How did they screw up the single player that bad?

[Josue]

IIRC, according to the news reports, the extended swarm was only in the process of being recalled to Char; it obviously hadn't all made it back yet. That was kinda the whole point, Raynor & Co. had to hurry up & take care of business before Kerrigan's reinforcements showed up.

Uh... well, now that you mention it, that sounds logical. yeah, a good reason for it to work. However the reasons behind it are... well, everyone seemed to be going after the artifacts, how come Raynor, Tychus and ultimately Valerian knew where to find them and Kerrigan had to "spread the swarms across the universe" to find them?
Wouldn't it be more logical for Zeratul to know such a thing?

It's not that 'ludicrous'. There have been multiple unmolested landings upon Char by both Protoss and Terran armies in SC1 when the Overmind was still around (Duke, Raynor and Tassadar for example).

True, it's not that ludicrous, but the end of BW showed that the swarms under the control of kerrigan made the planet quite more dangerous than before. Yeah, it's possible to land on char, after all it's an entire planet, but return from there triumphant? Well, let's just say it was not ludicrous, but certianly they were extremely lucky and the artifact was too perfect for the task.

Even in BW, Raynor and co. were able to land almost right on top of the new Overmind (granted it was weak - you'd think it'd still be powerful enough to prevent a landing right next to it!!). Not to mention Kerrigan landing her own 'rebel' Zerg force on UED controlled Char in "To Slay the Beast" (there would have been enemy Zerg forces and the UED crawling over that planet, too). Indeed, BW has a lot of planet-hopping between missions and yet no-one gripes about that.

Afterall, we are talking about a planet here. I'd think it would be difficult or next to impossible to maintain constant, up-to-date surveillance across the entire surface to prevent all intrusions. Also consider that Raynor's forces were scattered when they attempted that landing - they had to regroup and work their way through before assaulting Kerrigan. It wasn't like they landed right on top of her (although it does feel like it due to the short number of missions on Char). Also consider that Kerrigan wanted them to come to her - she wanted the artifacts too remember?

Yeah, she wanted the artifacts... but what for? the artifacts combined into a special X'elnaga magic thing that would magically undo the terrible process infestation means!!! Any explanations on that? nano machines that (among other weird things) reconstruct DNA code maybe?

So what for would Kerrigan want them? And if she wanted them so badly and she even menaced to infest them... wouldn't she just begin to do it and quickly leave them all infested? If she had begun infestation, all their troops would be infested before you choose to either blow the space platform or "Belly of the beast"!!! (remember how Zerg infest entire planets)

Yeah, the artifact helped a lot in the last mission, but how about before?
Was Kerrigan less intelligent than in BW where she would be a treacherous devil girl with traps set everywhere? Maybe even being as clever as a snake, she makes mistakes, and this slip up luckily gave us the last bit of advantage
we needed to do what (in StarCraft and BW) was unthinkable? (undo, cure the infestation process)

What's more ludicrous is Raynor's ability to land an army in the major city of Korhal without nary an explanation and to also defeat the entire garrison along with their reinforcements. WTF? This mission would have made more sense as a strict covert operation rather than what we got because it's the frickin' capital of the Dominion!! Is the major Terran faction and 2nd most powerful faction that limp-wristed they can't fend off a small military incursion on their own world? At least we kinda get the impression that Raynor would be eventually crushed on Char whereas he just seems to nick-off Korhal without batting an eyelid.

Well, it seems story repeats itself. but in this case that's even more mysterious: Tychus was a dominion spy, his armor was his prission and it could kill him anytime... why risk to betray Arcturus Mengks by stealing the Odin and whats' more: come with it to Khoral as if nothing had happened? (yeah, the entire base where Odin was being developed was blown by Tychus, remember the "Oh, how come I didn't see this red button before" lol that was fun, but... he nuked that base!!! How come they didn't even seem to notice it?)
Or maybe it was already part of Mengk's plans? Maybe he wanted Jim to succeed just because of his son's plan? And thus he sent Tychus to make sure Kerrigan would die?

All I can say is that... well, some things are quite cool about SC II Wings of Libery, however there are still things that must be covered and explained with the incoming expansions. It's not a matter of ditching it saying "they screwed up the single player", yeah, right now with only 1/3 of the story, some things sound wild, insane, even preposterous, but... I think they still have 2/3ds of the story to tell, I think they can still make fit all the pieces of the puzzle.

