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[Bizazedo]

Is it maybe not that Metzen has lost his skills, but rather Blizzard is making a conscientious choice to dumb down the story or make it lighter to make it more mainstream? Same (especially) with Diablo?

Kind of how it's rumored Star Wars 1313 is too dark for Disney?

 

[duckroll]

Cannon rush?

Cannon rush

OMG that's fucking awesome!

 

[Lime]

I think Metzen's writing responsibilities are proof that a company should be cautious of stagnant, incestuous, nepotist relationships with their veteran employees.

Did the first 3 missions last night and the story is fucking great so far.

Unless the first 3 missions are an aberration of what we've seen of dialogue, cutscenes, leaked endings, etc., then all your credibility was flushed down the toilet with that post.

 

[Tacitus_]

Is it maybe not that Metzen has lost his skills, but rather Blizzard is making a conscientious choice to dumb down the story or make it lighter to make it more mainstream? Same (especially) with Diablo?

Kind of how it's rumored Star Wars 1313 is too dark for Disney?

Doubt it. Metzen is suffering from George Lucas syndrome by the looks of it. Like in D3, Diablo had a female body just because Metzen strutted into a meeting and laid out "I think Diablo should be female in this game".

 

[Willectro]

How you suggest protoss hold off 6 pool if cannons take longer to access?

I agree, it's probably not going away.

Hahahahahaha, people are STILL doing that? I remember that in the months after WoL launched. I play Protoss too, and knowing how to defend against Protoss players who might cannon rush was always priority. The best part is when you defend against a cannon rush successfully and then cannon rush the player back. :lol

I don't know if I would call them "people", lol.

There are actually professional cannon rushers out there. I remember watching some streams. And by "professional cannon rusher", I don't mean a pro-player who just cannon rushes occasionally. I mean a player who specializes in cannon rushing just about every game and is in masters league.

I hope this doesn't catch on.

You need scout your base and the border of base very early. Even more in 2 spawn maps. Once you see the pylon, send a lot of probes to kill the pylon. And other to kill the probe. Kill first the pylon, because it is what will power the cannon.

In low level is worth put one drone to pursuit the scout enemy drone. The amount of micro your oponent need to do for keep the scout alive will affect your macro play.

Yea, it's easy enough to counter, more of an annoyance I guess.

 

[profit]

Doubt it. Metzen is suffering from George Lucas syndrome by the looks of it. Like in D3, Diablo had a female body just because Metzen strutted into a meeting and laid out "I think Diablo should be female in this game".

How do you know? Were you at this meeting? Then why didnt you tell him to shut up!

 

[diamount]

on what difficulty are you playing? should be quite easy if you only attack when the flash freeze comes. leave your army in the base between freezes.

Ah I didn't think of that, I guess if I could directly to the buildigns and use Kerrigan's abilities.

 

[captainnapalm]

Why no reviews yet? The game is out, right? I'm curious to see how the SP compares to SC2.

Good length? Does it take a similar approach inbetween missions, fleshing out the story? Are the graphics improved?

 

[Tacitus_]

How do you know? Were you at this meeting? Then why didnt you tell him to shut up!

I would've slapped him so hard in his smug face if I had been there.

Spoiler

probably not since I'm really timid

.
It circulated on the D3 fansites some time after launch. Metzen really should give up on his writing, but since it doesn't impact/public perception too much he's gonna stay at the top. Shame, really.

Why no reviews yet? The game is out, right? I'm curious to see how the SP compares to SC2.

Good length? Does it take a similar approach inbetween missions, fleshing out the story? Are the graphics improved?

Pretty comparable. Took me 11 hours to complete on hard without going for cheevos. You can talk to your, erm, crewmembers between missions. Graphics are the same pretty much, though the physics have improved.

 

[Harlock]

Why no reviews yet? The game is out, right? I'm curious to see how the SP compares to SC2.

Good length? Does it take a similar approach inbetween missions, fleshing out the story? Are the graphics improved?

