Stormgate - sci-fi/fantasy RTS from ex-Blizzard devs - now on Early Access

[abija]

Those normal kids didn't have braindead alternatives tickling their dopamine.
And tbh not sure about that "normality". Just having parents that bought you a pc and those games is quite a bit above normality. Nevermind if you're the one getting them at < 10 years.

But yeah, all the pampering, "everyone is a winner" bullshit, targeting the absolute lowest levels of intelligence in the school is creating dumb people on purpose. Someone out there probably figured out that the actual gifted individuals will still do fine so they're just going full steam ahead with dumbing down the masses to control them easier.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

The story is stupid and destroys the Starcraft lore.

As I've said a bunch of times, the plot in the first three campaigns isn't the greatest either and gets a ton of nostalgia filtering. The terran campaign doesn't make sense because it relies on the aliens behaving according to whatever would be convenient for Mengsk's terror campaign, despite them having their own reasons for being in the sector that directly contradict his goals. The zerg campaign is the weakest and focuses on the human, half-human and protoss characters to the exclusion of the actual zerg characters in their own campaign. The protoss campaign is schizophrenic, with the protoss characters flip-flopping their motives and beliefs constantly: e.g. Tassadar surrenders to prevent further bloodshed, then is ecstatic when you slaughter a bunch of protoss to rescue him.

Sure, the BW campaigns retcon important details and have characters act like idiots, but the prior campaigns are hardly innocent of the same problems. The universe is supposed to be huge, but the story we get is tiny and focuses on the same four or six characters who all personally know each other while everyone else are treated as mindless zombies. The politics aren't even remotely believable. Etc. Metzen is gonna Metzen.

Stormgate didn't have a chance in hell after they hired Metzen as a consultant. We're not little kids anymore.

 

[Tyranicon]

How? How? How can developers be so off the mark?

If you are a dev that releases a game with main character looking that cursed and are surprised that the game is failing, there's no hope.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I fully expect that she'll change into a lingerie-clad succubus after her demonization, just like her predecessor.

 

[Tyranicon]

I fully expect that she'll change into a lingerie-clad succubus after her demonization, just like her predecessor.

Pls no.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I fully expect that she'll change into a lingerie-clad succubus after her demonization, just like her predecessor.

Pls no.

My thoughts exactly, but what else would they do? Cover her up? Have her not become a demon? Let’s not kid ourselves, there’s not an original bone in all ex-Blizz employees combined.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Just having parents that bought you a pc and those games is quite a bit above normality. Nevermind if you're the one getting them at < 10 years.

The games could be an older silbings but the younger kids would still play and enjoy them. So like one family I knew had an older brother born in 1985 who got a lot of games and then his younger brothers born in 1988 and 1990 would also play them. And they would introduce them to their friends. And if the games were pirated then they would end up on everyone's home PC.

The point is just that really young kids were able to play and enjoy games back then in a way that isn't possible any longer. I agree with your point about other sources for tickling dopamine being a probable source, but still.

 

[almondblight]

The universe is supposed to be huge, but the story we get is tiny and focuses on the same four or six characters who all personally know each other while everyone else are treated as mindless zombies.

That always pissed me off. I think the only person we see from the Confederacy is Duke, who ends up joining Mengsk. And the whole terran campaign is putting Mengsk into power, until you finally get him into power, and then you're forced to attack him. It's stupid.

 

[ghardy]

I finished the Zerg campaign (Episode 2) of the original StarCraft yesterday night, and then played through the first mission of the Protoss one.

The final cutscenes of both the Terran and the Zerg campaigns were quite deflating. The stories leading to them were... eh.

Some of the voice acting was good. If only the material provided to the artists was worth while...

(I'm quite certain that the man who voiced the tomes in Diablo and the fantastic Moldy Tome discussing the Countess in Diablo 2 is one of the Protoss in the mission briefings.)

Like DooM, paucity of plot doesn't keep me from enjoying StarCraft. The difference is that id Software decided to drop any intention of a plot, whereas Blizzard didn't.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I think the only person we see from the Confederacy is Duke, who ends up joining Mengsk. And the whole terran campaign is putting Mengsk into power, until you finally get him into power, and then you're forced to attack him. It's stupid.

