Zerg were better off with the Overmind

[Nicol Bolas]

Chris Metzen has described Kerrigan as (alongside Jim Raynor) the "loneliest person in the universe." In his mind, the possibility of her redemption and her rocky relationship with Raynor makes up the heart of the StarCraft universe.

The 100% perfect summary of everything that is wrong with the StarCraft universe. If the "heart" of your universe is a pathetic 16 year-old angsting about how her daddy Mengsk didn't love her enough and how she can't get a man anymore, then your universe sucks.

The redemption of Kerrigan would be a good thing only if it lead directly to the return of the Overmind or a concept equally as interesting.

[pure.Wasted]

The 100% perfect summary of everything that is wrong with the StarCraft universe. If the "heart" of your universe is a pathetic 16 year-old angsting about how her daddy Mengsk didn't love her enough and how she can't get a man anymore, then your universe sucks.

Desmond and Penelope's romance on Lost is often hailed as one of the greatest romances to ever grace TV screens. Yet Desmond could just as easily be called a pathetic coward who angsts over how he doesn't deserve all the good things that he already has. That's not BAD. That's GOLDEN.

You fail drama 101 forever.

[Gradius]

The 100% perfect summary of everything that is wrong with the StarCraft universe. If the "heart" of your universe is a pathetic 16 year-old angsting about how her daddy Mengsk didn't love her enough and how she can't get a man anymore, then your universe sucks.

Ugh, more of this tired old "i hate starcraft lore" tripe? We get it, StarCraft is poorly written and hackneyed as far as you're concerned. Though you post in the StarCraft lore forum anyway, you like real villains, such as Dr. Breen (lol), and Kreia, who make you question your morality. I bow down before your superior taste in gaming writing.

Only problem is that I think Kreia is boring and dull, and that the Overmind is infinitely more complex and interesting as a villain. See how this works?

[Quirel]

Why? That makes no sense at all. They should have considered their alliance terminated the instant that Kerrigan no longer needed them.

In all honesty, I expected to keep them around until you were assaulting the Overmind. I guess they might have expected that too.

The UED did not seem aware of Shakuras. Moreover, teaming up with your allies, even if slightly weaker, is a far more sensible thing to do than teaming up with the person who you know will at some point decide to kill you. Teaming up with your sworn enemy is classically only done when you've exhausted all other options and have no more allies to turn to. It's not supposed to be the first course of action.

"The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend" is a real-life diplomacy blunder, and it's amazing how often it's been used. America and Russia versus Germany, Russia and China versus America, Germany and Italy and Japan versus the World, America and Iraq versus Iran, America and the South Vietnamese Junta versus North 'Nam, and those are all just off the top of my head.

Whereas some of those, like Germany and Japan, didn't or wouldn't result in complete backstabbing, it was hardly to the benefit of the aggressors. Hell, if Germany wasn't allied with Japan, the American entry into WWII would have come much later.

And don't get me started on Russia and China.

And who said it was their last course of action? Who says that Kerrigan didn't have them surrounded and battered before offering them a choice between being Zergling kibble and joining with her against the Terror of the Korprulu Sector?

Only problem is that I think Kreia is boring and dull, and that the Overmind is infinitely more complex and interesting as a villain. See how this works?

I haven't played the game, but didn't Kreia's betrayal force you to go BACK THROUGH the last half of the game (essentially) and fight your way in reverse?

Just what I've heard. If so, a good villain, lousy game design.

[deadlock]

Perhaps, but it has no place in anything you want to be taken seriously.

now that's just false. so many one-dimensional characters are hugely interesting. heathcliff from wuthering heights, for instance, or marlo from the wire (see my picture)--he's an unqualified sociopath but he's easily as compelling as stringer bell or omar little, who both have far more "depth".

in fact, many great writers (who are taken very seriously) don't bother creating multi-dimensional characters. william s burroughs is an example of this.

edit: i think that "you always need complex characters" is just another phony dictum, like "show don't tell."

The 100% perfect summary of everything that is wrong with the StarCraft universe. If the "heart" of your universe is a pathetic 16 year-old angsting about how her daddy Mengsk didn't love her enough and how she can't get a man anymore, then your universe sucks.

