Implement APM Live functinality in Starcraft II

We fans of Starcraft have always been fascinated with the delicate, yet impeccable balance that the RTS game boasts. We have been intrigued by the excellent job the Blizzard team has done with the game in every sense, most notably the multiplayer aspect. Starcraft is arguably the most successful RTS game to date and is constantly increasing in popularity. Remarkably, the professional gaming society takes great pride in promoting the game as an official e-sport that is popular amongst players in dozens of countries in the world. To progamers, Starcraft is like Chess in hyper-speed. It links strategy and decision-making to speed and dexterity in an unfathomable way. To fans of multiplayer gaming, whether competitive or casual play, this is no less true.

One thing players aspire to is the ability to execute many commands in little time. This is known as a measure of APM (Actions Per Minute), or the speed of a player. Higher APM means higher speed. Higher speed usually (though not necessarily) means a higher competitive level - rarely is the opposite true. Higher APM also means higher levels of excitement to spectators. Most competitive and professional gamers strive toward increasing their APM to be more formidable on the battlefield, while many casual players constantly seek ways to advance to amateur or even semi-professional APM levels, also by raising their APM.

One popular way to raise one's APM in Starcraft was to measure it live via fan-made plugins, such as the APM Live in Chaos Launcher and ADV Loader. Only by monitoring one's speed can one manage to increase it whenever it drops. This has always been one of the most effective ways of keeping track of and improving one's APM.

Unfortunately, these fan-made plugins are usually patch-dependent and may quickly become obsolete when Blizzard releases an official patch. They may still be used in LAN play, but will not be usable in battle.net until the plugin makers update their product to work with the new Starcraft patch. This leaves players with weeks and sometimes months without the ability to check up on their APM, potentially hurting their competitive level or at least hindering further advance.

We all know that Starcraft II is meant to be the "ultimate competitive real-time strategy game," and we all trust in Blizzard to make that happen. However, in order for the competitive aspect to be available to everyone, we believe that certain features, such as the APM live, should be in the game. While it may be true that fans may eventually make plugins to work the same way as they did back in Starcraft, it might take them a long time to achieve that goal. So why not make this feature inherent in the game?

So one solution that we, the Undersigned, are proposing is for Blizzard to implement such APM live functionality in Starcraft II. There are several options for Blizzard to consider while implement it: (1) Making it an On/Off option, (2) making it as a Cheat Code, similar to those cheats that display the frames per second, or (3) releasing it as an official downloadable addon, similar to the way addons are downloaded in World of Warcraft. These are just some logical possibilities that could be considered. Nevertheless, we all know that Blizzard has the ability and experience to design the optimal way.

In conclusion, let us re-iterate our delight in the game of Starcraft and attest to our highly optimistic view of Starcraft II, especially in the competitive multiplayer area. We would like to ask you to implement an APM Live functionality the way you deem fit (and to keep it functional with the patches).

Thank you very much.