[SC2B] The Home Stretch Text by Saracen

May 18, 2007. The day it all began. The day the floodgates opened, pandemonium struck, and all hell broke loose. The day South Korea was swept up in a tidal wave that spanned the globe and back. The day Starcraft II was announced.





"Hell, it's about time."



It's hard to imagine that it's already been three years since Tychus first growled his four immortal words. Since then, we've religiously stalked every Karune post and new unit release, tirelessly littered the forums with endless debates about MBS and Automine, and theorycrafted and speculated until our fingers turned blue. And now, as the beta comes to a close three years later, we can finally look back and breathe a sigh of relief.



May 18, 2007. The day it all began. The day the floodgates opened, pandemonium struck, and all hell broke loose. The day South Korea was swept up in a tidal wave that spanned the globe and back. The day Starcraft II was announced.It's hard to imagine that it's already been three years since Tychus first growled his four immortal words. Since then, we've religiously stalked every Karune post and new unit release, tirelessly littered the forums with endless debates about MBS and Automine, and theorycrafted and speculated until our fingers turned blue. And now, as the beta comes to a close three years later, we can finally look back and breathe a sigh of relief. Or can we?



We've interviewed some of the most successful beta players on their thoughts about this game's past, present, and future. Here's what they had to say.



Note: The interviews were conducted during patch 13.



Looking Back



It would be an understatement to say that the SC II community is currently thriving. Any comments on the activity of the community?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Well we are dealing with a potentially massive community. We are not just dealing with all of the previous starcraft 1 players, but players from all different kind's of gaming background's, from War3 to WOW and other non blizzard games. So far it has been great with each event having thousands of viewer's, and I can only imagine that it will be even better once the game is released.



Incontrol: I wish I could say I was shocked. But frankly with how long we have waited. With how excited the very internet was when SC2 was announced all that time ago.. I am not surprised to be sitting here talking with you at the end of a tremendously successful beta. Teamliquid has exploded and with it the community has as well. I expect that growth to double or triple when the actual game releases.. truly an amazing time we live in.



IdrA: The activity is great, the number of people on the forums and on the servers is incredible. Quality is a bit questionable at times though.



LzGamer: The activity in the scII community is so much more Insane (in a good way) then I ever would have imagined in a beta atlest haha



Artosis: The SC2 community is huge and extremely active, despite the fact that there are limited beta keys out. Its amazing how many people are really getting into this game.



Jinro: Progress seems good, but the changes have been less dramatic than I'd have expected.



Are there any notable events throughout the beta that you think people should remember?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: All of the ITL matches have been amazing, and the big tournament's as well such as Hello Goodbye and the GosuCoaching tournament's.



Incontrol: HDH comes to mind. Hitting 20k viewers is simply stunning. "Hello Goodbye Tourney" with pure donations exceeding 1k$ and again attracting thousands of viewers. The almost starleague esque tourneys we already see in China/Korea.. did you guys see that stage Artosis/IdrA/tasteless played on? It was a taste of things to come.. rarely do we see a bunch of white guys playing on that stage but we did, and I think there is a LOT more to come.



IdrA: I don't know in general but blizzard beginning to nerf zerg immediately before all the real big prize tournaments started is gonna stick in my head for a while.



LzGamer: Oh man there were so many events in sc2 that stands out in my mind of Epic.. gotta remember the very first tournament (hello goodbye tournament) where IdrA beat Machine in the finals in some cool mass roach on roach action.. then we have the HDH tournament which was amazing through and through then all the awesome ITL's (remember the first ITL where I won beating IdrA in the finals??!!) good times good times and all the awesome tripple stike and gosucoaching tournaments and lets not forget the Insanly Boss Team Liquid invite tournaments!!



Artosis: I think that just the combination of all the events going on are very memorable. About 5 weekly cups on various servers, HDH, MLG getting involved, countless tournaments everywhere.





In the over three months of beta testing, how do you feel the game has progressed?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: It has come a long way. They still need to fix a few bug's but for the most part it is pretty solid.



Incontrol: The game has definitely taken shape. I cannot say I am fully satisfied. Less the game, more the ladder. No chatrooms, geographical divides with poor excuses and no lan support mean this game has some hindrances to deal with before it is even out of the proverbial gate. As far as the game goes specifically, I am happy with it's progression. Pretty damn balanced as well as fast and captivating. Watching some of these guys do 4-5 things at once is stunning.. and I KNOW there is a ton of improvement to be made. I also trust the diversity of the game to continue to change and evolve as broodwar did before.



IdrA: In terms of balance and patches, pretty poorly. Most of the time when they fixed a problem they did it sloppily or just created a new problem. I've lost faith in blizzard with every patch and now their incompetence seems to be coming to a head with all the stuff about bnet2. That really has been the worst part of the beta to me.



LzGamer: As far as the Game play itself I am more pleased now 3 months down the road.. as far as b.net 2.0 im pretty upset over that.



Artosis: The game was progressing beautifully for a long while there, but I feel it has certainly taken a step back with the last patch (balance-wise).

: It has come a long way. They still need to fix a few bug's but for the most part it is pretty solid.: The game has definitely taken shape. I cannot say I am fully satisfied. Less the game, more the ladder. No chatrooms, geographical divides with poor excuses and no lan support mean this game has some hindrances to deal with before it is even out of the proverbial gate. As far as the game goes specifically, I am happy with it's progression. Pretty damn balanced as well as fast and captivating. Watching some of these guys do 4-5 things at once is stunning.. and I KNOW there is a ton of improvement to be made. I also trust the diversity of the game to continue to change and evolve as broodwar did before.: In terms of balance and patches, pretty poorly. Most of the time when they fixed a problem they did it sloppily or just created a new problem. I've lost faith in blizzard with every patch and now their incompetence seems to be coming to a head with all the stuff about bnet2. That really has been the worst part of the beta to me.: As far as the Game play itself I am more pleased now 3 months down the road.. as far as b.net 2.0 im pretty upset over that.: The game was progressing beautifully for a long while there, but I feel it has certainly taken a step back with the last patch (balance-wise).



Gameplay



Have there been any patch changes that have stuck out to you are particularly good or bad?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Well as a zerg player I must admit that I am not very fond of all the roach nerf's (especially the 2 supply nerf) but I am learning to find way's around some of the more recent patches.



