• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 02:28
CEST 08:28
KST 15:28
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy18ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
$5,000 WardiTV TLMC tournament - Presented by Monster Energy2GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding3Weekly Cups (May 30-Apr 5): herO, Clem, SHIN win0[BSL22] RO32 Group Stage4Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6
StarCraft 2
General
Quebec Clan still alive ? BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Weekly Cups (May 30-Apr 5): herO, Clem, SHIN win Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info
Tourneys
GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding $5,000 WardiTV TLMC tournament - Presented by Monster Energy Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 520 Moving Fees Mutation # 519 Inner Power Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion BW General Discussion so ive been playing broodwar for a week straight. Gypsy to Korea Pros React To: JaeDong vs Queen
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL22] RO32 Group B - Sunday 21:00 CEST [BSL22] RO32 Group A - Saturday 21:00 CEST 🌍 Weekly Foreign Showmatches
Strategy
Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Loot Boxes—Emotions, And Why…
TrAiDoS
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1537 users

Starcraft limitations explained (in-universe)

Blogs > targ
Post a Reply
targ
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Malaysia445 Posts
June 07 2013 08:46 GMT
#1
My friends like to watch me play Starcraft, and among the hilarious questions they ask me (why can't overlords attack with their dangling appendages? Why don't dropships have to land to pick units up?) two stood out the most, as they were somewhat logical.

A. When you research the upgrade, how do all the units get it on the field? Why don't they have to come back to base to get the upgrade, kinda like a car being modded?
B. Why is there a supply limit of 200?

After some careful thought, I have came up with answers to these two queries.

Let us immerse ourselves in the Starcraft 2 universe. Are the races fully united? The Terrans are obviously not, the Dominon and Raynor are at loggerheads, while Kel-Moria and some other colonies each have their own ideas as to what to do. Protoss has a bunch of different factions and friction between the light and dark templar, that's why LotV will feature Zeratul trying to make them cooperate, not to mention the Taldarim incident. Even the supposedly monolithic Zerg is not all that monolithic, the Broodmothers follow the strongest entity, which at present is Kerrigan, but they seem to have some rivalry between each other.

Now look at yourself in a custom game. What are you? A Terran commander, Protoss executor or Zerg broodmother. Probably one rather low down the chain of command. Would your boss trust you enough to give you 3/3 upgrades and all special abilities researched right at the start? Would he/she allow you to grow your army without any limitations except how much resources are in your area? Of course not. If you are Terran, you might get strong enough to break off and start your own power group, or worse, join the other factions, and he might get executed. A Protoss might conceivably get over aggressive towards the other tribes (or depending on his leader's wishes, not aggressive enough), while a Broodmother might decide she is strong enough to attempt a coup d'etat or splinter away, they are after all programmed to follow the strongest.

Obviously, even leaders from the same race cannot trust each other fully.

Think of it, if they really wanted you to win the war, would they just give you a mining building and 6 workers at the start? Of course they would give you a large army right? Hence we can see that these skirmishes which we call custom games are really of no impact to the great war between the races, they are just battlegrounds for rank and file commanders (us) to prove our ability and loyalty, and hopefully get promoted.

So coming back to the game, say you are a Terran commander. Your marines actually have the upgrades programmed into their suits and rifles already, but they are not active yet, the combat shields are built into the back of the suit, but are locked into place and cannot be taken out. Once you complete researching the upgrade, the release code is sent to them, enabling them to use upgrades and combat shields. So what is the purpose of the upgrade? The truth is that an emissary from your boss is sitting inside the engineering bay, so when you give him his "processing fees" of 100 minerals and 100 gas, he starts to process your request, which takes up the research time. After he has finished checking your loyalty and filling in the necessary papers, he stamps the paper of approval, upon which the release code is sent out to your armies and they can use the upgrade. This also explains why higher level upgrades are more expensive - obviously the processing fees (bribe) has to be larger for nicer stuff.

The same thing is done for Protoss and Zerg, just via psionics. Basically the "limiter" is just released upon approval.

Once we think of it in this vein, the 200 supply limit is logical: nobody wants their subordinates to get too strong suddenly. Having a supply limit is kinda sensible for Protoss and Terran in a way as they actually have to allocate personnel to their leaders, while for Zerg it makes no sense to have a limit as their soldiers are grown on the spot. The only possible explanation is that Kerrigan doesn't want any individual Broodmother to get too strong and possibly turn rogue.