The redemption of Kerrigan would be a good thing only if it lead directly to the return of the Overmind or a concept equally as interesting.

i disagree. i think it's pretty cool that the universe is at the mercy of a depressed child's neuroses. it's pretty realistic, actually. of course, blizzard shouldn't even toy with the idea of "redeeming" kerrigan. as always, success lies in the execution

we all know the real problems with starcraft 2's story are Gabriel Tosh and the artifacts. and no second-person character.

[Aldrius]

The 100% perfect summary of everything that is wrong with the StarCraft universe. If the "heart" of your universe is a pathetic 16 year-old angsting about how her daddy Mengsk didn't love her enough and how she can't get a man anymore, then your universe sucks.

...this is such a subjective statement it's ridiculous. I mean seriously, if this were objectively true, William Shakespere should come back from the dead and go re-write King Lear.

I'm not saying Kerrigan is of the same caliber as Edmund, but the principle is the same. (The bastard archetype.)

And Kerrigan isn't 16... and she didn't angst about Mengsk, she just teamed up with him, betrayed him, wiped out what was left of his entire empire, and then marooned him on his ruined planet. I fail to see how that's 'angsting'.

And she doesn't even mention her relationship with Raynor. Personally I always found her relationships with Dugalle and Zeratul more interesting than her relationship with Raynor.

I haven't played the game, but didn't Kreia's betrayal force you to go BACK THROUGH the last half of the game (essentially) and fight your way in reverse?

No. You just go back to the second level briefly.

The game is horribly designed for a lot of other reasons. Mostly that it drags like crazy and the concepts are a bit too cerebral for a Star Wars game. And the plot is incredibly labyrinthine and occasionally a bit too... cryptic.

...and there's way too much dialogue. Even for an RPG.

Kreia was a fairly cool villain, though. And Sara Kestelman was great as the voice.

[Taoo]

I might be able to accept that Aldaris is just a massive bigot and idiot. But the things he does are so off-the-wall brain-dead that it strains credibility that he could ever rise to a position of power, let alone to the head of the Conclave.

People rise to power all the time that make, in hindsight, genuinely stupid decisions; Georg W. Bush - Invading Iraq on one faulty intelligence report? Or General Custer getting himself slaughtered when the Gatling gun had just been developed and was readily at hand?
But, what people often forget is under which circumstances the decision was made and much more importantly, which circumstances are apparent to the decider.
Does it strain the credibility of Aldaris to go after Tassadar? No, if that side of Aldaris has not been developed to say anything to the contrary and the circumstances show Aldaris that the Zerg are not a big enough threat to ignore the rule of law (Tassadar meddling with the outcasts), then it is not bad writing, it is just personal opinion. i.e. "what would I have done?" and, at that, with knowledge that Aldaris does not have.

[Hawki]

we all know the real problems with starcraft 2's story are Gabriel Tosh and the artifacts. and no second-person character.

Obviously a matter of personal opinion, but how are those bad things? Tosh strikes me as one of the more interesting members of Raynor's crew and the removal of second person is a definate plus in my books.

[Nicol Bolas]

And Kerrigan isn't 16...

She acts like it.

Here she's been given world-conquering power, the genetic legacy of a sizable portion of the galaxy, and untold knowledge. And what does she want to do?

Settle her daddy issues with Mengsk and screw random people over for no reason in particular.

She's not interested in plumbing the infinite knowledge that the Zerg have at their disposal. She's not interested in seeing what she can do with the Zerg's genetic makeup. She's not interested in anything even remotely productive.

She's a child with a new toy, seeing whatever she can throw her Zerg at.

But, what people often forget is under which circumstances the decision was made and much more importantly, which circumstances are apparent to the decider.

I have this book called "How not to write a novel." It's basically a list of horrible writing techniques, why they're horrible, and how to avoid them. I don't agree with everything the book states, but there's one section entitled "Why your job is harder than God's."

What it basically says is that history is history; no one questions it because it did happen. Thus, freak occurrences and arbitrary insanity are perfectly acceptable. In history. The salient quote is this, "When a writer proposes an unlikely event, we buy it or not based on whether the writer has managed to create a world in which the event is interrelated with everything around it, so it appears to the reader something that might naturally happen."

[Pandonetho]

Obviously a matter of personal opinion, but how are those bad things? Tosh strikes me as one of the more interesting members of Raynor's crew and the removal of second person is a definate plus in my books.

He has this raging hard on for accusing Blizzard of Racism because Tosh + Voodoo doll = racism. He's been crying out about it ever since he the dawn of time.