Artificial Micro
There is something very different about Total Annihilation and Starcraft, and that is micro. In Total Annihilation, you have to deal with all the nuances of projectile simulation in 3D space with 3D terrain and all the nuances and emergent phenomena that brings. It really does emphasize the real time aspect of RTS. It's beautiful really. When it comes to Starcraft, however, they couldn't handle that. They didn't want to explore out of traditional strategy into the breathing world of real time strategy. So instead of simulating projectiles for a beautiful 3D projectile simulation rts combat scheme, they went with a genre they were more comfortable with, fighting. They wanted to emphasize the mechanical skill you have to go to play the game. Fight the UI, not the opponent. They wanted you to focus your micro on artificial tasks to keep your economy running. They want to you to divert your attention away from what's actually happening in the game to what's happening on your keyboard. Starcraft isn't a true RTS in this sense. It bred with the fighting genre to create the abomination of thr MOBA genre.
