"No, we will not be removing Protoss from the game."
I had a chance to interview Dustin Browder over MSN the other day. This is my transcript of that interview.
DivinO: As the StarCraft 2 release date draws closer, is there anything you would like us to specifically pay attention to?
DB: We're not seeing a lot of beta players pay attention to the fact that there's a sexy spaceship moving about in the beta login screen. We want to direct players' attention to that and perhaps develop viable strategies around said spaceship moving about.
DivinO: How did you feel about the balance of micro and macro in the game?
DB: If you want to be macro player in StarCraft 2 you certainly can. With additional support for macro in the form of MBS,
automine, easy rally point and 1a2a3a mechanics, the macro game has been made a whole lot easier. We believe macro players will be able to harness this to play more exciting macro games.
DivinO: What about micro games? I'm sure many micro-oriented players are interested in what StarCraft 2 has to offer them in terms of micro action.
DB: Would you like a beta key? I know you don't have one.
DivinO: Yes please.
DB: Moving on.
DivinO: What do you think is the biggest regret you had during the design and development process?
DB: My personal biggest regret was the scrapping of the Xel'Naga race. In development we had three races to work with, Xel'Naga, Terran, and Zerg. At one point, however, it became apparent to us that Protoss had to be in the game. What many gamers don't know is that the race they love was actually an error and was inserted into StarCraft 1 by an amateur-level programmer. The error was unable to be smoothed out by release time and artwork and storylines were retroactively fitted to accomodate this issue.
DivinO: So what you're telling me is you couldn't get protoss removed from the game?
DB: No, we will not be removing Protoss from the game. Instead we will hope to slowly phase it out in the next two expansions. In the second expansion, Heart of the Swarm, we hope to make only half of the current protoss units playable while introducing a Xel'Naga race. In Legacy of the Void we hope to cut Protoss off completely, as well as to put several shiny jewels onto the packaging so as to distract the former protoss fans from remembering their favorite race ever existed.
DivinO: That's all the time we have. Thanks for the interview, Mr. Browder.
DB: Always a pleasure. How much do you have on sAviOr's next match?
* Divino has signed off *