Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm - The Multiplayer Experience

The Most Dangerous Game

Terran vs. Terran - Humanity's greatest threat has always been itself

As a lifelong gamer, I've always looked for more challenges. Of course, back in the early days of video games, the player usually has to play against the computer. And the computer, not being a particularly bright opponent, would have to resort to advantages in numbers or sheer power:

Space Invaders - Dozens of aliens mindlessly marching back and forth hoping one of them reaches the bottom

But the most challenging opponent in video games is always another human player. Even Pong, the very first video game, was meant to be played against another player:

Pong - The original multiplayer game. Perfectly balanced, although the left player may disagree ...

There were many other multiplayer games back in those days like Tecmo Bowl and Mario Kart, both of which bring back fond memories.

Tecmo Bowl on the NES. Many fond memories, usually of getting beaten by human opponents

Mario Kart 64 - Perhaps the best N64 game ever, also brings back fond memories

But these games always required the opposing player (or players) to be right next to you. And all the players would be looking at the same screen, of course, so there can be few surprises as to what the other player is trying to do. Some multiplayer games these days still do:

Street Fighter IV - Ryu still kicking butt even after 22 years

You'll never see me coming

But then gaming over networks rose to popularity, starting with Doom and Command & Conquer:

Doom - A pioneer in network gaming

Command & Conquer - The first multiplayer real-time strategy game

Now you can play against opponents online. Not only that, but online games also allowed each player to view the game from his or her unique perspective. This can and does allow for players to sneak up and surprise their opponents. The following commercial for Call of Duty, entitled "Surprise," illustrates the enjoyment:

The Starcraft Revolution

Which finally brings me to today and the state of my favorite game, Starcraft. As you should know already, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm has been released over a month ago, and I've already given my review of the single-player campaign.

Heart of the Swarm - A freakin' epic single-player campaign

But what really gives the Starcraft series its enduring appeal is the multiplayer experience. In a word, it is DEEP. There are literally dozens of strategies and limitless outcomes to the games, more so than can be said about any game on the face of this earth. (Chess of course is a notable exception, but then again, chess has been around for centuries.)

Protoss vs. Zerg - Colossi and Stalkers are a powerful combo against ground armies

Zerg vs. Terran - Ultralisks and Banelings work wonders against the popular Terran "biomine" strategy

Easy to Learn ...

But that very description might seem daunting to an average player. How is one supposed to get into the multiplayer experience if there are so many strategies to learn and study? Fortunately, the game of Starcraft was designed in ways that even a total novice can pick up and enjoy.

For starters, Starcraft II: HotS has multiplayer tutorials:

Terran tutorial, meant to prepare players for multiplayer action. All of the basics are taught via "mission objectives."

These tutorials will teach a new player the basics of Starcraft, such as gathering resources, building an army, maintaining supply, and attacking the enemy. All of these actions are easily controllable from the mouse itself just by clicking and dragging. The keyboard also helps with one-key shortcuts, and although keyboard shortcuts is a must for upper-level play, rookies can also learn a few keyboard shortcuts as they get used to the game.

Easy to Jump In ...

Once a player learns the basics, Starcraft II provides different ways to play multiplayer. Look at the Matchmaking screen below:

SC2: HotS matchmaking screen

Going from left to right, the training comes first, followed by computer opponents. Next comes unranked matches against human opponents. Finally comes the real deal, which is ranked play, also known as ladder. The intention, of course, is for new players to try each of these in order so that they can gradually progress into the ladder system of multiplayer combat.

The ranking system is pretty simple, and it's based on ranking systems in many other games such as competitive chess, as well as sports such as tennis. Players are paired up according to relative rankings. If you win a game, you gain points; if you lose a game, you lose points. The amount of points you win or lose depends on the relative ranking of you and your opponent. If you beat an opponent that has a higher rank, you'll win more points and the opponent will lose more points. If you lose to such an opponent, you won't lose many points and the opponent will not win many points because the expectation is that you should lose to a higher ranked player.

Ladder rankings - The number of ladder points as well as win/loss records are shown.

This system ensures that players will end up playing most of their matches against opponents of similar skill level, which makes things fun for everyone of any skill level.

Hard to Master

Starcraft II also divides up the entire ladder into different leagues:

League Icons, listed from left to right starting with the highest, which is Grandmaster.

