First I want to say that I'm not usually a big lore guy but I do like a good storyline.
For a while now, Tassadar and Zeratul have been my favorite characters in Starcraft (alongside Mengsk, which would be a red light according to many psychologists) and while a few things worry me from the preview of SC2's first expansion, this is my biggest concern (seeing how we know very little about multiplayer anyway)
Q: Why didn't you kill off Tassadar, and why did he come out of nowhere?
A: Are you talking about in broodwar, or are you talking about why they did it in WoL? We're not sure about the original game - for that particular moment in WoL we were expressing a pretty radical concept to Zera'tul; the fact that the overmind was not what he thought that it was, and we needed someone that he would really believe, someone that he would buy into almost immediately - we didn't have a cutscene or a ton of time to get it across, and it was believable to us that he could still be out there in one form or other. The character need to immediately allow Zera'tul to believe and understand what was going on, without a lot of backtalk.
I was fairly convinced that Tassadar was dead. Very dead. Now it turns out he kind of isn't(???) When I saw it in WoL, I was actually pretty happy - I figured they'd find a good way to explain why he appeared to Zeratul. Maybe we'd see the single most awesome Protoss shank some zergs in the face again!
Now it's looking like it was a cheap plot device they threw together. Maybe the dev didn't express himself properly. They may have a good follow up to it, but to me it looks like they'll probably just wing it and throw some garbage together to "make it fit" as well as they can. That's what they've been doing with WoW, after all.
Hopefully they don't completely ignore that it happened... I don't think they would - guess I'm pretty pessimistic.
On June 01 2011 13:42 Arterial wrote: I, like many others, was like "bleh -.-" when Tassadar appeared.
His death in BW was powerful and interesting, reviving him is a real shame.
I'm hoping there's more behind the scene stuff going on than WOL puts on.
You should read the books: Queen of Blades and the Dark Templar book series. There it is essentially revealed that through combining the skills of a High Templar and a Dark Templar, Tassadar somehow managed to reach another level of existence (the same thing happened to or was done by Adun according to Zeratul's suspicions).
I REALLY wanted to see fenix again. I hope they make a reference to him in the SC2 campaign(s). I wouldn't be exactly happy if he was suddenly alive....again...well maybe if they introduce him via epic plot twist.
The actual answer from the live Q&A is slightly different compared the one written in the write-up.
They hint that Tassadar's appearance is purposely left vague, whether it is actually reality or just a vision or something. Indeed, it really seems that Tassadar's reappearance was just a quick-fix plot device for the Protoss mini-campaign, which contained an unusually high density of important plot points compared to the rest of the Terran campaign.
Now that Tassadar's ghost is thrown out into the canon, I don't think Blizzard can do anything about it without cheapening anything. If they ignore it as just a vision, it cheapens it as a simple plot device. If they try to elaborately explain his appearance later on in the expansions and possibly have him making more appearances, then it really cheapens the impact of Tassadar's sacrifice in SC1.
Whatever they plan to do with him, they need to get the original voice actor back on him. I cringed when I listened to the "new" Tassadar. He was easily my favorite character from SC1
If Tassadar really was just a vision to Zeratul, then yes, that would be kinda cheap. But if what Tassadar essentially said about his immortality and transcendence is going to be the direction Blizz really wants to take it, then that doesn't cheapen his sacrifice in SC1 at all.
Think of it like this; Tassadar really did sacrifice himself. He (most likely) didn't know he was going to transcend into a higher form on impact, he (most likely) thought he was going to die. He (most likely) really was giving his life in a final heroic effort to end the Overmind. So when he opens his eyes and realizes that he's not dead, that he's transcended mortality, he's like, "Oh, cool story, bro. Let's check out this whole immortality/transcendence business."
If Blizz brought Tassadar back to fight super saiyan-style, *that* would cheapen the story. Don't let the adolescent "awesome" factor get in the way of good storytelling. Tassadar's transcendence allows for the idea that there are far greater and more wonderous things in the universe and beyond (beyond the universe, beyond this existence, etc) than even the Protoss had imagined, and that what's going on in the Korpulu sector is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.
If Blizz played their cards right, somewhere in HotS or Legacy of the Void, there'd be a brief cameo by Tassadar where he gives Raynor, Kerrigan, and Zeratul a quick glimpse of The Big Picture and of things that, even if The Fallen One succeeds, won't be touched by darkness. And then Tassadar takes off, leaving our heroes with a glimmer of hope and peace of mind as they head out for the last big fight with the Hybrids.
Btw, this is the kind of thing that Tolkien used in Return of the King, and if it worked for Tolkien...
If Tassadar really was just a vision to Zeratul, then yes, that would be kinda cheap. But if what Tassadar essentially said about his immortality and transcendence is going to be the direction Blizz really wants to take it, then that doesn't cheapen his sacrifice in SC1 at all.
