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Did people not actually read the full GamesOnNet interview (click the link at the bottom of the GosuGamers re-post to go to it)? Dustin Browder made it pretty clear that there would be separate, fully-functioning ladders for each, just like how there were for SC1/BW and WC3/TFT.
I'm not even sure why there's a poll, considering the poll was answered by Browder. Here's what everyone's looking for:
games.on.net: Blizzard is no doubt ramping up development on Heart of the Swarm. Can you clarify for us how players of Wings of Liberty will be affected by the changes, especially in the multiplayer arena - if they don't purchase the next installment of the game, will they be ranked separately so as not to cause balance issues with any new units, for example?
Dustin: Woo! Yes, this is something we’ve dealt with a couple of times before, we had this problem in Brood War, we had this problem in Warcraft III and then Frozen Throne. Our current plan is to use the same solution we had for those products. There will be separate ladders, if you choose not to upgrade and continue forward with Heart of the Swarm that’s totally your option, your ladder will still work and you’ll be matched against people who are playing the same game that you’ll be playing. We’ll still be watching the balance for you in that area and making sure you’re having a balanced experience, we’ll still be rolling new maps to that part of the game, so it will continue forward like any other Blizzard product. Those of us who do come forward to Heart of the Swarm will have their own ladders, their own maps, their own ranking, all of that stuff. It’ll effectively split off - if you come with us, you’ll be playing the new stuff, if you don’t decide to come with us that’s totally cool, we’ll keep you with the old stuff and you won’t have to deal with new units or balance problems or anything like that.
I get that Blizzard haters will be Blizzard haters, but is it so much to ask that people actually know what they're talking about?
Haha I guess some people just get too exited ^_^; and don't read clearly or just love TL so much they wanna post here first to find out!
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Well, at least we have a fallback plan in case the new units just totally shit on the game in heart of the swarm
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On February 19 2011 07:14 Spawkuring wrote:Show nested quote +On February 19 2011 03:29 Turgid wrote:On February 18 2011 21:54 SpoR wrote:On February 18 2011 13:40 Turgid wrote:Historically, it hasn't been the case that the release of new ladders(or areas, in the case of WoW) has significantly cut into the playing population. WoW has actually gotten pretty expensive and their battle chest system is pretty bad(it never includes the most recent expansion) but I imagine some time after LoV is released the package you will be able to buy will include both expansions. But yes, historically, people have just bought the expansion and moved on. I remember playing a little bit of Vanilla hardcore D2(by choice) a couple years after the release of LoD and there being a fun little 10 person community. They all owned LoD they just wanted to play with the smaller community. edit: On February 18 2011 13:26 Jotoco wrote:
Blizzard said we wouldn't need to buy all 3 games to play multi-player. Guess Activision got in the way of that.
Way to keep your promises, Blizzard... Yeah, how dare they keep the exact same system from every other game with expansions they've ever released. it's possible that you don't need to buy the game, just some DLC. I'm sure it'll cost the same either way. I'm not too worried about it, even if it turns out to be $60. I'm just kind of perusing this thread with bewilderment that there were people who are somehow surprised or angry that this is what's happening, considering that there has never been anything different. Imagine if I went to the same restaurant 9 times in a row, and I disliked the food each time. Now imagine I came back to that same restaurant a tenth time, disliked the food for the exact same reasons, and in the exact same way, but this time, I screamed about the restaurant's new ownership. Bobby Kotick ruined my beef flambe! How insane would that be? The primary reason for the complaints is because of the competition. More and more we're seeing PC games move away from the traditional $50/60 retail price. Steam for example constantly has games on sale for $30 or less, and other RTS games like Dawn of War 2 use standalone expansions which new players can buy and be up-to-date. DoW2 is also pretty cheap as well (retailed for $40, now the price is down to $30 with the first expansion costing $20). I can imagine that it might be harder to get money-conscious friends to buy SC2 over DoW2 simply because of the price. You can buy the latest DoW2 expansion for $30 and be completely caught up without having to buy anything else, whereas a person new to SC2 will have to spend at least $140 to be up-to-date once the expansions come out, and that's not even counting the microtransactions and whatever extra fees are put in. The way PC games are priced is changing with the times, yet Blizzard is not, and that's why people are no longer all that happy with Blizzard sticking to their price model.
