In Defense of Starcraft 2's story

**Karass** · 12-28-2010, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by RussianSpy27

Just because Brian K said it's not a retcon does not make it so.

O RLY? o_O And the fact that he is its author suddenly doesn't mean anything? I already wrote a detailed analysis on whether this revelation is retcon or not, you can read it a few posts above. And if BTK says it's not a retcon, it is not a retcon, because he and Metzen know what they indended to do when creating this segment of the plot. Furthermore, BTK elaborated that there is more information on this matter to be revealed.

**RussianSpy27** · 12-28-2010, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Karass

As for the Overmind revelation, this is completely not a retcon. In fact, the only thing it does is give us a bit of insight on what was behind the Overmind growing beyond Xel'Naga constraints, attacking them and setting out to assimilate the Protoss (as described in SC manual). The “formed with thought and reason, but not free will” part only means that this directive was introduced when the Overmind was being created (another implication that Dark Voice is a renegade Xel'Naga) and “the destruction of our people” changes absolutely nothing: we know very well from SC vanilla that to the Zerg destruction of the Protoss = their assimilation. This revelation also does a good thing in giving us more information on for what (aside from assimilating a powerful Terran psychic) the Overmind used his most powerful agent. It doesn't change anything in Overmind's intentions, only reveals that it used Queen of Blades to resist Dark Voice's control (making Tassadar admire her creation, because she can free the Zerg from Voice's manipulation in the future, thus helping to stop the Hybrid somehow): he was still going to assimilate the Protoss, creating the perfect Swarm, only trying to do this without Dark Voice's manipulation. To sum up, this information from Tassadar only reveals that Dark Voice threw the original course of the cycle in turmoil by staging the destruction of the Xel'Naga in the surprise attack of the Swarm and putting the Zerg on the collision course with the Protoss to create its own version of the Hybrid, thus completing the cycle (in Dark Voice's fashion). Furthermore, BTK directly says in the interview:

In other words, Tassadar's revelation isn't meant to change anyting in Overmind's storyline. It was still going to assimilate the Protoss and Tassadar is still a hero who saved the universe, making his way into his people's legends.

Overmind's sole purpose was growth and Evolution

1. Let's read the SC Manual together:

"The
Overmind coalesced into a semi-sentient
being that represented the primary drives
and instincts of all of the Zerg strains. As
time passed, the Overmind developed the
rudiments of personality and advanced
intellect." p52

The Overmind slowly developed advanced intellect (not that important, but is also different than "formed with...")

"As the swarms continued to grow and
strengthen, the Overmind turned its thoughts
towards its own future. It realised that within
a few short centuries its race had assimilated
all of the indigenous life upon Zerus. It knew
that to further evolve the swarm, the Zerg
would need to leave Zerus. The Overmind
began to reach out with its senses, looking
for something - anything - which would
provide them with transport from this world.
That opportunity soon arrived."

The Overmind grew and so did its Evolutionary ambitions, so it launched the Swarm at the XelNaga to escape and expand and through assimilating the XelNaga, learned of the K.Crystals and the exceedingly powerful race -the Protoss

"The pride in their achievements proved to be
the fatal downfall of the Xel’Naga. The
Overmind, while slowly expanding itself into
the void of space, became aware of the mighty
Xel’Naga world-ships hovering ominously
above the skies of Zerus. The Xel’Naga, having
kept a constant watch on the Overmind, were
horrified to find that it had actually severed their
psychic link, effectively hiding itself from their
view. With its need to consume driving its
minions into a lustful frenzy, the Overmind
launched the now space-faring Zerg swarms at
the unsuspecting Xel’Naga. The ancient race did
what they could to stem the tide of the everadvancing
Zerg onslaught, but in the end their
efforts were in vain. Wave after wave of Zerg
swarms hammered the reinforced hulls of the
Xel’Naga’s ships with no signs of abatement.
Within only a few hours the Zerg overran the
defenses of their creators and laid waste to the
Xel’Naga fleet.
As the greater whole of the Xel’Naga race was
consumed by the raging, genetic whirlwind of
the Zerg, the Overmind gained the knowledge
and insights of its masters. The Overmind
processed thousands of sentient beings into
itself, causing it to grow far more powerful than
it had ever imagined. It learned the secrets of
the sacred Khaydarin Crystals, and began to
incorporate the energies of these Crystals into
its own. Through the intimate knowledge
of evolution and proto-genetic physiology
gained from the Xel’Naga, the Overmind
was able to increase the level of sentience
in many of the higher Zerg strains, while
still keeping them fully under its control.
Through dissecting the memories of the
Xel’Naga, the Overmind was made aware
of the myriad races that had at one time
or another been influenced by the ancient
race. The Xel’Naga had kept a detailed
genetic history of each race, giving the
Overmind a clear understanding of their
respective strengths and weaknesses.
Most importantly, the Overmind learned
of an exceedingly powerful race that lived
near the galaxy’s fringe known only as
the Protoss. The Overmind knew then that
the Protoss and the Zerg would eventually
be caught in an inevitable, apocalyptic
conflict."

