Over the last few days, Blizzard has given a few previews on the various features coming in patch 2.1. Most notable of these is the extension mods preview, which explains how to use extension mods and how they will change the game.
As a developer, Extension Mods will allow you to develop a mod containing a set of parameters that can be published to Battle.net and applied to any StarCraft II melee map by any player. Long gone will be the days where you need to set up each map you want to use with your custom mod and publish an individual, unique version of that existing map.
As a player, you’ll now be able to use Extension Mods to play your favorite game modes on any StarCraft II melee map, completely changing the way you play. The kinds of modifications that are possible are virtually endless; they can range from build order trainers to unit testing sandboxes to adding completely new races.
These extension mods will allow players to take any map available and play Big Game Hunters on it, or to make all units explode on death, or make minerals wander around the map!
Next up are the new levelling incentives. There are three new portraits and three new decals, based on StarCrafts by Carbot Animations, that will be attainable through levelling to the new level cap, level 35. In addition, there will be a "First Win of the Day" bonus that gives 100,000 XP for the first game you win in the day. This bonus is separate for each race, so try to win at least once with each race a day after patch 2.1 is released!
Blizzard has uploaded a Top 5 StarCraft II Highlights of 2013 video, showing off some of what Blizzard considers to be the most memorable moments of 2013. Enjoy!
The winners of the Community Choice Awards have been chosen! Each category had several nominees, and the community voted on their choice of 2013's most notable StarCraft II players. The winners of each category are as such:
EU Player of 2013 - Johan ‘NaNiwa’ Lucchesi
WCS America Player of 2013 - Sasha ‘Scarlett’ Hostyn
WCS Korea Player of 2013 - Lee ‘INnoVation’ Shin Hyung
2013 Global Player of the Year - Lee ‘Jaedong’ Jae Dong
Congratulations to all the winners! Here's to another awesome year of StarCraft.
Now that the nominees have been chosen, it is finally time to vote for your favorite StarCraft II players of 2013! You can head over here to vote for nominees in each category. May your favorite nominee become one of the 2013 StarCraft II Community Choice Award winners!
In the upcoming StarCraft II patch, Patch 2.1, the classic StarCraft soundtrack is returning, and will be here to stay. Once Patch 2.1 is on your computer, you will be able to go into the sounds settings of StarCraft II and select which soundtracks (StarCraft II, StarCraft Vanilla) will play while you... play.
Patch 2.1 is currently live on the Public Test Realm, so if you want to hear the remastered classic StarCraft soundtrack for yourself, just look here for how to get on the PTR!
Blizzard is looking for nominations for the StarCraft II Community Choice Awards, and is asking everyone to head over to Reddit to upvote nominees for categories such as 2013 Game of the Year, 2013 Global StarCraft II Player of the Year, and WCS Korea Player of the Year. To find the Reddit posts for each of the categories, head over here, and promote your favorite nominees!
The upcoming StarCraft II patch, patch 2.1, is active on the Public Test Realm. The features included in this patch are: extension mods, clan and group additions, the classic StarCraft soundtrack, and the afk lobby host kicker. To see the full explanation of each feature, click here.
You can access the Public Test Realm via the Battle.net Desktop App. In the app, you can select StarCraft II and change the region to "PTR: Heart of the Swarm", after which there will be small installation. After the install is complete, you can start up StarCraft II and log in to the Public Test Realm. To change back to the current version of StarCraft II, simply change the region back to what you had originally in the Desktop App.
Christmas time is fast approaching, and to celebrate the holidays, Blizzard has put some of their games on sale! For a short time, you can buy the games below at discounted prices:
SAVE 75% on World of Warcraft World of Warcraft — Now $4.99 (Reg. $19.99) World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria — Now $9.99 (Reg. $39.99)
SAVE 50% on StarCraft II StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty — Now $19.99 (Reg. $39.99) StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm — Now $19.99 (Reg. $39.99) StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Digital Deluxe Edition — Now $39.99 (Reg. $59.99)
With BlizzCon having concluded, and the WCS in its off-season, Blizzard has made a balance update to Heart of the Swarm. Below are the changes to Heart of the Swarm multiplayer:
Protoss Oracle Movement speed increased from 3.375 to 4. Acceleration increased from 2 to 3. Units that burrow or cloak while under the effects of Revelation will once again be revealed after unburrowing or uncloaking.
Terran Armory Vehicle and Ship Weapon upgrades have been combined. Siege Tank Siege Mode attack period decreased from 3.0 to 2.8. Widow Mine Sentinel Missiles now deal reduced damage to units caught within its splash radius based on their distance from the target: 40 damage within 1.25 radius. 20 damage from 1.25 to 1.5. 10 damage from 1.5 to 1.75.
Zerg Roach Warren The Tunneling Claws upgrade now increases burrowed Roach movement speed from 1.41 to 2.
A new trailer for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls was shown at BlizzCon! It shows off the new game modes, the new Mystic crafter, enchanting, and so forth. You can view the trailer below.
