StarCraft II Anounced!!!!!!!!!&#33

[Javalin]

$95 for one campaign? I'm not the biggest fan of RTS but thats just RIDICULOUS!

[LHammonds]

$95 for one campaign? I'm not the biggest fan of RTS but thats just RIDICULOUS!

There are many zealots willing to pay...although I probably am not one of them. I have Warcraft 1-3 and Starcraft 1 but I don't hold the game that high in play value...especially since I will likely not be playing online.

 

LHammonds

[Pyrosocial]

$95 for one campaign? I'm not the biggest fan of RTS but thats just RIDICULOUS!

 

Thats only for us fanboys who want the collecters edition.

 

Regular is like 60 i think.

[jojo man]

And on that subject, why is WoW and all those playing it considered to be so inferior? Come now, it's a good game, even if there is quite a few things to complain about. Why is using a creative way of portraying the world, with a feel that makes me think of fairytale-book illustrations, such a wrong thing to do? Not only does it give some variety to my eyes (Recently, after a long round of Gears of War with a mate, I had an awful feeling I'd gone colourblind) but also does much to lower the technical requirements, which mean it's accessible to more people. Sure, WoW could be considered the MMO equivalent of McDonalds, but there's a very solid game in there with a nice way to present itself. Then why can't Diablo III do this?

The same points go out to Starcraft II, another game that's been given a stimulating colourswab. I say, bring out the colours! Fighting in the depths of space, Azeroth or Sanctuary are all best done without taping used coffee-filters filled with powdered gravel to your glasses.

 

Of course, you could give the choice to the players, if funds and technology permits.

Well, as I see it, WoW really suffers from two main problems, one which was intended by the developer, and the other which was only made worse as the game became popular.

 

The first problem is with the graphics. While yes, it makes everything have a story-book like appearance, it is very stylized, meaning that either people like it or they don't. The part which people don't like about it is the bizarre and unrealistic look given to characters, weapons, and environments. Things are out of scale, exaggerated, and often look too "thick". Torchlight has this problem as well, despite being made by some of the same people who worked on Diablo games, it is regarded as a "Diablo for kids" because of nothing else other than that look. Cellshading can be done to where it can still look good, but there has to be a good balance between the look of the world, characters, and weapons and reality. It's not even "like Shrek" because the proportions are so screwed up.

http://www.multiplaying.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/torchlight.jpg

The hands are huge, the weapons and equipment are clunky and stupid looking,

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/previews/pc/world-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-a.jpg

The hands are huge, the weapons and equipment are clunky and stupid looking.

 

In comparison with another western MMO title, Everquest 2 (which sucks for different reasons)

http://img.jeuxvideopc.com/screenshot/9623-everquest-2-kingdom-of-sky-40_640.jpg

The hands are proportionate to the character, just as the equipment is, while still being in a fairytale fantasy setting.

In comparison with another cellshaded, stylized MMO (allbeit anime inspired)

http://www.4gamer.net/shots/mabinogi/img/mabinogi_015.jpg

The hands are proportionate to the characters, just as the equipment is, while still being in a fairytale fantasy setting.

 

 

The second issue is out of the control of developers, and that's the caustic player base. The players of WoW have become a steriotypical mix of powergamers who take things way too damn seriously, shutins who live through the game, roleplayers who just plain fail, and grievers who get their kicks from ruining the time of everyone else. Every MMO game has this, certainly, but the sort that play on WoW tend to be among the worst due to how some things within the game is setup.

 

For the powergamers, you have both a drop system which is geared around one or two people from a party getting the good stuff (usually being handled by some sort of point system where you get a certain piece of equipment after x number of times raiding with a given group, and a thriving blackmarket cash for gold/items economy. Although both of these are also typical of most MMOs, it only seems to get worse with each expansion as most everything that was available before is either outclassed or nerfed to the point of uselessness.

 

For the shutins, you have an environment that is lush and social, and a game where you become limited rather quickly as to what you can do solo. Although the grinding isn't as bad as some Asian MMOs (L2 for example), it's still something which helps contribute to a game where people start out always playing in order to get good, but getting addicted. Combined with the cash for items (RMT) blackmarket, it allows a section of these people to afford a portion of their expenses which would normally be offset by working.

 

For the roleplayers, you have a world with its unique look and feel, and where most elements are kept within lore. You also have channels setup specifically for roleplayers. Under normal circumstances, this would be ideal for those who like roleplaying. But there is a problem in that there are those who take things too seriously, and who seek out removing people from the server due to violations because your definition of roleplaying is not the same as theirs. Even though some of these people may be functional in reality, and may just be looking to get away, those who take it too seriously need to get a life. This leaves mostly the die-hard roleplayers on the roleplay servers, and everyone else who isn't "pure" enough to fend for themselves on other channels.

 

For the Jagoffs out there, the game's mechanics are in their favor. Certain builds are given the ability to pwn almost everyone they fight, or they become so crucial to a raid, and so hard to find, that it gives people the ability to either rape you repeatedly the moment you leave a safe area, or run a raid up to where the boss is, and just decide to let the team die. With the way that the looting system works, stealing loot, or abusing bugs is not uncommon, and there have been ways to accomplish it without leaving any record of the act. Then there are just general harassment issues, like a high level mage using the sheep spell on a quest boss just to keep people from being able to kill it. Given the massive number of players in the game, people who do these sorts of things can usually continue doing them without any long term repercussion. And with each new expansion, the number of things they can do to annoy others increases, and they get even more places where they can screw up raids for their personal entertainment.

 

Alone, one of these issues might be enough to overlook, but combined they just lead to a game that many people just don't like. Although Starcraft and Diablo is not likely to have much of a problem with either issue, they do have the heritage of being connected with the same company, and now it seems to be the same sorts of greed. Unfortunately, aspects which are seen as working well financially for one franchise are often brought into other franchises.

 

 

I'm not saying that I disagree necessarily, but my problem with WoW wasn't actually cartoony visuals or rampant dill-weeds. For me, I never liked the idea of regularly playing for a game that I could sink hundreds of hours into and still manage to never feel like I've progressed in the game. All I really look for in video games is to keep me entertained for a few hours at a time. And I'm happy to do it in something as involved in WoW or Ryzom, or something as straight-forward as Doom(A personal favorite of mine). Yeah, WoW could accomplish that, but not even as well as some games that I could get for A LOT cheaper, and ones that I feel like I've "finished" when I'm done.

 

As for the subject at hand: I LOVE StarCraft 1. I've installed it to my flash drive so that all I need to do is plug it into any computer that's handy and I can play. That being said, there's no way I'm shelling out that much $$$ for 1/3 of a full title. Especially when it's not even my favorite race(Protoss) that it's the campaign for.

[Thor.]

In other news there is a new doom 4 coming out this year, jojo man i think you should check this out.

 

http://www.gossipgamers.com/doom-4-its-gonna-be-awesome/

[Pyrosocial]

In other news there is a new doom 4 coming out this year, jojo man i think you should check this out.

 

http://www.gossipgamers.com/doom-4-its-gonna-be-awesome/

 

 

But thor, are you not interested in the SCII massave war mech, the "Thor"?