He continued his Evolutionary expansion. He sought to assimilate that powerful race, Protoss, as well and constantly searched for them for that purpose and thought of plans how to find and overpower them.

"The Zerg left the lifeless, burning world
of Zerus and laid waste to every planet
they found along their path towards the
Protoss Homeworld. As they progressed
slowly through the trackless dark between
the stars, the Zerg assimilated only the
strongest of the races that they came
across. The swarm continued to build
steadily, ever-increasing in size and
power. As they progressed, the Overmind
sent out numerous deep-space probes
that scouted ahead of the swarm,
searching for new worlds to plunder.
Despite innumerable victories, the
Overmind was greatly disturbed. The
Overmind was aware that the Protoss had
become a highly psionic race, able to
bend and warp the very fabric of reality
to their whims. It sought a way to counter
the awesome might of the Protoss, but
found no answers among the genetic
strains it devoured."

He found humans to be useful in empowering the Swarm to defeat the Protoss, whom he wanted to assimilate, as stated above, because they were a very powerful race and a worthy opponent - see bellow

"Despite innumerable victories, the
Overmind was greatly disturbed. The
Overmind was aware that the Protoss had
become a highly psionic race, able to
bend and warp the very fabric of reality
to their whims. It sought a way to counter
the awesome might of the Protoss, but
found no answers among the genetic
strains it devoured."

"On the verge of despair, the Overmind
made an amazing discovery. One of its deepspace
probes had relayed the location and
vital statistics of a race that occupied a series
of nondescript worlds, right under the
shadow of the Protoss."

"Yet, from out of the cold void of space, a
mighty fleet of Protoss warships emerged to
combat the Zerg invasionary forces. The
Overmind, anxious to learn what it could
about the enigmatic Protoss, decided to let
them hamper the initial infestation process.
Holding its ravenous warriors at bay, the
Overmind watched as the Protoss razed the
colony of Chau Sara. Apparently, the Protoss
were aware that the Hive Spores had already
despoiled the planet and seeking to prevent
further infestation, incinerated the planet.
Such decisive action pleased the
Overmind, who could only marvel at how
the Protoss wrought absolute devastation
with such grace and power. Knowing that
the coming conflict would be the greatest
challenge of its existence, the Overmind
pulled its forces back to observe how the
Protoss, and Humanity, would react next."

Let's summarize:

1) The Overmind was made to control the Swarm and was at first a primitive being
2) It evolved thought and reason
3) It developed ambition to strengthten itself and the Swarm and leave the home planet (Not through some lack of free will)
4) It continued to develop to a point of being able to severe the psionic link with the XelNaga, waited for the right moment, and tore Xels to shreds
5) In assimilating them, it learned of other powerful races, most significantly the protoss (Not through some Dark Voice)
6) It sought to assimilate the Protoss to perfect the Evolutionary build up of the Zerg, just like with other races, but this one was unique as a very powerful psionic race, of the XelNaga, and a great challenge to overcome. (Not because of an overriding directive that gave the Overmind no other choice).

The manual paints a beutiful picture of the Overmind - an Evolutionary perfectionist being and all of his decisions were coherent, logical and consistent. He outgrew Xels, sought to assimilate more, developed curiosity and desire to find Protoss, sought agents to help him as he knew it'd be a challenge, and proceeded accordingly.

You say WOL doesn't alter that? Let's see:

1) The overmind is a noble, courageous creature who was mind controlled
2) The Overmind aparently did not want to do what he did in SC1, why else would Tassadar defend him so and tell Zeratul he was not an abamination?

You claim the Overmind would have done everything the same, just without the Dark Voice's control? And that's why Tassadar is defending him? Well, let me ask you, what the heck is the difference then, to Tassadar, whether the Dark Voice controlled him when he practically destroyed their home world?

