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So it has been a while since I posted an update. This was due to a variety of things, including multiple illnesses, travel, and wedding planning. During all of this I chose to focus my time on practicing instead of writing blog entries and streaming, which I think paid off based on my improvement. However this past week, I've been too ill to actually play and improve effectively. Since my doctor informed me this was likely to continue for another week, possibly two, I decided to kick myself into starting blog entries again. My stream will be starting again whenever I can manage it (within 2 weeks), at the moment talking for any length of time isn't an option due to my sore throat.
For today I just wanted to post some of my musings on the state of HotS, and Blizzard's handling of the expansion. I've always thought Blizzard did a good job making games, as do most of you or you wouldn't be here. I especially enjoyed the presentation Dustin Browder gave on the design of Starcraft (found here). In it, he outlined a few concepts used in designing Starcraft 2, specifically clarity, simplicity, skill, and uncertainty. Some of this seems to be followed in HotS. For example, uncertainty.
Uncertainty definitely seems to be something Blizzard wants to increase. This can be seen from Blizzard being willing to actually experiment with non-standard map designs. A lot of the maps in HotS (for now at least) are smaller, which certainly makes the game more interesting to me. I literally don't watch the first several minutes of a ZvP because in a vast majority of games I could tell you exactly what will happen, especially for a tournament match. Maybe the map pool changes combined with the mothership core can mix it up? Another way Blizzard is attempting to add uncertainty is by trying to make mech a real option in TvP. This is another area where I could tell you exactly what will prbably happen right when I see the match-up. The terran will get a MMM core supported by ghosts and vikings, while the protoss will get a gateway core supported by colossi and high templar. This isn't true 100% of the time, and details will vary, but this is very different from TvZ, TvT, PvP, or ZvZ, where compositions can at times vary wildly. The attempt to make mech viable against protoss clearly shows a desire to make that match-up less predictable, which I feel is both a strong move and keeping to the presented design philosophy.
That's a couple things Blizzard appears to be doing right, or at least trying to do right. Unfortunately, Blizzard seems to be doing several things wrong. The most frightening of these things is the recent addition of the “phase shift” spell to the oracle. This is not a simple ability in any way. It prevents one spell, prevents and dispels many spells, cuts the power of yet another spell, and has no effect on the rest. That is not easy to remember, and that is not good for viewing. I don't want to have to introduce someone to this game and have to explain all of that rather than just saying “Oh, that spell is forcefield. Units can't enter a forcefielded area, and only really big units can break it.” Explanation over. Easy to understand, yet usable in many different ways. That's the kind of thing that Starcraft 2 is built on, and I would like to see more of that, not something like phase shift. I'm also unsure of the most recent hellion change because of the complexity being added to the unit. “That unit is fast and weak, but good at killing other weak units. Later it can transform into a tougher, slower unit.” That seems okay. It isn't difficult. But changing the unit's type to add biological some of the time? That's annoying to explain, and difficult to understand for someone not well acquainted with Starcraft. Frankly, I would rather just see firebats added with something like a ghost academy requirement than see mech turned into something it isn't.
For a while I would have, like most of the community, counted the warhound as a mistake. This wasn't simply due to the fact that the unit was strong, but due to the fact that it was too much like a terran bio unit, and terrans don't need multiple units performing the same roles. One will be better at it and used over the other. Kudos to Blizzard for recognizing this mistake as it was being made. Of course, then they caved to community pressure and put the carrier back in. This isn't that bad, because the carrier is so terrible that it doesn't really have a role other than to say “this is how far ahead of you I am.” But if the carrier did have a role, it seems to be intended as a long range air unit, capable of firing on one target and forcing the opponent to come and engage on the protoss player's terms. That sounds pretty familiar to me, and that kind of repetition goes against the intended design of Starcraft 2.
This turned into more of a review of Blizzard's game design abilities than specific thoughts on HotS, so I'll leave you with some simple ideas I would like to see experimented with that you can argue with me over.
Thor – Strike cannon range increased (intended to increase the viability of mech v protoss and provide the ability to punish a weak siege line, possible use against ultra encouraging charge research)
Mothership Core – Given a full time weak cannon, purify cast increases power short term (allows for more consistent defense while still potentially rewarding strong decision making in its use)
Carrier – Sent to a midgame defensive role as a slow high damage unit, obviously significantly cheaper and no longer requiring so much tech (this could allow the carrier a unique role and encourage more stargate play out of protoss players. Possible late tech upgrade to increase viability in late game)
Zerg – Zerg changes look awesome. Seriously, I love almost all of them. Good job to Blizzard. I am hoping that with some increased options from the infestation pit we can see some infestor nerfs, but that's probably just the terran in me that dies a little bit every time a fungal catches someone off guard.
