World of Starcraft

[RainbowToeSocks]

Since there started a debate in the SC:G thread I figured I'd open up a forum just for the people arguing over how WoS would work

Get to it

[DemolitionSquid]

My vision for WoS would be something like this.

Each race is a faction. Each faction gets access to different classes, based on their race. Each class gets skill trees based on the units various abilities and roles in SC2.

Protoss

Zealot - Basic Melee, skill trees in martial arts training and use of psionics to augment natural abilities (Charge)

Stalker - Glass Cannon, skill trees in ranged combat and void abilities (Blink)

Immortal - Ranged Tanker, skill trees in ranged combat and damage absorbing and deflecting

High Templar - Primary Caster, skill trees in psionic attacks and party buffs

Dark Templar - Assassin, skill trees in close range combat and stealth

Terran

Marine - Basic Ranged, skill trees in both melee and ranged combat (Stim)

Marauder - Tanking Support, skill trees in armor augmentation and debuffing enemies (Concussive Grenades)

Reaper - Skills in close combat and traps (D-8)

Ghost - Caster Assassin, skills in assassination and calldowns

Medic - Support, skills in party buffs and engineering

Zerg

Zergling - Basic Melee, skills in melee augmentation as well as burrow and an ability to call in reinforcements (maybe Banelings)

Roach - Tanker, skills in ranged attacks and damage absorption and deflection

Hydralisk - Glass Cannon, skills in ranged attacking and the option for permanent Lurker form with stealth abilities

Infestor - Caster, skills in debuffs and AoE abilities

Changeling - Generalist, access to various skills from other 4 classes

---

Quests are given to search for new resources, clear out infestations, discover artifacts, defend a base... etc. Armor for Terran and Protoss and mutations for Zerg are found, bought and traded.

[Eligor]

All the time before opening this thread I've skimmingly read the title as "World of WarCraft", a space of ten minutes or so... Then I opened it, and was shocked! Oh well, such is the power of denial. As for a "W**** of SC", blasphemy, blasphemy I say! But since the thread is already open I won't intrude again on the discussion of the Dark and Forbidden Arts inside it. :D

[mam219]

I think first off, I think "Starcraft Universe" or "Worlds of Starcraft" would be a better fit since its more spacey than just "World".

Second, I am going to go on a limb and think it would be neat if it was more of an action/shooter game. Somewhat like Halo/Team Fortress/Third Person Shooter.

Though I do love the idea for an RPG starcraft. I think it would be a better fit if it was more about the battles than trying to level up.

Imagine if there was an epic war going on and instead of servers, you choose planets to fight on, and the the games are actual battles taking place on the planet. First, you choose to be either Zerg, Terran, or Protoss. You decide terran. You suit up as a marine and your buddies decide they are playing for the zerg side.

Perhaps if enough battles are one on a planet, a certain race can claim the planet as part of their territory and then people might choose another planet to take over. You could use the overall universe map and see the territories for the species. Sort of like a grand RTS. Depending on how well you do on battles, you gain rank and maybe are allowed to purchase different vehicles that you can have access to on certain battles, maybe you can even decide to donate them to a "pool" of vehicles that anyone who is playing that species and is on the same planet can have access too.

Example, you see on the planet Auir that your fellow protoss are losing ground. You decide to spent your points/money and purchase 4 Collosi for planet. You take one with you for the battle you are about to enter, but the other three are left for other protoss to use in their battles.

I could go on and on about cool ideas.

[ManaPirate]

I always thought that a Starcraft MMO should focus more on PVP than anything else. In my opinion the whole sci-fi universe doesnt lend itself too well to dungeons and raids as well as it does to organized military action. Whenever I think about this it always comes down to a couple basic 'things' (for lack of a better word, they arent principles, they arent even really features... heck, they arent even reallt the same 'things')

Character creation: You create your character based on race Terrans and Protoss are their representative species, and zerg are amorphous larva that can self-initiate basic mutation to generalize (Taking zergling or hydralisk like forms, for example, for melee or range) and then further evolve by spending the same experience that Terran and Protoss characters would spend on gear.

