I have a love / hate relationship with RTS these days. I started out thoroughly loving RTS. I remember the day my father got me to play a demo for the original Age of Empires (1997)... all those little Hittites chopping wood, mining gold, spearing fish, and the 'Fred Flintstone' looking axemen who would hack and kill the red guys. Something about RTS made perfect sense to me.
I played through all of the campaigns and expansions for Age of Empires, Age of Kings, Age of Mythology, and Age of Empires III. I started online play with Age of Mythology one fateful Sunday morning... I lost that game but oh my goodness did I ever have fun! I spent hours for nights on end in 1v1 match ups. I read every strategy post on the HeavenGames website and wrote a few of my own. I studied my replays and picked up new and better ways of playing from players who were better than me. All that information buzzing in my head, how many guys to put on resources, what military unit countered what, raiding, responding, anticipating, countering... so fast, it was mental stimulation that I couldn't get anywhere else. By the time I finally found another person who was interested in a LAN party I was so good at the game that nobody wanted to play against me.
The same thing happened with Age of Empires III. At my height I was a major (10th rank in a 17 rank system). The same thing happened with Starcraft II, at my height I was a 1v1 Platinum league and 2v2 Diamond League player. I had clawed my way all the way up from bronze league with my Zerg and was quite proud of my accomplishment.
But something always happened that stopped me. Something always got in the way and made the games no fun. I hit my peak and the game became super stressful instead of exciting. Then I would watch or encounter a real pro at the game and I realized that no matter how much I played I would never be as good as that guy. I tried though, I reached out into the community for help with improving my gaming skills and the response I got back was "Um... wow you suck. You're actually a very bad player." Let's just say I didn't really see the point of hotkeys until late in my RTS gaming.
I'm not sure what it is but where other players would get stoked or psych themselves up for a game against a skilled opponent I just get all stressed out and then fall apart early in the match. I wouldn't play to the best of my ability and drop down the ranks until the psychosis wore off and I started playing good again. It didn't make any sense to me. I love these games, why did I dread clicking the ready button to start a random match?
I still don't know. Maybe it's because I am afraid of losing (silly I know). Maybe fear of the unknown? Something psyches me out.
In any case I still love RTS but I also avoid them now. I've gone through the 'claw may way up to as high as I can get and then get psyched out and tumble back down' cycle enough times to realize that I will actually enjoy other less competitive games more. I am also leery of the time commitment an RTS can require. 15-20 minute matches used to be nothing to me, Now that I have small kids 15-20 minutes of undisturbed time is something I don't get until late evening and I'd rather spend that time either with my wife or doing something more important / relaxing. There is also my social life to consider... I have a difficult time meeting people as it is and if I did have the time to play competitive RTS maybe I should invest that time into friendships instead.
I tried to get into Planetary Annihilation, and it was incredibly fun when I did get to play it, but it seemed like every 2nd or 3rd game something would come up and I would have to leave. Eventually I got the hint. No more RTS for me. I just don't have time and right now they are not healthy for me. Maybe later, when the kids are older I will have time again. The question then will be "is it worth it?"
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