Relic vs Blizzard, lets show'em [Escapist Vote]

Candrian
Yeah I registered just to vote but I've been a regular article reader for ages.

For me this isn't a very close run match up. Relic is by far the most innovative of the 2, sure Blizzard may have pushed a few envelopes 10-15 years ago but those were the days when video games were still a relatively young industry and pretty much anything could be called innovation. Nowadays Blizzard just seems to be content with going with the tried and tested formular, occasionally ripping off Games Workshop where they can just about get away with it (Don't flame me there, the jump-pack and dual-pistol wielding Terran unit in SC2 is just far too close to my favourite Warhammer 40k unit and as for Draenei, love them as i do, theyre still horned Tau)

Relic, however, continues to innovate to this day Company of Heroes, with its amazing cover system, has revolutionised the whole idea of the RTS genre and put the strategy back into a genre almost completely screwed over by Blizzards horrificly balanced zerg-rushes. Then to Dawn of war which is pretty much Star Craft 2 with all the trimmings and a good 4-5 years advance and if anything was a triumph of simple balance between the 9 completely different races. That's beating Starcraft by a factor of 3 without even trying.

On March 27 2009 19:58 Naib wrote:
Actually I agree with the first part of that quoted post, LeperKahn.

Really, Blizzard nowadays isn't that innovative as it used to be, unlike Relic (well, the success of their innovation could be debated imo, but that's another thing. They're at least trying new stuff).

Some guy on that forum wrote:
Definitely Relic. In terms of the number of revolutionary and innovative titles, Blizzard and Relic are pretty much the same: Blizzard released three game-changers (Diablo, Starcraft and WoW). Relic has launched 3 as well, with one that kinda-sorta could have been (Homeworld, Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, with Impossible Creatures being the kinda-sorta). That being said, nearly ALL of Blizzard's innovation took place over 10 years ago, whereas Relic continues to push innovation to this day with DoW2 and CoH in recent memory.

Moreover, I find Relic's games deeper and more fun than Blizzard's. Starcraft was awesome... in 1997... but they never really advanced the genre after that. WCIII was more of the same, and arguably worse than SC, and SC2 looks like SC with semi-pretty graphics and a few new units.

On March 27 2009 19:58 Naib wrote:
Actually I agree with the first part of that quoted post, LeperKahn.

Really, Blizzard nowadays isn't that innovative as it used to be, unlike Relic (well, the success of their innovation could be debated imo, but that's another thing. They're at least trying new stuff).

The 2nd part of the 2nd paragraph proves that whoever wrote that is a moron, though.

"I CANT HAZ APM PLZ LETS MAKE STRATEGY GAMES COMPLETELY RANDOM DICEROLLZ ABOUT WHO TECHS TO WAT, DAT BE FUN - MY AWSUM STRATEGIC MIND CAN HAZ OWNAGE"

Now, really. Moron.

kekeke, lets have a game of sc ok? I wonder when DOW is gonna become an esport?
SC > relic

Oh and your english is terribad rofl

On March 27 2009 20:51 FrozenArbiter wrote:
Scaramanga could you maybe tune it down a lil? Especially with regards to things like this:



Maybe you are simply trolling but if not I don't think this will lead to them being very receptive >_<

On March 27 2009 20:54 FrozenArbiter wrote:
Yeah but that's just goofing around ;p If anyone wants to go there quoting Kerrigan then I'm all for it!

On March 27 2009 20:55 Scaramanga wrote:

what about jimmy? :D

On March 27 2009 21:14 Hurricane wrote:
I love how in every argument they contradict themselves and basically say "yeah... well.. sc is really good, but come on. DOW, seriously."

You can win arguments with the quote button and bold tags. I'm not exaggerating.

On March 27 2009 21:16 FrozenArbiter wrote:
Sifting through Jimmy's entire repertoire, eh ?

On March 27 2009 21:19 Hurricane wrote:
:D

You should post the one from mission 3 or 4 in vanilla when he meets kerrigan. I can't remember the exact dialogue.