Incontrol: There have been some no brainers like the bunker rush nerf, warpgate nerf and roach tinkering. Nothing really leaps out as exceptionally bad.. each patch I have a small outcry inside that slowly subsides after about a week.. I find the game has some figuring out to be had and most often people (myself included) that make a judgment right off the bat post a patch find that it isn't as bad as they think. I'm not ready to write Blizz off as a band of wizards yet but I have been pretty happy.



IdrA: Patch 12 broke a game that was pretty well balanced. 11 still had issues, and I don't really know how tvp was in it, but zvt and zvp were definitely as close to balanced as they had been since the start of the beta.



LzGamer: The patch where ravens dont need a fusion core to research HSM and the faster bc build time (which ever patch # that is, that one is my fav) that patch also has neat move attack pheonix's which are so cool to watch! :D



Artosis: The last few patches haven't seemed very good to me. The Ultralisk is even worse than before, and with all the insane Terran buffs, the game seems less balanced than it was a month ago.





Any thoughts on the most recent patch? (patch 13)

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Honestly I disagree with the Ultralisk HP nerf, and zerg still need's a counter to late game terran mech.



Incontrol: I am pretty happy with the most recent patch. I think the range decrease on the VoIdrAy is tremendously fair. Makes early game use a bit more complicated for the protoss while not effecting their late game utility too much. Massive units smashing forcefields seems necessary and the thor size decrease makes them a lot more useful. The damage decrease for the already incredibly underused and frankly, pointless ultralisk was interesting but they boosted it's damage to buildings.. what is blizzard saying? We want this giant unit to be less the bulldozer on the battlefield and more the crackling substitute in the base? Seems terrifically misguided to me.



IdrA: I find it pretty funny that they explicitly said they were looking to improve the ultra and make it a viable choice, then released a patch that actually nerfed it. I am glad they brought contaminate back though, I liked it a lot on the corruptor and it fits the overseer just fine. Didn't like the infested terran change, frenzy is useless and I quite often used fungal + infested to stop medivacs and light air harass, and infested will never be used over contaminate on the overseer. The infantry upgrade buffs were very strange, no idea where that came from.



LzGamer: Roach 2 supply THANK YOU BLIZZARD.



Artosis: The most recent patch was kind of silly....the Infested Terran was actually useful on the Infestor, but totally useless on the Overseer. I haven't even used frenzy yet, probably because the Ultralisk isn't nearly as good as it was before. Bad patch overall I think. Though I do like the Overseer's Contaminate spell.





What do you think of the patches overall? Has Blizzard shown competency in balancing the game?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: For the most part yes, and I believe that is because they are listening to the TL community. We play a bigger part than we know.



Incontrol: Blizzard's patching has been disappointing. A lot of what they did in 13 patches should have been done pre-beta to be honest. A LOT of no brainer crap that continued to hurt my trust in blizz's vision. Additionally, some of these patches have been brutally illogical. Overall however the game has continued to become MORE playable in my eyes with each patch so despite my complaints about the patching it is moving in the right direction as far as I am concerned. But rather than doing it in a flashy new Porsche they chose to drive the beta in a beat up pinto.



IdrA: Some of them were ok, like I said I felt patch 11 was pretty well balanced so they were somehow making progress, but none of the patches have really seemed good to me. I've said before that it often feels like theyre balancing matchups by making one race too strong early and the other too strong late, which is a horrible way to go about it. And they'd frequently address the wrong part of a problem, nerfing immortals and marauders by delaying them, or their abilities, instead of dealing with the fact that they, and roaches before all the nerfs, were really just too powerful compared to other units. So no, overall I wouldn't consider them really competent. They were stumbling towards something workable before but patches 12 and 13 were pretty awful.



LzGamer: I think blizzard is doing there best with the game balence.. its not a easy process to balence a game specially like starcraft II so alot of there change's are hit and miss but i think there getting closer and closer to getting things pointed in the correct direction.



Artosis: At first, I was really impressed with the changes. They would change very small things, kinda slowly, and it was working out really well. More recently it seems like they haven't been putting out as good patches. They thought they were buffing the Ultralisk, but its actually more useless now than before. Also, with more and more Terran buffs, the game becomes worse and worse.





What do you think about the current balance of the game? Are there problems that Blizzard still needs to fix, or do you think it will sort itself out eventually (by new maps, evolving strategies, etc.)?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: The most glaring imbalance that I can think of at the moment would have to be zerg's lack of a counter for Tank Thor late game. By making roaches 2 supply instead of 1 zerg just is not allowed enough units on the field to deal with the threat. I would suggest possibly reducing the damage that tank's deal to zergling's in order to allow zerg to get in close but even then I am not sure if that would be an successful counter.



Incontrol: Blizzard has said they will remain closely active with patching SC2 even post release. I have faith that that will be the case. As of now I think the game is very well balanced and completely viable for competitive play. Some tinkering needs to happen like the balancing of each races early-mid-late game. Protoss vs Zerg late game is exceedingly difficult.. which is fine but it does feel off. Likewise T v Z in general is far too difficult for the Zerg. They have so few viable options and the terran can literally utilize anything in any order to some degree of effectiveness... some of these problems are natural and intentional in their design but the degree of difficulty probably deserves some attention. This however was the way of BW until certain players made their name for reversing this like Nada in TvP and Bisu in PvZ.



IdrA: Zerg is broken, it lacks any unit strong enough to fight mid game terran and protoss armies on an equal footing, and with a 2 supply roach it cant mass well enough to overwhelm them through numbers. Also baneling vs baneling zvz is just as bad as the warpgate allins were pvp back before the warpgate nerf.



LzGamer: I think the current balence of the game is Protoss is the strongest race atm ~ and zerg and terran are fighting for 2nd place in race balence. I dont know if i have any direct "this will fix the game" idea's on the fly of moment like this.. I would have to think about it! so No comment



Artosis: Right now, for certain, ZvT is completely imbalanced. Terran mech is far, far too strong against Zerg. This can't be fixed in any way other than some new patches. I'm not completely sure on the other match-ups right now, as all I've been doing is trying to find a way to win ZvT.



