SC2 and community

[Dean63]

I don't visit TeamLiquid. Very few websites is better, but only one can't fit the flavor everyone wants.

[TheEconomist]

[LordofAscension]

Hey there.

What do you think, is it best for SC2 community to be over at one place at teamliquid.net or do you think there needs to be more decentralized community.

Also seems a lot of websites have gone old, for example sclegacy is one of them.

What do you guys think? Why is there one and only major SC and SC2 website aka teamliquid and do you think websites and forums like this one have not taken the opportunity to do something more, than the old school news coverage thing.


I mean this site had potential to host some tournaments, it even had some competition with GTX 460 to give out, but why not more events, why not improve the forums and stuff like that.

In a way I guess this is better, since all the focus is on one website and you can find everything there, but on the other side there is no competition and sometimes having a little tighter community is actually more interesting.

What do you guys think? is one forum/website to rule them all the best or what are your thoughts on this?

This really is an interesting question.

I would first like to say that competition is key - if you look at any company throughout history, you'll notice that it is when there are vibrant competitors. That isn't to say that they have to be equal size, but they just have to bring something to the table.

SC:L and a few other sites such as .org, have been around since the dawn of the SC era. We just chose not to follow the e-sports direction. Obviously, at the time we had no idea that it would take so long to make SC2 and that e-sports would be the only real tie that would last.

Fast forward to now and we're once again taking a hard look at our identity. The relative disappointment in the campaign as really hurt our lore base but we are continually evaluating our place in the community.

One thing that we have always strove for, and I hope you guys have noticed is our quality. We really pride ourselves on our journalistic style - all of our articles may take a long time - but hopefully they are worth it.

We think we still fill a niche and we are still realigning ourselves for the next generation of SC2 coverage. But the most important feedback comes from you guys. What do you want to see? What things can we provide that you can't or don't find everywhere else?

~LoA

[RamiZ]

EDIT: Not worth it anymore to discuss anything with dustin. It's never productive in any way. I'm not even sure why he hasn't been banned yet with how most of his threads/posts lack clear thought but more "I am right. Everyone agree with me. If you don't agree with me you're stupid and don't know anything."

He was banned, he is unbanned, and gotta get banned again pretty soon it seems... :/

[flak4321]

Hmmm... perhaps I have to rethink this a bit given LoA's point of view. Niche sites, like niche businesses, do tend to persist well after one would think they would have died. SC:Legacy has been a very good forum, with a tolerably reasonable amount of whining, negativity and flaming. these things are wholly unavoidable and can only be minimized.

I mention that because I have read both the bnet forums and some TL forums, and while each have had quality posters, whiners and flamers are much more prevalent. Is this because this just is or because of readership? It could well be both. My thought is those sites that have the resources to minimize this and/or consistently have an offering that will attract good posters will be those that endure.

There are many thoughtful posters out there whose work has transcended the pettiness and have become beacons for the sites to hang their hats on. Archer is one who comes and goes to multiple sites. Todie, Tychus, Arkalis and Jackhammer, as examples, are consistently thoughtful in their responses and really help make these forums flow. There are others. The mods are all awesomeness in the flesh, so words don't do them justice.

Quality mods/admins/etc and knowing there are some really good posters in here are what keep me coming. Who knows, maybe I'll try the other sites again...

To close this a bit more on topic, membership is not the only factor that will keep the best sites rolling. Also to be considered are resources to maintain and the ability to sustain a reasonable membership, i.e. enough and enough of quality members to make the work to maintain the site worthwhile.

What do you guys think? is one forum/website to rule them all the best or what are your thoughts on this?

One site to rule them all
One site to find them
One site to bring them all
For SC:L to bind them

[LordofAscension]

One site to rule them all
One site to find them
One site to bring them all
For SC:L to bind them

Perhaps someday - but I think we'll be content with some of the highest quality content out there. The cinematics, editorials, features, and BlizzCon event coverage we do are some of the best on the web, if you'll forgive my opinion.

I would like to thank our members though. You guys are awesome and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you - and hopefully sometime this year we'll be able to reveal a few of the perks we have in store for you.

