Jawmuncher
Member
Thanks.
I was looking at a pretty odd wiki that was contradicting itself on the matter.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
//: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm |OT| Like Riding a Bike
- Thread starter Corran Horn
- Start date
I was looking at a pretty odd wiki that was contradicting itself on the matter.
HotS happens 1 second after WoL ends.
RumblingRosco
Member
That sounds familiar from SC1/BW. Thanks! I'm just not sure I feel like spending money on HotS right now, but was hoping I could still enjoy some online gaming with SC2 in the mean time.
Why am i not surprised? I'm not even disappointed... Modern Blizzard can't disappoint, i just nod and act as if they didn't actually write stories anymore...
Without going further than maybe the first mission of the game, how does it address the story points of the Flashpoint novel?
Flashpoint summary:
Raynor grabs Kerrigan and goes back to the ship. Arcturus Mengsk attacks. They go to Deadman's Port, then they escape Deadman's Port to Dr. Narud at his lab. Narud betrays them and releases his hybrids, Mengsk attacks again, and then they go to Umoja.
Hots is after wol which is after brood war, which is after sc1. wol has some Protoss missions that happen in between brood war and wol though.
Yeah, it appears to. There is book I have read called "Flashpoint" that is supposed to happen straight after WoL (came out recently too) but that appears to be conveniently ignored with HoS
The book isn't even sort of novellization of HotS?
The original SC is more or less re-told in books, wonder if that will happen for SC2 as well.
krameriffic
Member
Exactly. And they for some reason overdramatized this romance between Kerrigan and Raynor to make it more like a stupid big budget blockbuster film (presumably to capitalize on the fucking Twilight fan demographic?) They have what could be an interesting sci-fi plot premise, but more often than not that falls by the wayside while they focus on stupid irrelevant shit that no one cares about.
demosthenes
Member
Trying to expand the audience.
Flashpoint spoilers (not HotS):
There's no way Narud's betrayal can be left out, can there? Him turning back on all of them and releasing the hybrids after being an ally in WoL, that's gotta be addressed at some point in the game, right? Even if it's in Legacy of the Void?
No, it's something else - or appears to be. I need to play more of the campaign to confirm exactly how it fits.
Pancakes
hot, steaming, as melted butter slips into the cracks, drizzled with sticky sweet syrup OH GOD
Let's kick this revolution into overdrive!
AppleSmack
Banned
The cheesy dialog and awkward moments is the worst part. I did enjoy some of the set pieces they had in the campaign though. The invasion of Char was actually quite cool, up to the game's concluding cutscene that is...
krameriffic
Member
Their audience is sci-fi geeks and RTS playing nerds who are to nerds what nerds are to normal people. They aren't going to expand their fanbase beyond that.
AppleSmack
Banned
So how is that Chris Metzen dialogue?
By the way, if anyone wants to read why Starcraft 2 is a terrible plot, look no further: http://www.overthinkingit.com/2011/01/24/the-awful-sexist-plot-of-starcraft-2/2/
You don't have to agree with the sexism stuff to see the article's points.
By the way, if anyone wants to read why Starcraft 2 is a terrible plot, look no further: http://www.overthinkingit.com/2011/01/24/the-awful-sexist-plot-of-starcraft-2/2/
You don't have to agree with the sexism stuff to see the article's points.
AppleSmack
Banned
I think so, 4 more hours of this.
StopMakingSense
Member
Holy shit that Flash - Life game was incredible.
AdventureRacing
Member
So far really enjoying the gameplay in the SP, trying not to pay much attention to the story. Looking forward to jumping into the MP and trying out the new units.
Most of the AAA games this gen weren't in development for as long or cost as much as the campaign of SC2. Not to mention that they already had a fantastic story and universe to work from. So not only is the story embarrassingly bad it also manages to ruin the universe it comes from and that makes it EXTRA bad.
I can't even watch the cutscenes without laughing, I have played for games with a story as bad as this one.
Which is stupid because the type of people interested in that sort of shit won't be interested in an RTS let alone one as difficult as this. If anything it just shits on the existing fans. What they should be doing is making the gameplay more accessible and giving less experienced and skilled players more options.
