StarCraft 2 announcement on the 19th of May

[sinij]

Do you know what I find refreshing? The distinct lack of mention of any sort of heroes. They mention a new race and new units... but no heroes. It'd be so good if it didn't have any. They're irritating :)

I agree, RPG elements in WC3 is what killed all enjoyment of it for me. Its wasn't about building your base and forming meaningful attack plan, it was mostly about leveling your hero on trash and hope for good drop. Thats not RTS.

[sinij]

NO ONE HAS GOTTEN DIABLO LIKE.

ORly? What about Titan Quest? Name one good RTS released within a year.

[Merusk]

I don't get the disappointment some of you are feeling.  SC2 made the most sense to me, given that everything else HAS a sequel already.  Of course there was hype for it, since 1) there wasn't a sequel yet, and 2) it's got a huge fanbase.

Meh, I should give up my incredulity at people's reactions. Someone will always be disappointed or rip an idea.

[Typhon]

Is RTS that popular in the US anymore?  I'd say the decision to announce the game in Korean pretty clearly says, "not so much".  That combined with the hope that this would be some form of MMO or Diablo 3, thus the disappointment

[Venkman]

I don't get the disappointment some of you are feeling.  SC2 made the most sense to me, given that everything else HAS a sequel already.  Of course there was hype for it, since 1) there wasn't a sequel yet, and 2) it's got a huge fanbase.

All logical. My only disappointment is the result of the hype buildup not matching the announcement. But that's my own fault. Most of us guessed SC2 from where and how they were announcing this (Korea, inviting much media, respectively). This means it wasn't for us Western players predominantly, but we followed it anyway.

I wanted them to announce they were going to take over another genre for a bit, with fun engaging derivative gameplay. But only because I love to see the industry reaction, in a sardonic sorta way :)

[MrHat]

I wanted them to announce they were going to take over another genre for a bit, with fun engaging derivative gameplay. But only because I love to see the industry reaction, in a sardonic sorta way :)

Which genre haven't they done that needs the Blizzard touch?

[JWIV]

Is RTS that popular in the US anymore?  I'd say the decision to announce the game in Korean pretty clearly says, "not so much".  That combined with the hope that this would be some form of MMO or Diablo 3, thus the disappointment

You go to Korea to announce Starcraft because it's a state sport over there.  Not because RTS isn't popular in the US.

[MrHat]

Starcraft2.com:

 Features:

    * Fast-paced, hard-hitting, tightly balanced competitive real-time strategy gameplay that recaptures and improves on the magic of the original game
    * Three completely distinct races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg
    * New units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race
    * Groundbreaking single-player "story-mode" campaign
    * Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes
    * Full multiplayer support, with new competitive features and matchmaking utilities available through Battle.net
    * Full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience

That last one is reason enough to buy for me.

Starcraft: DotA

[Miasma]

After finally downloading the cinematic I must say it was pretty awesome.  When the Burning Crusade trailer came out I remember talk of it reusing so much old stuff because a lot of their cinematic artists left.  Well, they have definitely addressed whatever shortcomings they had.

[Fabricated]

It looks like Warcraft 3, only instead of a softer tone for colors and pastels, they went for a more bumpmapped sci-fi  (duh) look with colder colors. Yeesh. Count me out. This took a decade to make?

[Ironwood]

Hmmm.  Been thinking about this for most of the day. 

1 - I will buy it and no doubt enjoy it enormously.

However,

2 - Another RTS after the last two bombs ?  Further, the hype and countdown was for THIS ?  I mean, who cares ?   It's not really that, er, announcement that we were all kinda interested in.  I guess in the madlands, it might be interesting, but here ?  Meh.

[trias_e]

That said, I hope they go in an innovative new direction rather than rehashing war3.

Nope.  They'll be rehashing SC1.  Which is better than rehashing WC3, but still somewhat disappointing.

Looking back, it was kind of obvious that Starcraft would not be made into a MMO at this point.  A MMORPG would likely cannibalize WoW and doesn't really make much sense with Starcraft at all.  MMOFPS isn't a defined enough genre for them to bother with yet, since they aren't in the business of being particularly risk-takingly creative.  And that doubly goes for MMORTS, which would be an entirely new genre.

Certainly, the franchise will likely be open to such things in the future.  When other people have tried MMOFPSs and MMORTSs, and somewhat succeeded minus the Blizzard polish and execution.  Then Blizzard can jump in and dominate those genres as well.

[Litigator]

How on earth are you getting a protoss/predator vibe?  I'm hard-pressed to think of a single parallel between them.  One group is a bunch of invisible assholes who perch in high places and shoot people in the head, then laugh.  The other is a bunch of psychic mystics.  There are much more compelling similarities between the protoss and the eldar than the preds.  Which, given that Warcraft and Starcraft are both at least mildly stealing from the Warhammer line, isn't hard to swallow.