It's like saying, "Hitler invaded Soviet Union because the Japanese put an overriding directive in a form of a chip into his head, but guess what, he would have done it anyway."

Moreover, if you say destruction of the people = assimilation, then the assimilation was the overriding objective, then why was there even a need to use the directive in the first place? He wanted to do the same thing to then kill himself? It's redundant and pointless; the dramatic nature of the scene and Tassadar's passionate defense of the Overmind clearly establishes that the whole ordeal of invading Aiur was Dark Voice's work. And that is why the Overmind is a courageous creature? Tassadar didn't say "Oh look Zeratul, I know the dude would have wiped us out anyway, but he was just following orders, let's give him props!" (which would sound crazy, IMO)

The manual also explains that the Zerg's heirarchy was absolutely linear - Overmind -> Cerebrates -> Overlords -> Queens. So let's see: He was pissed at the fact that he was brainwashed to do what he wanted to do anyway, decided to commit suicide on par with his buddy Tassadar because the girl he assimilated would then take over the swarm that would have to do the same evolutionary routine anyway, but just without this Devil voice dude who apparently was behind the scenes? Convincing...

So the big bad Devil Dark Voice Diablo whom we never heard about before masterminded everything with magic made the OM attack the XelNaga and not the evolutionary development and choice to escape constraint? Sounds like a retcon of character to me.
=============

As to Brian K. He is the writer of SC2, who wasn't involved at first -http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/07/interview_starcraft_ii_lead_wr.php - it was not his baby and neither was SC1.

SC1 was written by Metzen and James Phinney who later left the company. He was the lead designer and producer of SC1 - http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/James_Phinney; Metzen admits to creating the world with him: http://sclegacy.com/feature/10-blizz...tzen-interview .

Metzen said Phinney was the designer and he was the writer, but admits that the process was extensively collaborative; we do not know what part of creation of characters, editing and so forth went in between them, but we do know that Phinney has shown his skills as a writer elsewhere too - he wrote the script and story for the game Sacrifise which was highly praised for such by IGN. This leads me to speculate (yes just speculate, as I don't have direct evidence to conclude anything) that Phinney may have had a much bigger role in SC1's story than may appear. Again, I'm not sure what the lead designer would do in the development, but here is what Wikipedia offers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_de...velopment_team

"A game designer is a person who designs gameplay, conceiving and designing the rules and structure of a game.[55][56][57] Development teams usually have a lead designer who coordinates the work of other designers. He is the main visionary of the game.[58] One of the roles of a designer is being a writer, often employed part-time to conceive game's narrative, dialogue, commentary, cutscene narrative, journals, video game packaging content, hint system, etc.[59][60][61]".

But let's just assume that Brian K was the original writer who deeply cared about continuity and the established character development, writers too make mistakes (see my example with 6 foot Yoda above). Saying "oh that is not X" when rational evidence points to the fact that is X is irrelevant, even if the statement is made by the person who wrote about X. Yea...he's wrong.
=========

As for you claiming that the leaked video is fake, it has been discussed at length in another thread. We do not know what kind of a game, WOL or HOTS it was for, and how many other drafts there may be, but evidence points to the fact that it is a Blizzard cutscene.

1) http://www.thethirdfloorinc.com/#cinematics-f4d3b - This company's logo is on the video - http://kotaku.com/5709838/ending-lea...s-next-chapter

2) Before it was taken out, there was another video which was Almost an exact replica of the "New Getysburg" video with Kerrigan abandoned by Mengsk, with a few other elements (zerglings with wings, etc) not polished graphics and a different female voice actress - that as we know, made it to the game in an almost exact way.

3) Graidius said (can't find the link) in a post that the male voice in the leaked pre-visualisation is Metzen's.

4) Blizzard took down every possible video, including from the original source and YouTube ones with a message that read "Removed by request of Activision Blizzard"...they were at it for a while, till finally gave up trying to chase people's links.

**Articorse** · 12-28-2010, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by Karass

There is actually a lot of allusion to Brood War in SC2: in the campaign intro Mengsk gives an interview commemorating the end of the Brood War, Zeratul mentions the evacuation of Aiur in Echoes of the Future, Spartan Company are UED survivors (as you mentioned), Raynor mentiones helping out Protoss twice (destruction of the Overmind and the Brood War) an most importantly there is a summary Brood War in both WoL manual and story section on SC2 Battle.net site. As for Dark Origin, it is mentioned in both BW summary and The Dark Templar Saga (the latter being an introduction to SC2).

