StarCraft Q&A #2

[Hawki]

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/759...t_2-10_15_2012

Second Q&A's gone up. Posting thoughts for what it's worth:

-You know, I'll hand it to Kindragen, it's never been stated that Kerrigan was Raynor's "one true love." She did reflect that Raynor was the only man she ever loved in Shadow of the Xel'naga though...huh. Guess Hung was just a fling.

Or it's due to that novel's poor writing.

-The whole Mengsk empire thing...I dunno, this feels kind of...lazy?

I've said numerous times that I never had a problem with the Dominion rebuilding post-BW because it was fleshed out in EU material in the intebellum period. I didn't expect Mengsk to outright lose his empire from the broadcast either. But when it comes down to what is a reasonable question, it's more along the lines of "because he can." Also, it's as if there's acknowledgement on one hand that the Dominion isn't that powerful at the end of the day, and it could only survive as long as it did because Kerrigan was after the artifacts rather than outright conquest. Yet it also mentions the KMC not being viable. That either flies in the face of intebellum-period lore, or the KMC took a harder hammering than we saw in WoL. So going by the latter, the KMC took a harder hammering than we thought, while the Domminion didn't get hammered as hard.

You know what? This is all your people's fault. People clamoured that the Dominion was too powerful and now? Now we get this touchy-feely response. It's all your fauuult!!!!

Or rather this is just a wishy-washy attempt at explanation to a problem I never felt was a real problem in the first place.

-Raynor's motivation...okay, I like this, in that it was always the impression I got from WoL itself, that the prospect of rescuing Kerrigan is the definitive turning point.

-Mutalisks...well, yeah, they were always gonna be farting or using telekinesis. Glad it's sorted, but it wasn't exactly a pressing question for me.

So, speaking overall...meh. This felt muted for me personally. The questions were either stuff I never felt had to be asked in the first place for the most part, or in the case of the Dominion, I feel it's digging a hole rather than climbing out of one, not to mention the original hole not being that big in the first place IMO. Still, to each their own.

[TheProgramer]

Can't describe why, but the answers do seem sort-of lazy, and all-in-all unsatisfying.

[Shadow Archon]

...Meh.

[Gradius]

I like the mutalisk answer & the previous population answers. It's nice that these fan-theories finally get confirmed.

-The whole Mengsk empire thing...I dunno, this feels kind of...lazy?

I've said numerous times that I never had a problem with the Dominion rebuilding post-BW because it was fleshed out in EU material in the intebellum period. I didn't expect Mengsk to outright lose his empire from the broadcast either. But when it comes down to what is a reasonable question, it's more along the lines of "because he can." Also, it's as if there's acknowledgement on one hand that the Dominion isn't that powerful at the end of the day, and it could only survive as long as it did because Kerrigan was after the artifacts rather than outright conquest. Yet it also mentions the KMC not being viable. That either flies in the face of intebellum-period lore, or the KMC took a harder hammering than we saw in WoL. So going by the latter, the KMC took a harder hammering than we thought, while the Domminion didn't get hammered as hard.

You know what? This is all your people's fault. People clamoured that the Dominion was too powerful and now? Now we get this touchy-feely response. It's all your fauuult!!!!

Or rather this is just a wishy-washy attempt at explanation to a problem I never felt was a real problem in the first place.

I don't think the question means what you think it means:

Question: At the end of Wings of Liberty, Mengsk's empire was collapsing. The zerg had overrun most of the fringe worlds and were encroaching on the core worlds. Raynor had revealed Mengsk's genocide of Tarsonis to all the people of the Dominion, and they were in open revolt and rioting out in the streets of the major cities, including Augustgrad. His son had then commandeered half the fleet in a desperate move to kill the Queen of Blades. How has Mengsk maintained control of the Terran Dominion with all this war and conflict?

The criticism is that Mengsk shouldn't have rebuilt so quickly after Brood War. Nobody ever actually had a problem with the fact that he's still hanging on after Wings of Liberty once the lore was already butchered. Why was this even asked? o.O

[Shadow Archon]

IThe criticism is that Mengsk shouldn't have rebuilt so quickly after Brood War. Nobody ever actually had a problem with the fact that he's still hanging on after Wings of Liberty once the lore was already butchered. Why was this even asked? o.O

I don't think either are problems considering how crazy their industry is. New Folsom, Space Platforms that cover entire hemispheres, single year terra-forming including rebuilding the crust and mantle, and what not give them leeway in that area.