Class Selection: The way I see it working, class selection is gear based, and talents/skills are based on purchased upgrades for that gear. For example, I have a newly created Terran character, provided with only pants and some basic tokens to spend on armor, weapons, and upgrades (bear with me, I've put a ton of thought into this, but I'm not very smart). The game prompts me to go talk to the dude over there, so I do, and he sells armor. I like Reapers, so I pick the Reaper combat suit. Contained within the suit are the reaper 'class' talents (improved jet duration, faster jump cooldown, I dunno...) Then I buy a Gauss Carbine (providing Demolition Squid with the 'who I used to be' information) and it has its own skills tree. Thus, the character has two talent trees, weapons and armor. There'd probably be some restrictions on combinations (Ghosts with Marauder grenades Lol) Same goes with the Protoss, and zerg would have to have... maybe armor mutations and offensive mutations...

Combat: Action shooter/hack and slash style. (Why did I make this its own category?)

Battle and PVP: Your player starts out in in their racial capital, and after a few training simulations (optional, with rewards) you're ready to ship out and kill some baddies. You take an Overlord/Medivac/Phase Prism to a gateway platform orbiting your capital planet and are given access to the intra-race arena, in the form of combat exercises at various locations on the planet. Inter-race combat takes place on any of so many planets in the accessible universe, kind of like WoW battlegrounds. Each planet could have several battlefields with objectives, and a couple 'arena' maps which could function like deathmatches.

Battles: You could have small unit actions like patrols (5v5 or 10v10 fights to a frag/point limit, and larger objective based games (CTF, King of the Hill, Last Stand, Etc... all with appropriate justification fluff, of course)

Rewards: The part everyone will skip to. Kills in battle net you small amounts of currency to spend on upgrades to your armor and weapons, team victories get you much more currency, as well as other upgrades that I'm too <adjective> to come up with.

(Sorry about that... I get carried away... thanks for letting me vent, this idea's been taking up valuable space in my head for years)

[ChaosSmurf]

Planetside, only set in Omega. Doesn't do anything to the lore, is fun to play, keeps with the StarCraft style, allows vehicles, is in space.

[SpiderBrigade]

I agree that a starcraft MMO should be more like a tactical game or an FPS/shooter than an RPG. Questing and instanced/repeatable dungeon-crawls are already doing weird things to the Warcraft lore...it would be even worse for a sci-fi setting like SC.

The way I imagine it, there would be lots of different planetary battlegrounds (many different planets, different settings on each planet) appropriate for various levels. The battlegrounds would vary, but generally involve controlp points (spawn points) for which different factions would compete. The main bulk of the battle would be carried out actually by AI bots - but the sides are evenly matched or deadlocked by default. Players dictate the outcome of the battle by siezing strategic points or carrying out objectives. In other words, PCs are hero units. Not legendary heroes like Raynor or Phoenix, but more like the Hunter Killer hydralisk. Stronger, tougher, and with special abilities that normal "NPC" units don't have.

In other words PCs are special forces. The AI bots are just movers and shooters pushing from one side of the map to the other. The PCs can of course spend their time taking out enemy grunts (some classes will be extra good at this) but their main goal is to win the fight by achieving special goals. Some of these goals might be opposed only by AI troops, others would bring you into direct conflict with the enemy PCs.

So for example, in one battlefield Terran players might need to capture a landing zone to bring in additonal troop dropships. That's a standard FPS-style "point-capture" objecive - now the Terran AI grunts can spawn closer to the battlefield, giving their side an advantage. But of course the enemy players will try to stop you, or perhaps take the landing zone for themselves. On the same map, a Protoss goal might be to guard a building site while AI probes set up defensive cannons or shield batteries. The Zerg team might be assigned to infest a key Terran NPC, who would act as a traitor and shut down some strategic turrets.

However, you could also have more RPG-like elements: you might want to secure Xel'Naga artifacts to power an ancient energy weapon tower: to do that, you have to enter some ruins and fight guardian units and complete time-based team puzzles. Or you might be able to take control of builders to set up defenses for an advance base before it comes under fire by the enemy. There are a huge range of options for in-ame objectives.

The central point is that each "quest" has a direct effect on the larger battle. You're not doing anything "to level" or to farm loot - I don't think there would be any drops or treasure. Instead, you have a real reason to want to finish your objective - it will help you win the battle and defeat your (human) enemies.

