Thoughts on why SC2 will never be a dead game + Why love co-op?

SC2 is sitting on a very stable “content line” in a business model. Let me explain:

SC2 being the core RTS game stretching as long back as sc1 has endless dedicated players who we all know are on and off and new players get attracted easily through its various modes of gaming and mods, especially co-op. The “content line” is the base of players where you know as a statistical governed gaming company, is the sum of players on average that play daily. And for SC2 that is a very high number compared to most of the games currently through gamers of every genre.

Because SC2 is an RTS game it always has that somewhat casual, safe spot, favorite game that players always keep in their active gaming lists. And it being the game that it is reaches out to all type of gamers regardless of their personal likes be it horrors, sims, 4x, fps, etc.

Keeping the above in mind. It’s age is what helps it along. Cause no one expects immediate changes and Esports-grade attention. But Blizzard does keep it going, they are showing full attention to it. The speed that a game should upgrade at is often attempted to be set by the gaming community, if too many of them cry the game company who have their own initial plans and algorithms in place, have to attempt to change everything or they Anthem in the ground. Sorry had to.

I like many in my various gaming comms, all Notice commanders in SC2 coming in at a rate of 2~8 months. Next one will be in BlizzCon, which is understandable.

But BECAUSE THIS IS the type of game that it is as a faithful and long time gamer that’s had 20k-hrs in sc1, I might actually go to said BlizzCon for a first.

Unlike most public gathering gaming events Blizzard tends to have the most new faces and recycled member increase statistically then most other games currently out. That’s an Ace in my book. Lol.

////// On a personal level I want to share why I stick to SC2 //////

It’s Co-Op mode.

I know right? Now before you blast off at me let me just say in my defense that this is a Co-Op sub thread so keep on topic ^_-

A lot of people on reddit all agree as a whole that SC2’s Co-op attracts a lot of players in the Americas Server more so than any other branch. Because of how we all grew up with StarCraft originally it always was our casual safe space game. Because it is not one of those leading Esports hyperactive games, the community has always been better off and a lot less toxic than most of the other gaming communities.

Apart from its stable player base after all these years, it constantly gets balancing, updates, and commanders every 2~8 months. The non competitive PvE unranked co-op mode sets in a mood appropriate to it. Now if you’re a player that comes in only ones every week you’re bound to only bump into trolls or risk experiences. It’s when you play actively that you notice the community and the ‘reality’.

Being married I keep coming back on Co-ops. It’s fun, it’s laid back, and I’ve gotten a pretty active co-op clan going on the Americas server. SC2 is just one of those games you always keep tabs on.

3 Likes

Love this game, like your words :vulcan_salute:

2 Likes

Coop - is really the only redeeming quality =) at least to me :stuck_out_tongue:
I won’t mince my word, im waiting for WC3-reforge so i can relive my childhood memories in Arcade.

Aye. We all have our own brand of love for Co Op. I gradually find myself playing it more and more these days but alas, with being married and non competitive anymore, this is the best setting for me, lol. Hell Sc1 was my very first game ever to play on a PC. And it was in a PC gamers café. Fun times.

I managed to create my clan WICKED in the Americas server and since getting players who play co-op, and having up to 5~8 ppl on at one time during nights, I’d say I’ve created that certain brand of people you like playing games with. Granted I am the type that rules with an iron fist but that’s what you get when you name yourself EvilMorty. (evil laugh).

But yeah co-op being the loose sandbox playground that it is allows for all types of unique communities to form. I like that I’m growing mines so I am here to stay for one.

I think Campaign is the other really fun part of Starcraft and Starcraft II. Buying mercs and upgrade and doing research in WoL, watching Kerri teach apex super-predators human values in HoTS, and getting your own customizable alien super-ship in LotV was fun for me.

I think those parts of Campaign spawned the concept of coop, so at the very least it should be loved for that.

Now if we could only figure out if Raynor and Kerri’s Xel’naga darling kids want to go to Harvard or Yale…

I can respect that. Personally I don’t go full dive into lore… being the EvE Online competitive goonie that I was, but that’s really why co-op is doing so much better. New players get in through Campaigns, vets get in simply because it’s StarCraft and co op is just where majority of the player base is these days.

That and the fact that being an op god destroying everything in any setting is usually eye candy for any1 looking to actually have fun with their gaming experience.

The only experience out of that that I frown at is when people like, not to mention any names, try to make a PvE unranked game mode and community into a competitive one with levels(which are just bragging rights and nothing else) and whatever achievement-goers go for to rationalize their time spent playing a game extensively. However as we all know that % of players is pretty low compared to every other gamer.

Playing 10~20 games a day I run into more positive happy go lucky types(that I add to my clan shortly after) than any current game I play or come across. It feels a lot like HotS used to be, to be honest.

IMO it’s more than that. They can ‘slow build’ the game for many years, and use the revenue stream to pay for development. With direct feedback and years of time, and can make a game that would be impossibly complex to develop behind closed doors. Then eventually, they package it up and sell it as a remake to a far wider audience. This is essentially what DotA did. So, there would be a pretty good business case to keep developing Co-op, even if it was losing money.

I agree that NA likes coop, but disagree with your reasoning, since we saw the same thing in SC1. Custom games were FAR more common than standard games in NA during the later days of SC1.

That’s fine, you’re entitled to your personal opinion. Best response I could give that. It’s funny how in every post made to support Blizzards work and their co-op system, there exists a naysayer.

Co-op and the arcade are what keep the game alive. SC1 stayed alive because of custom maps too. I liked the races better in SC1 than I do for SC2, if only because I know and understand SC1, and they’ve changed SC2 enough that I don’t really feel like I know how to pay versus anymore. Kind of wish I could play with WoL versus balance (the balance just before HotS expansion released) in versus. Playing with Heart of the Swarm balance (again from just before they released LotV) would be great too. And then the Legacy of the Void balance just before they rebalanced everything a few years after it came out. Versus isn’t fun for me anymore. Co-op and arcade are what make the game keep sticking with me. I get bored of playing, but in a few months I’ll be back because some arcade games, and co-op are just really fun.
Versus will always have the pro scene to watch, and so that’s neat too, but it isn’t what makes me want to come back and play again.

1 Like

I like you, you just summed up all my feelings and thoughts on why I come back to co-op. I agree in every sense of the word, well said.

i still prefer campaign most , i played WoL campaign like 15 + and HotS like 8 or 9 times , what coop could use is a 1 or 2 new maps asap.

1 Like

Honestly in StarCraft majority of its players seem to be split between ppl who pvp, ppl who get on Campains cause they can get off and on whenever they wish playing a 1-player mode. And co-op players who like to share their campain experience while still gaining something from it until gradually it becomes a love or hate relationship.

Though Campain players do tend to shift to Co-op more so than any pvp players come to co-op. Camplains share what co-op has, overpowered strats and freedom of player choices.