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First off, I want to thank everyone for sending in your feedback from our first ever Monthly Discussion Topic about the Protoss Mothership!
Chat with Devs: After bringing up much community feedback from the last Monthly Discussion, Dustin Browder filled me in on the latest role discussions about the current units in game. This is the thought that has lead to the introduction of the Firebat back into StarCraft II.
Furthermore, they have also changed the Terran Cobras abilities to take on what was previous known as the Protoss Stasis Orb (which is now removed from the game). The Terran Cobra now acts as a slowing unit, with an electrical attack. In addition, many of the units already seen in game are having their roles re-evaluated, to again make sure that every unit has a distinct role in StarCraft II.
As always, feel free to give the Devs and I a w00t if your enjoying these Q&As!
---StarCraft II Q&A Batch 17---
1. Will the defensive matrix of the Terran Nomad apply to enemy units within its AoE (Area of Effect)? (www.starcraft2forum.org)
Yes, the Terran Nomads Defense Matrix ability will affect both friendly and enemy units, thus using this ability on a position that the player can hold will be wise.
2. What helps to delineate the Thor and Battlecruiser as both being high-tier support units? Lots of concern over this duality? (www.starcraft.org)
Currently, the Thor has splash damage, whereas the Battlecruiser has direct damage in its attack. We definitely agree with most of the community that the Thors role overlaps with various other roles on the Terran Faction, thus we may modify that role or possibly cut the unit.
3. Will there be any consideration of having an oceanic battle.net server? (www.starcraft2.com.au)
Unfortunately, this has not been decided yet, as many aspects of Battle.net has still yet to be implemented.
4. Will the Protoss Colossus be able to walk over Supply Depots like over cliffs? (www.broodwar.de)
This is an issue that is still being discussed quite a bit. We like how when enemy units enter your base, they are forced to deal with the layout of your base, but at the same time we are also dealing with the realism factor, where cliff climbing Colossuses ought to be able to step over Supply Depots. Many issues we face are similar to those debated amongst the community, and for this particular topic we dont yet have a final answer.
5. An obvious goal (among many) for Starcraft2 is to maintain the profile of being an E-Sport. What facet do you consider more integral to the growth of that ideal: An extremely high skill ceiling that demands years upon years to achieve mastery, or an extraordinarily large base of interested players to provide the attention that such a sport needs in order to succeed and grow? Obviously both are important, but when it comes to design ideals, what has more pull? Accessibility or Longevity? Mora (www.teamliquid.net)
I think for e-sport we need the high skill ceiling. Though really as you say, both are very important. As designers we have spent years focusing on accessibility. Ideas must be accessible to even be put into the game. So we are just not as worried about making the game accessible. That will happen. What we are focused on, what is the more challenging problem is making the game last for years and years and years. So in our development cycle at the moment, longevity definitely has the larger pull. Longevity is the harder problem to solve, so we put way more effort into making the game as challenging as possible to master. Dustin Browder, Lead Designer of StarCraft II
6. How will unit collision and stacking be handled ? Can flying units pass on top the Colossus or is it blocking ? (www.sc2blog.com)
No, the Colossus will not block a flying unit.
In terms of collision and stacking, units first always follow your order, and when it completes your order, they will stop and spread out. The area in which those units spread out will be slightly less than in the original StarCraft.
Original thread
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Every other website asks about some crap like mothership and firebat, TL always asks about gameplay and mechanics rofl
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On October 16 2007 04:54 zonbi wrote:
[5. An obvious goal (among many) for Starcraft2 is to maintain the profile of being an E-Sport. What facet do you consider more integral to the growth of that ideal: An extremely high skill ceiling that demands years upon years to achieve mastery, or an extraordinarily large base of interested players to provide the attention that such a sport needs in order to succeed and grow? Obviously both are important, but when it comes to design ideals, what has more pull? Accessibility or Longevity? Mora (www.teamliquid.net)
I think for e-sport we need the high skill ceiling. Though really as you say, both are very important. As designers we have spent years focusing on accessibility. Ideas must be accessible to even be put into the game. So we are just not as worried about making the game accessible. That will happen. What we are focused on, what is the more challenging problem is making the game last for years and years and years. So in our development cycle at the moment, longevity definitely has the larger pull. Longevity is the harder problem to solve, so we put way more effort into making the game as challenging as possible to master. Dustin Browder, Lead Designer of StarCraft II
Oh please please please remove MBS <3!
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The answer to question 6 means is extremely vague, but I don't think I like it. I'm not entirely sure if he's talking about air units spreading out or ground units spreading out when they move. I'm really gonna be pushing for the parallel movement behavior either way when the beta drops...
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MURICA15980 Posts
Yeah I'm happy to say our questions are always the best ones.
