So yeah...LotV?

[NikoMyCousin]

- Kerrigan is de-infested, living on in painful memories of everything that happened.

Like I said months ago, just look at the Warcraft franchise without Arthas. It's unquestionably weaker without him. There's no way they'd let Kerrigan die. The way I see it, she's the key to making a Starcraft spinoff possible. Kerrigan gets deinfested, wants to repay her debt to humanity, so she travels to the Solar System where she forms an offensive against the UED. I think Blizzard's done with MMO's and RTS's, so that Starcraft game would be another shooter or something.

I should add an anecdote here; Starcraft 2 ending with Earth as a destination is quite fitting seeing as this whole series has Battlestar Galactica vibes all over it.

[Nissa]

Niko, while I would ordinarily agree with you in Kerrigan's significance in the franchise, my doubt for Blizzard is greater.

To me, the entirety of Starcraft was about (1) Raynor, (2) Kerrigan, and (3) Mengsk. Raynor is the first major character we meet, and given that he appears in every mission set in SC and BW, he's our main character for the whole shebang.

Kerrigan, with her friendship with Raynor and presence in all but one of the mission sets (SC Protoss), is definitely number 2. While of course HoTS has changed this, she was the side character who provided Raynor with his motivations. He left Mengsk because of her, went to Char because of her, and gave up on everything and went with Tassadar because he ultimately failed to save her.

Mengsk I put up there because he's the reason why Kerrigan becomes a Zerg, and also the primary reason why she tears up the Sector in BW. It's hard to accept that Blizzard thinks "his story has been told" -- no it hasn't. The fact that Kerrigan left him alive at the end of BW proves that he has plot relevance, at least as long as Kerrigan is around.

Eh, that was ranty. In any case, it's never good for the plot to focus too much on Kerrigan, or we'll get HoTS-style storytelling. In SCII she became the reason why Raynor decided it was worth sacrificing his men to save her, and she's why they turned HoTS into a soap opera in space.

[Hawki]

Like I said months ago, just look at the Warcraft franchise without Arthas. It's unquestionably weaker without him. There's no way they'd let Kerrigan die.

Doubt it personally. Arthas is undoubtedly one of the strongest villains in Warcraft, but as someone whose followed WoW, I've never felt the setting was made weaker without him per se.

The way I see it, she's the key to making a Starcraft spinoff possible. Kerrigan gets deinfested, wants to repay her debt to humanity, so she travels to the Solar System where she forms an offensive against the UED. I think Blizzard's done with MMO's and RTS's, so that Starcraft game would be another shooter or something.

I should add an anecdote here; Starcraft 2 ending with Earth as a destination is quite fitting seeing as this whole series has Battlestar Galactica vibes all over it.

Um, no. There's no reason to go to Earth for anyone really. The only reason the UED is even a thing is because Stukov says it's a thing (and dev statements). Earth is, like, the last place terrans would want to go. There's plenty of space between the K sector and Earth if they had to leave the former for whatever reason.

As for gameplay, it was reaffirmed at BC that the series would continue beyond SC2, just that SC2 is the end of the overall story that began in SC1. So far Blizz has kept to the form of one franchise per genre.

Mengsk I put up there because he's the reason why Kerrigan becomes a Zerg, and also the primary reason why she tears up the Sector in BW. It's hard to accept that Blizzard thinks "his story has been told" -- no it hasn't. The fact that Kerrigan left him alive at the end of BW proves that he has plot relevance, at least as long as Kerrigan is around.

And, er, guess what. His story ends in HotS. Ends the way I more or less expected it to.

[Turalyon]

There's no reason to go to Earth for anyone really.

Don't worry, they'll make one up. It'll probably be something to do with a hitherto unknown power-up or some exposition dump.... like what they did including Zerus in HotS.

[NikoMyCousin]

Doubt it personally. Arthas is undoubtedly one of the strongest villains in Warcraft, but as someone whose followed WoW, I've never felt the setting was made weaker without him per se.

My opinion might be skewed by the "Plz bring Arthis bck" posts on WoW forums

Um, no. There's no reason to go to Earth for anyone really. The only reason the UED is even a thing is because Stukov says it's a thing (and dev statements). Earth is, like, the last place terrans would want to go. There's plenty of space between the K sector and Earth if they had to leave the former for whatever reason.

I equate it to Raynor and Tychus boarding the Bucephalus. It would make no sense, but it would make one hell of a cinematic.

[Nissa]

And, er, guess what. His story ends in HotS. Ends the way I more or less expected it to.

I'm aware. And I'm pretty pissed off about it. Mengsk is a baddie we all know and love to hate. Amon? Some unknown schlub we have no emotional attachment to. Mengsk should either have a semi-redemption plot (in the form of him doing something good-ish before dying) or his death should be a part of a penultimate battle with a bigger baddie. Or he can perhaps live on, watching other people take over his empire while he is either exiled or sent to prison. Letting Mengsk die as a part of a romance novel climax is awful. Just plain awful.

I hope the games don't go to Earth. It's nice to have a story where our home planet isn't a focus or in danger.

[Turalyon]

I'm aware. And I'm pretty pissed off about it. Mengsk is a baddie we all know and love to hate. Amon? Some unknown schlub we have no emotional attachment to. Mengsk should either have a semi-redemption plot (in the form of him doing something good-ish before dying) or his death should be a part of a penultimate battle with a bigger baddie. Or he can perhaps live on, watching other people take over his empire while he is either exiled or sent to prison. Letting Mengsk die as a part of a romance novel climax is awful. Just plain awful.

Mengsk isn't dead because he's the king of absurd comebacks.

I hope the games don't go to Earth. It's nice to have a story where our home planet isn't a focus or in danger.

Earth is not in danger, Nissa. It is the danger.

[Visions of Khas]

I've become confused about the scenes we see in the trailer, and the campaign preview panel. While Artanis has two Psi Blades while aboard the Spear of Adun, he wield a Warp Blade in all cutscenes from the trailer, including right before the offensive on Aiur when he's giving his rallying speech.


Also, I'm just going to go ahead and be an ass and argue my theory about Kerrigan and Artanis merging a little bit more:

[Nissa]

Mengsk isn't dead because he's the king of absurd comebacks.

Oh, I wish, Tura, I wish.

Earth is not in danger, Nissa. It is the danger.

Exactly! And I want it to stay that way.

Khas, I thought your whole things with Kerri/Artie merging was a joke...well, that's my hurl for the day. I "look forward to" banging my head against a wall when I find out what that's all about.

[Visions of Khas]

Khas, I thought your whole things with Kerri/Artie merging was a joke...well, that's my hurl for the day. I "look forward to" banging my head against a wall when I find out what that's all about.

Hahahaha! Thanks for that! But yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the way things are leaning for the story, be it good storytelling or bad.

What I'm annoyed about most is the utter lack of diversity in Protoss. At least in WoL their portraits retained a hint of difference in skin pigmentation, but now they're all blue space elves.