Getting set up
Accounts, sign-in, and the Battle.net link that makes the whole site work. Plus the Companion install and your first upload, in the order that saves you the most time.
Most of Vespene works signed out: browsing replays, builds, tournaments, the leaderboard, this library. Your own data (grades, intel, ranked, wallets) needs an account, and the single highest-value minute of setup is the Battle.net link.
Signing in#
The sign-in modal offers two providers:
- "Continue with Battle.net", marked recommended because it auto-links your SC2 identity in the same step.
- "Continue with Google", after which you can link Battle.net separately.
Accounts are free. Your handle (how friends add you) is settable on the Command Console's Settings tab: lowercase, 3 to 20 characters, changeable once every 30 days.
Why the Battle.net link matters this much#
Linking is one OAuth round trip, and it automatically covers every SC2 character on the account, smurfs included. What it switches on:
- Ownership: uploads are recognized as your games because your battletag appears in the replay. Without it, the site cannot tell your games from games you merely have copies of, so every upload counts toward your stats, other people's games included.
- Quests: the daily and weekly quests that pay vespene count only your own games, so they rest on the same ownership call.
- Ranked: the Patch Clash queue verifies results against the players in the replay, so it refuses to queue you without the link (and needs a verified ID for each region you queue on).
- Your profile: the Linked players list on the console's Settings tab connects your uploads to your player-database profile, if the harvester has seen you before.
If you signed in with Battle.net, all of this happened already. If you signed in with Google, the console's Settings tab shows a "Claim your identity" row with the "CONNECT BATTLE.NET →" button.
There is a guard rail here, too: authenticating a second Battle.net account gets an explicit interstitial asking whether to link it to your current account or keep things separate. You cannot accidentally merge identities.
Twitch (optional)#
Connecting Twitch is separate: it lets the on-stream chat widget resolve your channel, and puts a WATCH LIVE button on your name in the ladder chat while you stream.
The Companion, and your first upload#
You can drag a .SC2Replay file onto the site any time (the F10 console's "Upload a replay" button works from every page). But the setup that actually changes your week is the Vespene Companion (desktop app): install once, and every game you finish uploads itself, feeds your stats and your quests, and reports your ranked results.
Order of operations for a fresh account, start to first insight in about ten minutes:
- Sign in with Battle.net.
- Install the Companion, sign in when it opens the browser, let it find your replay folders.
- Play a ladder game, or drop a recent replay in by hand.
- Open the Study lane's DESK page (see The study desk). Your game is at the top of its Games view, and a loss opens at its turning point. Today's view names the one thing to work on once a few games are analysed, and your first quests are dealt the moment you look.
- While you are there, skim the desk's other views down its left side, so you know where everything lives.
Privacy defaults, stated plainly#
"Share my replays" is on by default: your uploads join the public replay pool, and you can turn it off for the whole account on the console's Settings tab. Private games still count toward your stats and your quests. The full picture, including the casted-game toggle and what "counts in your stats" means, is in Uploading replays, privacy, and ownership.