Wow i love this game , I've been playing it since release and i was enjoying the single player campaign and then tried Starcraft 2 multi player and its fantastic. The learning curve online is phenomenal and for a new player it can be brutal. My first multiplayer game lasted about 7 minutes as i got attacked and had nothing basically as i was building buildings. I've been playing solely as Terran so far as thats what i learned a bit in the campaign but I'm going to try Protoss this weekend, Zerg i will leave till i've tried them vs the AI a bit as they look tough to play.

In fact all my placement games i got beaten heavily in 1v1 although the 5^th wasn't by much. It took me til my 14^th 1v1 game to actually win which i have to say i was very pleased about. I had played some 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 as well during that time and won a few games but my first 1v1 win was really good. Most of my record for a while averaged 1 win 1 loss then started to improve and eventually i am winning much more than losing. This is still of course in the lowest division, Bronze, but i am now moving up the ladder and hopefully will be promoted at some point. My current rank is in the mid 20's, it was as high as 23 but after 2 losses it slipped back down a few.

I don't ever expect to be entering tournaments but it would be nice to move up a division or 2. I also want to try and improve my other random ranks in 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 but this is harder as you reply on your team mate whose play standard can vary massively between games. If they get taken out early then its pretty much game over much of the time.

Now my 1v1 record is in the positive (more wins than losses) i want to try and get my over all record to a similar or better state. For anyone who has just started or is getting SC2 soon i recommend watching some videos by Sean "Day[9]" Plott which can be found here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=104154. If you have iTunes search for Starcast for some good tips and information.

One thing that does annoy me is the lack of good sportsmanship when i win. I make a point of saying gg (means good game) when i lose its polite but it seems most players just quit out or complain. One guy called me a "noob" which was interesting as i had just beaten him.

The single player campaign, which i haven't finished, has been interesting where it gives different path choices, different choices regarding unit development and despite many of the levels being standard RTS fare but there is enough difference and challenges to keep things interesting. I've only not completed it because I'm enjoying multiplayer far too much.

There will be more on this excellent game, i am sure.

By Steve Jarvis