? I'm not sure what you're talking about. If anything prices on PC games are going UP. Everything is moving to $60. DOW2 was not $40 at release. It was $50. Expansions being $30 is business as usually, nothing special.
EDIT: Examples: Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm, Dragon Age 2, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution are $60. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Total War: Shogun 2 are $50. There are almost no AAA titles less than $50.
And why are you comparing Steam sales to MSRP?
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From the esports perspective, it would be ideal to patch the WoL ladder to include any new units/mechanics/balance introduced in HotS, but require people to buy the new game for the campaign. This way the ladder maintains continuity and fairness.
The alternative is to offer a discounted price for people that already have WoL, or have a bunch of people skip HotS and just get LotV, because of the anticipated THIRD sc2 ladder.
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Why are people surprised at this? Just look how Blizzard has done their games/expansions in the past.
And yes it WILL split the community between noobs and serious players because I can guarantee every single serious player will buy HoTS on release day and be laddering on the first instance they have a chance.
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This makes sense if they choose to add units for competitive play each expansion. It will be especially interesting because people can choose which ladder they prefer... but idk how this will work for tournaments. IMO, it should just be all one conjoined ladder. Making them separate creates a world of problems.
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As long as I can transfer my portraits over from WoL into HoTS without having to mindlessly grind all that "hard work" and "effort" I'll be pretty happy 
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On February 19 2011 16:31 SoulWager wrote:
From the esports perspective, it would be ideal to patch the WoL ladder to include any new units/mechanics/balance introduced in HotS, but require people to buy the new game for the campaign. This way the ladder maintains continuity and fairness.
The alternative is to offer a discounted price for people that already have WoL, or have a bunch of people skip HotS and just get LotV, because of the anticipated THIRD sc2 ladder.
Or maybe Im crazy , just buy the fucking addon like you should ?
What the hell is wrong with paying 50euro ? Stop slacking guys.... Show respect to blizzard, they are a company who needs money and not your stupid whining. Why should the multiplayer be free? Its the sole reason 90% of the people are playing starcraft 2. Sometimes i dont believe in mankind anymore...
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Didn't we know this already? I'm sure it has been stated before.
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I never really like having 3 parts to SC2. I would have paid more for 1 enlarged game that has a more solid campaign. The WoL campaign was a bit cheesy with the money-collecting pirate theme, had too many filler stages, and the plot didn't compared to SC1 much. Having separate ladders for the other two parts will dilute the players pool. Successful "professional" leagues based on the different parts will be fragmented as well just like Brood War is to SC2 WoL from GOM/Blizzard's current point of view.
It wouldn't be good for fans of pro players if their pro players move around to the different parts of SC2. Just one spaghetti mess imo...and if Blizzard makes expansions...blah...not good for SC2 esports having so many games over a relatively short period of time.
(I like the SC2 WoL on-line game: good updated graphics, accessibility, content and features, better on-line connectivity)
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On February 19 2011 23:33 Starp wrote:
It wouldn't be good for fans of pro players if their pro players move around to the different parts of SC2. Just one spaghetti mess imo...and if Blizzard makes expansions...blah...not good for SC2 esports having so many games over a relatively short period of time.
(I like the SC2 WoL on-line game: good updated graphics, accessibility, content and features, better on-line connectivity)
Agree. With Brood War it was okey because then it was just one expansion which was excited, but now it's like "okey WoL is temporary till HotS comes out and then HotS will be temporary and a middle destination till we are at expansion 3 and from there we can play years of sc2 without thinking and waiting on expansions and all the new units to come.
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People think to much... Dont you think that everyone and their mother is going to play the newest expansion? Of course they do..... Nobody will play the old ones , who plays starcraft 2 because of the competition. I dont know what the talk here is anygood. The few players who are still playing the old ones are nothing but players who dont play sc2 seriosly
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his is good because if the HOTS expo isn't balanced when it comes out then E-sports can contiue on WOL until HOTS is balanced.
