Hasn't the HoTS preview just been AWESOME?! You'd be stupid not to think so. Let's take a look at some of the new features:
-Carrier and mothership removed because fuck the mothership and it would be just too hard to balance an already implemented unit. -Two new protoss air units added. A flying Thor and one that kind looks like a wadded up piece of paper. -Mineral freeze. Like force-fields but less Starcraft-esque and more we're-shit-out-of-ideas-esque (probably requires more APM to build the unit than to use the ability). -The Nexus now has a recall ability. In other news, you can never base race a Protoss ever again. -The Nexus now has an ability, for 25 energy, to add a gun to a target building. Consider Marauder drops a thing of the past! No one would ever attack a cybercore with a sentry duct taped to the top.
-Zerg now has the equivalent of those sticky hands you slapped your siblings with as a child. -Flying defiler (probably useless but its your fault if it is) -Lurkers that shit broodlings. Because broodlords were just to easy to kill with siege tanks. -The hydra is now an air unit. It has a new, unrevealed unit ability. -Ultralisks can burrow-blink. -Just kidding the hydra is still a ground unit. You probably believed that shit, though. It would have been the most sane change in the list. -Ultralisks can burrow-blink. -Corrupters can now contaminate CC's/Nexus's/Hatches' which gives 1 mineral per second and does 1 dps per second. -Ultralisks can burrow-blink.
-Terran goes full on copyright infringement and adds the Thor (not the Starcraft Thor but the Mech Commander Thor). It does AOE air damage and is faster and smaller than the Thor. Thank god, the thor was always so easy to kill. -Hellions can now transform! More HP, same old eradicate an entire zerg army.
But who the fuck cares about multiplayer. We all play Starcraft for the story. Enter Kerrigan. That girl who says she isn't like other girls. She's out for another man and completely ignores the guy who's always been there for her (Writer's note: really reaching out to the sexually frustrated, teenage audience). Who knows what's in store for us with this all new, *noncliche* storyyyy!!
Other notes: -WoW and "Kung fu Panda" have made a mysterious merger
Did I miss anything? On a serious note, this all looks like it should be in a UMS map.
On October 22 2011 04:21 RohoboK wrote: Well, let's hope your painful pessimism never spreads further than the insignificant doldrums of the TeamLiquid blog space.
I have done nothing but list the new changes. If that's pessimism then we've got a serious problem.
Don't get me wrong, Hwangjae. There are some good ideas. But there are good ideas and then there are applicable and useful ideas. There are ideas relevant and interesting for gameplay. But mostly Blizzard just had cliche, simple ideas. They went for a cool focus rather than a functionality based one.
On October 22 2011 04:21 RohoboK wrote: Well, let's hope your painful pessimism never spreads further than the insignificant doldrums of the TeamLiquid blog space.
I have done nothing but list the new changes. If that's pessimism then we've got a serious problem.
Your blog post was practically drenched in a sarcasm that shown nothing more than utter contempt for Blizzard's ideas.
On October 22 2011 04:33 PopeTimusPrime wrote: Don't get me wrong, Hwangjae. There are some good ideas. But there are good ideas and then there are applicable and useful ideas. There are ideas relevant and interesting for gameplay. But mostly Blizzard just had cliche, simple ideas. They went for a cool focus rather than a functionality based one.
well, the protoss air AOE one makes sense, because other than storm they have no anti-air AOE. I can live with that unit. The manhack thingy is hard to justify/call out because it looks like it....I don't know what it does or how.
Terran stuff = lol. The mecha-hellion is just stupid to me, an unneeded change or addition, and the mini-thor is probably to replace goliaths in an SK Terran kind of build. Bio + Mini-Thors = fast mobile force.
Zerg sticky hands...not sure how that's going to balance out at all, will have to see before we can really judge it, it's a peculiar idea. Lurker-broodling thing...ground version of broodlord? Why?? If they wanted to make a Lurker-like unit, they should have made something like the lurker. Not something that just poops out a pair of broodlings to get killed. Meh, will have to see. I guess its an alternative to super slow Broodlords.
On October 22 2011 04:37 RohoboK wrote: Your blog post was practically drenched in a sarcasm that shown nothing more than utter contempt for Blizzard's ideas.
Oh you! You caught me. I'm not a fan of most of the changes but some of them are genuinely good. That's not what this blog is about, though. This blog is about the creative black hole that is at the center of the Starcraft 2 department at Blizzard.
On October 22 2011 04:40 Chill wrote: Negativity and pessimism on the internet. This is so fresh.
Not fresh. Honest.
On October 22 2011 04:38 Torenhire wrote: well, the protoss air AOE one makes sense, because other than storm they have no anti-air AOE. I can live with that unit. The manhack thingy is hard to justify/call out because it looks like it....I don't know what it does or how.
Yeah I completely agree with the above. AA protoss units have been pretty weak but I'm not entirely sure that this is the unit to fix it (referring to the flying thor).
To everyone else: I'm not commenting on how this will balance the game; I simply don't know. I'm commenting on the way they went about balancing the game.
On October 22 2011 04:37 RohoboK wrote: Your blog post was practically drenched in a sarcasm that shown nothing more than utter contempt for Blizzard's ideas.
Oh you! You caught me. I'm not a fan of most of the changes but some of them are genuinely good. That's not what this blog is about, though. This blog is about the creative black hole that is at the center of the Starcraft 2 department at Blizzard.
What are your ideas? Starcraft 2 is Blizzard's IP and, well, what they design is, I'd like to think, the result of hard work and the bouncing around of a number of ideas and possibilities that they have whittled down to the last, most realistic few.
Obviously they have to create fun-to-use units, because believe it or not, E-SPORTS is not the only audience for Starcraft 2. To then balance new, fun units around the stable, staple units is a tough job, and until you play the game for a few months to discover each of the new units' pros and cons during competitive play, there is really no need to jump on the seemingly popular Blizzard-has-lost-all-creativity bandwagon a couple of hours after they've made the information public.
What are your ideas? Starcraft 2 is Blizzard's IP and, well, what they design is, I'd like to think, the result of hard work and the bouncing around of a number of ideas and possibilities that they have whittled down to the last, most realistic few.
Well not all departments are managed properly and not all companies are lead properly. This isn't unique to industries exterior to the gaming industry. This affects all industries. I can't comment on Blizzard's management process because I've never seen it (though from their results I can guess).
It may not be a management problem. It may be that the company is pushing for an end that is contrary to what would be best for the game. Adding units, for example, for the sake of making it feel like a new game rather than a patch. Adding more obvious abilities to attract a casual audience. These things will undoubtedly help Starcraft sell well (which is, ultimately, Blizzard's only responsibility) but it sacrifices the game's quality for short term success.
In short, Blizzard makes money at the initial release. There is no incentive to provide for a longterm product. With a pay-for-play type system maybe that incentive would be present but, as of right now, its no where to be found. That's not to say companies like Blizzard don't care about their games far into the future. But it is the to say that the development processes have a different focus because of this business strategy.
On October 22 2011 04:55 RohoboK wrote: there is really no need to jump on the seemingly popular Blizzard-has-lost-all-creativity bandwagon a couple of hours after they've made the information public.
Really interested in your thought process here. You don't accuse me of jumping on a bandwagon when I don't purchase less than desirable fruit or vegetable at a market? Why accuse me when I'm commenting on a game that I like to play? I wouldn't buy a rotten fruit and I may even tell the management to restock their shelves. And I won't buy a rotten game and I think its healthy to at least have a discussion about these things.
Ultimately, its at the market's convenience to restock their shelves but if they neglect that rotten fruit for too long I'll simply go somewhere else.
EPT
