StarCraft 2: HotS Trains Players

Written by: Michael Byrne (@magickmann1) | December 18, 2012 8:05 am

1 Comment

StarCraft 2 Will Include a Training Tool to Push Players from Single Player to Multiplayer

I’ve played Real Time Strategy (RTS) games for years. I continue to play to this day. ,StarCraft 2 is something I boot up at least once a week if not more…but not for multiplayer. I always thought I was in the minority on this topic. I love watching StarCraft 2 streams, tournament matches, and YouTube videos. I listen to Lore recap some epic matches and I have a basic idea of some of what he’s talking about but I simply don’t play online. Ok, maybe a match here and there with a friend or my wife but never, and I mean NEVER, a matchmaking match. I can live with that though. I enjoy my single player experience enough to make the purchase still worthwhile.

As it turns out, I may not be in as small a group as I thought I was for all these years. In a recent interview with PCGamesN, CEO of Blizzard Mike Morhaime released some details regarding a training tool that will be included in the release of StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm this coming March.

Morhaime summed up the new training tool by saying, “There’s a really nice feature we’re adding in Heart of the Swarm which is a training area where you can basically play against the computer and the computer gives you tips on what you should be doing. It gradually gets harder. When you have completed the training program, you get unranked matched against the AI.”

The basic philosophy here is that through a series of progressively harder AI battles, single player gamers can be trained through tips and tricks to feel more comfortable in a matchmaking environment. While I doubt the system is about to turn me into a top ranked StarCraft 2 player any time soon, I do hope it can help improve my game to the point where I don’t hesitate for 10 minutes deciding if I really want to join matchmaking or not. As it is right now one of two things tend to happen when I do actually queue up: 1) I get trounced quickly or 2) I start commentating to myself as if I were just watching a match where someone else gets demolished. Maybe this tool could help a little…or maybe I’m just terrible.

What do you think?

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Demi_God

Is it going to teach players in how to train their actions per minute (APM)?

Tactics are the easiest thing to learn, which is something a computer can easily teach. I think no matter what, a player needs about 100 APM consistently, while under pressure from their opponent, before they are competitive enough to enjoy SC2 pvp.

For me, the enjoyment aspect in any strategy game is to out think my opponent. But up until you are putting out 100 APM, the game is more about tactics and who build the most/right crap to win. Bridging the gap between tactics and strategy requires solid Execution by the players, bringing us back to why APM is so important.