[NerA]

GETTING OUT OF GOLD...
and getting the most out of B.Net 2.0 Chat Channels.
by Cody ‘NerA’ Hargreaves

There comes a time in every Starcraft player’s life when he or she decides that they don’t much want to play Starcraft anymore. They decide that they’d rather watch. All of a sudden, hitting the ladder doesn’t seem so important. Instead, they’ll track down every game of the GSL, spend hours reading tips and strategies in various Starcraft community forums or watching every Day[9]Daily for the ninth time this week; sometimes, they’ll even start buying copies of Starcraft for their friends to watch and help them play instead. Anything to avoid a game, and the feeling of disappointment that comes with every loss.

This picture was taken over 3 months ago. Am I allowed to cry yet?

Do you know how I know this? I’ll tell you. Up until recently, I was one of those people. I’d do anything to avoid playing a game myself; I even went and played WoW again for a while. I can’t tell you why, I honestly don’t know. It might be because I hit a wall; I was doing so well when I first made it into Gold League, then as I moved up and started playing better players, I began losing almost every game, and it crushed me. There’s probably a better reason, and if I ever figure it out, I’ll be sure to let you know.
But, those days are over now. Today, I want to play as many games as I can. Let me tell you why:

CHAT CHANNELS – AN OVERVIEW.
If by some miracle you’ve managed to pull yourself away from the Day[9]Daily and GSL and log into Battle.net 2.0 this week, you’ll likely have noticed that Patch 1.2.0 has arrived, and with it, the long awaited Chat Channels.

In short, Chat Channels are ‘rooms’ filled with players that allow you to... well, chat with other players. Most of you no doubt already know this, it’s not exactly a foreign concept for Internet folk; though, what you might not know is just how useful these channels really are, just how awesome they really are.

The first thing to note here is that anyone can make a Chat Channel. There are several pre-made channels added by Blizzard that range from specific race strategy discussion to looking for a game, but you can always make your own. Why do this? Well, there are several reasons for that, too. Obviously, it’s a great way to chat with your friends outside of a party; it’s a great way to keep in touch with a community like sc2sea, too. Simply type sc2sca into the chat channel grid and BAM, you’re in and part of a community. But by far the most useful reason (at least, for me personally) is the ability to make a room purely for people who wish to watch and play 1v1 practice matches with other players. It’s this reason alone that got me playing Starcraft again.

I'm still getting used to uploading images that aren't crappy quality. Back off.

You see, each night, when I finish work and log into SC2, I join the Chat Channel ‘1v1’. I made this channel, and I use it every night to manage a group of players who wish to get better by watching and playing against players better than them. Every night is different. We get random players from the race strategy channels, we get people coming back from the night before, and we get people adding their friends. It’s a small, tight-knit community, and there are many others like it. It reminds me of what Starcraft used to be, and as far as good nights go, it’s as ritzy baller as they come.

GOT SMACK?
But that’s really only half the fun. The other half, my favourite half, is talking smack. Of the multitude of morons that roam the Starcraft community (you know who I’m talking about), some of the very finest manage to make their way into the Chat Channels. Before long, a fight breaks out. This guy said this; that guy said that; and someone else says 1v1. It’s war. The grudge match gets the go ahead, EVERYBODY wants to watch, the battle begins.

There really is nothing quite like defending your title in a 1v1 with 20 players watching it happen live. Just don’t lose. Or cheese. Win well and you’ll be showered in feel-good ggs and wps and, as they say, glory is forever.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
There’s an old chess saying that comes to mind a lot when I play Starcraft: You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent. There’s some truth to that, you know. If you spend your days beating Bronze players, you’re only going to get better at doing that. Sure, it’s fun, and it’s often hard to turn down the chance to get a free win here and there, but resist and you’ll find that you’re playing against players of a much higher calibre, and you’re be rewarded for it, too.

Looks good, doesn't it? This could be you.

The Zerg, Protoss and Terran Strategy Channels are an amazing way to meet a multitude of players at any time of the day. While not a lot of actual strategy takes place in the chat, there are always plenty of games to watch. And I’ve found that it’s during the game, while chatting away with the other spectators, that I learn the most about my game. I watch as a player makes a tiny mistake and listen as the other players critique it. And every so often, I disagree. Can you guess what happens next? SMACK TALK, YA’LL! And then another grudge game, and yet another chance to practice.

You might not think that it helps, but I’m here to prove you wrong. I’ve been doing this for about a week now, and the results are incredible. Last night, I beat 2 Diamond League players and a Master League player. I’m Gold, remember? What changed? You tell me.

THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A GOOD COMMUNITY.
And then there’s the community. Sure, its fun to hit the ladder, but it can get a little lonely, and lose a few games in a row and it can get a little ALT-F4. Chat Channels are a community of their own, at least, they can be. SC2SEA has a Chat Channel. Feel like chatting with a few fellow SEA players while you wait for a game to watch? Jump in, start up a conversation. Believe me, it’ll be 5AM before you know it.

Though, this comes with a clause: No Bad Manner bullshit. You can talk smack for a laugh and a game, but if you lose, take it and try again later. Don’t call imba maps or leave without showing respect. Don’t bitch about how you made one mistake and it cost you the game. That happens; it’s happened to your opponents, too. In fact, you’ve won games in the same way. Don’t BM; keep it clean. Keep it fun. Keep it real, ya’ll.*snaps fingers like a boss*.

And with that, I think it’s time I hit the ladder. I’ve learned a lot in the past week; I’ve made a lot of new friends, learned a lot of new strategies (let’s see your Blue-Flame Hellion Harass now, bi-a-tch), I’ve had a lot of fun. But now it’s time; it’s time to GET OUT OF GOLD.

~NerA.846