Starcraft Strats, Builds, Reviews

Once thought of as the ultimate Call of Duty player, Kim Dotcom has officially lost his crown. Due to recent events, Dotcom has been able to play and compete, giving other gamers around the world a fighting chance. He has been called one of the best Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 players currently alive.

However, last week, Dotcom was arrested in his New Zealand homes, putting a cramp on his abilities. Megaupload has been accused of stealing content and costing copyright holders upwards of $500 million in revenue with thousands of illegal downloads. He will be tied up in court, regardless of the outcome, for a while.

Born Kim Schmitz, Dotcom officially changed his name, and being the champion, even temporarily, is no small feat. He has literally had to beat out millions of other players. However, due to his recent imprisonment, Dotcom has slipped to the #2 slot, second only to Azaros, a man who is not currently in prison. Right now, it looks like Azaros won’t be slipping any time soon.

Dotcom has denied any allegations of piracy, but his mansion and other signs of his lavish lifestyle have become evident and the center of the investigation. Due to Megaupload’s popularity, he has literally made $175 million. With a 1959 pink Cadillac and Rolls Royce Phantom, he certainly isn’t skimping.

However, for the purposes of this blog, you can watch some of Dotcom’s playing time.

For me, I started out with Warcraft II when it was actually popular and gradually moved onto WoW and Starcraft consequently. Through gaming, I’ve noticed that there are quite a few people who limit themselves to one of the two, believing the other might even be pure blasphemy. I’ll admit, my skills are still significantly greater when it comes to WoW, because I’ve been playing longer, but I am catching up with Starcraft. So what’s the difference?

Playing both, it can really feel like two different worlds. I’ve heard inexperienced players who have never played either game or only played one say that they are the same, but that’s definitely not so. The MMORPG and RTS gameplay are on completely different playing fields, but in addition, I find that the communities are vastly different!

You would think that the communities would be similar, and there are plenty of people who just look at us all as gamers, period, end of story. With the newer generations often turning to Starcraft though, things are changing drastically. If we weren’t competing communities who separate ourselves, we could definitely learn from each other. There are strategies and approaches I’ve learned from both games that I couldn’t have learned from the other. However, both communities are lacking because of our animosity or disinterest.

I don’t know that either community will change any time soon. These games have been around forever and the communities are set in their ways. There are very few of us who go between the two for a reason. However, news and competitions are always coming out for both games. The one thing I have noticed is that Starcraft sites tend to gather a lot of information in one places whereas Warcraft information is extremely spread out. I don’t know which is actually better or more comprehensive for that matter.

Either way, there is a major market out there for both of these games, and the competitions and excellence in playing continues. However, in Starcraft, I wouldn’t count on being the next champ unless you’re a dedicated 16 year old Korean boy (or younger). Based on the championship records, the rest of us just can’t seem to compete.

Chess has always been the ultimate war of wills and ultimately of brain power. People view it as a test and an honor, but as it turns out, Starcraft may well be surpassing chess as the “drosphila of cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence. Starcraft 2 represents a new era in kids and a new set of expectations in how to compare smarts.

Of course, most schools haven’t gotten involved in this yet, but Starcraft 2 has attracted many men and the attention of the scientific community at large. We have even seen an entire blog dedicated to the “science” behind a video game and its imaginary creatures.

According to Mark Blair, a cognitive scientist at Simon Fraser University, “It’s working memory. It’s decision making. It involves very precise motor skills. Everything is important and everything needs to work together.”

He later adds details such as “What we’ve got is satellite view of expertise that no one was able to get before. We have hundreds of players at the basic levels, then hundreds more at slightly better, and so on, in eight hundred categories of players.”

While Starcraft 2 has been demonized for its addictive tendencies for some and the problems that arise according to some from too much play, this kind of research is meant to give some sort of credibility to the game. We cannot say for sure how that will turn out of course. There are many who will continue to believe that this game has no innate value.

However, whether gamers err on one side or another, millions of gamers all over the world will continue to play Starcraft 2 for various purposes. What we do know for sure is that at the very least, video games like Starcraft 2 have been known to help children with ADD or ADHD to focus in life in general.

While the average gamer is thought of as a man, studies have shown that there are a growing number of female gamers emerging. Like those women found in the military, female gamers some would say are more likely to be in close proximity to more men, meaning female gamers are more likely to get married than their non-gaming counterparts.

Men are encouraged to step away from their screens and “get a life.” However, studies are showing that some may actually encourage women to play more instead of griping about all of the play. As it turns out, women who play games on facebook, their computers, or even their phones are more likely to be in happy and committed relationships than their counterparts who don’t.

According to a study conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Gamehouse, some 71% of women who game online and are married or living with a partner relate their relationship as 6 or above. Of course, this study was biased, being funded and solicited by a company trying to draw more gamers in. However, this does not mean that the study itself couldn’t be right.

Whether the Legend of Zelda appeals to you or you prefer Starcraft or any other game, we can’t see playing a few games necessarily being a bad thing. Just don’t let yourself become like many men who would consider themselves to be addicted to gaming. Male or female, that kind of issue could become a real problem.

While Starcraft can be a fun outlet for some, and video games are even suggested to be good for children with ADHD, there is a limit to the fun. Serious American addiction to video games is on the rise, reaching a whopping 8.5% in the US according to one study. This new study shows that children can become addicted to video games, causing them to skip homework assignments, lie about how much they play, and struggle to cut back.

The first study on this particular subject, this study was conducted by Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University. So far, 8.5% of American youth between the ages of 8 and 18 show multiple signs of addictive behavior, suggesting that this may lead to future problems in adulthood. The problems only occur when playing video games actually disrupts other areas of their lives and their lives become out of balance.

Kids can spend more time AND more money to get the same high and the same experience, which typically involves increased charges on parents’ credit cards. Of course, this would require parents to participate, providing these credit card numbers and other similar methods of payment. In addition, many parents would have to enable children to skip out on chores.

However, the effect is the same. Many become irritable without games, becoming “pathological gamers.” If you have a boy, he is 4 times more likely than girls to have this problem. However, some parents should keep in mind that this study still leaves some important questions unanswered. You should not assume that your child is a “pathological gamer” just because they play.

Many participate in gaming and never have any problem. Many consider addictive personalities to be to blame, and personalities like that simply require an outlet.

So you’re screwed, your command is under attack, all your miners are dead, and you only have one tank left, which is on its last leg to make life worse. Your life as a Starcraft player, at least in this game, is pretty much gone. It’s officially time for you to take a look at the UBC Starcraft club. Sure you’ve been to LAN parties in your city before, but LAN parties are nothing like this.

Last November, a group of about 20 gamers joined the ranks of the UBC Starcraft club in order to support the idea of e-sports, or video game playing in other words, on their campus. The Starcraft Club now has over 300 paid members, all mingling with like-minded gamers.

According to club president James Choi, “Most of the time, people play online games by themselves or with a couple of friends. But we want to get together and have fun as a whole.”

It may seem silly to play a game as a sport, but just think of the Wii and all of the sports minded games makers have developed. All things considered, there is also some controversy about if cheerleading, golf, and certain other so called “sports” should really count.

Supporters say that this kind of gaming requires work ethic and skill, practice and everything else that your average sport requires if you want to really be good. Intensity rises when you get two really skilled players, and many are trying to turn it into a business.

However, there is still a strong group of people who consider gaming to be an anti-social activity that is also wasteful and without question, not a sport. According to Choi, it is “just like any other sport or activity.” He is certainly supporting its growth. However, that remains under hot debate.