Think of it like this; Tassadar really did sacrifice himself. He (most likely) didn't know he was going to transcend into a higher form on impact, he (most likely) thought he was going to die. He (most likely) really was giving his life in a final heroic effort to end the Overmind. So when he opens his eyes and realizes that he's not dead, that he's transcended mortality, he's like, "Oh, cool story, bro. Let's check out this whole immortality/transcendence business."
I don't agree. Most characters, from Raynor to Artanis, are ready to die for a cause if they have to. The unnamed protoss commanders who sacrificed themselves to lure Kerrigan's forces out of position while Zeratul killed Zasz are more heroic to me, because they are soldiers who did die. Tassadar is a soldier who, transcended or not, survived. Besides, Tassadar sacrificed himself to destroy the most terrible enemy of the Sector. Now we're told that the Overmind was only a puppet (and an unwilling one) in the hands of The Darkest Voice. If Tassadar sacrificed only his body and not his life, and that the enemy he destroyed was not the mastermind behind the story, then the final scene of the original game loses practically all the strength it had.
As far as I'm concerned, I'll be happy if Blizzard just re-retcons the concept of Tassadar being brought or ignore it altogether. Sure, it would weaken the prophecy/vision/DOOOOOOOM™ part of the plot, but in my humble opinion, all the more reason to do it. This entire plot line, including but not limited to Tassadar's survival, is a succession cheap plot devices. It should never have existed, least of all retcon the original storyline.
Man Starcraft is turning into star wars. I'm not happy about all these new developments in the plot at all. SC2 and SC1/BW feels so unrelated at this point
On June 01 2011 20:50 fuzzy_panda wrote: Man Starcraft is turning into star wars. I'm not happy about all these new developments in the plot at all. SC2 and SC1/BW feels so unrelated at this point
Your entitled to your own opinion, but why is everyone so negative about it? The gameplay of SC2 single player was definitely an improvement over BW or SC1 and we know they can do a good storyline. As I said in another thread, why not wait until after HotS is out before bitching about it?
On June 01 2011 17:44 Mangea wrote: If Tassadar really was just a vision to Zeratul, then yes, that would be kinda cheap. But if what Tassadar essentially said about his immortality and transcendence is going to be the direction Blizz really wants to take it, then that doesn't cheapen his sacrifice in SC1 at all.
Think of it like this; Tassadar really did sacrifice himself. He (most likely) didn't know he was going to transcend into a higher form on impact, he (most likely) thought he was going to die. He (most likely) really was giving his life in a final heroic effort to end the Overmind. So when he opens his eyes and realizes that he's not dead, that he's transcended mortality, he's like, "Oh, cool story, bro. Let's check out this whole immortality/transcendence business."
If Blizz brought Tassadar back to fight super saiyan-style, *that* would cheapen the story. Don't let the adolescent "awesome" factor get in the way of good storytelling. Tassadar's transcendence allows for the idea that there are far greater and more wonderous things in the universe and beyond (beyond the universe, beyond this existence, etc) than even the Protoss had imagined, and that what's going on in the Korpulu sector is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.
If Blizz played their cards right, somewhere in HotS or Legacy of the Void, there'd be a brief cameo by Tassadar where he gives Raynor, Kerrigan, and Zeratul a quick glimpse of The Big Picture and of things that, even if The Fallen One succeeds, won't be touched by darkness. And then Tassadar takes off, leaving our heroes with a glimmer of hope and peace of mind as they head out for the last big fight with the Hybrids.
Btw, this is the kind of thing that Tolkien used in Return of the King, and if it worked for Tolkien...
On June 01 2011 20:50 fuzzy_panda wrote: Man Starcraft is turning into star wars. I'm not happy about all these new developments in the plot at all. SC2 and SC1/BW feels so unrelated at this point
Your entitled to your own opinion, but why is everyone so negative about it? The gameplay of SC2 single player was definitely an improvement over BW or SC1 and we know they can do a good storyline. As I said in another thread, why not wait until after HotS is out before bitching about it?
if he's comparing the two, there is one guy who comes back stronger and is evil and has clone bodies( which he can take over ) after falling down some reactor...
I never played Brood War so I do not know who Tassadar is but I was wholly disappointed by the amount of laser guns he was sporting when I saw him in WoL. I mean, he is not even invisible or anything, what is cool about that?
I definitely agree it would be lame if Tassadar was brought back to life, but I disagree with those of you thinking that it makes Tassadar's sacrifice any less important or meaningful. I think it's great storytelling. They triumph over seemingly impossible odds, but it's not over. The loss of Tassadar was a tragedy, and because that part of the story was so epic, it only makes the potential for the end of the Starcraft storyline even greater!
EPT