One important point in the reviews are the Arcade mode, with the modded maps. Games like monobattles are a lot of fun.

 

[btkadams]

you guys, i bought the expansion through battle.net and i can download the game client. where is the cd key?? don't i have to enter something? or is it automatic?

 

[duckroll]

you guys, i bought the expansion through battle.net and i can download the game client. where is the cd key?? don't i have to enter something? or is it automatic?

If you bought it on your account, you already own it. The cdkey is only used for attaching the game to your account.

 

[btkadams]

If you bought it on your account, you already own it. The cdkey is only used for attaching the game to your account.

oops ha. thank you!

 

[ShaneB]

Yeah, sounds like I'm in no rush to get to the campaign. I think I'll just replay WoL and finally finish it since I think I made it to like the last mission and just stopped. And that'll take off some rust and then I'll dive into HotS. Definitely glad I bought it though, I'll be joining in the GAF chat channel and saying hello to folks.

edit: What are monobattles?

 

[Bizazedo]

Doubt it. Metzen is suffering from George Lucas syndrome by the looks of it. Like in D3, Diablo had a female body just because Metzen strutted into a meeting and laid out "I think Diablo should be female in this game".

I dunno, it kind of makes sense if you thought of the Evils as more of forces rather than he or she. I also didn't like it, by the way, but I can't say it was wrong if thought of that way.

I still think the overall trajectory of their games into more mainstream, lighter fare, is more attributable to Blizzard rather than JUST Metzen.

Think about it, what else has happened to WoW / Diablo / Starcraft? With the exception of Inferno on Diablo, everything has gotten easier. And even Inferno was originally intended as only for the super hardcores.

 

[TokiDoki]

Izsha mai waifu .

Tbh I like the campaign so far , although just fifth missions . Its better than watching Raynor getting emo in the bar during WOL .

 

[Paches]

Why no reviews yet? The game is out, right? I'm curious to see how the SP compares to SC2.

Good length? Does it take a similar approach inbetween missions, fleshing out the story? Are the graphics improved?

Reviewers didn't get an early copy. Not like Blizzard cares, people buy it anyways.

 

[zargle]

Yeah, sounds like I'm in no rush to get to the campaign. I think I'll just replay WoL and finally finish it since I think I made it to like the last mission and just stopped. And that'll take off some rust and then I'll dive into HotS. Definitely glad I bought it though, I'll be joining in the GAF chat channel and saying hello to folks.

edit: What are monobattles?

It's a custom multiplayer game, usually 4v4, where each player gets to build only one unit.

 

[Zzoram]

I expected the poor writing, but is it just me or is the voice acting of surprisingly low quality? Some of the lines Kerrigan says are just really off.

That's probably because they hired the inferior Tricia Helfer to replace the original Kerrigan from SC/BW. Her voice and line reading was noticeably inferior in WoL too. Actors don't always make good voice actors, but game developers keep hiring actors because they're famous.

 

[Zzoram]

I agree, it's probably not going away.



I don't know if I would call them "people", lol.



I hope this doesn't catch on.



Yea, it's easy enough to counter, more of an annoyance I guess.

It doesn't take much to hold off a 6pool or cannon rush if you see them coming in time. On ladder, you should make it standard practice to scout pretty early (at 9 or 10 food) on 2 player maps. The scout path should loop around the unseen parts of your base and behind your natural minerals before heading across the map.

 

[Woorloog]

That's probably because they hired the inferior Tricia Helfer to replace the original Kerrigan from SC/BW. Her voice and line reading was noticeably inferior in WoL too. Actors don't always make good voice actors, but game developers keep hiring actors because they're famous.

Helfer did good work as EDI in Mass Effect 2 and 3, so i think the problem is in script and sound directing. EDIT because every line of dialogue felt pretty bad in WoL. Tychus was pretty good though.

 

[Smooth Operator]

What uuuuuup! Join the neogaf channel in SC and if you want a clan invite, PM me your info!

