (more info) I come from an FPS-game background, sucked at that, and haven't played a multiplayer FPS in about a year. I've recently gotten into strategy games, starting with Civilization V in June, and I really enjoy the genre...
I just want to know if I should buy the game and keep working at it (I want to play Protoss, but only Terran is available in the Starter Edition) or abandon ship since I'm short on money right now, and soon to be short on time once I go back to school. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks for responding :) I've been watching Day 9 all evening actually and his mental checklist episode has helped me a bit. I'm thinking about buying the game tomorrow. What do you think would be most helpful to help me improve, playing against AI, playing co-op against the AI, or just playing regular games?
1What do you think would be most helpful to help me improve, playing against AI, playing co-op against the AI, or just playing regular games?
by stephenkistner
Finding/having friends to play with on a regular basis, ones you can look at as rivals, will give you motivation to improve and reduce pressure from losing.
When you have that or are otherwise strongly disciplined the most important thing in any game you play is to a) make sure you're always making workers, distributing them equally among your minerals b) spend all your money without queuing up units & without getting supply blocked c) find stuff to do with your units in between a) & b), like scouting, applying pressure, microing, expanding
While games against AI, co-ops versus AI or 2vs2s respectively work for practicing all of these I generally advise against using them as practice games because regular 1vs1s also teach you timings, how to react to certain unit compositions and to rely on nobody but yourself.
There is a problem with pure ladder gaming though, and that is that you have no influence over the matchups you'll have to play for any given sequence of opponents. Because it is easier to compare your games when they're of the same matchup, it is better practice to play several games of the same matchup consecutively, because it allows you to focus on the shortcoming of a previous game and try to solve it as early as the next game.
The most important thing though is that you play at all and can then look at the replays and take note of every time you failed to observe a or b. You will improve faster if you are aware of how slow you are and about when you've been slow in previous games. It will also enable you to be happy about small progressions in the flow of your game, like making your build 1 second faster purely because of better mechanical play, not getting supply blocked, ect.
1Do it. That is really the best advice i can give you. The game itself is AMAZING, but the community is one of the best parts as well. It's been an intergral part of my life for the past year and will likely continue to be for years to come. It's well worth the price.
2I say go for it as well! I bought the game at launch and now am a platinum level random player. The rewarding feeling I get after winning a game or executing a build well hasn't been rivaled by many other games.
If money is tight then just keep playing the starter edition until you can afford it, my suspicion is that the longer you play it the more hooked you'll get.
Take my advice and don't worry about "getting good" at the game, just play it and one day you'll realize you're better than you used to be, and this will only open your eyes to ways that you can still improve which i think is a cycle that never ends. But don't get too caught up in that if it ruins your fun, there are so many ways to enjoy this game, from team games to a ton of addicting custom games.
In reference to your experience with FPS i can say that one thing i love about starcraft is that you can be good all by yourself and aren't forced to lose game after game after game due solely to other people's unwillingness to be a team player such as is often the case in FPS games. In this game if you win its all because of you!
One last thing, advice i give every one that asks me about starcraft 2 is to stay away from the blizzard forums, they are filled with hateful, spiteful, entitled whiners that will suck the joy out of the game. Spend your time talking with people that also enjoy the game and the purchase will be well worth it.
2Thanks for posting about your feelings on the game. I'm a big fan of the game as well and have been playing since beta.
For me personally, I like the feeling of having a game I am playing regularly and a gaming community to be a part of. No matter how good you are there are always lots of players better and worse than you, and you can always improve if you're willing to play and practice. StarCraft II offers a lot in terms of community, practice, hard work, fun. It's even immensely fun just to watch, which is something I haven't experienced with other games.
One thing most players aren't aware of is that the majority of players playing StarCraft II are in Bronze, Silver or Gold leagues. Looking at this link from sc2ranks.com, at the bottom, it shows that 65.8% of all players are in the lower 3 leagues. So no matter how you feel, there are always players in a similar situation, also looking to learn and improve. Don't worry about not "being good". There will always be some bad mannered people in every league but there are many more good mannered people playing the game, and certainly more in SC2 than other games.
http://sc2ranks.com/stats/region/all/all/all
Welcome!
1Do you play on the north american or european server? If you're on the european, I'll use an hour or two of my time to learn you the basics of starcraft that you need in order to win matches on the ladder :)
Many people struggle with Starcraft in the start, and have issues with winning at all. The trick is to not give up. Once you're starting to get the hang of it, it's amazing! I tell you.. the first time you win a long macro game, you'll feel great. I still do. Whenever I get out of a 30 minute long intense game as the winner, there's a huge sigh of relief. If you lose; queue up, hope to face the same guy, and rip is face off.
SC2 is awesome. You should buy it.
1try to play it as much as u can, and try to get used to the mechanics and hotkeys. after that, learn some build orders and then if u feel ready buy the game.
1I think the most important thing for ALL players of starcraft2 to do is not get angry at losing. or rage. it's just 1 game. keep practicing and playing no matter what and the rest will follow. keep watching day9 and pros and you will pick up so many things to do. Keep at it and good luck. and get starcraft2.
1You should buy it :). This game is the most frustrating thing I ever played and I completely LOVE IT. I don't know a better way to encourage you to get into it. If you spend some time learning the basics and then some more time practicing builds and getting to understand why something works - you'll have no problem winning mplayer games :) Go buy now :P
0Yeah after 1.5 years SC2 is still going strong and im sure most of you have felt it to be more than worth the money. I feel that way too so to answer the OP, YES!!!!!! BUY STARCRAFT 2 now!!
The next step would be where you buy it? Make sure you get a good deal. If you buy it from the more expensive sites out there where prices range from 79.90 to 99 USD, of course its not going to be as worth it!
The fastest and cheapest method i found was at sc2sea.com. They are a big Asia/SEA website that sell digital licenses of the SEA version (NA+SEA) for just 69.90 and the Taiwan/Korean version for 59.90 - have a look through their testimonials. http://www.sc2sea.com/showthread.php?t=1893
Hope that helps answer your question on if you should buy starcraft 2
0
Go for it man, you'll be fine. Just 5 months ago I was in a similar position. I was god awful at the game and had very little RTS experience. Now, I'm a top Plat Terran on the brink of diamond. Watching Day 9 and playing team games can help ease you into the game, but most importantly just play the game, and have fun. The rest will follow. I've made tons friends and had some amazing times on this game. It's definitely something you don't want to miss out on.
2Aug 19th 2011 1:54 AM