[PC] (StarCraft 2) Apparently Blizzard Still Makes Games!

They put 4+ years of development into World of Warcraft. The original product was amazing. But the development teams and the "maintenance" teams are two very different things at Blizzard. The lead developers don't necessarily have their hands all over what's going on with World of Warcraft anymore. I'd be willing to bet that those most responsible for the majority of WoW's early development have been working on this new project since WoW's release, and a separate set of developers are responsible for the expansion (which I believe ruined WoW).

I wouldn't doubt that it'd be some sort of high-number 3rd person over the shoulder strategy game based on Starcraft. Think...World of Warcraft battlegrounds, starring Starcraft characters...with more than two teams. It could be quite cool, or it could be terrible.

Or perhaps it's a new license altogether? I'm sure Vivendi is willing to let Blizz develop whatever the hell they want after making the company a couple hundred million dollars on WoW.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I still think that the Starcraft MMO is going to incorporate a little more of the tactical strategy inherent to the original game. It probably won't be as story-driven as World of Warcraft. Meaning, more player versus player, controllable maps, people influencing the game world climate.

Blizzard and Vivendi want people to subscribe to both WoW and the Starcraft MMO, not just one or the other. I think in order for that to happen, they know that they'll have to make the games just different enough to keep the interest of their subscribers with both products.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

MonkeyKing... I think you're a bit off-base when you say that WoW is only successful because of battle.net. I know dozens of people who never even played a single computer game before they played WoW, and that's just my little social-sphere in the huge population of people that play. WoW is a game that transcends the conventional norm for gamers. It attracts casual players who haven't played a game in their life, hardcore gamers and everyone in between. That's where Blizzard found their success, and they're making millions of dollars from it.

I do agree, though, that it would be somewhat foolish for them to make a Starcraft MMO in exactly the same vein as WoW. If the game followed exactly the same leveling system, exactly the same play system, and offerend nothing new aside from a new story and a new environment, it would be means for many players to quit WoW and opt only for the Starcraft MMO.

But that's where I think Blizzard is going to try and change things up. I don't think they're going to make the Starcraft MMO an exact clone of WoW. I think they're going to shoot to make it different enough that they can potentially attract people to subscribe to both of their hugely successful online games (because you know no matter how the Starcraft game turns out, people are going to flock to it in droves). I can guarantee you that that is one of their primary goals, especially when you consider the board room meetings the lead developers from Blizzard are having with the Vivendi executives.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I wouldn't expect any major graphic overhauls from what we see now. Mostly what they're going to work out during the alpha and beta stages are game balance more than anything, since that's the most important aspect of a strategy title.

They've been working on SC2 since WC3:TFT was released, so they've already had about 3 years to come up with the graphics we see now. And if you've learned anything about Blizzard over the years, it should be that their art department isn't keen on redesigning their graphics.

To be honest, they're pretty cool. I like them.

How ya doing, buddy?

Gamestop and EB are taking preorders on Duke Nukem: Forever, as well.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Shoulda pre-ordered a Wii 4srsly.

But yeah, it's not really hard to find stuff. I can't imagine Starcraft 2 being sold out anywhere. Blizzard always has more than enough copies to go around when they launch new games.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by K_ Takahashi

might get some extras when you pick up a preorder, hell, I'm going down tomorrow and reserving this!

Doubt it, unless there's a collector's edition (which there will be, but it hasn't been announced yet so I doubt EB or GameStop are taking preorders on the CE yet).

FELIPE NO

I can understand preordering hardware units that have a lot of hype and an expected shortage (XBOX360, Wii, ...not PS3). But I've never had an issue finding a game on release day for any platform. Sometimes I've even picked up games a day or two after release date, and there were plenty to go around. It's not hard for companies to press DVDs. There should never be a shortage, really.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?