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"Mommy, why is the sky blue?" www.starcraft2forum.org
"Daddy, why do people die?" www.broodwar.de
"Mother and Father, consider that to say that an agent has free will is to say that the agent has the capacity to choose his or her course of action. But animals seem to satisfy this criterion, and we typically think that only persons, and not animals, have free will. Let us then understand free will as the capacity unique to persons that allows them to control their actions. It is controversial whether this minimal understanding of what it means to have a free will actually requires an agent to have a specific faculty of will, whether the term "free will" is simply shorthand for other features of persons, and whether there really is such a thing as free will at all. What do you think?" www.Teamliquid.net
WTFHAX!
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lawl, we get an answer straight from Dustin. the other questions are too noob
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Remove Mass Building Selection please. It turns macro into childs play which is how i win most of my matches. No MBS!!
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Calgary25986 Posts
Nice. I'm glad they didn't go the route I was expecting, which "Well, they're both very important and we take them equally into consideration." It's nice to cut through the PR bullshit. It's nice to get an answer to a question.
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Can't help but think TL's question was the worst (sorry Mora)... I mean, you can pretty much expect that their answer would be "yes but there has to be a balance between both".
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On October 16 2007 05:24 JesusCruxRH wrote:
Can't help but think TL's question was the worst (sorry Mora)... I mean, you can pretty much expect that their answer would be "yes but there has to be a balance between both".
Actually, we got a pretty straight-forward answer. Good question Mora.
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I am really happy with Dustin's answer. Seriously, who can really doubt the accessability of a Blizzard game? Like he said, accessability WILL happen.
They have way more to lose if the game is short-lived. It's not just this one game that's on the line, it's their reputation as one of the best gaming companies around.
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Stegosaur
Netherlands1231 Posts
I love how Blizzard is actually trying to answer the serious questions, instead of the 'can you change teamcolors?' disillusion we got the first time around =)
Also they seem keen on keeping the stacking units pretty much the same they are (maybe we can find another flaw in the AI like the overlord-magic-box to keep units stacked? Who knows) and even lower the amount of 'unstacking'. I wonder how fast they unstack though and if they actively try to stack, because that would mean we could hit & run without having to resort to flawed AI but have it as a real feature instead =)
Too bad the Banshee volley-attack kind of defeats the purpose of this, but I guess phoenixes and mutalisks would enjoy this if it actually worked like that.
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South Africa4316 Posts
JesusCrux, I think you've got it completely wrong. Question #5 was definitely the most important question. That's why tl got a reply directly from Dustin Browder, and not just some PR person.
If you read the reply you will also notice that he does not say that both are important. He specifically states that having a high skill ceiling is more important, as everything else will come naturally.
...So in our development cycle at the moment, longevity definitely has the larger pull. Longevity is the harder problem to solve, so we put way more effort into making the game as challenging as possible to master.
Other than that I think question #3 is the second most important to me personally, but question #4 and question #6 have the potential to have a big impact on the game.
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On October 16 2007 05:16 TheOvermind77 wrote:"Mommy, why is the sky blue?" www.starcraft2forum.org"Daddy, why do people die?" www.broodwar.de"Mother and Father, consider that to say that an agent has free will is to say that the agent has the capacity to choose his or her course of action. But animals seem to satisfy this criterion, and we typically think that only persons, and not animals, have free will. Let us then understand free will as the capacity unique to persons that allows them to control their actions. It is controversial whether this minimal understanding of what it means to have a free will actually requires an agent to have a specific faculty of will, whether the term "free will" is simply shorthand for other features of persons, and whether there really is such a thing as free will at all. What do you think?" www.Teamliquid.netWTFHAX!
I really enjoyed that.
Teamliquid must appear so elite when compared with those other questions.
Good question Mora, though I wonder if maybe it was too vague. It would have been nice to ask if MBS could be togglable, so that the avg players can play money maps with MBS, awhile the competitive players can play without it.
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Good question & answer to #5. I'm glad he values longevity and takes the E-Sports scene seriously.
I just wonder what he means by "That will happen" for accessibility. Does he mean that it's inevitable that many newbie-friendly features (i.e. MBS) will be included in the game to make the game accessible? Or does he mean that Blizzard is so talented after years of experience that no matter what they do, the game will naturally be accessible?
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These get better every time. Much love to Blizzard. Who else thinks Dustin is a sexy man?
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Protoss Stasis Orb (which is now removed from the game)
Praise Adun! I hated the Orb since day one.
Also, as always, much <3 to Blizzard.
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Very impressive. The more I read what blizzard has to say the more I have faith in the blizzard SC2 team and Dustin Browder. Considering this game isn't even alpha yet I really feel that this game has the potential to surpass SC1. Good work blizz guys!
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EPT
