This is going to hurt.
But we might hurt you.
The thing is, we’re not quitters by nature. We might be by nurture, but we blame a school system that lets every child win and exacts no penalties on those who are cruel, callous, or otherwise ridiculous.
When it comes to Starcraft II, however, we are very much dedicated to the art of not quitting, even in the face of our “everybody wins” upbringing.
In Starcraft II, Terrans don’t get a ribbon for “participation” in their latest skirmish with the Zerg. Protoss don’t get to go for ice cream because they tried hard but still lost against those trailer-park Terrans. Instead, they get blown up.
To be clear, we’re not fans of ridiculously competitive events for small children. A soccer game for children ages five through seven resembles nothing so much as a cloud of desperate electrons following a white and spinning proton. No matter how many times they’re told to break free, they just can’t seem to find the energy state they need.
Sure, once they get up to their tween years, they need to start losing. The “real world” isn’t a happy fuzzy love-fest, and the sooner they learn to earn their victories and overcome their defeats, the better.
The same is true in Starcraft. If you’re winning, don’t back off. Hammer your opponent. Crush them. Don’t be rude in chat – the true mark of a douchebag is to make a snide remark during or after a well-fought battle – but don’t just destroy a few things and then wander off. Make sure your opponent knew you were there, as evidenced by the smoking crater that is the only remnant of his or her once proud base.
If you’re losing, don’t give up. We see this far too often in Starcraft II, and we wish more people would hang on. We’ve seen opponents leave the game far too early – much to our benefit, because they were favoured and we got a crapton of points – but they could easily have stuck around and at least mounted a counter-assault.
Not quitting is especially important if you are losing a battle against a favoured opponent. If you hold out long enough, and do enough damage, their eventual, clawing victory may just mean that you lose no rank, and your opponent gains none, as they were expected to handily beat you. Blizzard rewards those who endure.
So hark unto us, Starcraft II fans, and do not give up the battle before it is lost. Harry the enemy until you have no forces left, until your lifeblood has been spilt out upon the alien rocks below.
Seriously, you’ll feel better.
