Starcraft 2

[Sombre]

I'm put off by the fact I'm region locked to Europe. Kind of annoying.

[Ben]

No problem Forbin; have been gifted another one.

[Lu]

I'm put off by the fact I'm region locked to Europe. Kind of annoying.

What I find even more annoying that I can't even add people to my friendslist cross-region. At this point it's a minor nitpick, since most of them are on Steam friendslist anyway, so I can just use the overlay. I'm just kind of annoyed at how closed off the system is and how much you are at Blizzard's mercy for... Well... Anything. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

Not saying that Steam isn't closed off as well, but that feels a bit different. Is it, though? I haven't really thought about it...

[Patters]

What I find even more annoying that I can't even add people to my friendslist cross-region. At this point it's a minor nitpick, since most of them are on Steam friendslist anyway, so I can just use the overlay. I'm just kind of annoyed at how closed off the system is and how much you are at Blizzard's mercy for... Well... Anything. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

Not saying that Steam isn't closed off as well, but that feels a bit different. Is it, though? I haven't really thought about it...

Wait, so I can't play games cross Atlantic? That's a serious reason for me not to buy it.

[Sombre]

Wait, so I can't play games cross Atlantic? That's a serious reason for me not to buy it.

If you buy the EU version, you can play with EU. If you buy NA, you can play with NA. You're locked to any region you buy. Which is why I'm not buying it at the moment.

[Gazpacho Soup]

So...About that new Starcraft trailer. Kinda nifty, eh?

(Personally, I found the trailer surprisingly generic. At least compared to Blizzard's other trailers such as the Wrath Of The Lich King trailer. Maybe it's because I'm new to the series and I know little of the characters and the story of the previous game...)

[miffy495]

If you buy the EU version, you can play with EU. If you buy NA, you can play with NA. You're locked to any region you buy. Which is why I'm not buying it at the moment.

Wait, what? That's such a load of bullshit. What the hell could their rationale possibly be?

[Sombre]

Wait, what? That's such a load of bullshit. What the hell could their rationale possibly be?

I can only assume at the moment, that because it's such a fast paced latency dependant game, they want it to have good MS. Thats an educated guess, however.

More likely so they can charge you a monthly fee for worldwide "Platinum Pass" unlock region fee.

[Forbin]

I think it was mostly motivated by different licensing strategies in Asia-Pac, and they took the existing realm models from WoW to segregate europe and North America. It's something they've said they may change in the future.

As to the video, the reason why it may seem "generic" for Blizzard standards, is that other than the Kerrigan scenes, the video was mostly made from cinematics that start and trail every mission. Stuff that I'd consider a big step up from typical in-engine cut-scenes, but on top of that there are full CGI videos that are typical Blizzard depth. I find myself doing the Mass Effect laps around the ship to talk to crew members after each mission, they almost always have something new to say.

(fixed link:

)

I'm going to say, this is maybe the best game that's been released in the past couple years. It may be the best video game sequel I've ever played. It's very much in spirit of the first game that it feels natural, but they've added to it in every way possible.

Even if you never play against another human being, this game is well worth the full price. If you're holding out because of some battle.net disagreements, you're missing out.

[Patters]

Even if you never play against another human being, this game is well worth the full price. If you're holding out because of some battle.net disagreements, you're missing out.

Sorry, but you're wrong, it's more than a disagreement. A lot of the people that I would play this with are across the Atlantic, if I can't even get a custom game going with them then the product is useless. They took out lan play so I can't even bypass it with a VPN. If Blizzard wants to keep ranked games regional that's perfectly fine, in fact it's a good choice for high level players. Then say that you can play with X group of people but not Y, it's segregation, which from history we know is a very bad thing. Hell if anything it might affect competitive Starcraft, often movements in strategies are local, spread by the internet. This is all hypothetical though.

[Forbin]

Sorry, but you're wrong, it's more than a disagreement. A lot of the people that I would play this with are across the Atlantic, if I can't even get a custom game going with them then the product is useless. They took out lan play so I can't even bypass it with a VPN. If Blizzard wants to keep ranked games regional that's perfectly fine, in fact it's a good choice for high level players. Then say that you can play with X group of people but not Y, it's segregation, which from history we know is a very bad thing. Hell if anything it might affect competitive Starcraft, often movements in strategies are local, spread by the internet. This is all hypothetical though.

