Does our feedback matter one bit to Blizz Writers?

[Blazur]

Who knows. Most creative folk tend to have huge ego's and aren't very receptive to criticism...especially when you've got the clout they do. I don't know Metzen or any of the creative staff at Blizzard, and I'm really just generalizing here based on my own personal experience.

It's easy to listen to and react to user feedback on balance decisions of the game because it's something tangible which can be measured. But creative elements like unit design or lore are so subjective.

[BusinessMonkey]

I sat down and watched the Blizzcon 2010 lore panel vids on YouTube some days ago. And since I've always loved Metzen and his boyishness towards the lore, I started looking at him as if he was blaming Brian Kindregan for all the inconsistencies, giving him the evil eye, indirectly telling him that he'd be fired if he didn't come up with a proper answer, especially after Metzen mentions Mengsk's plan for Tychus being a major Plot Hole...

I really sympathize for Metzen, I really do, but that doesn't help me in thinking the story he and Brian pumped out was crap.

[Wankey]

What the flying fuck was that? Zerg are now free? God awful story telling. And transformers soundtrack, they've michael bay'd Starcraft 2.

GG, SC2 series has gone to hell.

[Twilice]

Actually who were NOT expecting this ending already. And then in LotV the protoss comes with super bad news and everything will be upside down again.

[SinsWage]

The real problem is too many people grew up on Starcraft and Brood War. It's what they cut their teeth on as children, like Final Fantasy VII. I remember thinking story telling had hit a new high playing FF VII, but in reality it was a jumbled mess. Starcraft and Brood War were certainly more coherent but the story was only great because of what you had to compare it to at that point in gaming. For the time it was the pinnacle of game story telling. Things have come a long way since then, but Blizzard has hardly changed. Starcraft 2 is not the same level of quality as SC and BW, but the quality of the source material isn't as laudable as so many would like to remember.

To answer the poll question however my thoughts are this, the writing team thinks the fan base is wrong so they aren't going to let them change the course of the game. It's a lot like what George Lucas did with the Star Wars prequels. It's his universe and he'll do what he wants with it, and just like Ep. 1-3, some people will blindly praise, others will vehemently detract and a third group (the vast majority) will quietly enjoy the game for what it is.

[Louis]

The real problem is too many people grew up on Starcraft and Brood War. It's what they cut their teeth on as children, like Final Fantasy VII. I remember thinking story telling had hit a new high playing FF VII, but in reality it was a jumbled mess. Starcraft and Brood War were certainly more coherent but the story was only great because of what you had to compare it to at that point in gaming.

Planescape Torment, Legacy of Kain, Fallout and Shadows of Amn.

[Twilice]

You must also remember they are aiming at a different player group for the singleplayer. It feels that every campaign got a "happy ending".

But I must agree it isn't really what starcraft 1/bw is about. But for me it fits pretty good. My only question is how on earth are they going to make a story around this for starcraft 3? I mean with all happy endings starcraft 3 must be about something totally different. (or they are going to completely change the way they work for LotV that will in a good way explain why everything were happening, but I doubt it since it will be foucsed on the so far almost left out protoss)

The focus has shifted from "starcraft->starcraftBroodWar" to "Jim Raynor(terran)->Sarah Kerrigan(zerg)->Zeratul(protoss)" And since the missions are usually evolved around you winning battles it would be strange if you won all these battles and you still lose the war.

[Todie]

i think you should put some sort of spoiler warning on this thread. im not reading any of it..

constructive critisism on the plot might be welcome, but to some extent, the storyline is surely already in place and it has to be kept secret; what good is a strory if its spoiled? ... i didnt like WoL story much either but theres nothing to be done about it.

[Gradius]

Like I said in the previous topic, get ready for more of the same. Even if they listen to us, they're not going to do a major overhaul of the story that they've already got planned out.

The video is clearly a concept pass and has likely changed.

I somehow doubt that. Cinematics of this scale are started way in advance. I would seriously be surprised if they haven't started working on this cinematic already.

[RussianSpy27]

What about hopping that they will listen in terms of creating in-game missions and making them flow with the story/cutscenes/branched-storyline (or lack thereof) in an organized way?

If they at least fix the organization and flow part of the story as per something like pure.Wasted's analysis of how easily even WOL could have been polished better, then the game has a chance.

Of course, after watching BroodMyWarcraft's great youtube review (specifically where he discusses the problems with the opening cinematic and scenes that don't make it to final game), I'm not hopping for organizational improvements either.