So how many times have you heard someone say "What map?" I know I hear it every time someone is doing a 1v1 in the channels I'm in. The normal response? "LT I guess..." This column is not for the pro-gamer, but for the average gamer in Battle.net. All pro-Gamers have moved well beyond the one map wonder stage.
What do the letters LT mean to you? To many players out there, it simply means 'the standard.' To some it is a way to even out the map knowledge factor. For some it is a way to avoid their own limitations in knowledge. They lack the knowledge to adapt their build orders to a new set of initial conditions so they stick to the same map. This is why many call Temple a training map. Once you learn a map, you move on, right? It may be systematic and efficient, it may give a sence of security but it is boring. My question is this: why do we do this to ourselves and our game? Most players will agree that they are out there to improve and have a good time, right? Well Lost Temple is an aspect of game-play, but it is not StarCraft. There is an entire world of strategies and ideas out there that you cannot find on Lost Temple.
We all know that a map like Bifrost plays differently than Lost Temple does. A map like Estrella certainly has a different game style than Lost Temple. Yet we subject ourselves to only one map and one style of play. Whether both players check out a new map prior to the game for a few minutes, or they learn it on the fly by scouting during the match, they add a different degree of complexity to their game. One thing is to know a map well, another is to understand it on the fly and exploit its potentials without prior knowledge. Who is the more skilled gamer? The one who wins a match on a random balanced map that both players did not know, or the one who wins on a map both knew to ad nauseum?
I know what you are going to be thinking to yourself, and it is the same thing I would be thinking. "If I make a public game on a different map, nobody will join" or "no one decent will join." I agree, that is true and in the least of cases you will end up wasting far more time than gaming. So instead, go into your usual channels and when you get a 1v1, suggest a new map. It is not all about winning that particular game, so experiment a bit. Play with the map. Accept that game-play will be different on different maps. Maybe you won't have a gas natural. Maybe you can not wall. Adapt, and the game will be that much more fulfilling, especially since the game was not textbook style, it was original and improvisational.
I will tell you someone who has realized what I am talking about: The » PGTour Staff. Their Map of the Week system is designed to get people to play new maps more often and more competitively. This system is great, it works and is one of the many reasons their popularity grows daily. It is a competitive ladder of skilled gamers but it also adds to itself an element of experimentation. I am not saying that having the most skilled players playing on very well known maps is a bad thing, it’s great too; it pushes the limits of every map, especially when something new is discovered on an age old map. When this happens it is always a huge commotion and source of admiration in the pro-gaming community.
However why not go a step further? Add » BroodWarMaps.Net to the sites you browse. Granted, not all maps there will be great for playing, but every week they post their new Map of the Week.
These maps are not only well balanced and very playable, but they are refreshingly original. In fact, give a map a few tries before you decide that you are not used to the game-play. Upload your replays to the map on BWM.net so that people can see how the map plays. It will not only be more interesting than your usual games, it will give you insight as to how little we really know about the depth of this game. It will make you more adaptable, more comfortable sorting out your own rhythm in maps that are not familiar; it will add knowledge to your skill.
When people tell me that StarCraft has become "boring" because all the strategies and games begin to look the same, I suggest this to them. Try other maps. Try other strategies. Do not play these games only to win, play them also to improve and for fun.
What do the letters LT mean to you? To many players out there, it simply means 'the standard.' To some it is a way to even out the map knowledge factor. For some it is a way to avoid their own limitations in knowledge. They lack the knowledge to adapt their build orders to a new set of initial conditions so they stick to the same map. This is why many call Temple a training map. Once you learn a map, you move on, right? It may be systematic and efficient, it may give a sence of security but it is boring. My question is this: why do we do this to ourselves and our game? Most players will agree that they are out there to improve and have a good time, right? Well Lost Temple is an aspect of game-play, but it is not StarCraft. There is an entire world of strategies and ideas out there that you cannot find on Lost Temple.
We all know that a map like Bifrost plays differently than Lost Temple does. A map like Estrella certainly has a different game style than Lost Temple. Yet we subject ourselves to only one map and one style of play. Whether both players check out a new map prior to the game for a few minutes, or they learn it on the fly by scouting during the match, they add a different degree of complexity to their game. One thing is to know a map well, another is to understand it on the fly and exploit its potentials without prior knowledge. Who is the more skilled gamer? The one who wins a match on a random balanced map that both players did not know, or the one who wins on a map both knew to ad nauseum?
I know what you are going to be thinking to yourself, and it is the same thing I would be thinking. "If I make a public game on a different map, nobody will join" or "no one decent will join." I agree, that is true and in the least of cases you will end up wasting far more time than gaming. So instead, go into your usual channels and when you get a 1v1, suggest a new map. It is not all about winning that particular game, so experiment a bit. Play with the map. Accept that game-play will be different on different maps. Maybe you won't have a gas natural. Maybe you can not wall. Adapt, and the game will be that much more fulfilling, especially since the game was not textbook style, it was original and improvisational.
I will tell you someone who has realized what I am talking about: The » PGTour Staff. Their Map of the Week system is designed to get people to play new maps more often and more competitively. This system is great, it works and is one of the many reasons their popularity grows daily. It is a competitive ladder of skilled gamers but it also adds to itself an element of experimentation. I am not saying that having the most skilled players playing on very well known maps is a bad thing, it’s great too; it pushes the limits of every map, especially when something new is discovered on an age old map. When this happens it is always a huge commotion and source of admiration in the pro-gaming community.
However why not go a step further? Add » BroodWarMaps.Net to the sites you browse. Granted, not all maps there will be great for playing, but every week they post their new Map of the Week.
These maps are not only well balanced and very playable, but they are refreshingly original. In fact, give a map a few tries before you decide that you are not used to the game-play. Upload your replays to the map on BWM.net so that people can see how the map plays. It will not only be more interesting than your usual games, it will give you insight as to how little we really know about the depth of this game. It will make you more adaptable, more comfortable sorting out your own rhythm in maps that are not familiar; it will add knowledge to your skill.
When people tell me that StarCraft has become "boring" because all the strategies and games begin to look the same, I suggest this to them. Try other maps. Try other strategies. Do not play these games only to win, play them also to improve and for fun.
