SC3 Plot Ideas

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

Rag uses induction methodology in his thinking process. Very beneficial for theorycraft, and speculative reasoning. He could have created a potential plot-point from another aspect of the lore, and combined them here to create what he sees.

It's very chaotic if he doesn't go through every point from which he took speculative freedom of, and placed that as an assumed point for another speculation in another subject.

I wish rag would reveal everything and not be too cryptic, and maybe, we can be quick about discussing what is acceptable or not.

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Yes and the theorycrafting was shot down by others in the past saying that it's all BS anyway.

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

Rag uses induction methodology in his thinking process. Very beneficial for theorycraft, and speculative reasoning. He could have created a potential plot-point from another aspect of the lore, and combined them here to create what he sees.

It's very chaotic if he doesn't go through every point from which he took speculative freedom of, and placed that as an assumed point for another speculation in another subject.

I wish rag would reveal everything and not be too cryptic, and maybe, we can be quick about discussing what is acceptable or not.

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It's a pity that this also leads him to make presumptions of other peoples points which he often assumes to be their "real" point and then carries on as if everyone is on his same wavelength/is supposed to understand where he's coming from.

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Originally Posted by Nissa

Well, yeah, but it's also an empty goal. She's basically attained that in BW, and though probably she doesn't have the resources to attack immediately (assuming she wants to wipe out the Toss/Terrans), she does have lots of time to think.

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I know it's an "empty goal", but Kerrigan isn't self-aware enough at the time to know it herself. She only comes to a marginal understanding of it throughout BW and possibly, a full realisation by BW's end. This arc is the saving grace for what is otherwise just a story about some OP ragedemon girl roflstomping everyone and winning for all time.

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Originally Posted by Nissa

It is heavily implied that Kerrigan is emotionally vulnerable during the Zerg missions

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Kerrigan was always "emotional". Her teenage tantrum in BW alone is a testament to that.

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Originally Posted by Turalyon

Kerrigan was always "emotional". Her teenage tantrum in BW alone is a testament to that.

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If only Blizzard didn't stress this WAY too heavily in SC2.

This might seem pessimistic, but I don't know if Starcraft can be allowed to take place in such a distant future, in which both the Protoss and Humanity would be ludicrously technologically advanced. I say that because the original StarCraft, and I would say most good Starcraft fiction has much to do with the concept of "Used Future"(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UsedFuture)

Remember the Brood War opening cinematic? Where you had the marine get his ass saved by the older marshal....only to be abandoned by the Alexsander overhead. That kind of grittiness, ESPECIALLY with the Terrans, is something that can't really be replicated in a high-tech setting (unless it followed the course of something like Warhammer 40k).

That's one of the biggest problems I have with SC2 now actually, the cartoonish art-style dosen't at all communicate the detailed, naturalistic worldbuilding that surronds all of the races. The Zealot should be terrifying, a badass, psionic warrior, he looks soulless in SC2 now. Not to mention a lot of the unneccessary detail that goes on high-tech units in Blizzard games nowadays, take the SC2 hydralisk vs the SC1 hydralisk, or the Thor vs any SC1 terran unit. There's so much stuff going on that the minimalist design which leaves much up to an individual viewer's imagination is all but evaporated.

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Originally Posted by Undeadprotoss

That's one of the biggest problems I have with SC2 now actually, the cartoonish art-style dosen't at all communicate the detailed, naturalistic worldbuilding that surronds all of the races. The Zealot should be terrifying, a badass, psionic warrior, he looks soulless in SC2 now. Not to mention a lot of the unneccessary detail that goes on high-tech units in Blizzard games nowadays, take the SC2 hydralisk vs the SC1 hydralisk, or the Thor vs any SC1 terran unit. There's so much stuff going on that the minimalist design which leaves much up to an individual viewer's imagination is all but evaporated.

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In the case of the Zealot being soulless I felt it was fine because the Protoss DID lose Aiur. The whole "fearless swagger" from the Zealot therefore would disappear.

Zealots are basically Leonidas and the 300. They live for battle. I wonder though if the zealots we see in sc2 were of the Judicator armada. Maybe they're recruits, or some new generation who were not as hard core as Khaldaris.

Speculation aside, there's something to be said about unit responses in-game. They don't seem to be as passionate as they were in SC/BW. It's like the voice actors are tired, or dispassionate. There's no character, no voice.

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Originally Posted by Undeadprotoss

This might seem pessimistic, but I don't know if Starcraft can be allowed to take place in such a distant future, in which both the Protoss and Humanity would be ludicrously technologically advanced. I say that because the original StarCraft, and I would say most good Starcraft fiction has much to do with the concept of "Used Future"(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UsedFuture)

Remember the Brood War opening cinematic? Where you had the marine get his ass saved by the older marshal....only to be abandoned by the Alexsander overhead. That kind of grittiness, ESPECIALLY with the Terrans, is something that can't really be replicated in a high-tech setting (unless it followed the course of something like Warhammer 40k).