That's a pretty big audience anyway. Blizzard needs to stop trying to tap into markets that don't give a shit about the genre or competitive games in general and capitalize on the one that does (LoL and DOTA2 have shown that there are big audiences for competitive games in the PC market).
Most of the AAA games this gen weren't in development for as long or cost as much as the campaign of SC2. Not to mention that they already had a fantastic story and universe to work from. So not only is the story embarrassingly bad it also manages to ruin the universe it comes from and that makes it EXTRA bad.
I can't even watch the cutscenes without laughing, I have played for games with a story as bad as this one.
Which is stupid because the type of people interested in that sort of shit won't be interested in an RTS let alone one as difficult as this. If anything it just shits on the existing fans. What they should be doing is making the gameplay more accessible and giving less experienced and skilled players more options.
That's a pretty big audience anyway. Blizzard needs to stop trying to tap into markets that don't give a shit about the genre or competitive games in general and capitalize on the one that does (LoL and DOTA2 have shown that there are big audiences for competitive games in the PC market).
GhostRidah
Member
lmao nice!
AppleSmack
Banned
LoL is a competitive game?
AdventureRacing
Member
Can you beat the best players in the world at LoL?
Preordered a copy about ten minutes ago from gamestop. The one two miles down the road. Saw them open while I was shopping. Went in and asked them were they open till midnight. Guy said "yeah, for the God of War midnight launch." ~_~
I'm the only one picking up HotS at my GS tonight.
I'm the only one picking up HotS at my GS tonight.
AppleSmack
Banned
I don't play LoL. I know it has a competitive scene, but is it a competitive game? I always thought it was a casual Dota game.
Pancakes
hot, steaming, as melted butter slips into the cracks, drizzled with sticky sweet syrup OH GOD
Oh FFS I never fixed my authenticator when i got my new phone. Sigh, filed a ticket before I can reinstall starcraft.
???
Of course it's a competitive game. Fucking connect 4 can be a competitive game if there is an audience for it.
???
Of course it's a competitive game. Fucking connect 4 can be a competitive game if there is an audience for it.
AppleSmack
Banned
Haha. HotS will outsell God of War by a huge amount. I didn't even know that game was being released. There is like no hype. Shows how much PC gaming is transitioning to DD I guess. I'll still be picking up HotS at my local best buy tomorrow cause I like boxes.
AppleSmack
Banned
No you don't get it. Was the game built from the ground up to be played competitively like Dota and SC2 were? Most games become very competencies and have a nice pro-scene because they were designed that way and it's not something that just happened out of nowhere.
God of War has like... no hype. The gamestop I work at doesn't even carry PC games outside of what people preorder, and I'm pretty sure we have more people picking up HotS than God of War Ascension haha
had to post this gif, to show how awesome it is
I know I'm a bit late on this one, but this is the most amazing thing I have seen all day.
AppleSmack
Banned
Best Gif I have seen all year.
There were like six guys sitting around a TV playing God of War 3 and another 3 walking around the store looking lost.
Could you give 2 examples for this from WoL?
This is the best thing you'll watch all day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VMbaJ8UBg
Khaldor lifts.
Polt gets sponsored by Cooler Master:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=402533
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=402533
Overthinking it indeed. I'll shoot.
First off, Starcraft's story exists to establish the justification for each race matchup in multiplayer? What the hell? No, Starcraft's story exists to give structure to a standalone, enjoy-it-in-its-own-right single player campaign. Each race matchup is featured in the campaign to give it gameplay variety, not satisfy that nagging bit of your RP personality that needs a reason to fight the Terran you just got matchmaked against as Terran in mp. What a ridiculous argument.
Jim is sexist because he'd rather his former girlfriend be, you know, human and friends again rather than a mass murdering, brainwashed psychopath manipulating each race to her own end? Right....
I'll not go into detail on the digs at the campaign only featuring the Terran as a playable. Regardless of opinions on the story, the campaign is a meaty, varied, excellently designed RTS campaign that, gameplay wise, is among the best I've ever played as a single player experience and not as a mp training ground. I don't even feel this is a particularly outlandish opinion to have it on either. It's perfectly justified in being its own game separate from the other campaigns.
