Joneagle_X Beta Question Thread

Ask your questions about my blog, gameplay, stream, or any beta pertaining questions here. I'll try to answer them as quickly as possible. Please read all the questions in the thread before responding.

If I don't answer a question or it is removed it is because it has already been asked or isn't phrased well enough to be answered.

Please do not overly discuss questions in this thread. You are free to use information in this thread to create a new topic.

 

kind of offtopic: but I really want to say that I want to see the video you wrote about in the top of your blog(2/23/2010) uploaded to youtube, as it sounds awesome

 

Is there a offline function/mode available in the beta? If so how does it work?

 

There is supposedly a way for non-beta opt-ins to watch replays. I will see if I can get someone to test it out and then I'll post it on the forum.

@supah,

I recorded the replay last night and I will try to put it up when I can.

 

I think I just saw the jump pack upgrade at a barracks tech lab. If this really is an upgrade, don't you think Blizzard is going overboard with making units start without their trademark abilties? I mean, a unit wearing a jetpack and floating by default not being able to jump cliffs?

From what few videos I've seen, there seems to be an immense amount of upgrades. Now this in itself would not be a problem, on the contrary. But some of the upgrades seem to be there solely for balance reasons, to postpone a certain tech, like the above example, which by my understanding is only there to allow players to prepare for cross-cliff harassment, but is otherwise completely illogical.

Ok it said nitro booster or whatever, which is a movement speed upgrade. But it had the icon of a hopping reaper, as they have it as a passive ability indicator in their panel, so I was misled!

Ok so question, do you think the stargate showing its unit being produced may spoil surprise attacks for the Protoss? No doubt it looks cool and the idea itself is very good, but without a similar hint from the other races this seems like an unfair disadvantage. Though it would look neat on the robotics and the gateway, too.

 

Kuvasz: The Jump Pack upgrade is a speed upgrade. Reapers come out of the Barracks with the ability to jump up or down cliffs.

 

@ Kuvasz,

I actually hadn't noticed that you could tell. But no, I don't think it would really affect much. I know when I see StarPorts that I'm going to be dealing with Carriers. Phoenix isn't as big a deal, I auto-shift to that strategy.

 

Do you feel the zerg to be stable at tier three without the lurker? Do you personally want the lurker to be back in the game?

 

I don't think the Lurker would benefit the Zerg, but they do need some new units. There's just not as much variety as there are with the other races. The Infestor also needs a buff for sure.

They're only stable at Tier 3 through intense macro. I don't think they can stand up well to Protoss in tier 3 at all. Ultralisks are the only real threat. Not when you have Mothership, etc.

 

How far do you have to click from a unit for it to move? For very short distances does it just jerk a little or does it stay in place until the order is far enough for the movement animation to kick in?

 

Leagues and Divisions: How do these work?

To my understanding each league has different divisions. But what happens if you are in the 'best' (currently Platinum) league - and you are ranked nr.1 in your division?

Is there any purpose? There are lots of divisions in beta (so even more when the game releases) so there will be a LOT of people ranked nr.1, whereas the guy ranked numer 1 in division 4 could be 10 times better than the guy ranked nr.1 in division 9 in that same league.

To me, divisions make only sense if they are decreased in number whilst you climb up in league. Example: Gold has x-number of divisions, platinum x - 10, pro x - 20 etc. Resulting in the end in a 'best' league, with only 1 division. So ultimately those people will be the 'best' SC2 players.

Is this how the system works / will work in the future? Please clarify if possible.

 

Leagues are a general category and Divisions are the rankings within them.

So if you're in Platinum Division 1 Rank #1 you are the top player in that game mode. So each Division is also a "league" in itself.

Also, in case you guys didn't know, there are matches where you will be Favored, or the other team will be Favored, or one will be slightly favored, or the teams will be even. You won't lose major points when you're not favored if you lose, but if you win when you're not favored you score major points. And vice versa if you lose when you're favored.

@ Kuvasz,

I honestly don't know what you're asking.... Units always move when you give a command.