~LoA

[silencbank]

The thing about the SC2 community is that we are all the same, and different at the same time. There are different aspects of this game that people like. TL is a success because it deals with the part a large amount of people are involved with, the multiplayer/tournament side. People hear about it the most because if they are getting into this game by watching people play, and want to learn to be better, they know that TL has tons of available information about everything they could want to know about the multiplayer aspect.

That is what TL was built for, and that is what it excels at. Sure, TL has forums for single player and custom maps as well, but there are sites that go into much more detail into those aspects because they were build specifically for custom maps, or single player and lore. It does not mean you can not find your answer on TL, but it does mean you have a better chance to get an answer from someone who has dealt with that exact issue, since they were in your shoes at one point as well.

So while we are all part of the SC2 community as a whole, there are many different 'tribes' among the community for every facet of experience SC2 provides to any one person. So take the following for what it is worth. From all of the people that are connected to the running of this site that I have talked to in the past, they hope you like this site and what it provides. They work hard to give you the best possible product they can all the while listening to us about what ideas that we have that we think could make the site better for us, the consumer. They will love what they have done at this site, and love the site itself because they love the Starcraft Universe.

(please note the following is just my opinion)

And I think that means that while the do not choose to disappoint any of the visitors that come here, they probably realize that all they can do is work on things they love and hope that people like them.

(END OF OPINION)
I can understand why people would want to consolidate all of Starcraft's information into one place. When you only have to go to one website to get all of the information you want it is much easier to do. The problem with that is there are bound to be things that get singled out as less important than the others, while the singled out group feels no less passionate about their facet than the others. There are already tons of specialized places to get information (or things) that are available elsewhere. Instead of watching the news for sports and weather, you can watch ESPN and The Weather Channel. If you don't want to get your AA batteries, car tires, or automotive accessories at your local Wal-Mart you can decide to go to Batteries Plus, Big O Tires, or Autozone. If there is enough demand for an item or items it will eventually have it's own place to be.

Speaking specifically, Starcraft has a large enough fanbase in it's numerous subcultures to warrant numerous "specialist" sites. This should be obvious because of the fact that all of these specialist sites, already exist. From what LoA and the few others I have spoken to have said, they have plans for the site. If people here want to improve the site, volunteer to make it better. There is not unlimited time and people to throw at all the things they would like to do, so if you want something done talk to your local admin and see what you can do to help make it happen if it is feasible.

Do not accept that change will come, MAKE IT HAPPEN YOURSELF.

(silencbank has been banned for caps)

[GnaReffotsirk]

I agree. Besides, there's the ever handy bookmark feature.

I'd rather have each site specialize and have bits of other stuff as side line, than have a jack of all trades site. I might be closed minded, but how many people will be needed to keep things top-notch?

Exactly. That is all the current sites and their staff. So, why consolidate? The entire web is the roof that covers all.

Ctrl-D is your friend.

edit: Oh yeah, Blizzard's site is that thing you speak of. It's just not happening. Consolidation is always a bad idea.

[dustinbrowder]

Well I was hoping SClegacy would provide more interviews, more in-depth coverage of the single player, get to the back story of how it came to be, the direction, but a lot of it has been writers opinions and while interesting to read, I'd like to hear it from the blizzard story guys themselves, I'd like the latest rumor about the story, the latest whining or praising of the story, etc...

I also think you guys can make a MAP SECTION, I mean even that has been taken by scmapster. They are still pretty small, if you compare it to WC3, the SC2 map community is still small, but its going to be growing I guarantee you and taking that potential and making a nice and easy page to download/upload maps with good community around it can really elevate the site.

And this is what I'm talking about, there are still some opportunities with this stuff like maps, mods, smaller tournaments, nerd gatherings, replays, etc... I mean you can keep the lore aspect of SClegacy, but I mean you can't just pray blizzard delivers A+++ story that everyone is going to talk about for years to come. And even if that was the case, there needs to be other things to bring new community and retain old one.

[Caliban113]

Wait, wherz teh poll....?