Inbar Levona<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was at the tender age of 15 when I first played Starcraft. It was the only time I played Starcraft. It was horrifying. I was in grade 10. There were 2 ancient computers that Stage Crew had set up in the drama office back in the old school that we had installed Starcraft on. I played against my friend Karen, who since then has moved to Winterpeg., as we like to call it. Each of us had a senior member advise us, so that we could play to the best of our abilities. Mitchell, my mentor for the game, actually went to Collegiate E-Sport Series last year, which is a Starcraft league competition for North American universities. I sat down in front of the beige monitor and typed in my display name. \u201cGunbar\u201d appeared in neon green letters on the screen. I picked Zerg, the most difficult race to play, and Karen played Protoss. I picked Zerg because there are larvae that evolve into what look like flying shrimp, which is spectacular. Karen selected the map because she had played a couple times before and I had no idea what I was doing. The game began. \u201cMine minerals.\u201d Mitchell stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do I do that?!\u201d I asked in a panic. Gaming makes me anxious, which is why I never do it.<\/p>\n
He directed me to a grid with weird shapes, located at the bottom of the screen. After mining enough minerals, I selected a hatchery and placed it in the advised spot (as per Mitchell). Soon enough little eggs hatched into larvae. I made them evolve into these scorpion things, I wanted more vespene gas. \u201cNow what?!\u201d I asked, still tense. The mouse was damp from my clammy hands, which I frequently wiped on my jeans. Mitchell told me that I had to build stuff, and upgrade other stuff. I built something that looked like a grill made out of internal organs, and two spawning pools. I had a surplus of minerals, and I was living the good life. Mitchell looked at my computer. \u201cDid you build two spawning pools?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are spawning pools?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe green swampy things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh God.\u201d He laughed.<\/p>\n
Everyone else watching laughed too, because they all played Starcraft. I bet you Starcraft nerds are laughing now too. For all those who do not play the game, building 2 spawning pools was outright stupid. It\u2019s like building two hospitals to birth one baby. I continued playing, despite my crippled ego. \u201cHow do I build the flying shrimp? I want the flying shrimp.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re called mutalisks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s okay. You have to highlight the earwig things and then click on the button.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat button? What does it look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
After lots of useless descriptions, he instructed me as to whether I should move my mouse up, down, left or right. \u201cSTOP. CLICK THAT.\u201d It was startling. Immediately, I clicked the button. I wanted those coveted mutalisks, the mystical flying shrimp. \u201cYou require more vespene gas!\u201d The sultry woman in the computer game said. I acquired more, and soon, my hideous larvae evolved into the flying shrimp. I was ecstatic. Then I heard weird squishing noises. Karen was attacking my base. \u201cKAREN! What the hell, I thought we were friends!\u201d I didn\u2019t know what to do, the instructions being thrown at me combined with the slow death of my flying shrimp were all so overwhelming. I frantically clicked all over the screen, smashing buttons on the keyboard. I had lost. Devastation flooded my body. I had barely gotten a glimpse of my flying shrimp. Heartbroken, the game ended and I stood up. I made it a goal to learn the basics of the Zerg race by New Year\u2019s. I never did do that. I am perfectly okay with this, as anxiety medication would have most likely taken a part in my life had I continued with Starcraft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inbar Levona I was at the tender age of 15 when I first played Starcraft. It was the only time I played Starcraft. It was horrifying. I was in grade 10. There were 2 ancient computers that Stage Crew … Continue reading