Putting in miniature nods to there actually BEING a Brood War doesn't mean that it is being acknowledged in the slightest. These are just small continuity nods, nothing more, they don't mention anything about what actually happened in BW. And no, the novels,

website, etc. don't matter - we're talking about the game.

As for me, I think WoL story was pretty damn good. It has its flaws, for sure, but they are not that severe or damaging to the quality of the plot. All in all, WoL is a worthy successor and sequel to an excellent story of SC vanilla-BW and the flaws such as lack os Zerg missions and a small amount of Protoss' are justified by the fact that WoL is just the prologue of the actual SC story (and it is a complete story!). I basically agree with Angry Joe's review for the most part. I don't agree with Gradius about Mengsk's character was ruined: in fact, we don't even see him much in WoL and when we see him, he is basically the same as in SC1. For instance, he rage quits on Kate in the same way he tells Raynor "I will rule this sector or see it burn to ahes around me" at the end of Rebel Yell and his dialogue with Valerian just before the attack on Char is consistent with the way how their relation ship is established by the novels. BTW, about the Xel'Naga considering Protoss a failure: they did consider them a failure in the way that the purity of form was tainted by the loss of the communal link. Zamara's revelation doesn't really contradict that, since the Xel'Naga chose not to continue their experiment with the Protoss, they were done with them.

Mengsk acted like a whiny crybaby. They could've easily replaced his dialogue with whiny sounds and there would be no impact to the story. He's not threatening, he can't be taken seriously, he's a joke. The rage quit with Kate was the most in-character moment for him, I agree, but it had NOTHING to do with that speech. When you heard "I will rule this sector, or see it burnt to ashes around me!" you felt that he would really do it. He was determined to fulfill his goals, and if he couldn't, he'd make sure everyone paid the price for not realizing how great he is.

And no, 'being done with them' doesn't mean 'they were a failure'. In fact, it means quite the opposite, it means that their job was done with them, that what they wanted to do was done and so now they had to find another species with purity of essence.

I also don't consider Dark Voice to be all that cliché: he is actually very consistent with Duran as he present himself in Dark Origin (the whole thing about the completion of the cycle, culmination of history and remolding the universe). And, after all, there is still very little information we have about the Voice (or rather the Fallen One, since Dark Voice is used as his name in subtitles and not his in-universe name). And let's face it: this deal about the cosmic cycle, the Hybrid and the deepened mystery around Duran introduced in Dark Origin was one of the coolest things in StarCraft storyline. Duran's speech at the end of the mission is really atmospheric, maybe even giving the creeps (not in the way of scaring you stiff, of course) when you listen to it.

The Dark Voice has NOTHING to do with Duran as a character. The Dark Voice is boastful, prideful and in your face. Duran was also prideful, but he was slick and a smooth talker. Even when he had Zeratul by the balls, he was still suave and well-spoken. The Dark Voice is pretty much "I'll destroy everything!" ad infinitum. With Duran you had a sense that there was more to his plan, that it wasn't just a means to destroy everything, but that he actually wanted to accomplish something. With the Dark Voice it's just...

"What do you wanna do?"
"I wanna destroy all sentient life."
"... Why?"

Raynor's oath to kill Kerrigan wasn't wasted. As DarthYam said above, Raynor is clearly shocked and upset when Zeratul tells him Kerrigan has to live. But when Raynor sees Zeratul's memories he begins ti understand why he shouldn't kill her. Furthermore, later he meets Valerian, who has the way to revert Kerrigan back to her human form, make her the woman she was before becoming Queen of Blades, who killed Fenix and committed all these atrocities. And Raynor knows Sarah and Queen of Blades are NOT the same, in fact, she outright tells him this when she defeats his forces shortly after he rebirth. Metzen also addressed this matter on BlizzCon and confirmed that Valerian's offer changed everything for Raynor: now he can not just destroy the Queen of Blades, but bring the woman he loves back. IMHO Raynor's speech before the final mission was actually cool. Cliché, but cool. At least it was appropriate. The thing I didn't like, however, was Warfield bragging about how he held the line while Raynor hid under rock, which is an extremely outrageous thing to say, considering the fact that Raynor helped to save the universe from the Overmind. But that's a flaw of Warfield's initial attitude rather than story.

