[Spoilers] Disappointed with the campaign... - Page 8

I was talking objectively. Your opinion really has no value to me. The deinfestation of Kerrigan implies a complete overhaul of the Zerg structure, has far-reaching ramifications with the Prophecy, and develops the relationship between Kerrigan and Raynor. It has consequences, it displays the culmination of goals, desires and objectives that will change the world and the people that live within it. It has meaning, unlike Brood War.

It is pretty blatant, actually. If it is delusion, how come the facts back me up? Brood War had no meaning. It had no purpose - we know this because nothing was achieved, it was essentially a twenty six mission long maintaining of the status quo, barring the evacuation of Aiur. The apparent point of the expansion, to make Kerrigan the dominant force in the Sector, is undercut by the Zerg retreating to Char and doing practically nothing for four years. Wings of Liberty had a goal, and the plot developed toward that goal. Indeed, the problem with Wings of Liberty is not its lack of meaning, but the filler that interrupted the story's development. There are things in Brood War that were significant: the evacuation of Aiur, Kerrigan forcing Zeratul to murder Raszagal. The secret mission would be mostly foreshadowing, so I don't include it, same as I don't really include Piercing the Shroud or the Prophecy missions as part of Wings of Liberty's storyline.

In order for something in a story to have significance, it must develop either the characters or the world. It is through the development of these that a plot unfolds. The deinfestation of Kerrigan does (or should do) both. Brood War for the most part did not.

The Artifact is better than the Shakuras Temple because it has a purpose. It is a plot device, in that it is a vehicle for the progression of the plot. The Shakuras Temple was not, there was no real plot, it was just an excuse to make more missions. In fact, you actually invade Shakuras in the Zerg campaign, despite this Zerg-slaying weapon, the Temple conveniently forgotten once it was no longer needed. The Artifact is also similar to the Psi Disruptor from Brood War, a weapon that, as you say, Terrans just randomly pick up, that reaches everywhere they want, to disperse the very enemy they want, and do the exact thing they want. At least the Artifact's nova is fairly short ranged - the Psi Disruptor reached across the Koprulu Sector.

Oh, and since you bring the point up, I should be remiss if I failed to mention that Terran Medics apparently have drugs that allow them to mind control the eternal will of the Swarm. Seriously, I prefer to try to forget that.

The problem is that it isn't a real storyline, but just pointless filler. The original StarCraft had a Terran storyline. Wings of Liberty has a Terran storyline. But the UED does not count as a storyline in any significant way. I really don't even know why the UED was brought in, they ruined what could have been a very interesting development of an actual Brood War, and most of the UED campaign is spent fighting against Mengsk, where as we know nothing is ever accomplished.

I like how where I claim that Brood War had no significance or repercussions, you pretend that I desire extravagance. I did not demand massive or everlasting repercussions, I demanded any form of significance. Repercussions and development are core to that. You can tell that a story is not any good if it is in the middle of a series and you can skip it without losing any important part of the overall storyline. This is the case with Brood War (also with the Orc campaign in WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos) where aside from the evacuation of Aiur and some meaningless shock deaths, everything is identical before and after the game. A story in which nothing happens isn't any good.

As you wish. I was merely stating possibilities which could have given meaning to the Brood War. The UED are kinda like the Dark Voice - they come out of nowhere and are supposed to be a huge threat. But it doesn't work like that, we have to be shown the threat, you can't just drop it in and say "here, fight this, it's stronger than your previous enemy" and expect it to be a good story. Kerrigan was a great villain because we got to see her development from idealistic rebel Terran to Zerg weapon of mass destruction to cunning and cruel leader of the Zerg (however poorly that last transition was handled.) We know and respect her capabilities. The Overmind was great too, but mostly because he represented a physical manifestation of the entire Swarm, everything we've seen the Zerg do is something he has done. And the Zerg were developed slowly and steadily from the very outset of the game. Arcturus Mengsk is a good villain too, we share Raynor's sense of betrayal after working for him throughout most of the campaign, and every word of his coronation speech feels like he's taunting us. Aside from the Overmind, these villains were developed over time to eventually fill in the position of primary villain of their race in a natural time.

The UED, however, is none of these. They just appear out of nowhere, take down the Dominion, take control of the Swarm, and get destroyed. DuGalle and Stukov were okay characters, but the very engine they were riding felt like it had its significance imposed on us, not felt. The same goes with the Tal'darim in Wings of Liberty. Why should we care about them? The Dark Voice is similar, but thankfully his presence is being introduced before he actually starts taking part. There is no real reason to be interested in him in In Utter Darkness, but hopefully if he is managed well he will have some appeal by Legacy of the Void. In the meantime, he is supported by interesting underlings, Samir Duran and Ulrezaj, so even if the Voice ends up phony, at least we can enjoy his sub-villains.

