I was hanging out at home, playing Starcraft, when a friend of mine came over. He had never played before, but thought it looked like fun, so he wanted to try out a local multiplayer match. I installed a spawn of the game on his laptop and hooked it up to my PC, setting the two systems up back-to-back on my desk. We connected to the LAN and set up the game. I picked Terran because it's the race I've had the most experience with. As I waited for him to pick, he looked over at me and asked, "Who's the best?"
I punched him in the face.
There is something so wrong about this simple question that begs an explanation as to why it even exists. In the interest of competitive spirit, I can understand wanting to be the best. But when you're starting out in a game, you're likely going to get your ass kicked no matter how much of an advantage you have.
I've been asked this question numerous times in various settings. I'd be showing my Magic cards to friends and one of them would ask "What's the best card in the game?" A question like this is not only pointless, but unanswerable. How do you define "best"? and for that matter, wouldn't it simply be one player's opinion in the first place? A card that is good in one deck might be completely useless in another. Or if you get a generally less useful card when the situation begs for you to use it, that's a whole different matter altogether.
The worst insinuation this question makes is that there actually is an answer to it. The primary reason Starcraft is so popular is that it is so wonderfully balanced. There is no "best race." Every race has distinct advantages and disadvantages over the others. Trying to determine the best is folly. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
You should be wary of any game where a player CAN answer this question without thinking about it. In a game like Clayfighter, it doesn't take any thought to pick Blob, because he's just broken as hell. This is indicative of the poor balance in the game, and makes the game that much less fun.
If he were to ask a question like "Who's the easiest to use?" or "Who's the best for beginners?" that would be a much more acceptable query. It shows he doesn't want to be overwhelmed. In Brawl, you don't want to start with a character like Jigglypuff, Olimar, or Luigi, because all of their little nuances require some experience to use effectively. Or in the case of Magic, using a Blue permission deck takes more strategy and knowledge of the game than using a Red spitfire deck or a Green overrun deck.
People who ask "Who's the best?" Almost seem to expect that simply by picking the best character in the game, it can overcome their lack of skill and experience. They don't want to learn anything about the game, they just want to win. They don't want to work to win either, they just want it handed to them.
It's not even a matter of giving the beginner an advantage over the more skilled player to even the playing field, like when I let my friend use Minion in Twisted Metal II. They want to pick the best character because they don't want to waste their time learning any strategies of the lower-tier characters. If they can't be the best, it's not worth their time to even bother playing. This same thing happens in the console wars. People who are only going to buy one system want to buy the best one. But in reality, they can have plenty of fun with any system. There are plenty of enjoyable games available for any system on the market, including the DS and the PSP. If you're a true gamer, you don't let should-haves and might-have-beens get in your way of just enjoying the game.
(Besides, everyone knows the Zerg is the best.)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Progress for September 16, 2009 - Okami
Spent so much time playing yesterday, I completely forgot to put up the update.
It's going alright, I suppose. The game is actually rather slow to develop. You tend to spend a lot of time in towns doing fetch quests (fetch. Dog. yeah.) and the brief time you do spend outdoors is just to get to a new area.
I went about 6 hours straight and kinda got overwhelmed from that. I didn't even want to play again today. But I'll probably continue tomorrow. I still have to find that last dog before I can go on.
Elapsed time: 10 hours
It's going alright, I suppose. The game is actually rather slow to develop. You tend to spend a lot of time in towns doing fetch quests (fetch. Dog. yeah.) and the brief time you do spend outdoors is just to get to a new area.
I went about 6 hours straight and kinda got overwhelmed from that. I didn't even want to play again today. But I'll probably continue tomorrow. I still have to find that last dog before I can go on.
Elapsed time: 10 hours
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Progress for September 15, 2009 - Okami
Like Gun, I started playing Okami a long time ago. In fact, I bought the game at launch and even pre-ordered it to get the free caligraphy pad. But they were out of them when I went to go pick it up. Damn you Electronics Boutique!
After spending about 30 minutes skipping through the absurdly long intro, I finally reached the first save point. Unfortunately my memory card didn't have enough space on it. Luckily my sister's PS2 was available for my file-swapping needs. I don't know why more PS2 games don't have card file management built into them. At any rate, I was able to continue after 5 minutes of maintenance.
This game always reminds me of tuna fish and breathmints. Probably because the first time I played it, I was snacking on a "Starkist lunch pack" that contains tuna in a pouch, crackers, mayonaise and relish, and interestingly enough a breathmint for afterward. I suppose they take the term "tuna-breath" seriously. I don't know why I remember that among all other benign memories, but I guess it seemed unusual enough to merit a place in my brain. Right next to the license plate of our family's old station wagon that we got rid of 15 years ago. I don't even know my own car's license plate from memory.