Jinro: I think that there are things they could change to make the game better, yes, but new maps are also sorely needed. In particular, some of the more imbalanced maps need to go, they hurt boX series a lot I think. : The most glaring imbalance that I can think of at the moment would have to be zerg's lack of a counter for Tank Thor late game. By making roaches 2 supply instead of 1 zerg just is not allowed enough units on the field to deal with the threat. I would suggest possibly reducing the damage that tank's deal to zergling's in order to allow zerg to get in close but even then I am not sure if that would be an successful counter.: Blizzard has said they will remain closely active with patching SC2 even post release. I have faith that that will be the case. As of now I think the game is very well balanced and completely viable for competitive play. Some tinkering needs to happen like the balancing of each races early-mid-late game. Protoss vs Zerg late game is exceedingly difficult.. which is fine but it does feel off. Likewise T v Z in general is far too difficult for the Zerg. They have so few viable options and the terran can literally utilize anything in any order to some degree of effectiveness... some of these problems are natural and intentional in their design but the degree of difficulty probably deserves some attention. This however was the way of BW until certain players made their name for reversing this like Nada in TvP and Bisu in PvZ.: Zerg is broken, it lacks any unit strong enough to fight mid game terran and protoss armies on an equal footing, and with a 2 supply roach it cant mass well enough to overwhelm them through numbers. Also baneling vs baneling zvz is just as bad as the warpgate allins were pvp back before the warpgate nerf.: I think the current balence of the game is Protoss is the strongest race atm ~ and zerg and terran are fighting for 2nd place in race balence. I dont know if i have any direct "this will fix the game" idea's on the fly of moment like this.. I would have to think about it! so No comment: Right now, for certain, ZvT is completely imbalanced. Terran mech is far, far too strong against Zerg. This can't be fixed in any way other than some new patches. I'm not completely sure on the other match-ups right now, as all I've been doing is trying to find a way to win ZvT.: I think that there are things they could change to make the game better, yes, but new maps are also sorely needed. In particular, some of the more imbalanced maps need to go, they hurt boX series a lot I think.



Newer players, and most players in general, tend to like debate about which race is mechanically the hardest and how certain races are overpowered. Do you have any comments about this?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Overall I don't find any of the races nearly as hard mechanically as starcraft 1, but I guess I would have to say either Terran or Zerg because the warpgate mechanic makes macro very easy for protoss. As far as which race is the most imbalanced, I would have to say that I can't clearly say which race in total is the most imbalance but their certainly are unit combination's that seem to be very strong such as Void ray's vs Terran, Mech vs Zerg, and Broodlord's.



Incontrol: I think this is the new "apm" argument. It is pointless to argue but surely rooted in some truth. Zerg is the most difficult mechanically. Spreading creep, spitting on hatches, positioning overlords with creep as well as managing everything else t/p has to makes them the most challenging mechanically. Controlling a terran army is still the most difficult with ghosts, stim, siege, cloak etc etc.. all commonly being associated with a unit composition. Protoss has the most difficult late game mechanic in that _everyone_ forgets to use chrono boost on things late game and energy runs up (it works on warpgates people!)



IdrA: I think that, overall, protoss is the easiest and terran the hardest mechanically. Zerg has the least forgiving macro mechanic, but also the most powerful if used correctly so that balances out to an extent. Terran is definitely the strongest race right now.



LzGamer: I dont get into these "omg this unit is OP QQ" threads I just try my best to find ways aka strats around these so called imbalences.



Artosis: Mechanically, I'm not sure which race is the hardest. It is certainly either Terran or Zerg, with Protoss being the easiest. My gut is that Terran macro might take a bit more speed, while Zerg macro is a bit sloppier and a bit harder to "keep track of".



Jinro: I'm not really sure here. Currently most people seem to think Terran are the strongest, but when looking at league results, there's a fairly even spread... HDH was won by a Protoss, with a PvZ final, and no full terran player was in the top 4. 17173 World Cup was won by a zerg with a ZvZ final and a Terran in 3rd place (TvZ). Kaspersky was won by a Zerg with a TvZ final. ASM-1 was won by a Terran, but that's already a patch or two ago.



Do you think there are still “unbeatable” or “overpowered” strategies?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Like I have mentioned before I believe Siege tank Thor Viking is very hard for zerg to deal with at the moment, and I have also noticed that it is very hard for terran's to deal with void ray's even after the range nerf (-1 range LOL)



Incontrol: Nope. I used to bitch about Broodlords but they frankly are just like several things found in broodwar. It used to be that if you allowed a terran to get maxed on 3-4 bases while going mech on Hearbreak or Destination or something you were completely screwed ZvT. The same kind of scenarios apply in SC2.. Broodlords are expensive and situational, if you allow them to get there you usually have yourself to blame. The closest to "unbeatable" or problematic imo is ZvP in general. Zerg needs to win 1 conflict to have full control of the game. I believe it stems from the inject larvae where a zerg can simply reload and punish the slightest mistake too fast and too heavily. Perhaps changing injection to +3 larvae or something will help in that regard.



IdrA: Turtle mech + vikings and ravens vs zerg is unbeatable on most maps if executed correctly.



LzGamer: If there are Unbeatable or overpowered strategies I have not seen them.



Artosis: Yeah, absolutely. Well-played Terran mech against Zerg, as well as a well done Banshee/Tank/Marine allin are both pretty much unbeatable for Zerg. There is also a timing where Protoss can move out with a ball of units that Zerg just can't seem to be able to stop. For examples of this just look at IdrA vs White-Ra and IdrA vs Tester from the most recent big tournament finals. I can't speak on TvP strategies at the moment.



Jinro: (cont'd from previous) I'd say there are no unbeatable strategies, tho there are probably a few that are currently stronger than they should be, especially on the current map pool (i.e mech on steppes of war).



Is there any matchup in which a specific race is disproportionately strong at a certain point in the game (e.g. Protoss early game or Zerg late game)?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: It seems as though Protoss is very hard to deal with early game, I do not think this is imbalanced, I think it is just the way the game must work out for now, Zerg I believe is very strong mid game (especially vs protoss) and a four base Terran is very hard to stop late game.



IdrA: Well before the last 2 patches zerg was underpowered early and overpowered late in both matchups. I dont know what the state of tvp was but at a couple points throughout the beta it had been the same, terran had a really strong rush but if protoss survived they couldnt lose.



LzGamer: Zerg and Protoss lategame macro mechanic's destroy terran's Production wise. Even though im not sure that early game any specific race is more powerful then the next.



