July 26, 2009
Starcraft and Chess
Chess is a game of strategy. The game begins equally and each player develops a plan of attack. There are several opening moves but for the most part the first few moves are common to any strategy. After the opening moves each player will develop his or her chosen method of play. Each player also reacts to the others moves and its possible that the begging strategy will be different then the one used in the later part of the game and change may again before the end. Master players will spend a lot of time thinking about past games and be driven to perfection in later games. Special names will be given to different methods of attack and defense so those who choose to master the game can talk quickly and precisely about the game. Lastly players will form groups and challenge others for prestige or prizes, sometimes forming large competitions that continue for days.
I think that everything I just said about chess can be said about the computer game Starcraft. This occurred to me when I herd someone describing another's obsession with the game of chess. The way he described this persons behavior and motivations was similar to someone who obsesses over Starcraft. This got me thinking about the real differences between the two. While some are obvious – such as it being played on the computer, having up to eight players, not being able to see your oponts moves, being real time – I think that what makes chess a great game also makes Starcraft a great game. Furthermore people who are good at Starcraft must be be able to think much faster then the players of chess, after all if you take even 3-4 minutes to plan where your going to attack you will be overrun. However players of chess must be more conservative regarding their pieces, once a piece it gone it stays gone unless a pawn reaches the other side of the board.
My guess would be that the same areas of the brain are used in chess and Starcraft and its only my lack of a F-MRI that limits me to a guess. I wounder if I can find one on eBay, but I digress.
If what I have stated about chess and Starcraft being similar is more or less true then that must mean that all the useful things chess can do for you Starcraft can do as well. Its an interesting thought, no?
Posted by Bailey at 07:45 PM | Comments (6)
July 03, 2009
A post about posts
I was thinking about what to post and all I could decide is that I needed to open with something like “its been a while, I would apologize but I'm not sorry” or something like that. Which got me thinking about why we pick up hobbies and then later put them down. What motivates us to get into something and then later get back out. To explore this issue I will look at three (or at least two in depth) of the people who post on this site, Ripley, Mr. Duk, and my self.
Now up front I hope none of what I say offends Mr. Ripley, but if it does I guess he will just take my posting rights away. Mr. Ripley is a person that (in my experience) pick up a new hobby with a lot of enthusiasm, work at it very hard for a little while then burns out and drop it. Paint ball was one of these cycles. He decided that paint ball was a grate thing and spent a lot of time and money at it. He talked about going often, looked at magazines on the subject, and bought some equipment for it. But just as suddenly as he picked it up he dropped it. Now he does not talk about it and he makes no plans to go, he just moved on to something else.
As for me I think I tend to be middle of the road about stuff. One of my things is I hate wasting money, even if its not all that much. Just something about me says “look at you, you spent $15 on that and now you are not going to use it, what a waist, you should feel bad...for some reason”. So I tend to be a bit reserved about spending money if I am not fairly sure I am going to use what I bought. This helps be stay in the middle of the road when it comes to hobbies. If it costs money I will be slow to pick it up and slow to drop it. Before I get into something I want to make sure I am going to like it for a long time and not get board with it. So I will try things for a long time and see if others will stay interested in it (if its a group activity) before buying in and adding it to my list of “things I do”.
As for Mr. Duk I am not sure a penguin can have hobbies, just fishing (with his mouth) and sliding down ice on his belly (which looks fun).
Now I am not trying to that Ripley' s way of doing things is bad and mine is good, just saying that they are different. Mr. Ripley has tried many more things then I have I'm sure, and this gives him more information about what he like and dislikes and ultimately he knows more about who he is because of it. However he can spend a lot of money in the process and can leave people disappointed when they also spend a lot of money and then loose their partner in what ever hobby it was. As for me I will try less things in life but have more money to spend on the things I do like. I also may completely mis an opportunity to do something I would love because I don't want to spend the money to “buy in”.
Whats the point of all this you ask? Well, I guess like most of what you will read here...there isn't one. I will post here for a while, and because doing so is free (for me) I will again drop it for something else. Don't take it personally, its just the way things go.
Posted by Bailey at 10:34 AM | Comments (561)