Starcraft II Officially Announced

[19]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

Just preordered today.

7/27/10

Been waiting 10+ years for this.

[mudman]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

I had completely forgotten about that prediction. I guess you can knock Blizzard for a lot of stuff (still refuse to buy SC2 until all three campaigns are in one package) but they are consistent with their release schedule (assuming everyone has forgotten about Ghost).

What's wrong with buying a game and then buying 2 expansions? Virtually all RTS games do it, but you somehow have a problem with Blizzard doing it? They've already said that each game will have close to a 30 hour campaign and that's triple what you get in a typical console game and it will probably cost half as much as a console game.

[Misfit]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

What's wrong with buying a game and then buying 2 expansions? Virtually all RTS games do it, but you somehow have a problem with Blizzard doing it? They've already said that each game will have close to a 30 hour campaign and that's triple what you get in a typical console game and it will probably cost half as much as a console game.

Warcraft, Warcraft II, Starcraft, Warcraft III all contained multiple races/teams with their own seaparate campaigns in one package. The expansions contained campaigns for all of the races (except for the Orcs in Frozen Throne for some reason). That's the standard that has been set and carried on in every RTS game I've ever played whether it be a Blizzard property or Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, etc. Charging full price for one campaign and one third of the plot is dishonest to me and greedy. Starcraft II is $60, that means the consumer has to pay $60 for the Terran campaign and then an additional sum of money for the Zerg and Protoss (and we do not know what that sum will be, we can only speculate). Let's assume that each expansion is half the initial game, $30. That means for the full experience the consumer is on the hook for $120. I'm not interested. And the excuse that the Terran campaign is 30 hours doesn't fly with me. For one, that's coming from Blizzard and hours are always inflated by publishers, and two, I got plenty of hours out of Warcraft III's single player. Not 30 hours a campaign, but probably in the neighborhood of 15 each which I consider a worthwhile experience. I don't know what console games you play, but most of the ones I play provide 25-40 hours of single player on a single play through, but I don't play first person shooters and it's my understanding many of those run in the 10 hour range. The excuse that adding in the other campaigns will further delay the product also doesn't fly. Since when has Blizzard cared when a game gets released? Their mantra has always been the game ships when it's done, which I'm more than okay with. It's a b/s excuse anyways because if that's all it was they would offer the other two campaigns as a free download for those who already purchased the game. And maybe they will, or maybe they'll offer them as digital downloads for a very small sum, no one knows and since Blizzard has been reluctant to talk pricing for the additional campaigns I'm left to assume they'll be treated as expansions and cost as much as a typical expansion and likely render the previous game(s) obsolete on Battle.net.

I don't consider Starcraft II, as it's being released this month, a complete game. It's my right as a consumer to spend my money how I see fit and I don't agree with Blizzard's decision as I think it creates a horrible precedent for all future releases so I won't buy it. My decision won't matter as the game is going to sell millions. When/if they decide to release all three campaigns in one package at a price I deem fair then I'll consider purchasing it. If you're cool with how Blizzard is releasing the game then more power to you, I hope you enjoy it. What anyone else chooses to do is their business.

[bcruise]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

http://kotaku.com/5581340/starcraft-...e-two-imminent

It's baaaaack....(or will be very soon, I'd imagine)

[MachoMyers]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

http://kotaku.com/5581340/starcraft-...e-two-imminent

It's baaaaack....(or will be very soon, I'd imagine)

Just read this also. Great news. Lets make it happen this weekend!

[bcruise]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

Just got my butt handed to me by the Medium level AI...LOL!

So can we get a list of names again for the friend lists? I think all of our beta accounts were wiped in between beta phases.

Mine is bcruise, same as here.

[Munkey]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

Can't even get a game started

Seems like I'm not the only one having this issue though

[bcruise]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

One thing I'm REALLY liking about the different difficulty levels - it's possible to sandbag a bit and still get a close game against the AI. For example, on Medium the AI likes to limit itself to 15 workers on its first base (which is, of course, suicide in normal multiplayer). But if you limit yourself to creating equal or fewer workers than that, you'll be fighting on more even terms and maybe even be forced into a lot of micro in order to win. That's what I'm enjoying about it - it gives me a chance to use all the different abilities and see just how useful they can be.

Don't think the AI isn't trying to win even on Medium though - I let this last game go on too long and was soon staring down Thors and Battlecruisers while I barely had the economy for a Tier 2 army!

