|
On August 31 2011 08:36 RedTerror wrote:
I miss the original zerg campaign the overmind and the cerebrates were so badass and powerful (Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind; the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me.) I'm not sure if I'm going to like this moral dilemma'd amnesia ridden soul searching Kerrigan campaign.
IMO leave the angsty dilemmas to the terran, the indomitable and single minded power to the zerg, and the knowledge honour and zealousness to the protoss.
Apply this to everything sc2 story related -_-
I mean I'm going to buy, I'm going to play the campaign a dozen times and I'm going to be dissatisfied. They take and they destroy.
|
regarding the xel'naga, i'm starting to wonder if maybe they're not a "species" as such. the sc2 wiki says they're a "long-lived species" but eventually they will have to replace themselves with another species to stave off extinction (here). there's something fishy about this and i feel like it doesn't fully explain what's going on. i'm going to assume "long-lived species" means each individual is long-lived, because it wouldn't really make sense otherwise. so i have to ask, does this mean they are incapable of reproducing? or does it mean that their genetic code isn't robust enough and eventually they'll become sickly and die out? the second explanation doesn't make sense to me - this is a race of genetic manipulators. they refined the protoss and the zerg to new heights and the lore suggests they've tampered with many other races. it's possible that they've just reached a genetic bottleneck, either through many many years of evolution or through tampering with themselves, that means they can't avoid extinction anymore. it's possible, but i feel like it's a weaker explanation, because it's taken for granted now that this process is a "cycle" that repeats over and over, and you'd think the previous xel'naga would seek to avoid hitting such dead ends when they create the "new xel'naga" to replace themselves. so my tentative conclusion is that each and every individual xel'naga was itself created, not born. i think the xel'naga are a sort of "super species", so complex and powerful that it was created. who created it? who knows. too far in the past for it to be truly relevant at this point. we just have to take for granted that this is an almost god-like species, created by some brilliant race or cooperation of races a very very long time ago (who were perhaps themselves going extinct) and it seeks to re-create itself every so often to insure that it continues to survive.
so i think this would go a long way towards explaining the dark voice and the possibility that he/it is a xel'naga. it appears that in the last round of "recreations", an individual appeared that was a bit of a bad apple - ambitious, overly self-confident, and with a desire to control events to his/its liking. a lot of the lore surrounding the xel'naga seems to suggest, to me at least, that their methods for manipulating other species is more trial-and-error - tweak DNA, bring out inherent strengths rather than artificially imposing new ones, provide guidance (as seen in their failed attempt to buddy up with their protoss "children.") this would suggest the next generation of xel'naga will be noticeably different from the parent generation, but still to the parent generation's approval - they would embody the parent generation's values and strengths, but also represent something different because they had their origins in other species. an organic, open-minded method for achieving and maintaining greatness.
this one xel'naga though, the dark voice (if that is what it is, which it probably is, but i have to disclaim this since we don't know for sure yet), it wants a different method - to forcibly create a generation of xel'naga that will take the universe by force and consume it, because that is the form of "order" he/it thinks is the right one - and this new generation is the hybrids. kind of makes me think of the fallen angel Lucifer story. a rebel with his own agenda if you will. what it also makes me think of is the reapers from Mass Effect - a race of super-beings who think they've come up with the perfect solution for all life in the galaxy, that steamrolls through it taking what they need without asking. perhaps the dark voice is the pivot-point where the xel'naga super-race goes from being essentially benevolent managers of the galaxy to being malevolent, self-serving slavemasters? or something to that effect. it would make a lot of sense to me if this is where blizzard takes it, though even if they do i'm sure they'll water it down and leave it to try-hards like me to fill in the blanks. also it pretty well explains how the zerg turned against the xel'naga so ferociously. stage 1 of the dark voice's plan was to wipe out or cripple the rest of the existing xel'naga so there would be a clean slate upon which he could build his new version of the process, or "cycle" as blizzard has taken to calling it. the zerg were never particularly good or particularly bad, they were just a species the xel'naga saw potential in. but they didn't expect this rebel to manipulate the zerg into destroying them. now the zerg are essentially the key weapon in this conflict that everyone is scrambling to control a piece of. the zerg are as good or as bad as the intelligence controlling them.
on that note, i'm extremely interested in why zerg brood mothers/queens look so much like hybrids. supposedly they were created by kerrigan to replace the cerebrates (i'm not sure exactly where this comes from - i see it in multiple contexts, but i haven't found anything that explicitly states that the queens are solely kerrigan's creation.) but you have to admit, they strongly resemble a hybrid. this picture especially suggests they were engineered, not evolved (though it could be an experiment being run to find out more about a new strain, who knows at this point.) but even if that can't be confirmed, the resemblance is so strong to me that it seems it was done to foreshadow something or encourage speculation. the massive psionic tendrils floating out the back of the head, the very protoss-esque physiology of the head, etc. perhaps they were 'given' to kerrigan in some way? either as a genetic code or perhaps she found it and incorporated it into the swarm without realizing that they were a kind of trojan horse from duran and/or the dark voice. i'm starting to think they might be the hybrid that is designed to interface with and control the zerg swarm - the third hybrid caste we've seen so far. i can't help but assume that when the final confrontation with the hybrids comes down, it will be the brood mothers in the back controlling the zerg and they will have to be eliminated in some missions to neutralize some zerg. the brood mother you encounter in WoL in the underground char mission (whatever it's called) seems to suggest this a bit too as it was an extremely powerful psionic being that was relatively hard to take down. also, remember that old zerg reveal trailer from pre-beta? there's an interesting little bit towards the end where a lot of visual emphasis is placed on the queen and the narration goes "we are the swarm, but we are becoming much much more, and the final evolution has only just begun." one could assume this is just blizzard being cryptic for the sake of being cryptic, but it's also not a stretch if it's a direct reference to the hybrids.