Because they look like predators and they have invisibility shields. It isn't rocket science. And you can't steal something that's already stolen.

[schild]

Hey guys. Guys. At least Diablo 3 with some sort of persistancy is guaranteed next. Rite? I mean, they have to. Rite? They don't have the creativity or balls to make a new IP... rite? :( :( :( :( :(

[Litigator]

Well, as I mentioned elsewhere, even the Koreans were kinda hoping for a Starcraft MMO.  Of course, they're HAPPY with SC2, but I can't help but think that they might have been even happier with World of Starcraft.

SC and WOW received equal amounts of applause-noise during the Blizzard game montage movie.  With a smaller happy-noise for Diablo.  Warcraft got the least amount of excitement.

They've got an enormous team on WoW. WoW is an huge revenue generator. To serve the WoW player base and keep generating that money, they have a huge team continually building content for WoW. If they take a chunk of the WoW team off of WoW, they won't be able to update it as much.

If they expanded to try to support two huge MMOs, the quality of the content would probably suffer, and it wouldn't make sense to do that, because the products essentially compete with one another. I am sure that the next Blizzard MMO is in the early stages now, but there's no reason to see that for at least a couple of years.

I'm really excited about the RTS. I really enjoyed SC and War3, and Blizz has not released an RTS in almost 5 years.

[LK]

Hey guys. Guys. At least Diablo 3 with some sort of persistancy is guaranteed next. Rite? I mean, they have to. Rite? They don't have the creativity or balls to make a new IP... rite? :( :( :( :( :(

You're funny to watch like this. :)

[Signe]

I DON'T THINK THEY MADE THE RITE DECISION.

[Ragnoros]

Hmm put me firmly in the "Meh" 'crowd. I mean yeah it's going to be fun, possibly really really fun. Have a cool story and flashy cinematics, but make no doubt about it, it will be the same game we all played almost ten years ago. And I just can't that hyped up over playing the same game again only shiny.
Look at C&C3 it was very shiny and well polished, but in the end it was the same old tank rush. And that got old quick.

I'll light a candle for ya schild, maybe we will get news of D3 at Blizcon or the new E3. Myself I am holding out hope that HG:L will be the new Robot Jesus for diablo fans.

[Merusk]

At the rate they're going with new games every 2-3 years, you're going to need to wait until 2009 at least before hearing about the next project... Lost Vikings 3.

[schild]

Merusk, why do you hate me so?

[Reign]

Yeah..no way on God's green earth this was the right decision...what a screwed up year for MMO's it has been thus far- I guess its time to wait until October and hope AoC is enough to hold us over for a non-fantasy MMO that can hold water for once.

I just dont get it really...Blizzard stands to make a TON more revenue -on TOP of WoW- if they make a Starcraft MMO. I cant stand it when people try to use the argument it would suck away WoW's playerbase...Uuumm....if YOUR game is sucking away YOUR prior playerbase, who gives a rats butt? Thats called a paralell shift, and you're still getting dollars from those people.

Not to mention Blizzard would gain millions of Starcraft MMO players that do not currently play WoW, and you kind of have a brain-dead decision here I think, unless theres another dev staff working behind the scenes on a Starcraft MMO.

Dont get me wrong, if thats not the case, I think Blizzard will see the negative fallout from this decision and will eventually decide to go the route of a Starcraft MMO, but hell, by the time it gets developed and released it will likely be 5-7 years from now....at that point we might be all burned out in this sucky market as it is....

Im already to the point where if I see another dwarf or elf I'm going to send a pot of burning feces to the company CEO who was idiotic enough to create another fantasy game in this saturated-as-hell market.

[Sir Fodder]

Interesting that the coverage seems to be all about shiny and new units, not much about gameplay. Looks like this will be standard RTS build order spastic clickfest, bleh.

I wanted them to announce they were going to take over another genre for a bit, with fun engaging derivative gameplay. But only because I love to see the industry reaction, in a sardonic sorta way

Which genre haven't they done that needs the Blizzard touch?

Real Time Tactical.

[Margalis]

Put me in the 'meh' category as well. Is the gameplay going to be any different at all?

SC came out at a good time, RTS was a huge genre but still had room for polish. At this point RTS is old hat and SC2 doesn't sound like much new and different, just SC with some different units.

I'm also well past the age of playing LAN battles in college. Random internet fucktards? No thanks.

Edit: Those movies were so over-dramatic and the GG at the end was quite silly. It looks like all the new units are obvious hard-counters. I'm sure it will be a good game but it just doesn't excite me.

[Merusk]

Merusk, why do you hate me so?

It's the way you twitch when you're in pain. It's like a panoply of climaxing super models dancing on my brain.