Yeah, some stuff has changed in a bad way (remember Goliath's voice? No LAN, yeah, things like that.)

Just goes to show you. 'Science fiction writers have no sense of scale.' Apparently in some cases, neither do it's fans.....

Uh? and this? When SCII was in the beta phase, I was in this thread:
http://sclegacy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2007

wondering if Blizzard would say anything about sizes in StarCraft. How big is a Battlecruiser? A Carrier? A MotherShip? What size are the planets there? How big is Char? How big is Tarsonis or Khoral? How about Aiur? Is it an Earth sized planet? Such Detailed info is not clear.

[Eligor]

There was indeed the sense at the end of BW that Kerrigan turned Char into an infernal deathtrap from which no army could hope to escape unbeaten (not that Char wasn't an infernal deathtrap already). At the end of BW we learn that even space platforms above Char are infested and that it's covered with countless hive clusters. If the Protoss can't retake Aiur which (if I'm not mistaken) is much larger with a much more scattered and weaker Zerg presence then the ease of the Dominion's/Raynor's move against Char at the end of Wings is indeed quite ludicrous. It would've been more believable were there two or three more missions dedicated to it, with a greater sense of the losses sustained by the fleet and ground forces. Gaining a foothold on Char is probably not impossible, but it's not going to make anyone look like an invincible hero in shining armour (the way Raynor's presented at the end of Wings).

Blizzard did by the way release some pretty detailed info about a few planets (inculding size, population, climate and even orbital tilt and distance from the sun I think) on the old SC 2 website, but I don't know whether those articles are still there on the new one. Now if only they released the same kind of detailed RPG style info about Terran and Protoss tech and Zerg biology. Or shown the same kind of care and attention to detail in writing Wings (we wouldn't have that ridiculous Media Blitz mission plothole then, or the puerile, repetitive and unfunny Dominion newscasts).

[Turalyon]

...well, everyone seemed to be going after the artifacts, how come Raynor, Tychus and ultimately Valerian knew where to find them and Kerrigan had to "spread the swarms across the universe" to find them?

This is a very good question. If Kerrigan was as dominant as it is suggested after the events of BW, how come she has yet to fine even one of these artifacts?

Consider this. At the end of BW, it is implied that nothing can touch Kerrigan and that she has the manpower (or 'zergpower'? ) to sweep everyone aside if she decides to. She has a headstart over everyone else in terms of resources, 'man/zergpower' and most importantly, time. Yet after 4 years she's got nothing to show for herself - not even one measly artifact piece. I'm not saying she should have all the pieces (afterall, the ease at which they were found in WoL was a nod to an obviously powerful 'outside' influence - Narud and his possible association with Duran) but it's hard to fathom how she could have wasted so much time and not even find one if she really wanted them in the first place. For Godsake, one artifact piece was lying right there on Mar Sara, a planet the Zerg had occupied since the beginning of Sc1 and had been still even after Protoss bombardment (see Mara Sara entry on Battle.net)!

I can see an 'out' for the writers though. They could just as easily say that the artifact was not actually complete in WoL and that Kerrigan did have one piece secretly hidden and was playing them all along for some reason or another. At any rate, whatever they come up with the setup is there for more convoluted, gimmicky, BS plot devices.

True, it's not that ludicrous, but the end of BW showed that the swarms under the control of kerrigan made the planet quite more dangerous than before.

I've always wondered how Kerrigan was able to be built-up to be such an 'uber-powerful' as it is heavily implied in SC2, when all she really was in the beginning was tool for the Overmind in SC1 and one that successfully over-extended itself in BW. I fail to see how Kerrigan controlling the Zerg would make Char more secure than what the Overmind was able to achieve when it was around. As I said before, both Terran and Protoss forces were still able to land on Char with the Overmind still being around...

Yeah, it's possible to land on char, after all it's an entire planet, but return from there triumphant? Well, let's just say it was not ludicrous, but certianly they were extremely lucky and the artifact was too perfect for the task.

Convenience of the artifact aside (don't get me started on that again ), it really is the only reason why Raynor was able to get that far on Char I think. Who knows, Raynor's victory on Char may have been a 'blind-side' by Kerrigan as I suggested above. As you know, Blizzard loves this notion of bringing up revelations that are hitherto unknown and therefore surprising but you really shouldn't be because they were actually there from the beginning (read: retcons, which are NOT necessarily bad).