Actually, he didn't really see why Kerrigan had to live. No one did. Not even Zeratul - it was just an INCREDIBLY vague prophecy by a species that got themselves almost completely killed by their own creation, deciphered by people, who just seconds ago were pawns of an agent of someone, who has all the motivation in the world to mislead anyone, who might try to stop them. If Razsagal was so easily infested by Kerrigan, how could Zeratul POSSIBLY trust people, who were in contact with a nigh-invulnerable half-zerg creature for possibly years?

But, yes, agree with you that the deinfestation was necessary. I'm not saying it was GOOD, but it was necessary to continue the storyline. And the speech at the end was HORRENDOUS. Okay, this is a point of opinion, but that was the most cliche, over-the-top scene in the whole game, and frankly, one of the most cliche scenes I've EVER witnessed in my entire life. He tries to give an impromptu speech a few of his men? Okay. One of his soldiers overhears him and... I really don't know how, somehow broadcasts him all over the camp. Okay, there should be speakers everywhere, he does need ot give orders globally. But what, was he just accidentally standing near the microphone? Or is the radio the soldier played with actually connected to a built-in microphone in Raynor's suit and he can broadcast what he's saying around the camp at all times? I'd think the commanding officer needs a wee bit more privacy than that. But, okay, I'll ignore even that, as stupid as it was. ... But then the clouds part... there's a ray of sunshine... and it starts to RAIN. It starts to rain WATER. On a TOXIC, VOLCANIC PLANET. I'm sorry, but the surface temperature on that planet could allegedly 'burn a man alive'. A ray of light through the clouds should be met with screams for mercy from whatever deity you ascribe to. Not to mention that IT CAN'T RAIN PURE WATER ON A VOLCANIC PLANET. That would be ACID rain, because of all the sulphur and various other wonderfully toxic components in a volcanic planet's air.

Zeratul is NOT senile. The major setback in SC2 is, of course, the most unfortunate death of Zeratul's voice actor Jack Ritschel (R.I.P.), who did the FANTASTIC job in SC vanilla and BW. It would have been terrific to hear his voice in SC2, especially considering Zeratul's storyline involving him trying to avert the universe's destruction by the Hybrid. Fred Tatasciore did a good job, but IMO was unable to fully recreate the awesome feel of Ritschel's acting as Zeratul. This is why Zeratul sounds somewhat senile. I got an impression that he always speaks i nthe tone he spoke to Duran in their dialogue at the end of Dark Origin (in fact, parts of it were very similiar to his voice in WoL).

The reason I think Zeratul is senile is not because of the voice actor. Yes, he sounds nothing like the original, they made a horrible choice when they selected him to replace Ritschel. I'm not saying he's bad, I'm saying he sounds nothing like the original. He should at least TRY. The reason I think Zeratul is senile is because of the voice direction and the lines. He's constantly confused about things he KNOWS. He actually wondered out loud who could have created Ma'ar! What the hell? Ma'ar was created by the same guy, because of whom you're now running around trying to decipher a bloody prophecy! And don't give me the 'But the new players don't know who Duran is!' bullshit. That's right, they don't know - Blizzard did a sucky job of establishing what was going on, which is why now Zeratul forgets that he forgot to take his alzheimer's pills.

That cinematic is fake beyond mortal comprehension I just don't believe that Metzen who created these character and handled their development very well would do something as stupid a shown in the said cinematic with them.

Actually.... no it wasn't. It was just a storyboard. A very, very rough version of what the final cinematic will be. And frankly, the characters were handled EXACTLY how I expected them to be handled, they were the exact same people they were in WoL.

O RLY? o_O And the fact that he is its author suddenly doesn't mean anything? I already wrote a detailed analysis on whether this revelation is retcon or not, you can read it a few posts above. And if BTK says it's not a retcon, it is not a retcon, because he and Metzen know what they indended to do when creating this segment of the plot. Furthermore, BTK elaborated that there is more information on this matter to be revealed.

So... if the original author of Harry Potter suddenly says that Hagrid is Harry's biological father, despite all evidence to the contrary, and despite how many inconsistencies that brings up - it would not be a retcon?

How about if George Lucas says that The Force is not a mysterious universe-binding power, but instead telekinetic organisms in people's bloodstream? Would that not be a retcon? Can you image? Hahaha, that would be so ridiculous! ... Fuck.

EDIT: HOOOOOOLY crap. You beat me to the wall of text there, RussianSpy. Hat's off. Now I gotta spend the next hour or so just reading what you wrote. XD

**Louis** · 12-28-2010, 08:53 PM