Who wrote the scripts of SC/BW?

[Hawki]

Acropolis and Mirage were created by Blizzard as bonus maps for SC1/BW. And yes, I'm aware that Firstborn and GA were created in the lead-up to SC2, but so far the analysis has been on WoL itself, not any distinction of old vs. new.

But like I said, to each their own. WoL stands as the strongest game storywise for me. Doubt HotS will top it though given what's known of the story, but we'll find out I guess.

[mr. peasant]

This thread just got super necroed

[Hawki]

In the case of a zombie outbreak...I think you need more ammo.

[solidsamurai]

Human interactions, huh? Easy for you to say...Israeli girls provide some of the best human interaction available here on Earth (not sure if any of them got to be in the K-Sector :P).

I lol'd.

[solidsamurai]

You do understand that Firstborn and Ghost Academy are all part of the SC2 arcs right?

Having been released 11+ years after BW also says something about the content of these stories.

The nerve of some people, eh?

This thread just got super necroed

Yeah, but is there any other worth while threads going on right now?

[solidsamurai]

Having been released 11+ years after BW also says something about the content of these stories.

The nerve of some people, eh?



Yeah, but is there any other worth while threads going on right now?

Going over BroodWar

The UED appears out of nowhere, and then is entirely and utterly destroyed, vanishing back into nothingness. The Dominion is overthrown, then reinstated. The last words in StarCraft tell us that the time of Kerrigan’s ascension has come, and the last cinematic of Brood War demonstrates Kerrigan’s ascension. A new Overmind is created, and then destroyed. A Psi Disrupter is found to confuse the Zerg, then destroyed. Nothing happens of lasting significance, save the Protoss’ departure from Aiur. Good writing should develop the characters or the world, and the utter lack of development in Brood War make it, in my opinion, the worst instalment in the franchise.

I don't think Brood War is the worst - if anything, it's second to the original.

Even if the UED and The Stand story arcs are self contained, they are still quite involving. The conflicts are intense, and the missions are well designed. Getting your base carpet nuked and then having to rebuild from scratch during the assault on Augustgrad (not to mention the plethora of spider mines at literally every pass, and the odd sneaky nuke) is humbling - even if it isn't necessarily the best mission in the game itself.

I'll admit the plot was bad, but at least it felt significant and there was some intensity in the character back and forths, despite the lack of development. Brood war is simply a game of political squabbling and the exchange of war.

Realistically, in times of war, people don't change. If you involve warriors, they revert to their old selves - acting as warriors, fighting and dieing. There are no lessons to be learned, only death.

No romantic lead ins, no alliance that doesn't exist to be broken (there's certainly more betrayal in BW than in the original game - among them include Aldaris, and of course, Kerrigan). Because, in the grim dark future... okay, you get the point.

The third flaw, and this one is the most minor, is that Kerrigan’s manipulations are really underwhelming. We’ll get into those in specifics in due time, but the intention of Kerrigan’s appearances and betrayals was to make her appear cunning, ruthless and formidable. Instead, everyone she manipulated simply appeared idiotic. It requires a lot of subtlety to write a good manipulation. In StarCraft, Arcturus Mengsk (Rebel Yell) and Tassadar (The Dark Templar) both did this excellently, playing on their targets’ personality strengths and flaws to trigger the desired reactions. In my opinion, Kerrigan sadly does not.

Sure, the intrigue could stand to be better (specifically, the kerrigan bits are terrible to the point of annoying, but that didn't really ruin the entire game for me), however the game frequently reminds you, that you are simply a commander to act under the direction of higher rank (unlike the original, where you could stand to have something to gain, as a liberated colonial magistrate in the shadow of horror first, as a cerebrate with a special package second, and as the leading confidante to tassadar third) - and for me, this only really acts to cement the greater setting of starcraft (it shows that in the greater scheme of things, it's even worse, or possibly the same - that slaying the overmind isn't the end to the difficulties that plague the realm). Not to mention, it kind of makes you feel that your roles in the original were even more special and privileged, if every other person is confined to fights like this.

