StarCraft is one such title in the esports world that has stood against all odds and survived. Even though sticking around for a long time, it still faces problems attracting new players. Many people think that they cannot deal with StarCraft because it is difficult to understand. This source link supports the above-mentioned claim.
While we are discussing esports titles, there must be many games popping in your head like the first-person shooter game, Counter-Strike. It has attracted many new players for the simple fact that it is easy to follow and play. Although, if you look at the top competitors there is much more to it than that.
When we talk about StarCraft, it is an easy game, and learning the basics is also fairly easy. The problem arises when you find it difficult to master this game. Some of the best players also will acknowledge this fact. It is difficult to master this game. It is not all that difficult to understand but it takes dedication and a hell of a lot of time to fully dive into the game.
All the credit for this goes to the development team of Blizzard that created an awesome StarCraft II beginner’s experience. Many of them criticized the initial game as it did not give a proper tutorial for people to learn the basics of this game. Though, the second edition of this series gave an overall experience better than the previous one.
The goal of the second edition was to attract more players and it worked for a short period of time. The problem at the center of the game is the retention value of players, this game has not been able to retain players. It lacks the pull that other popular esports titles currently trending have as StarCraft II’s progression system is amiss.
Other titles like CS: GO, League of Legends or Dota 2 have their own multiplayer system focusing on ranks. This lets players focus on a goal that they need to achieve and this is essential for the retention of players.
StarCraft also lacks the same customization as the other titles. Players tend to buy more cosmetics with money to refresh their character. This is difficult to replicate in StarCraft as cosmetics mean nothing if everything is of less importance.
StarCraft’s genre is standing in its own way of success as it is believed that real-time strategy games are slowly becoming outdated. It is not appealing anymore to play real-time strategy games. Today, people need fast-paced games that require little thought.
We cannot deny the fact that there was a boom in the RTS genre in the initial days of StarCraft and other similar genre games like Warcraft, Command & Conquer. But the buzz around RTS titles is slowly dying now. Many games have turned more fast-paced that are on similar lines as the RTS genre.
Titles like Dota 2 and League of Legends actually came from the mods in the genre of RTS. These games are still quite similar to how the RTS genre games are played but their main focus mostly is on one character. It does not come anywhere close to the high-level gameplay of RTS games even though some characters need micromanagement. High-level players micromanage each and every unit of the map by working their fingers super fast on the keyboard, it looks buttery-smooth. If players learn to acknowledge and appreciate a game like chess that is strategic in nature, they will be ideal for a game like StarCraft.
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