Artosis: This is such a hard question to answer correctly. I could write 10 pages on various balance issues at different times of the game in different matchups on different maps. One good example is the power of a Thor drop on Lost Temple vs Zerg. Completely too strong if handled correctly by Terran. But, this is probably a map-only issue. Several of the maps are horribly balanced, and Can't really be included in this question. Kulas Ravine, Incineration Zone, and Desert Oasis, for example, are completely imbalanced maps. On the more "balanced" maps, it seems like the Protoss mid-game against Zerg might be too strong. The Terran (mech-based) late-game against Zerg is for sure imbalanced.



Any thoughts on mirror matchups? Have they improved from SC1?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Well after the roach nerf it seems that zvz is basically how it was in starcraft 1 except infested terrans are tier 1 tech. TvT is also playing out a lot like it was in SC1 but PvP is by far the most exciting of the new 3 mirror matchup's because it usually tend's to be longer games with a lot of high tech unit's and big army battles.



Incontrol: Mirror matchups are tremendously exciting. TvT is STILL the advanced chess game with spotting and devastation galore. PvP is the most 1 dimensional of the 3 in my opinion but it is still charming in that early zeal micro or late game colossus control has a tremendous effect on the outcome. ZvZ was fairly bland but the roach nerf makes that matchup far more diverse than it ever was in SC1.



IdrA: I know nothing about tvt, I didn't really like pvp when I played it but it may have changed since, and zvz was very good by mirror matchup standards, as skill intensive as sc1 tvt but more exciting, before the roach armor/supply nerfs. Now its move commanding banelings into mineral lines.



LzGamer: Mirror matchup's in sc2 remind me almost perfectly of scbw alot of the same style's of game play (specialy zvz now that ling/baneling/muta is the new standard ^^)



Artosis: Zerg vs Zerg was alive and healthy with the 1 supply roach. There was a huge range of viable strategies, a beautiful mirror matchup. With the 2 supply roach, it has become the most disgusting matchup I have ever seen. ling/baneling. Absolutely a garbage matchup now, baneling micro consists of spreading them so they don't die to your opponent's banelings, and then right clicking them into your opponent's mineral line. Completely skill-less, horrible to play, horrible to watch, horrible for the health of the game. Terran vs Terran is worse than in SC1. In SC1 it was a great matchup, with tons of viable openings, lots of tempo-based play, mobility with dropships, area control, map control, all sorts of neat stuff. I could talk for days about all the cool stuff in SC1 TvT. From what I've heard from the top Terran players in SC2, is that it is down to purely Tank/Viking, and that there is no way to attack into this combo realistically. I heard some people say that before the tank splash buff, it was more interesting because marauders could be used, but I am unsure of the matchup overall. Protoss vs Protoss is pretty gross from what I've been told. Warp-gate allins FTW?



Jinro: Initially I thought so, but now I'm not so sure. I think TvT has probably become less interesting. I don't watch enough PvP or ZvZ to really comment, but the incessant baneling wars of ZvZ seem a bit dull, tho old-style ZvZ wasn't exactly a thriller to begin with.



What do you think about the design of the races? Are they well-designed, or are they lacking in certain aspects? How will this affect the game, and especially higher level play?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: I think they are well designed, at the beginning of the beta I never would have guessed that warpgates would be balanced but I have since changed my mind. The game plays beautifully but some unit's still have not found their place in competitive play and I hope blizzard make's some adjustment's in order to do so.



Incontrol: I've always said Protoss was the most complete race. I think they are completely well made both stylistic and game play wise. Terran has a bit of a new identity but I still get that "scrappy" feel from them that I loved in SC1. Zerg went from swarming alien bugs to gross liquidy mud creatures that semi-resemble bugs. I feel they became most complicated in SC2 stylistically and are perhaps (for now) the most boring and misunderstood race thus far.



IdrA: I think in terms of basic design they're all quite good. Zerg is kind of lacking in the swarm-y feel its supposed to have, but not too much so. Theres plenty of diversity and fun units that fit their race, and it is all balanceable, I don't see anything thats really a fundamental unfixable problem.



LzGamer: TBH I am a Terran user incase somone doesnt know that~ but I wish there was mines in this game.. the vulture in scbw made the most Insanly awesome spectator wise games ever~ mines getting in a minaral line and blowing up 20 probes that kinda stuff would make the croud go WILD and send shivers down my spine. so i wish sc2 had a unit that could lay mines.. (maybe the hellion PLEASE BLIZZARD <3) this would help in all aspects of the game!!



Artosis: I really like the overall design of the races. Protoss I have no problems with design-wise. Terran seems pretty cool, but the Marauder makes them too different from SC1. The Marauder makes Terran in addition to their strong attributes from SC1. Zerg's design I think is really awesome, more so than in SC1. You -literally- creep across the map haha. Sadly, they are a bit lacking in units, and with the constant nerfs to the Roach, doesn't even have a staple unit like the other 2 races.



Jinro: In some aspects, I think the races are a bit too similiar, like how in SC1 a zerg with 2 bases would be behind a Terran or Protoss with the same number, since they didn't saturate their drone lines in the same.... whereas now, zerg kinda does. It's not a huge deal tho, and zerg still wants to stay ahead in bases.



Over the past 3 months, the skill level of the players has rose dramatically. Do you see the game being taking to new levels upon the release, or do you feel that the skill level will inevitably plateau; that is, has Blizzard given us enough tools to keep on improving?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: I think that the skill level will improve, but by adding MBS and automining blizzard has created a reachable ceiling. It might not be perfected at first, but I definitely think it will be reached in the future.



Incontrol: I am pleased to report I see this game continuing to evolve and continuing to move progressively up in the skill department. There are simply so many aspects of each race that are so physically demanding AND cerebrally challenging that there should always be room for improvement. Will it be to the same degree as SC1 and occur for as long? I cannot say, but we will have a tremendously challenging game for at least the next several years.



IdrA: If the bulk of the current sc1 pros switch over it will definitely plateau, and it wont take all that long. The mechanical skill ceiling just isn't very high.



LzGamer: Ya i think upon game release we will see players getting better and better i think this game will evolve skill wise years to come~



Artosis: The game, if balanced well, offers endless ways to improve. I can see so many little things which can be improved in my play, and I estimate that I won't begin to be happy with my game until I'm executing my play at 300+ APM. Anyone who says the game is too easy is wrong. There's a LOT to do.