Almost all of these conflicts would take place on minor planets rather than huge lore-vital worlds like Tarsonis or Char. That means that different factions can actually WIN and take control of a given battleground - that is, until another faction launches a drop or space assault, which could either happen automatically, or be under player control (a "guild" or similar organization could sponsor an attack on an enemy-held battleground). That way players can earn prestige and achievements based on the battles they took part in. "I got 400 kills in the battle for the Dylarian Shipyards" or "3rd Korhal Mobile Infantry (name of a "guild") launched the counterattack that liberated Brontes IV." All players on a server would receive notifications about big events like an attack on an enemy-held battleground, and would be able to choose where to deploy to defend important battlegrounds (the last contested zone on a planet, for instance).

Obviously the focus here is going to be very different from WoW or other traditional MMORPGs. I doubt there will be too much gear or inventory management - your class is your class, and you may unlock additional abilities/upgrades as you level. The focus will be more on action and skill. You will not be grinding to collect 100 tusks - you will be fighting against other humans to defend an outpost or perhaps against AI gaurdians in a time-based treasure hunt.

[spychi]

I imagine WoS as a huge battlefield, where large armies battle against large armies.
A TvZ match is easily to imagine.
The game would kickass... while I find WoW to be not fun, mainly because of the fee.

[CrystalV3]

I was thinking the right way for a Starcraft MMO would be to take a hint from StarWars Battlefront. There would be a universe map containing all the planets in the T-sector and each of the 3 race's worlds. (Char for Zerg, Shakuras for Protoss, and the heart of the dominion for Terrans) there would be various routes from one planet to another each extending outwards from the homeworlds until reaching the other homeworlds across a mass of planets. Battles would be fought for control of each planet, which would then allow access to those other planets connected to it, until a Race's homeworld was taken over. At that point the game could be reset and people to take over the sector all over again.

Joining a battle would be like in BattleFront, where you select a class of infantry and hop into the action. At each base vehicles would be spawned that can be piloted by hopping in. As a player gains more kills he or she goes up in rank and status in the community, perhaps able to spend points on increasing certain abilities or stat upgrades.

[Edfishy]

Definitely something along the lines of a PlanetSide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlWeviMacFw) / Global Agenda (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cat_7bfzzs) mix would be hot. PlanetSide would be my preference.

Which btw, why doesn't SOE just make PlanetSide free? Get some word-of-mouth going, build the community back up, and make a sequel.

Rumor has it right now that Blizzard's next MMO will be an all-new IP (intellectual property), having no connections to their previous franchises. I'd be willing to bet it'll be an MMO FPS, seeing as how:

The MMO FPS is a very untapped market.


Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty 5 have made a killing in sales.


Blizzard has been making a lot of mention towards consoles, and has spoken in the past about cross PC/Console servers.

[SoupyTwist]

My opinion on this WoS.
No. God no. Hell no. Christ no. Science no. NO NO NO NO NO!!!
StarCraft only works as an RTS. No exceptions.

[CrystalV3]

My opinion on this WoS.
No. God no. Hell no. Christ no. Science no. NO NO NO NO NO!!!
StarCraft only works as an RTS. No exceptions.

no need to be so limiting, the universe can definitely handle different gameplay types. After all, Ghost was going to be a first/third person shooter, and that's almost as far away from an RTS as you can get without being a puzzle game.

[Blazur]

However it works, if it's pay-to-play I wouldn't bother. I'm strongly against subscription based games.

[DemolitionSquid]

However it works, if it's pay-to-play I wouldn't bother. I'm strongly against subscription based games.

They have their place, obviously. If WoW didn't charge, Blizzard wouldn't have the money to make SC2, D3, their next WoW expansion, the unannounced MMO, the completely unknown 5th game, their new HQ, and hold WWI and Blizzcons all at the same time. And people have eagerly payed that price, which lets them pay programmers to build better content and fix bugs. A consistent flow of income is crucial to any company, and the problem with most games is they provide a lump sum, then a long trickle.