I'll sent you a MP asap with my infos too !

 

[Zzoram]

Helfer did good work as EDI in Mass Effect 2 and 3, so i think the problem is in script and sound directing. EDIT because every line of dialogue felt pretty bad in WoL. Tychus was pretty good though.

EDI in Mass Effect was a computer. Wooden actors tend to sound like machines.

 

[Woorloog]

EDI in Mass Effect was a computer. Wooden actors tend to sound like machines.

OK, good point. Helfer's fine when she's voicing a computer, robot, AI or such, i guess.

But even Raynor's actor didn't do very well in WoL, i think, despite being the same as in original SC. IMO.

 

[Boken]

Yo why is the neogaf channel so empty

 

[Lime]

EDI in Mass Effect was a computer. Wooden actors tend to sound like machines.

OK, good point. Helfer's fine when she's voicing a computer, robot, AI or such, i guess.

But even Raynor's actor didn't do very well in WoL, i think, despite being the same as in original SC. IMO.

To be fair, it's hard to do proper voice acting when the script is complete shit.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I'll be join the gaf group. I won't be playing until after work though. Looking to be more active, possibly this time around.

 

[KKRT00]

If Kerrigan dies in combat, she will respawn in nearest base in 60s lol
Kripparrian practically plays only her as it was dota game, but on normal.

 

[Draft]

Blizz's storytelling rut is due to Metzen going soft and Blizzard going big. Whatever dark place that birthed Kerrigan the mass murderer, roomfuls of butchered children and Arthas murdering his best friend has been lit up with bronzer, hair gel and gleaming wrap around glasses worn indoors. This happens to a lot of older guys. They strike it rich, live the good life for a decade and somewhere along the line become the stereotypical Hollywood story guy. Isn't it easy to picture Chris Metzen, lounging by a pool somewhere, wrapped in a $500 robe, extolling at length how audiences really eat up distressed romance, star crossed lovers, you know the whole Romeo and Juliet thing, ya get me, babe?

After all, that's where the money is and that is where Blizzard now plays. They aren't the cool studio cranking out kind of violent, heavy metal inspired Heavy Metal fantasy and sci-fi. They are the humongous corporate conglomerate carefully cultivating the most valuable set of IPs in gaming. Becoming number one in sales is like getting elected President or any other popularity concert and it involves a drift towards the center. Content should cater to as wide an audience as possible.

What would have been the natural extension of the BW storyline? WoL would have been Jim Raynor, haggard, lonely and probably drunk, living for his chance to kill Kerrigan, avenge his dead friends, and maybe save the Korporlu sector from being consumed by the Zerg. The most likely conclusion for him involves a coffin. And what would the Zerg campaign entail? After BW Kerrigan is a full fledged monster. She's killed millions of people. Her goal is to kill everything and absorb what is left over into the swarm. Is the Blizzard that turned WoW into the most successful IP of the last decade going to release a full retail title where the main character is a mass murderer? There was never a chance.

I fucking hate it. SC/BW has a really cool story. This isn't meant to excuse Blizzard, just try to figure out how they ended up here.

 

[ShaneB]

It's a custom multiplayer game, usually 4v4, where each player gets to build only one unit.

Oooo, that does sound fun.

 

[f0rk]

Man the writing and whole story direction are both terrrribleeeee. Like it's so bad I'm actually finding it entertaining.

Agree with Draft, you can tell they aren't in that place any more just after the first mission and the fallout from what Kerrigan just did.

 

[rakhir]

To be fair, it's hard to do proper voice acting when the script is complete shit.

Yeah, i absolutely love Helfer in BSG, she played a lot of roles there and was great even while playing normal people.

Perfect example for this are Star Wars prequels: even really good actors like McGregor and Portman couldn't act through that shitty script.

