The Devil Plays Protoss: ParentCraft

By Jacqueline Geller

Any opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of compLexity Gaming or its parent company.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen a tweet or two about my parents and StarCraft. My parents are funny, and when they discuss StarCraft, what they say is easily translated into a 140 character message. For example, I sent my dad an article at the end of June on Major League Gaming and the Rise of eSports, and his reply was both entertaining and witty: “Interesting. Maybe I should change careers and become a tournament player. Maybe this could be a career for Mom.” How could I not tweet that? The responses I receive are typically the same, ranging from “your dad is so cool” to “so jealous your parents knows about SC.”

The shocking truth about my parents and their relationship with StarCraft2: my parents are not gamers and don’t know much at all about video games.

When I was younger, my parents did now allow me to play video games because my mom was worried that it would affect my schoolwork. I did play a handful of PC games growing up, but I never owned a console until I bought an Xbox 360 in 2009. Today, my dad is in his early sixties, and my mother is in her late fifties. My dad does not endorse owning a cellphone, and I do not think he’s ever played a video game. As for my mother, she still asks me basic computer questions that could easily be answered with Google like how to add attachments to emails. When it comes to technology and gaming, my parents aren’t exactly with it.

So why did my parents becoming interested in the SC2 community? That answer is easy: because I’m interested in the SC2 community.

The first time I talked about StarCraft with my parents was at the end of January. During the Handsome Nerd Art Director selection process, I had a phone interview with Nick and Dan. I do not have a landline in my apartment and in order to have my bases covered, I wanted to check if I could go to my parent’s house just in case. I wasn’t sure what to tell my mom when I called her so I kept it simple: I had a job interview with Americans living in South Korea and was wondering if I could use the home phone if needed. Within the ten minutes, I had a panicked voicemail from my dad. He was worried that I was joining an elaborate, international pyramid scheme, and that was my parent’s introduction to the SC2 community.

Since then, my parents have watched me get more involved in the vibrant community. I’m excited and passionate about what I do, and I am chatty with them about the things that I do. Over time, my parents have become more interested in the SC2 community and the game itself. I have forced the game on them a bit, but it has been a slow and steady introduction. Last week, my dad even watched the first game in the FXOLucky vs LiquidJinro CodeA GSL series. It was a big step in my parent’s StarCraft2 101.

What’s the next step in their Aiur education? I’d love to get my parents on Battle.net and playing a handful of games against AI. If I lived at home, I would have introduced them to the game already. I plan to teach them a bit about each of the races, the units and a basic build or two. It will be a bit of a challenge to get my mom playing SC2, but I think it could be fun! My dad seemed a touch interested in learning more about the units and game mechanics when we were watching the GSL. I don’t except either of them to love playing the game or even like it, but I appreciate that they’re taking an interest in the things that I’m interested in. It makes me happy that they are willing to try SC2 because it’s important to me.

If you want your parents to be more engaged in your interest in SC2, engage them! Someone who doesn’t care about the game will have no interest in the phenomenal Zerg strategy you saw Destiny do on his stream, but there are ways to engage them in community on-goings. Parents will associate with aspects of the community more so than the game itself. I email my parents articles about eSports, and I know my parents regularly read my writing. The thought of your dad watching MLG may seem absurd and the thought of your mom knowing what a zergling is may seem ridiculous, but trust me, it might not be as crazy as it seems. Try it. You never know. Maybe your friends will be jealous of your cool parents.

GL HF,
Jacq

About the Author – Jacqueline Geller

After years of playing World of Warcraft, a friend introduced Jacqueline to Starcraft early last year. Jacqueline’s relationship with Starcraft started out slowly: a handful of casual dates, a little bit of flirting but nothing serious. She took her relationship with the game to the next level after BlizzCon 2010 where she experienced eSports magic first-hand and realized that Starcraft was the one. Despite being a mediocre player, she has been clambering the ladder at a glacial pace and has spent more time watching Starcraft online than she’d like to admit. In March, Jacqueline made the leap from eSports fan to eSports professional when she was hired by the Handsome Nerd as their Art Director, combining her design skills with her love of Starcraft. Since its start in April, Jacqueline has been a contributing writer for the North American Star League, writing coverage for Division 1. Offline, Jacqueline is a bookworm, a runner, a freeride snowboarder and has a Human Ecology degree with a Clothing and Textiles major.

View Jacqueline’s profile here.
Visit @jacquelinesg on Twitter

After weeks of feverish anticipation from the DotA community, Valve have finally released a trailer. It doesn’t feature any gameplay, but it shows off the game’s art direction and some of the most iconic heroes. Fans of the franchise will immediately recognize their favourite heroes in their new attire. We are taken on a journey through the map, showing a gank, some mid lane fighting and some creep killing in the beginning.

But enough with the descriptions, check it out below!

Source

In a historical moment for eSports, Riot Games announced the biggest prize pool ever. Coming off of an extremely successful season one finale, Riot decided to up the ante significantly in their second season by posting a prize pool worth $5,000,000. 

