Diving into the World of Online Starcraft

Real-time strategy might not have the popularity it once had, but man has it ever come a long way. I've been playing the genre for ages, especially within the Blizzard Entertainment realm, all the way back to the days of Warcraft II. I had Warcraft I, but the dreadfully slow pace of the game (why they would choose to place gold mines so far away in the campaign, I'll never know) prevented me from getting into it. Now, RTS games are action packed, fueling a new world of competition, prizes, and champions.

In spite of being hopelessly addicted the Blizzard RTS franchises over the years, I've never really checked out the eSports scene. There's still a stigma about it, albeit not a fair one; anyone can easily admit to binge-watching a television show all weekend, but daring to throw on a video game stream seems to still have the qualities of a societal sin. However, the attitude on that seems to be turning, if slowly, to something more generally accepted. More than ever, I felt it was time to give it a go; I watched a tournament on replay (a long delay - it was played in late November), methodically moving through the group stage games up until the final, watching interviews, pre-game trash-talk, and of course the surprisingly entertaining games themselves.

The Tournament:
I didn't really know what I was watching at first. Having little prior experience (only a few games at Blizzcon a couple years back), I wasn't really too sure what tournament to tune into. I picked more or less at random the DreamHack ROCCAT Legacy of the Void Championship. It seemed to fit what I was looking for - top class players from around the world competing for a prize pool of $50,000.

The tournament's setup. The Canadian didn't make it to this round. It's like the World Cup all over again.

The way in which the players were chosen was through regional qualifiers, allowing for a more diverse group of players rather than a predominantly South Korean set of competitors as I suspect it would be otherwise. There were even a few Canadians, which I immediately decided I would have to root for by default.

After a series of qualifiers (in which I watched a select few - considering the sheer number of games played, and the fact that not all were broadcasted on the site I visited, I could only watch so many) twelve players would be placed into a winner's and a loser's bracket, the latter having a longer and more difficult road to reach the final. But before I move onto the games, there is something I'll need to discuss as I will be doing it throughout the rest of this blog post.

Relation to Sports:
Inevitably I'll return to comparisons between sports, sporting events and the way in which they're presented in contrast to the Starcraft II competitive scene. Admittedly, there are plenty; the players compete at a top level of skill in tournaments and leagues, promoted by a dedicated fanbase that roots for them at every turn. There are announcers for the game (called casters in the Starcraft world) full of colour commentary and descriptions on the players, what is currently occurring in the match and pretty well everything else you would expect from a sportscast. Afterwards the players go for their post-match interview in which they discuss their opposition and key aspects of the game. At the core, it's fairly similar to the sporting world. For that reason competitive video games have developed the moniker eSports.

Personally, however, I've never been fond of it. Since the definition of a sport requires physical exertion the name just sounds misleading. Perhaps they stick with it because it rolls off the tongue rather nicely in opposition to the alternatives; "competitive gaming" sounds clunky and unappealing whereas eSports sounds fresh and clean. For those that truly do consider professional gaming a sport, I've got to ask - do you then consider the participants athletes?

The Presentation:
Similar to tuning into a sports match the broadcast doesn't begin with the immediate starting of a game. There's the usual pre-broadcast video of former champions holding up trophies interspersed with cinematic footage from the opening scene of the latest Starcraft expansion, all synched with pounding, "epic" music. What follows is a panel of experts and commentators discussing the game ahead. I'll have to admit, the production quality of it was excellent - but there's also the caveat that considering this is a Starcraft II tournament I would imagine there are quite a few people putting it together who are pretty good with computers, so, to be fair, it should be good. Nevertheless, the entirety of it is impressive; even more than just the video, the stage adorned with lights and graphics, the player booths and even the professional appearance of the panelists plays into the feeling that this isn't some amateaur, strung together tournament. This is legit. People really care about this.

The faces of the presentation, beyond the players that is, could really make or break that feeling. Fortunately, they were all about as good as you could hope for. The four panelists whose names come up on the screen with their in-game alias listed most prominently (and typically refer to each other as these alias' as well) were genuinely great. Shaun "Apollo" Clark, Jens "Snute" Aasgaard, Benjamin "DeMuslim" Baker and Nathan "Nathanias" Fabrikant spoke with a near encyclopedic knowledge of the playerbase, their former matches, current form and the Starcraft scene as a whole comfortably without the pauses and fumblings one would expect from a more amateurish presentation. However, only being just initiated into the whole of the online Starcraft world I personally couldn't find much interest in the panelists' banter but I don't believe that's the fault of those behind the desk - it just comes down to not knowing the players and thus not having an interest in them the way that I'm sure hardcore fans would. But hey, to be fair, I don't watch a lot of the pregame soccer stuff either when it's on in spite of being a fan.