The betrayal is meant to be an emotional suckerpunch to the player, not a logical outcome. All the big moments are. Yeah, it’s obviously bad in hindsight, but the writers had zero skill and the players were mostly children who are easily impressed.

Like DooM, paucity of plot doesn't keep me from enjoying StarCraft. The difference is that id Software decided to drop any intention of a plot, whereas Blizzard didn't.

Paucity of plot doesn’t prevent me from enjoying gameplay either. It was the flame wars with adult men who unironically thought this crap was amazing that made me so cantankerous. I really shouldn’t have wasted my time, but I have this foolish tendency to believe people can learn and grow.

 

[Multidirectional]

The updated visuals they a showing here are at the minimum what should have been there since first screenshots appeared. How they did not realise that initial ultra boring look would turn loads of people away is beyond me. I guess major art style changes are too much to hope for though.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

The celestials still look like generic robots and not particularly angelic.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Imagine releasing the game in alpha state then finish it later after everybody has forgotten about it.

Cannot comprehend what they were thinking with those older visuals. The new ones are still mediocre but it looks like a million times better.

 

[ghardy]

Is there a lore exposition somewhere? What's the 5 minute brief?

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Is there a lore exposition somewhere? What's the 5 minute brief?

https://stormgate.fandom.com/wiki/Stormgate_Wiki

 

[ghardy]

Perusing the wiki, I read:

"According to Kevin Dong, the 'inspiration split' is 25% StarCraft, 25% Warcraft, 25% "other," and 25% Frost Giant. Other RTS inspirations include the Command & Conquer and Age of Empires series."

I don't know what they're making...

 

[Lyric Suite]

That's ok, they don't know either.

 

[ghardy]

From the aforementioned wiki (emphasis added):

"The campaigns will be character-focused in a manner similar to Warcraft III, with a core protagonist/group of protagonists players follow. It is planned that real-world events affect the outcome of campaigns. For instance, if there is an e-sports match where one faction wins, there may be a buff to that faction in the next campaign."

And

"'Stormgamer' is a term used to describe someone who plays Stormgate."

 

[RaggleFraggle]

"The campaigns will be character-focused in a manner similar to Warcraft III, with a core protagonist/group of protagonists players follow.

I think this is a huge mistake. Blizz could never actually write decent characters, that only worked back then because most players were underage and thus more impressionable and open to doing the writer's work for them. That doesn't work now that the average RTS player is 30-something. In order to get ahead with that crowd, you need decent writing in general: characterization, worldbuilding, etc. Or at least something that isn't actively frustrating. All of which SG fails at. There's not enough world building to get any sense of the stakes involved, and the characters are all shallow caricatures.

 

[Johannes]

Perusing the wiki, I read:

"According to Kevin Dong, the 'inspiration split' is 25% StarCraft, 25% Warcraft, 25% "other," and 25% Frost Giant. Other RTS inspirations include the Command & Conquer and Age of Empires series."

I don't know what they're making...

Just how is Frost Giant influenced by Frost Giant? They haven't released anything before Stormgate either.

 

[ghardy]

Just how is Frost Giant influenced by Frost Giant?

Given that Frost Giant consists largely of ex-Activizzard people, the "25% Frost Giant" bit could mean:

• more WarCraft
• more StarCraft
• more of both
• Diablo
• Overwatch
• "I thought it was something cool to say"

Perhaps Mr. Dong could clarify.

 

[ghardy]

There's not enough world building to get any sense of the stakes involved, and the characters are all shallow caricatures.

"But, you see, it's about multiplayer and e-sports. We aren't really going after Joe and Bob, you know. We're after Kim Park."

 

[Multidirectional]

So update didn't succeed in bringing more players in, still barely above 300 daily. I do find 1v1 in this to be pretty enjoyable but it looks like these devs are completely incompetent when it comes to pretty much everything else so it's unlikely this game can be revived at this point. It was on a death spiral since the moment first screenshots appeared. Maybe if they didn't oversell the shit out of it with their pretty speeches before, people might've been more forgiving.

 

[ghardy]

Does it appear that they'll run out of money?

 

[Multidirectional]

Does it appear that they'll run out of money?

It appears they already did, otherwise I have no idea why they would release it when even graphics are unfinished. Or why would they offer players to buy shares in the company. I heard rumor that they've been spending money like they are still at Blizzard.