[Samwise]

In the interest of providing fair and balanced commentary, I now give you my completely uncensored reaction to this announcement.

THEY'RE FINALLY MAKING STARCRAFT 2!!!!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

[Azazel]

Is RTS that popular in the US anymore?  I'd say the decision to announce the game in Korean pretty clearly says, "not so much".  That combined with the hope that this would be some form of MMO or Diablo 3, thus the disappointment

I think it's because every single Korean person will play SC..

I also find it amazingly amusing to see people on messageboards predict massive doom and gloom because they didn't get the announcement that they personally wanted (I'm speaking of Reign, etc, not schild).

Oh, and you can colour me personally totally indifferent to SC2 as well, and I'd definately have given a Galaxy of Starcraft a go, too. But it's not always about your personal preferences.

[Signe]

Merusk, why do you hate me so?

It's the way you twitch when you're in pain. It's like a panoply of climaxing super models dancing on my brain.

OMG.  I can't believe I'm the only person who read this and said, "OMG."

[Akkori]

I'm a solid "meh" also. Unless I see something pretty dramatic between no w& it's release, I don't think I will even buy it. I figure by then, EA will release a couple new expansions to Battlefield, or even a new game, and those are a lot more fun to e nowadays than an RTS. I loved them a few years ago, having played all the Age of Empires, Outpost 2 (old, but still kind of fun), Homeworld (my first 3-d flight game), Dune Emperor, Empire at War, and 2 of the C&C's. Wow, I hadn't ever listed them all before... Anyway, maybe this means in another 5 years the IP will have enough traction to start an MMO.

[Trippy]

Starcraft2.com:

 Features:

    * Fast-paced, hard-hitting, tightly balanced competitive real-time strategy gameplay that recaptures and improves on the magic of the original game
    * Three completely distinct races: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg
    * New units and gameplay mechanics further distinguish each race
    * Groundbreaking single-player "story-mode" campaign
    * Vibrant new 3D-graphics engine with support for dazzling visual effects and massive unit and army sizes
    * Full multiplayer support, with new competitive features and matchmaking utilities available through Battle.net
    * Full map-making and scripting tools to give players incredible freedom in customizing and personalizing their gameplay experience

That last one is reason enough to buy for me.

Starcraft: DotA

Yes I'm looking forward to the map making tools as well. However, even though I hated the WC III heroes in the regular PvP games (creeping must die die die!), they did allow for all sorts of cool stuff when making custom games. I'm hoping what they'll do for SC 2 is have heroes for the single-player campaign that you can level but *not* for the regular PvP stuff unless they are just special units that you don't have to level. That way you kind of get the best of both worlds.

[Kitsune]

We won't know the value of Starcraft 2 until it's out.  Starcraft's strength was in its characters and story, not the graphics or the gameplay, both of which were fairly generic RTS.  Patching up the graphics and throwing some new toys into the gameplay, while not overwhelming, are still more than sufficient for Starcraft 2 to kick ass, IF they get writers as good as the ones who worked on the first one.  If they just schlock out a Warcraft 3-ish plot, then yeah, 'meh' for Starcraft 2.  We'll see.  I certainly hope that it turns out to be a better game than the first.

[schild]

Characters and story? What? Starcraft's strength was ONLY it's gameplay. What is this character and story shit? Did I miss a Starcraft?

[Azazel]

dammit, schild. Stop making me agree with you.

[Trippy]

Characters and story? What? Starcraft's strength was ONLY it's gameplay. What is this character and story shit? Did I miss a Starcraft?

Odd, I played through the single-player campaigns for SC and Brood Wars multiple times just for the story. It's one of the few games I've done that for.

[AcidCat]

Characters and story? What? Starcraft's strength was ONLY it's gameplay. What is this character and story shit? Did I miss a Starcraft?

Yeah I couldn't tell you a single character from Starcraft's story. The gameplay itself, like Warcraft II, was just insanely addictive.

Incidentally, when Starcraft came out, I didn't have a PC at the time. So when the Nintendo 64 version came out, I snatched it up and sunk hours upon hours into that game.

So I'm definitely looking forward to Starcraft II. I haven't played a RTS since Warcraft III (which I was a bit disappointed in).

[Samwise]

Characters and story? What? Starcraft's strength was ONLY it's gameplay. What is this character and story shit? Did I miss a Starcraft?

Odd, I played through the single-player campaigns for SC and Brood Wars multiple times just for the story. It's one of the few games I've done that for.

I'm with Trippy here.  One of the reasons I dropped Warcraft 3 early was that I expected a story on par with Starcraft's and didn't get it.

Honestly, if they put out another expansion to SC 1, a la Brood Wars, I would buy it, even with the same old engine and gameplay.  If SC 2 is an SC 1 expansion plus a shiny new engine, so much the better.