that's where kerrigan comes in - the humans weren't factored in to the dark voice's plan, and kerrigan in particular would have been hard to see coming. whatever kerrigan's deal is in HotS, it's unlikely to be in the dark voice's favor. i know people are scared that she won't be the queen bitch of the universe anymore and that it's gonna be too angsty and soap opera-esque, but it kind of makes sense if you consider that she's basically human but carrying some zerg in her too. she has all that bitterness and rage, but she's been released from the full-on nightmare of being a zerg. i anticipate her being more of an anti-hero - driven by her own desires and such, probably still hates everyone, but she's the key to keeping a not insignificant percentage of the zerg race out of the hybrid's hands precisely because she has her own agenda and wasn't counted on by the dark voice.
anyway that's generally where my thoughts go when i wonder what will happen in HotS. other stuff like what's mengsk's involvement, duran etc etc, i'm sure we'll find out. my guess is mengsk is being manipulated one way or the other but not necessarily controlled. he's a resource to exploit and he probably thinks his secret experiments to create hybrids will benefit him directly, not some unseen force like the dark voice. perhaps he's being led down that road by narud (or duran, if we're operating on that assumption still.) i'm guessing narud/duran is the saruman to the dark voice's sauron or something similar to that and whatever form he takes, he's the interloper that manipulates events on behalf of the dark voice. valarian probably just wants to usurp his father who he thinks is incompetent and a bad person. as for how all the actions of characters like arcturus and valarian seem to benefit the dark voice in some way, i think everyone is being used. zeratul seems to be the only one digging deep enough to get a glimpse of what's actually being done behind the scenes - and perhaps as the expansions come out, time will tell that raynor and kerrigan are also becoming concerned about this looming problem.
but maybe not. maybe this is all garbage and blizzard will choose to connect the dots differently than i have.
|
On September 04 2011 06:30 Dante.StarCraft wrote:
You see Kerrigan at the end...
Well, the trailer I saw did not feature her at the end. Please link me to the 'full version' if you will. However, even if she does appear, do you see her coming out of the rubble or is it a different scene altogether?
|
You can see the trailer here. She appears at 0:36, back turned to camera. You don't see much, really.
On September 05 2011 07:34 Doc Daneeka wrote:regarding the xel'naga, i'm starting to wonder if maybe they're not a "species" as such. the sc2 wiki says they're a "long-lived species" but eventually they will have to replace themselves with another species to stave off extinction ( here). there's something fishy about this and i feel like it doesn't fully explain what's going on.
If you've read on, you would have gotten an explaination. As this is from the Dark Templar trilogy novels, I'll put it in spoilers.
+ Show Spoiler +Basically, what has happened is that a Protoss preserver named Zamara has died, but has taken home inside the mind of a Terran scientist named Jake Ramsey, and made herself known to him. The two of them seek out Zeratul, as Zamara carries a great secret, and the following happens:
Zamara was silent for a time, then began to speak, her mental voice soft but intense. ―We know already that the xel‘naga shaped and altered us, encouraging certain aspects of our development.
And we know that the zerg were also...experiments of the xel‘naga. At least,she amended, ―those are the terms we have always used before. In all the memories I bear, I have learned the truth of the situation—a truth that has been shared with only a select handful throughout our long history.
Puzzle master that he was, few things excited Jake more than a mystery, and he knew from the tenor of Zamara‘s thoughts that he was on to a humdinger of one. Zeratul as well leaned forward eagerly, giving his catlike protoss curiosity free reign now that he had broken the shackles of his self-imposed guilt. ―We thought we and the zerg were experiments—perhaps trial and error. We thought that we were flawed in some way, and that is why we were abandoned. But the truth is, the xel‘naga were simply done with us. They needed a second species...the zerg. This was no trial-and-error experimentation. The xel‘naga knew exactly what they were doing. They had done this uncountable times before, throughout millennia so numerous our minds can barely stretch to comprehend it. They were not inventing us; they were preparing us.
―Preparing us for what?
―For themselves.
Jake frowned. ―I don‘t get it.
―Nothing lasts forever, Jacob. Not even the xel‘naga. At least—not in that incarnation.
Zeratul‘s eyes widened. ―Hosts, he said. ―They were preparing host bodies! ―Less crude than that, my old friend. The xel‘naga have a cyclical lifestyle. Their lives are almost unfathomably long as we reckon such things, but they are finite beings. When the time comes that their existence is to end, they seek out two other species. Over time, they manipulate and alter these species so that they, separately, form two halves of a whole. They seek purity— purity of form, purity of essence. This time, they chose the protoss and the zerg.
Jake ran a trembling hand through his hair. ―They...are going to destroy you?
―No. Not destroy. Simply place two aspects of their essences into our people and the zerg. And again, over time so vast that we can barely grasp it, we would change and evolve...and come together again, naturally, harmoniously, and the xel‘naga would be reborn.
