StarCraft II Beta

[Margalis]

Building LAN support into some versions is going to cause a backlash.

[sinij]

I don't know how long it will take to burn through good-will Blizzard accumulated over years from the gaming community, but SC2 shenanigans are not likely to be forgotten if they going to go live with it.

Facebook crap alone is EA-worthy.

[Rasix]

Gosh, are they circling the drain, sinij? People need to know!

[patience]

That trailer is all in game cutscenes tho.

fail.

I saw a commercial on TV using that footage last night, I thought the same thing at the time.  On further reflection though, lets be realistic, RTS gameplay isn't actually going to make for great commercials/trailers.

That's because they haven't caught on to the idea of translating the more knowledgeable Korean sportcasters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYthCrf2CM0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nJLLMpfPKc&feature=related

[fuser]

Looks like beta is starting back up, new patcher, new +400MB patch(s) to download.

[Rasix]

Looks to be up. Pretty sluggish at the moment.  

edit: Only 2 placement matches? EEEP. Better lose.

[K9]

schweet, just in time for me to get back from holiday

[Rasix]

Seems to be a bit broken at the moment. I guess I'll play some Witcher and wait for it to magically unfuck itself.

edit: Shit's broken. I can't get any game to launch.  I needed to sleep anyways.  With my wife away on business I'd just be a moron and play all night.

[kildorn]

NO SERVERS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE!

I'm trying to play a game with myself and some random AIs, bnet. I don't fucking NEED one of your servers, damnit!

[Malakili]

I would totally reinstall this if it weren't for blizzards latest fuck up.

[fuser]

StarCraft II Beta – Patch 16 (version 0.19.0.15976)

General

Rally points now behave as a move command, instead of an attack move command.
Enabled the ability to manually add a StarCraft II character friend using the player's character code. Character code is a server-assigned numerical code that is displayed within the Add Friend panel.
Battle.net Achievements & Rewards have been updated.
All Quick Match modes are now available: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and Free For All.
All A.I. difficulties are now available for play.
Cooperative matchmaking versus A.I. players is now available as a play mode.
Enabled cross-game social features between World of Warcraft and StarCraft II.

Balance Changes

ZERG
Infestor

• Frenzy spell removed.
• Infested Terran spell added.

Overseer

• Infested Terran spell removed.

Ultralisk

• Now immune to stuns and mind control.

[bhodi]

Yeah, it's back up.

There were a whole lot of undocumented changes that aren't listed there. A lot of sound and voice edits, for one.

[Rasix]

Yeah, it's back up.

There were a whole lot of undocumented changes that aren't listed there. A lot of sound and voice edits, for one.

Have you been able to play at all?  I haven't gotten a single game to work yet.

[bhodi]

Seems to be working as of right now, yeah. Just got a game.

[Trippy]

I just finished playing a game against AI opponents.

[Rasix]

Yah, got one game and then crashed at the beginning of my next one.

First guy was awesome with his pylon, pylon opening.

edit: I'm so fucking terrible at this game.   

[Rasix]

Rasix
cc: 529

if anyone wants to play some.  I hate playing Terran as Protoss, but I may need someone to play so I can figure out someway to beat mech or fast ghosts.

[fuser]

if anyone wants to play some.

I would but it seems I have ran out of prepaid time?! 

[Lantyssa]

Why would Starcraft have pre-paid time?

[Trippy]

Because of South Korea -- they have a different pricing model for the game over there.

[Rasix]

Heh, it's some sort of bug.  Happened to a lot of people. I think you have to email support.

[fuser]

I think you have to email support.

I was going to post in the forum but you cannot without a valid character. From the forums they don't want people to email any more as they are looking into the issue.

[K9]

Battle.net is down it seems

[Malakili]

Well, I decided to reinstall after not playing for a very long time (quit LONG before beta was over the first time), in honor of blizzard at least coming to the senses slightly. 

Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle, now I remember why I quit.  I am just not fast enough to play this game, and custom maps + single player aren't competitive enough to satiate me.

 The RTS genre is beyond me, every time I try one I come to the same conclusion, but end up trying again thinking somehow THIS TIME I'll be able to compete.  I've been watching videos religiously for a couple weeks now just because I like to anyway, and I thought I had a pretty solid understanding of what I need to do, but as soon as a real game starts its all out the window I forget things, I misclick, my brain forgets the hotkeys.