That's one of the biggest problems I have with SC2 now actually, the cartoonish art-style dosen't at all communicate the detailed, naturalistic worldbuilding that surronds all of the races. The Zealot should be terrifying, a badass, psionic warrior, he looks soulless in SC2 now. Not to mention a lot of the unneccessary detail that goes on high-tech units in Blizzard games nowadays, take the SC2 hydralisk vs the SC1 hydralisk, or the Thor vs any SC1 terran unit. There's so much stuff going on that the minimalist design which leaves much up to an individual viewer's imagination is all but evaporated.

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I'm glad more and more people are realizing the inherent design problems with SC2, especially the fact that everything has too much "kibble"

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Originally Posted by KaiserStratosTygo

I'm glad more and more people are realizing the inherent design problems with SC2, especially the fact that everything has too much "kibble"

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Kibble was the exact word that came to my mind when I was writing that post. It's absolutely true, especially with the overly generous use of Khadaryian crystals on Protoss armor. I think a lot of the devs have tried to simplify the Blizzard art style to "hyper-realistic, hyper-detailed".

Of course the problem is, detailed dosen't necessarily mean better. Putting excessive jewelry and egyptian-style equipment/architecture to the Protoss draws them further and further from their roots and closer to "space elves". For god's sakes this is a race that has Tribes that's a dead giveaway that they should be as far away from that archetype as possible.

I remember a really good quote by Dustin Browder that really summed up how he and other devs viewed art, I'll try to see if I can find it.

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

Zealots are basically Leonidas and the 300. They live for battle. I wonder though if the zealots we see in sc2 were of the Judicator armada. Maybe they're recruits, or some new generation who were not as hard core as Khaldaris.

Speculation aside, there's something to be said about unit responses in-game. They don't seem to be as passionate as they were in SC/BW. It's like the voice actors are tired, or dispassionate. There's no character, no voice.

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I think a lot of world-building was done soley by fleshing out the characters in the unit responses, believe it or not. The Protoss had deep, echo and reverb effects built into their voices, that made them sound distinct. Terrans were actually much less like "space cowboys" in the original then they are now, and the zerg sounded much more bestial, and malicious.

That's the key for the zerg that often gets passed over, they weren't feral, they had a mission and they were clearly evil. The Overmind and the SC1/Brood War soundtrack were excellent in delivering that effect. Nowadays, the zerg don't really seem intelligent, they don't have agency or character. Things that, despite being very subtle, greatly impact the connotation we have with the Zerg and their armies.

Here's a great video comparing SC1 voices with SC2 ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9fCQAyu-lc

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

Speculation aside, there's something to be said about unit responses in-game. They don't seem to be as passionate as they were in SC/BW. It's like the voice actors are tired, or dispassionate. There's no character, no voice.

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Oh that. I felt that was due to BW's ending, which made it seem like all your sacrifices had been for nothing.

I think the Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan Protectorate need to have a larger role. Their existence was established right at the beginning in the SC1 manual as the two other major Terran powers in the sector other alongside the Confederacy, but aside from the occasional cameo for the most part they're just sorta there.

You could have an entire campaign where the KMC and Umoja are fighting over something while everyone else sits on the sidelines for a change.

I always imagined that the Umojans and the KMC are too smart for that. They just let the Dominion and UED duke it out, and then eyeroll as all Mengsk's activities inevitably fall through.

I'd say that the KMC is plenty greedy enough to do something stupid; it's just that they're held down by authorial fiat.

Consider: the Dominion was built from the ashes of the Confederacy, conquered by the UED, it's rag-tag remnants smashed at the Omega platform, smashed again in HotS, and smashed again in LotV. Somehow, they're still top dog, while the KMC apparently hasn't recovered from the Guild Wars (!) despite sitting on the single richest resource node in the sector.

Large portions of the KMC were annexed by the Confederacy after the end of the Guild Wars. There were probably political and corporate negotiations that essentially castrated the KMC's ability to make war. Of course, the high number of pirates in their space probably means that either the KMC is still reeling from those political agreements, or they're paying pirates as corsairs, raiding Confederate and Dominion vessels on contract.

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Originally Posted by Nissa

I always imagined that the Umojans and the KMC are too smart for that. They just let the Dominion and UED duke it out, and then eyeroll as all Mengsk's activities inevitably fall through.

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For the Umojans yes, the KMC it's a bit harder since they've barely gotten any mention for a VERY long time, we don't really know what's going on with their side right now.

It is possible that the KMC becomes a kind of shadow government, controlling things behind the veil of chaos. Like a rich country mingling with others, funding things here and there.

The Dominion would be the US, and KMC the Saudi.

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Originally Posted by GnaReffotsirk

It is possible that the KMC becomes a kind of shadow government, controlling things behind the veil of chaos. Like a rich country mingling with others, funding things here and there.

The Dominion would be the US, and KMC the Saudi.

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It's still possible given the lack of lore we have for the KMC, Blizzard just doesn't like to comment on them.

Except unlike the US the ominon should have no power, basically like a third word hell hole.

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Originally Posted by KaiserStratosTygo

Except unlike the US the ominon should have no power, basically like a third word hell hole.

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Maybe for a while, but eventually you'd want things to change after enough time, don't keep it indefinite