Likewise, Daggoth has been developed as a character, we know who he is, have a good idea what he's capable of. As the foremost of the Overmind's Cerebrates, we know he is dangerous. We've seen him display this. That is why he would have made a better villain (or at least antagonist, Kerrigan herself is the villain) than the UED. A good story is a continuation. If flows easily from one passage to the other. Brood War does not insert itself well within the continuation of StarCraft's storyline, it lacks connections with either the past or the future, it does not develop naturally. Daggoth was the prime Cerebrate, the Overmind's right hand, that he should be the Overmind's successor is evident. That he would be Kerrigan's antagonist for control of the Swarm is a natural progression of events, a reasonable result of the Overmind's destruction on Aiur. That a fleet of humans arrives from Earth without warning and takes control of a new Overmind is not. It is forced and intrusive. And you earlier said that you wishes Terrans had their own storyline, it should be mentioned that the UED are completely separate from the Terrans that has been developed in StarCraft and would be developed in Wings of Liberty. We have no connection to them within the storyline.

Again, you seem to believe your opinion has any bearing whatsoever on this situation. If you wish to say "I did not like Kerrigan in Wings of Liberty", then that's fine. Saying that she's the worst villain ever (or Sauron) only demonstrates how shallow your knowledge is. And frankly, I have no idea what kind of depth you see in her Brood War appearance. Decreasing the mental faculties of those around her is not a character trait, it is a power. Akin to saying that her ability to shoot psionic balls of energy makes her a deep character. The only real depth she shows is when she gets weary of the slaughter after being berated by Raynor, hinting that beneath the plain facet of Queen of the Zerg, there is actually a living person remaining, with desires, with feelings. And this Raynor/Kerrigan relationship is what gets furthered in Wings of Liberty (though only from Raynor's side, which is disappointing.)

Anyway, Kerrigan barely even appears in Wings of Liberty, and those appearances are mostly fine (she seemed pretty erratic when talking to Zeratul, that was weird), I have no idea what you are complaining about. You can't just say "Kerrigan bad!" Provide some support and explanation for your claims.

StarCraft has never been really strong on character development. I am not kidding when I say that Aldaris is the only Protoss character to ever get any development. Perhaps Zeratul gets some from killing Raszagal, I haven't seen enough of him yet to be certain. None of the Zerg characters develop either, though there are few enough of them. Really, Kerrigan and Raynor are the only characters to have any depth or development.

However, if we were to lower the bar to actually measure what happens, then we do get some development from Raynor in Wings of Liberty, though not so much in how it changes but how it gets revealed. Now, I'm not very good at character analysis, and would rather leave it to someone else, but this is what I see. Because he interacts with so many people, we actually get new perspectives on his character. We see how his idealism has been quashed by cynicism, and how he turns to drink to forget his hopes and ambitions which he now deems unreachable. From interaction with Matt Horner and Gabriel Tosh, we can see how he still has those values, but how he has also believes that he has been forsaken. There is a peculiar dichotomy in Raynor, in that he seems to have given up hope and justice, yet still serves as a model of those very values to those around him. Raynor has become a symbol, and he continues his revolution not for himself but for those around him. In this way, he is something of a martyr, ironically having to, as Tychus puts it, go charging in like a damned hero for a cause he doesn't believe in. That is why he falls in so readily to Valerian's plan, for the first time he has hope. In rescuing Kerrigan he means not only to save the woman he loves, but to atone for the atrocities he participated in at Tarsonis and New Gettysburg, where Mengsk not only betrayed Kerrigan, but also the noble ideals Raynor fought for. This, I would then expect, is where the cynicism came from, where Raynor realised that fighting for freedom and justice meant nothing and that his actions were only going to be used by those out for power, that only the ruthless and pitiless succeed. If he can bring Kerrigan back, then that would atone for what he did, it would mean that there are things worth hoping and fighting for, good things can happen to those who deserve them.

Tychus also has some interesting development, but most of the other characters are either new or appear too little to have substantial development.

So? BW had to end the way it did. Nor was it that creative. And predictable. Blizzard isn't going to kill off the zerg. They always make the story end with the bad guy winning so they have wiggle room for a sequel. It was like this in BW, it was like this for the WC3:TFT. HECK it was like that for WC2 Tides of Darkness. Go and complain about the ending of SC1 too?