The postgame interviews fell much the same way for me. At first I was intrigued by them, but my personal lack of knowledge on the players left me to typically skim them over. Again, I don't feel that's any fault on the interviewer. That was led by Sue "Smix" Lee, the only female face I saw except for the rare fan hidden amongst the male-dominated audience. Interview questions would cover a range of topics. While usually centred around critical plays or feelings before or after the match (think typical post-game interviews in hockey, soccer, football...) there was the occasional question that would be a little more out there. For example, she spoke with one player who called out a reporter that had badmouthed him in an article. (Naturally, I was curious as to what was said and also who exactly reports on the video game world, but that's a question for another time.) The interviews were a little more interesting than I would have expected, and that's mostly due to the fact that the players are allowed to speak off the cuff as opposed to professional athletes that get so much media coverage that they have to be very careful in what they say. The only issue that truly tripped up the interview section was the language gap that arises in a tournament with players from around the world. Many had spotty english at best, and Lee would occasionally translate questions for the Korean players, causing it to slow to a rather boring pace.

The Announcers: 
The world of online Starcraft is a strange one, where a British man describes the white guys as foreigners and pre-game translated taunting sessions are gleefully eaten up by an adoring crowd no matter how uncomfortably lame those insults may be. Those ushering you in are the announcers (or casters), who present the players and comment on the game as it progresses. These guys are critically important - in my opinion, way more so than in the sporting world - as the game carries with it such pace that it certainly helps a great deal to have someone there giving you a play by play. Most of the popular sports are uncomplicated, allowing the common viewer that may not know his stuff to enjoy it to some degree as well. That's not the case here. With almost every unit having a unique ability, it's harder to understand at first glance than the simplicity of athletics, where typically puck/ball/larger ball + net = points. To enjoy it you need that base level of knowledge as otherwise it'll mostly be lost on you. Even then, with the focus on timings and build orders for units and strategies even practiced players would need some help now and then to follow it closely. I know I sure did.

Fortunately for Starcraft, the guys they have taking the lead are incredible. For this tournament it was predominantly voiced by Snute and Apollo, two of the panelists. Their knowledge is nothing short of encyclopedic; they know individual playstyles, backstories of the players, previous games and tournaments, and beyond that a tremendous level of understanding of the actions of the game itself. Some of it was so specific I could hardly believe it. When they say "Nerchio loves that ten gas style", to which the other responds without missing a beat "yeah, so does Scarlet" I've got to give them credit - they know their stuff. It seems they know the basics behind almost every players' style; one game had an announcer claim "one thing Bunny has been able to do is baneling snipe" (a play that involves specifically targeting a dangerous kind of unit and eliminating it before it can do a great deal of damage), presumably knowing that individual move is a specialty. Another said "this is FireCake we're talking about" when speaking of a specific formation of defense of a player, apparently one in which he's particularly talented at executing. With as many players as there are my hat goes off to them for knowing as much as they do.

The games consist of typically two casters beginning the game describing the players, their playstyles, and perhaps a few predictions on how the game will progress (as well as describing the impact of their initial moves in the typically quiet opening minutes). As it progresses, they spew out information at lightning speed describing the players' moves, right down to what seems like insignificant information that at this level of competition has a great deal of impact in the game. If a building is built twenty seconds later than they would imagine? It could mean an entirely different strategy than what they would expect. If the opposing player recognizes this, he'll likely have to accommodate it. To a layman watching the game (which apparently is myself in spite of at one point being in the top few percentage points of players in Masters League) you wouldn't think it was an issue; in fact, you probably wouldn't even notice. It's up to the casters to tell you exactly what is happening and why, and this they do almost flawlessly. They never seem to miss a beat.

When one of the casters says "sometimes Nerchio likes to build buildings but doesn't utilize them that much" I didn't question it. He's probably noticed that in previous games. I believed it wholeheartedly.

The Players:
I'm glad I watched this particular tournament because the mix of players from an assortment of countries creates an eclectic group of men. Some look the part with the big thick-rimmed glasses, but really the only thing that makes them a cohesive whole is no two players seem to follow the same tournament dress code. FireCake wore a dress shirt, looking more like an accountant than a professional gamer. ShoWTimE comes out wearing trackpants and a t-shirt, as if he were about to go for a run rather than sit at a computer chair. Another, Elazer, wore a baggy t-shirt that's sort of a cross between a jersey and something out of motocross. The most common thing between all of them is apparently they keep it chilly there; many wore hoodies over their heads, another a toque (although notably not the Canadian guy), and many wore jackets - while they're playing. This I found to be the most confusing. I'm a thin guy, at least moderately in shape, and while I may come back from a soccer game relatively sweat free I'm absolutely soaked by the end of a Starcraft match. Maybe I'm the anomaly. Perhaps they didn't provide a coat check at the tournament grounds.

