Polygon Article just went up about Future of SC2

I don't mind the "short" (it's rather subjective if you ask me) mission count. I think it actually suited and focused the limited story that was HotS. It moved along at a clip and was over before the poor taste could linger (for some at least). Compared to WoL, the mission bloat was fun to play through but the story was so bloated and disjointed it felt like a pointless slog until the final series of missions and exposition were just unceremoniously dumped onto you.

Here's hoping that the short mission count is accompanied with better writing in LotV.

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Originally Posted by Turalyon

I don't mind the "short" (it's rather subjective if you ask me) mission count. I think it actually suited and focused the limited story that was HotS. It moved along at a clip and was over before the poor taste could linger (for some at least). Compared to WoL, the mission bloat was fun to play through but the story was so bloated and disjointed it felt like a pointless slog until the final series of missions and exposition were just unceremoniously dumped onto you.

Here's hoping that the short mission count is accompanied with better writing in LotV.

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I'll accept less missions for better writing as well. But I didn't hold my breath before when they began revealing some info at LotV last year, I won't hold my breath now.

Less missions for better writing? I dunno about that....I'll accept more missions and less writing -- because the less writing there is, the harder it is to screw up. :D

Eh, mostly kidding. To me the story had its "midochlorians" moment back in WoL (retconning the Overmind's motivations), so I've given up on it already. It's honestly shocking how comparable this is to the Star Wars prequels. The first one was disjointed and highly questionable, the second one was right out, and the third is where they try to make things enjoyable again, but don't quite make it back into good territory.

It's hard to get mad specifically at Blizzard when I see this kind of bad writing repeat itself all over. Like original Star Wars vs the prequels, the LOTR trilogy vs the Hobbit trilogy, old Star Trek vs new, etc. In essence, this is failure in writing for main media in general, not simply in Blizzard or even gaming. It's because of the period we belong in. For the first time, visuals are technologically advanced to the point where they can intrigue people in the absence of good writing. My greatest fear is that the current generation doesn't realize how far downhill storytelling has gone, and they think all this crap is even half so interesting as the great stories of 100 years ago.

But to get down to specifics, I think gaming companies should toss the whole "relatable" thing. My enjoyment of a character doesn't depend on how like me they are. I like Mengsk and Aldaris, despite not being male, a leader, or someone with hilarious vocabulary. Maybe some characters should be relatable, but on the whole it's not even close to what makes a character or a story interesting.

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Originally Posted by Nissa

To me the story had its "midochlorians" moment back in WoL (retconning the Overmind's motivations), so I've given up on it already. It's honestly shocking how comparable this is to the Star Wars prequels. The first one was disjointed and highly questionable, the second one was right out, and the third is where they try to make things enjoyable again, but don't quite make it back into good territory.

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And also like Star Wars, the originals were cheesy and problematic too, but people put them on a pedestal and treat their flaws like affectionate foibles. :trollface:

I think the problem with SC2 is, as Metzen said: focusing on making players feel awesome rather than tell a good story with wins, losses, setbacks, and hardship. Thus we get Raynor being the savior of humanity that never fails and never gives up, and Kerrigan that effortlessly reunites the zerg and becomes stronger than ever. Hopefully LotV solves that problem.

Also a thought occurred: how funny it is that Blizzard is doing all these short stories to fill in the missing lore of the protoss, like "oh crap, we were so focused on the Raynor-Kerrigan-Mengsk story, we forgot to include the protoss in shit!"

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visuals are technologically advanced to the point where they can intrigue people in the absence of good writing.

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Film-wise, yes, but we've also undergone a revolution in television with all the awesome shows on TV these days. I think it was Kevin Spacey who said "10 years ago, people got into television to act and the serious acting was the movies. These days it's reversed, actors are in movies for spectacle and paychecks, but television is where the good writing and good acting are coming back."