Jinro: I think there is still plenty of room to grow, the question is better asked in a few years I'd say.



Brood War has been played competitively for over a decade, and still there seems to be room to improve. Any comments on the longevity of SC II, or is it too early to tell?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: It is very hard to measure up to the Dynasty that was Starcraft1, hopefully starcraft2 will find a way to do so but it is way too early to tell.



IdrA: Well sc2 definitely wont match brood war in terms of that, 10 years down the road and you still see flash with idle scvs and jaedong throwing away mutas (bad as it sounds thats a very, very good thing if you want a real esport). But that doesn't preclude longevity, plenty of games still support strong professional scenes without the depth or skill requirements of broodwar, and I doubt those were as hyped and popular as sc2 will be. Plus just about every competitive rts player in the world is going to be playing sc2, so that in itself will drive the competition.

B.Net



LzGamer: Too early to tell~ im hoping for another decade.



Artosis: It is too early to tell, but there are a ton of ways to improve right now.



Jinro: Too early to tell for sure, but I'd be surprised if the game wasn't around as a competitive force in 5 years time.



B.Net



What do you think about Battle.net 2.0 in respect to competitive play? Is it helping or hindering it, and how?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: With lack of chat channels, thing's like tournament's and clan war's I assume will be much harder to organize, but we will see I suppose.



Incontrol: Bnet2.0 is a pretty girl with absolutely no brains and a mouth like a hurricane. I love LOOKING at the interface of Bnet2.0 with all it's flashy little emblems and countdowns but it is devastatingly bad for both competitive and recreational play. I feel like I am alone in the abyss and it becomes incredibly drab and boring. That is me.. a guy sitting on vent with 10+ people who has a friend list 20+ strong.. and STILL I feel lonely.. come on? Not to mention the lack of support for lan play, geographical divide and the already heinous amount of copies I will have to buy to play this game. Blizz better love and NEED the money they are getting cheaply from this game because thus far they won't be earning my loyalty from raw eSport dedication alone.. it will be a product of a robin hood jacking this game from the idiot hands of Blizz and making it accessible and fun for everyone through force. I am thinking ICCUP2.0 or something of the likes. Or.. or just maybe, someone at blizz pulls their head out of the sand and acts on their claim to care about the community and eSports.



IdrA: It's utterly horrible. As much as I've disliked some of what they've done in terms of balance and gameplay patching the balance team are miracle workers compared to the whoevers making decisions about bnet2.



LzGamer: There are 2 BIG BIG Things that b.net 2.0 needs to fix..

#1 There needs to be a US server overall Ranking no diffrent divisions.. I want it too mean somthing to be the Top of the highest division. not for some random newb who doesnt know how to play the game to be Ranked number 1 of Diamond division #289

#2 Please give us chat channels.. Do you know how hard running a tournament is.. where all the players dont meet up at the same place? gotta keep msging people over and over. Making it so hard to find a game to Cast or anything else. Also one of the big things about sc2 that I find is missing.. is the lack of making friends on sc2. on scbw I made countless friends from meeting people in Clan x17 or op TOT) ect on sc2.. its so lonely if you dont have friends already.. its like all you can do is solo que a game and ask that person "hey wanna be my friend" over and over.. its really sad.



Artosis: So far, bnet 2.0 is bad. The league system doesn't make sense at this point, but that might improve with the addition of the ProLeague upon release. Obviously not having LAN support has the potential to hurt competitive play.



Jinro: It is absolutely hindering it. No global ranking means once you reach the top of your division (which, in most cases, is easy as there are way more divisions than there are good players) there are no goals left. The lack of chat channels makes organizing tournaments a nightmare, and the lack of cross realm play greatly hampers international competition. : With lack of chat channels, thing's like tournament's and clan war's I assume will be much harder to organize, but we will see I suppose.: Bnet2.0 is a pretty girl with absolutely no brains and a mouth like a hurricane. I love LOOKING at the interface of Bnet2.0 with all it's flashy little emblems and countdowns but it is devastatingly bad for both competitive and recreational play. I feel like I am alone in the abyss and it becomes incredibly drab and boring. That is me.. a guy sitting on vent with 10+ people who has a friend list 20+ strong.. and STILL I feel lonely.. come on? Not to mention the lack of support for lan play, geographical divide and the already heinous amount of copies I will have to buy to play this game. Blizz better love and NEED the money they are getting cheaply from this game because thus far they won't be earning my loyalty from raw eSport dedication alone.. it will be a product of a robin hood jacking this game from the idiot hands of Blizz and making it accessible and fun for everyone through force. I am thinking ICCUP2.0 or something of the likes. Or.. or just maybe, someone at blizz pulls their head out of the sand and acts on their claim to care about the community and eSports.: It's utterly horrible. As much as I've disliked some of what they've done in terms of balance and gameplay patching the balance team are miracle workers compared to the whoevers making decisions about bnet2.: There are 2 BIG BIG Things that b.net 2.0 needs to fix..#1 There needs to be a US server overall Ranking no diffrent divisions.. I want it too mean somthing to be the Top of the highest division. not for some random newb who doesnt know how to play the game to be Ranked number 1 of Diamond division #289#2 Please give us chat channels.. Do you know how hard running a tournament is.. where all the players dont meet up at the same place? gotta keep msging people over and over. Making it so hard to find a game to Cast or anything else. Also one of the big things about sc2 that I find is missing.. is the lack of making friends on sc2. on scbw I made countless friends from meeting people in Clan x17 or op TOT) ect on sc2.. its so lonely if you dont have friends already.. its like all you can do is solo que a game and ask that person "hey wanna be my friend" over and over.. its really sad.: So far, bnet 2.0 is bad. The league system doesn't make sense at this point, but that might improve with the addition of the ProLeague upon release. Obviously not having LAN support has the potential to hurt competitive play.: It is absolutely hindering it. No global ranking means once you reach the top of your division (which, in most cases, is easy as there are way more divisions than there are good players) there are no goals left. The lack of chat channels makes organizing tournaments a nightmare, and the lack of cross realm play greatly hampers international competition.



Any thoughts on the lack of chat channels, LAN, and server segregation?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: I honestly cannot believe that they did not add the possibility's for LAN play. This frustrates me the most because I know their will be problems at offline event's like USA finals and other big lan's in the future because of this. Server Segregation is just sad in my opinion, because of the segregation I believe that some servers might play different styles like we see now but overall I don't think it will play a huge impact other than separating the community. I also have no clue why they would not add chat channels, I honestly cant even think of one reason so it just blows my mind.



