A long time ago, I picked up Starcraft: Brood War from a friend and started playing on my Pentium PC back home. We had no internet — so I just had the campaign and games against AI. I started playing regularly when I could as my folks weren’t too hyped about me using the PC too much when it wasn’t “for school”. It wasn’t easy only having myself to play with however I did get to see friend’s playing at school and at their houses.
Moving forward, time passed and I started playing the occasional game of Starcraft with friends at a netcafe in Croydon (Network Nirvana). There were very few other Starcraft back in my friendship group; commonly we’d just play Big Game Hunters and that was it. I wasn’t the best — I wasn’t the worst.
Eventually when I had access to regular (as regular as dial-up can be) internet, I got into playing online. It was an awakening, and has led to my appreciation for the game and desire to “bring games to the people”. I think in my prime-time I got to C- on ICCUP. Nothing really spectacular but could hold my own, even against pesky mech Terrans.
When I started SC2 commentary in 2010 it wasn’t ever about being famous, the best shout-caster or anything like that. I have forever always been about painting a picture of what’s happening and adding entertainment to this fantastic game as best as I possibly can. It’s why you’ll often hear me ask for feedback when I’m shout-casting as I want you guys to enjoy it as much as I do.
In 2015 I discontinued commentary work due to increasing commitment to IRL work, then went into a bit of a dark age for my own content online. Despite some reasonable streaming numbers and fans of the content — I just didn’t have the time to spare.
Now that the original masterpiece of Brood War is reanimating itself — there’s another chance to be a part of this great collective.
As such; I’m coming back to do commentary for Starcraft, both SC2 and Brood War. Primarily I’d like to focus on Brood War as it’s something I grew up with and had a lot of fun picking up over time.
The same principles will still stand — this is not about being the best, the one, the only Starcraft commentator — but purely about making great content for people to enjoy the game in all it’s glory. If you’d like to talk to me about this, please hit me up on Discord or Twitter and I’d be happy to have a chat.
There is no doubt that numbers for Starcraft are never going to be “peak esports” levels such as those seen in Dota2, League of Legends of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. One thing that many fail to understand comes two-fold:
Firstly — There just isn’t a fan-base able to keep up with and easily understand Starcraft. It’s massive learning curve, complexity and nigh insurmountable mastery level is both it’s greatest strength — and weakness. While those who have been indoctrinated and understand even to a minimal extent how the game works — they are the committed, dedicated fans who’ve stuck around for a long time. The fan population of Starcraft will always be smaller and slower-growing than other esports because it cannot simply be picked up after watching one game. CSGO is simple — bad guys in X colour, good guys generally in a dark/navy colour. Shoot bad guys, plant bomb, defuse bomb — game over. The underlying premise is not hard to understand or follow at all.
Starcraft does indeed have what appears to be a basic premise — defeat your opponent by killing all of their buildings. But the framework and methodology that goes into this is vastly complex and difficult to understand. As such — it never was, isn’t now, and never will be a high-tier volume esports spectacle game — outside of Korea.
Secondly — It just doesn’t matter if the numbers aren’t there. Starcraft’s entertainment factor isn’t reliant on how many people are watching. It’s about the passion of the fans and the players.
With that in mind; it’s important to consider that the same virtue lays true for the DVL 2017 project. We’re here for us and all the fans of Starcraft and the entertainment and wonder it brings. Hope you can join us.
-Duck
