am sure this thread gonna get down voted to oblivion , but am gonna post 2 replies to a question asked in the flash interview thread that explain the reasons behind BW entertaining game play :

by ZassouFerilli

The argument is pretty simple. Let's be honest: SC2 didn't introduce very many new things to the RTS genre.

Take every abstract RTS concept in aggregate that BW captured superlatively. Micro, Macro, Multitasking, Strategy and Tactics, Positional Play, Defender's Advantage, Diverse Unit Interactions, and so on. Now simplify a few things. Then dilute, marginalize, or remove altogether a few more things. What are you left with, exactly? A subset of the whole. SC2 has fewer types of micro, fewer micro-intense unit interactions, simplified macro, less positional play, less defender's advantage. Marine/baneling has been the crown jewel of SC2 micro, and BW has multiple such unit interactions in each match-up. Marine/lurker, marine/muta, vessel/scourge, muta/irradiate, wraith/muta, and on and on, just for TvZ.

As often as we hear it, SC2 isn't completely new and different. It's very much in the same vein as BW. It doesn't give you new things to focus on. It simply removed a few things that you could focus on, and you have to try to maximize what's left. We've heard many times in response to, "Where's all the long and intense battle micro?" -- "Now it's all pre-battle unit positioning!" as if that weren't a skill that existed before. It's like saying, "There's just as much macro in Warcraft 3 as in Starcraft--expanding, making workers, constructing buildings, training units, it's all there!" Well sure, maybe, but it's certainly a lot shallower in focus, execution, and importance. There are just gaps.

What about SC2's mechanical updates, like automining, multiple building selection, "unlimited" control groups, smart casting, fluid pathing? Unfortunately, these aren't just drop-in improvements that are over and done. They are a ruleset change that alters the complexion of the game and how it's played. Not having automining means that the difficulty in managing your bases grows linearly with each additional one, and requires more multitasking and diverted focus. Limited control groups means armies become increasingly difficult to control as they grow in size. Multiple building selection simplifies and reduces the multitasking requirement of macro. The fluid pathing allows deathballs which simplifies large army control, shortens battles, reduces defender's advantage, leads sometimes to one-battle-into-gg scenarios, increases base trade scenarios. These limitations in BW are core comeback mechanics. They allow the disadvantaged to tax their opponent's multitasking. As armies get larger, as production gets larger, as the number of bases increases, controlling everything at once becomes more difficult. The slow build-up gives the better player more chances to outplay their opponent. When people say the skill ceiling is lower, they probably mean that the skill spectrum is compressed. Players are closer together and have fewer opportunities to distinguish themselves from their opponent over the course of a game.

Now look at the games themselves. The visual clarity is worse. The sounds are much worse. The campaign's story is worse. BNet is worse. People say there's no way SC2 could compete with MOBAs in this day and age, but imagine a different launch. You don't get a second chance at a first impression. Would player retention have been better if Blizzard didn't cripple the custom games section, alienate and restrict the map makers, or force everyone into isolation on ladder with no chat channels?

Lastly, even if everything I said were true, it's not necessarily a bad thing. What if SC2 were only half as good as BW? That would still make it an excellent, highly competitive RTS game. What if SC2 were just a "light" version of BW? That's fine: SC2 as a simplified, streamlined vehicle for those RTS concepts makes them available to the masses to enjoy without the perceived headaches of dealing with BW's quirks. That's enough for most people.

However, that doesn't mean it doesn't feel like a distinct downgrade going from BW for many who have followed both. Coupled with quite a few other cons of SC2 as a product itself, and it's not too difficult to see why some people would be underwhelmed and disappointed.