Yeah, she wanted the artifacts... but what for? the artifacts combined into a special X'elnaga magic thing that would magically undo the terrible process infestation means!!! Any explanations on that? nano machines that (among other weird things) reconstruct DNA code maybe?

On the surface it does seem like an all-too convenient means to destroy Zerg and remove infestation. That alone should be reason enough for Kerrigan to want it - so that others won't have it. The "what, why and when" Kerrigan needs the artifacts can be easily explained to verying degrees of believability. The "how" (as in how she wasn't able to get one) is another thing. The only reason, given the position she's in since BW, is that she's very incompetent. That doesn't sit right with me for some reason.

There maybe an explanation for it's actual intended use in the expansions. Who knows, I don't really care much for it anymore. It was an ass-pull plot device to begin with, so there can be only be an ass-pull logic/reason for it (help Xel'Naga breed/splice DNA/empowering device for Hybrids Starcraft was never these things when it first started out)

Yeah, the artifact helped a lot in the last mission, but how about before?
Was Kerrigan less intelligent than in BW where she would be a treacherous devil girl with traps set everywhere? Maybe even being as clever as a snake, she makes mistakes, and this slip up luckily gave us the last bit of advantage we needed to do what (in StarCraft and BW) was unthinkable? (undo, cure the infestation process)

The artifact was not complete until those last missions. It wouldn't have worked until then, I'd guess.

I don't mind seeing characters make mistakes - SC1 was full of them but the Overmind springs to mind considering it was the most powerful which people then mistake as being infallible. That's the thing, the OM was never infallible. People tend to diss it's decision to attack Aiur without Kerrigan, but people fail to see it was a split decision/ a tactical error which seemed right at the time (I've discussed this elsewhere).

On the other hand, the de-infestation of Kerrigan being described as a mistake on Kerrigan's behalf doesn't sit well with me considering all that I've discussed above. I'm not sure whether I like the alternative either since if she intended to be un-infested from the start and had planned all these events in a game of Xanatos Roulette, it is still laughably unbelievable.

Well, it seems story repeats itself. but in this case that's even more mysterious: Tychus was a dominion spy, his armor was his prission and it could kill him anytime... why risk to betray Arcturus Mengks by stealing the Odin and whats' more: come with it to Khoral as if nothing had happened? (yeah, the entire base where Odin was being developed was blown by Tychus, remember the "Oh, how come I didn't see this red button before" lol that was fun, but... he nuked that base!!! How come they didn't even seem to notice it?)
Or maybe it was already part of Mengk's plans? Maybe he wanted Jim to succeed just because of his son's plan? And thus he sent Tychus to make sure Kerrigan would die?

Mengsk is a curious character in WoL. He does come across as a bit naive and dare I say it, stupid in WoL (what with the Odin incident, the use of Tychus and Valerian stealing half his fleet) but this actually started happening in BW (he thinks DuGalle will have it easy on him when he's captured, believes Kerrigan absolutely when we all I know she's lying and has no backup plans whatsoever), so there is some continuity there. It's almost a different person when you contrast it with Mengsk in Sc1. Either way, he's shaping up to be quite the caricature of your typical villain. He's certainly got the beard and mustache ready for stroking and tweaking if need be!

Mengsk sending Tychus to do... whatever (kill Kerrigan, handle/control Raynor through spying, setting-up a puppet Emperor in Valerian by purposefully ruining himself or other similarly themed conspiracy ) has problems of plausibility - ones that are too numerous, have been covered before and usually fall into the "Xanatos Gambit/Roulette" basket.

It would have been nice to see Mengsk being less two-dimensional in WoL. In Sc1, it was clear that Mengsk was a pragmatist and in a universe as bleak as SC, pragmatism is a very good trait to have in a leader when survival is on the line. WoL had the chance to show the dichotomy of Mengsk's pragmatic leadership being a 'good' thing for the entire Terran cause and contrasting it with Raynor's more personal and subjective sense of justice as not necessarily being a 'good' thing for the Terran cause. There were hints of it in the backstory to WoL but it never develops during WoL and all we get is the good ol' boy Raynor always being just and right all the time vs the evil, scheming, manipulative, villainous and sometimes stupid Mengsk. *sigh*

yeah, right now with only 1/3 of the story, some things sound wild, insane, even preposterous, but... I think they still have 2/3ds of the story to tell, I think they can still make fit all the pieces of the puzzle.