But now that he believes that you’re simply being manipulated, he doesn’t contact you at all. Why? Obviously the plot demands it, but there’s an obvious solution that fulfills both the needs of the plot and a consistent story. Aldaris knows that Kerrigan was able to gain mental dominance over Raszagal. He also knows that you, Artanis and Zeratul have all been away, secluded with Kerrigan for the voyage. It would be credible to play up Aldaris as paranoid, unable to trust any of you because he believes that Kerrigan could have enslaved you as well. This could be played with Artanis or Zeratul trying to contact Aldaris but him simply sounding insane in his responses, explaining why he won’t contact you or trust you, and also making Kerrigan that much more terrifying by demonstrating what her actions have done to such a cold, confident Protoss. In fact, I’d assume this hypothesis to be true anyway, if not for the fact that Aldaris clearly contradicts it by saying “you believe me to be a traitor”, indicating that he believes you to be deceived, not dominated.

This is the best point that has been raised. It's pretty much the only major plot hole in BW, I think. Other than how poorly guarded the psi-disruptor was (seriously, just put a bunch of marines and some turrets there - you're safe, we promise!).

He also knows that you, Artanis and Zeratul have all been away, secluded with Kerrigan for the voyage. It would be credible to play up Aldaris as paranoid, unable to trust any of you because he believes that Kerrigan could have enslaved you as well. This could be played with Artanis or Zeratul trying to contact Aldaris but him simply sounding insane in his responses, explaining why he won’t contact you or trust you, and also making Kerrigan that much more terrifying by demonstrating what her actions have done to such a cold, confident Protoss. In fact, I’d assume this hypothesis to be true anyway, if not for the fact that Aldaris clearly contradicts it by saying “you believe me to be a traitor”, indicating that he believes you to be deceived, not dominated.

Actually, I think it went down like this - Aldaris was assaulting Raszagal's base/outlying perimeter, and so there was a sense of urgency where mounting an immediate force was needed (including, friggin' dark archons - indeed, Zeratul found that by this sudden 'betrayal' there was a crisis at hand - even if he was sceptical of the whole thing, which he was - and I think it's either the pre-mission briefing or in-game dialogue that confirms this).

No matter the logic behind Aldaris rationale that Kerrigan and her zerg (which I think, she probably did have control of; note that you only ever use her during The Stand when fighting terran on Braxis) are eating protoss society from within, it was still rather idiotic - his assault forces you to eliminate most of his forces. It would've better served his intentions if he didn't assault you right away... that is, unless he feared that kerrigan would assassinate him sooner, if he didn't act with aggression (and it's not like kerrigan told him this; it could very well be that she subtly manipulated him with dream-like visions of impending doom to terribly cloud his decision making skills, much like in queen of blades where she coerced Raynor into a silly underground assault that completely betrays his normal 'tactical brilliance').

At the end of the mission, Zeratul confronts Aldaris directly to actually ask him what's going on, but then Kerrigan straight out cruises in on the balloon-back of a pneumatic-carapace boosted overlord, vaults down and just plain murders Aldaris before he can tell his story (all done in sprites ). This shows that kerrigan can be, both a highly aggressive, albeit careless deciever and that her lies will quickly collapse under Zeratul's probing - but that she's also quick to act when she realizes that her plans are about to fail. Zeratul is left with the idea that Kerrigan has suddenly betrayed everyone and, naturally, vows revenge. However, the ultimate secret of Raszagal's poisoned mind still remains untouched, in the nick of time. Yeah, I did find this to be silly and maybe the dialogue could have been much better presented, but it pretty much is what it was (tbh, I was as confused as anyone else the first time I played through the campaign).

Ah well. Even if Blizzard forgets about him, I will not. En Taro Adun Aldaris. Though you were not Templar, you gave your life in the defence of your people. You have reached the Khala’s end, and there is no greater glory than that.

If anything, Zeratul might say that in LoV. Or you could imagine it. It would be something he'd say, at least BW-era.

Alexei Stukov

Alexei Stukov is introduced in the mission The Battle of Braxis, but he just orders you to surrender and sounds official. There’s not much to interpret about his character here, the only reason I’m including a section for him is because he introduces himself as ‘Admiral’ Alexei Stukov. His unit rank is also Admiral. However, everywhere else he is ranked vice-admiral. I couldn’t find an explanation for this on the wiki and it always intrigued me a bit. Was Stukov originally supposed to be the superior officer between him and DuGalle?

Rank is transparent to all but other officers. For the purpose of intimidating enemies, Alexei can easily make himself up to be the chief commander of the whole fleet during parlay. That way, it's that much more difficult to determine exactly who within the enemy needs to be assassinated. So, it's somewhat both a dose of ego and assassination protection.