Gooseflesh prickled Jake‘s arms as he listened, despite the balminess of the day. ―The chambers, he breathed. ―That‘s where they worked on the protoss. ―They were not entirely selfless protectors, as was first thought before the Aeon of Strife, certainly, Zamara said. Beside Jake, Zeratul sat still and silent, listening, absorbing. ―But neither were they monsters. They wanted us to become great and glorious. They would not suddenly descend, to possess our bodies; rather we would evolve so that we...became them. Zamara floundered. ―It is even less invasive than that. Forgive me.... The concept is difficult to explain or even for minds that are as limited as ours to grasp. And since I cannot link with either of you in the Khala, I cannot fully share my understanding of it exactly. What I can say is this; it is a cycle that is as natural to them as breathing is to you, Jacob, or as gathering nutrients is to us, Zeratul. It has existed for so long and has shaped so much of the cosmos that it is, perhaps, as natural and right a thing, universally, as life and death, the spin of planets, and the formation and cessation of stars. I do not know that I can say it is wrong.
―You are more forgiving than I, said Zeratul, shock and anger simmering beneath his calm surface. ―I cannot help but wonder if I, too, have glimpsed some part of this—this directed evolution in progress. This, then, is your secret?
―Partially. But as I say, I do not think the rebirth of the xel‘naga will be harmful to us. It is not how it was intended.
―If it is so much a part of the order of the cosmos then, said Zeratul, ―why should we be concerned?
―What I have told you is the way things had always unfolded before, said Zamara. ―Had it been permitted to continue uninterrupted, I am not even sure the protoss as we are now would have been harmed. But this time, something went very wrong. The xel‘naga were eliminated before they had completed their preparations by their own creations—the zerg. Their careful plans— eons in the unfolding—were thrown into turmoil. Zeratul...you have seen what has arisen in the vacuum.
Zeratul nodded slowly. ―Although I freely admit that I was bowed down with the weight of my guilt, that is not the sole reason why I have not returned to Shakuras. It is because I glimpsed something at once so perplexing and so abhorrent that my mind reeled from it. I came here to try to make sense of something utterly senseless...but now I believe that I can grasp some of it.
Zeratul spoke then, in his calm mental voice, of investigating protoss power signatures emanating from a dark moon. ―It was shortly after Raszagal‘s death,
he said. ―We had no records of a protoss settlement in that quadrant. What we found...
Jake wished he could simply link up with Zeratul‘s mind the way he could with Zamara‘s, but it was not possible. Zeratul was his own self, not entwined with Jake‘s mind as Zamara was, and he realized how cumbersome simple speaking could be. Though even if he could connect so intimately with Zeratul, Jake got the impression that the prelate would rather keep this particular story as unemotional and distant as possible. Which, of course, was even more unsettling. ―We were surprised to discover a terran settlement, with a protoss pylon powering rather makeshift stasis cells. Our horror and revulsion increased when we realized that there were protoss held captive inside some of these cells, and zerg in yet others. All, zerg and protoss alike, were deep in cryo-hibernation. But the most shocking revelation was that someone was experimenting on our people and the zerg.
He looked at Jake levelly. ―They were experimenting with their DNA...splicing together zerg and protoss genes to create hybrids so foul and revolting that even now, I can barely speak of it calmly.
Indeed, Zeratul‘s body was trembling perceptibly. Not with fear—with outrage. Jake didn‘t blame him one damn bit. His mind went back to the images of the desiccated bodies in the chambers beneath Aiur, the ones he‘d seen with his own eyes, and the ones Temlaa had seen. And then he thought of the mysterious, inky-black vats and the horrible feeling he‘d gotten from them—a feeling so intense Zamara had had to erect a barrier to protect him. His stomach churned. ―Those...whatever they were...that‘s the new xel‘naga? A genetic combination of protoss and zerg?
―No, Zamara answered swiftly, and Jake closed his eyes in relief. ―No. Those—things—are truly abominations. There is nothing in them of the natural cycle of the xel‘naga. I grieve for the protoss who were so violated. The xel‘naga are implacable in their way, but not to that extreme. What you saw, Zeratul, and what perhaps we also beheld in the caverns is something else entirely. Something very wrong, something that should not be.
Zeratul as well seemed somewhat relieved, though still trembling slightly with outrage at what he‘d witnessed. ―There was a human coordinating this. Or at least something that appeared human. It claimed to have existed for millennia, and gone by many names. The only clue I have of his true identity is the name he chose to reveal to me—Samir Duran.
It meant nothing to Jake, but it clearly did to Zamara. ―Duran...that was the name of Sarah Kerrigan‘s consort.
―Wait, whoa, I thought Ethan was her consort?
Jake asked, confused. ―He left Kerrigan,
Zeratul responded. ―Duran claimed to be superior to her, a servant of a far greater power.
Jake tried to take this all in. Somehow, according to xel‘naga physiology, zerg and protoss were to be combined. But the hybrid that Zeratul had seen wasn‘t that. That meant it had to be someone else. And that meant... ―Someone has got the arrogance—or the stupidity—to try to mess with the xel‘naga,
Jake breathed. ―And if they succeed—
―The xel‘naga will not be reborn. Instead, a monstrous and powerful perversion of both protoss and zerg will be set loose upon the universe, and all that we know and cherish will fall in their wake.
Say what you will about the novels, but this trilogy was written as a precursor for SC2, and should be considered quite trustworthy.
|
On September 05 2011 15:04 Dante.StarCraft wrote:You can see the trailer here. She appears at 0:36, back turned to camera. You don't see much, really. Show nested quote +On September 05 2011 07:34 Doc Daneeka wrote:regarding the xel'naga, i'm starting to wonder if maybe they're not a "species" as such. the sc2 wiki says they're a "long-lived species" but eventually they will have to replace themselves with another species to stave off extinction ( here). there's something fishy about this and i feel like it doesn't fully explain what's going on. If you've read on, you would have gotten an explaination. As this is from the Dark Templar trilogy novels, I'll put it in spoilers. + Show Spoiler +Basically, what has happened is that a Protoss preserver named Zamara has died, but has taken home inside the mind of a Terran scientist named Jake Ramsey, and made herself known to him. The two of them seek out Zeratul, as Zamara carries a great secret, and the following happens:
Zamara was silent for a time, then began to speak, her mental voice soft but intense. ―We know already that the xel‘naga shaped and altered us, encouraging certain aspects of our development.
