Question for Terif - Why?

[Yogi]

Hi Terif, I understand if you don't want to take the time to answer my curiosity questions, but I thought it might be ineterestng reading for all of us if you do.

Situation: You are the clear expert on SC2. I think it might be fair to say that few if any of the rest of us can even come close to your skill and in particular your knowledge of the game. You must have spent hours studying the game mechanics to become the guru of the game. You are greatly respected for that.

Questions:

What was it about SC2 that attracted you so much that you wanted to know it so well?

Are there any games other then SC2 that you have studied in a similar way, or is SC2 your only such choice?

Do you get more enjoyment out of being "#1" or just out of studying the game for sake of the game?

If you have lost - or if you ever do lose - how much of a downer will it be for you?

How does it feel to be the heavyweight champion of the world for a computer game.

[Terif]

Thanks – I loved SC1 when I stumbled accross it after it was already out half a year for its ease of playing and yet depth if you had a closer look. Same for its successor...SC2 is a bit more complex, with different/improved graphic – but when you get used to it, SC2 is even much better than SC1 as it gives the player many more choices and freedom without getting unbalanced. In fact its balance and beeing astonishingly robust in this aspect is what I like most about SC2 in combination with its characteristic of having random elements but still luck having no influence on the outcome of the game – it only changes the course of war and which strategies are preferable. Each random element either evens out in the long run or like the strategic decissions of the players have their advantages and disadvantages – and if it is wise to choose a certain path only depends on the situation and your opponent .

I look into different games from time to time, but since I met SC don´t really play other games – not only cause I still find SC2 the best strategy game so far, but also cause I simply have no time left to play something else besides SC .

Beeing good at the game is certainly also enjoyment in itself and motivates to invest more time then you would do otherwise, but more important when you know how to play SC2 it gives the opportunity to explore the possibilities of SC2 with each new game in many different ways by trying lots of different strategies. When both players know the basics, SC2 becomes much, much more fun to play as then it is pure strategy, trying to find the weak spots, surprising the enemy there and using the right counterstrategies fitting to the situation .

In SC1 I played more than a thousand games and lost exactly 12 of them – and these belong to the best and most interesting games I played, most of them going into 1945-47 – a challenge is always the most fun . In SC2 I lost not a single game so far - with its larger map and many more places to attack you have much more possibilities to compensate for mistakes or a good enemy assault that caused you heavy losses and severe damage. If you have an equal opponent you will have to be willing to sacrifice a lot of territories and units sometimes to achieve victory and the game will go back and forth – so you never should surrender as long as your forces are intact or you have space to trade for time to rebuild .

Fortunately more and more players are starting to recognize that you can turn the tide till nearly the end of the game which results in an increasing amount of really exciting games .

[Yogi]

Thanks Terif

We are blinded :cool: by your brilliance in SC2

I suppose some day, you will lose and the most interesting thing about that day will probably be seeing your expert analysis of how it happened.

[kadeen]

I don't remember the last time I played SC1 or SC2, but I never miss reading this forum. Ranging from that guy Rambo's obvious dementia to Terif's imcomparable obsessive brilliance, I find this place more entertaining than the Sopranos (but I do miss the nudity). Seriously, I think people would pay to see some of these games played in real time (It would be a lot more entertaining than watching all those troglodytes playing poker on TV....how the hell did that get started?). Don't laugh, Starcraft is a major spectator sport in Korea! Crap, I hope Don King doesn't read this forum!

[Liam]

I should add a comment, having lost a great deal of SC1 games and SC2 games to Terif. SC and SC2 are simple yet complex enough to keep you comming back. And what he said of knowing the basics, makes for a great game allover! I'm still learning, and some of the concepts that belong to SC2, such as know when to give, and fight on the right front, could not be said better. Terif is a great teacher, playing him is like buying a Strategy manual, I suggest everyone challenges him to at least 20-50 matches...I have lost 85% of my SC games to Terif due to inflexability, and overcompensation and even my SC1 games... This man knows his Strategies and knows his opponent best, I think like a Hold 'Em player in poker, Terif does play the basics, but moves quickly into playing the player and ignoring all the tech, chance, bad luck, weather, etc... That is a great amount of intuition. Good with the Psychology of Strategy, I'll bet he's read Sun Tzu's Art of War(sp?)

I recall a game vs Terif in SC1, where he made an error, he sent his entire Royal Navy into the Straights at Denmark and I Blocked it and killed off his entire Royal Navy... I thought the game was over... Boy was I shocked! He utilized Transports and Carriers in such a perfect way to as to prevent my only chance to ever beat him! I was completely outmanuevered... and lost before I could do a Sea Lion!

Thing is he plays alot of SC folks and he's only getting better, as just like us he's learning as he goes along... A lot think he was born with the knowledge(The Yodl and Yoda stuff is just for Theatrics and fun poking at your opponent) I recall some of his earlier errors and how I was incapable of seizing the opportunity and knock him out! I have seen some other great SC players though and all got better by playing Terif, DragonHeart, Pieffer? Rambo, HR

As far as Strategy Games, I'm use to play a lot of WW2 Air Combat Simulators, RTS Games, and long long dedicated hours to Paradox Classics...

On the subject of quitting to early, I was forced in my First Paradox Grand Strategy Game to stick it out after my nation was Destroyed and Bankrupt... or you get banned from playing multiplayer and a bad reputation.. it was a 8-9 Player game, lasting 100s of hours. I stayed on for 6 months playing and despite losing I had a lot of fun and learned how to play. 2 or 3 Games later, I was King and those players who'd crushed me were not as good as me. So when Terif says that you should stick it out, what he means is you'll never learn by losing at the same place every time, and not as quickly. You'll learn exponentially by playing out the full Scenario, each possibility unless you throw away everything and nothing to play with, you can only learn more..

Still have to stop surrendering so quickly vs him

[hellraiser]

Interviews!!! I love interviews!!!