There is no excuse either, I just didn't develop the kind of skills I need to play this genre the way I want to early enough and now I just don't have the patience or time for that long uphill slog.  Man, what a humbling experience.

[Rasix]

Yah, it's hard coping with being incredibly bad at these games, especially when you used to be pretty good.  Then again, that was 12+ years ago.

I watch replays.  I catch the "day9 daily" the day after it airs.  I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do and how to adjust my army comp in game when presented with certain information.  Still, the addage that no plan survives first contact seems to kick into gear the second the map loads.

I lose to stupid shit like zealot rushes, cannon pushers, or badly telegraphed backdoor break-ins.   I don't hotkey and if I do, I normally forget what I did hotkey.  I click A LOT.  I can't macro anything more difficult than warping in units while attacking. I normally screw up my initial build to the point where my first stalker is REALLY late or I never transition into something that will actually beat my opponent's army.  I always get out expanded.  I always forget to make probes.   Terrans beat me so bad it's almost comical.

It'll take me a long time to get better at this and that will only happen if I actively combat my bad habbits and try to mechanically get better at RTS.   I'm not sure I can do it playing casually, and I really do not like committing to just one game.  I may be screwed.  

But I'm having fun and the single player combined with my inept fumblings in multi may end up worth the purchase.

  

[Malakili]

Yah, it's hard coping with being incredibly bad at these games, especially when you used to be pretty good.  Then again, that was 12+ years ago.

I watch replays.  I catch the "day9 daily" the day after it airs.  I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do and how to adjust my army comp in game when presented with certain information.  Still, the addage that no plan survives first contact seems to kick into gear the second the map loads.

I lose to stupid shit like zealot rushes, cannon pushers, or badly telegraphed backdoor break-ins.   I don't hotkey and if I do, I normally forget what I did hotkey.  I click A LOT.  I can't macro anything more difficult than warping in units while attacking. I normally screw up my initial build to the point where my first stalker is REALLY late or I never transition into something that will actually beat my opponent's army.  I always get out expanded.  I always forget to make probes.   Terrans beat me so bad it's almost comical.

It'll take me a long time to get better at this and that will only happen if I actively combat my bad habbits and try to mechanically get better at RTS.   I'm not sure I can do it playing casually, and I really do not like committing to just one game.  I may be screwed.  

But I'm having fun and the single player combined with my inept fumblings in multi may end up worth the purchase.

  

Wow...this is EXACTLY my experience of SC2 beta (right down to watching the day9 daily), and you've come to the exact same conclusion as me.  I'm on the fence about buying it if I'mnot going to committ to multiplayer though, single player might be fun, but it might be fun 3 years down the line when I can buy the battlechest too.

Edit: You know, I think watching all those videos is hurting me more than helping.  I'm mentally prepared for the pro concepts and play styles, but my physical skills aren't ready for it, let alone the fact that 2 gate zealot rush isn't something I'm used to seeing in high level replays   

Also, I am god awful at scouting - "Ok, I see two gateways, looks pretty standard should be a normal game" 2 minutes later I have 5 zealots in my base and its gg.  I'm always amazed at how well the pros know the timings down to such a fine level.  They are like,  "Well I scouted and saw 2 gates, but the second one was 25% more finished than I expected, so I was pretty sure he was going for early pressure, but I wasn't worried about it because I knew I'd have a stalker out about the time the 3 zealots were getting to me front door"  I'd i'm like HURR DURRR I MADE A GUY

[Samwise]

I've already decided to hold off until the full single player campaign is out in a cheap combo pack, and buy it for that.

[Malakili]

I've already decided to hold off until the full single player campaign is out in a cheap combo pack, and buy it for that.

I should probably do this, because if I try to get involved in multiplayer I'm going to drive myself bat shit crazy.

I remember why I so frustrated before, the game is balanced for more micro than players of my level have.  It almost always comes down purely to army size, which means that investing heavily in an army early in the game and making a semi early push almost ALWAYS beats going for an economic build.  The few games I've played on four player maps I'm like "Ok, I saw X player early expand here with no problem, I should do that"  Then I do that....then the guy comes with early pressure and I think ok, I have enough units to fend this off, I've seen this in a replay, and then my force gets decimated and I lose.