And we know that the zerg were also...experiments of the xel‘naga. At least,she amended, ―those are the terms we have always used before. In all the memories I bear, I have learned the truth of the situation—a truth that has been shared with only a select handful throughout our long history.
Puzzle master that he was, few things excited Jake more than a mystery, and he knew from the tenor of Zamara‘s thoughts that he was on to a humdinger of one. Zeratul as well leaned forward eagerly, giving his catlike protoss curiosity free reign now that he had broken the shackles of his self-imposed guilt. ―We thought we and the zerg were experiments—perhaps trial and error. We thought that we were flawed in some way, and that is why we were abandoned. But the truth is, the xel‘naga were simply done with us. They needed a second species...the zerg. This was no trial-and-error experimentation. The xel‘naga knew exactly what they were doing. They had done this uncountable times before, throughout millennia so numerous our minds can barely stretch to comprehend it. They were not inventing us; they were preparing us.
―Preparing us for what?
―For themselves.
Jake frowned. ―I don‘t get it.
―Nothing lasts forever, Jacob. Not even the xel‘naga. At least—not in that incarnation.
Zeratul‘s eyes widened. ―Hosts, he said. ―They were preparing host bodies! ―Less crude than that, my old friend. The xel‘naga have a cyclical lifestyle. Their lives are almost unfathomably long as we reckon such things, but they are finite beings. When the time comes that their existence is to end, they seek out two other species. Over time, they manipulate and alter these species so that they, separately, form two halves of a whole. They seek purity— purity of form, purity of essence. This time, they chose the protoss and the zerg.
Jake ran a trembling hand through his hair. ―They...are going to destroy you?
―No. Not destroy. Simply place two aspects of their essences into our people and the zerg. And again, over time so vast that we can barely grasp it, we would change and evolve...and come together again, naturally, harmoniously, and the xel‘naga would be reborn.
Gooseflesh prickled Jake‘s arms as he listened, despite the balminess of the day. ―The chambers, he breathed. ―That‘s where they worked on the protoss. ―They were not entirely selfless protectors, as was first thought before the Aeon of Strife, certainly, Zamara said. Beside Jake, Zeratul sat still and silent, listening, absorbing. ―But neither were they monsters. They wanted us to become great and glorious. They would not suddenly descend, to possess our bodies; rather we would evolve so that we...became them. Zamara floundered. ―It is even less invasive than that. Forgive me.... The concept is difficult to explain or even for minds that are as limited as ours to grasp. And since I cannot link with either of you in the Khala, I cannot fully share my understanding of it exactly. What I can say is this; it is a cycle that is as natural to them as breathing is to you, Jacob, or as gathering nutrients is to us, Zeratul. It has existed for so long and has shaped so much of the cosmos that it is, perhaps, as natural and right a thing, universally, as life and death, the spin of planets, and the formation and cessation of stars. I do not know that I can say it is wrong.
―You are more forgiving than I, said Zeratul, shock and anger simmering beneath his calm surface. ―I cannot help but wonder if I, too, have glimpsed some part of this—this directed evolution in progress. This, then, is your secret?
―Partially. But as I say, I do not think the rebirth of the xel‘naga will be harmful to us. It is not how it was intended.
―If it is so much a part of the order of the cosmos then, said Zeratul, ―why should we be concerned?
―What I have told you is the way things had always unfolded before, said Zamara. ―Had it been permitted to continue uninterrupted, I am not even sure the protoss as we are now would have been harmed. But this time, something went very wrong. The xel‘naga were eliminated before they had completed their preparations by their own creations—the zerg. Their careful plans— eons in the unfolding—were thrown into turmoil. Zeratul...you have seen what has arisen in the vacuum.
Zeratul nodded slowly. ―Although I freely admit that I was bowed down with the weight of my guilt, that is not the sole reason why I have not returned to Shakuras. It is because I glimpsed something at once so perplexing and so abhorrent that my mind reeled from it. I came here to try to make sense of something utterly senseless...but now I believe that I can grasp some of it.
Zeratul spoke then, in his calm mental voice, of investigating protoss power signatures emanating from a dark moon. ―It was shortly after Raszagal‘s death,
he said. ―We had no records of a protoss settlement in that quadrant. What we found...
Jake wished he could simply link up with Zeratul‘s mind the way he could with Zamara‘s, but it was not possible. Zeratul was his own self, not entwined with Jake‘s mind as Zamara was, and he realized how cumbersome simple speaking could be. Though even if he could connect so intimately with Zeratul, Jake got the impression that the prelate would rather keep this particular story as unemotional and distant as possible. Which, of course, was even more unsettling. ―We were surprised to discover a terran settlement, with a protoss pylon powering rather makeshift stasis cells. Our horror and revulsion increased when we realized that there were protoss held captive inside some of these cells, and zerg in yet others. All, zerg and protoss alike, were deep in cryo-hibernation. But the most shocking revelation was that someone was experimenting on our people and the zerg.
He looked at Jake levelly. ―They were experimenting with their DNA...splicing together zerg and protoss genes to create hybrids so foul and revolting that even now, I can barely speak of it calmly.
