[PC] (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.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Woot! Starcraft 2 XD

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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.

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

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.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

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 was speaking idiomatically.

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.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by BigHairyFeet

So, new employees equals a shitty game? Blizzard has standards, just like any other company; theirs are just higher than usual.

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.

FELIPE NO

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

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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.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by BigHairyFeet

So, new employees equals a shitty game? Blizzard has standards, just like any other company; theirs are just higher than usual.

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by BigHairyFeet

And a TCG isn't a videogame.

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.

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

Originally Posted by Malahk Angel

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

Not legally. *pats his illegal copy lovingly*

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Denicalis

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.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Oh man. May 19 might just be a most joyous day. <3

I can't wait for this announcement. Just gonna point out the timeline is also at http://www.starcraft2.com though Blizzard's owned that domain for years.

=o



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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."

FELIPE NO

"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.

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

Originally Posted by BigHairyFeet

So, new employees equals a shitty game?

*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)

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Originally Posted by Solis

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

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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.

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

Originally Posted by Sol

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.

----

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.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Lukage

"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.

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.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I wonder what the chances of them making a new franchise is.

Maybe it'll be a Starcraft FPS and play like Natural Selection for Half Life. I'd buy that in a second.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I'd love to see a new franchise and a new genre as well. Too bad we all know that's not going to happen.

I think a Starcraft Action-RPG (Diablo-Style) would be neat, although pulling this off without ruining the entire Starcraft universe seems almost impossible.

FELIPE NO

From a business perspective, they'd be mad to release World of Starcraft this soon after the release of Burning Crusade. Buzz surrounding the expansion isn't dead yet, and Blizzard would be picking their own pockets. Some of their customer base would surely feel alienated as well, feeling they "wasted" their money on the expansion when news of this MMO pops up shortly thereafter.

That said, having seen what's been going on with WoW from afar, I'm not entirely sure I trust Blizzard to have that much sense. Then again, maybe they're going with the mad plan of marketing World of Starcraft primarily to the Koreans, and focusing their WoW attentions mainly on the western player base. After all, from figures I've seen, WoW gets overshadowed by classic Starcraft and Lineage II over there.

I dunno if I'm that enthusiastic about thoughts of Starcraft 2 anymore, either. They've got quite a personal standard to live up to, and I really don't think Blizzard is the same company we all remember and love. Several years ago I couldn't have given Blizzard my money fast enough for Starcraft 2, but now it almost seems like missing the boat. Especially since I know it'll demand faster specs than my computer can handle.

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

If it isn't SC 2 I'm gonna have another good laugh at all the folks who got their hopes up (yet again) for a sequel to SC. This isn't directed at anyone in particular, it just gets funny when I see something like:

Headlines: "Blizzard to announce new game on date x"
Gamers: "ZOMG!!111 ITZ SC 2@!@!@!!!
Headlines: "Blizzard announces new game: <insert game that's not SC 2 here>
Gamers: "WTF BLIZZ!!!!"

Sorry it just gets funny after awhile. Especially since the last time this happened was when they announced WoW, and how bummed everyone was after finding out.

That said, if it is SC 2, I'll be interested in seeing what comes of it. I just hope it's *nothing* like WC 3. The campaign in WC 3 was fun, but other than that it was just a rush fest of how many tier 1 units can I build and rush at the other guy's base in x amount of time.....and oh yeah let's throw a hero in there for good measure. The original SC maps even against the computer had a more satisfying feel to them too, so I definitely wouldn't complain if they went with some tried and true elements from SC *if* it is indeed SC 2.

Jam it back in, in the dark.