Yeah, you can't play it on an internet-less LAN, and you can't play cross-region. But what I'm saying is that even if you didn't have an internet connection, this would still be an amazing game. No matter how much fun the multiplayer is, and how important playing with friends cross-Atlantic is for you, it doesn't affect those qualities.

You can justify it however you want, you'll still be missing out.

[Lu]

Just finished the singleplayer campaign and it left me feeling completely apathetic. Maybe it's because I expected something epic, but what I got was... StarCraft. I was thinking "Oh, they're probably saving the crescendo for the last few missions", but I feel that it never really came. That and all the characters are shallow.

It was really weird when that female doctor lady suddenly went "Let me in Jim, tell me about what happened" Meanwhile, I'm still thinking "Who the fuck are you again?"

I think it might be because the singleplayer is so incredibly heavily structured. 26 missions, timed to last about half an hour each and though they mix things up with fun twists to the existing gameplay, it doesn't really take away the rigidity of the uh... overall thing?

Glad I got it mostly for multiplayer, because I'd have buyers remorse if I bought it purely for singleplayer.

[Scrobbs]

Hamachi?

[Patters]

Hamachi?

No lan.

[Scrobbs]

My first name is Ian. Amusingly, when I read that (on my phone), I thought that simply said, "No Ian." As in, "you simpleton". Then I realised. Hehe.

[Squid Division]

I'm probably almost halfway through the single player, and it's...weird. I don't know if I just have nostalgia skewing my opinion of the original story, but I remember it being a lot better than this awful crap. Raynor sucks and reminds me a lot of the really annoying parts of RDR with Marston. Tychus (whose name, as a Classicist, makes me giggle as it should actually be pronounced 'Tuckus') is doing a full-on Fog-Horn Leg-Horn impression.*

That said, the gameplay is still Starcraft. I just wish it'd let me get to the real Starcraft a little faster; with the full tree. It's annoying, but it lets me (as intended) get used to all the new units and their intricacies.

---

Free trial is gone. I've still got 2 WoW ones and may have a second SCII one depending on whether or not my brother decides to take it.

---

Damn Idle Thumbs ruining the way my mind works. On the back of the box it says 'You're going in'. I could only see the first two words and immediately supplied 'You're going to be blown away'. I then realized that was ridiculous and decided it was ACTUALLY going to say something like 'You're going to shit blood' or something else Ill Bleed-like.

---

* For reference:

-LCsiWL6gn0

Edited July 30, 2010 by Squid Division

[BigJKO]

Just finished the singleplayer campaign and it left me feeling completely apathetic. Maybe it's because I expected something epic, but what I got was... StarCraft. I was thinking "Oh, they're probably saving the crescendo for the last few missions", but I feel that it never really came. That and all the characters are shallow.

It was really weird when that female doctor lady suddenly went "Let me in Jim, tell me about what happened" Meanwhile, I'm still thinking "Who the fuck are you again?"

I think it might be because the singleplayer is so incredibly heavily structured. 26 missions, timed to last about half an hour each and though they mix things up with fun twists to the existing gameplay, it doesn't really take away the rigidity of the uh... overall thing?

Glad I got it mostly for multiplayer, because I'd have buyers remorse if I bought it purely for singleplayer.

I'll give you the character thing, although I can still enjoy it for the cheese.

The bit with Tychus being harassed by Gabriel Tosh's voodoo doll had me chuckling.

But the last few missions felt pretty intense, IMO.

The missions on Char, especially the "specialist" mission, and the Protoss missions were the most exciting RTS moments I've had in a long time. And the cutscenes in-between did it a lot of justice, IMO. The last cutscene annoyed me just a tiny bit, in its brevity and the fact that they'd already hinted at Tychus being controlled by Mengsk. But Kerrigan human again?! She's going to save the world?! Maybe I'm just simple, but I love this kind of reversal.

Also, the last mission almost gave me a heart attack, with the constant onslaught of the Queen of Blades and her minions.

