|
I think that one of the main focus points for Blizzard in creating SC2 is the update to b.net capabilities. We have already seen a glimpse of what could be done with War3 and 1.15 patch for BW. I would guess that with SC2 they will want to take this to a whole new level in order to enhance competitive gameplay on b.net. This will mean both ladder matchmaking and availability, anti-cheating features, and additional capabilities that make competition more community oriented.
I think there is quite a bit that can be done for the latter. For example, C&C3 has built-in feature that allows audio commentary to be part of a replay. This would be a great tool for the community and could change the way the games are covered since anyone would be able to add commentary to a replay. I do hope they will keep the ability to watch replays online...war3 does not, and that kills half the fun of repays since community watching has always been a great past time.
Hopefully, there will be other features such as private tournament wizard, etc. that would facilitate organization of events. There are plenty of other things that could be done, and I am certain the development team is giving those quite a bit of thought. I, for one, am looking forward to the new b.net almost as much as I am to SC2 as a game. Let's face it, b.net has always been one of the greatest advantages that Blizzard has over other gaming companies, most of who go with GameSpy. That abomination is seriously one of the worst things to happen to online gaming.
|
I fully expect bnet to have all the features that will make it easy to play and more. I thought the WC3 system was pretty neat, this will probably be way better. I'm thinking that leagues might just stay in so that bunches of friends can keep track of internal records, while using the main ladder as a kinda PGT for an all round nice ladder.
I'm not sure how they will anti-hack, but i'm sure it will be pretty decent for awhile.
In blizz we trust?
|
For broadcasting purposes they could allow other observers who function like counter-strike HLTV.
Then you'd only need a fraction of the bandwidth compared to streaming video.
|
On May 30 2007 12:11 Slayer91 wrote: I'm not sure how they will anti-hack, but i'm sure it will be pretty decent for awhile.
In blizz we trust? Give a sufficiently motivated hacker 20 minutes...
The first hacks will surface in private circle within the first weeks, and within the first two months a script kiddie will leak one so he can be hailed like a god by noobs.
I wish you people would stop crying about anti-hack and just /ignore cheaters. It's not like they impact your games with other people.
|
maybe they could have it like DoW where if you go into a game with say a hack or a value changed, the game will immediately go out of sync.
|
Hacking is terrible for the game. I stopped playing SC competitively due to hacking taking over the general public... and I was never much of a clan person. You basically have to play with people you know, and even those people are usually "internet friends" who you can only half trust. At least some of the hackers have manners and scan your hidden expo when it's going up, so you at least know they're coming.
Nope, I think hacking is going to be a huge problem... and that's at least why the betas are fun. No hacking, lots of stuff still up in the air. Blizzard should devote untold resources into preventing hacking. I wouldn't mind a new patch every day that just moved something mundane around that would break a hack (if that's even possible). Of course, we all want replays to work despite version differences.
Watching the pros is nice tho... no lag, no hacking... pure gaming.
|
On May 30 2007 12:24 ToT)OjKa( wrote: maybe they could have it like DoW where if you go into a game with say a hack or a value changed, the game will immediately go out of sync.
Yeah, from what I hear DoW's anti hack system is pretty good. But this may be a result of it being less popular too. Half of why Blizz's games get hacked to high hell is because of their popularity.
I've heard syncing every frame also causes a lot of lag as well, which is another problem.
|
You guys seem pretty pessimistic about hacking in SC2. What is the situation like in War3? My impression was that it was not bad at all...
|
watch the new b.net be like steam or something
|
Hacking has been pretty minimilized in most modern strategy games. Since you are connected directly through bnet as a host in WC3, it's (almost?) impossible to use maphack. I remember DoW also has some good synchronizing or protection against maphacking. I don't think maphacking will be a major issue with SC2.
|
On May 30 2007 14:48 Shauni wrote: Hacking has been pretty minimilized in most modern strategy games. Since you are connected directly through bnet as a host in WC3, it's (almost?) impossible to use maphack. I remember DoW also has some good synchronizing or protection against maphacking. I don't think maphacking will be a major issue with SC2.
