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"...we plan to continue to support Legacy of the Void well after release, so we’re setting up for the long journey. And from everything that I’ve seen on my end, I’m really excited for the future." - Psione
Image credit: Nicolas Chaussois
There is actually quite a bit of good meat here in the interview and Psione goes into quite a bit more depth than Blizzard has in quite a while about where the development cycle is at with Starcraft II, the design team, and even a few indications that Blizzard does indeed have serious long-term plans for the game both as a game and an eSport, long after the release of Legacy of the Void.
This interview by Mike Harrel is from a new Starcraft onling magazine called the "Weekly All-In", illustrated by one of the TeamLiquid community's favorite artists, Nicolas Chaussois of Starcraft propaganda poster fame. The magazine is on it's third issue already and both the art and content have been of exceptional quality.
An Excerpt:
Q: There has been surprising unification in the community regarding one issue more than anything. How is “Psione” pronounced?
A: Sigh-own. But I’ve heard a variety of different interpretations, with most saying Sigh-on, which is also fine with me. When I chose my Community Manager name, they told me to make sure it was something that people could easily pronounce. I didn’t take their advice, and now I realize how wise they were.
Q: Speaking of robots, there is a disconnect between what the community wants from Blizzard and the reality of software development. Can you take a moment to explain the flow of design, implementation, and testing in Starcraft?
A: The first thing I’ll say to clear up some confusion is that the StarCraft team has split off completely from Heroes of the Storm. I know some have been unsure of how that was working, but this team is 100% dedicated to StarCraft II and is actually bigger than it was for Heart of the Swarm. As for the actual development process, it’s currently something of a juggling act. The team splits time between maintaining the live game (patches, season rolls, events), developing Legacy of the Void, and looking at the long term plans for StarCraft II. With all of these things going on, you have design, implementation, and testing overlapping in a continuous cycle with different pieces of content and features always in different phases of development. For example, the campaign is furthest along, already going through some internal testing and polish; multiplayer features are in active development, going through trial and iteration; and the new Allied Commanders game mode is in a prototyping phase, undergoing various experimentation.
Q: As you read community posts, there are a large number of players with widely varying lists of “required” features that LotV “needs” to implement. How do you feel that the changes coming in LotV will set up Starcraft to remain competitive and relevant for the long haul?
I think we’re always shooting to ensure our games have a long shelf life, and that’s no different with StarCraft II. I mean, you look at Brood War and that’s still being played competitively around the world to this day. That’s great to see, and everyone here would like to see that type of longevity for StarCraft II as well. Just looking at what we’ve already announced, you have new game modes and systems (Archon Mode, Automated Tournaments, Allied Commanders) that will add a lot of extra ways to enjoy StarCraft II. So Legacy of the Void will have more ways to enjoy the game than we’ve ever had before. It should also be noted that we plan to continue to support Legacy of the Void well after release, so we’re setting up for the long journey. And from everything that I’ve seen on my end, I’m really excited for the future...
Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4L3C3PH3pBDdExBQ3d2MFRXMHM/view | The Weekly All-In, 1(3) February 2015 pgs. 5-7
Interviewer: Mike Harrel
Protoss Banner: Nicolas Chaussois
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It should also be noted that we plan to continue to support Legacy of the Void well after release, so we’re setting up for the long journey.
Probably the most important part of this interview, provided that he's talking about meaningful support (new skins, portraits, continuing WCS in its current form at least 2 more years, new units or unit overhauls. etc).
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On February 24 2015 10:33 HighPassage wrote:Show nested quote +It should also be noted that we plan to continue to support Legacy of the Void well after release, so we’re setting up for the long journey. Probably the most important part of this interview, provided that he's talking about meaningful support (new skins, portraits, continuing WCS in its current form at least 2 more years, new units or unit overhauls. etc).
It just means they are going to leave the Battle.net 2.0 servers operational. Really, though, I do not see SC2 surviving without Blizzard's support, so this is good.
"Doing what’s best for the game is always the goal and sometimes that means removing units."
hmm...
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On February 24 2015 10:33 HighPassage wrote:Show nested quote +It should also be noted that we plan to continue to support Legacy of the Void well after release, so we’re setting up for the long journey. Probably the most important part of this interview, provided that he's talking about meaningful support (new skins, portraits, continuing WCS in its current form at least 2 more years, new units or unit overhauls. etc).
He compares the hope for its competitive longevity to Broodwar's so I'd bet they have eSports plans for it for far longer than 2 years. LotV probably won't be the last big set of changes or large non-campaign additions to the game, merely the last ones we are being asked to pay for.
