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United States33713 Posts
Source Post: Blizzard
To the StarCraft community,
StarCraft is one of a kind, and we’re committed to making sure that those of you who love this universe like we do have a home here for many years to come. With that in mind, we want to let you know about a development change we’re making for StarCraft II as we continue supporting it for the long-term.
As many of you know, Blizzard continues updating its games long after the initial release—some of you will remember that we were actively patching the original StarCraft more than 10 years after it first hit store shelves. This year we celebrated 10 years of StarCraft II with one of our largest-ever patches, with massive updates to the editor, Prestige Talents for Co-op Commanders, and gameplay improvements delivered to players worldwide.
We’re going to continue supporting StarCraft II in the same manner as we have with our previous longstanding games, such as Brood War, focusing primarily on what our core and competitive communities care about most. What this means is that we’re not going to be producing additional for-purchase content, such as Commanders and War Chests, but we will continue doing season rolls and necessary balance fixes moving forward. On that last note, we’re not planning a Q4 balance update given that we did one a few months ago, but as always, we do plan to continue doing them as needed in the future. StarCraft II esports, which is part of the highest echelon of professional competitive gaming, will also continue going strong as it has been through our partners ESL Gaming and GSL.
We know some of our players have been looking forward to some of the things we’re moving away from, but the good news is this change will free us up to think about what’s next, not just with regard to StarCraft II, but for the StarCraft universe as a whole.
StarCraft is core to Blizzard, and we’ve learned that it’s a game that can change the lives of people who devote themselves to it, whether as a player, content creator, streamer, or member of the community (or developer). The outcome of each match is in your hands 100%. To become better, you have to look inward, be honest about any flaws, and dedicate yourself to improving. StarCraft teaches us that that process of improvement can be a reward in itself, and it’s certainly taught us a lot at Blizzard over the years.
You are one of the most passionate, creative, and dedicated communities in all of gaming. We’re eternally grateful for your ongoing support, and we’ll keep you updated on any and all plans we have for future voyages into the Koprulu Sector.
Uhn dara ma'nakai,
Rob Bridenbecker
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T_T
All good things come to an end!
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Welcome to Maintenance Mode, StarCraft II. It was inevitable, but it still hurts a bit.
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Sounds like a bunch of bla bla with bad news exclusively all around
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It has been a fun decade of SC2 and its content updates. Sad to see it finally ending, especially with nothing new on the horizon in regards to RTS games.
edit: nothing new in terms of Blizzard RTS games. I think AoE4 will be a big release, and there's a good handful of stuff coming from indie and AA developers.
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This just means SC2 can finally enter the glorious post-Blizzard era, so they can stop screwing the meta up and things can actually develop.
I know they're still saying "don't worry we'll do balance patches" but I hope they just stop. We wouldn't have half the story lines we do in BW if they had continued patching based on competitive results.
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Czech Republic12134 Posts
On October 16 2020 07:59 eviltomahawk wrote:
It has been a fun decade of SC2 and its content updates. Sad to see it finally ending, especially with nothing new on the horizon in regards to RTS games.
Wasn't AoE 4 announced?
Considering how Microsoft handled the AoE II remaster and how Blizzard handled WC3 remaster, I am sadly glad that Blizzard has nothing in works(at least publically) and MS has. Alas it will require Win10 which I don't use currently and certainly won't in the near future, so screw me anyway.
I would love some new commanders or fancy updates to the coop though, it's a fun part of the game. Also increasing the tourney budged via warchests seems cool to me, sad they stopped with this.
But hey, there will be other games and they will leave the ladder on, hopefully... (this is the most worrysome thing)
On October 16 2020 08:05 CatheadSC2 wrote:
This just means SC2 can finally enter the glorious post-Blizzard era, so they can stop screwing the meta up and things can actually develop.
I know they're still saying "don't worry we'll do balance patches" but I hope they just stop. We wouldn't have half the story lines we do in BW if they had continued patching based on competitive results.