Their new MMO will be subscription. And its highly likely that even SC2 and D3 will act like many free MMO's (ex. MapleStory) do now - the main game is free, it doesn't ruin the story or the game play, but if you want to you can purchase exclusive content with real money like new gear, certain online options, and advanced features.

The winds of change are changing. Deal with it.

[Blazur]

The winds of change are changing.

LOL, way to botch that one up.


Deal with it.

I will...by not playing it. There's plenty of other games out there without subscriptions, and I will support these. Or as you would say, I'd support these by supporting them.

[DemolitionSquid]

LOL, way to botch that one up.

I didn't. See 0:56 - 0:59

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6kNxf6axY4


I will...by not playing it. There's plenty of other games out there without subscriptions, and I will support these. Or as you would say, I'd support these by supporting them.

I accept your position by accepting it.

Fool.

[Lupino]

They have their place, obviously. If WoW didn't charge, Blizzard wouldn't have the money to make SC2, D3, their next WoW expansion, the unannounced MMO, the completely unknown 5th game, their new HQ, and hold WWI and Blizzcons all at the same time.

Alternatively, had they not sunk so much money into developing WoW in the first place, they could have used it to make SC2 instead, and still become fabulously rich. Subscription-based MMOs are only around because there are millions of fools willing to part with hundreds of dollars a year. Games like Guild Wars prove you do not need monthly subscriptions to make or maintain good MMOs.

But yeah, god forbid if Blizz ever makes a SC MMO, it will most likely be combat-oriented, like Planetside or WWIIOnline. An RPG like WoW just would screw up the setting and be boring as shit.

[ChaosSmurf]

Hahaha, if you think that the money put into WoW is anywhere near the amount they have got out of it - and I'm talking just money, not the massive, massive benefits they've received otherwise (some of which are just good for PC gaming in general) - then you're kidding yourself. Please take your irrational WoW hate elsewhere.

[DemolitionSquid]

Hahaha, if you think that the money put into WoW is anywhere near the amount they have got out of it - and I'm talking just money, not the massive, massive benefits they've received otherwise (some of which are just good for PC gaming in general) - then you're kidding yourself. Please take your irrational WoW hate elsewhere.

Please give me a list of other sources that were used to pay for their new HQ, their noticable increase in staff, and the exuberance spent on WWI and Blizzcon aside from ticket sales. And even if they`ve actually lost money on WoW (lies) they won`t have for long because, as I said, its a consistent source of income to minor services such as patching and thus will inevitably generate profit regardless. Even Maplestory makes money, and they`re FREE.

Please take your irrational WoW love and bullshit statistics and shove it.

[Blazur]

Please give me a list of other sources that were used to pay for their new HQ, their noticable increase in staff, and the exuberance spent on WWI and Blizzcon aside from ticket sales.

Diablo
Diablo II
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
StarCraft
StarCraft: Brood War
Warcraft
Warcraft II
Warcraft II Tides of Darkness
Warcraft III
Warcraft III: Frozen Throne
Uprising
Liberty's Crusade
Shadow of the Xel'Naga
Speed of Darkness
Queen of Blades
StarCraft Ghost: Nova
The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn
The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters
I, Mengsk
Frontline, Volume 1
Frontline, Volume 2

I'm not arguing the relevance of WoW and the impact its had on Blizzard's wealth, I'm just refuting your arrogance.

[DemolitionSquid]

Diablo
Diablo II
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
StarCraft
StarCraft: Brood War
Warcraft
Warcraft II
Warcraft II Tides of Darkness
Warcraft III
Warcraft III: Frozen Throne
Uprising
Liberty's Crusade
Shadow of the Xel'Naga
Speed of Darkness
Queen of Blades
StarCraft Ghost: Nova
The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn
The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters
I, Mengsk
Frontline, Volume 1
Frontline, Volume 2

I'm not arguing the relevance of WoW and the impact its had on Blizzard's wealth, I'm just refuting your arrogance.

So they saved up millions of dollars over 15 years from all those to throw into one lump sum of building a new HQ, hiring uncountable new staff, and hosting large international conventions?

Its not arrogance. Its an understanding of economics that you clearly lack.