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On February 24 2015 11:17 JacobShock wrote:
link is broken for me
fixed
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I liked the Herc, I'd rather see it given to toss than scrapped.
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On February 24 2015 11:23 HewTheTitan wrote:
I liked the Herc, I'd rather see it given to toss than scrapped.
Toss already has a melee unit with a movement-related ability.
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Well I'm glad he addressed the issue of the turkey wrap.
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
Psi-1 is definitely doing some seriously good work at Blizzard  good interview
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[I mean, you look at Brood War and that’s still being played competitively around the world to this day. That’s great to see, and everyone here would like to see that type of longevity for StarCraft II as well.
That is all I had to hear.
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It's too bad they didnt ask about GSL and their low quality streams
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On February 24 2015 15:10 ilikeredheads wrote:
It's too bad they didnt ask about GSL and their low quality streams
That question has already been solved. Quite a while ago, I might add. Blizzard's standard of free 720p applies to WCS Partner Events (ie. KeSPA Cup, DreamHack, IEM, Redbull Battlegrounds, MLG, GOLD League, TeSL, etc...), not for WCS itself. Presumably, ESL, GOM, and SpoTV each worked out their own separate contracts with Blizzard and GOM's contract included the ability to charge for medium or better this year.
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Some really entertaining articles! Keep it up!
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On February 24 2015 15:20 looknohands119 wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2015 15:10 ilikeredheads wrote:
It's too bad they didnt ask about GSL and their low quality streams That question has already been solved. Quite a while ago, I might add. Blizzard's standard of free 720p applies to WCS Partner Events (ie. KeSPA Cup, DreamHack, IEM, Redbull Battlegrounds, MLG, GOLD League, TeSL, etc...), not for WCS itself. Presumably, ESL, GOM, and SpoTV each worked out their own separate contracts with Blizzard and GOM's contract included the ability to charge for medium or better this year.
doesn't address the real problem that there's a double standard or the fact the Blizzard is content to showcase their supposed most premiere tournament with archaic and restrictive business model. Sure, Blizzard might have separate contract with GOM, but it's just bad optics to see them not having to follow Blizzard's own policies.
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On February 24 2015 18:18 ilikeredheads wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2015 15:20 looknohands119 wrote:On February 24 2015 15:10 ilikeredheads wrote:
It's too bad they didnt ask about GSL and their low quality streams That question has already been solved. Quite a while ago, I might add. Blizzard's standard of free 720p applies to WCS Partner Events (ie. KeSPA Cup, DreamHack, IEM, Redbull Battlegrounds, MLG, GOLD League, TeSL, etc...), not for WCS itself. Presumably, ESL, GOM, and SpoTV each worked out their own separate contracts with Blizzard and GOM's contract included the ability to charge for medium or better this year. doesn't address the real problem that there's a double standard or the fact the Blizzard is content to showcase their supposed most premiere tournament with archaic and restrictive business model. Sure, Blizzard might have separate contract with GOM, but it's just bad optics to see them not having to follow Blizzard's own policies.
The whole point is that its NOT a Blizzard wide policy that only GOM is exempt from. Nor would it make much sense for a company as large and successful as Blizzard to replace negotiation of contracts with its small number of close and highly valued WCS partners with some standardized policy. One would think that pouring in the exceptionally large amount of resources necessary to fulfill the large task of being one of the three companies to run one of the world's largest and most prestigious year long eSports leagues in the business would, at the very least, deserve to negotiate its own contract with Blizzard. If anyone should get the privilege of negotiating its own contract, surely its Blizzard's three most valued partners. There has to be some advantage to justify the extra risk that GOM, SpoTV, and ESL are taking above and beyond what a comparatively simple partnered event requires.
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nice to read taht the LotV team is bigger than then HotS team.
i guess charging the full box $60 price tag justifies the larger development team.
take my money Blizzard, i'll be happy to spend another $60.
its really clear PSIOne is an ultra hard core fan of the RTS genre and he is well aware of the community's gripes with SC2.
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On February 24 2015 10:38 purakushi wrote:
"Doing what’s best for the game is always the goal and sometimes that means removing units."
Hallelujah.
If only he wasn't saying that for the HERC but for, I don't know, the SH or the tempest...
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The full interview is very interesting, can't wait to play the Beta of LotV !!
btw, since when is there a newspaper, and where can I subscribe?!?!
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/vok3xcsl.jpg)
