Well I was one of the few lucky people and got into the SC2 beta, and it's been one hell of an experience...
 
Starcraft always held a special place in my life. It was one of the first games I ever played as a kid... and I contnued to play it all the way through Jr. High. However, when I was a kid I was a weak-ass gamer and I only played skirmish matches with cheats. So, in short... I've never actually won a real Starcraft match. Well, due to my complete lack of RTS skill I haven't really jumped into any other RTS and my skill is 0. But out of some divine luck, I got selected into wave 1 of the Starcraft beta... funny huh?
 
Well, I decided that it was time I actually played some real matches of Starcraft this time, and maybe I'll actually get good. 
 
In the beta currently the only ai difficulty is Very Easy... and well, that's a fitting difficulty for me. So far, I haven't lost an ai match and I actually feel somewhat confident about the game. The game is very forgiving with the ai, they just seem to make very bad decisions (like very few workers, not building defenses or large armies)... In other words... they play like me! It's been nice because I'm free to experiment and learn the basics of the game without much fear of loss. 
 
Well, as per usual, my confidence got the better of me, I jumped right into an online 2v2 match... and brother... I lasted about 6 minutes... so I jumped into a 1v1, about 8 minutes... and this was the practice league... lol... So I decide to jump back into the ai matches and learn the game a bit more. So far, I've played about 50 or so ai matches all wins (except for one where i thought i had paused the game... and I hadn't... but that doesn't count!) and 2 online matches, 2 losses. 
 
I have to say though, I'm kinda mad at myself for ruining my original starcraft experience with cheats when I was young. I never thought I'd be an RTS fan, but i really am. There's just some weird tingle I get when I build the high tier units and go stomp some feeble ai opponent, or even see an online opponents ridiculously sized force and foolishly attempt to salvage my forces. Starcraft is a great game from top to bottom and I feel so goddamn lucky I got into the beta.
 
Some interesting things I've learned:
- When you run out of resources at a base, its a big hassle to move... ugh...
- The Protoss Mothership is a bad motherfucker... cloaks all your units and it has some killer powers
- The terrans are pretty lame... I haven't had any fun playing them so far
- Even ai opponents will say 'gg' when defeated... its a nice touch
- A good zerg vs ai strategy: Build a shit load of hydralisks and zerglings...nothing else...
- It took me 15 matches to find this out but the Zerg queen can force more larva out... very useful for army building
- Build lots of workers early on like 20ish... and immediately expand... since the ai isn't gonna rush you... spend time teching up...
- The Protoss are totally OP... and I LOVE it...
 
I'm going to continue playing the shit out of this game and I'll probably have more to say eventually...
 
Other stuff:
-New Borderlands expansion is either so-so or the greatest thing ever... I haven't decided yet...
-Great way to get a girlfriend into games: Pac Man Championship Edition
-Heard a band called Manchester Orchestra on the radio last night, just bought their album.. goddamn its good...
-Still getting butterflies from Dragon Age: Awakening info, also Return to Ostagar was kinda lame...
 
Thanks for Reading,
Inf225

Well I was one of the few lucky people and got into the SC2 beta, and it's been one hell of an experience...
 
Starcraft always held a special place in my life. It was one of the first games I ever played as a kid... and I contnued to play it all the way through Jr. High. However, when I was a kid I was a weak-ass gamer and I only played skirmish matches with cheats. So, in short... I've never actually won a real Starcraft match. Well, due to my complete lack of RTS skill I haven't really jumped into any other RTS and my skill is 0. But out of some divine luck, I got selected into wave 1 of the Starcraft beta... funny huh?
 
Well, I decided that it was time I actually played some real matches of Starcraft this time, and maybe I'll actually get good. 
 
In the beta currently the only ai difficulty is Very Easy... and well, that's a fitting difficulty for me. So far, I haven't lost an ai match and I actually feel somewhat confident about the game. The game is very forgiving with the ai, they just seem to make very bad decisions (like very few workers, not building defenses or large armies)... In other words... they play like me! It's been nice because I'm free to experiment and learn the basics of the game without much fear of loss. 
 
Well, as per usual, my confidence got the better of me, I jumped right into an online 2v2 match... and brother... I lasted about 6 minutes... so I jumped into a 1v1, about 8 minutes... and this was the practice league... lol... So I decide to jump back into the ai matches and learn the game a bit more. So far, I've played about 50 or so ai matches all wins (except for one where i thought i had paused the game... and I hadn't... but that doesn't count!) and 2 online matches, 2 losses. 
 
I have to say though, I'm kinda mad at myself for ruining my original starcraft experience with cheats when I was young. I never thought I'd be an RTS fan, but i really am. There's just some weird tingle I get when I build the high tier units and go stomp some feeble ai opponent, or even see an online opponents ridiculously sized force and foolishly attempt to salvage my forces. Starcraft is a great game from top to bottom and I feel so goddamn lucky I got into the beta.
 
Some interesting things I've learned:
- When you run out of resources at a base, its a big hassle to move... ugh...
- The Protoss Mothership is a bad motherfucker... cloaks all your units and it has some killer powers
- The terrans are pretty lame... I haven't had any fun playing them so far
- Even ai opponents will say 'gg' when defeated... its a nice touch
- A good zerg vs ai strategy: Build a shit load of hydralisks and zerglings...nothing else...
- It took me 15 matches to find this out but the Zerg queen can force more larva out... very useful for army building
- Build lots of workers early on like 20ish... and immediately expand... since the ai isn't gonna rush you... spend time teching up...
- The Protoss are totally OP... and I LOVE it...
 
I'm going to continue playing the shit out of this game and I'll probably have more to say eventually...
 
Other stuff:
-New Borderlands expansion is either so-so or the greatest thing ever... I haven't decided yet...
-Great way to get a girlfriend into games: Pac Man Championship Edition
-Heard a band called Manchester Orchestra on the radio last night, just bought their album.. goddamn its good...
-Still getting butterflies from Dragon Age: Awakening info, also Return to Ostagar was kinda lame...
 
Thanks for Reading,
Inf225

I suck at RTS games too. My main strategy is to mine all the minerals in my base and build a huge army and send them all into the enemy base. That works against the AI, but I get my ass kicked when I try to play a human. I still had fun playing against my friends, or watching saved games from pros, but even with a good build order printed out and sitting next to me I sill suck. My friends say I need to do more recon and expand faster, but I just don't have the drive to keep practicing. Fighters and FPS's is where I feel at home.

I understand that after a dozen of ranked matches against ranked opponents. Your relative skill level will be evaluated and you will be placed in a league according to your relative strength. In theory you ought to win about half of your games once you face people with equal skill, which should result in a lot of entertaining games.
 
If you have the balls to make the jump into competitive play, a beginners perspective - especially into match making - would be quite interesting for the huge number of people who find themselves in the same position. There is plenty of coverage of high level RTS veteran play on Youtube and teamliquid.net, but I guess it would be interesting how a beginner fares on B.net beyond the initial set backs (and the whining of game "journalists" and how they like to turtle and know nothing, after which they declare their eternal and unconditional love for Starcraft). 
  
 

I'd just say watch some livestreams of people playing the beta, like those on starcraftmethod or download some replays
 
Playing against the AI teaches you nothing when you move on to play against real people, except what tech you have. For example... 
" - When you run out of resources at a base, its a big hassle to move... ugh... "
 
Should never happen, ever. You should have a few expansions up before you begin to run out of resources at your main. 
Man I so want SC2.

[edited]