• Bronze League: The bottom 8% of players start here. Most of the players here are complete novices. (Some aren't, but I'll mention why later.)
• Silver League: The next 20% of players end up here.
• Gold League: The next 32% of players are in Gold League. Bronze, Silver, and Gold collectively make up the lower 60% of all players. (The percentages are a little wonky because Blizzard thinks they better represent the relative skill levels of each league.)
• Platinum League: The 2nd highest quintile of players are here.
• Diamond League: This is the top quintile of players. These are the advanced players.

The leagues mentioned above are the mainstream ones, but then there are two more elite leagues:

• Master's League: The top 2% of players get the privilege of calling themselves "masters."
• Grandmaster's League: The top 200 players in a given region (North America, Europe, or Korea) make it to the GM league. These are the best of the best. Professional gamers will be in this league.

The good thing about these leagues is that it's easy to classify what level of player you are. Instead of saying, "I'm rated at 1,500," which isn't very informative since that number could mean anything, you can say, "I'm in Platinum league," and people will know that you are an above-average player.

However, this system of leagues does promote some elitism. Players in higher leagues often feel smug and don't want to listen to or help out their lesser-skilled bretheren in the Starcraft II community. All these elitists focus on is trying to improve their ranking by winning. It's selfish and arrogant, but like "trolls" on the Internet, it's really easy to be that way without having to face any negative social consequences.

Meanwhile, being in Bronze or Silver league could feel rather embarrassing for those new to the game. But I'd imagine most people in these lower leagues don't really care as much about improving their standings. They just want to play the game casually without having to practice or face those who greatly outclass them.

It's worth mentioning that some players in Bronze league will find themselves on Husky's latest series of videos entitled "Bronze League Heroes":

This series features some hilarious games played by people in Bronze league. While it's not necessarily the fault of the Bronze league players that they don't know the basics of multiplayer, Husky still has a way of making these videos very funny and enjoyable to watch.

La La La La La La, La La La La La

Smurf - A player who pretends to be less skilled just to be ranked in the lower leagues

I do have to say that not all players in the lower leagues are there because their skill levels prevent them from going any higher. Some players intentionally lose over and over in order to get into these lower leagues. These players usually play on alternate accounts called "smurf accounts," where they can try and experiment with unconventional, even "cheesy" strategies on lesser opponents. This way, their actual player ratings on their main accounts aren't affected.

Some people use smurf accounts not to experiment, but to build up a long string of wins against lesser opponents. One reason for this is to get the in-game achievement related to win streaks, but another reason could be that these people are just being virtual bullies and are trying to fulfill a twisted personal need. (Hence if you're in a lower league and you just got trounced by an opponent, chances are it's an expert player on a smurf account.)

But Soon, You Will Learn to Call ME "Master"

So where am I? I am happy to say that in HotS, I am now ranked in Master's League in all four modes of play, i.e. 1v1, 2v2, etc.

That's right, I'm a Master in all four modes, baby!

What does that mean for me? It means I get to count myself among the top 2% of all Starcraft II players who actively participate on the ladder. I get to participate in forums and give qualified opinions on gameplay. I get to play against some of the very best players out there, including professional players on occasion. (The pros will kick my butt, of course, but I consider it to be an honor just to play against them on the ladder.)

But mostly it just means for me that a lot of people have started playing Starcraft II (or restarted) when HotS was released. You see, I was in Diamond league for all of the first game, Wings of Liberty, and although I played against some Master's players, I rarely ever won against them.

Now after the expansion, all of a sudden I find myself in Master's league. I don't think my skills have improved all that much since before the expansion, but I have noticed a definite drop in the skill levels of Diamond league opponents. Other players have observed the same thing in their respective leagues. Basically for most players who have been playing Starcraft II for a few years now, they got promoted by one league. That would include me.

I'm not sure how long I get to be in this elite class of players, since inevitably people will stop playing HotS just like they stopped playing WoL for a while. And those people who quit will likely be in the lower leagues, which means the distribution of skill will shift back to where it used to be. But it's also possible that my skills have indeed improved considerably over the past several months, which means I should take some credit for making it into Masters.

To Be Continued ...

Well this blog entry has gone on long enough, so now's a good time to bring it to a close. Yet there is so much more to blog about when it comes to SC2 multiplayer. My next entry about SC2 will probably be about gameplay balance, why I like playing Zerg as a race, and the basics of what's called the "metagame."

Until then, I've got some more games to play on ladder. See ya later, hopefully online!