Indeed, Zeratul‘s body was trembling perceptibly. Not with fear—with outrage. Jake didn‘t blame him one damn bit. His mind went back to the images of the desiccated bodies in the chambers beneath Aiur, the ones he‘d seen with his own eyes, and the ones Temlaa had seen. And then he thought of the mysterious, inky-black vats and the horrible feeling he‘d gotten from them—a feeling so intense Zamara had had to erect a barrier to protect him. His stomach churned. ―Those...whatever they were...that‘s the new xel‘naga? A genetic combination of protoss and zerg?
―No, Zamara answered swiftly, and Jake closed his eyes in relief. ―No. Those—things—are truly abominations. There is nothing in them of the natural cycle of the xel‘naga. I grieve for the protoss who were so violated. The xel‘naga are implacable in their way, but not to that extreme. What you saw, Zeratul, and what perhaps we also beheld in the caverns is something else entirely. Something very wrong, something that should not be.
Zeratul as well seemed somewhat relieved, though still trembling slightly with outrage at what he‘d witnessed. ―There was a human coordinating this. Or at least something that appeared human. It claimed to have existed for millennia, and gone by many names. The only clue I have of his true identity is the name he chose to reveal to me—Samir Duran.
It meant nothing to Jake, but it clearly did to Zamara. ―Duran...that was the name of Sarah Kerrigan‘s consort.
―Wait, whoa, I thought Ethan was her consort?
Jake asked, confused. ―He left Kerrigan,
Zeratul responded. ―Duran claimed to be superior to her, a servant of a far greater power.
Jake tried to take this all in. Somehow, according to xel‘naga physiology, zerg and protoss were to be combined. But the hybrid that Zeratul had seen wasn‘t that. That meant it had to be someone else. And that meant... ―Someone has got the arrogance—or the stupidity—to try to mess with the xel‘naga,
Jake breathed. ―And if they succeed—
―The xel‘naga will not be reborn. Instead, a monstrous and powerful perversion of both protoss and zerg will be set loose upon the universe, and all that we know and cherish will fall in their wake. Say what you will about the novels, but this trilogy was written as a precursor for SC2, and should be considered quite trustworthy.
i'm not familiar with the novels, but based on the passage you just posted in spoilers, that doesn't actually answer any of my questions or preclude most of my conclusions. as far as i can tell, that passage basically just pontificates about a bunch of stuff we already know IE the xel'naga seek to recreate themselves, but something went wrong this time. i dunno, maybe i'm missing something in it.
|
it's possible that they've just reached a genetic bottleneck, either through many many years of evolution or through tampering with themselves, that means they can't avoid extinction anymore. it's possible, but i feel like it's a weaker explanation, because it's taken for granted now that this process is a "cycle" that repeats over and over, and you'd think the previous xel'naga would seek to avoid hitting such dead ends when they create the "new xel'naga" to replace themselves. Yeah, that's exactly what a friend that was not particularly interested in the storyline told me when I explained him the hybrid idea (you feel so lonely when this happens). If the Xel'naga can't reproduce and want to combine genes to recreate themselves, why not create a version of themselves that can reproduce itself and be done with that convoluted cycle of theirs?...
Not to mention that in the original game (yeah I know, but I hate retcons) purity of form and purity of essence were abstract, academical concepts. The Xel'naga came with these notions to explain their failure with the protoss and design their next approach for the zerg, it didn't refer to something concrete or measurable.
(i'm not sure exactly where this comes from - i see it in multiple contexts, but i haven't found anything that explicitly states that the queens are solely kerrigan's creation.) That was somewhere in the lore information given at the BlizzCon.
|
If the artifact is only a few thousand years old (and so was not built by the xel naga)
Then what's going on is pretty obvious.
Obviously the Dark Voice is some kind of 'renegade' xel naga (the cliche 'fallen angel' type)
Who's either killed all the other xel naga, or trapped them etc.
If it's true the artifact is only a few thousand years old, then we can also assume that the Dark Voice
and his cronies were behind it's construction.
Which means the Dark Voice WANTED it to be used.
People are always assuming it's daddy Mengsk that's working for the Dark Voice, why?
It's his arrogant kid that's working for Duran and the Mobias clan.
I feel like Kerrigan with her powers was the one thing that could stand up to the Dark Voice so through Valerian he has tricked Raynor into stripping her of her powers.
(although in this next instalment it's likely she'll get them back, no doubt being hounded on the way by forces fighting for the Dark Voice. taldarim, Mobias faction etc.)
I would not be surprised if Acturus does something heroic sometime in the next two installments of the series.
|
So, in the original Starcraft, you overthrow the entire Terran government in 10 missions, create the queen of blades and invade Aiur in another 10 missions, and then unite a divided race and kill the most powerful being in the galaxy, the Overmind in another 10 missions. Talk about EPIC.
In Wings of Liberty, you spend 27 missions solving a Xel'naga jigsaw puzzle, uninfesting Kerrigan (so that she can rule the Zerg anyway in the next expansion?), and NOT overthrowing the Terran government.
Talk about a difference in scope.
|
Will u need to have Heart of the swarm for tournaments etc.? Cuz i'm really not gonne buy the zerg expansion and then few months after the protoss expansion.
|
The best thing about single player. I never have to worry about balance and whining i'm just straight up excited for the story line.
|
Here is what will happen in HotS and later: (Any bets?)