This logic also explains some other questions about Starcraft.

1. Why do we have to use Ghosts to target nukes into place? Surely Terran technology can shoot missiles to a target location without a Ghost targeting right.
Answer: The Ghosts actually serve as the executive officer to authorize nuclear targeting, as we know they go through Ghost school so they have been brainwashed to be loyal. If you tell them to target Dominion assets they will refuse to comply and will report you in.

2. Why can we only have one Mothership?
Answer: The Protoss are notorious for controlling their superweapons. They had Mothership and Colossus tech all the way back in Starcraft 1 but didn't want to hand it out to commanders. They don't even let you use the purifier cannons on the carriers in game! (maybe for fear you purify a planet that the higher-ups later plan to colonize). Now they have relaxed a little bit, but still limit one executor to one Mothership.

3. Why can't Protoss repair units?
Answer: Protoss bureaucrats are really the most money-grubbing folks in the Korprulu Sector. Everything is already built on Aiur, but they are adamant on receiving payment before warping them over to you. Even when a couple stalkers could mean the difference between life and death for you they WILL NOT SEND THEM WITHOUT PAYMENT. No promissory notes accepted here.
So, do you really buy that a race as advanced as the Protoss cannot repair their units on the field? Obviously its because they don't let Khalai mechanics repair on the field, so that Protoss commanders have to send more money home to buy new machines of war.

4. Why can't we build the Leviathan in single-player?
Answer: If Kerrigan handed it out to everyone it wouldn't be as valuable right?


http://billyfoong.blogspot.com/ my other opinions are here
Salivanth
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Australia1071 Posts
June 07 2013 09:35 GMT
#2
I like the idea of the battles being essentially meaningless, but a good way to test out commanders Reminds me of Dawn of War, where the mineral resource was Requisition, and you gained it through map control. The more areas you controlled, the more important your fight was. There were tens of thousands of wars going on at once, so only a certain amount of resources were given to commanders. All units were brought in from orbit, and you used Requisition to buy it, basically saying "Okay, my war is of decent importance and I haven't bought anything in a while, so give me that super-death squad!"
<@Wikt> so you are one of those nega-fans <@Wikt> that hates the company that makes a game and everything they stand for <@Wikt> but still plays the game <@Wikt> (like roughly 30% of blizzard's player base, maybe much more...)
FrogsAreDogs
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
Canada181 Posts
June 07 2013 19:48 GMT
#3
Explain the voice that tells me to make additional pylons.
YO
targ
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Malaysia445 Posts
June 07 2013 19:54 GMT
#4
On June 08 2013 04:48 FrogsAreDogs wrote:
Explain the voice that tells me to make additional pylons.


That's the advisor your boss assigns to you to remind you of stuff you should be doing as a good commander. If you forget too often he makes a report saying your forget pylons all the time and in his opinion do not deserve promotion in the Khala.
http://billyfoong.blogspot.com/ my other opinions are here
Jerubaal
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States7684 Posts
June 07 2013 20:13 GMT
#5
On June 08 2013 04:48 FrogsAreDogs wrote:
Explain the voice that tells me to make additional pylons.


He's from HR.

I'm not stupid, a marauder just shot my brain.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
CranKy Ducklings
00:00
TLMC #22: Map Judging #2
CranKy Ducklings111
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 117
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 6392
firebathero 738
Leta 400
Pusan 301
Tasteless 271
sSak 48
Shinee 19
Bale 13
Icarus 11
IntoTheRainbow 9
[ Show more ]
NotJumperer 3
Zeus 0
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm114
League of Legends
JimRising 626
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K1206
Other Games
C9.Mang0536
Mew2King87
RuFF_SC231
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV379
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH218
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP6
• OhrlRock 1
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Rush1417
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Team League
4h 32m
CranKy Ducklings
1d 3h
WardiTV Team League
1d 4h
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 8h
BSL
1d 12h
n0maD vs perroflaco
TerrOr vs ZZZero
MadiNho vs WolFix
DragOn vs LancerX
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
WardiTV Team League
2 days
OSC
2 days
BSL
2 days
Sterling vs Azhi_Dahaki
Napoleon vs Mazur
Jimin vs Nesh
spx vs Strudel
Replay Cast
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
GSL
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Kung Fu Cup
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Elite League 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W2
IPSL Spring 2026
Escore Tournament S2: W3
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
RSL Revival: Season 5
WardiTV TLMC #16
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.