DUBLIN, IRELAND – August 15, 2011 – Riot Games today announced the first details surrounding the second competitive season for its hit multiplayer online battle arena game, League of Legends. With a record-setting five million dollar prize pool, League of Legends Season Two will mark the next step in what has already become one of the biggest eSports titles in history.

League of Legends has been selected by the top eSports organizers in the world as an official title: Major League Gaming, the Electronic Sports League (where League of Legends is an official title of the Intel Extreme Masters Series), and the World Cyber Games. Set to kick off this fall, Season Two will feature a spectrum of ongoing competitions, from massive pro-level tournaments to weekly open registration events, giving players countless opportunities to vie for their share of the unprecedented five million dollar prize pool.

“Season One of League of Legends was a resounding success, with over 1.7 million viewers tuning in to our first-ever championships,” said Marc Merrill, president of Riot Games and executive producer on League of Legends. “The competitive scene in League of Legends has grown like wildfire, and the five million dollars in prize money on the line is a testament to how massive the scene has become and is just the first glimpse of what our players have in store for the upcoming season!”

“Competitive gaming is hard-coded in Riot’s DNA. It’s been thrilling to watch the level of competitive play that evolved in Season One!” said Brandon Beck, CEO of Riot Games. “Players will certainly step up their game in Season Two – so it’s only fair that we step up ours.”

League of Legends, Riot Games’ debut title, celebrated its first anniversary on Oct. 27, 2010. Since its launch in North America and Europe, over 15 million players have downloaded the game to engage in session-based, multiplayer battles against rival teams, with more than 1.4 million players enjoying League of Legends every day. Built by a veteran development team, League of Legends combines elements of both strategy and competitive action genres. With plans to launch in China, Korea and other regions in 2011, the League of Legends community continues to grow.

About Riot Games, Inc.
Riot Games is a direct-to-consumer video game developer and publisher of premium, competitive online games. The company was established in 2006 and has quickly become a leading global developer and publisher of premium free-to-play online video games for hardcore gamers, launching their debut title, League of Legends, in October 2009. To date, more than one million gamers play League of Legends every day. For more information, please visit www.riotgames.com and eu.leagueoflegends.com.

Source: Riot Games

Today, after a long period of silence, Valve Software finally released some information on where the Counter-Strike franchise is going. Dubbed Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the new game will be released early 2012 on the PC via Steam, as well as on the Xbox 360 and PS3 as a downloadable title.

CS:GO will feature “new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more.”

According to Valve’s Doug Lombardi:

Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999. For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS’ award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac.

Anyone who is familiar with eSports knows just how important Counter-Strike is to the movement. For years, CS was the mainstay of Western competitive gaming. While it has died down in the U.S. there are still plenty of European and Asian teams keeping the scene alive. With the announcement of CS:GO, it’s hard not to get excited about an eSports resurgence of the franchise.

To add to the excitement, former CS progamer Craig “Torbull” Levine posted an article on ESEAnews about how he and several other CS progamers were invited to Valve’s HQ to provide input on CS:GO. According to Torbull:

[CS:GO] is designed on the updated Source Engine, but is not built off of Counter-Strike: Source and due out in early 2012 with beta access beginning this fall. It will maintain the traditional de_ and cs_ map types and would not include new game modes. Valve was keen on hearing the input from top CSS players to make CS GO an e-sports title and that is reflected by the game featuring both casual and competitive game modes with a built in match making system and support for dedicated servers.

Torbull also remarked on the movement feel of the game, saying

It didn’t feel like 1.6 and despite being built on the Source engine, it didn’t feel like CSS. By design, Valve wanted to create a game with a different feel, and overall it was really smooth. The pro players seemed surprisingly happy with the player player movement and feel of the game but thankfully they weren’t short of feedback and most weren’t shy to share it. Tweaks and adjustments are needed, but in my opinion, it was a great sign that it didn’t grossly offend anyone.

 

The most important part of any Counter-Strike title is the arsenal. According to Torbull,

[t]he weapons were one of the areas that in the group’s opinions still needs the most work. Valve wanted to create a more balanced weapon system that would expand beyond the main four weapons (AWP, M4, AK, and Deagle). They wanted shotguns and sub machine guns to have situational value and so they really took some “creative liberties”. They wanted sub machine guns to be good mid-distance alternatives and for shotguns to provide a unique close range use. The AK and M4 rifles felt weak and inaccurate while sub machines like the P90 were overpowered and soon became the weapon of choice during some casual pugs.” But don’t let this news get you down. “The developers eagerly listened to feedback, prying for explanations and more information to improve. They informed us that the game is built to have adjustable weapon variables and made it seem that everything the group was pointing out could presumably be tweaked based on our feedback before launch and even before beta.

On top of reworking the old favorites, Valve will also be adding some new weapons. In particular, a new heavy machine gun rifle, new pistols, a new shotgun, decoy grenades and Molotov cocktails.

[M]olotov cocktails, an expensive $850 item, which can be used to slow down opponents and re-route opponents through AOE damage. Molotov cocktails could be used to slow down T rushes through the tunnels into B on Dust2 or by Ts to slow CTs on retakes. Molotovs are currently stackable and bounce (versus an instant break), which might need to be revisited. Decoy grenades are also a new item that can be thrown to emit gun sounds and give the illusion of there being a player. The decoy grenade currently produced an AK / Glock when thrown by Ts and M4 / USP when thrown by CTs.