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Originally Posted by Drake Clawfang

And also like Star Wars, the originals were cheesy and problematic too, but people put them on a pedestal and treat their flaws like affectionate foibles. :trollface:

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Oh hush you. Both the original trilogy and SC were good despite their flaws. The prequels/sequels sucked because their flaws outweighed their good aspects, as well as retconning information present in the originals.

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I think the problem with SC2 is, as Metzen said: focusing on making players feel awesome rather than tell a good story with wins, losses, setbacks, and hardship. Thus we get Raynor being the savior of humanity that never fails and never gives up, and Kerrigan that effortlessly reunites the zerg and becomes stronger than ever. Hopefully LotV solves that problem.

Also a thought occurred: how funny it is that Blizzard is doing all these short stories to fill in the missing lore of the protoss, like "oh crap, we were so focused on the Raynor-Kerrigan-Mengsk story, we forgot to include the protoss in shit!"

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The ultimate irony of that is that in the older games, all the most plot-relevant stuff was happening in the Toss/Zerg side of things, while the Terrans were usually just squabbling over their own holdings for most of their missions.

But yes, the "feelings" thing is right out. Good feelings come from good experiences, not the other way around.

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Film-wise, yes, but we've also undergone a revolution in television with all the awesome shows on TV these days. I think it was Kevin Spacey who said "10 years ago, people got into television to act and the serious acting was the movies. These days it's reversed, actors are in movies for spectacle and paychecks, but television is where the good writing and good acting are coming back."

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I disagree, somewhat, because I hate modern television too. I don't feel the problems with Hollywood are absent in television, but what you're saying isn't necessarily untrue either. Because shows lack the budget of blockbusters, they can't waste all their effort on visuals over writing.

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Originally Posted by Drake Clawfang

Can I ask why people are so angry about paid DLC? If you don't want it, don't buy it, simple as that. But if Blizzard is gonna keep creative guys working on SC2 for years, including making new models, bringing in voice actors, and so forth, it's stupid to expect to do it for free. People gotta eat, and people should get paid for their work.

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Because it's content that should have already been in the game, having paid at least 120+ for one game (all of SC2)

And no, it's not "entitled" I hate that word and would wish that it was BANNED from the english language with the punishment of eternal torture.

that's the EZPZ shill excuse to defend corporate scumbaggery and not making full games on release or charging for extra things when you've already split the game up into three hefty priced installments

Seriously, that argument has no merit to it whatsoever.

every time I see that I wish the government would send jackbooted thugs to kidnap that person and make them "vanish"

Whelp, got my copy. Loading it up now. See y'all on the flip side. :D

Size alone, should help people understand the difference between an old 2 GB game from the 20-30 GB monsters we get today.

Games are made for the sole entertainment of consumers. If they were not at least decent, no one would buy them. Someone does and a lot of people agree with this. Developers earn money through them. Successful games follow successful models.

If you do not like it, that's an opinion. A very narrow opinion, because you only believe in one type of business model that died 5 years ago. Denying the validity of everything else just shows how little you understand about "capitalist pigs" and the first world gaming industry you are part of.

The fact is Blizzard might not be good at releasing great games, but they are the best in the industry at polishing them post release. Without this strategy, they would never release anything in an attempt to release a "full" game.

If they don't want to release full games, fuck them.

I won't buy DLC and I will complain about it, whether others agree or not. unless it's a full fledged expansion pack it's shit and the company deserves the derision it gets.

people can whine and stick up for the company about how haaaaaard it is to make games these days, and all the other excuses these companies make.

I am physically unable to give a shit about how "difficult it is" to make a video game when you are a multi-million dollar company that get's a near endless stream of cash from WoW.

And after seeing LotV and it's cinematics, (and knowing the idiotic decisions and sometimes LACK of decisions made in MP) I would suggest waiting for a big 'ole price drop on this game

And I just learned there was only 19 regular missions.

holy shit, that is like the trifecta of bad.

Bad MP
Low amount of Campaign missions
In some aspects a worse story than the other two.. (IN SOME ASPECTS)

I'm going to wait until this shit is 10 bucks, fuck this.

The son of a bitch won't load...