No doubt they'll find the pieces to the puzzle. Whether the completion of said puzzle will resonate and be memorable remains to be seen.

There was indeed the sense at the end of BW that Kerrigan turned Char into an infernal deathtrap from which no army could hope to escape unbeaten (not that Char wasn't an infernal deathtrap already). At the end of BW we learn that even space platforms above Char are infested and that it's covered with countless hive clusters. If the Protoss can't retake Aiur which (if I'm not mistaken) is much larger with a much more scattered and weaker Zerg presence then the ease of the Dominion's/Raynor's move against Char at the end of Wings is indeed quite ludicrous. It would've been more believable were there two or three more missions dedicated to it, with a greater sense of the losses sustained by the fleet and ground forces. Gaining a foothold on Char is probably not impossible, but it's not going to make anyone look like an invincible hero in shining armour (the way Raynor's presented at the end of Wings).

There is a sense that Raynor won't escape Char without a victory over Kerrigan specifically, since the entire Zerg Swarm is heading back to Char. I agree that it's very understated so we don't really get a sense of it, but it is there! Once again, I doubt that Kerrigan could do a better job in securing Char than what the Overmind could do when it was around.

The Protoss aren't in a position to do jack-squat with them being almost near extinct (both their major homeworlds - Aiur and Shakuras are devastated and vastly de-populated) so it makes sense they can't retake Aiur. It will be interesting to see how the writers will retcon the extent of the devastation that has been wrought upon them since at this stage, the Protoss almost seem like a non-entity. On the otherhand, the Terrans appear to be more hardy at any rate. Keep in mind, that Kerrigan initiated an invasion. Char was their originating point, so the vast Swarms are supposedly over-extended therefore allowing Raynor's group to sneak in and therefore it's not entirely ludicrous for him to land a strikeforce (he still had quite some difficulty might I add). Sure, once again it's not very clear but it is mentioned in WoL.

I agree that more missions on Char would've been nice to expand that section more (especially considering that the majority of the story actually only really started happening there!) but be thankful there were two missions before "All-In". Remember in BW, Kerrigan was able to land on Char when the UED had full control over the new Overmind (Char would've been crawling with both rival Zerg swarms and the UED fleet - especially around the new Overmind) without any lead-up missions on Char.

[Twilice]

Lets not forget what "evil-Kerrigan" actually did during those 4 years. We all know that she changed the hierarchy of zerg. She made them independent from one another, and we all sort of know that she will once again be the queen of blades. How do we all not know this is a reuse of a sort of "great Overmind plan" but this is Kerrigans plan, she says she has seen the future. The expansion have a big chance of being "epic fail", but they can also be good and explain all those missing puzzle bits. Srsly we need to have more puzzle bites about the hybrids and Duran from sc1, since in WoL they just say that it's the end of the world and everything they can must be done to stop it. Then suddenly it's just forgotten like it never happened.

[Alar]

I agree... I certainly hope the things all fit in together without being silly and convoluted. Some good, simple answers would be lovely.

[Turalyon]

I agree... I certainly hope the things all fit in together without being silly and convoluted. Some good, simple answers would be lovely.

Don't tell anyone about this but inside sources tell me that all of Sc1 and Sc2 was nothing more but a pre-cognitive dream from the Overmind while it is still actually making its way to Protoss space. The reason why the events from Sc2 are kinda funny was because the Overmind was getting closer to Protoss space and it 'weirded out' in anticipation of finally meeting the Protoss. *Mind blown*

[Hamshank]

Obviously Chris Metzen has lost his touch

[TheEconomist]

Because obviously the SP succeeds or fails by Chris Metzen alone.

[Gradius]

Because obviously the SP succeeds or fails by Chris Metzen alone.

But Chris Metzen is still the lead writer, not Andy Chambers/Brian Kindregarn, right? :P

No? Well, ok... :/

[TheEconomist]

Lead writer means they just use lead pencils like the old, out-dated dinosaurs they are.

Bawlin' Chris Metzen is pimpin' an iMac and is still the H.N.I.C. He is completely to blame for anything you deem to be unsatisfactory in StarCraft II.