• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:56
CEST 13:56
KST 20:56
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview7[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo4Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested0RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 202611Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)10[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4
StarCraft 2
General
StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview Updates to The Core/Core Lite for v5.0.16?
Tourneys
Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) GSL CK #4 20-21th June Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 530 One For All The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed Mutation # 528 Infection Detected
Brood War
General
Data needed BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion VPN experiences vespene.gg — BW replays in browser
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Relatively freeroll strategies Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Why doesn't anyone use restoration?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
{D-2} Late to making 20.06.2026 memorable [p]94718 Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread [H]Internet/Gaming Cafe Tips and Tricks The Games Industry And ATVI UK Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
How To Predict Tilt in Espor…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 10369 users

David Kim reddit Q&A transcript - Page 3

Forum Index > SC2 General
440 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 21 22 23 Next All
Brindled
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
United States508 Posts
March 12 2014 22:54 GMT
#41
David Kim is really great at writing so many words that say almost nothing.
Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono @TL_Brindled11
Nauseam
Profile Joined May 2013
Sweden191 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-12 23:01:17
March 12 2014 22:55 GMT
#42
On March 13 2014 07:34 baba1 wrote:
They have to calm the crowd somehow so that's why they make these AMA. It's like in the medieval when they hang a bunch or random people claiming they were criminals just to calm the population


But what David Kim did in this interview was essentially the opposite of calming the crowd. Now we all know that nothing will ever be done about core elements in SC2.

SC2 used to be the second to fifth most watched game on twitch at all times. Nowadays, it's not even the top ten most viewed game on twitch most of the time. And SC2 will never ever take back that spot it used to have unless they change some core elements in the game. No one gives a shit about some minor changes to some units until the game still is plagued by (in no particular order); 3 base economy, 15min no rush into 5 second deciding battles, force fields, Protoss(i'm a protoss player myself), unit clumping, free units, map design(all maps are essentially the same due to balancing of force fields), warp gate, inject mechanic, horrible horrible damage... yeah, the list just goes on and on.

With David Kim in charge of LotV the future looks grim for SC2.
murphs
Profile Joined April 2011
Ireland418 Posts
March 12 2014 22:57 GMT
#43
Pro tip for Blizzard

If someones resume states their main experience is being a balance tester on Dawn of War then you should probably throw it in the bin and move on.
a_flayer
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Netherlands2826 Posts
March 12 2014 22:57 GMT
#44
No 'The Frozen Throne'-level expansion, I guess...

Too bad.
When you came along so righteous with a new national hate, so convincing is the ardor of war and of men, it's harder to breathe than to believe you're a friend. The wars at home, the wars abroad, all soaked in blood and lies and fraud.
SetGuitarsToKill
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
Canada28396 Posts
March 12 2014 22:59 GMT
#45
On March 13 2014 07:55 Nauseam wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2014 07:34 baba1 wrote:
They have to calm the crowd somehow so that's why they make these AMA. It's like in the medieval when they hang a bunch or random people claiming they were criminals just to calm the population


And SC2 will never ever take back that spot it used to have



I shortened that for you
Community News"As long as you have a warp prism you can't be bad at harassment" - Maru | @SetGuitars2Kill
Noogie
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada49 Posts
March 12 2014 22:59 GMT
#46
After reading the whole thing I don't think I'll ever be able to pick up and throw a baseball again.
Mahanaim
Profile Joined December 2012
Korea (South)1002 Posts
March 12 2014 23:00 GMT
#47
I'm pretty sure he needed more time to explain his thoughts, a few of these answers can be pretty heavily misunderstood T.T
Celebrating Starcraft since... a long time ago.
emythrel
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United Kingdom2599 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-12 23:08:52
March 12 2014 23:02 GMT
#48
On March 13 2014 06:19 InFaMOUs331 wrote:
When he referenced the mod community, all that I thought in my mind was: "He is referring to Starbow."

