zerus

[drakolobo]

Well the campaign in general I like the Zerus unfortunately aback and felt the least impact. Well now let go any assumptions to receive info on those primal zerg

1. - The vegetation is not plant, are zerglife forms, polyps type
2. - The Primal zerg changed, Zerus appeared in a purely volcanic planet to a jungle planet
3. - Zurvan was actually something like the tree of the Navi in ;Avatar, with its roots stretching out across the planet (the roots can be see in Kerrigan/zurvan fight), so "plants" (or part) were extesions of Zurvan
4. - Certainly as Kerrigan communicates with primal zerg, are psychic? or she communicate with other member of the swarm, the primal zerg thoughts

[Visions of Khas]

I was okay with Zerus having become a forest world. There's a parallel between the Zerg homeworld and Aiur. But besides that, if we assume that Zerus at some point used to be volcanic, then it implies that the zerg may have had some hand in spreading life across its surface. Though I cannot say they really helped diversify it, since I'm pretty sure most, if not all, Zerus life is Zerg or Zerg-derived.

[Hawki]

Looking at some of the fauna, no. Spore rays, crab beetles, quillgores, the artislope (sp?)...it's clear that in HotS (like the original manual) there are/were numerous lifeforms. And looking at its orbital image, it looks like there's still volcanism. Which kind of makes sense - some of the most fertile areas in the world are at volcanic sites.

Of course, how Zerus went from being a "lifeless rock" to a jungle world in the span of a short centuries is anyone's guess. And didn't the xel'naga observe that the zerg had assimilated/erradicated all native life? And...

Retcon? What's that?

[Zoar]

did you read the tooltips for each of the "critters" on zerus?
they are all zerg lifeforms
and the zerg left Zerus millenia ago

[Turalyon]

Of course, how Zerus went from being a "lifeless rock" to a jungle world in the span of a short centuries is anyone's guess. And didn't the xel'naga observe that the zerg had assimilated/erradicated all native life? And...

Retcon? What's that?

"Retcon" is becoming too kind of a word for what we're seeing with all this changeable Zerg history. "Hand wave" is a more appropriate and depressingly truthful description.

The Zerg history can be spun such that Zerus was only deemed a "lifeless rock" because the Overmind said it was at the time (and we now know how it was lying all along since WoL's revelations, right?) and that um... the Primal Zerg are pretty godly and can terraform because they're so noble and "Warcraft orc-like" in their attunement to nature and all.

As to the Xel'Naga observing all native life being eradicated on Zerus, well, that happened to be Amon (who is technically a XelNage, fallen or no) making an incorrect assumption to mislead us while we read the SC1 manual so that when it was revealed later to not be the case it HotS, it would be a wonderful surprise! Also, in HotS all native life on Zerus is technically Zerg (Primal - whatever that's supposed to mean) even if they were not part of the Overmind's Swarm so that in actuality, all other native life has been assimilated or eradicated.

There we go, some ready made explanations. I wonder why people are so unhappy...

[Hawki]

I wouldn't call it a hand wave. A hand wave is where an explanation is provided, if only briefly. A retcon is complete revision of history.

I can't speak for everyone, but it's the lack of a handwave that irks me. I don't mind going to Zerus. I like the concept of the primal zerg. But in transport time, even if the storywriters chose not to use already existing tech the zerg could use (xel'naga worldships, warp gates, you could easily use both), you could easily mention in dialogue "leviathans are the fastest zerg organisms in FTL travel" or "the Overmind had to move a much larger Swarm through warp space, it therefore took them longer." I can't think of a handwave for the revegetation but you could at least mention it.

Meh. I dunno. It's not really something I'd call myself "upset" about. Travel times diminish in accordance with plot in numerous sci-fi settings, HotS is just another example. I guess what irritates me is the lack of any attempt to address it.

[Turalyon]

Fine, an implicit handwave then. Sc2's story is supposedly loaded with hidden explanations, right? Take your pick or make one up, there's enough in SC to "pretend" there's a reason - that's what I did in my previous post. I'm kind of used to making up excuses for all the inanity that is SC lore now - not that I care much for it at any rate. For example, Zeratul somehow knowing intimately about where the Zerg originally came from and the concept of Primal Zerg in order to direct Kerrigan on her path? Well, he got it from the Overmind when he killed Zasz but didn't tell anyone at the time until it was right or maybe he had a longer chat with "Tassamind" than what we actually saw in WoL and was given the low-down about how to defeat Amon. No worries, right?

Besides, there are lot of things they didn't address in WoL which you seem able to accept such as the "4 years has passed and anything could change in that time" explanation. Sure, Zerus was a "lifeless rock" but only at that one time only - there was nothing about it being a "lifeless rock" forever. The Leviathan is obviously the quickest thing in the universe because it got to Zerus and back in no time - isn't that explanation enough? I could go on but then I'd be accused of trolling (sadly, it may seem like I'm doing this but I'm actually not!). At the least, HotS is consistent in its "moving the goalposts in order to suit your current stories needs" style momentum of Sc2 intact.

[FanaticTemplar]

Zerus' transformation from volcanic world to jungle world doesn't especially bother me. Without a clear idea of the time difference between the Xel'Naga arriving on Zerus and Kerrigan's arrival on Zerus, I have no problem with the notion that the planet developed. After all, Earth could have been called a volcanic planet if we go far enough into the past. In fact, I like that it detracts a bit from the typical one planet, one terrain thing we have going around.

Of course, then we have to wonder what the odds of the primal spawning pool surviving all this time are.

[Visions of Khas]

Yes, portions of Zerus remain volcanically active.

Of course, then we have to wonder what the odds of the primal spawning pool surviving all this time are.

Considering that the constant evolution of Primals on Zerus has led to more powerful strains, I wonder how it is that this primordial spawning pool somehow retains something that's apparently been lost by the rest of the Zerg species -- both species.

[solidsamurai]

Besides, there are lot of things they didn't address in WoL which you seem able to accept such as the "4 years has passed and anything could change in that time" explanation. Sure, Zerus was a "lifeless rock" but only at that one time only - there was nothing about it being a "lifeless rock" forever. The Leviathan is obviously the quickest thing in the universe because it got to Zerus and back in no time - isn't that explanation enough? I could go on but then I'd be accused of trolling (sadly, it may seem like I'm doing this but I'm actually not!). At the least, HotS is consistent in its "moving the goalposts in order to suit your current stories needs" style momentum of Sc2 intact.

Is it ever mentioned how far away zerus is from aiur or the K-sector or whatever?

After all, Earth could have been called a volcanic planet if we go far enough into the past.

Millions, if not billions of years (I think most land was created 1 billion or 3 billion years ago? The earth itself, including crust/core/mantle/etc., is about 5 billion years old). Look up geographic eras, I believe (we're in the cenozoic era which covers right now and the past 40,000 years, I think; meaning no change whatsoever, aside from humans).

So yeah, 2000 years for zerus to go from lifeless to vegetation? It may be only slightly more reasonable if the vegetation is 'minor' - ie. moss/lichen etc. Whatever the first vegetation on earth was, it hadn't evolved yet (zerus vegetation certainly shouldn't have time to evolve). I think flowers are the youngest vegetation - meaning lots of evolution is needed before flowers start sprouting.