Heart of the Swarm tease.

[attackfighter]

Wonder how much they'll charge for it. $20 would be too much imo, especially since there's yet another expansion after this. They were really optimistic when they planned two expansion packs, as the game is barely good enough to warrant even one.

 

[ScottishMartialArts]

Wonder how much they'll charge for it.

If past blizzard expansions are any indication then $40.

 

[Erebus]

Wonder how much they'll charge for it.

If past blizzard expansions are any indication then $40.

Wonder how that will translate into euros.

(39.90 €, I suspect...)

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Since when has Blizzard released anything which isn't a shitty parody of another, better, franchise?

Warhammer 40k is far more interesting than Starcrap could ever be.

They're so different it's retarded to even compare the two.

Yeah, the Craft games Blizzard shits out contains the same, banal, stories about everybody being the "good" guys who unite against some ultimate evil Lich King/Xel'naga/Burning Legion/Arcturus... while Warhammer is a fucked up world where everybody is a degenerate who is stuck up their own ass to the point where they would willingly burn the galaxy just to make sure that their enemies will never win.

As for why I'm comparing the two? Well, Blizzard copy/pasted Warhammer 40k and Warhammer... and failed horribly. Given the choice, I would rush into Blizzard HQ with a warhammer and yell something about Sigmar and the Codex before killing every last one of those retards.

... but then I would be untrue to myself, since I am a follower of Tzeentch.

Ahh i see, you're a moron.

Carry on.

 

[Metro]

Wonder how much they'll charge for it.

If past blizzard expansions are any indication then $40.

Yep, I'd be surprised if it weren't $40.

 

[kris]

Are people seriously arguing over the fucking story of an RTS?

ah Codex

^same type of retard who claims combat isn't important in an RPG.

Combat is gameplay. Story is just filler or a bridge.

 

[torpid]

Are people seriously arguing over the fucking story of an RTS?

ah Codex

^same type of retard who claims combat isn't important in an RPG.

it's the exact opposite you fucking dolt -- the story in both RTS and RPGs is secondary to the gameplay. In RPGs the story can still play an important part, depending on how it's told and how the player interacts with it, but in an RTS? The majority of your time will be spent in multiplayer, where no one cares about Raynor and Kerrigan's love life or the Big Prophecy to save the Universe.

 

[Angthoron]

Oh, by the way, by adding the Big Prophecy angle they officially turned StarCraft into a Fantasy setting. Unless it turns out to be a red herring, Big Prophecies have no place in sci-fi.

 

[Suicidal]

Oh, is the 'expansion' where Blizzard sells you the Zerg single player campaign that should have been included in the first one at a $50 price tag?

Same way the Brood War campaigns should have been included in Starcraft 1, right?

If this expansion will be sold and the 'expansion price' and include other stuff, like new units/maps/something else, then I'm all for it. If that's not the case, then yeah, fuck Blizzard and their dark lord Kotick.

 

[RK47]

After playing the SC2 campaign I'm really not interested.

Yeah, I can't even finish it. I gave up after seeing that Jamaican Ghost. I really don't understand where Blizzard get their ideas from.

 

[Reject_666_6]

Oh, by the way, by adding the Big Prophecy angle they officially turned StarCraft into a Fantasy setting. Unless it turns out to be a red herring, Big Prophecies have no place in sci-fi.

Doesn't Dune have a pretty important prophecy in there somewhere about the messiah?

After playing the SC2 campaign I'm really not interested.

Yeah, I can't even finish it. I gave up after seeing that Jamaican Ghost. I really don't understand where Blizzard get their ideas from.

They recycle their own story ideas with every game. They probably took a Jamaican troll from WC3 and made him human.

 

[Erebus]

Doesn't Dune have a pretty important prophecy in there somewhere about the messiah?

I haven't read Dune in a while, but I believe the prophecy about the messiah is actually a fabrication by the Bene Gesserit (always eager to manipulate people). Some characters can see the future, however.

 

[Havoc]

Oh, is the 'expansion' where Blizzard sells you the Zerg single player campaign that should have been included in the first one at a $50 price tag?

Same way the Brood War campaigns should have been included in Starcraft 1, right?

If this expansion will be sold and the 'expansion price' and include other stuff, like new units/maps/something else, then I'm all for it. If that's not the case, then yeah, fuck Blizzard and their dark lord Kotick.

3 Races. 3 Viewpoints.

1 Race. 1 Viewpoint.

Yea... it's the same way.

 

[Angthoron]

Doesn't Dune have a pretty important prophecy in there somewhere about the messiah?