I think this is key to note, Blizzard finished the core design of SC2 in 2010, now is the time for the community to modify the portions of the game that are not liked. I honestly don't think the swarm host will be removed, and people can yell at the top of a mountain about forcefields but they are obviously not wanting to make 'large' modifications. (In quotation marks because I do not believe it is a large change at all to change a unit's spell stat.) I am a fan of David Kim/Dustin Browder for their work although its pretty clear they are not in the position to satisfy the community for LOTV.


When DK said about the modding community, all I could think was "Yes and what happens when Pros stop playing your game and start playing Starbow (or some other mod) and suddenly no pros are playing SC2 anymore?" Surely its not up to the modding community to gives pros and players what they want/believe is a better game? Starbow is gaining traction, its showing up in major money events slowly, what happens if Starbow becomes WC3's Dota to SC2? Well, personally I think that would be a good thing, however, unlike with Dota.... Blizzard owns Starbow, they won't be making that mistake again lol.

So I guess its all good for Blizzard if Starbow becomes the predominant "Starcraft" version for esports. As they still have all the rights to the game, the money etc. Still, if I were C.E.O at Blizzard and some upstart modder made a version of my game that was better, and my company stood by and watched it happen.... I'd be pissed. Especially since u can play Starbow without buying SC2 I'm pretty sure if this situation ever comes to pass old Morhaime will be screaming "David, do u know how much money we could have made if you and your stupid design team listened to the community? We could be charging $60 for this game, now everyone gets to play it for free.... idiot"

And the thing about unit clumping and how msplit micro is one of the most exciting parts of SC2.... yes because battles end so fucking fast thats the only micro you EVER get to do. Perhaps if battles were more like BW (I don't want BW, just give me the good bits, like cool micro and long spread out battles) then people wouldn't be so impressed by split micro, and real micro could shine through. There is a reason why Flash and Jaedong aren't dominant in SC2, because the things they excelled at, that set them apart in BW, simply don't exist. They can't get more out of a single unit than anyone else can, macroing is so much easier that they don't have an advantange for that huge 400+ apm to be used on. I for one was not at all surprised that some of the top BW players of all time, were mediocre at SC2, Blizzard levelled the playing field too much, so much that its not possible for players like Jaedong to find those tiny advantages that add up to a big one.
When there is nothing left to lose but your dignity, it is already gone.
TaShadan
Profile Joined February 2010
Germany1981 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-12 23:03:28
March 12 2014 23:03 GMT
#49
On March 13 2014 07:57 murphs wrote:
Pro tip for Blizzard

If someones resume states their main experience is being a balance tester on Dawn of War then you should probably throw it in the bin and move on.


Please do not bash DK for being balance tester for DoW. DK did a great job with DoW. It is the best balanced rts! I am VERY SAD that DK did not speak about adding more free units
Total Annihilation Zero
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20333 Posts
March 12 2014 23:03 GMT
#50
Players don't need to expand more than twice - We disagree. There's a lot of variety out there whether it's 2 base play, 3 base play, or constant expansion play. Take a look at ZvP: it's extremely common for Zerg to take the 4th base around the time Protoss takes the 3rd.


The problem isn't lack of variety, it's flat scaling. There's no mineral incentive to take that fourth unless you have over 70 or so drones.

If you have five hatches, 5x6 (30) drones on gas and 48 on minerals, you have 78 drones yet no increased income from using the fourth or fifth hatchery to mine minerals until your other bases mine out.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
KrazyTrumpet
Profile Joined April 2010
United States2520 Posts
March 12 2014 23:07 GMT
#51
On March 13 2014 07:11 Esper wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2014 05:42 davidjayhawk wrote:
Yes free units can have a place in RTS, and free doesn't mean it's OP. There's a cost to using Locusts and it's not completely free. You still need to make Swarm Hosts. Say the damage of Locusts went down to 10% of what it is now, even though yeah it'll still be true that X number of Locusts will be able to kill units for "free," Swarm Hosts/Locusts will not be used much due to how cost inefficient they are.