Relics/monuments look phallic? Superpowered weapons explode in flashes of light? More news at 11. I find it an incredibly difficult proposition to swallow that the final mission is more reflective of Blizzard's sexist storytelling than it is simply evidence of their tendency to follow standard tropes and cliches in everything they do. (One could make the argument that, historically, relics have been sexist, I suppose, but that's not really SC or Blizz specific)
The inability of the player to play as various significant characters is a recurring criticism of the article. Basically, we are to accept future events and past events are untouchable in game narrative unless the player can play them, so flashbacks (which the article hypocritically praises earlier on in its admiration of the Kerrigan's betrayal cg scene) and flashforwards are off limit. Hey, I totally agree that story is in general a distraction and waste of time in games, but this isn't a particularly good foundation for an argument when you aren't going down that path and are instead just looking to criticize the storytelling in general rather than story's inclusion in games. If you accept that non-interactive narrative has a place in gaming, you should also accept that common narrative devices, like flashbacks, are fair ground.
The Xel'Naga were hinted at SC 1 but not playable or touched on heavily there as well. Deduct 1 from SC 1 then as well. Yes, the Dark Voice isn't taken down or encountered in this game; he's the Big Bad, so he will probably be dealt with at the logical place for a big bad to be dealt with in a trilogy- the end. I take it this guy has issues with multi episode plots and planting the seeds for further story developments down the road in general?
The sp missions have little to do with the overarching plot. While I agree that this is bad for the story, it is better for the game, as the missions exist to serve the need to provide new designs for each level throughout the game, which is a far more useful end to manipulate your story to than providing motivation to kill the other races in multiplayer.
At the end of the story, Raynor shoots Tychus in the face to save Kerrigan because of the prophecy stating that Kerrigan is necessary to save the lives of all people. He acts immediately because that is all he can do if he wishes to save her. Now, granted, the prophecy itself and Jim's willingness to believe it are fair points for criticism. It's just not an accurate characterization of his actions to state he's doing it all to save a murdering tyrant.
The Overlord's actions aren't a retcon; they're a twist. A retcon is blatantly contradicting known information, (i.e. Kerrigan never became the queen of blades.) not dramatic- bullshit though they may be- reveals. Criticize the twist, but it's not a retcon.
All that said, Starcraft 2's story is shit. It's just not shit in the way this author envisions it. It's a weak, cliched, watered down scifi turned action flick with terrible writing. Of course, it's also a game, which should have explained that its story was shit from the get go. Yes, Blizzard's storytelling in the pre-WoW era was stronger than it is now, (Especially Diablo 2, with its interesting choice to use Marius as the principle narrative witness) but they were still shitty game narratives not worth anyone's time as actual standalone stories then too. The fact that the gaming community has been more vocal about the crappy narrative than the great mission design when it comes to Starcraft 2's campaign speaks terribly of its priorities.
Felix Lighter
Member
Yeah, MC is great. One of the best personalities in SC2.
Earthstrike
Member
League of legends is more competitive than DOTA 2 in both how it was constructed, and the fact that Dota 2 still has some imbalances, primarily, the map.
I just realized it's been nine months since I've pumped that glorious Metzen writing directly into my veins.
I can't wait until tomorrow, I'm going into Metzen-narrative withdrawals. It's just so bad, I love it ironically.
All of Tychus's dialogue during Engine of Destruction.
"Those Dominion eggheads thought of everything! Pardon me a moment."
*toilet flushes*
"Now how'd I miss this button with a skull on it?"
The UNN new reports were sometimes pretty funny, too.
"The locals must be pretty nervous having a notorious outlaw in their neighborhood."
"Actually Donny, the people I talked too seemed really encouraged by the...."
"Thanks Kate! You heard it here first! Jim Raynor, terrorizing the locals, on Mar Sara!"
"Up next, Zerglings allergic to lemon juice? Old wives tale, or NEW SUPER WEAPON in the fight for humanity?!"