The Like/Hate Thread

[Kami]

I haven't played the beta, but is SC2 the kind of game one could have fun playing 'casually'? I heard they put in the new matchmaking stuff which should make that possible, then I heard it basically didn't do its job. I enjoyed WC3 but it took a ton of practice to get to the point where I could have any fun, and I was still pretty shite compared to the vast majority of players.

The ranking system works pretty well, although depending on how good/bad you are you will probably take a beating. They keep resetting the rankings so they can continue to test things out, and in this last reset I did the five ranking matches and got stomped until the last one, which I was able to win albeit barely with a last ditch effort.

After getting thrashed in the ranking matches it tossed me into the copper league with people who had similar if not the same record and off I went. I don't know exactly how the matchmaking works, but at that point I was playing against people who were either a little better than me, or a little worse and I've managed to move up and have some success in the ladder.

I would say I've been fairly casual about it, although I can be a competitive little crud, I don't play every day and have gone several days without touching the game. It still manages to be fun playing multiplayer, but if you are trying to move up in the brackets you'd probably want to be on there every day grinding away trying to get better and improve your ranking.

TLDR: Yes, the ranking works so that a casual player can hop on and play a few games within his skill range after the ranking matches are finished.