Artanis

Artanis’ is another missed story opportunity. More of a side-story, really, but it’s another classic. Artanis is young and inexperienced, a bit naïve and eager to please. His personality is perfectly suited as a follower, but the end of his journey has him commanding the Protoss people. Obviously, at some point he needs to grow up. This ‘coming of age’ story is one of the oldest archetypes in literature, and for good reason. Everyone needs to grow up, to emerge from the safe cocoon of our youth into the wider world. While Artanis is already an adult in the more common sense, the development from an idealistic warrior to leader of the Protoss people is similar.

Artanis is the executor in Episode 3 (SC 1). His coming of age story is best presented as this story arc. Yeah, it wasn't immediately made apparent until the novel Queen of Blades. Serving as lower rank and at a young age always makes you subject to condescension. And given how long protoss age, I wouldn't think that there is any official 'coming of age'. If you serve for decades as a warrior, there would probably be plenty, and they'd all be pointless in the long run - the true sign of glory and 'maturity' for a templar is best seen in the battlefield. Protoss aren't human either, so this is all easily hand waved. Artanis is essentially as mature as is needed to do his job. And he's something like 200+ years old, and a commander, so yeah he's as mature as any of us can probably comprehend. And still 'naive', according to Aldaris. Wouldn't you love to be a part of the protoss social community? As johnny dangerfield would say, 'no respect at all...'.

Consider Artanis as he is introduced. He is obviously young, uncertain of himself. He begs for the approval of his elders. This is our first impression – him promising that he will “uphold the honour and traditions of the Templar.” Can you imagine Fenix telling us something like that? Of course not. It’s implied, it’s understood.

Again, because he's plagued by condescention, it's expected of him to uphold hokey traditions via declarations. Personally, I also found his voice to be hilarious ("This... is not warcraft in space! Grr... god! Stop mocking me!" Sorta like how some people might condescend a nerd for being passionate about these games).

Artanis is a Templar Praetor, he wouldn’t hold that rank if it wasn’t already felt that he would uphold the honour and traditions of the Templar, but he still feels the need to say it. He then gets verbally slapped by Aldaris and doesn’t say anything. I like Artanis, but he’s not ready to lead at that point.

Consider how old Aldaris is, and then consider how many people he's seen become praetors. To him, Artanis doesn't really matter all that much, despite his potential as a 'child' prodigy. It's basically a weird culture, where a 78 year old whom refuses to retire is looking down upon a guy who's 39, calling him part of the 'young crowd' when the 39 year old is at least one generation apart. Granted, Aldaris might not be that old in terms of relativism - but age gaps are even more severe for protoss. It's like a 26 year old actor playing a teenager in some 90s show because he happens to be short and thin enough to give out the look.

Again, there’s not much to say here, but while the Templar’s willingness to give their lives for Aiur is well established, I’ve got to wonder a bit about Raynor’s decision to stay on Aiur. It might have been simple plot convenience, but I wonder if Raynor might not have something of a death wish. If we continue where we left off in his character development, he’s gradually descending into despair. Tassadar, an authority he could finally trust, someone who might have reawakened his lost idealism, sacrificed himself to save Aiur from the Swarm, and to the perspective of Raynor, that might mean that Tassadar gave his life for nothing. Thus, another idealist dies to a cruel world. Perhaps Raynor hoped to die fighting the Zerg and be done with all this misery?

Maybe, maybe... or maybe Raynor didn't want to fit in with the rest of the protoss. He considers Fenix one of his only friends. Raynor is enough of an idealist to live life by the curtails. He's basically a space pirate (more of a privateer, though I don't think the dominion draws any distinction between pirate or privateer) at this point, hoping to forge some quiet alliances with just some protoss. He likes to go solo. He knows that serving as an ally with the whole entire protoss community will only make him yet another soldier. As much as I hate the new stuff, the new books cement the concept of him being a lone wolf.

So yeah, he's also afraid of becoming grande, not just because he's not a politician - but because he also knows that becoming too big and significant will see him immediately crushed by a faction that's already powerful - one that's almost equally as fast and flexible as himself. Raynor likes to stay under the Radar, but will act as an agent for whomsoever (ie. the protoss and their very brief capture of Mengsk; they didn't take Mengsk prisoner because they knew that the dominion would collapse or be up in arms and terran civilization would be in the crapper - at least that's what I initially got from the whole thing; I guess in SC 2, society is stable enough that it could survive without Mengsk paranoid leadership - though I dunno) whenever he deems it suitable.