That's what I was thinking--I had a distinct impression that map hacking in War3 was basically a non-issue. If that is the case, SC2 should follow suit.
|
Is hacking bad for WC3? I've never played but I was under the impression the situation was pretty good. It seems obvious Starcraft 2 will be even better.
|
War3 maphacking is almost only used in public dota games. Never really hear about it in ladder games.
|
Only private maphacks in war3 don't get your cd-key banned, most public hacks are usually added in the detection definitions soon after their release, but because blizzard detection system does not work in custom games, maphack is rampant there
|
war3 is pretty good for map hacks... people can and will get banned for using them
|
i've been thinking a bit though... people might be a little desperate for hacks and stuff...
new game - new start... new chance at pro-ish/stardom status... err... something like that...
my point is that in some hackers twisted mind, they might think that they can quickly get high into rankings and stuff... something that happened in CnC3...
<-for hackers and cheaters
|
hacking will always be a part of gaming. wc3 interface totally sux, sc:bw has many more options than wc3 on bnet(i'm not talking about match finding but commands you can use on bnet). adding audio thingey from cc3 you mentioned would be awesome :D
|
here are some important things about Battle.net mentioned by Rob Pardo in the MSNBC interview:
"What new technologies can players expect to see in "StarCraft II?"
The first one is an enormous graphical improvement by going to 3-D.
We've also added things like a physics system in the game...we're not really utilizing it for gameplay as much as for graphical improvement. Like, you'll see things like debris that will actually fall apart, which adds more immersion and a lot more realism.
Online, we've learned a lot. In the original "StarCraft," there was no online matchmaking system. That's going to be huge...for "StarCraft II." In "Warcraft III," you had to press the "play game" button and it'd put you in a game with similarly skilled people. We're going to do yet another improvement on that system for "StarCraft II," which is going to be huge for the online market --- especially broad market users.
"What expansions are planned for Battle.net?
We have a lot of ideas. I'm really excited about the Battle.net stuff but we're planning on releasing a lot of that information later down the line.
We've learned a lot from "Warcraft III," about automated matchmaking and automated tournaments and ladder systems. We want to add to that. We want to make the game more exciting and enticing for spectators to watch so we have a lot of feature improvements planned there. We believe a lot in our user-made map and mod community and want to integrate that better into Battle.net.
Given the popularity of "WoW," do you have any plans to go to subscription model with "StarCraft II" or any subsequent releases?
We're going to do what's right for the game. We made "WoW" to be a subscription game from the very beginning. With "StarCraft II" it's probably going to follow more of a box model. But we'll decide more of that stuff down the line.
Battle.net is pretty expensive to maintain, isn't it?
It's not as expensive as "WoW" to maintain! (Laughs) "
So , hey says that there will be an improved AMM System (and probably more Battle.net enhancements) for SC2, and that online play will probably be free(without subscription) .
|
hey, can anyone post the whole MSNBC interview, cause i can't get to that MSNBC site T_T
|
On May 31 2007 03:30 Dendra wrote: hacking will always be a part of gaming. wc3 interface totally sux, sc:bw has many more options than wc3 on bnet(i'm not talking about match finding but commands you can use on bnet). adding audio thingey from cc3 you mentioned would be awesome :D
And what commands you can use on bnet in SC and can't in WC3?
And about hacking in WC3:
- Maphack is very very rare there and easy to check in the replay (enemy selects your buildings before he can see them, or selects other things that are under FoW) and people get banned for it right away (all you need is to send replay to blizzard).
- There was a time when drophack was pretty popular and the game was basically unplayable (out of 10 games you played, people dropped you from 7 and in wc3 you don't have disc stats, it's win or lose and disc = loss) but blizzard released updates pretty fast and it all stopped.
I haven't seen any hack abuse in wc3 for quite a time now.
|
|
|
|