A
study
of
the
demographics
of
r/starcraft
and
the
discovery
of
a
possible
Terran
skill
gap
w3asel
Platinum
League
1v1,
Season
1;
Currently
Unplaced
Abstract
This
study
intends
to
examine
the
races
played
and
skill
of
community
members
of
r/Starcraft
(r/Starcrafters).
Statistics
were
collected
from
[Link]
and
visual
analyses
were
carried
out
on
the
data.
r/Starcrafters
have
higher
skill
than
non-community-members
and
play
Protoss
and
Zerg
much
more
than
they
play
Terran.
The
author
hopes
this
study
will
provoke
discussion
regarding
the
differences
in
skill
levels
between
races,
especially
the
differences
in
distribution
of
skill.
Introduction
Starcraft
II
is
one
of
the
most
popular
PC
games
on
Reddit
and
perhaps
in
the
world;
further
though,
it
is
an
E-Sport.
Thusly
for
those
who
play
competitively,
information
regarding
opponents,
play-style,
and
the
state
of
the
metagame
is
invaluable.
Also,
as
a
community,
it
is
necessary
for
us
to
abet
new
players
in
their
learning
and
confront
Blizzard
about
any
serious
balance
issues.
Through
examining
the
community
members
of
r/Starcraft
the
author
hopes
to
aid
in
accomplishing
these
things.
Background
regarding
the
Blizzard
matchmaking
system
may
be
found
in
Assuming
a
balanced
game
and
evenly
distributed
personal
preference,
the
Excalibur_Zs
Comprehensive
Ladder
Guide.
author
hypothesized
that
community
members
would
play
all
races
equally
and
that
skill
would
be
distributed
evenly
among
races.
Further,
it
was
hypothesized
that
the
"average"
community
member
would
be
of
higher
skill
than
the
average
Starcraft
(ladder)
player
considering
the
communitys
increased
level
of
immersion
in
the
game.
Methods
Race
and
league
statistics
were
collected
from
[Link].
Only
1v1
league
statistics
were
considered.
The
results
were
rendered
in
Excel.
Results
r/Starcrafters
are,
on
average,
of
higher
skill
(as
determined
by
league
placement)
than
average
ladderers
as
displayed
in
the
figure
below.
The
majority
of
r/Starcrafters
place
in
Platinum,
Diamond
or
Master
league.
There
are
eight
registered
community
members
in
the
Grandmaster
league.
Fig
1.
Skill
of
r/Starcraft
community
members
opposed
with
skill
of
average
ladderers,
divided
by
league
30
Active
Ladder
Players
25
r/Starcrafters
Percent
Players
20
15
10
League
Skill
(as
determined
by
league
placement)
is
not
evenly
distributed
among
and
within
races,
as
seen
in
Fig
2.
While
Protoss
skill
peaks
slightly
higher
than
Zerg
skill
(peaking
at
Diamond
league
and
Platinum-Diamond,
respectively),
a
higher
proportion
of
Protoss
players
are
placed
in
the
lower
leagues
than
Zerg
players.
The
skill
of
Random
and
Zerg
players
seem
most
normally
distributed,
peaking
at
Platinum
and
Platinum-Diamond
league
respectively
and
displaying
relative
symmetry
throughout.
Terran
players
present
an
anomaly.
Terran
league
placement
seems
to
peak
at
both
Gold
and
Diamond
leagues,
dropping
off
in
the
intermediary
Platinum
division.
Fig
2.
Skill
distribution
of
r/Starcrafters
by
(ascending)
league,
divided
by
race
played
35
Percent
Players
of
Respective
Race
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Terran
Zerg
Protoss
Random
League
Great
disparity
exists
between
the
races
played
by
community
members,
as
displayed
in
Fig
3
bellow.
Zerg
players
belong
to
the
largest
contingency
with
Protoss
not
far
behind
and
Terran
in
a
distant
third.
Random
players
occupy
the
smallest
group.
Fig
3.
Races
played
by
r/Starcraft
community
member
1000
900
800
Number
of
Players
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Terran
Protoss
Race
Played
Zerg
Random
Discussion
As
predicted,
skill
of
r/Starcrafters
is
greater
than
that
of
non-community- members.
It
seems
likely
to
the
author
that
increased
interest
and
immersion
in
the
game
contributes
to
higher
skill.
The
Terran
Skill
Gap
and
Fewer
Terran
Players:
Connected?
The
Terran
Skill
Gap,
the
phenomenon
exhibited
in
Fig
2,
is
curious
in
its
exclusivity
to
the
race.
The
bimodal
skill
distribution
suggests
some
barrier
to
placement
in
the
higher
leagues
for
the
Terran
player
that
is
non-existent
for
the
other
races.
Further
inquiry
and
input
by
players
who
may
be
faced
with
this
barrier
is
required
to
determine
the
factuality
of
its
existence
and
its
cause.
Another
curiously
exclusive
phenomenon,
exhibited
in
Fig
3
and
also
regarding
the
Terran
race,
is
the
lack
of
Terran
players
on
r/Starcraft.
Without
proper
statistics
from
Blizzard
it
is
impossible
to
determine
the
nature
of
this
phenomenon
however
the
author
has
suspicion
that
it
may
be
related
to
the
skill
gap.
The
authors
hypothesized
explanation
is
an
exodus
of
mid-level
Terran
players
having
trouble
being
promoted,
resulting
in
a
diaspora
of
prior
Terrans
among
the
other
races.
The
lack
of
Terran
players
may
be
completely
unrelated
to
the
skill
gap,
however.
It
may
instead
be
related
to
the
lack
of
personalities
who
play
Terran
in
EU/NA,
the
nature
of
the
race,
or
any
number
of
features
of
the
game
and
meta- game.
The
author
strongly
believes
that
the
Terran
skill
gap,
supported
by
evidence
from
the
sample
of
~2500
registered
users
of
[Link],
should
be
considered
by
this
forum.