[Blazur]

So they saved up millions of dollars over 15 years from all those to throw into one lump sum of building a new HQ, hiring uncountable new staff, and hosting large international conventions?

Its not arrogance. Its an understanding of economics that you clearly lack.

So when they purchased a new HQ, made hiring decisions, or sponsored an event each was funded by that months revenue from WoW? None of these expenditures was done with saved capital or as an investment?

Right...your understanding of economics is astounding. For a second there it just looked like you were trying to be a dick as usual.

[DemolitionSquid]

So when they purchased a new HQ, made hiring decisions, or sponsored an event each was funded by that months revenue from WoW? None of these expenditures was done with saved capital or as an investment?

Right...your understanding of economics is astounding. For a second there it just looked like you were trying to be a dick as usual.

I'm not denying that all those other sources had a minor role. But its fairly obvious they would not have been accomplished without the profit/funds provided by WoW.

[Blazur]

I'm not denying that all those other sources had a minor role. But its fairly obvious they would not have been accomplished without the profit/funds provided by WoW.

Funny, you seem to argue otherwise. Anybody reading your post would presume that WoW is their only source of income.


Please give me a list of other sources that were used to pay for their new HQ, their noticable increase in staff, and the exuberance spent on WWI and Blizzcon aside from ticket sales.

Please take your irrational WoW love and bullshit statistics and shove it.

[DemolitionSquid]

Funny, you seem to argue otherwise. Anybody reading your post would presume that WoW is their only source of income.

Than to them I say, presume nothing.

[spychi]

Funny, you seem to argue otherwise. Anybody reading your post would presume that WoW is their only source of income.

Who buys SC or D2 nowadays? Seriously a monthly fee from the WoW game is alot of money: 9 000 000 x monthly fee... ads in the game and so on... now tell me do you think that all the money is from SC, Diablo2 and WC3? Clearly not, WoW as a franchise makes probably 80% of their games profit...but they have probably more money from other sources.

[Eligor]

Who buys SC or D2 nowadays?... Clearly not, WoW as a franchise makes probably 80% of their games profit...but they have probably more money from other sources.

I do! Or rather intend to, I've lost my CD Key quite some time ago.

But what "other sources" do you refer to?

[spychi]

I don't know, I don't work for blizzard (yet), but I think that they also earn money from: ads, partnership and they take money from UE for HQ's in France and in Ireland. For making new places to work - the money from such program you can count in milions

[Eligor]

I'm still pretty sure that games (and WoW in particular) are their main source of income.

[Edfishy]

I don't know, I swear Blizzard does something to their StarCraft discs. I've only had to buy one Diablo II and Lord of Destruction discs, and over 6 (I've honestly lost count) StarCraft:Battlechests.

They just scratch so easily!

[Zabimaru]

I don't know, I swear Blizzard does something to their StarCraft discs. I've only had to buy one Diablo II and Lord of Destruction discs, and over 6 (I've honestly lost count) StarCraft:Battlechests.

They just scratch so easily!



I'm on my thrid SC disk...

[Eligor]

Eh... I'd say it's just the old "CD always falls vulnerable side down" rule. But then, I'm extremely OCD about my books and CDs, so all are in a pristine condition.

[Zero]

From the SC MMO ideas throughout the years, plus inspiration from other MMOs, I have a full a complete idea of how a SC MMO could work out. It'll take some time to write out, but it'll cover almost everything. I'll post it when I finish.

[Lupino]

Diablo
Diablo II
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
StarCraft
StarCraft: Brood War
Warcraft
Warcraft II
Warcraft II Tides of Darkness
Warcraft III
Warcraft III: Frozen Throne
Uprising
Liberty's Crusade
Shadow of the Xel'Naga
Speed of Darkness
Queen of Blades
StarCraft Ghost: Nova
The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn
The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters
I, Mengsk
Frontline, Volume 1
Frontline, Volume 2

I'm not arguing the relevance of WoW and the impact its had on Blizzard's wealth, I'm just refuting your arrogance.
You really, honestly think that copy-pasting a list of Blizzard products somehow refutes the point? Come back when you have actual numbers to back up your point, such as how much profit those products actually made.

Still waiting on Chaos to come back with evidence that WoW is actually losing them money BTW.