Iccup TV

I don’t really know what to say about this new feature. On one hand I am insanely impressed by the technical accomplishment and on the other hand the actual experience falls short of what I had hoped.I’ve seen a couple of games and it takes a while to figure out whether the players are any good, the game exiting and I don’t really trust the statistics reported in game. At least I have seen a few games where the players had 1500+ in APM. I doubt that is correct.

It is like watching a VOD with no commentary. Not even the implicit commentary of someone directing the view to where the action is. And it is like observing a game only only with out being able to chat with anyone.

I know they have future plans and want feedback (which is good), but I have my doubts. My strongest wish is that Blizzard are paying attention and will come up with a similar system for Starcraft II and will make it work right.

Hey Blizzard

Hey, Blizzard! Have you been following the TSL2 qualification fallout? Do you learn anything from that? I suddenly feel scared about tournaments being run on battle.net 2. Will you provide sufficient guarantees that no one will cheat in tournaments now that you will own the data that the community can’t check? Or will all data be public (including players IP-addresses) so that we can check it on our own?

Do you already now have tools in place to catch abusers, win-traders and hackers? The old Starcraft ladder on battle.net was a joke from day one. I know you did better in Wacraft III, but it was still a ladder for casual players rather than the basis for an eSport.

How will all this turn out?

Map dedication

I have played almost exclusively on Neo Medusa this season. I started out thinking it was a Terran map. Mostly because I used to have a lot of trouble against Terrans on this map. The destructible tempels, the ledge drops and so on.

The only two things Protoss have going for them is the wide open center (good for flanking is a plus, can be totally dominated by enough tanks is a minus) and the fact that there is a relatively open entrance to the start positions.

So I set out to abuse that for an entire season and it was okay. In the beginning I went 3 dragoons into dark templars. Then 5 dragoons into dark templars. Sometimes an odd amount of dragoons due to me messing up my build. It got better during the season too. RushFlush pointed out that I really ought to do a pure 10/15 opening and then transition into the dark templars and it helped. Later I came to realize the power of a pure 10/15 opening into enough dragoons was very powerful. “You could have won if you just pressed on” is a common comment on my replays.

But too many times I saw 3 already hurt dragoons get one-shot killed by a lonely siege tank and I dared not press on. I have come to suspect that the timing is extremely sensitive in this opening attack. Forget putting probes on gas for just 5-10 seconds and he will have siege mode when you get to his wall-in. My opening build has to flawless and it rarely is.

I am starting to get the hang of it and wonder how I would do on a map with a ramp. Destination is popular for instance. I will need to dedicate at least as much time to that map. I feel I ought to explore reaver control too. I used to do reaver drops and it almost never worked out. Maybe 50 games could fix that?

Season Goal 50 Games Played

I’ve reached my season goal. To play 50 games as Protoss vs. Terran on one map. Well, almost as I played 2 games on Longinus and one on Othello. My statistics right actually says that I’ve played 52 games, but I have lost two games due to watching replays – really frustrating. So I am really 30-20 which means a win percentage of 60%. It feels pretty good even though I do not take my defeats lightly.

I’ve also come to realize that I am not very reliable in my game play and I tend to mess up in situations where winning means more to me. For instance when I play against people I “know” online. RushFlush, TS-Buzz. and 1pq: I don’t think you’ve seen my best yet.

And still I owe you guys a lot in teaching me what little I know about this game. My final and 50th game was fittingly epic. 38 minutes of action and me on 200 supply most of the game.

I don’t think I will surpass the 83 games I played in last season, but there is about a week left of this season and I am at D+ 2744 points. Suddenly I realize that I am only 2 or 3 wins away form the coveted C- at 3000 points. TS-Buzz. could jump from D+ to C. Should I not be able to make it to C-?