+ Show Spoiler +After the events of Wings of Liberty and after HotS - Plot advances! At the end of HotS Kerrigan is reunited with Jim Raynor and then suddenly both runs into Tassadar! Tassadar is like "I have come back from the dead to help". Both Raynor and Kerrigan are glad. Cue LotV - Tassadar, Raynor, and Kerrigan contacts Zeratul and help. Tassadar came back strong, he is able to breath in space and fly/move faster than light. He can shoot energy beams of destruction able to destroy planets! In fact Tassadar is apparently 50x stronger than Kerrigan! Yep that Kerrigan that can destroy BCs with her mind? Pfft Tassadar can do the same except destroy planets and breath in space. Tassadar said he trained and practice nearly non-stop under 10,000x gravity (gravity comparable to Earth) until he is this strong! And they fight hybrids, try to reunite the Protoss... basically Tassadar is owning it up and doing all the work while Zeratul, Raynor, and Kerrigan all sit back and party. All is going well. *Cue the gang of heroes collecting <insert plot relic>. Raynor orders his henchmen to collect the plot relic. However a blast comes out of no where and kills all their henchmen. It turns out the blast came from Tassadar! *Raynor, Zeratul, Kerrigan all look in shock and all crap their pants (for those who have pants anyway)*. Raynor: Tassadar Why? HOW COULD YOU KILL OUR HENCHMEN! *Another Tassadar shows up (what there's two Tassadars now?*Tassadar (Actually "Fake Tassadar") comes and says "Wait! The blast wasn't from me. In fact I have something I need to tell you guys..." Real Tassadar (who will now be referred to as Evil Tassadar) states "el oh el! Yes that "Tassadar" who accompanies you is a phony. I'm the real Tassadar and I am evil! Blarharharharhar. Blarharharara." Fake Tassadar - Yes I am not Tassadar. I was a Protoss who was awed by Tassadar's accomplishments. He saved everyone! I felt Protoss... the Universe needed him again. So I became Tassadar! I performed surgery to look like him.. to sound like him.. to even think like him. In fact I am Tassadar... but I am really not. I am merely someone who tried to impersonate and mimic that heroic Tassadar who saved us all. But I am surprised, how could this be. Tassadar what have you done!? To find out that someone who I looked up to be a ruthless murderer. WHY!!!!!!!!!!! Evil Tassadar: Blarharharhar. I will explain: They all find out that the Real Tassadar did not really sacrifice himself to destroy the Overmind. No he consumed the Overmind from the inside, absorbing its knowledge and therefore growing stronger! Everything was all a farce. He never wanted to save anyone. He wanted power. POWER! In fact Tassadar (the real and evil one) is now 300x stronger than Kerrigan and can destroy planets easily. Raynor: Oh noes what do we do? Run away? No we can't outrun Tassadar. Oh noes oh noes oh noes guys what do we do? Fake Tassadar has a plan. He will sacrifice himself but he needs someone like say Zeratul, to help. Zeratul agrees with it and they both combine into a super mega Archon. Fassatul ( Fake T assadar + Zera tul) proves to be a match for evil Tassadar. However Evil Tassadar reveals he was only using 50% of his full power all along. He powers up and kills Fassatul.As Fassatul lay dying, Raynor picks him up in his arm and a scene similar to this plays out:Fassatul: Raynor... your son will bring the universe to ruin. Your son will save the universe! *Fassatul dies*. Raynor: No FASSATUL! This can't be happening! WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR! Legacy of The Void ends with Fake Tassadar and Zeratul dead. The dominion gone. Raynor and Kerrigan powerless against evil Tassadar or the Hybrids. The end... or is it? *Legacy of the Void ends here*. *Cue fourth expansion pack "Rise of the Reapers".In the fourth expansion pack you play as Duran (a reaper) and Dark Voice (who is revealed also be a Reaper.) Both are just subordinates commanded by a the Reaper leader in another universe. No not those Terran units but reapers are robots from another world or universe or something. Basically they're the masterminds behind the Hybrids all along (and not some rogue Xel'Naga but evil robots from another universe!). You don't know much about the Reapers or where they come from but all you know is they have destroyed countless other universes before (in the SC1 multiverse, which acts more like planets rather than parallel dimensions) and they want this one too! Also they have masterminded the plan of creating hybrids and are using them plus a small amount of Reapers to take out this universe! Goal of expansion pack  estroy everything. Take out Evil Tassadar. Play as Reaper/Hybrids*.At the end of the expansion you face off against Evil Tassadar. However your army of reapers and hybrids aren't enough against Evil Tassadar. So Duran decides to call for backup as this is only "5% of the Reaper's full potential". However one of the hybrids has actually hit an ancient temple which stands conspicuously in the middle of space! Cue something similar to this happens (replace "Masari" with "Xel'Naga" ). Also cue Evil Tassadar and the Reaper/Hybrids crapping their pants: That's right the Xel'Naga are back with a humongous ship (basically the size of a planet). Turns out the "few" Xel'Naga who survived were tired of being pacifists and decided to focus on weapons and other stuff to get revenge against the Overmind and all others who defied them in the past and who currently defy them still! Seeing this, Evil Tassadar and the Reaper/Hybrid combo all focus their blasts on the Xel'Naga ship but absolutely nothing happens because the Xel'Naga are too badass. *Rise of the Reapers story ends here.*Cue fifth expansion pack - "Xel'Naga strikes back" (also lacking "of" in the title because that's how the Xel'Naga roll). In the fifth expansion you play as the Xel'Naga to face off against Evil Tassadar and the hybrids. Xel'Naga plays unique compared to the other three races: 1. None of their units/structures cost anything, It's all free. "It was said the Xel'Naga could create energy from nothing!". 2. They have heroes similar to WC3. 3. They're overpowered. The final expansion pack ends with the remaining Xel'Naga facing off against Evil Tassadar. Tassadar powers up to his full power but dies. The Xel'Naga too have fallen.*Cue above MGS-like scene with Raynor (again). Raynor holds Tassadar in his arms. Tassadar: I was jealous of you and Kerrigan and Fenix. Why was I not invited to your party that day!!!? Forgive me Raynor... *Evil Tassadar dies*.Raynor: TASSADAR! No this can't be happening, not again. WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR!!! SC2 ends with a cliff hanger. The reapers/hybrids are still out there. Raynor, and Kerrigan are basically powerless to do anything. The Xel'naga, Tassadar, Fake Tassadar, and Zeratul are all gone. What will become of them? Actually I lied cue last (the 6th) expansion pack for SC2: The "United Earth Directorate Strikes Back". The UED returns with a vengeance with their high powered Tachyon lasers of doom. They'll show everyone how it's done.