IdrA: Lack of chat channels is an annoyance and kind of stupid on their part since the social aspect of the game is fun, but also a big part of what drives people to keep playing, and to get more people playing. But lack of lan and server segregation is beyond awful. I flew to a tournament in china, some of the best players in the world were there, hundreds of people came to spectate live, tens of thousands more watched online, the production values were great, big team of tech people running the show. And every single game lagged horribly... at a live event. If they let the game ship without addressing a problem like that they have no clue what they're doing with regards to esports. Server segregation is nearly as bad. I have to buy 3 copies of the game, plus expansion packs, if I want to play tournaments on other servers? Even if I just want to play with my American friends? The official justification on that one is that latency issues between servers would decrease game quality, but its not hard at all to put a suggested server button and a little warning on the login screen. As annoying as the "omg blizzard big evil greedy corporation" people are, when a company is actually removing functionality from their game in order to force you to buy more copies of the same goddam thing something is very wrong.



Artosis: =[ Chat Channels are a huge part of the community feel in SC1. I will always miss going into some popular channel and just shooting the shit with everyone. No LAN seems bad at first glance, but as long as the latency is good, it might be OK. Server segregation just means Blizzard gets 150$ out of me instead of 50$. Its quite annoying of course. But, it makes sense to have different servers for latency issues. It should just all be accessible from 1 50$ purchase =[.



Jinro: In addition, it's a terrible blow (the loss of chat channels) to the social side of battle.net.



With an easily accessible match history, build order viewer, and publicly released reps, Blizzard seems to want to “level the playing field” for newer aspiring players. What kind of an impact do you feel this will have?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: I do not like it because the top players who actually work to make the build's see no reward because some random player can just add him and write down his build order. They really do just want everyone to win.



Incontrol: Yep I've been bitching about this from the beginning. Blizz has sold out and worked hard to make a game that is very much so newb friendly. I was a lot more worried about this pre-beta but post beta I find myself less concerned. The game itself is still tremendously challenging. All the other aspects that are still pro-noob give me hope that perhaps this game can be salvaged for the competitive scene.



IdrA: I don't particularly like it, but it will depend on how easy it is to make alternate accounts. If I can make another ID to practice in private without anyone knowing anything about it, I'm fine with official ladder matches being open to the public. However it means they will have to have a very big prize at the end of the ladder or none of the top players will play, to avoid having the replays released.



LzGamer: makes it that much easier to "solve the game" I think its kinda bad.. still at the end of the day the better players will win the tournaments (i hope)..



Artosis: People will be able to learn a lot faster than before because of this. Scratch that 150$ statement from above, if they are going to publicize every game I play, I will probably have a couple smurf accounts haha...



Jinro: It's ridiculous, private games should never appear in your matchlist, or at least the build orders shouldn't. I'll give an example from a recent tournament I played (Viking Cup #2 finals). My opponent for the finals was Failo from Denmark, so throughout the day leading up to the final, I simply checked through all his practice TvT games and looked at the build orders he'd been using. On Incineration Zone I noticed that he had an 8 rax cheese prepared, so I simply decided to go 10 rax to counter it. I never go 10 rax TvT, but this time, because I KNEW what he was doing, I did it and got a free win instead of what would have been a very likely loss, had I done a normal 12 rax or even my standard adaption for maps such as Incineration Zone - the 11 rax.



Do you have any comments about the ID system (no unique nicknames), and whether or not your privacy feels infringed upon?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Well someone stole my Machine. Machine in the previous patch (thanks buddy) so I am already feeling the effect's. Once again I am not sure why blizzard would allow it. I guess I should be happy that someone would want to pretend to be me, but its just kind of annoying for now.



Incontrol: Not worried about it.



IdrA: Not having unique ID's is just silly, I'd imagine its just an oversight from removing the .identifiers that will be fixed soon. As for privacy, I don't use facebook so I don't know how that all ties in, but it is really annoying to have to give out your email to allow someone to add you. It doesn't really seem appropriate, but again I have the feeling that its just something that wasn't fully thought through that will be changed soon.



LzGamer: Ya its kinda garbage atm.. having to give people my email to play them in a tournament and visa versa.. its pretty lame. chat channels and let people add "LzGamer" not "insert email here"



Artosis: Yeah, that sucks. There's multiple Artosis ids out there. Its going to happen some, but probably not that much. If you pay 50$ for a copy of SC2 and you want to have the same ID as me, well, I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? Especially when it costs you money to do it hahaha.



Jinro: It's bad and it's going to get worse if nothing is changed. Having only 1 ID means that anyone famous is going to be harassed to no end - this might not be much of a problem now, since nobody is really famous yet, but imagine what a future BoxeR would have to go through. I think, and hope, that the current ID system is indeed a temporary state of affairs. Having only 1 account also discourages you from playing any race other than your main, as it will adversely affect your ability to find good games when playing more seriously. For instance, I'd love to play some mess-around ladder games as random, but I'm not gonna do it, since my zerg isn't even a 10th as good as my terran, which means I'll lose a lot - which is fine, but when I then start playing terran again, I'll be playing against worse players and it won't be productive.



What do you think about the friend system?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Friend system seems fine, although I think its quite odd that they added all of your facebook friend's, it is going to be quite odd the first time my sister request's a friend invite.



Incontrol: Friend system is ok. Communication on bnet2.0 isn't.



IdrA: It's clunky and inconvenient, especially the limited chat commands. Its far from the biggest problem, but it could definitely be done better.



Artosis: Really, really annoying right now. I just want to add IDs to my friends list. I hate trying to track people down for their emails.





Your overall thoughts on B.Net 2.0?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Has a long way to go, no chat channels is a must IMO, and I would love the possibility of a LAN option, other than that I guess I like the auto-matchfinder (although I never play ladder) it seems that works well, and I can add friend's to my friend's list so that is good.



Incontrol: Bnet2.0 is a pretty update to Battlenet but someone forgot to make it work. No channels? WHY? WHY? What reason could you POSSIBLY give for not wanting paid customers to be able to communicate randomly and en masse? WHAT POSSIBLE REASON?