 

[greatnorthern]

Blizz's storytelling rut is due to Metzen going soft and Blizzard going big. Whatever dark place that birthed Kerrigan the mass murderer, roomfuls of butchered children and Arthas murdering his best friend has been lit up with bronzer, hair gel and gleaming wrap around glasses worn indoors. This happens to a lot of older guys. They strike it rich, live the good life for a decade and somewhere along the line become the stereotypical Hollywood story guy. Isn't it easy to picture Chris Metzen, lounging by a pool somewhere, wrapped in a $500 robe, extolling at length how audiences really eat up distressed romance, star crossed lovers, you know the whole Romeo and Juliet thing, ya get me, babe?

After all, that's where the money is and that is where Blizzard now plays. They aren't the cool studio cranking out kind of violent, heavy metal inspired Heavy Metal fantasy and sci-fi. They are the humongous corporate conglomerate carefully cultivating the most valuable set of IPs in gaming. Becoming number one in sales is like getting elected President or any other popularity concert and it involves a drift towards the center. Content should cater to as wide an audience as possible.

What would have been the natural extension of the BW storyline? WoL would have been Jim Raynor, haggard, lonely and probably drunk, living for his chance to kill Kerrigan, avenge his dead friends, and maybe save the Korporlu sector from being consumed by the Zerg. The most likely conclusion for him involves a coffin. And what would the Zerg campaign entail? After BW Kerrigan is a full fledged monster. She's killed millions of people. Her goal is to kill everything and absorb what is left over into the swarm. Is the Blizzard that turned WoW into the most successful IP of the last decade going to release a full retail title where the main character is a mass murderer? There was never a chance.

I fucking hate it. SC/BW has a really cool story. This isn't meant to excuse Blizzard, just try to figure out how they ended up here.

This post.

 

[twelver]

This post.

yes

 

[captainnapalm]

Blizz's storytelling rut is due to Metzen going soft and Blizzard going big. Whatever dark place that birthed Kerrigan the mass murderer, roomfuls of butchered children and Arthas murdering his best friend has been lit up with bronzer, hair gel and gleaming wrap around glasses worn indoors. This happens to a lot of older guys. They strike it rich, live the good life for a decade and somewhere along the line become the stereotypical Hollywood story guy. Isn't it easy to picture Chris Metzen, lounging by a pool somewhere, wrapped in a $500 robe, extolling at length how audiences really eat up distressed romance, star crossed lovers, you know the whole Romeo and Juliet thing, ya get me, babe?

After all, that's where the money is and that is where Blizzard now plays. They aren't the cool studio cranking out kind of violent, heavy metal inspired Heavy Metal fantasy and sci-fi. They are the humongous corporate conglomerate carefully cultivating the most valuable set of IPs in gaming. Becoming number one in sales is like getting elected President or any other popularity concert and it involves a drift towards the center. Content should cater to as wide an audience as possible.

What would have been the natural extension of the BW storyline? WoL would have been Jim Raynor, haggard, lonely and probably drunk, living for his chance to kill Kerrigan, avenge his dead friends, and maybe save the Korporlu sector from being consumed by the Zerg. The most likely conclusion for him involves a coffin. And what would the Zerg campaign entail? After BW Kerrigan is a full fledged monster. She's killed millions of people. Her goal is to kill everything and absorb what is left over into the swarm. Is the Blizzard that turned WoW into the most successful IP of the last decade going to release a full retail title where the main character is a mass murderer? There was never a chance.

I fucking hate it. SC/BW has a really cool story. This isn't meant to excuse Blizzard, just try to figure out how they ended up here.

Man now that you mention it, it would have been so cool if they'd taken SC and Diablo into more Heavy Metal-inspired territory.

 

[Jackben]

Cannon rush?

Cannon rush

Omg, nysskel noo hahahaha.

 

[BearPawB]

Blizzard fans are far too story critical. It's still best in class of its genre.

