Okay, before I start out with this article. I am not a nerd.
Start:
I remember the Golden Days of IMSA, where all our fellow brethren would gather up their computers have enjoy a compelling game of StarCraft. The game was played just for kicks but I thought it really offered B-Wing bonding time; and as bad as it may have seemed, discussing StarCraft over the dinner table was a lot of fun. Note: I never discussed StarCraft as I ate, I just listened. It was mostly Ashwin and Steven talking about it.
So playing the game was fun; however, many would argue that we were wasting our time. Parents say games = wasting time -> becomming a garbage collector. For me, being a garbage collector wasn't so bad as you do get paid quite a bit. Anyways...
Back then, I saw the game as a menacing time guzzler. Everyday I'd be sleeping in Japanese class with my eyes open because I was up too late playing the retarded game. As time progressed, however, the game died. Eventually it would just be me, Seo, and Steven playing...Steven > Seo> me, cuz steven was being gay and using tanks, and seo was being homo and using storm- believe it or not, Seo does have a homo side to him.
So I left the game because it was no fun anymore, and years past...
AND THEN!!!!
I started playing again, thanks to ktao. However, this time the experience was much more different. This time I began to focus on strategic ideas in the game, and also improving multitasking skills. By all means, I still suck, but I find this game as certainly more 3D dimensional than any other game, despite its graphics.
Like poker and go, I think StarCraft possess a quality of strategic balance that relate to life so well, that many of the same applications applied in the game can be directly applied to real life situations.
To name a few ideas presented in the game:
nuance
psychology
precision
multitasking
micro/macro managing
economics
anticipating
Speed
planning
reacting
mouse clicking-yes this muscle will come handy some day, i'm sure
risk bearing
utilitarianism
and etc.
i have just named a few ideas that are well embedded in the game, while there are certainly more. If you looked at each of the items in the list, you'll notice that these ideas are not game specific, rather they are subjects clearly significant in real life situations. So even though I'm writing an article about a game, I'm really not. Hence, I'm not a nerd...
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5 comments:
lol hilarious
AHA!!!
I love starcraft...ah remember the ill-fated sc club? hahah...I have pictures...lol. We ARE nerds. Stop pretending ;)
My junior quad was nice and even for a while. It was Steven>Jae>Me>Gentile>Anoop.
Then things got messed up. I quit when the rankings became Anoop>Steven>Jae>Gentile>Me.
lol...steven got beaten by Anoop. And then he refused to play Anoop ever again, while claiming that he was still better than Anoop even though he lost.
Wow. I am being excessively nerdy. It just brings back good memories of being good at something...lol
Oh and I can relate to the playing too late...except not as much with Starcraft, more with DoTA.
Oh god. Stay away from that game. It sucks, but you keep playing. I have managed to beat my habit...I hope.
You forgot to mention that Starcraft teaches aggression and risk-taking as well. If you don't harass the opponent, then you're on track to lose in the long run. Also, speaking of harassment, misdirection is also a key idea in Starcraft as well. If you can distract your opponent with a minor frontal assault, you can often get away with a large flanking attack. This serves dual purposes, both destroying your opponent's forces and your opponent's morale.
Another key idea is supply. In real warfare, an army depends on a stream of food and supplies. Cutting an army's supply lines is deadly in a nonviolent way, since it puts the army in a precarious situation. In starcraft, destroying your opponent's workers, expansions, and supply buildings hinders your opponents ability to produce units. Killing a worker not only costs the enemy 50 minerals, it has a huge opportunity cost as well. That worker would have lived for the rest of the game, producing an income of 8 minerals every 5 seconds or so. An early worker kill is actually worth hundreds of minerals in the long run. Killing an early worker is like killing the equivalent of a battlecruiser! Corsairs kill overlords, stunting the zerg growth which is also a huge opportunity cost.
Hey you remembered me and Steven in this haha. Well it's really funny that I read this today because I played starcraft for the first time this evening for the first time in who knows how long. Needless to say I died terribly. In my second game I beat my opponent with a bc, 2 marines, 3 tanks, a vulture, a couple goliaths, and a few wraiths. Needless to say, I still really really suck and think that playing this game only messes with my mind.
By the way I still remember the one day in which I beat Choe in under 5 minutes. I raped him completely. I choose to forget the million and one times that he beat me hopelessly, but I must say I had the fastest win. GG Choe
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