Blizzard has the power over the ladder/matchmaking and the map pool. Just saying that the no touch policy would mean ladder without new maps 
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No new Starcraft content to buy is unfortunate. Maintenance mode is not bad though, at least they aren’t shutting down servers.
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On October 16 2020 07:41 Waxangel wrote:Source Post: Blizzard
this change will free us up to think about what’s next, not just with regard to StarCraft II, but for the StarCraft universe as a whole. Rob Bridenbecker
Starcraft 3?
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On October 16 2020 08:27 PresenceSc2 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2020 07:41 Waxangel wrote:Source Post: Blizzard
this change will free us up to think about what’s next, not just with regard to StarCraft II, but for the StarCraft universe as a whole. Rob Bridenbecker Starcraft 3?
More like "Please don't be angry"
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Bisutopia19399 Posts
On October 16 2020 08:27 PresenceSc2 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 16 2020 07:41 Waxangel wrote:Source Post: Blizzard
this change will free us up to think about what’s next, not just with regard to StarCraft II, but for the StarCraft universe as a whole. Rob Bridenbecker Starcraft 3?
I hope this means SC3. I worry they will try to use the universe with a new genre or blend genres elimiating the pure rts aspect of it. That being said, Id love for a rts blended with moba. Like co-op commanders fighting each other where one player controls the army and mining while 4 other players control heroes. The heroes can help clear areas for expansions and defend them.
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This is sad news. The new co-ops and Warchests were events I looked forward and was happy to support the game, but guess the 10 year patch did add a lot.
My only concern is that part of the Warchest was used to fund the prizepool for events. I know ESL is still running for another two years but with no more income from Warchest or Co-op and the game now free to play, it doesn't make sense for them to keep pumping money into the Esports side right?
I wish I could say I was hopefully for the next stage, but honestly it kinda feels like the waving of a little white flag from what's left of the Blizzard of old. Thanks for everything Blizzard has done.
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Cricketer12
United States14003 Posts
I'm haven't bought any of the commanders or war chests...but it's still sad to see given what this means for SC2. I'm guessing they intended Blizzcon to provide one last hurrah, but there it is.
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Interesting, I guess now is a good time to start playing the Commander CO-OP missions lol.
StarCraft 3 or World Of StarCraft incoming!
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Did we just get HotS'd?
This basically confirms to me that Blizzard wanted to kill off WCS this year, but ESL stepped in to take care of it. Blizzard really has no idea how to run an esport.
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Mexico2170 Posts
The one thing I worry about is the future of esports.
I was a writer for Heroes of the Storm. Blizzard said in Novemeber at BlizzCon that they would support the scene and were excited about the future of the HGC. On december, a month later, they announced they were done with Heroes Esports and Casters, Pro-gamers, Tech people, production, and writers lost their job overnight.
I think I read GSL has a contract until 2021 (I think), what happens after that? No more GSL?
Blizzard can, and has, killed esports scenes in a blim. Surely community tournaments would follow but...wouldn't be the same.
I worry about that and the ladder map pool, please implement new maps.
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On October 16 2020 09:00 [Phantom] wrote:
The one thing I worry about is the future of esports.
i think I read GSL has a contract until 2021 (I think), what happens after that? No more GSL?
I was a writer for Heroes of the Storm. Blizzard said on BlizzCon that they would support the scene in November. December 20 they announced they were done with Heroes Esports and Casters, Progamers, Tech people, Writers, etc lost their job overnight.
Blizzard can, and has, killed esports scenes in a blim. Surely community tournaments would follow but...wouldn't be the same.
I worry about that and the ladder map pool, please implement new maps.
Hold on, that's glancing over a HUGE amount of differences.
Everyone, and I mean everyone at BlizzCon that year for Heroes knew shit was going down. No one was getting contracts or any details. They kept being told "it's still being planned" or something.
Blizzard made no commitments or had any contracts for anyone past that year, whereas in SC2 that DH contract is good for 2 more years.
It's an entirely different situation.
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EPT