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I general I think they are being wayyyy too conseravtive with their beta. It's a new game, they need to be trying new stuff now, while they have the chance. Go on, increase siege tank damage, see what it does. Switch the Carrier up so it's more microable. Hell, try out the burrowed moving banelings.
They don't need it to be balanced, they need to change things, and see what effect that have when used by the best, but atm, they're sticking far far too close to the orginal formulae in my opinion.
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On September 25 2012 20:41 Zealos wrote:
I general I think they are being wayyyy too conseravtive with their beta. It's a new game, they need to be trying new stuff now, while they have the chance. Go on, increase siege tank damage, see what it does. Switch the Carrier up so it's more microable. Hell, try out the burrowed moving banelings.
They don't need it to be balanced, they need to change things, and see what effect that have when used by the best, but atm, they're sticking far far too close to the orginal formulae in my opinion.
While I completely understand that they need to make bold moves to try and work to improve the game wholesale. One of the reasons why I don't think they will is because a lot of money is coming into HOTS already, and they probably don't want to really change a lot of stuff for a race when it's competing for money in tournaments.
Oh well... One could hope, though.
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I for one am once again extremely disappointed with the direction this game is taking. If you don't want my pessimistic opinion, feel free not to read this quick post. I know a lot of people are happy to dismiss these things as whining and meh, I guess it kind of makes sense seeing how the current build is no where near final. But I personally can't imagine things changing that much from now so I think it's ok to comment.
I've been quite bored of SC2 for a while now and I was kind of hoping that HotS would give a second wind by adding interesting game mechanics. While I understand that this is my subjective opinion, none of the new units are interesting to me so far. Some of them are game-changing and so SC2 will obviously play differently, but not in a fun way. Keep in mind that what I'm saying here is about the current build and part of me has a tiny bit of hope that they'll turn this around.
As a Protoss player, I feel like the only major change I'm getting is that I can recall every 10 seconds, so I don't even have to take care of my army anymore. I can just throw it around like a fucking yo-yo and pull it back when I need it. It's an ability that babysits me, it's not fun. Besides that, Protoss will just adapt to the silly units that the other races have. The tempest, while it looks amazing graphically, is incredibly boring. I have no words to express how fucking ridiculous I feel the oracle is. I mean I understand its use but is there anything more boring than passively affecting some dude's economy? Again, just an opinion.
Most people seem to like the swarm host and while it feels zergey', it's not one of those cool units that get in there and wreak havoc, which is what made BW good IMO. Lurkers, reavers... The battle hellion is just not interesting to me.
Besides that there are cool units like the Viper which is an awesome concept but the fact that they can yank massive units is just ridiculous and seems too restrictive for those who have to face it. But fine. If it's done well it could be fine.
I dunno. I don't view any of the changes as positive really. But then again maybe I'm just getting old and bitter. I've found that I have a hard time getting excited about games now. I've always identified myself as a gamer and it feels like it's dying off, is it me or is it the game industry? Oh well, getting off topic. Cheers.
Edit: Sorry if it comes off as "whining", maybe it is. I'm a BW fan who's favorite game recently died. I really wish SC2 made me half as happy as BW could.
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On September 27 2012 00:02 Djzapz wrote:
Most people seem to like the swarm host and while it feels zergey', it's not one of those cool units that get in there and wreak havoc, which is what made BW good IMO. Lurkers, reavers... The battle hellion is just not interesting to me.
I haven't ever player a single game of BW, and my only knowledge on it comes from watching sayle and a few old day9 dailies, so I'm may be asking a dumb question here. I only hope there are enough other people out there in my boat that it's a worthwhile one.
What was it about the units like the lurker and reaver that were so awesome? Is it the uncertainty of exactly what will happen as the fight starts? As in, "Oh, is he going to place that reaver shot perfectly?" or "How many of these lurkers will go down before they are done burrowing?" Or is there more to it than that? Because I always thought SC2 could use more of that. You get it sometimes with things like storms, hellion shots, and baneling hits, but when a colossus walks into the fight you know exactly what it's going to do.