IdrA: Well I think its pretty clear, right now I would be very, very happy if they just reverted to bnet1 for wings of liberty and reworked the entire thing, except taking into account the things people want this time.



LzGamer: needs alot of work. chat channels / Offical Ranking not 300 #1 ranked players in diamond.. thats just pointless



Artosis: Rather have 1.0 back.



Jinro: Looks like a fancy sportscar, handles like a rusted up tractor. They have good things in there (the publishing system, the automatchmaker) but then some absolutely glaring omissions such as the lack of chat channels, no local hosting for custom games, a really terrible custom game browser, no chat commands, no online replays, no cross realm play.... And so on. Oh, and no LAN, together with a cap on how many people can connect from one IP just makes me shake my head - look at what happened at several TL LANs, or the lag problems of Stars War in China, despite being in the same room. It's sad really. : Has a long way to go, no chat channels is a must IMO, and I would love the possibility of a LAN option, other than that I guess I like the auto-matchfinder (although I never play ladder) it seems that works well, and I can add friend's to my friend's list so that is good.: Bnet2.0 is a pretty update to Battlenet but someone forgot to make it work. No channels? WHY? WHY? What reason could you POSSIBLY give for not wanting paid customers to be able to communicate randomly and en masse? WHAT POSSIBLE REASON?: Well I think its pretty clear, right now I would be very, very happy if they just reverted to bnet1 for wings of liberty and reworked the entire thing, except taking into account the things people want this time.: needs alot of work. chat channels / Offical Ranking not 300 #1 ranked players in diamond.. thats just pointless: Rather have 1.0 back.: Looks like a fancy sportscar, handles like a rusted up tractor. They have good things in there (the publishing system, the automatchmaker) but then some absolutely glaring omissions such as the lack of chat channels, no local hosting for custom games, a really terrible custom game browser, no chat commands, no online replays, no cross realm play.... And so on. Oh, and no LAN, together with a cap on how many people can connect from one IP just makes me shake my head - look at what happened at several TL LANs, or the lag problems of Stars War in China, despite being in the same room. It's sad really.



Other



Are there any other problems that you feel need to be addressed before the release, or patched later?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Protoss still has not been removed from the game, I had expected this a few patches ago but it seems that blizzard has been delaying that until release.



Incontrol: No



IdrA: Nothing not already mentioned I don't think.



LzGamer: Give terran mines. AND fix the stuff I have already adressed over and over and I will be the happiest person ever on sc2!



Artosis: I'd like to see the game a bit more balanced before the release. The tournaments now are fun and everything, but don't really mean too too much. When the game releases, everyone will be keeping track, and I'd prefer that be with a more balanced version of the game than we have now.



Jinro: Some units do not handle as well as they should, in particular the siege tank and perhaps the mutalisk as well. I'd like to see some of the changes from Project Micro implemented into the game. Many people complain about how strong mech is when it reaches a critical mass, and one change I'd like to see to attempt to address this (I have no idea if it will work) is making siege tanks capable of overkilling again, but reducing their cost (SC1 cost: 150/100, 2 supply, SC2 cost: 150/125, 3 supply). Basically, because all siege tank attacks are instant in SC2, they will never waste shots. If you order 5 siege tanks to shoot at a zergling, only one will fire. This makes them a lot less vulernable to friendly splash (dropping 1 zealot on top of a tank won't lead to 10 tanks firing at it, but rather 3), and makes a lot of push-breaking tactics meaningless (such as sending in 2-3 units ahead of your army to make all tanks waste their first round of fire at them).



What do you think of SC II as a spectator sport? How is it doing in comparison to SC1?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: It is a very flashy game with a ton of technical aspect as well, so I believe as a spectator sport that it has the best of both world's.



Incontrol: I think the game will outperform SC1 as a spectator sport. Camera rotation, prettier graphics, complete in game analysis of all statistics.. going to be great.



IdrA: There's plenty of potential in it. People complain about it being too boring or slow paced or whatever right now, if you go back and watch early sc1 games some of them were absolutely painful. The game is still in beta, players aren't that good yet, and there's still plenty of exciting gameplay. If the problems get fixed sc2 has a very bright future in esports.



LzGamer: I Love watching sc2 its a beautiful game and is holding alot of promise with being a great spectator sport. only thing scbw has on it that sc2 doesnt have.. is those OMG Moments. like when one Dark temp would get into a zergs main and kill all his drones without him noticeing (due to scbw didnt tell you.. that you were getting attacked becasue dt was 1 shoting drones) or when a reaver drop would happen and everyone would hold there breath when the scarab would be going to the minaral line.. or when a mine would would go off and be able to amaze the croud.



Artosis: I haven't actually watched too much SC2 yet, but I think if you have the right commentators on it, explaining what's going on, the game is going to be great for spectators.



Jinro: Too early to say, when we get a big Korean event I'll let you know. It's looking good so far : It is a very flashy game with a ton of technical aspect as well, so I believe as a spectator sport that it has the best of both world's.: I think the game will outperform SC1 as a spectator sport. Camera rotation, prettier graphics, complete in game analysis of all statistics.. going to be great.: There's plenty of potential in it. People complain about it being too boring or slow paced or whatever right now, if you go back and watch early sc1 games some of them were absolutely painful. The game is still in beta, players aren't that good yet, and there's still plenty of exciting gameplay. If the problems get fixed sc2 has a very bright future in esports.: I Love watching sc2 its a beautiful game and is holding alot of promise with being a great spectator sport. only thing scbw has on it that sc2 doesnt have.. is those OMG Moments. like when one Dark temp would get into a zergs main and kill all his drones without him noticeing (due to scbw didnt tell you.. that you were getting attacked becasue dt was 1 shoting drones) or when a reaver drop would happen and everyone would hold there breath when the scarab would be going to the minaral line.. or when a mine would would go off and be able to amaze the croud.: I haven't actually watched too much SC2 yet, but I think if you have the right commentators on it, explaining what's going on, the game is going to be great for spectators.: Too early to say, when we get a big Korean event I'll let you know. It's looking good so far



Do you still follow or play SC1?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: Yes, I am currently trying to re-learn sc1 in order to miraculously qualify for WCG USA finals somehow, and I am about to watch LEE JAEDONG VS FLASH after I get done writing this!



Incontrol: No.