This is by far the most infuriating part of these AMAs and DK in general... which is saying a lot because there's almost never cause for optimism. I cannot stand how he uses hyperbole to justify concepts. And on top of that he uses numbers to justify design, as per usual. I really wish people who have an actual voice would speak up about how apathetic Blizzard's actions are. It was refreshing when basically every pro called BS on the proxy-tempest PTR notes.

Not to mention his assertion is wrong. The longer swarmhosts are in game killing stuff, even if their damage went down 10% or whatever, they become more cost effective over time simply because of the free unit mechanic. People would absolutely still make them because they will still function as an amazing stalling tactic, and something that forces the opponent to trade units that cost money for units that don't.

I've never really been one to hate on David Kim, because I've thought that he's done actually quite a good job. I mean, hell, games overall in HotS have been amazing, and balance for the game is pretty much better than ever. But making statements like that, that are just so...absurd start to change my opinion =/
www.twitch.tv/krazy Best Stream Quality NA @KClarkSC2
Lecon
Profile Joined January 2014
12 Posts
March 12 2014 23:08 GMT
#52
Props to him for doing this Q&A session, but is there really any point to these if he isn't going to say anything ? It's like listening to a politician talking.

Based on this interview I personally doubt that we'll see any design or major changes for LOTV multiplayer and I am quite disappointed.
ArTiFaKs
Profile Joined September 2013
United States1229 Posts
March 12 2014 23:08 GMT
#53
It's really frustrating when literally the most retarded questions are picked to get answered. Most of those questions are just repeats of the same thing, and most of the questions he has answered in previous Q&A sessions. It just seems the question selection is pretty weak and leads to repeating the same answers over and over.

The most frustrating thing is that they feel the need to worry about players coming back to the game from a long break, or players who don't keep up with all the changes they do. Like that shouldn't be anywhere near as high as priority as keeping the people who still play the game or who keep up with everything and are playing all the time should be. Like that's a reason you won't consider making big changes? really?

And as far as LotV, I think an economy overhaul would be great for the game, exponential growth with the number of expansions could solve a lot of problems, like turtle play, deathball games where it ends with 1 massive engagement instead of battling over economy advantages, etc. Or at least a change from the 3base max saturation, or even a change to the 200 max supply, as 300 might be much better or 250 or so.
There are things known, and things unknown, and in-between are the doors.
Levistus
Profile Joined December 2009
1134 Posts
March 12 2014 23:08 GMT
#54
wish there were mods that lets people test small changes and see if it's good while having a show about it to dscuss it more. also that reason to not have auto splitting cause of losing marine splitting is not good if the change might make the game better like fixing deathballs. i don't find marine splitting amazing anymore anyway since most pros are good at it.
hey man just curious
Ctone23
Profile Blog Joined December 2012
United States1841 Posts
March 12 2014 23:10 GMT
#55
On March 13 2014 07:04 Survivor61316 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2014 07:01 Ctone23 wrote:
On March 13 2014 06:56 Zealos wrote:
I like it. Basically it can be summed up: We hear your complaints. We are not changing anything.


DKim has worked his ass off for years on SC2, give the guy a break. They made a judgement call on forcefields, SH, what have you, it is what is.

He can't come out and say definitively what the next expansion will have, or what the plan is, it's way to early. At least he isn't slamming the door on potential ideas.

They can make mistakes, we are all human. But instead of owning up to their screw ups and fixing them, they choose to act like their shit don't stink and provide indirect band-aid fixes instead.



I hear that. But also consider, that in terms of financials, the game has been a huge success. The higher-up's probably don't see a need to change everything up. That being said, who knows the reasoning.
TL+ Member
murphs
Profile Joined April 2011
Ireland418 Posts
March 12 2014 23:12 GMT
#56
On March 13 2014 08:03 TaShadan wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2014 07:57 murphs wrote:
Pro tip for Blizzard

If someones resume states their main experience is being a balance tester on Dawn of War then you should probably throw it in the bin and move on.