|
On September 16 2011 06:03 ARick wrote:
Will u need to have Heart of the swarm for tournaments etc.? Cuz i'm really not gonne buy the zerg expansion and then few months after the protoss expansion.
a couple months?
itl take at least a year or 2
|
On September 16 2011 08:16 hytonight wrote:Show nested quote +On September 16 2011 06:03 ARick wrote:
Will u need to have Heart of the swarm for tournaments etc.? Cuz i'm really not gonne buy the zerg expansion and then few months after the protoss expansion. a couple months? itl take at least a year or 2
I suspect you will need... a lot like brood war....
|
More likely it will be 1.5 years after HotS until the Protoss expand comes out
|
On September 16 2011 04:58 zarepath wrote:
So, in the original Starcraft, you overthrow the entire Terran government in 10 missions, create the queen of blades and invade Aiur in another 10 missions, and then unite a divided race and kill the most powerful being in the galaxy, the Overmind in another 10 missions. Talk about EPIC.
In Wings of Liberty, you spend 27 missions solving a Xel'naga jigsaw puzzle, uninfesting Kerrigan (so that she can rule the Zerg anyway in the next expansion?), and NOT overthrowing the Terran government.
Talk about a difference in scope.
Although I agree to an extent, I think it's possible to look at it another way. In my opinion, you are sort of comparing a 300 page book to the first 300 pages of a 900 page book. That's not a guarantee the finished trilogy is going to be as epic as the original game, but the possibility exists. But I personally think the best way is to look at WoL as a longer first third.
So, let's compare the two first thirds then. In the first Terran campaign, Rebel Yell, you...
...escape the clutches of the Zerg and ally with so-called "terrorists".
...incite open revolt against a corrupt regime.
...ally with one of the Confederate officers.
...slaughter an entire planet and leave one of your friends behind.
...ultimately escape from what turns out to be more of the same.
In Wings of Liberty, you...
...incite open revolt against a corrupt regime.
...escape the clutches of the Zerg and ally with so-called "terrorists".
...break open a prison/ally with an enemy to take down a former ally.
...save colonists from infestation/the Protoss.
...steal a giant war machine and begin a revolution.
...invade Char itself and uninfest Kerrigan.
I'd say, from a quantity perspective, they're somewhat even. WoL is naturally more detailed; there is more time and space to go into specifics. From a quality perspective, I would say that Rebel Yell is a bit better, though more as a stand-alone piece. WoL feels, as mentioned, as just the first third of something else, and it feels odd reviewing it without seeing the whole picture.
You mention not overthrowing the Dominion as a bad thing. Morally, yes, but not necessarily from a story-telling perspective. Raynor still not succeeding with his goal does add a bit of realism (governments do not easily cave in, and sometimes they don't altogether).
|
After the events of Wings of Liberty and after HotS - Plot advances!
At the end of HotS Kerrigan is reunited with Jim Raynor and then suddenly both runs into Tassadar!
Tassadar is like "I have come back from the dead to help".
Both Raynor and Kerrigan are glad.
Cue LotV - Tassadar, Raynor, and Kerrigan contacts Zeratul and help.
Tassadar came back strong, he is able to breath in space and fly/move faster than light. He can shoot energy beams of destruction able to destroy planets!
In fact Tassadar is apparently 50x stronger than Kerrigan! Yep that Kerrigan that can destroy BCs with her mind? Pfft Tassadar can do the same except destroy planets and breath in space. Tassadar said he trained and practice nearly non-stop under 10,000x gravity (gravity comparable to Earth) until he is this strong!
And they fight hybrids, try to reunite the Protoss... basically Tassadar is owning it up and doing all the work while Zeratul, Raynor, and Kerrigan all sit back and party. All is going well.
*Cue the gang of heroes collecting <insert plot relic>. Raynor orders his henchmen to collect the plot relic.
However a blast comes out of no where and kills all their henchmen.
It turns out the blast came from Tassadar!
*Raynor, Zeratul, Kerrigan all look in shock and all crap their pants (for those who have pants anyway)*.
Raynor: Tassadar Why? HOW COULD YOU KILL OUR HENCHMEN!
*Another Tassadar shows up (what there's two Tassadars now?*
Tassadar (Actually "Fake Tassadar") comes and says "Wait! The blast wasn't from me. In fact I have something I need to tell you guys..."
Real Tassadar (who will now be referred to as Evil Tassadar) states "el oh el! Yes that "Tassadar" who accompanies you is a phony. I'm the real Tassadar and I am evil! Blarharharharhar. Blarharharara."