[mudman]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

Warcraft, Warcraft II, Starcraft, Warcraft III all contained multiple races/teams with their own seaparate campaigns in one package. The expansions contained campaigns for all of the races (except for the Orcs in Frozen Throne for some reason). That's the standard that has been set and carried on in every RTS game I've ever played whether it be a Blizzard property or Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, etc. Charging full price for one campaign and one third of the plot is dishonest to me and greedy. Starcraft II is $60, that means the consumer has to pay $60 for the Terran campaign and then an additional sum of money for the Zerg and Protoss (and we do not know what that sum will be, we can only speculate). Let's assume that each expansion is half the initial game, $30. That means for the full experience the consumer is on the hook for $120. I'm not interested. And the excuse that the Terran campaign is 30 hours doesn't fly with me. For one, that's coming from Blizzard and hours are always inflated by publishers, and two, I got plenty of hours out of Warcraft III's single player. Not 30 hours a campaign, but probably in the neighborhood of 15 each which I consider a worthwhile experience. I don't know what console games you play, but most of the ones I play provide 25-40 hours of single player on a single play through, but I don't play first person shooters and it's my understanding many of those run in the 10 hour range. The excuse that adding in the other campaigns will further delay the product also doesn't fly. Since when has Blizzard cared when a game gets released? Their mantra has always been the game ships when it's done, which I'm more than okay with. It's a b/s excuse anyways because if that's all it was they would offer the other two campaigns as a free download for those who already purchased the game. And maybe they will, or maybe they'll offer them as digital downloads for a very small sum, no one knows and since Blizzard has been reluctant to talk pricing for the additional campaigns I'm left to assume they'll be treated as expansions and cost as much as a typical expansion and likely render the previous game(s) obsolete on Battle.net.

I don't consider Starcraft II, as it's being released this month, a complete game. It's my right as a consumer to spend my money how I see fit and I don't agree with Blizzard's decision as I think it creates a horrible precedent for all future releases so I won't buy it. My decision won't matter as the game is going to sell millions. When/if they decide to release all three campaigns in one package at a price I deem fair then I'll consider purchasing it. If you're cool with how Blizzard is releasing the game then more power to you, I hope you enjoy it. What anyone else chooses to do is their business.

No offense, but IMO, your reasoning is horse ****. First off, Blizzard games offer at least triple the value of 99% of all other games so don't act like you're getting ripped off.

Also, not getting all three races in a campaign reasoning is crap too. If they're going to come out with an original and 2 expansions, you're not getting the entire experience unless you buy both expansions, PERIOD. It doesn't matter whether there's 1, 2, or all 3 races with their own campaigns in each game. The expansions will complete the experience no matter how the original is set up. Them choosing to do it differently doesn't hinder your experience in any way shape or form. It's like you're saying you want 1/3 of the story from all 3 races...that, to you, would be a complete game. That's BS, what they're doing is far more complete than that.

Also, most single player games aren't 25-40 hrs unless you just suck at everything. Some rpg's are that long, but that's it.

Your reasons are so bad and illogical it just seems you're a blizzard *****.

[Misfit]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

No offense, but IMO, your reasoning is horse ****. First off, Blizzard games offer at least triple the value of 99% of all other games so don't act like you're getting ripped off.

Also, not getting all three races in a campaign reasoning is crap too. If they're going to come out with an original and 2 expansions, you're not getting the entire experience unless you buy both expansions, PERIOD. It doesn't matter whether there's 1, 2, or all 3 races with their own campaigns in each game. The expansions will complete the experience no matter how the original is set up. Them choosing to do it differently doesn't hinder your experience in any way shape or form. It's like you're saying you want 1/3 of the story from all 3 races...that, to you, would be a complete game. That's BS, what they're doing is far more complete than that.

Also, most single player games aren't 25-40 hrs unless you just suck at everything. Some rpg's are that long, but that's it.

Your reasons are so bad and illogical it just seems you're a blizzard *****.

LOL, you don't agree with me so now I'm a guy who apparently sucks at video games and has the logic of horse manure. That's quite a connection you've been able to make.

I pretty much only play RPG's, open world games, and sports titles with the occasional stop for an Uncharted or Mario title here and there. Forty hours for most of those titles is pretty much the standard.

Blizzard has never had a problem before with putting multiple campaigns in one package and providing both a complete story and a satisfying experience. No one needed Beyond the Dark Portal, but it was nice to have. Same with Frozen Throne and Brood War. I'm a Blizzard *****? I've owned and beaten every title they've released with the exception of World of Warcraft. They're the best PC developer on the planet and only a few can even challenge them. It just bothers you that someone finds fault with, apparently, one of your favorite developers. Your position is essentially, "Blizzard is awesome, shut up and be happy," and I don't swing that way. If my presence and opinion are going to get you all flustered maybe you should make use of the board's handy ignore feature? It's very effective.

