If you are a hardcore or semi-hardcore (Where is the line?) player of Starcraft then you might know the name of Day[9]. Day[9] was introduced to me as a dynamic commentator of StarCraft mixing equal parts comedy and strategic insight. If there was a nerd that I wanted to be my CO it might be Day[9]. If you don’t know him go to his YouTube channel and watch any videos and get a feel for his style. He goes though a number of different dailies from commenting games of professionals with APM that is easily 25 times greater than mine to Newbie Tuesdays which is for the bubkins like me who needs the assistance to figure out build orders and to be reminded that you should always build probes and pylons.
By and Far though my favorite day is Funday Monday, it is the day where he puts ridiculous matches on the web for us all to be confused by and laugh that the insanity actually worked out for the victors. I love the promotion of pure fun in a game where people can get really worked up over if something goes wrong. Namely my favorite casts of his are the Team Mono-battles. The rules are simple at the beginning of the match you must declare one type of fighting unit and you can only build THAT unit for the composition of your army, and you must declare this to all the players. After that you hope that through teamwork, grit, and luck that you can beat the opposite army. Here are somethings I noticed about every match that I have seen and some really cool things that flow from that wellspring. Selecting, Glee, Fear, Focus, Outcome.
Selecting- This is the hardest part your first venture, should I go Stalkers or Void Rays? What if I need early support from my friends? How do we balance each other out? If you are with a more experienced person they might have advice for you, but before you enter the match you are going to gravitate to the unit that you are most comfortable commanding. Just like in life, you are going to go after whatever is the most comfertable or whichever path you really WANT to follow. It could be writer, architect, boxer, whatever you are going for it. The trick to it that is easy to follow in Starcraft but not life is sticking to that. You know what you want to do, just hold on to that vision and don’t spend any unnecessary energy (or Gas) focusing on other things.
Glee- Ohhh, man going all out Mutas was a great idea they are going to be crushed under the buffeting of my leathery wings. This is great! The first sprig of energy is like candy. You are hopped up on pith and vinegar, you can win anything you fresh faced so and so! Nothing really to comment on with this section other than excitement happens whenever you are trying something new for the first time like yoga or sex. You aren’t really sure what you are doing, but you are using new muscles and it’s probably good for you. Enjoy this step.
Fear- Wait, what if they go anti-air? I am going to get wiped by Missile Turrets and loose it all for my partners. You aren’t sure if the strategy will work, but you have no choice, you are stuck with this one unit till fail or triumph. This part is potentially even more important than Glee. There is always a chance that you will fail in whatever you do, and you should as a healthy and balanced person know that fact. Here is where Mono-Battles beat real life, you are forced to keep your honor and not diverge from the formula. Fear keeps us in check by forcing us a simple question of is this choice worth the fear that comes with it? I hope you all have the courage to stick with whichever path you want set for you.
Outcome- Two simple outcomes that have a ton of emotional weight, it is either win or lose, nothing in between. If you win with your units then you feel great and could continue using them. Or you could lose and try and figure out why you lost with that unit and try again or that you totally blew with that unit and have to try a new one. Same as careers, same as love lives, same as most things that you will encounter in your life. It’s up to you to refine, reassess, or junk your own actions. If they aren’t working to help you in life then it would make sense to only cut them out.
There are a ton of other things that you could learn from Starcraft and Day[9] like mental discipline and focus, but I think that would be too long of a post. But remember it is up to you to be brave, pick something, stick with it, learn with it, and have the gumption to cut it out of your life or pick it back it up. Oh, and give yourself some time to just play and have some fun. Maybe Monday could be that Funday for you too.
Have any questions? e-mail them to me justin@pixelatedgeek.com it could literally be about anything go ahead and make my day and send me a line or follow me on twitter @Justin_Dean