[Ingmar]

I know I won't have the patience to wait for it, the single player campaign stuff was a ton of fun at Blizzcon and I know I'm not going to be able to make myself wait.

[Xuri]

i'm like HURR DURRR I MADE A GUY

This single line alone sums up my entire Starcraft II beta career.

[Malakili]

Upon further reflection I really think I'm just approaching learning this game all wrong.  I'm trying to learn how to play Starcraft 2 when what I really need to be doing is learning how to play RTS.   I am a long time FPS player, have played them competitively in leagues and such, and have often filled in on teams that are much better than the teams I was actually a part of "full time" (more due to time commitments that anything).   I don't say this to brag about my FPS skills or something, but rather to make a point about how I am approaching the game.  I'm trying to approach SC2 with the mentality of someone who has over a decade of experience, but I'm the equivalent of someone trying to break into the FPS scene I'm already a part of but isn't comfortable with using WASD to move.

 I need to practice shit like clicking where I actually want to click on the screen and hitting the right key on the keyboard.  I honestly couldn't even tell you a good position to hold my hand over the keyboard for an RTS, FPS is so ingrained in my muscle memory that my hand automatically hovers over the left side of the keyboard for WASD movement and adjacent keys, that can't be anywhere near correct. 

I was listening to a day 9 daily a few weeks back and he was talking about control groups and he was like "notice how natural it feels to just hit 2a3a4a, but how 1a is a lot more difficult."  So I was fooling with my keyboard and I was like, that isn't a remotely natural or easy combination of keys to hit AT ALL.  We are effectively playing entirely different games.  Unfortunately, I have no idea how to improve these sorts of fundamentals/basics without just getting demolished for the next 200-500 games or so.

[Fordel]

Wait till you find out you can actually let go of the mouse, let alone move your hand away from WASD on the board!

[DLRiley]

Besides team liquids suggestion to change your keys using note book, sc2 is my first rts i am relatively good at. I never got into the sc1 multiplayer scene so I come into this pretty close to cold. My complete newb period was long, i forced myself to play at least 2 games a day, watching every 4th replay, learning to turtle(its a terrain thing), checking the replay to see when they got their stuff compared to when i got mine, than learning how to push and cover my ass(not getting owned by stealth, air, proxy, and other cheese). Right now i can almost keep up with a platinum league player. Not being able to use wasd is just...arg, starcraft can get away with it becomes for some reason everything is responsive enough that my mouse and proper camera scrolling is getting me by. But i'm by no means pro tier player, my micro is complete shit and i'm just now learning to hot key and use the left side of the keyboard. I guess i'm happy with the level i am in even if its 3 steps above average, which in general isn't that much lower than what i usually do in competitive environments.   

[Wolf]

Blizzard killed EU's login server. No wow, no starcraft. 

MALAZAN TIME

[Merusk]

I was listening to a day 9 daily a few weeks back and he was talking about control groups and he was like "notice how natural it feels to just hit 2a3a4a, but how 1a is a lot more difficult."  So I was fooling with my keyboard and I was like, that isn't a remotely natural or easy combination of keys to hit AT ALL.  We are effectively playing entirely different games.  Unfortunately, I have no idea how to improve these sorts of fundamentals/basics without just getting demolished for the next 200-500 games or so.

You've summed up why I've never played RTS' beyond the single player campaigns.  I never bother trying because I figure if I'm going to put so much time and effort into being great at something, I should probably devote that time to something pertinent to my career.

However, your little clue there about keyboard position seems spot-on as I do the same.  From a few mins fiddling here, I think RTS players are hovering over the keyboard with the left index finger on the F or G key.  Yeah it's only a key or two shift but while doing so try and hit the 1a key.  You have to stretch a lot more with either your ring or pinky finger to hit that 1. 

Oh hey.. a keybind map.  http://starfeeder.gameriot.com/blogs/Starcraft-2-2/Full-List-of-Keybinds-and-Keybind-Maps  Yeah, G makes much more sense from those layouts.