Oh yeah, Okami! I'm 4:48 into the game and I have 5 of the 13 brush techniques. I just got the Water Lily and I'll be exploring the new area tomorrow.
After spending about 30 minutes skipping through the absurdly long intro, I finally reached the first save point. Unfortunately my memory card didn't have enough space on it. Luckily my sister's PS2 was available for my file-swapping needs. I don't know why more PS2 games don't have card file management built into them. At any rate, I was able to continue after 5 minutes of maintenance.
This game always reminds me of tuna fish and breathmints. Probably because the first time I played it, I was snacking on a "Starkist lunch pack" that contains tuna in a pouch, crackers, mayonaise and relish, and interestingly enough a breathmint for afterward. I suppose they take the term "tuna-breath" seriously. I don't know why I remember that among all other benign memories, but I guess it seemed unusual enough to merit a place in my brain. Right next to the license plate of our family's old station wagon that we got rid of 15 years ago. I don't even know my own car's license plate from memory.
Oh yeah, Okami! I'm 4:48 into the game and I have 5 of the 13 brush techniques. I just got the Water Lily and I'll be exploring the new area tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Progress for September 15, 2009 - Starcraft
Woo! Terran Campaign is fucking done!
This was easily the most time-consuming mission yet. It might look like I've been slacking off, but seriously, I've been playing almost every day. (Save for the weekends when I go out partying.)
I started off by following the strategy guide pretty much to the letter, but ran into massive problems when trying to expand to the central mineral deposits. I kept reloading the game, hoping to fortify the area before being overrun with siege tanks and ghosts, but kept butting my head against the same wall.
Checking online, I came across a speedrun hosted on SpeedDemosArchive.com which gave me my eventual strategy. A wraith rush.
I built the bare minimum of structures required to keep myself up and running (bunkers and supply depots, mostly) before working my way up the tech tree to build 3 simultaneous starports. Then I just started building wraiths. Once I had 2 control groups of 12, I brought them to the eastern border of the army and went all out. One time I had gotten SO close to completing it. I only had 6 wraiths left, but they were cloaked and undetectable, slowly picking away at the Ion cannon. I had it down to a mere 65 life when some damn science vessel drifted by and exposed my Wraiths. I hoped it would burn down on its own, but by the time I'd built an academy and comsat station to check, it had apparently been repaired. I gave up at this point.
I tried once more, this time only having 2 wraiths left from my original 24. But instead, I just kept building more. Before my two were exposed I had amassed a third strike force of 12 more wraiths with even more in production. I swooped in with my third group and finished the cannon off. Booyah!
I'm taking a hiatus from Starcraft for now. I have to send my laptop in to be repaired and this seems like a logical stopping point, since I'll have to relearn pretty much everything when I move over to the zerg campaign. I'll be playing Okami for a while now.
Missions Completed:
The Hammer Falls
Total Complete: 33%
This was easily the most time-consuming mission yet. It might look like I've been slacking off, but seriously, I've been playing almost every day. (Save for the weekends when I go out partying.)
I started off by following the strategy guide pretty much to the letter, but ran into massive problems when trying to expand to the central mineral deposits. I kept reloading the game, hoping to fortify the area before being overrun with siege tanks and ghosts, but kept butting my head against the same wall.
Checking online, I came across a speedrun hosted on SpeedDemosArchive.com which gave me my eventual strategy. A wraith rush.
I built the bare minimum of structures required to keep myself up and running (bunkers and supply depots, mostly) before working my way up the tech tree to build 3 simultaneous starports. Then I just started building wraiths. Once I had 2 control groups of 12, I brought them to the eastern border of the army and went all out. One time I had gotten SO close to completing it. I only had 6 wraiths left, but they were cloaked and undetectable, slowly picking away at the Ion cannon. I had it down to a mere 65 life when some damn science vessel drifted by and exposed my Wraiths. I hoped it would burn down on its own, but by the time I'd built an academy and comsat station to check, it had apparently been repaired. I gave up at this point.
I tried once more, this time only having 2 wraiths left from my original 24. But instead, I just kept building more. Before my two were exposed I had amassed a third strike force of 12 more wraiths with even more in production. I swooped in with my third group and finished the cannon off. Booyah!
I'm taking a hiatus from Starcraft for now. I have to send my laptop in to be repaired and this seems like a logical stopping point, since I'll have to relearn pretty much everything when I move over to the zerg campaign. I'll be playing Okami for a while now.
