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Professional Starcraft Team releases documentary with pay-what-you-want model
- sliverstorm 14y agoMaybe this is because I'm only a casual SC2 player, but it seems like there is a big flaw here- what are we buying? Sure, it's a video. And it has something about Team Liquid. ... ???
- apaitch 14y agoTeam Liquid is a rather popular professional gaming team, especially in Starcraft 2. I doubt anyone would end up on their website not knowing who they are (why would you go to teamliquid.com just for kicks?) so it's not that bad of a flaw.
- jmduke 14y agoBecause you were referred to the site by a link on HN, for one.
- phaus 14y agoThe name of the post that referred you pretty much gives enough information to determine whether or not it will interest you enough to pay. Even if it doesn't, you can bypass the login/donation and watch the documentary before you decide how much it is worth.
- hkmurakami 14y agoFYI, the proper domain is teamliquid.net
- dmoy 14y agoteamliquid.net is the community site teamliquidpro.com is the team proper's site I suppose it's a bit confusing because information about this is plastered all over both the community and team sites. As an aside, it is mildly amusing that EG, another popular US SC2 team, fronted 666 dollars.
- gcp 14y agodoubt anyone would end up on their website not knowing who they are Their community forum is the most popular non-Korean place for strategy discussion. I think many people get here without particularly caring about TeamLiquid itself.
- dangrossman 14y agoIt's a documentary about Team Liquid. If you know what a documentary is, and you know who Team Liquid is, you know what you're getting. Look at the "biographical documentaries" category on Netflix: the descriptions are mostly in the form of "[narrator name] brings you the [adjective] story of [topic]" with little or no elaboration.
- kingofspain 14y agoAnd I don't watch half of them unless I'm bored and desperate for something, anything, to watch in a hotel room. They could put up a quick blurb and a trailer. I'll spend a few minutes on a trailer for virtually anything. Especially for a 'pay what you want' movie. The fact that it's about a subject I've so far had no interest in is irrelevant if it looks like a decent film.
- alanfalcon 14y agoSo pay nothing and watch the first few minutes of the movie, and decide if you want to watch the rest. Then pay what you want.
- Lorin 14y agoTo be fair after the first 15 minutes it isn't much of a documentary, more of an interview of the individual players. Not much of a story line.
- neotorama 14y agoGG
- JD557 14y agoWell, you can watch it first and pay later... I don't think there's any better way to know what you are buying. :)
- MikeCapone 14y agoI've seen it and it's pretty good. I wish it had more of "following player X during a tournament day", but instead it's more based on interviews of all the members of the team. Still, worth the time and money (whatever you decide to pay for it).
- franzus 14y agoWow, what a great way to waste your life.
- AlisdairO 14y agoOne could take that perspective about most forms of entertainment.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- franzus 14y agoYes but entertainment per se is not bad - if you don't devote your life to it. Nothing against playing one or two rounds SC2 but becoming a "pro player" is so disgustingly wasteful. Imagine what you could create with all the time devoted to gaming instead.
- aerique 14y agoWould you say the same about professional athletes or chess players?
- franzus 14y agoYes, what they do is not creative at all. Their contribution to the progress humanity is 0.
- white_devil 14y agoSo, "Do what you love.. as long as it's programming." (or science, etc)
- stevenwei 14y agoNot that I entirely disagree with you, but it's not like spending time building some (website/social network/photo app/coupon newsletter/mobile game/etc) contributes that much more to humanity either. Glass houses and all.
- marcamillion 14y agoThis is one of the reasons I love e-sports and the SC2 scene in general. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS $39,972.81 ESPORTS Heroes 2. EvilGeniuses $666.00 For those that don't know...EvilGeniuses are a "rival" Pro SC2 team. It's awesome that they can support Liquid (and e-sports in general, I guess) like this.
- trafficlight 14y agoA rising tide lifts all boats. I really think all of the SC2 teams take that to heart.
- marcamillion 14y agoAgreed.
- aw3c2 14y agoDirect link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R2Ep6L5gIA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R2Ep6L5gIA It is edited a bit annoyingly but shows a nice view into the personalities of a esports "family of friends". Definitely recommended.
- cdr 14y agoI'm a little disappointed there's no direct download (at least that I can see) for something they're asking money for. Could rip the youtube video I guess, but that's extra hassle and probably against the youtube TOS.
