Critics on WOL's Plot

[TheEconomist]

"better appreciation" does not mean "turn them into a complex, in-depth faction"

It simply explains them better which can't really do anything but make them a bit better compared to the game. My original statement was "Tal'darim are a bit more interesting if you were introduced to them in the Dark Templar saga." Somehow, the capitalized far and the "better appreciation" confused people.

[RussianSpy27]

I've got absolutely nothing against Metzen admitting that he'd have Raynor wearing a cowboy hat if he could get away with it... a character is a character, it doesn't matter what genre you stick him in. Cowboys exist in real life, and real life is a pretty dark and grim universe. That said -- and I was talking to Gradius about this just the other day -- it's so, so important to make sure you don't lose perspective. I think Blizzard did that a little by focusing the story so tightly around Raynor for so long.

To cowboy Raynor, Battlecruisers aren't scary. He lives in one. The Hyperion is like his trusty stallion. To cowboy Raynor, Protoss aren't mysterious. His best friend was one. It's hard to be impressed by Protoss when Jim's first reaction is, "Howdy, fellas?"

SC1 managed to convey who Raynor was without sacrificing all those other things -- the mystique of the Protoss, the terror of the Zerg, the darkness of the entire universe at large. I'd never go as far as to say I didn't enjoy WOL's cinematics, because that would be very, very far from the truth. But I do wonder whether Blizzard will take advantage of the perspective shifts offered by HOTS and LOTV to show that the SC universe is quite different from what we saw of it through Raynor's eyes.

My gut feeling is telling me that when James Phinney and Metzen worked together on SC, with Phinney probably writing most of the good stuff, Raynor was made into a regular soldier kind of a dude with regular accent and a balding head - http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/File..._HeadAnim1.gif .

When he alone took over the lore, Metzen remodeled the character's look and added the heavy cowboy accent. I'll stipulate to SC1 Raynor simply having a "0" army haircut in SC1 and not going balding (though a careful look at the old portrait may indicate otherwise). Even sticking to the accent part of the issue, honestly, was there a code in the military that forbade one talking with the cowboy accent, which in turn prevented Raynor from speaking this way in SC1? Does drinking for four years make you start speaking like that? We can all guess answers to those questions.

It was more like...Metzen: "ha, I don't care what he looked and sounded like in SC1. I have personally always envisioned Raynor like this; say what...let's remake him as a cowboy, because I said so! Yeah!!!!"

[Louis]

My gut feeling is telling me that when James Phinney and Metzen worked together on SC, with Phinney probably writing most of the good stuff, Raynor was made into a regular soldier kind of a dude with regular accent and a balding head - http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/File..._HeadAnim1.gif .

When he alone took over the lore, Metzen remodeled the character's look and added the heavy cowboy accent. I'll stipulate to SC1 Raynor simply having a "0" army haircut in SC1 and not going balding (though a careful look at the old portrait may indicate otherwise). Even sticking to the accent part of the issue, honestly, was there a code in the military that forbade one talking with the cowboy accent, which in turn prevented Raynor from speaking this way in SC1? Does drinking for four years make you start speaking like that? We can all guess answers to those questions.

It was more like...Metzen: "ha, I don't care what he looked and sounded like in SC1. I have personally always envisioned Raynor like this; say what...let's remake him as a cowboy, because I said so! Yeah!!!!"

"Howdy boys, I'm Jim Raynor, Marshall of these parts". Ring any bells?

[RussianSpy27]

"Howdy boys, I'm Jim Raynor, Marshall of these parts". Ring any bells?

He doesn't speak like that in WOL...it was a one-liner. I can say that too, and I'm from NYC.

Or...I can say "HeLLo Velkom to New Yorrrk" in a heavy Russian accent as a joke, but I do not speak like a Russian off the boat.

Drinking doesn't make me change my accent (I've never been an alcoholic, despite the stereotype that we Russians all are, but alcoholics don't change their accents either - maybe a blurred speech when you're totally gone but that's about it).

I mean, we can speculate that the writers sought to originally make Jim speak like that in SC1 but for whatever reason chose not to and then later on figured "darn, we should have made him look/talk that way!" That too wouldn't justify the change.

It's like if Lucas decided to make Yoda blue-colored in the prequels and speak in normal sentences, except that at least by virtue of being prequels, there might have been a conceivable (though unlikely) way to explain that away, if he tried hard enough. Not only is WOL a sequel, but we are given no explanations except for drinking, which doesn't cut it.