Fake Tassadar - Yes I am not Tassadar. I was a Protoss who was awed by Tassadar's accomplishments. He saved everyone! I felt Protoss... the Universe needed him again. So I became Tassadar! I performed surgery to look like him.. to sound like him.. to even think like him. In fact I am Tassadar... but I am really not. I am merely someone who tried to impersonate and mimic that heroic Tassadar who saved us all.
But I am surprised, how could this be. Tassadar what have you done!? To find out that someone who I looked up to be a ruthless murderer. WHY!!!!!!!!!!!
Evil Tassadar: Blarharharhar. I will explain:
They all find out that the Real Tassadar did not really sacrifice himself to destroy the Overmind. No he consumed the Overmind from the inside, absorbing its knowledge and therefore growing stronger! Everything was all a farce. He never wanted to save anyone. He wanted power. POWER!
In fact Tassadar (the real and evil one) is now 300x stronger than Kerrigan and can destroy planets easily.
Raynor: Oh noes what do we do? Run away? No we can't outrun Tassadar. Oh noes oh noes oh noes guys what do we do?
Fake Tassadar has a plan. He will sacrifice himself but he needs someone like say Zeratul, to help. Zeratul agrees with it and they both combine into a super mega Archon.
Fassatul (Fake Tassadar + Zeratul) proves to be a match for evil Tassadar. However Evil Tassadar reveals he was only using 50% of his full power all along. He powers up and kills Fassatul.
As Fassatul lay dying, Raynor picks him up in his arm and a scene similar to this plays out:
Fassatul: Raynor... your son will bring the universe to ruin. Your son will save the universe!
*Fassatul dies*.
Raynor: No FASSATUL! This can't be happening! WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR!
Legacy of The Void ends with Fake Tassadar and Zeratul dead. The dominion gone. Raynor and Kerrigan powerless against evil Tassadar or the Hybrids.
The end... or is it?
*Legacy of the Void ends here*.
*Cue fourth expansion pack "Rise of the Reapers".
In the fourth expansion pack you play as Duran (a reaper) and Dark Voice (who is revealed also be a Reaper.) Both are just subordinates commanded by a the Reaper leader in another universe.
No not those Terran units but reapers are robots from another world or universe or something. Basically they're the masterminds behind the Hybrids all along (and not some rogue Xel'Naga but evil robots from another universe!).
You don't know much about the Reapers or where they come from but all you know is they have destroyed countless other universes before (in the SC1 multiverse, which acts more like planets rather than parallel dimensions) and they want this one too! Also they have masterminded the plan of creating hybrids and are using them plus a small amount of Reapers to take out this universe!
Goal of expansion pack estroy everything. Take out Evil Tassadar. Play as Reaper/Hybrids*.
At the end of the expansion you face off against Evil Tassadar. However your army of reapers and hybrids aren't enough against Evil Tassadar.
So Duran decides to call for backup as this is only "5% of the Reaper's full potential".
However one of the hybrids has actually hit an ancient temple which stands conspicuously in the middle of space!
Cue something similar to this happens (replace "Masari" with "Xel'Naga" ). Also cue Evil Tassadar and the Reaper/Hybrids crapping their pants:
That's right the Xel'Naga are back with a humongous ship (basically the size of a planet). Turns out the "few" Xel'Naga who survived were tired of being pacifists and decided to focus on weapons and other stuff to get revenge against the Overmind and all others who defied them in the past and who currently defy them still!
Seeing this, Evil Tassadar and the Reaper/Hybrid combo all focus their blasts on the Xel'Naga ship but absolutely nothing happens because the Xel'Naga are too badass.
*Rise of the Reapers story ends here.
*Cue fifth expansion pack - "Xel'Naga strikes back" (also lacking "of" in the title because that's how the Xel'Naga roll).
In the fifth expansion you play as the Xel'Naga to face off against Evil Tassadar and the hybrids. Xel'Naga plays unique compared to the other three races:
1. None of their units/structures cost anything, It's all free. "It was said the Xel'Naga could create energy from nothing!".
2. They have heroes similar to WC3.
3. They're overpowered.
The final expansion pack ends with the remaining Xel'Naga facing off against Evil Tassadar. Tassadar powers up to his full power but dies. The Xel'Naga too have fallen.
*Cue above MGS-like scene with Raynor (again). Raynor holds Tassadar in his arms.
Tassadar: I was jealous of you and Kerrigan and Fenix. Why was I not invited to your party that day!!!? Forgive me Raynor...
*Evil Tassadar dies*.
Raynor: TASSADAR! No this can't be happening, not again. WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR!!!
SC2 ends with a cliff hanger. The reapers/hybrids are still out there. Raynor, and Kerrigan are basically powerless to do anything.
The Xel'naga, Tassadar, Fake Tassadar, and Zeratul are all gone. What will become of them?
Actually I lied cue last (the 6th) expansion pack for SC2:
The "United Earth Directorate Strikes Back".
The UED returns with a vengeance with their high powered Tachyon lasers of doom. They'll show everyone how it's done.
well done sir. well done
|
wtf when is HOTS going to be released, I want to be able to complain about the story not meeting my expectations again!
|
On September 20 2011 04:20 Endymion wrote:
wtf when is HOTS going to be released, I want to be able to complain about the story not meeting my expectations again!
Well tbh I think it will be annouced casually like "o hai guys! look! we updated the community site :D enjoy!"
This blizzcon is too soon for major story spoilers and I have faith that HotS will be out before blizzcon 2012.
|
|
|
Has there been anything new from blizzard since the press event way back in June?
Or are we just gonna have to wait till blizzcon :\
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
