StarCraft II

[luckton]

If I could get the single-player content and be forever forbidden from being able to do multi-player in exchange for a cheaper sale price, I'd be all up ons.  Sadly, I may wait a couple years for the discount bin for this, much like I did for the original Starcraft.

[Ingmar]

I'm sure I'll enjoy the single player campaign, it isn't like they've had a failure on that front on their RTSes since the Warcraft 2 expansion. Not sure why the timeframe affects the theoretical enjoyability for people.

[Ceryse]

I'm sure I'll enjoy the single player campaign, it isn't like they've had a failure on that front on their RTSes since the Warcraft 2 expansion. Not sure why the timeframe affects the theoretical enjoyability for people.

For me its just a matter of having moved on. I'm all SC2ed out, really, and while I enjoyed the SC2 single player campaign a fair bit a decent amount of that was in the Terrans being my preferred race and the play style I enjoy the most (with Zerg being my least favourite). With zero interest in the multiplayer component.. the Zerg single player campaign simply isn't worth it to me at that price point and this far removed from the original release. It should have come out within a year, at least.. not nearly 30 months later.

[Samwise]

I've been waiting to get excited about SC2 until they release the full campaign 3-pack for one reasonable price.

[Ironwood]

Yeah.

Trouble is, it being Blizzard, that might never happen.

[Malakili]

The Heart of the Swarm opening cinematic has been revealed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbeoSPqRs4

[Ironwood]

 

[Shatter]

The Heart of the Swarm opening cinematic has been revealed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbeoSPqRs4

Wicked cool...but Im still not buying it :P

[bhodi]

Same.

[Samwise]

I'd be perfectly happy to skip the game if they'd just turn the story into a feature film.  I wonder how much it costs them to crank those cinematics out and how it'd scale.

[Merusk]

I've been waiting to get excited about SC2 until they release the full campaign 3-pack for one reasonable price.

You and me both, sir.

Yeah.

Trouble is, it being Blizzard, that might never happen.

It will, just a long, long time from now.  I got SC2 with the xpac for only $20, but I had to wait until ~2003 to do it and even then it was only because I found it at Target.

[Ingmar]

I'd be perfectly happy to skip the game if they'd just turn the story into a feature film.  I wonder how much it costs them to crank those cinematics out and how it'd scale.

You just said you'd go see a movie written by Chris Metzen. 

I'll happily buy this. The single player campaign in Wings of Liberty was worth the box price, I see no particular reason to believe this one won't be as well.

[tmp]

You just said you'd go see a movie written by Chris Metzen. 

Yeah, i mean seriously; isn't it like wishing for another Michael Bay movie just with a little more of CG in it

[K9]

I'm with Ingmar, the SC2 SP campaign was really good and left me satisfied, I have no reason to expect HoTS to be anything less. The multiplayer is more of a bonus distraction for me.

From everything I see, the SC2 team is far less dysfunctional, and far less interested in trying to define 'fun' than the WoW and D3 teams, and the game is better for it.

[Ironwood]

See, that's the thing.  I want to buy this game.  I really want to.

But they're not getting any more of my money. I don't give a toss if it's a seperate team that's made an awesome game.

I will, however, accept it as a gift.

 

[Malakili]

I'm with Ingmar, the SC2 SP campaign was really good and left me satisfied, I have no reason to expect HoTS to be anything less. The multiplayer is more of a bonus distraction for me.

From everything I see, the SC2 team is far less dysfunctional, and far less interested in trying to define 'fun' than the WoW and D3 teams, and the game is better for it.

SC2 also has the advantage of having their most vocal, hardcore players essentially playing a different game than everyone else.

[Ingmar]

Campaign trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ss60wo2Bwzk

[K9]

That trailer seemed a lot less polished than I was expecting when I saw the link.

[Ingmar]

Yeah it feels like it is missing some narration.

[Setanta]

Opening video clip = Metzen at his best: No real storyline other than "struggle against the odds and then I woke up". Because that wasn't predictable. It doesn'thave the depth of many other Blizzard clips.

The gameplay vid left me cold and I'm really sitting on the fence about buying this. Cata/MoP and D3 have wrecked my confidence in Blizzard and SC2 is the only game by them that I can face other than occasional forays into D2 and WC3. I'm interested in the campaign mostly but as soon as I saw an experience meter in the game I shuddered. The closest to that I saw in SC2 was the Achievements/Research "trees".

If anything the gamelay clip has turned me off buying the game.

[Ingmar]

The XP meter is just epeen measuring stuff for multiplayer, I believe, no game effect. Titles and avatars and such.

[Malakili]

The XP meter is just epeen measuring stuff for multiplayer, I believe, no game effect. Titles and avatars and such.

Not even epeen measurement honestly, because it has nothing to do with skill (which the league system is still for).  But it does have portrait unlocks and such atttached to it, yes.  I think it is meant to give people the feeling that they are working towards stuff even when losing.  They've gone REALLY far out of their way with this expansion to try and make multiplayer less intimidating. Unranked matchmaking and this exp system being the two major points.

[Setanta]

Cheers. That makes it sound a bit better.

[RUiN 427]

Will there be an official SCII F13 "group"? if so, what is the name?

[Malakili]

Seems like we might as well set one up.  It doesn't really take any effort to do and it'll help us keep track of who from around here still plays.

[luckton]

Launch trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vCsGTP3-Jlw

[Soulflame]

That doesn't seem terribly different from the other trailer.

[Trippy]

Except it spoils more of the story

[Miasma]

It does ruin the story and I'm kinda glad that I know it now.  Her going back to the zerg is just really hacky and makes the plot so bad I might not buy it now.  Could they not come up with any more interesting way to be commanding zerg forces?  It's an rts so most people won't care but it makes everything you did in the last game pointless at best and disastrous at worst.

[Ironwood]

You think that's spoily ?  I don't see how anyone who's been corrupted by unlimited power would go back.

[K9]

Given that  I don't see how any of this comes as a surprise.

Or why anyone really cares about the plot in a Blizzard game.

[Fordel]

Have we said lolmetzen yet? 


Those CGI sequences sure are pretty though. I can't deny that.

[Malakili]

They've showed mechanics for the campaign and there is some kind of "corruption" vs. "purification" thing you can do as you go with Kerrigan, so I don't know what direction the story will go by the end.

[luckton]

I admit that it was a nice effect to be able to make 'big' decisions in WoL at the end of the mini-arcs (do you side with the doc on the Zerg thing, or side with the Protoss; side with drug-addict/bad Ghost and get buildable bad Ghosts, or side with sexy/Good Ghost and get buildable sexy Ghosts), but none of them had any long lasting effects on the campaign, or the grand story in the end. 

It'll be the same with this.  While you choose Zerg evolutions over psy powers and such, there will probably be some plot twist in the mid-late arc that says "fuck all that 'choice' you had."

[Teleku]

Uh, those choices primary effect what units you have, and thus how the rest of the campaign plays out because of said unit options.  You get set in stone story to support that, and they don't really need to retcon any of it mid game or otherwise.  I mean, if you sided with good Ghost or bad Ghost didn't really matter in the end story scheme of things, but the cut scenes and missions ran with it without fucking over your choices.