 

Just to clarify - Division 1 is the highest division in a particular league? That would answer my question because I was under the impression that each division was 'equal' to any other division in that same league.

ie. Platinum league: division 1 > div 2 > div3 and onwards?

 

I'm pretty sure that Division 1 is higher ranked users than Division 2.

This is based SOLELY on my experience in that OMFG games are harder in 2v2 Platinum Division 2 than 2v2 Platinum Division 5

 

Jon I was on about the animation, whether for very short distances the unit "jumps" to the location it is ordered to move to, starts moving but jerks into stationary position in the middle of the animation, or doesn't move at all. I'm thinking in terms of colossi, thors, and ultralisks, where this is more visible, not zerglings.

 

I've done some more reading and it appears that each division has 100 players in it and each league has x-divisions within it. This means you will always be ranked within 1 - 100.

The divisions don't seem to have any ranking system, it's just a way to split people into 100-person groups. So, division 1 is not better than division 2, etc. Top players in division can move up to the next league.

If you go and look at the current SC2 Beta Ladder Standings for the Platinum league you will actualy find some evidence to this 'theory'. People in division 1 (top ranked has 1465 points) have less points than people in div 7 (top ranked has 1644 points) and certain other divisions.

To me, this really doesn't make sense. I can therefore only assume that the Pro-league will consist of 1 division in total and no more than x-number of people will be able to be in that league at any point in time.

Then again I could be wrong. Maybe divisions are simply not ranked in the beta.

 

RHStag,

I'm still almost 100% certain that the divisions are ranked. I don't think points overall matter because I think you can just get up to 2,000 points (no losses and 20 wins). If you have a high enough score for long enough you will move to the next division until you get to division 1 and then you will move up to the next league.

I can't say this for ABSOLUTE certain but I'm pretty sure this is how it works. I'll ask Blizz.

 

Thanks! I won't argue any further until Blizzard has clarified the working of the league/division system.

Back OT: Has the way you play the game (strategy/decision wise) changed with the introduction of high yield minerals?

i.e. Have you been playing games in which you were actively trying to control a high yield mineral base or prevent your opponent from doing so? Have your priorities shifted at all? (as in, I should destroy his high yield mineral base before I go for his main, or I should try to harvest as much high yield minerals before my opponent does etc.)

In short: How did the introduction of high yield minerals influence the game?

 

I don't really feel like high yield as really influenced it at all.

I wouldn't describe high yield as particularly valuable because there are just so many expansions on a map and it's often so much more easier to defend the normal expo.

For the most part my decision process in expanding relies solely on the defensibility of an expo and not whether it's high yield or not. That being said as Terran I've used some highly aggressive Planetary Fortress expansion techniques and for those types of games I usually try to expand to a high yield area because it has the highest likelihood of being attacked and that's what I want. Plus I get the high yield expansion.

Frankly unless the high yield also had high yield gas it's just not a game breaker.

As far as attacking I think my thought process is the same. Kill the easiest thing possible. If he's expanded to high yield and it's a tough to defend position of course I'm going to hit it.

 

The leagues and divisions make total sense. It's just like Football. (Or Soccer for you American people).
I'll try to explain it easily.

You are a one man team play SC2 to win. And the different leagues are like the British Premier league or the A-League or Serie A. Totally different leagues. And wthin each league there are divisions. Like you might be playing in division 3 for your team. Be it your local team or Man United or whatever.

And at the end of the season. The top so many from your current division move up to the higher division. And the bottom so many get bumped down a division. It'd be the same number bumped for each division so each division always has 100 players/one man teams in it.

So how I see it would be. Each league would be from a certain area. Like a US league. A European league. An Asian League, An Australian/other league. Just done that way so you can play against people from your local area of the world. And with in your area/league you get ranked into divisions with 100 people roughly of your same ability at SC2. But of cause some people get better or worse at the game. And that's why at the end of the season The top and bottom few get bumped up and down a league so always ensure the divisions have players that are the same good at SC2 as the rest in that same division.

I dunno if Blizzard is using this exact mechanic. But I think they should. Sport has used this mechanic for eons and it works perfectly.