IdrA: I follow it lightly, watch big matches and most of cj's games and keep track of most of the results just out of curiosity. I haven't really been playing at all, but during the beta downtime I think I'll go back to sc1 for a few weeks to qualify for wcg usa.



LzGamer: follow yes / Play not since beta came out.. might pick it back up for WCG USA though.



Artosis: Not really. I know what's going on for the most part in SC1 just because I work in Korea and talk with people a lot, but I'm no longer playing it at all or watching any games.



Jinro: I still watch it some, but I haven't followed the progaming scene closely since about 2006~2007. I mostly watch individual league finals and semis, with the occasional recommended vods thrown in there.



Any comments on the overall design of SC II (graphics, sound, etc.)?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: It is a very beautiful game that is for sure, I like the sound's as well except for in game mic (have to listen to LzGamer's mouth) no but on a serious note, everything look's and sound's stunning.



Incontrol: Looks amazing. But that might be because I played SC1 for 10+ years.



IdrA: I listen to music while I play so I can't really comment on the sound too much, except that the zerg girl sounds weird when she says minerals, the graphics look good and dont interfere with gameplay on the right settings. 3D makes air units and judging ranges involving cliffs very annoying, but that was unavoidable. Overall I don't think the whole modern game package is great for rts gameplay, but they've executed it well and it doesn't really interfere with the game too much so I'm happy with it.



LzGamer: no comment



Artosis: The graphics are obviously great, even though I play on the lowest settings because its easier to understand what's going on that way. The sound is pretty good, but the Zerg voices can be annoying haha.



Jinro: The game is drop-dead gorgeous, but I think anyone who has played it knows this : It is a very beautiful game that is for sure, I like the sound's as well except for in game mic (have to listen to's mouth) no but on a serious note, everything look's and sound's stunning.: Looks amazing. But that might be because I played SC1 for 10+ years.: I listen to music while I play so I can't really comment on the sound too much, except that the zerg girl sounds weird when she says minerals, the graphics look good and dont interfere with gameplay on the right settings. 3D makes air units and judging ranges involving cliffs very annoying, but that was unavoidable. Overall I don't think the whole modern game package is great for rts gameplay, but they've executed it well and it doesn't really interfere with the game too much so I'm happy with it.: no comment: The graphics are obviously great, even though I play on the lowest settings because its easier to understand what's going on that way. The sound is pretty good, but the Zerg voices can be annoying haha.: The game is drop-dead gorgeous, but I think anyone who has played it knows this



Do you have anything to say to the general public (words of advice, etc.)?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: WISH ME LUCK IN EVERYTHING CUZ I WILL NEED IT! and I would like to give a shout out to Green tea for being delicious yet nutritious.



Incontrol: When something changes for this game. Scream. Take a deep breath, then give it some time. Things aren't as bad as it seems. This game will be great, even if blizzard doesn't want it to be!



IdrA: That Frank Pearce interview seems to already be setting people off, but everyone really needs to make a concerted effort to tell blizzard what they're doing wrong. I suspect a large part of the problem is simply unawareness of what the community really wants, that can be fixed.



Artosis: SC2 is VERY NEW. SC1 was much worse at this stage in its life. If you don't like SC2, give it some time, its definitely a good game. There's going to be a huge amount of skill needed as it becomes more and more balanced.





What are your overall feelings about SC II? Has it lived up to its predecessor so far?

+ Show Spoiler + Machine: As skeptical as I was in the beginning, I think the game is awesome, and will hopefully keep improving.



IdrA: In some ways yes, some ways no. There are a lot of problems that absolutely need to be fixed, but at the core of it all is a well designed game with massive potential.



LzGamer: No way to say that atm.. cant compare a Beta with The best game of all time(SCBW)! But im going into this looking at the glass half full.. 123 SC2 FIGHTING!!!



Artosis: For how long the game's been out, its amazingly good.



Jinro: Gameplay wise, mostly yes. You need to keep in mind that SC2: WOL should be compared to Starcraft 1, without Brood War. Yeah, the game is currently not really as deep as SC:BW, but given time and two expansions, I am sure it will get there - it is off to a fantastic start. Battle.net 2.0 is holding it back a lot unfortunately : As skeptical as I was in the beginning, I think the game is awesome, and will hopefully keep improving.: In some ways yes, some ways no. There are a lot of problems that absolutely need to be fixed, but at the core of it all is a well designed game with massive potential.: No way to say that atm.. cant compare a Beta with The best game of all time(SCBW)! But im going into this looking at the glass half full.. 123 SC2 FIGHTING!!!: For how long the game's been out, its amazingly good.: Gameplay wise, mostly yes. You need to keep in mind that SC2: WOL should be compared to Starcraft 1, without Brood War. Yeah, the game is currently not really as deep as SC:BW, but given time and two expansions, I am sure it will get there - it is off to a fantastic start. Battle.net 2.0 is holding it back a lot unfortunately



A bit of TL;DR for the lazy: There are a variety of opinions about game play. In general, the game has been well designed - it looks and feels wonderful - though there might be a few issues with racial and unit balance. B.Net 2.0, on the other hand, has been a letdown, as the lack of chat channels and LAN makes hosting tournaments a chore. Furthermore, many changes, such as the build order viewer and publicly released replays, as well as server segregation, will hurt pro-level play. In the end, most would just prefer having the old 1.0 back. That said, the general consensus is that SC II is turning into a wonderful game and spectator sport as well - it's fun to play and watch, and the progress it's made has been amazing. Though there are some kinks (and some glaring flaws), the future looks bright for our beloved sequel. Here's to ten more exciting and fun-filled years! We've interviewed some of the most successful beta players on their thoughts about this game's past, present, and future. Here's what they had to say.There are a variety of opinions about game play. In general, the game has been well designed - it looks and feels wonderful - though there might be a few issues with racial and unit balance. B.Net 2.0, on the other hand, has been a letdown, as the lack of chat channels and LAN makes hosting tournaments a chore. Furthermore, many changes, such as the build order viewer and publicly released replays, as well as server segregation, will hurt pro-level play. In the end, most would just prefer having the old 1.0 back. That said, the general consensus is that SC II is turning into a wonderful game and spectator sport as well - it's fun to play and watch, and the progress it's made has been amazing. Though there are some kinks (and some glaring flaws), the future looks bright for our beloved sequel. Here's to ten more exciting and fun-filled years!