On March 27 2009 21:21 Scaramanga wrote:

something like this ?

Jim Raynor: Sarah, is that really you?
Infested Kerrigan: To an extent. I'm far more than I once was, Jim. You shouldn't have come here.
Jim Raynor: But, the dreams. I dreamed you were still alive, that somehow, you were... calling to me...
Infested Kerrigan: I was. While I was in the chrysalis, I instinctively reached out to you and Arcturus telephaticly. Apparantly, Arcturus sent Duke here to reclaim me. But that was then, Jim. I am one of the Zerg now, and I like what I am. You can't imagine how this feels.
Jim Raynor: So? What? Are you goin' to kill me now, darlin'?
Infested Kerrigan: It is certainly within my power, but you're not a threat to me, Jim. Be smart; leave here now and never seek to confront the Zerg again.
Jim Raynor: Doesn't look like I have much choice.

On March 27 2009 19:22 Velr wrote:
You guys want to help to change that? Show em who made the best RTS ever.

On March 27 2009 21:56 fanatacist wrote:

The guy that said Homeworld > All of Blizz makes me want to be like the guy in that bash.org quote and create a device that allows you to punch people in the face over the internet.

Candrian
Yeah I registered just to vote but I've been a regular article reader for ages.

For me this isn't a very close run match up. Relic is by far the most innovative of the 2, sure Blizzard may have pushed a few envelopes 10-15 years ago but those were the days when video games were still a relatively young industry and pretty much anything could be called innovation. Nowadays Blizzard just seems to be content with going with the tried and tested formular, occasionally ripping off Games Workshop where they can just about get away with it (Don't flame me there, the jump-pack and dual-pistol wielding Terran unit in SC2 is just far too close to my favourite Warhammer 40k unit and as for Draenei, love them as i do, theyre still horned Tau)

Relic, however, continues to innovate to this day Company of Heroes, with its amazing cover system, has revolutionised the whole idea of the RTS genre and put the strategy back into a genre almost completely screwed over by Blizzards horrificly balanced zerg-rushes. Then to Dawn of war which is pretty much Star Craft 2 with all the trimmings and a good 4-5 years advance and if anything was a triumph of simple balance between the 9 completely different races. That's beating Starcraft by a factor of 3 without even trying.

KaiusCormere:
Whether a game is balanced enough to be an esport, doesn't have anything to do with the fun factor. For me, the fun factor of Relic's games is the great variety of races in DoW1, the cover and micro tactics, the visceral melee combat... Warcraft 3 was fun - as a campaign mode, playing through the storyline I was impressed. It's multiplayer however, I only liked the custom maps that the community made. Starcraft 2 seems to be a step backwards, imitating the tired old WC2 style gameplay of Starcraft original. Starcraft may have had a very high skill cap, but...that has nothing to do with the fun for the majority of gamers.

boring base building and resource gathering needs to stay dead IMO.

On March 27 2009 22:06 Hurricane wrote:
I haven't played or seen DoW 1/2 and I was willing to hear them out until I found this

On March 27 2009 22:26 fanatacist wrote:
How do I vote without registering?

On March 27 2009 22:26 fanatacist wrote:
How do I vote without registering?

DoW2 is a very fun game, just 3/4 of the fun is taken away by bugs and other technical gayshit that Relic should fix, I mean crashing randomly is kinda acceptable in beta but crashing randomly in a fully released game, albeit not a lot but like 20 games out of 100 or so, yeah that kinda tells alot about your development team.

On March 27 2009 22:39 FrozenArbiter wrote:

O_o 20/100? That's more than it crashed for me during the beta I would say (although if you count players disconnecting.....).

On March 27 2009 20:57 Hurricane wrote:
I have yet to see a decent valid statement as to why DoW or CoH is better than starcraft.

On March 27 2009 22:37 Kennelie wrote:


Don't be lazy just register.

On March 27 2009 23:29 Smorrie wrote:
I was searching on wow's forum and found this:
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=8523022579&sid=1

wow players voting for relic lol

On March 28 2009 00:44 404.Nitrogen wrote:
reading those comments made me physically angry.

registering to vote...