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On February 19 2011 06:24 Striding Strider wrote:Show nested quote +On February 19 2011 06:22 miDnight_SC wrote:
I through when they said that the expandsions will only have single player, and Wol will have free update. isn't that what they said???!!!!! Yes.  Dumb move. I smell activision behind this.
ok, please quote the source of that statement cause i think you ppl are either misunderstanding or just making stuff up now.
have they EVER done that in their previous game? the awnser is no.
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On February 19 2011 22:34 Panicc wrote:Show nested quote +On February 19 2011 16:31 SoulWager wrote:
From the esports perspective, it would be ideal to patch the WoL ladder to include any new units/mechanics/balance introduced in HotS, but require people to buy the new game for the campaign. This way the ladder maintains continuity and fairness.
The alternative is to offer a discounted price for people that already have WoL, or have a bunch of people skip HotS and just get LotV, because of the anticipated THIRD sc2 ladder. Or maybe Im crazy , just buy the fucking addon like you should ? What the hell is wrong with paying 50euro ? Stop slacking guys.... Show respect to blizzard, they are a company who needs money and not your stupid whining. Why should the multiplayer be free? Its the sole reason 90% of the people are playing starcraft 2. Sometimes i dont believe in mankind anymore...
I probably will buy the expansion, that has nothing to do with whether a second ladder will be good or bad for SC2 getting recognition as esports. The way they should be trying to sell HotS is to make the campaign compelling enough to be worth the money, adding units and splitting the ladder means you just have more games competing for attention from tournaments and sponsors. Just like BW vs WoL in Korea.
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On February 19 2011 16:10 ZlaSHeR wrote:
Well, at least we have a fallback plan in case the new units just totally shit on the game in heart of the swarm
and 2 to fall back on when LotV comes out
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With the regional split of the player base, I'm sure the old WoL Ladder will become very empty after some month and everyone who wants to play competitive will be forced to buy the expansion.
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This worries me :/
Having multiple ladders will split the player base increasing wait times for games, as well as effecting the game in other detrimental ways.
Wouldn't a better idea be to make it so the multiplayer experience is the same across all three games, allowing the use of a singular ladder. They could put some other kinds of restrictions on it to encourage people to buy the new game. Obviously you would have to pay for the game to get access to the single player campaign, but some other restrictions perhaps on custom games e.g. you can't play a custom game with someone who has the expansion installed or something like that?
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On February 20 2011 01:50 Karn3 wrote:
This worries me :/
Having multiple ladders will split the player base increasing wait times for games, as well as effecting the game in other detrimental ways.
Wouldn't a better idea be to make it so the multiplayer experience is the same across all three games, allowing the use of a singular ladder. They could put some other kinds of restrictions on it to encourage people to buy the new game. Obviously you would have to pay for the game to get access to the single player campaign, but some other restrictions perhaps on custom games e.g. you can't play a custom game with someone who has the expansion installed or something like that?
People will be playing the new game. It won't be splitting any player base. The only possible way it will do that is if Pros play an older game. They are adding new units each expansion and other possible things. It's exactly the same as War3 and SC1. This is always how it was going to work. Nothing new.
Guess incontrol was 100% correct in latest SotG.
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On February 20 2011 01:50 Karn3 wrote:
This worries me :/
Having multiple ladders will split the player base increasing wait times for games, as well as effecting the game in other detrimental ways.
Wouldn't a better idea be to make it so the multiplayer experience is the same across all three games, allowing the use of a singular ladder. They could put some other kinds of restrictions on it to encourage people to buy the new game. Obviously you would have to pay for the game to get access to the single player campaign, but some other restrictions perhaps on custom games e.g. you can't play a custom game with someone who has the expansion installed or something like that?
You couldn't be more wrong.
Splitting the ladder 99% to 1% is fine. The competitive scene and every "hobby" player caring enough about the game to still play it at that point will migrate to the new ladder. And then in addition to 99% of the existing fanbase, you get a ton of new and returning players who will buy HotS. Some will do so for the SP and will try out the MP, some will want to see the new additions to the MP.
If anything, it'll be a rejuvenation for the ladder. You guys need to think this stuff through properly before posting, I swear to God.
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EPT
