Competitive player

^there is no difference, how about I word it like that:
"my opponent is attacking me with FD, i better build nexus and pylons"
"my opponent went 5minutes cruise missiels on 3 extractors, I better go tmd and subs on 2 T2 facts and do 8minute timing push with 5 of that and that" (i pulled lingo out of my *** I don't play SupCom, and I assume you refer to it)

I would hope that kind of lingo won't exist in PA. Any build order as tight as "5 minute cruise missiles" shouldn't be able to function properly against an enemy who knows what you're doing.

(It's probably stoppable by something as simple as "don't put everything close together", though. As it should be.)

i was referring to the opening bo
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/FD_(vs._Protoss)

the difference is how easily you can account for the variable that is your opponent. in the starcraft example it's as simple as following a different build order. in forged alliance, and likely PA, your opponent can force you to commit to dealing with active harassment and territory struggle. it's common for T3 units to appear 8 minutes into a game of seton's clutch. it's rare t3 air appears at all in 1v1, if it does it's usually 30+ minutes into the game.

I don't really see a big difference between FA and SC in this regard. My opponent can force me to do lots of things in SC just as much as in FA. In both games a good BO usually tries to account for common strategies the opponent may chose to follow.

I honestly think it is the other way round in most situations.

Yes in Starcraft you do need a build order, but I don't think it as simple and relaxed as the opening moments of a game in FA. Also when are being harassed in FA, you may have a few minutes to react, whereas in SC you might only have a number of seconds.

This is mainly due to the mechanics, for example I believe that territory is more of a struggle in SC because of the lack of PD, apart from Protoss, and how the mineral fields are spread across the map with the constant threat of attack.

A single mantis kills an engineer with less than 8 seconds.

A Reaper kills a worker in less than 3.

A t1 bomber kills an engie in a single hit

I was talking about the statement that a players has minutes to react in FA. That's rarely true. Doesn't matter if probes are engies die faster when harassed.

Just showing you that you need to go all the way with an example. Don't do it half-arsed

Anyway it's more that in SupCom unit travel times can be measured in the tens of minutes across the largest map. Starcraft, not so much.

What has that got to do with reaction time? And I would hope you have spotted the mantis before you managed to let it sneak up on an engineer.

See Colin, this is what I'm talking about. If you do it half-arsed you get replies like this. :lol:

Glad to be of service

i'm explicitly referring to brood war, where match ups often share a common dynamic. in pvt for example protoss must always attempt to contain terran, the struggle between terran pushing and attempting to break this contain is what characterizes the matchup.

in any matchup, assuming neither player has made a fatal error, both players will find themselves at a predictable strength relative their opponent. who ultimately wins is a matter of who executes better. this is an aside but starcraft on larger more unusual maps becomes much more interesting and macro oriented as builds for such conditions are less standardized.

that is counter to FA where a variety of metagame, style and pace changes can occur in the same game.

Even if I spot the mantis while it is approaching I don't have minutes to react. In fact often I need to prepared ahead of knowing, so I have defensive units in the area.

Well uh... what. Didnt see that happen a lot in FAF vids. Guys saving their first engis out the field...

I don't know what FAF videos you are watching but early raiding and protecting your first engineers happens in every game with even a mild degree of competitive skill.