Can't answer that I'm afraid as I've not read the series, but I would say that if it features A Prophecy in a serious way, then it falls into the realm of sci-fi/fantasy borderlands. Sci-fi is about concrete, technology-bound things; naturally, if you go with "infinite amount of variants" type of future-reading, clairvoyance and a sort of a prophecy-like "high likelihood of a messiah spawning" type of a thing could occur AND be a sci-fi item, but then it's not pure clairvoyance and prophecy anymore.

Instead, in SC2 we see what appears a pure event of clairvoyance - dude touches stone, sees future. The Protoss are fairly borderland as it is, and this sort of stuff just pushes the setting over that border. Of course, a retcon or a "this wasn't for reals anyway" sort of a counter can still bring it back to the sci-fi realm.

I guess I was a bit too direct in stating the "Prophecy = fantasy" bit, it's more complex, and if you see the future via the means of technology, that's an entirely different cup of tea.

But then again, we have some authors that believe that anything outside the realm of speculative fiction is fantasy, so there you have it.

 

[attackfighter]

Are people seriously arguing over the fucking story of an RTS?

ah Codex

^same type of retard who claims combat isn't important in an RPG.

it's the exact opposite you fucking dolt -- the story in both RTS and RPGs is secondary to the gameplay. In RPGs the story can still play an important part, depending on how it's told and how the player interacts with it, but in an RTS? The majority of your time will be spent in multiplayer, where no one cares about Raynor and Kerrigan's love life or the Big Prophecy to save the Universe.

The single player is hugely important you fucking mongoloid. It introduced the game's setting, which gave context as to why the 3 races were fighting in multiplayer and helped form a distinct personality for each of them. Without the single player of SC1 you'd only have a vague idea that the Protoss were meant to be honourable, religous zealots, that the Terrans were meant to be trigger happy colonists and that the Zerg were a collection of feral species, tamed and evolved to suit the needs of the Overmind. Normal people enjoy having personality in their games, that's partially why games like TF2 and Mario became so popular. You're either an autist or a liar when you say that StarCraft's story was a trivial component.

 

[Zed]

Why are the two teams in TF2 fighting each other?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Why are the two teams in TF2 fighting each other?

Builders League United is a holding corporation allegedly specializing in "construction operations". In reality, from behind a myriad of sub-fronts, it secretly controls half the world's governments, led by founder and CEO Blutarch Mann. Beneath the convincing exterior of their bases of operations, computer racks, satellites, rockets, and missile installations can be found throughout these bases.

The other half of the world is just as secretly controlled by their rivals, Reliable Excavation Demolition. Each corporation administers its half of the world with a multi-disciplined army of paper pushers. For any problem lacking an obvious bureaucratic solution, mercenaries are contracted to address the situation through a massive application of force. Conflicts between the two companies began as land disputes between their leaders and have continued through hundreds of years to the present day.

BLU and RED share an intense rivalry, with nearly all encounters between the two quickly escalating into brutal and often fatal violence. Inter-company friendship is also strictly forbidden by mercenary contract. Despite this, the BLU Soldier and the RED Demoman became fast friends after meeting at a projectile weapons expo. Once this was brought to the attention of the Administrator however, she pitted them against each other in a deadly competition that promised a mysterious new item to the winner, twisting their former friendship into a bloody war.

 

[Reject_666_6]

Doesn't Dune have a pretty important prophecy in there somewhere about the messiah?

Can't answer that I'm afraid as I've not read the series, but I would say that if it features A Prophecy in a serious way, then it falls into the realm of sci-fi/fantasy borderlands. Sci-fi is about concrete, technology-bound things; naturally, if you go with "infinite amount of variants" type of future-reading, clairvoyance and a sort of a prophecy-like "high likelihood of a messiah spawning" type of a thing could occur AND be a sci-fi item, but then it's not pure clairvoyance and prophecy anymore.

It's actually a combination. On the one hand, you have the Bene Gesserit who try and engineer their 'messiah' through careful breeding. And this actually works, although earlier than expected. At the same time, you have these primitive inhabitants of the sand planet who really do have a shamanistic prophecy of their own. By chance, the two end up being the same guy.

I like it cause it's not so much a prophecy coming true, it's more like a Cpt. Cook situation. He was in the right place at the right time.

 

[Angthoron]

Doesn't Dune have a pretty important prophecy in there somewhere about the messiah?

Can't answer that I'm afraid as I've not read the series, but I would say that if it features A Prophecy in a serious way, then it falls into the realm of sci-fi/fantasy borderlands. Sci-fi is about concrete, technology-bound things; naturally, if you go with "infinite amount of variants" type of future-reading, clairvoyance and a sort of a prophecy-like "high likelihood of a messiah spawning" type of a thing could occur AND be a sci-fi item, but then it's not pure clairvoyance and prophecy anymore.