[Hawki]

The criticism is that Mengsk shouldn't have rebuilt so quickly after Brood War. Nobody ever actually had a problem with the fact that he's still hanging on after Wings of Liberty once the lore was already butchered. Why was this even asked? o.O

No, I get what it means. The question specifically refers to holding onto power post-WoL. I don't have a problem with him holding onto power post-BW because it's been shown/explained. I don't have a problem holding onto power post-WoL because it's not inconceviable that he could. It's just that when someone asks a question that I think is kind of worth asking (and other people have asked it before), the answer strikes me as "because he can."

I feared this trend would occur, and it seems it has. People don't like WoL, fine. If people didn't get 'it' in WoL (of course what "it" is varies), that's fine. But if this is indicative of a trend in HotS (which already has been confirmed to have fewer missions...go figure), then suffice to say, my unease is growing.

[Gradius]

I don't think either are problems considering how crazy their industry is. New Folsom, Space Platforms that cover entire hemispheres, single year terra-forming including rebuilding the crust and mantle, and what not give them leeway in that area.

New Folsom is such a joke. Using steel rods to hold a planet together is as effective as using strands of spaghetti.

Anyway, it has nothing to do with industrial capabilities but the fact that several consecutive and decisive military defeats are handwaved away and apparently amount to nothing. Excuses such as "but he can rebuild" can never be applied to his neighbors who are in a better position to take advantage, yet don't. Even if he did answer the question for real it would still be meaningless because it wasn't shown in the game itself. If I wanted to grasp for straws I don't need Kindregarn's help to do so. They should stick to answering how mutalisks fly, how protoss reproduce, etc.

[Shadow Archon]

New Folsom is such a joke. Using steel rods to hold a planet together is as effective as using strands of spaghetti.

It's neosteel and thus the problem is handwaved away. Soft Science fiction can do that.

Anyway, it has nothing to do with industrial capabilities but the fact that several consecutive and decisive military defeats are handwaved away and apparently amount to nothing. Excuses such as "but he can rebuild" can never be applied to his neighbors who are in a better position to take advantage, yet don't.

What? The Kel-Morines and the Umojan Protectorate? Who were at one point a part of his Dominion in the Brood War?

The Protoss were smashed, the Zerg didn't care about finishing the job, and all that's left are the other Terran factions that also had losses in the war. The Combine's home world was directly assaulted by a weakened Zerg and it managed it just fine. Whatever's left of the Dominion at the end of Brood War, I can easily believe it being the Terran Lead power over the other two factions.

Even if he did answer the question for real it would still be meaningless because it wasn't shown in the game itself.

The game doesn't have to answer such a non-important question. The very fact that we see Korhal as it is now is proof enough that the Dominion has rebuilt in that time. I don't see the problem.

If I wanted to grasp for straws I don't need Kindregarn's help to do so. They should stick to answering how mutalisks fly, how protoss reproduce, etc.

That assumes that the answer isn't easily answered..when it is. They rebuilt. Saying they couldn't have, when clearly the writers showed they did is silly.

If the Dominion in the course of one year can gain control of all of the other factions after the death of the Confederacy and several main worlds burned, I don't see any problem with it rebuilding in four years when the entire sector was trashed.

[Gradius]

It's neosteel and thus the problem is handwaved away. Soft Science fiction can do that.

No dude. Strength is squared, but mass is cubed. You'd still have as much luck building your planet out of toothpicks. Unless your point is that it's magic?

What? The Kel-Morines and the Umojan Protectorate? Who were at one point a part of his Dominion in the Brood War?

The Protoss were smashed, the Zerg didn't care about finishing the job, and all that's left are the other Terran factions that also had losses in the war. The Combine's home world was directly assaulted by a weakened Zerg and it managed it just fine. Whatever's left of the Dominion at the end of Brood War, I can easily believe it being the Terran Lead power over the other two factions.

If the Dominion in the course of one year can gain control of all of the other factions after the death of the Confederacy and several main worlds burned, I don't see any problem with it rebuilding in four years when the entire sector was trashed.

So basically you're not familiar with the argument at all? I suggest you look up some recent threads, I think we just had a discussion on it.

The fact is that the UED was in the same position as the Dominion at the end of BW. They could have made SC2 so that the UED returned to their former status and was in power, but the Dominion would be gone & barely mentioned.

The very fact that we see Korhal as it is now is proof enough that the Dominion has rebuilt in that time. I don't see the problem.

We've already established that you have a propensity to hand-waving away inconsistencies and ignoring all criticism in order to better enjoy the story. Again, while that's great for you, I'm not obligated to explain the problem if you could care less anyway.

[RetlocLive]

Some of these questions feel like such a waste...

I got a laugh out of who ever asked about Kerrigan's "high heels" ...of all things. -_-