On March 28 2009 00:47 Velr wrote:

Yeah... I wanted to post a little there but while typing the "angry nerd syndrome" took over again and again so I posted like a giant moron :p... But well, it's not like anyone would notice it in the sea of stupid posts over there ^^.

On March 28 2009 00:53 minus_human wrote:
It's funny that we topple them, since it's on THEIR site and since the asian community doesn't know shit about this. If this would;ve been posted on FOMOS the poll would become seriously imbalanced

and the major reason sc is so popular in korea is because it's TEN YEARS OLD. i used to play it on a pentium 1, 166mhz processor with 32mb of video graphics. my cell phone has better specs than that... of course it became a huge success years later in a developing country.

On March 28 2009 02:55 AtlaS wrote:
ahahahahahaha, korea is a developing country? aren't they one of the most technological forward countries right now? i know they're probably behind japan but they are probably comparable to most european countries and united states/canada

On March 28 2009 03:00 choboPEon wrote:


after reading some of the thread, i think he was saying that at bw's launch korea was developing

which is at least closer to the truth than talking about today

On March 28 2009 03:07 lololol wrote:


He said 5-6 years ago, and pretty much everything he posted is a load of crap anyway.

On March 28 2009 02:06 choboPEon wrote:
someone post this at the battle.net forums?

On March 28 2009 03:22 lololol wrote:
Klazart, quickly make a video!

On March 28 2009 03:01 GoodWill wrote:
Blizzard

Starcraft √√√
Diablo √
Diablo 2 √
Warcraft 3 √√√
WOW

Relic

Homeworld √√
Homeworld 2 √
Dawn of War and expansions √√
Company of Heroes and expansions √√
Dawn of War II √√

Relic 9 - 8 Blizzard
voted Relic

gg guys

On March 28 2009 03:19 Empyrean wrote:
When does voting close? I voted twice for Blizz.

Someone want to post this on the sc2gg forums?

On March 27 2009 20:57 Hurricane wrote:
I have yet to see a decent valid statement as to why DoW or CoH is better than starcraft.

On March 28 2009 04:35 Disarray wrote:
And the arguments some of you are posting here, and there are really mis-informed, and downright bad mannered. Its like some of you are cheering for a sports team.

On March 28 2009 04:36 FrozenArbiter wrote:
Blizzard should still win even if you look at the big picture tho.

On March 27 2009 21:30 Hurricane wrote:

No, terran missions on SC, not broodwar. When she's a ghost and you have to cloak her and go in and kill some guys in a cc. Then you have to build dropships and the entire bottom of the map is an island.

I'm done arguing. I've made my final point and I'm going to play popkart. Have fun trolling.

On March 28 2009 04:42 D10 wrote:
Well Disarray, I would argue that it was kinda like Coke, they brewed the original mix and thought it would be a nice product.

On March 28 2009 04:46 Tinithor wrote:
There is no way in the world that any serious gamer can pick Relic over Blizzard, even when highly intoxicated. DoW2 is the biggest lump of shit that i've ever seen to be called a "game" in my life.

Ahhh well the fact that Blizzard is losing just goes to show how far the gaming community has fallen.... People nowadays seem to care more about flashy lights and "innovation" more than having an actual game to play.

On March 28 2009 04:47 Disarray wrote:



and thats exactly what im talking about.


sad.

On March 28 2009 04:46 ilistis wrote:
So I read a blog a few weeks back on DOWII. Heck there was even this one guy in school who respects starcraft as a game but was excited for DOWII. So I decide to download it and I'm glad I did.

That game is slow. I played for 15 min in the single player campaign, quit the game, uninstalled and never looked back.

Sometimes I wish I never played starcraft, there is no RTS that is fun to me. Empire total war looks epic but looks so slow. I guess that's what happens with WOW players, they can't play another mmorpg if it isn't wow.