- aw3c2 14y agoIf you are on Linux http://code.google.com/p/get-flash-videos/ http://code.google.com/p/get-flash-videos/ is super easy and convenient. I agree about your disappointment.
- gladioli 14y agoThis is one of the worst documentaries I've ever seen. All it does is publicize the players. They're just taking the camera around the prominent scene figures, asking them all what they think of player A, and they all throw nothing but superlatives and hyperbole at the camera. Then they do the same for player B, and so on... There's no evaluation in it whatsoever. It doesn't ask any questions. It's just a big circlejerk to up the publicity and the celebrity value of their players.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jiggy2011 14y agoSlight OT: I don't understand why Starcraft has such a big "Pro" scene compared to other RTS games, many of which are more sophisticated (e.g Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander). Most of my experience playing Starcraft (the original) online was that the winner tended to be the one who could spam the most units out of the gate rather than any particular strategical cleverness.
- pwmanagerdied 14y agoThe game as played by random scrubs and the game as played by professionals is entirely different. There's an immense depth of strategy, but it can be hard to see if you're inexperienced.
- thisisnotmyname 14y agoI think it is because Blizzard is so careful about balancing the game, resulting in an immense diversity of available strategies. These become apparent once both players are sufficiently close enough in skill to be able to "spam" the same number of units out.
- codehotter 14y agoI have played starcraft for ten years and reached a reasonable high level of skill. To be a good starcraft player, you need to be skilled in three broad areas ~~~ - Good mechanics and multitasking This is your ability to have your units do what you want. You want unit X to go to place Y, you are quickly able to give that command, without taking up much of your attention. You're also able to simultaneously build units, advance your build at home, harass your opponent, reposition units, look at the minimap, and micromanage where necessary. Top players can have more than 5 actions per second average. - Good micromanagement and tactical skill For example, your ability to spread your units to take less damage from area of effect spells, focus fire on the most important enemy targets to get them down faster, your ability to position your units for flanking, to keep a scouting unit alive while being chased, etc. Maximizing the effectiveness of individual units. - Good macromanagement and strategical skill Your ability to advance your build at home correctly (what most effectively counters the opponent), to spend all your resources and not have it stack up in the bank, to choose the correct timings for expanding across the map or amassing an army, and to anticipate your army composition for what your opponent will do. ~~~ If you expect to be playing a game of chess, you'll be far behind even in the first few minutes. Your opponent's scouting unit micromanages and interrupts your build without your being able to kill even the scouting unit, and while your concentration is on the harassing unit, your opponent, who can multitask, executes his build perfectly. Without a base level of competence mechanically (which in starcraft is about 2 effective actions per second) you cannot even compete strategically. All three of these areas impress viewers which makes for a very 'spectatable' game. Good mechanics and multitasking are evident when, after you've watched a battle, you can see how many more units the top player has been able to produce - while he was simultaneously micromanaging his units in battle. Micromanagement, at least in starcraft, is very fun to watch. You can see the small army outmanoeuvre the larger enemy by individual control of units - it's hard to explain why it is impressive in just words, but the joy of watching good micromanagement is a core feature of spectating starcraft games. Watch for example here, how the player's marines dodges the spines while he keeps shooting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQtPMLOctBg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQtPMLOctBg Starcraft has a lot of 'soft counters' - units that counter other units but not completely. The focus on soft counters rather than hard counters gives players a lot of strategic freedom. Even if one player's units are countered, he can micromanage them and come out ahead. Or, for example, a player can take a risky early expansion to extra resources and rely on micromanagement of his few units to stay alive. Finally, since the maps that people play on do change, it takes a while to find the optimal builds, so you do see a lot of really innovative strategic play that people love to watch. I really cannot give any examples on this without explaining many more details about the game. I am interested to hear why you think Total Annihilation would have more sophistication. I must admit I haven't played many other games, but I have heard people complain that either the micromanagement or the multitasking aspect are not as much on the foreground in other games, and the combination of strategy + intense multitasking + micromanagement has kept starcraft exciting for both players and viewers.
- otumm 14y agothis documentary seems rushed and too scripted, maybe it could have learned something from this short video of the broodware scene, in which players were interviewed before and after a major tournament. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9NYaE0AH4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9NYaE0AH4