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On September 27 2012 00:58 Zultar wrote:Show nested quote +On September 27 2012 00:02 Djzapz wrote:
Most people seem to like the swarm host and while it feels zergey', it's not one of those cool units that get in there and wreak havoc, which is what made BW good IMO. Lurkers, reavers... The battle hellion is just not interesting to me.
I haven't ever player a single game of BW, and my only knowledge on it comes from watching sayle and a few old day9 dailies, so I'm may be asking a dumb question here. I only hope there are enough other people out there in my boat that it's a worthwhile one. What was it about the units like the lurker and reaver that were so awesome? Is it the uncertainty of exactly what will happen as the fight starts? As in, "Oh, is he going to place that reaver shot perfectly?" or "How many of these lurkers will go down before they are done burrowing?" Or is there more to it than that? Because I always thought SC2 could use more of that. You get it sometimes with things like storms, hellion shots, and baneling hits, but when a colossus walks into the fight you know exactly what it's going to do.
For the Reaver, there was a question of uncertainty that was also backed with some sick suspense. Reaver shots weren't instant. There was a relatively long travel time, and the thing could dud or it could kill 15 workers. Directs shot had a better chance to be successful, whereas shots that had a bad angle had a lower chance to actually go through. Some of the players really knew where to drop to surprise or corner their opponent. It really got people on the edge of their seats. Korean fangirls and casters went nuts and so did I.
Reavers were not just for harass, they were also used in armies in combination with a shuttle. Good players did an incredible amount of micromanagement that could turn the tide of a battle in a huge way. Scarabs landing was a big deal. But of course, having 2 reavers in a shuttle was extremely expensive and there was always a chance that the other player would just move up and snipe the shuttle in one volley (mostly in PvP). This made for extremely tense battles that could swing either way based on how many shots Reavers managed to land, and whether or not the reavers or the shuttle were kept alive. I feel like this allowed the smaller army to sometimes win and to leave everyone completely amazed - while this occasionally happens in SC2, I would say that there's much more of a tendency for the bigger army to win. And yes micro helps, but it's dull and generally broad tactical strokes. Reaver micro was the surgical, individual control of 2 or 3 units, that could at any moment get sniped.
Lurkers are just interesting all around because they could be used defensively, but more often they were used as a high risk high reward unit, and using them strategically could cause mass destruction. Not only could it be used as a sneaky unit, it was also capable of being used offensively, not even necessarily in a flank. A few lurkers could make large terran armies reconsider their attack.
They also also had a micro trick that people called "stop lurkers". Hold lurkers were essentially the use of a bug that kept the lurker from attacking when something was in range. It was mostly used against Terran bio. The marines would get close, and yet the lurker would wait... And when the marines got close, BAM. 20+ marines dying at once, and the T player would flip out. This essentially worked like baneling mines except it was a lot more exciting and seemed more creative, especially since back then, we weren't used to see "SO MUCH DAMAGE". Now the Terran player would just hit his barracks hotkey and spam AAAAAAAAADDD and that's that. Back then, producing units was a task that took time - time that the player presumably would rather spend elsewhere.
Those units created exciting tipping points of games that revolved around split second micro events that were interesting to watch. Of course there was also the notion of angle of attack and whatnot, but not every game ended up swinging in someone's favor because one player went up the wrong tech tree or one did a cocky attack.
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I think you're on point there. When you watch reaver drops or lurker-based battles, you know that if the player is good it'll turn into something amazing, and if he messes up it'll be trash - you don't know what it is going to be, beforehand and you know it's going to depend on the player's skill. And you also know that the smaller army with the better can control always has a chance to win, because those units are high risk, high reward.
I think HotS zerg is amazing - but HotS Terran doesn't seem very different from WoL Terran, and HotS Protoss looks even worse (if that was possible) You don't babysit your units. Your units babysit you. I don't think I've ever seen any concept more mind-numbingly boring than the Oracle - a flying caster you cannot catch and that's annoying without requiring any thought or speed - just shift click and it gets the job dones by itself. Woohoo. It also prevents ennemy spells and thus micro, and reveals parts of the map so you won't have to scout. Great ! The Tempest I'll withhold judgement on for now - I don't ever see it used anyway - but it looks fairly boring too. As for the Mothership Core.... It was my favorite idea back when it was attached to nexus, but now it's ugly, overpowered in attack and underpowered in defense, and fairly boring too.
I still have hope ; it's only the Beta, and Zerg looks really good. Maybe we can have an interesting game ?
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EPT