On March 28 2009 04:45 Disarray wrote:


See thats the thing, and In bringing up the argument of DoW vs Starcraft (altho starcraft is DUH the better game) it also brings up the subtle argument of Games Workshop vs Blizzard, in wich blizzard straight up RIPPED sc from wh40k and warcraft from warhammer fantasy. Seriously, Warcraft 1 was supposed to be a warhammer RTS, then it got changed later.

On March 28 2009 04:43 Disarray wrote:


Depends on your personal criteria of determining what the better company is really. Good and bad could be said of both. Blizzard made some huge breakthroughs, but sadly, most of the original talent that brought those breakthroughs left, and the remaining new staff has just been riding the success of the name. Think of the breakout amazing things they did, Warcraft, Starcraft Diablo. and what games are on the horizon ? Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. come on. I won't get into the positives because they're abundantly clear, and most have already been posted.

Relic on the other hand, is actually attempting very new things, if you look at what they've done from DoW1 (taken the basic build/gather rts) to CoH (Completely redone the idea of "massing troops and sending them to their deaths") to DoW2, they really are innovative and doing well in pushing for new things.

On March 28 2009 04:59 lololol wrote:


Ripped what?
Orcs and elves? Or I should start claiming GW ripped famous fantasy authors and myths?
Not to mention that WH40K is exactly fantasy copy pasted in space(oh, the overwhelming originality is killing me!), they even have orcs in there ffs, and "orcs in space" was the biggest insult SC(and Blizzard) has ever received and it made them fucking start the game again from scratch.
I bet you'll mention Tyranids, but guess what tyranids didn't look anything like zerg before the 3rd edition, which completely incidentally(!) came out after starcraft.

On March 28 2009 05:08 fanatacist wrote:
Just equalized at 2037.

Come on people!

On March 28 2009 05:10 choboPEon wrote:


I have no idea why I want Blizz to win so badly but I do..

Let's goooooo

On March 28 2009 05:25 SwaY- wrote:
yeah tl wtf! I dont know why but I want blizz to win too, I feel like a big 24 year old nerd

On March 28 2009 05:34 CatioN wrote:
Should post on the major sites lol. like gg.net

On March 28 2009 03:22 lololol wrote:
Klazart, quickly make a video!

On March 28 2009 06:03 Nightmarjoo wrote:
k voted 2 more times, I'm glad their site doesn't trace ips like tl does lol.

On March 28 2009 06:03 Nightmarjoo wrote:
k voted 2 more times, I'm glad their site doesn't trace ips like tl does lol.

On March 28 2009 06:17 choboPEon wrote:
yeah, let's not cheat.

let's just post it for the koreans - it will amount to the same vote total as cheating anyway. =]

On March 28 2009 06:10 CantFaketheFunk wrote:


I wouldn't be too sure about that.

Thanks for your enthusiasm guys, and it's great to see everybody on both sides getting fired up. But let's not resort to cheating

-CFTF

On March 28 2009 06:17 choboPEon wrote:
yeah, let's not cheat.

let's just post it for the koreans - it will amount to the same vote total as cheating anyway. =]

On March 28 2009 06:24 Gryffindor_us wrote:


ROFL did you find us by seeing who was coming based off link traffic? Or are you a closet progaming fan?

On March 27 2009 19:39 D10 wrote:
Sounds like a valid reason to summon the army

On March 28 2009 06:33 Tsagacity wrote:
Someone fluent in Korean needs to give them a tutorial on how to vote >.<

On March 28 2009 06:47 -orb- wrote:
This should be in general to win the internet faster

On March 28 2009 06:48 Zoler wrote:
We should just call in the 4channers are have them crash that damn site. *rage*

On March 28 2009 07:00 CantFaketheFunk wrote:


Y'know, I'd appreciate if you didn't. We've dealt with /b/ invasions before. It's more of a nuisance on our part than anything else.

Anyway, out for the night. Peace out, stay cool, and I look forward to getting mercilessly beaten into the ground when SC2 comes out

On March 27 2009 19:49 Plexa wrote:
Jesus reading some of those comments make my eyes bleed

On March 28 2009 07:32 zhaoli86 wrote:
I really think it's ridiculous that we starcraft fans have to save blizzard's ass. Where are all the WOW and DOTA people?!