Please do not bash DK for being balance tester for DoW. DK did a great job with DoW. It is the best balanced rts! I am VERY SAD that DK did not speak about adding more free units


Not sure if
VArsovskiSC
Profile Joined July 2010
Macedonia563 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-03-12 23:20:26
March 12 2014 23:12 GMT
#57
Alright guys, calm down a bit..

This interview has given us more than any other interview or discussion before..

At least we now know for a fact that Raven along with the SH tweak is commin' now
Another world, another place, another universe, won the race.. :) ;) :P
FeyFey
Profile Joined September 2010
Germany10114 Posts
March 12 2014 23:14 GMT
#58
I wonder how much money he gets for jumping out and being the target for all the hate every few month, I might apply if its enough. But since it actually works I won't complain.
Holdenintherye
Profile Joined December 2012
Canada1441 Posts
March 12 2014 23:14 GMT
#59
Hmm, certainly nice of blizzard to keep doing these community Q&As.
But sure seems like there's a lot of "high priority" items...
Tuczniak
Profile Joined September 2010
1561 Posts
March 12 2014 23:15 GMT
#60
We prefer not to make big changes due to careers being on the line in a game like Starcraft 2.
Not making those changes will hurt careers a lot more. .
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 21 22 23 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV Spring Champion…
11:00
Playoffs
Cure vs SKillous
IntoTheiNu 436
TaKeTV 307
TKL 144
LiquipediaDiscussion
CranKy Ducklings
10:00
Master Swan Open #104
CranKy Ducklings47
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
TKL 144
Rex 110
Ryung 79
BRAT_OK 55
Railgan 49
SHIN 16
MindelVK 12
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 5587
Sea 4081
Shuttle 1215
Mini 454
firebathero 377
BeSt 319
Soma 274
Soulkey 232
Hyun 185
Pusan 126
[ Show more ]
NaDa 125
ggaemo 122
Snow 99
soO 86
[sc1f]eonzerg 54
JYJ 47
Sharp 46
Mind 34
Sea.KH 34
ToSsGirL 33
Free 32
Killer 27
scan(afreeca) 26
sorry 21
HiyA 19
Hm[arnc] 15
ajuk12(nOOB) 11
Icarus 4
eros_byul 0
Dota 2
BananaSlamJamma147
League of Legends
JimRising 296
Counter-Strike
allub615
kRYSTAL_18
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King85
Other Games
crisheroes353
B2W.Neo99
Trikslyr31
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream4627
StarCraft 2
WardiTV605
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 48
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP13
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota265
League of Legends
• Jankos3348
Upcoming Events
Big Brain Bouts
4h 4m
Maplez vs eGGz
Reynor vs Solar
WardiTV Spring Champion…
23h 4m
GSL
1d
Maru vs ShoWTimE
Classic vs Reynor
herO vs Lambo
Solar vs Clem
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
1d 7h
XuanXuan vs Jaystar
Mihu vs Messiah
eOnzErG vs Dewalt
Bonyth vs Jaystar
TerrOr vs Messiah
XuanXuan vs Mihu
eOnzErG vs Jaystar
Replay Cast
1d 12h
WardiTV Spring Champion…
1d 23h
GSL
2 days
Patches Events
2 days
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
2 days
Dewalt vs Messiah
Bonyth vs Mihu
TerrOr vs XuanXuan
eOnzErG vs Messiah
Jaystar vs Mihu
Dewalt vs XuanXuan
Bonyth vs TerrOr
Replay Cast
2 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Weekly
2 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
Douyu Cup 2020
5 days
Oliveira vs Trap
Jieshi vs XY
soO vs FanTaSy
TY vs Coffee
The PondCast
5 days
Douyu Cup 2020
6 days
Neeb vs Impact
MacSed vs Cyan
Scarlett vs Kelazhur
INnoVation vs Dear
Liquipedia Results

Completed

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Heroes Pulsing #2

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
Murky Cup 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026

Upcoming

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
BCC 2026
Heroes Pulsing #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.