this is a really good article i read from the battle.net forums. i am posting it here just to have a record of it. credits goes to nerski http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/1406592712
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For people around born in the early 80's or later I think you'll get this point more then people born from the late late 80's to 90's who play starcraft 2...no offense to the younger gamers, but as you read you might understand why I say this.
If you ask just about any gamer who has been around since the earlier days of gaming and gaming related forums the question, 'did you ever used to see this many complaints?'. Most would probably tell you no....Now rather then just complain about complainers, I would pose the question....why is this? What factors have motivated this 'shift' in the communities of gaming in more recent years. The answer to this would be two parts...shifts in the mentality and teachings of society...and shifts in gaming and how games are designed.
If you visit an elementary level school these days, and say they are having a 'competition' of some sort. What ends up happening? does the winner get something and nobody else does? No of course not, everyone gets a similar prize just for trying so darn hard. Now some would say, well that's only for little kids, but is it really?
Not to steer this at all into any kind of political discussion...but just practically speaking we live in a society, where people are given more 'stuff', just for existing. Whether it's a house, a job, a tax break, welfare, health insurance...you name it and slowly but surely everyone just being given it simply for being alive. Now is everyone succesful and rich, no of course not, but compared to how many of our parents grew up we got it pretty darn easy. It's really only life or death by choice, not by design.
Game design in many ways has become no different in it's evolution over the years. Early games were difficult...and I don't mean pong. Think more of games like chess, and dungeons and dragons, or early platforming games and adventure games. They were not the artistic wonders we see now on our pc', ps3, or xbox360...but they took skill to master, days or weeks to beat, and lots of imagination and wit.
Then as society shifted to the 'trophys for all' mentality, games as well slowly but surely moved that way. It was no longer a matter of could you beat the game, but how fast. Every game has multiple difficulty settings, they are designed so everyone can win. Additionally they have become shorter and shorter. Games are about 'replay value', 'achievements', and in game schwag....they are much much less about the journey you took to get to the end.
Just as an example blizzard fans should know...anyone remeber the early versions of World of Warcraft even? Ragnaros version 1 was pretty much unbeatable...what was it the top 1 or 2% of players got to experince Naxxarams before the first expansion....which was quickly 'righted' by making content experinceable and beatable by all....heck they even brought an 'easy mode' version of the dungeon back with the release of one of the expansions.
All that aside...starcraft 2 isn't one of those new school games....it's for all intensive purposes 'old school'. Only 1 in 100 players can be rank 1 in their division. Only the top 10% will get to be diamond level, the top 5% masters, and still fewer around the top 2% grand masters. How many people will ever be a MLG or GSL champion? Maybe like 5 to 10 people a year?
But thie new 'i should win gaming generation' doesn't understand this. They don't understand why they shouldn't have that magic 'i win' unit...or why they should ever feel helpless against a better player. They feel like they should always win...it's what they have been taught from brith. It's honestly fair to say in many ways it's not really their fault they think this way. Modern society and games have taught them to feel this way, to think this way, and to be unhappy if they don't get that.
So onward we go, this mentality will be for at least a good while a consistent part of the starcraft 2 community. Overtime the community may mature and realize the merrits of a game where only the best win and only hard work can make you the best....but only time will be able to tell if that will be the case.
Peace easy people.
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