It is important to note that CS:GO is still a ways off and Valve has plenty of time to rework and balance everything. Be sure to keep an eye on PAX Prime and Eurogamer Expo 2011 as there will be a playable demo available there.

Soapbox: An Open Letter to the CS Community

by Jonny “mR.Waffles” Fuller

Any opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of compLexity Gaming or its parent company.

It has been a long time coming friends. I consider myself lucky to have witnessed the golden years of competitive gaming FPS gaming in North America as a teenager and then later as a competitor. I remember playing in a pub, Striker 2000, and just worshipping the older guys with such talent. I remember driving to northern VA to the grand opening of my fellow pubber Mint’s Lanferno and watching Miller play. I remember the excitement only a 16 year old could feel, jumping into a car with his friends and team mates to drive to New York City to meet people I had only known online to compete. I am almost embarrassed to realize Counter-Strike has been an active aspect of half of my entire life. I’m sure there’s a Half-Life pun there somewhere. It was 12 years ago a friend brought over a disk entitled “Half-Life” and we found a mod that changed the course of my life. I tried to quit due to excessive play in addition to a genetic bone condition that damaged my wrist and required multiple surgeries. However, I always came back. I could recite stories for pages, but I won’t bore you. I just want you to understand how important Counter-Strike and last night’s news of an impending new release is to me.

Solidarity is critical. The split between 1.6, CZ, and CS:S decimated the community. Granted, the 1.6 community remained in Europe, but I am strictly referring to the North American scene. We could argue for years as to which game is better and why, but that’s not productive. Each has value, but we must consider this important question above all else: “How can we best kick off an e-Sports FPS revival in North America?” The simple answer is that we must unify the tribes. If you want to play a competitive RTS there is only one option, Starcraft 2. The FPS e-sports community suffers from a million titles. Notice, I do not refer to an e-sports revival. The future has never looked so promising for e-sports. We are already seeing an amazing revival. Look at what the Starcraft 2 community has achieved in only a year. It’s a bittersweet feeling watching MLG Starcraft display everything I ever wanted for Counter-Strike.

Unification behind a new Counter-Strike makes sense. First of all, Starcraft 2 would not have the non-player fan base if it was not attractive. New graphics matter! Intel and Nvidia do not get an opportunity to show their latest and greatest hardware on a 10 year old game that could run on a ti-83 calculator. A newer, shinier, more robust Counter-Strike will allow for greater sponsorship opportunities and spectators will appreciate the upgrade. From a competitive stand point, only a Counter-Strike sequel possesses the clout to unite the distinct tribes of FPS behind one flag. It’s been 12 years and there have been no contenders outside of the franchise for the FPS e-sports throne.

Years ago during the CS:S, 1.6, or ProMod controversy, I wrote an article arguing against implementation of a ProMod for Source. I detailed how in order for the competitive community to survive it needs a public community as a lead in for the professional scene. A new release will increase the player base with gamers who have never experienced a CS game before. Imagine a four way split between 1.6, CZ, CS:S, and CS:GO. All of us started out in a public server before venturing forth into irc and #findscrim, and therefore the last thing we needed was another separation. This still holds true.

We also need to improve our community. The CS community holds the honor of being regarded slightly higher than the infamous cesspool that is League of Legends and HoN. Look at the fan interaction in Starcraft. Look at how the entire community bands together with the common goal of improving everyone’s skill level and the state of the game. Secrets are shared and strategies are rapidly advanced. I know there is a difference because of the one versus one adversarial nature of Starcraft and the team oriented tradition of Counter-Strike. In CS, the mentality has always been “us, our team” against “them,” whereas in Starcraft, everyone must grow together. I do not expect this to change, and I miss the trash talking on the old CAL Forums just as much as anyone, but we need to keep in mind that the community will need to support itself.

We cannot count on Valve for anything. They clearly have no idea what they are doing in regards to today’s subject. Look at their plans for the DoTA 2 launch. Who plans a 1.7 million dollar tournament for a game no one can play? Even I, who loathe DoTA, would buy the game if I had the opportunity to practice for a few months and then compete. It would be an infinitely better marketing investment to hold ten 100,000 dollar tour stops for DoTA 2 after release. That way gamers would purchase the game in an effort to win a spot at a tournament, and in addition, keep the game in the news. Valve holds the highest selling, most competitive, longest longevity team FPS, which is the center in the collective e-sports mind. They have plans to release a sequel, but are unsure if they will host a huge tournament? I am so glad Valve is a private company, because if I owned shares and heard that marketing strategy I would topple over management. People, it is up to us.

Maybe I should re-title this piece “An Open Letter to the FPS e-Sports Community”. I want all of us to unite. I want 1.6, CS:S, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Brink, AvA, Quake Live, and yes even the two guys still playing Unreal Tournament to step up. Play hard. Go Pro.

What is a soapbox?

A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment of soap or other dry goods from a manufacturer to a retail store.

Do you have an topic you’d like to discuss with a soapbox piece? Send it here.