[mudman]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

LOL, you don't agree with me so now I'm a guy who apparently sucks at video games and has the logic of horse manure. That's quite a connection you've been able to make.

I pretty much only play RPG's, open world games, and sports titles with the occasional stop for an Uncharted or Mario title here and there. Forty hours for most of those titles is pretty much the standard.

Blizzard has never had a problem before with putting multiple campaigns in one package and providing both a complete story and a satisfying experience. No one needed Beyond the Dark Portal, but it was nice to have. Same with Frozen Throne and Brood War. I'm a Blizzard *****? I've owned and beaten every title they've released with the exception of World of Warcraft. They're the best PC developer on the planet and only a few can even challenge them. It just bothers you that someone finds fault with, apparently, one of your favorite developers. Your position is essentially, "Blizzard is awesome, shut up and be happy," and I don't swing that way. If my presence and opinion are going to get you all flustered maybe you should make use of the board's handy ignore feature? It's very effective.

They're adding depth, and a lot of it, to the story and you're complaining....yes, that makes you look like a blizzard *****. I didn't say you were, I said it's what you looked like. Nobody complains about getting more for their money, but you are and your only reason so far is you want less of a game? Sorry, it makes you look like you're just looking for a reason to complain.

[mattsb84]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

LOL, you don't agree with me so now I'm a guy who apparently sucks at video games and has the logic of horse manure. That's quite a connection you've been able to make.

I pretty much only play RPG's, open world games, and sports titles with the occasional stop for an Uncharted or Mario title here and there. Forty hours for most of those titles is pretty much the standard.

Blizzard has never had a problem before with putting multiple campaigns in one package and providing both a complete story and a satisfying experience. No one needed Beyond the Dark Portal, but it was nice to have. Same with Frozen Throne and Brood War. I'm a Blizzard *****? I've owned and beaten every title they've released with the exception of World of Warcraft. They're the best PC developer on the planet and only a few can even challenge them. It just bothers you that someone finds fault with, apparently, one of your favorite developers. Your position is essentially, "Blizzard is awesome, shut up and be happy," and I don't swing that way. If my presence and opinion are going to get you all flustered maybe you should make use of the board's handy ignore feature? It's very effective.

I pretty much agree with everything you're saying. At the end of the day though, they're out to make as much money as they can. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up charging 60$ a pop for each of the other 2 campaigns either.

Speaking of which, do they have a rough time table of when the zerg/toss campaigns will come out?

[MachoMyers]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

I pretty much agree with everything you're saying. At the end of the day though, they're out to make as much money as they can. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up charging 60$ a pop for each of the other 2 campaigns either.

Speaking of which, do they have a rough time table of when the zerg/toss campaigns will come out?

Projected to be 18 months for each expansion.

[mudman]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

One thing I'm REALLY liking about the different difficulty levels - it's possible to sandbag a bit and still get a close game against the AI. For example, on Medium the AI likes to limit itself to 15 workers on its first base (which is, of course, suicide in normal multiplayer). But if you limit yourself to creating equal or fewer workers than that, you'll be fighting on more even terms and maybe even be forced into a lot of micro in order to win. That's what I'm enjoying about it - it gives me a chance to use all the different abilities and see just how useful they can be.

Don't think the AI isn't trying to win even on Medium though - I let this last game go on too long and was soon staring down Thors and Battlecruisers while I barely had the economy for a Tier 2 army!

I like the different difficulty levels, but they are nowhere near balanced. Their Terran AI is far superior to their zerg/toss AI.

I pretty much agree with everything you're saying. At the end of the day though, they're out to make as much money as they can. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up charging 60$ a pop for each of the other 2 campaigns either.

Speaking of which, do they have a rough time table of when the zerg/toss campaigns will come out?

Blizzard has said they are expansions and will be priced as such.

Projected to be 18 months for each expansion.

Blizzard never said this, therefore, nobody knows.

IIRC, they said one expansion each year is their goal. Other than that, they've said nothing regarding the release date of the others.

[MachoMyers]

Re: Starcraft II Officially Announced

Blizzard never said this, therefore, nobody knows.

IIRC, they said one expansion each year is their goal. Other than that, they've said nothing regarding the release date of the others.

Well the producer said it.
Source: http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1341

Shack: What is the timeline on releasing expansion #1?

Chris Sigaty: It's 10 years per (laughs). No, we're estimating about 18 months from release of Wings of Liberty to when the next one comes out. That's purely speculative, honestly. Historically, it's taken us about a year-WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne is a good example-but you'll see the sum-total package [in Wings of Liberty] has raised the bar and there's a lot more to do with StarCraft II's expansions. I think 18 months is probably fairly accurate