Official Starcraft Thread

Geese_Pants · January 29, 2009, 10:13am

Rumor: UC Berkeley offering Starcraft course?

UC Berkeley offering Starcraft course?
Posted Jan 28, 2009 2:55 pm PT By Polybren 61 comments Source: University of California Berkeley students can get credit for learning about Starcraft, according to a report on the blog Tumeroks, which points to another Web site specifically set up for the class.

What we heard: As gaming becomes a larger part of our culture, it’s only natural that the subject would eventually become the subject of academic dissection. Still, a college course dedicated to high-level gameplay theory for Starcraft? That could be a bit of a leap. Then again, if Starcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment can help kids get into college with the World of Warcraft SAT primer, who’s to say the studio can’t help get them through college as well?

While the Tumeroks blog and the home page for the course contained plenty of specifics about what would be taught (including a full syllabus), the home page was noticeably not hosted on the University’s own servers. The official Berkeley Web site didn’t list the Starcraft class on its course schedule, either.

However, the Berkeley site did note the school’s DeCal program (Democratic Education at Cal), a selection of student-run, faculty-sponsored courses offered on topics of sometimes debatable merit. However, even this semester’s DeCal course listings contain no mention of the Starcraft course.

The course would fit right in to the DeCal program, which is currently offering courses on photography, Cantonese, the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, the ethics of Star Trek, and advanced speed techniques for solving the Rubik’s Cube. Gaming has been the subject of DeCal programs in the past, with courses offered in Counter-Strike level design, the history of games, and storytelling in interactive entertainment with a focus on Silent Hill, Portal, Chrono Trigger, and the Monkey Island series.

Courses are only offered pass/no pass, and they count toward graduation but not toward any major requirements. There is also a cap on how many DeCal credits students can claim toward their graduation requirements.

The official story: A DeCal representative told GameSpot that the Starcraft course–titled Game Theory With Application in Starcraft–had been submitted for approval, but not yet given the final go-ahead. If approved, the course would take place during the current semester.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not finalized quite yet, but very likely not bogus.

…what?

Hco · January 29, 2009, 11:25am

Bisu made it back into OSL, took BackHo’s place because he dropped out due to an injury. Protoss too strong.

ckrazy · January 30, 2009, 12:42am

That stupid unless they start giving out SCHOLARSHIPS for Starcraft then I am on board. A Starcraft class does nothing for you, just another random elective.

Nives · January 30, 2009, 12:53am

unless your planning on going into the gaming industry.

wow, i thought srk had a starcraft thread, but for some reason couldn’t find it. i guess i just overlooked it.

EDIT: If anyone wants to play, i m on the east coast server as Barracks_Obama. I am just Nives on ICCUP.

BananaWeed · January 30, 2009, 2:41am

Haha, Barracks Obama. Nice.

Anyone know why there weren’t any new matches up on gomtv this week?

Nives · January 30, 2009, 2:53am

it is the lunar new year.

Nives · February 2, 2009, 10:41pm

hm, no comments on jangbi vs free?

MechZZ · February 2, 2009, 10:52pm

Jangbi totally out played pretty… Not much to comment on that lol

SkyeElemental · February 3, 2009, 6:25am

Screw the GomTV tourney…the Winners League is so beastly to watch, especially [as much as I like them] with Samsung Khan still winless

Nives · February 3, 2009, 8:05pm

winner’s league? where?

Silentness · February 4, 2009, 9:23pm

Am I the only one that falls asleep from watching pro Starcraft matches?

(Has access to unlimited Starcraft matches on Korean TV)

I fucking hate Terran vs Terran matches to death… it’s like watching fucking CvS2 blankas sitting in a corner just casting RC electricity over and over again. Fucking turtling race.

MechZZ · February 4, 2009, 10:25pm

No, but TvT can be boring. I think PvP is the most boring match up.

The american commentators have a way to make the matches funny, ie. Tasteless.

Nives · February 4, 2009, 10:51pm

also depends on who is playing. i m not a huge fan of mirror matches in starcraft. i primarily play toss, and PvP (at my level at least) feels like if u make 1 mistake, ur gone.

anyone want to play?

Natureboy_1 · February 5, 2009, 6:07am

What’s your name? I play on east as “protosslee”

CrimsonDisaster · February 5, 2009, 1:58pm

TvT can be really exciting… but it’s easy for it to stagnate into a huge stalemate. Just kinda depends on how it plays out.

Nives-
Winner’s League = this season’s Proleague. All-kill format, hells yeah.

Also Samsung Khan’t really ought to be a bit better than 0 wins in all-kill format; but whatever, they’re a really well coached team of nobodies. Stork/Jangbi/FBH is not the trio you want to bring up a team where your next best players are like… Frozean and Hades. It’s still fairly early in the season, January will figure something out since it seems like her team can’t play its way out of this sluggish start.

More surprising than Samsung starting slowly is CJ playing so well (3-0, top of the standings)- what’s most surprising about it is that it isn’t the new hotshots leading the charge, but Iris and Ma Jae Yoon reborn. What’s scary about this team is that the new kids are looking really sharp- EffOrt, SkyHigh, and Movie gives them a promising youngster for each race.

Also of note- Hwaseung (formally Lecaf) OZ doing well thanks to HiyA proving his Proleague worth, which takes some pressure off Jaedong/fOrGG with BackHo out. They could use a real backup Zerg, and it’d be nice for BackHo to come back soon, but shrug. Still a strong team, but kinda top heavy.

This format definitely plays to KTF’s strengths (Flash/Lux combo) and downplays their weaknesses (the rest of their roster) so it’ll be cool to see how far Flash/Lux can take this team.
On the flipside, teams like eStro and MBC are going to struggle imo. All-kill format makes it harder to bring snipers and map specialists to bear, and without strong ace players to score consistent wins, it’s gonna be rough. Samsung is kinda in that boat, but Stork/Jangbi/FBH is a much stronger core than anything eStro or MBC can bring to the table.

WL is such a cool format. Hoping STX gets over its typical underperforming tendency; when you can bring July/Kal/Hwasin/Calm out any given night, there’s not really an excuse to place poorly.

CrimsonDisaster · February 5, 2009, 4:47pm

Hwasin too good.

JD vs. FBH game is lolz

Silentness · February 5, 2009, 4:59pm

I still can’t believe my GF destroys me in Starcraft. She plays Zerg…

I play Terran. I fail at life…

She hates the game, but sometimes I convince her to play me.

CrimsonDisaster · February 5, 2009, 5:20pm

3rax timing attack all day every day imo

dropthesky · February 5, 2009, 5:45pm

2fac rush builds tvp
on ICCUP it will win everytime, damn I gotta get back into SC during spring break, haven’t played in months, anyone follow battle net east teams or are those completely dead now? Talking x17 scrubs and the like.

Nives · February 5, 2009, 8:27pm

Barracks_Obama on the east server.