[pure.Wasted]

I'm not sure I agree here. I never felt that Raynor had been re-interpreted for WOL. Between "Howdy boys," and "It may not be tomorrow, darling," a rough-and-tumble Southern gentleman is what I've had in mind for years. The point I was making earlier is that by focusing so much on perceiving the universe through Raynor's eyes, we might have lost a little bit of the grandiose, fantastical magic that the original offered.

I'm not sure if the argument here is the right one, I just know I have this vague feeling that BW's intro cinematic isn't simply not there in WOL (good), it's that it would feel alien even if it were somehow inserted into WOL (bad).

[mr. peasant]

I'm not sure if the argument here is the right one, I just know I have this vague feeling that BW's intro cinematic isn't simply not there in WOL (good), it's that it would feel alien even if it were somehow inserted into WOL (bad).

This is not surprising seeing as how the central theme and mood of SC1/BW and SC2 are markedly different from one another. The former is a lot more pessimistic where as WoL was more about the return of faith (specifically Raynor 'redeeming' himself from the blame he's put on himself over Kerrigan and her actions). This would naturally affect the visual presentation.

Another example can be seen in the cinematic trailers for the original WoW and the new expansion, Cataclysm. The former is more about adventure and exploration of a brave new world (including the dangers that lurk under the shadow). Meanwhile, the latter is much darker and edgier (in reflection of the global catastrophe that kicks start the expansion).

[Turalyon]

The former is a lot more pessimistic where as WoL was more about the return of faith (specifically Raynor 'redeeming' himself from the blame he's put on himself over Kerrigan and her actions). This would naturally affect the visual presentation.

This is a pretty good justification of why WoL turned out the way it did and actually explains a lot to me about what WoL was trying to achieve. The execution of the game really confused the hell out of me because I wasn't sure whether there was an aim for the story with all these big honking plot devices and hooplah with side characters/events shoved in our faces.

Still, the return of Raynors faith/ redemption of Raynor theme is still a little hackneyed and largely comes about as a deux ex machina via Valerian's sudden appearance. Raynor is still (supposedly) a down-and-out drunk up until Valerian miraculously appears out of nowhere to offer him an out. I now wonder if the artifact is in "out" for Kerrigan to become good (or something else) again...

[pure.Wasted]

This is not surprising seeing as how the central theme and mood of SC1/BW and SC2 are markedly different from one another. The former is a lot more pessimistic where as WoL was more about the return of faith (specifically Raynor 'redeeming' himself from the blame he's put on himself over Kerrigan and her actions). This would naturally affect the visual presentation.

Well, if WOL existed in a vacuum, I'd say you're right... but the problem is there's three campaigns total, and each of the three campaigns is supposed to have completely different themes (new faith not being central to anything but Wings of Liberty). Are they really going to completely rework the feel of the cinematics based on the race we're playing at the moment? Is something like BW's intro possible in a later installment?

[mr. peasant]

Well, if WOL existed in a vacuum, I'd say you're right... but the problem is there's three campaigns total, and each of the three campaigns is supposed to have completely different themes (new faith not being central to anything but Wings of Liberty). Are they really going to completely rework the feel of the cinematics based on the race we're playing at the moment? Is something like BW's intro possible in a later installment?

Well, from what Blizzard has revealed so far, HotS is about what it means to be a Zerg (or something of the sort). To me, I suspect other plot points would be Kerrigan coming to terms with her role in the prophecy as well as what she's done as the Queen of Blades. As such, the central theme here would be one of self discovery. Meanwhile, LotV is set to feature Zeratul rallying the various Protoss factions as well, in all likelihood, members of the remaining two races (all while with some sort of Doomsday Clock counting down to create tension). Again, this has some hopeful connotations to it.

Overall, I think that SC2 as a whole is thematically more positive than SC1 as a whole, with LotV being the darkest. Will there be a large difference in atmosphere come the third act? Well, you can decide for yourself by comparing the difference in atmosphere between WoW and Cataclysm.


P.S.: Actually, after giving some thought on the topic, I think WoL does have one cinematic that reaches the tenseness of the SC1 cinematics; namely 'Queen of Blades'.

[Eligor]

Yep, the best scene in SC 2. If only the rest of the cutscenes were as good we'd have a VERY solid narrative on our hands.