 

[Lime]

Blizz's storytelling rut is due to Metzen going soft and Blizzard going big. Whatever dark place that birthed Kerrigan the mass murderer, roomfuls of butchered children and Arthas murdering his best friend has been lit up with bronzer, hair gel and gleaming wrap around glasses worn indoors.

I like this description. Nice post, Draft.

What would have been the natural extension of the BW storyline? WoL would have been Jim Raynor, haggard, lonely and probably drunk, living for his chance to kill Kerrigan, avenge his dead friends, and maybe save the Korporlu sector from being consumed by the Zerg. The most likely conclusion for him involves a coffin. And what would the Zerg campaign entail? After BW Kerrigan is a full fledged monster. She's killed millions of people. Her goal is to kill everything and absorb what is left over into the swarm. Is the Blizzard that turned WoW into the most successful IP of the last decade going to release a full retail title where the main character is a mass murderer? There was never a chance.

This makes me sad. What could have been...Your suggestion sounds exactly like the logical consequences of what happened in Brood War.

The industry in the 90's was small enough to allow for developers like Blizzard to experiment a bit more and do much more creative scenarios than the stagnation and risk-averse environment we have in today's bigger market.

 

[Spl1nter]

Blizz's storytelling rut is due to Metzen going soft and Blizzard going big. Whatever dark place that birthed Kerrigan the mass murderer, roomfuls of butchered children and Arthas murdering his best friend has been lit up with bronzer, hair gel and gleaming wrap around glasses worn indoors. This happens to a lot of older guys. They strike it rich, live the good life for a decade and somewhere along the line become the stereotypical Hollywood story guy. Isn't it easy to picture Chris Metzen, lounging by a pool somewhere, wrapped in a $500 robe, extolling at length how audiences really eat up distressed romance, star crossed lovers, you know the whole Romeo and Juliet thing, ya get me, babe?

After all, that's where the money is and that is where Blizzard now plays. They aren't the cool studio cranking out kind of violent, heavy metal inspired Heavy Metal fantasy and sci-fi. They are the humongous corporate conglomerate carefully cultivating the most valuable set of IPs in gaming. Becoming number one in sales is like getting elected President or any other popularity concert and it involves a drift towards the center. Content should cater to as wide an audience as possible.

What would have been the natural extension of the BW storyline? WoL would have been Jim Raynor, haggard, lonely and probably drunk, living for his chance to kill Kerrigan, avenge his dead friends, and maybe save the Korporlu sector from being consumed by the Zerg. The most likely conclusion for him involves a coffin. And what would the Zerg campaign entail? After BW Kerrigan is a full fledged monster. She's killed millions of people. Her goal is to kill everything and absorb what is left over into the swarm. Is the Blizzard that turned WoW into the most successful IP of the last decade going to release a full retail title where the main character is a mass murderer? There was never a chance.

I fucking hate it. SC/BW has a really cool story. This isn't meant to excuse Blizzard, just try to figure out how they ended up here.

Yep, but it wasnt just in the story but in the cg art choices as well. Design of the clothing and interiors just completely contradicts the past SC/BW story/art.

 

[Danj]

If you bought it on your account, you already own it. The cdkey is only used for attaching the game to your account.

I got my physical edition delivered at work today and put the CD key in my battle.net account, is there anything extra I need to download or will my existing Starcraft 2 game client have automatically updated itself with the new content? Just asking as I'd like to start the download remotely (I have LogMeIn) so that it's ready for me when I get home from work.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Hows the between mission meta game stuff and does it encourage you to take extra risks during the missions?

 

[Lime]

Blizzard fans are far too story critical. It's still best in class of its genre.

....

No? Have you ever played any other RTS ever? Try picking up World in Conflict or Homeworld 1 for strategy games with much, much, much more stellar writing and storytelling.

 

[plutoknight]

Not a fan of the installer -- My Internet is being slow today, and it'll take forever to download the 5GB for the expansion.... I have a freaking DVD, WHY DON'T YOU USE IT!?!?

