Starcraft 2 For "Noobs" Question?

Hi, I have been very intrigued by all the Blizzard games, especially Starcraft 2. I have played other RTS like CNC and Sup Com, so I went ahead and preordered Starcraft 2 from Amaozn. But after watching videos on youtube..it looks very complicated and maybe hard for "noobs" to jump into. What is your opinion on its playabilty for "noobs"?...I'm having seconds thoughts on my pre order and might cancel.

Thanks For Any Feedback

It's like a lot of games. Easy to play and pick up, but really hard to master. The videos you watch on youtube are high level play, but if you do play multiplayer, you'll be matched with people better than you, worse than you, the same level, nothing different from other games. Even more, the custom map editor makes it so that you don't even have to play those skirmish games. if you so wish, you could just play a kart riding game on SC2.

You did play CNC and other RTS, so SC2 should be fun for you to play.

I heard that the multiplayer matchmaking system is supposed to work well to match players of equal skill level.

I preorderded the game, but have very little interest in playing the standard multiplayer game. I liked the SP in the original, and I'm extremely excited to play all the mods that come out of the game.

[quote name='kilm']It's like a lot of games. Easy to play and pick up, but really hard to master.[/QUOTE]
This is StarCraft in a nutshell. The original StarCraft's campaign has an excellent learning curve, but online play is highly competitive. Blizzard is well aware of this, however, which is why the matchmaking system's in place for SC2.

[quote name='Brownjohn']I heard that the multiplayer matchmaking system is supposed to work well to match players of equal skill level.

I preorderded the game, but have very little interest in playing the standard multiplayer game. I liked the SP in the original, and I'm extremely excited to play all the mods that come out of the game.[/QUOTE]
What little I saw of the matchmaking during the beta wasn't bad. I didn't play for very long (because, well, see below), so it may have been polished up even more since then.

And I'm another one of those weirdoes who prefers single-player SC to multiplayer Can't wait to dive into SC2's campaign!

Anyway, OP, Blizzard makes extremely polished, high-quality games, so you really can't go wrong with anything from them. If you still have doubts though, you might want to check out one of their previous RTSes. WarCraft III and StarCraft are both cheaper than SC2 and available in "Battle Chest" sets which include their respective expansions.

Thanks for the replies guys. I enjoy playing mulitplayer and want to play multiplayer. So I did some reading up on their matchmaking. Apparently they give you 5 practice games and 10 regular games to place you in tiers. So my guess is I will be in the lowest tier matched with other lowest tier and that is fine with me! As long as I have a fighting chance to win. From what I have just read they are definitely trying to help out the newbies.

you'll be getting the hang of it in no time. its a great game!

The matchmaking system should match you with players of equal skill or close to equal skill however from the beta it didn't. It was something they were going to be working on from what I understand. Hell maybe they just didn't have it in the beta. never played much of it due to not having the time.

Yeah the match making in the beta didn't seem to work at all, I usually got matched up with people who just obliterated me. Only occasionally did I find a match that I had even a chance to win.

I was in the same boat and cancelled my order once I was able to. The Beta convinced me that a game that requires me to manage everything to succeed isn't my thing. Don't get me wrong I'll eventually pick it up, but the $60 for the first of three releases is a little steep IMO.

I always found the core game to be very difficult, especially given how well so many people play RTSes online now.

But, I think where I really enjoy SC is the custom maps, where there's easily 100+ Hours of play with different custom map variants, which generally are more focused towards casual gamers.

[quote name='lordwow']I always found the core game to be very difficult, especially given how well so many people play RTSes online now.

But, I think where I really enjoy SC is the custom maps, where there's easily 100+ Hours of play with different custom map variants, which generally are more focused towards casual gamers.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I even found the single player campaigns to be difficult. I LOVE the flexibility that the Blizzard map editors provide though. One map you might be playing a game of Left 4 Dead with Zergs as zombies, the next you could be playing a game of chess, with the rules scripted into the map file itself. The possibilities are literally endless.

I think the entire time I've owned Starcraft and Warcraft 3 I've only played a handful of 'real' games online. I play use-map-settings games almost exclusively, on which I've spent countless hours.

[quote name='Applesplzz']Hi, I have been very intrigued by all the Blizzard games, especially Starcraft 2. I have played other RTS like CNC and Sup Com, so I went ahead and preordered Starcraft 2 from Amaozn. But after watching videos on youtube..it looks very complicated and maybe hard for "noobs" to jump into. What is your opinion on its playabilty for "noobs"?...I'm having seconds thoughts on my pre order and might cancel.

Thanks For Any Feedback[/QUOTE]

Starcraft is one of the most cookie cutter RTS's on the market, and SC2 is even more accessible.

You should only be worried if you wanna compete with advanced players, because that can take a lot of practice.

The game provides some tutorials to quickly teach you the basics. I don't know if it'll help you much for multiplayer, but the single player does a good job of easing you into the gameplay. Each single player mission can be played on 4 different difficulty levels (including an easy mode) and I believe you can replay old ones if you want more practice.

The single player game has multiple difficulty levels and curves almost perfectly. I'd say anyone could handle SP on easy. By the time you are done with the campaign, obviously, you won't be some sort of master, but you will have fun with the MP since the matchmaking system does a good job of not letting you get constantly beaten.