The two finalists locked in battle. The closeup confirms that
yes, they are watching their screens and yes, both
predictably wear glasses.

As for the players themselves, I didn't learn too much about them. I mentioned a Canadian guy, and pretty much by default I had to cheer for him. Going by the screen name HuK (real names being so irrelevant I either didn't see it listed or didn't bother writing it down) he apparently used to be in juvie in the States before moving to Canada. After a bit of searching, I found that he said in a past interview: "Had I not moved to Canada my family and I both agree that I'd most likely be in the military, jail or dead." Naturally, I quickly found him to be my favourite.

He was the only one I remembered with any interest, however. There's a difficulty in learning the player base when it's tough to associate a player name with a face. If you skip to the games themselves you don't often see the players for more than a passing glance. Watch a game of hockey or soccer and you begin to pick up players quite quickly; you see them, how they move, how they play, their numbers, and the names on the back of their jerseys. But in Starcraft, where there nevertheless still is undoubtedly a strong fanbase for individual players, there's definitely more of a learning curve. One man's zerglings look the same as the next, in spite of how he may use them. The vast majority of the time there's no visual differentiation, and if there is, it's slight. I believe it was because of that I couldn't really connect or root for any particular player beyond cheering for HuK due to my Canadian blood. By the time it got to the final, it felt to me just like any other game. Developing an understanding for each players' style must take a fair while and in spite of clocking many hours watching this tournament I couldn't say I developed much of an interest in the individual.

The Games:
You can certainly see why these guys are professionals. Saying they're simply good at a video game would be a colossal understatement; they're incredibly quick (occasionally they show their keyboard and thus a flurry of fingers streaking across the keys), respond to everything almost instantly, and clearly show a level of practice and dedication that's only matched by the best of any craft. To win, they must make decisions that split seconds, seeing movements of units in the corner of their screen and responding instantly and have an intense level of focus as no two games are exactly alike - or close to similar, for that matter.

Part of the appeal of watching Starcraft must be that the variation from game to game is incredible. I'm surprised at that; it's a testament to the quality of Blizzard Entertainment in that they made a game where there isn't just a set strategy that's the best in which all players flock to. There are a few opening gambits that are similar but once they move to the mid-game you'll rarely see the same thing. If a player tries an identical strategy game to game he'll become predictable, almost guaranteeing a loss. They have to change it up to keep competitive, and the variation in each game makes for great gameplay. With Starcraft, you never know what you're going to get.

Along with all the new things that are happening in each and every game, there's also something seemingly always happening. The players move so quickly that there are always multiple assaults, small contingents of units attacking elsewhere, or units hitting expansion bases. If not, it's typically because there's a large scale battle going on in which the players fight it out with a tremendously impressive level of control over their army. All the while, they're building their bases back home, creating new forces, managing an economy and somehow not sweating in spite of wearing a parka indoors.

The tournament's victor. Considering I once won a
single game in a local Starcraft tournament and was
absolutely elated, he must be feeling on top of the world.

There's certainly a learning curve due to the fact that Starcraft is nothing new and with every expansion comes a crew of new units each with unique abilities. It's not an easy one to learn; to even understand the casters explaining the game to you you need a fairly strong base level of knowledge. A casual viewer checking out the game for the first time would be hopelessly lost, drowning in a sea of abbreviations, confusing unit abilities and other complicated aspects that make the game great but in the same breath anything but simple. But if you do understand it, it's hard to deny that its pace and variation create a very exciting game.

Just in case you didn't read it...

I'm surprised to say I feel I get the whole appeal. The games are undoubtedly exciting, ever changing and proceed at a stunningly quick pace. There's a level of variation in them that prevents the games from becoming routine. The general production quality is high, lending it an air of professionalism that permeates all aspects of it, from the interviews, videos and so forth.

The only drawback is a lack of immediate accessibility. With the game as complicated as it is (and by nature more complicated than ever through the addition of units from expansions) it's not for the first-time viewer. As well, it's tricky to get to know the individuals and pick favourites when the majority of the time you're seeing units that look no different than what you're used to.

Nevertheless, I had a much better time with this than I would have expected. I can't say I'd continue, but hey, if I was flipping the dials on the television someday and happened across a Starcraft match... I probably wouldn't turn it off.