I got my physical edition delivered at work today and put the CD key in my battle.net account, is there anything extra I need to download or will my existing Starcraft 2 game client have automatically updated itself with the new content? Just asking as I'd like to start the download remotely (I have LogMeIn) so that it's ready for me when I get home from work.

You can have it download the expansion while you're away. All you need is the CD-Key.

 

[Lime]

Yep, but it wasnt just in the story but in the cg art choices as well. Design of the clothing and interiors just completely contradicts the past SC/BW story/art.

I never liked the aesthetics they chose to go with in Starcraft 2. Zerg became rounded, soft creatures, so they looked more out of a Saturday morning cartoon than the W40K inspiration with sharp, pointy spikes we saw in the original SC/BW.

 

[Pancakes]

Blizz's storytelling rut is due to Metzen going soft and Blizzard going big. Whatever dark place that birthed Kerrigan the mass murderer, roomfuls of butchered children and Arthas murdering his best friend has been lit up with bronzer, hair gel and gleaming wrap around glasses worn indoors. This happens to a lot of older guys. They strike it rich, live the good life for a decade and somewhere along the line become the stereotypical Hollywood story guy. Isn't it easy to picture Chris Metzen, lounging by a pool somewhere, wrapped in a $500 robe, extolling at length how audiences really eat up distressed romance, star crossed lovers, you know the whole Romeo and Juliet thing, ya get me, babe?

After all, that's where the money is and that is where Blizzard now plays. They aren't the cool studio cranking out kind of violent, heavy metal inspired Heavy Metal fantasy and sci-fi. They are the humongous corporate conglomerate carefully cultivating the most valuable set of IPs in gaming. Becoming number one in sales is like getting elected President or any other popularity concert and it involves a drift towards the center. Content should cater to as wide an audience as possible.

What would have been the natural extension of the BW storyline? WoL would have been Jim Raynor, haggard, lonely and probably drunk, living for his chance to kill Kerrigan, avenge his dead friends, and maybe save the Korporlu sector from being consumed by the Zerg. The most likely conclusion for him involves a coffin. And what would the Zerg campaign entail? After BW Kerrigan is a full fledged monster. She's killed millions of people. Her goal is to kill everything and absorb what is left over into the swarm. Is the Blizzard that turned WoW into the most successful IP of the last decade going to release a full retail title where the main character is a mass murderer? There was never a chance.

I fucking hate it. SC/BW has a really cool story. This isn't meant to excuse Blizzard, just try to figure out how they ended up here.

I hate how much truth is in this post.

 

[The Lamonster]

Chris Metzen is the killer argument against why capitalism doesn't work.

....

No? Have you ever played any other RTS ever?

the hell are you doing in this thread if you hate SCII so much?

 

[Lime]

the fuck are you doing in this thread if you hate SCII so much?

Oh, I didn't know that one isn't allowed to be critical in an official thread. Is circle-jerk only allowed?

I really liked Starcraft 1 and Broodwar back in the day (it was decent dark sci-fi with entertaining political intrigue), so I was sad to see SC2: WoL shitting on and retconning the original characters and events. That's why I participate in the thread, because of the good memories of the universe back in the day.

 

[Felix Lighter]

the hell are you doing in this thread if you hate SCII so much?

He seems to be talk specifically about the storytelling, which I agree is a particular weak point in SC2. Though, gameplaywise, it's the kind of RTS I enjoy the most and as far as that side of things go, I feel like they nailed it. I don't know what it is but there isn't a similar game that I've played that controls as well.

 

[Bisnic]

Not a fan of the installer -- My Internet is being slow today, and it'll take forever to download the 5GB for the expansion.... I have a freaking DVD, WHY DON'T YOU USE IT!?!?

What? So even if i go buy HotS at a game store, i still have to download the whole thing? What's the point then to buy the DVD?

 

[RadixNegative2]

Draft's post reminded me of these

Heavy Metal Starcraft is best Starcraft!

Not to shit on Starcraft 2 style though, I love that too