I’m not sure what to make of Raszagal, given that she was apparently Kerrigan’s puppet the whole time.

Not the whole time. I think she became Kerrigan's puppet, as soon as she began to become passionate once more. This is right around maybe the third mission when you're ordered to slaughter cerebrates. Kerrigan deploys her zerg. Indeed, they didn't make it through the portal from Aiur! Raynor and Fenix's mission to close the portals are a success. In fact, they're Kerrigan's brood (probably came in stealthily from atmopsheric insertion; the protoss probably didn't have a visual of all of Shakuras, so this was pretty easy - simply launch some spores, burrow underground and then place yourself outside the temple) that she controls and that she can sever contact with at her choosing, so that none of the templar notice it in time. Zeratul actually comments on Raszagal's sudden emotional shift during the pre-mission briefing. That's kinda what I make of it.

And yeah, it definitely is hard to make what you can of Raszagal's true personality. The only time you get this is maybe the briefing to the 2nd mission. No wonder, eh?

this would have lead them to the conclusion that Kerrigan was here because she needed them

She says she needs them. This is dialogue. That's why she came to Shakuras. And she already swiped some zerg to plant upon Shakuras, as a distraction. When she said 'you're all going to suffer', she basically launched many many zerg from multiple hives all over the planet into a single attack that she believed would whipe them all out. Of course, they activated the temple for her. Foolishly, I don't think her attention was to get the crystals - she didn't really think the crystals were of any significance, I don't think. And that was her mistake, naturally the crystals foiled her plans to whipe out the protoss in one fell swoop. So she ends up fleeing and coming up with another plan.

The first one is when Kerrigan retrieves the Uraj Crystal and Zeratul says “You have done well, Kerrigan. There is more to you than it seems. Perhaps I have misjudged you.” Why? All she has demonstrated is her ability to slaughter Terrans to achieve her goals, and this was already well established back on Char.

It's just words. Zeratul knows that Kerrigan knows that he's judging her (which he knows; after all, both of them are telepaths - you wonder why protoss are so tricky, hm?), so Zeratul's bandying her with compliments in an attempt to lower her guard on any deceptions she may be planning. Even if he has no knowledge of them, he hopes to reveal them at some point. Dark Prelates (Zeratul's rank, which he wishes to keep) need proof to act upon, I guess.

The plan really is to send Protoss to hack at the Overmind in melee. It’s really no more difficult to send Dark Templar along. It really is a bizarre trait for Zeratul. Maybe it’s just character derailment, or plot-induced stupidity, but it’s strangely consistent if it’s a mistake.

Yeah, that's true. But I guess blizz saw it as only a minor derailment for easier gameplay (for whatever reason, they thought forcing the player to create dark templar might ruin some gameplay, since the player is probably going to use them to defend against lurker assaults and the like in that mission). Note that Kerrigan doesn't want to destroy the overmind, perhaps so that she can dominate it herself while it's still in its infancy.

Then, it was because he responds to Kerrigan calling him a coward with “well spoken”

He's annoying her with shamelessness and humility. If someone calls you 'stupid', you can say 'thank you!'. If anything, that person would be weirded out and it'd annoy anyone who intended to offend you with those words.

---

And yeah, maybe, the story cold be much better told. Regardless, there's less to screw up in telling a simpler more sweeping mover/shaker story like broodwar.

On the other hand, a 'love story' like wings of liberty, needs to have more intrigue, and much less filler. But instead, they screwed it up royally. Poor decisions on all acounts, makes WoL the worst game (not just story, but game) in the franchise for me (not including the shitty sell-out tie-ins like manga, etc.).

Even if it is the worse, it still has hours of playability. However, starcraft is no longer the shiny gem it used to be. And that frustrates me.

[Pr0nogo]

Through retcon, Blizzard established that the Executor under Tassadar in episode III of StarCraft is Artanis.

[solidsamurai]

Through retcon, Blizzard established that the Executor under Tassadar in episode III of StarCraft is Artanis.

Yeah, it was established in the novel 'queen of blades', after it had never been clearly stated before.

[Pr0nogo]

This opens up a potential plot hole though, since there's an Executor in Brood War. Speculation exists that it might be Selendis, but whatever.