[Idea] Poll: Void Ray Replaces Carrier

[DemolitionSquid]

There's been a lot of talk of how strong Void Rays are right now. They were originally intended as a Protoss capital ship.

But then Blizzard brought back the Carrier... bleh. Really, who uses Carriers competitively in 1v1? They're an absolute joke compared to the Void Ray. The Void Ray is better in pretty much every way right now. I see 1 Carrier for every thousand Void Rays.

So here's my thought. Let the Void Ray stay powerful. Make it a capital ship again. Let it take the place of the Carrier. Get rid of the damn Carrier.

Lets count how many ways this idea is win.

1. No more Carrier. Finally.
2. One less returning SC1 unit.
3. Creates room for a better 3rd Stargate unit.
4. Gives more space for new Protoss air units in expansions.
5. Gives option to move Mothership to Stargate and make it better all around.
6. Gives option for Zerg to gain unit with Carrier-like mechanic, which frankly we can all agree has felt Zergy since 1998, and the SC2 Zerg could sure as hell use the boost.

But of course, as usual, I may just be crazy. So, what say you all?

[Dalarsco]

I never thought the Carrier felt Zergy. It's robots, and robots are totally Protossy. Yes, they appear to "swarm" when you mass them, but all the interceptors follow very ordered paths. Again, Protossy. You're the only person I've ever seen describe them as Zergy.

[Crazy_Jonny]

I personally don't mind the Carrier, although I would rather see them do something interesting with it rather than bring it back with no new mechanics - same with BattleCruiser. Well, it does have the interceptor upgrade, but still.

But does it have it's uses? Yes. Unlike the Void ray it actually counters smaller units pretty well. It also has a knack (like the Broodlord) for messing up the unit AI. It also comes with interceptors now. And like Broodwar, they're pretty unstoppable when you mass them.

Overall, I'm ok with the Carrier right now, but it could be a more interesting unit. I'd rather see them keep it, providing they expand on it later on.

[Centipede]

What they ought to do is bring back the Tempest since they insist on using its recolored model.

That said yet again, I agree with the Squid's sentiments.

EDIT: It's also worth noting that I feel very strongly that Blizzard won't change much more beyond a few numbers in the forthcoming patches. They've already decided what units they want to feature in melee, and the Carrier happens to be one of them.

They've said before, around when they first brought the unit back, that it had too much sentimental value to be cast aside (terrible reasoning, IMO). That tells me that they're never going to consider removing it from the Protoss line-up.

It seems far too late in development for Blizzard to be removing units or shifting them around. As much as I would love to see them remove the Carrier and bring back the Tempest (or an entirely new Stargate unit) - it's not going to happen. Just like they'll never change the Carrier's model, or the game's soundscape or anything else at this point. They'll change are a few numbers here or there, and at most they'll take an ability innate to a given unit and turn it into an upgrade. No new units, no new models, none of that.

It's still amusing to me that the biggest reason they said they brought the Carrier back was because they felt it was such an iconic Protoss unit. If it's so iconic, why doesn't it deserve its own model? Why does the Battlecruiser get its model updated numerous times while the Carrier only gets a new texture? I digress, this thread isn't about models or sound or anything like that, and I apologize for bringing any of that up.

As it stands, the Carrier's mechanics would fit the Zerg much better than the Protoss; restoring the Void Ray to the status of a capital ship would reinforce the notion that the 'Toss are all about strong, expensive units.

[Arkalis]

There are Carriers in this Sector that we must purge!

Seriously, they don't feel the same as in SC1. The Protoss must grow up. Either change the Carrier in some way that makes it more tentative for players to use or just give it death.

[Perfecttear]

LOL , they should merge the carrier and the mothership :P

[LitAlien]

LOL , they should merge the carrier and the mothership :P

I second this! "The Merging is Complete!"

[MajinX]

void rays are capital ships? if u read the lore they are the capital ships that are slowly replacing carriers which is exactly what is happening in the storyline and MP also. but it doesnt mean they need to take carriers out of the game.

[Josue]

LOL , they should merge the carrier and the mothership :P

That sounds as interesting as giving the carrier a planet cracker ability. Yet it represents some problems.

voted "DemolitionSquid Needs To Stop His Anti-Carrier Crusade"

I know the model is utter ugly crap, but the unit just feels too protossy to be discarded. I even love the new upgrade for them! gravitic catapults to make interceptors go out faster is the best invention since the carrier itself!

HEY D.S. Blizzard already did what you wanted: (I remember I read in the older Carrier thread you wanted them to fake interceptors). EDIT here it is:

[...]Fake it. By fake it, I mean make the Interceptors nothing more than an animation for the Carriers attack. Make them untargetable. In the same way the BC fires 8 lasers of 8 damage, make each Interceptor a single "laser" which deals damage. Make the Carrier exactly like every other unit.

I don't remember well, but the last time I played with my friend's SC2 Beta, Carrier's interceptors were like fake, I couldn't even select them, they were just animations, thus forcing you to attack the actual carrier...

[phazonjunkie]

Starcraft 2 would be such a different (and better) beast if it wasn't for that damn dirty 'N' word:


Nostalgia....