It's actually a combination. On the one hand, you have the Bene Gesserit who try and engineer their 'messiah' through careful breeding. And this actually works, although earlier than expected. At the same time, you have these primitive inhabitants of the sand planet who really do have a shamanistic prophecy of their own. By chance, the two end up being the same guy.

I like it cause it's not so much a prophecy coming true, it's more like a Cpt. Cook situation. He was in the right place at the right time.

Ah, sounds cool. Maybe I should read it some time.

 

[J1M]

Are people seriously arguing over the fucking story of an RTS?

ah Codex

^same type of retard who claims combat isn't important in an RPG.

it's the exact opposite you fucking dolt -- the story in both RTS and RPGs is secondary to the gameplay. In RPGs the story can still play an important part, depending on how it's told and how the player interacts with it, but in an RTS? The majority of your time will be spent in multiplayer, where no one cares about Raynor and Kerrigan's love life or the Big Prophecy to save the Universe.

Except that it's the sequel to a game with an amazingly good story and cast of characters...

Had SC and BW been the herp derp that Command and Conquer is nobody would have cared. SC2 is written as though BW never happened and massive plot holes, such as the stupid prophecy and antagonist, are inserted as a means to get to the desired ending at all costs.

The saddest part of all is that the individual missions, their difficulty, and achievements are all very well tuned and fun. What strings them together, however, is writing by trench club.

 

[Reject_666_6]

Warcraft 1/2 story: "Hey guys, we forgot to explain who these orcs are and why humans are fighting them? Quick, let's pull an all-nighter and make some shit up."

Starcraft story: "You know, now that we're in the future, and politics and shit are gonna play a part in this, we better put some thought into the story and characters."

Brood War story: "That was p. good! Let's add more politics, intrigue and backstabbing this time!"

Warcraft 3 story: "Remember Starcraft? Let's make the story almost the same, only more generic and with shittier writing! People will still think it's good."

Starcraft 2 story: "Warcraft 3 sold really well, bros. Let's take the cheesiest part of its story and put it in space!! Yes, I mean literally!"

 

[Darth Roxor]

At the same time, you have these primitive inhabitants of the sand planet who really do have a shamanistic prophecy of their own. By chance, the two end up being the same guy.

Not really. The prophecy of the Fremen is the one of the Bene Gesserit and its agents, cleverly planted in their minds.

 

[Data4]

I quite like the "southern" vibe of the SC universe. A good deal of that atmosphere came from the music, however. SC2's score went too far into fumbling, generic orchestral territory.

The graphics of SC1 also contribute greatly to that vibe (I'd be more specific and call it a wild west vibe, though). All the Terran units and buildings are crude, metallic and plain. This design style fits the Terrans perfectly, as they are a fledgling, frontier society under constant military pressure and so do not have the luxury of devoting resources towards aesthetics.

In SC2 otth, they completely fucked that up. Space marine suits have that shiny new car look, battlecruisers (in the cutscenes) look like flying palaces, certain Terran worlds have highly developed and extensive infrastructure, tanks look like tonka trucks... and the list goes on. The only thing that remotely makes SC2 Terrans seem "southern" are the southern drawls that some characters have and the random saloons that Jim Raynor frequents. SC2 doesn't seem to have any sort of theme or vibe to it, it's just a bunch of action movie rip-offs and generic sci fi mashed together to be force fed to infant Amerikwans.

I think they were trying to rip off copy Firefly in that respect. Have the core worlds closest to the government be all high tech and shiny, while outer rim worlds were backwaters. Pretty much fits Blizzard's MO.

 

[catfood]

At the same time, you have these primitive inhabitants of the sand planet who really do have a shamanistic prophecy of their own. By chance, the two end up being the same guy.

Not really. The prophecy of the Fremen is the one of the Bene Gesserit and its agents, cleverly planted in their minds.

This. The fremen in Sietch Tabr even had an old woman who was supposedly a Bene Gesserit type character, or at least she had went through the spice agony. But I don't remember all the details.

 

[Angthoron]

Warcraft 1/2 story: "Hey guys, we forgot to explain who these orcs are and why humans are fighting them? Quick, let's pull an all-nighter and make some shit up."

Starcraft story: "You know, now that we're in the future, and politics and shit are gonna play a part in this, we better put some thought into the story and characters."

Brood War story: "That was p. good! Let's add more politics, intrigue and backstabbing this time!"

Warcraft 3 story: "Remember Starcraft? Let's make the story almost the same, only more generic and with shittier writing! People will still think it's good."

Starcraft 2 story: "Warcraft 3 sold really well, bros. Let's take the cheesiest part of its story and put it in space!! Yes, I mean literally!"

Pretty well summed up. SC and BW story was very solid for an RTS and is memorable exactly because of the politics, intreague and back-stabbing channeled through and around a few good men.