Missions Completed:
The Hammer Falls
Total Complete: 33%
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Progress for September 10, 2009 - Starcraft
I finally completed a mission without consulting the strategy guide! :D
It took me 5 hours and I depleted every mineral deposit and vespene geyser on the map, but I still did it!
I built bunkers and turrets all around my base, and around every ramp to keep the Zerg contained, then built up a small army of ghosts after I effectively harassed a good number of Zealots with Kerrigan cloaked and assumed it meant they were really good for that.
My basic strategy was to bring in my battlecruiser to take out photon cannons, then sneak my ghosts in to call in a nuclear strike, and then move in my dragoons and siege tanks to clean up the rest.
The strategy guide said to pretty much build 8+ battlecruisers and just annihilate everything.
That may have been a better way to do it, but it wasn't MY way.
Missions Completed:
New Gettysburg
Total Complete: 30%
It took me 5 hours and I depleted every mineral deposit and vespene geyser on the map, but I still did it!
I built bunkers and turrets all around my base, and around every ramp to keep the Zerg contained, then built up a small army of ghosts after I effectively harassed a good number of Zealots with Kerrigan cloaked and assumed it meant they were really good for that.
My basic strategy was to bring in my battlecruiser to take out photon cannons, then sneak my ghosts in to call in a nuclear strike, and then move in my dragoons and siege tanks to clean up the rest.
The strategy guide said to pretty much build 8+ battlecruisers and just annihilate everything.
That may have been a better way to do it, but it wasn't MY way.
Missions Completed:
New Gettysburg
Total Complete: 30%
Monday, September 7, 2009
Progress for September 7, 2009 - Starcraft
Finally beat it. The mission time said 3:36, but I'm fairly sure it was longer than that. Probably because I was playing it on slowest speed so I would actually have time to think. I saved copiously, but I never had to reload an earlier save due to mission-ending mistakes.
I'm starting to get the hang of the game better. I'm noticing how many units of whatever type it takes to effectively take out various structures and units. And showing a nuclear missile right up an enemy's command center is just as cathartic as I've always heard.
The book is really helping me, but it's starting to get a lot more straightforward with its strategies. Will the next level be more of the same? "Use siege tanks and goliaths to slowly push forward into the enemy's areas. Repeat."
Once I finish the Terran campaign, I'm going to send my laptop in to be repaired, then I'll start on Okami. I'm sooo close to being done with this chapter. Just two missions to go!
Missions Completed:
The Big Push
Total Complete: 27%
I'm starting to get the hang of the game better. I'm noticing how many units of whatever type it takes to effectively take out various structures and units. And showing a nuclear missile right up an enemy's command center is just as cathartic as I've always heard.
The book is really helping me, but it's starting to get a lot more straightforward with its strategies. Will the next level be more of the same? "Use siege tanks and goliaths to slowly push forward into the enemy's areas. Repeat."
Once I finish the Terran campaign, I'm going to send my laptop in to be repaired, then I'll start on Okami. I'm sooo close to being done with this chapter. Just two missions to go!
Missions Completed:
The Big Push
Total Complete: 27%
Friday, September 4, 2009
Progress for September 4, 2009 - Starcraft
Well, I beat Mission 7, and moved right on to Mission 8. After a 6 hour hiatus of course.
Mission 7 went alright once I built up a massive enough force of vultures, goliaths, siege tanks, and wraiths (quickly becoming my favorite unit). I was able to completely blow through the upper corridor without much resistance. I actually made it the first time I tried, but Kerrigan died the exact second I reached the beacon. It even delivered her closing speech over the "Defeated" dialog box. Damn.
I like how Mission 8 starts you right off with a bunch of add-ons that you can land all your buildings right next to, including TWO command centers with nuclear silos. As well as a pair of ghosts.
I detect nuclear launches in the future.
Missions Completed:
The Trump Card
Total Complete: 23%
Mission 7 went alright once I built up a massive enough force of vultures, goliaths, siege tanks, and wraiths (quickly becoming my favorite unit). I was able to completely blow through the upper corridor without much resistance. I actually made it the first time I tried, but Kerrigan died the exact second I reached the beacon. It even delivered her closing speech over the "Defeated" dialog box. Damn.
I like how Mission 8 starts you right off with a bunch of add-ons that you can land all your buildings right next to, including TWO command centers with nuclear silos. As well as a pair of ghosts.
I detect nuclear launches in the future.
Missions Completed:
The Trump Card
Total Complete: 23%
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