By revenue:

Activision Blizzard: 2900 million USD
Relic: 2 million USD

So, Blizzard is literally 1000 times bigger than Relic, but the best strategy game Blizzard could make since Frozen Thrones in 2003 was Starcraft 2, which is basically a carbon copy of starcraft 1 with updated graphics.

During this time (since 2004), Relic has made the most amazing and innovative RTS games ever, with very little resources available to it. AND Relic has taken massive gambles with each and every one of their releases, in order to push the envoplope of RTS and implement the most innovative ideas.

RELIC deserves to win this because their balls are much bigger.

During this time (since 2004), Relic has made the most amazing and innovative RTS games ever, with very little resources available to it. AND Relic has taken massive gambles with each and every one of their releases, in order to push the envoplope of RTS and implement the most innovative ideas.

RELIC deserves to win this because their balls are much bigger.

On March 28 2009 08:34 ShaperofDreams wrote:
Wow at: "Blizzard is becoming like Nintendo, sitting in their houses made of money".

Practically every single game Blizzard has released has faceraped all other games for years, achieved massive loads of mainstream success, and spawned several cult-like followings. DoW? fun for fifteen minutes. Homeworld was cool though.

I know I am biased "because this is a blizzard-game site." but there is a reason i'm at this site and not some other random site about the "strategy" of DoW.

On March 28 2009 08:39 PH wrote:
I prefer balance and solid gameplay over attempts and innovation and all that bullshit.

Hmmm I know what im talking about, Since it does happen a few times. and plus what game do you play? SC is a SPAM FEST! IT always will be...IT a good game, so quit trying to flame me for putting up the truth about SC. SC is and always will be a SPAM Fest at times. Like rushing perhaps? Since all you do is rush your opponent with the starting units. So get off my back. I know what im talking about, I play both games, and I love relic. Call me a retard, big deal your just missing out on a great game company cause your a fanboy for blizzard. Not saying blizzard is bad, but you take it way to far.

On March 28 2009 08:51 Dgtl wrote:
Man some person thinks SC is a spam fest and I have re-directed him to this site to watch VOD's and replays but he fails to comply.

On March 28 2009 08:56 zhaoli86 wrote:
I don't understand, how can Relic be winning? I mean SC+ WC+diablo+WOW+all those games developed by activision, isn't this just overkill?

On March 28 2009 09:17 Spyfire242 wrote:
This is so pointless but my intolerance for ignorance of stupid idiots thinking SC is a "Spam fest" will pull me into the flame war.

On March 28 2009 08:47 A3iL3r0n wrote:
I voted.

(Good Christ, those forums are a waste of time. And I thought TL had become dilute to some extent, but now I take the thought back.)

On March 27 2009 20:19 CubEdIn wrote:


I agree with most of this post. Nothing revolutionized things more than SC did, and that was 10+ years ago. I love sc, and will vote for Blizzard, but I haven't played DoW2. If it's as great as they say then my guess is Relic IS the better game maker.

Are you saying a clickfest is what makes a game good?

And I wouldn't be so sure SC has the highest clicking rate either, minesweeper is pretty crazy at high level play.

On March 28 2009 09:35 Railz wrote:
I seem to be one of the few TL posters who hasn't been put on prohibition yet over there ;p

On March 28 2009 09:35 Railz wrote:
I seem to be one of the few TL posters who hasn't been put on prohibition yet over there ;p

On March 28 2009 09:37 sl wrote:


Minesweeper click rate is being compared to Starcraft.

FML.

On March 28 2009 06:46 Gliche wrote:
the war on their site reminds me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7VAhzPcZ-s

On March 28 2009 09:58 PobTheCad wrote:
voted for blizzard
where the heck are all the votes for relic coming from

On March 28 2009 10:00 choboPEon wrote:


just watched it. excellent.

On March 28 2009 10:04 Spyfire242 wrote:


I love pure pwnage, heheh...