(StarCraft 2) Apparently Blizzard Still Makes Games!
 

Right, I'm not sure if it's worth making a thread, but since there isn't one and Blizzard doesn't exactly unveil new games too often, I figured I might point this out:

http://www.blizzard.com/

A splash screen. They do this when they're about to release new games. 2 days ago it was Warcraft and Warcraft II, then it was Diablo, and now it's Starcraft. So on the seventh day we'll know what they're going to release in five years.

Speculation, excitement and drooling can go in this thread.

Woot! Starcraft 2 XD

It damn well better be. If it winds up being "World of Starcraft" I'm going to throw things. If they want to follow "Starcraft 2" with "World of Starcraft," fine, but there's better be a game in that space.

A new iteration of "Ghost" would be nice too.

Considering that 90% of the Blizzard devs responsible for everything up to WoW (and the very early iterations of the game) left when Vivendi brought out Blizzard, I'm rather skeptical at best as to the quality of the game. Hellgate: London, IIRC, is what most of the old Blizzard devs are working on at the moment.

Well, it's essentially a given that this has to do with Starcraft. They're going to announce it at a pro-gamer tournament in Korea if what I've heard is correct. If they were to announce anything but Starcraft, they wouldn't make it out of the building alive.

That said, what this will actually be is open for debate. A new RTS is the prime candidate, they're still getting a shitload of cash out of WoW, and a Starcraft MMORPG would only eat at their current customer base. Of course it could end up being a type of game Blizzard usually doesn't do.

My fantasy right now is some sort of Starcraft MMORTS. But a regular RTS called Starcraft 2 will do fine.

I'm still waiting for some Diablo III goodness from Blizzard because I love Dungeon Crawler type games. Hasn't this (along with Starcraft: Ghost) been delayed time after time again? I don't know, maybe it's just because I don't play World of Warcraft that I don't think Blizzard's doing much at the moment.

Wizards of the Coast was bought by Hasbro and suddenly Magic: The Gathering became a game of who can be more of a cheap ass. New employees can make or break a company.

As for the new StarCraft... if it becomes an MMO, I'm going to start chucking things at small children and skullfucking old women, because that would truly be a sign of the apocalypse.

Everyone already knows its going to be an MMORPG. Face it, the days of good gaming are gone.

FF VI happens

"Man, that game was awesome. It was concise and had a storyline that held up through the entire game!"

FF VI staff leaves. FF VII happens.

"Wow... that game had promise, but what the fuck happened to the story? It wasn't even coherent. And what the fuck happened to the character design? Why is the dark vampy guy wearing pixie shoes?"

FF VIII happens.

"Oh, what the fuck was that?"

Staff makes a difference.

Considering the "work" I've seen the new devs do with WoW, yes, I am reasonably certain in saying that Blizzard's next offering will suck.

Maybe not, but games are games, no matter what format they're in. Company mergers almost always result in shittier games coming out.

Square becomes Square Enix, game quality goes down the tubes (though Denicalis is right, FFVI was really where the quality started to slide)

Sega merges with Sammy, not even Sonic can save them.

Virgin Interactive merges with EA, we never see Thrill Kill legally because EA are a bunch of pussies.

The only good merger I know of is Namco and Bandai.

Not legally. *pats his illegal copy lovingly*

Haha yeah... if EA knew just how many people (myself included) circumvented their little ban on the game, they'd probably shit mutiple bricks.

No doubt. They could have made a mint on that game. A buddy of mine said it best: "Do you know how much money EA could have made if they'd incorporated Thrill Kill style violence into something like Road Rash? They'd have beaten out GTA by a decade."

"Battle net kiddies" have ruined WoW and I expect nothing less from this. If it were SC2, I'll play it for the campaign and story line. Nobody in WoW cares about the lore or the stories or knows about it, but their circle-jerk buddies will hype them into loving "zomg starcraft 2 is the best evar" and any chance of playing it online for me will be ruined.

*sheds a tear for the dear departed Westwood studios. And Origin. And Bullfrog.*

While a part of me is definitely hoping for a Starcraft 2, I don't really hold Blizzard up to their previous standards. Warcraft 3 really felt disappointing, it seemed like they just sort of mixed up the races in Starcraft and threw a new coat of paint on it. Honestly, I would've been more happy with a streamlined Starcraft. And WoW I just thought was crap and I never understood what was considered so good about it, although I'll admit that it could just be because I got tired of Everquest-clones about 5 years ago.

Still, I'd love to see a new Starcraft game that has the updated features of Warcraft 3 and other modern improvements (a Supreme Commander styled zoom system would be nice). But I think this announcement could also end up being a Starcraft MMO...so I'd give each a 49%/49% chance (the other 2% representing Diablo III)

Great, now I'm feeling like shit at the thought of no more Dungeon Keeper games and Westwood being gone. Thanks for reminding me.

I'm somewhat surprised at the amount of negative comments so far. I can see where it comes from, but I'm still going to wait before they announce what they're making before starting to criticize them. I mean really, I usually dislike it when people whine about games that aren't even out yet, but doing it when the game hasn't been announced is a whole new level.

Or maybe I'm the one who's just hopelessly optimistic. But all I'm hoping for is for people to spontaneously combust if they so much as catch a glimpse of Starcraft 2's radiance.

Considering the number of lackluster sequels the market has been flooded with, you can't help but be a little cynical when you see yet another on the horizon. Computer gaming has become so mainstream that innovation is being left behind for following in the paths of known success stories. Few companies seem willing to risk their time and money on something that isn't guaranteed to earn them a rich profit.

Once they (game dev companies) (hopefully) realize that their 'guarranteed' games aren't bringing in nearly as much money as they would hope, its been a pattern in the past that this is when the next killer app game appears and a new wave of innovation and creativity spearheads game title development.

Or at least, this has been true so far. There are of course exceptions to this, but that's to be expected in ANY industry that deals with creativity versus profit.

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While a Starcraft MMO would probably seem fun in the short term (Say, a month or so), I have a feeling it would quickly stagnate over time because I've had all the fix I want of MMO style gameplay with WoW (And I only played to around level 10 with a friend's account, so it got boring pretty fast for me).

If they truly did make a Starcraft 2, with high resolution 2D Sprites (Think Castlevania or Guilty Gear) and an added 4th Race, more upgrades, and a new storyline, then I suppose that would be a welcome addition to the lineup. Of course since this is a brilliant idea, 0% chance of it becoming reality.

O god, i couldn't have said it better.

Anyways, i'll only be pissed if it's World of Starcraft. If it's Starcraft 2 i'll reserve my judgement until it's out, and in my hands. If it's another MMO, i'll weep for the lost art of single player games.