I’ve been playing SC2 since the launch of Wings of Liberty. I’ve put more time into SC2 than all other rts games combined (played quite a few). My friends see the passion I have for this game and are willing to try it out. However, we usually end up jumping ship to play other rts games. Thing is, they did give it the time of day. We played against ai, we played 2v2s and 3v3s, and I tried coaching them. I’ve only made it to diamond league, so I also referred them to Vibe’s bronze to GM videos.
Yet, every friend that’s played sc2 with me usually ends up playing age of empires, company of heroes, ashes of singularity or some other rts, and it’s always the same problem. When we analyze the replays, most often they were supply capped for too long, lost their entire army because they looked away for a few seconds, missed a few injects, they’re not continuously producing workers, and my advice is usually to the effect of “probes and pylons, probes and pylons, probes and pylons”. The strategies are mostly fine, but the problem is in the execution. As Vibe suggests, my friends would send out units that are easy to manage, and simply continue to work on the macro side of the game… Except, they want to be more involved in the “fun part” of the game, which is battling it out with the opponent, and yet try to maintain their economy simultaneously. It’s like trying to play basketball, not only do you need to dribble with one hand, but also juggle tennis balls with the other hand, and hop on one leg before you’re able to play the game.
Hence, my suggestion to slow the game speed. It would allow lower level players time to respond to their opponents’ threats, sustain a decent economy, and better manage their army throughout the game. This does not make the game easier from a competitive stand point. Broodwar is slower, but arguably far more difficult to play, as are some other rts games.
My concerns are how it would effect the top 0.001% of players. Maybe they could try the suggestion on PTR and see what they think. Or, apply this suggestion only to the lower leagues. Maybe after players hit platinum league, the game speed increases to its current state. Just spit balling some ideas, if you have better ones, please recommend.
What do you guys think? Are there any other ideas that would help lower league players, or total newbies enjoy SC2? How else can we lower the skill floor and maintain the skill ceiling?