When I look at Starcraft, all I see is another run-of-the-mill rts. Why is is so beloved? Why is Starcraft 2 such a big deal?  
School me, is it the story? Is it the gameplay?  
 
In case this comes off as being trollish, it's not really supposed to be. As someone who keeps current with games and whatnot, I'm hearing a lot about Starcraft 2; but I don't know why its so important. Did Starcraft 1 set trends for rts games? Did it create the modern rts genre?   I have interest in playing Starcraft 2, but it looks like plenty of rts's I own, just in space.

Are you looking at Starcraft 1 in 2010, or in 1998 when it came out?

Really? Christ, I suspect you weren't born in the early 90s if you never took a real good glance at StarCraft. 
 
I'll leave it to others to say what makes SC so special. I know its special, I just don't know how to describe it to you.

Oh, and no, it's definitely not the story.  Not Starcraft 1 at least.  Starcraft 2 has started off quite well in that department though.

It's a good RTS, but AOE>SC

Guess since I was off playing N64 games with my friends while everyone else was playing Starcraft; I'm missing out on the nostalgia-trip that's going on here.