[Snooglebum]

Does anybody have huge audio stuttering problems in the cutscenes? And noticing the game takes an age and a half to load? And lags hugely in the first minute and a half of every mission? Or is it just me?

[Lu]

But the last few missions felt pretty intense, IMO.

The missions on Char, especially the "specialist" mission, and the Protoss missions were the most exciting RTS moments I've had in a long time. And the cutscenes in-between did it a lot of justice, IMO. The last cutscene annoyed me just a tiny bit, in its brevity and the fact that they'd already hinted at Tychus being controlled by Mengsk. But Kerrigan human again?! She's going to save the world?! Maybe I'm just simple, but I love this kind of reversal.

Also, the last mission almost gave me a heart attack, with the constant onslaught of the Queen of Blades and her minions.

Well, one problem was maybe that, when I started the last mission, I thought I was on 24 out of 26, so I thought there was going to be another mission after holding Kerrigan off.

I didn't mind the gameplay at all, I thought most of it was fun. Really enjoyed the Jimmy + Co mission and the Protoss stuff; those definitely stand out.

But really, during the entire 26 missions, what actually happens? It isn't until the last 2 or 3 missions that you're working towards a major plot development. The Mengsk stuff was interesting too, but again they adhered to a rigid structure where for some reason, the entire arc had to last 5 missions, which was too long for my taste.

And that is why peanutbutter jelly is not a good way to get rid of Chlamydia.

Seriously though, I'm sounding super negative now, but I did have fun with lots of the campaign and am having a blast with multiplayer (I suck). I'm just a bit disappointed.

Does anybody have huge audio stuttering problems in the cutscenes? And noticing the game takes an age and a half to load? And lags hugely in the first minute and a half of every mission? Or is it just me?

Have ye tried turnin' it on 'n off again? (Not helping)

Edited July 30, 2010 by PiratePooAndHisBattleship

[Cigol]

I also have stuttering and pauses in the very beginning of missions. It happened in Company of Heroes too weirdly enough... but after that it's plain sailing. Since I'm mostly playing in multiplayer though I've just gone and stuck every setting on low. I don't feel like I'm missing anything, as it still looks nice, arguably even better with it being less busy and clearer to the eye.

Still, I'm assuming you've tried turning everything to the lowest setting (especially stuff like textures)? Because either that or a slow (laptop?) hard-drive would be my guess.

Either way, it's an odd game... I agree with a lot of the criticisms, in fact I'd go further, but I just can't stop playing and enjoying every minute of it (except for those where I get ass-raped or berated by other players for being such a noob). In a sense I feel like I've gone back in time and am experiencing my first run with the original StarCraft, only it doesn't feel like I'm retreading ground but experiencing it anew, fresh.

I wonder what people who aren't familiar with the original think though?

[Forbin]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/07/starcraft-2-is-a-full-game-no-matter-what-the-whiners-claim.ars

Ben Kuchera is more eloquent than I am at stating this point of view.

[Cigol]

Except;

The game also takes some artful jabs at Apple and Fox News.

...more like embarrassing jabs.

Game is plenty though, I agree.

[Forbin]

I think he was bringing it up as an example of how they've constructed an environment, and whether you think it's corny or not, you can't argue it's sloppy. It's not just exposition through portraits anymore.

[miffy495]

Sorry, but you're wrong, it's more than a disagreement. A lot of the people that I would play this with are across the Atlantic, if I can't even get a custom game going with them then the product is useless.

I wouldn't go quite so far as useless, but this is absolute balls. The people I'd most want to play this with are Idle Thumbs forumites. The three Thumbs that I've played more games than any others with are Patters, Wrestlevania, and Toblix. I dare you to guess how many of these live on the same continent as me. In fact, due to my job being one that has me working evenings, the times when I can play things online are usually far more likely to work for those across the Atlantic. It's mid-afternoon for me, but evening for them. Most people get most of their play time in the evening, I happen to get mine in the mid-afternoon, so I play with people not of my continent. I get the ranked/competitive match thing, but that I can't even set up a player match with a buddy in England sucks a lot.

In other news, it arrived yesterday, but as I got in at 5 in the morning, I have yet to install it. I will probably start playing tomorrow. Whoo!

[toblix]

I get the ranked/competitive match thing

Is this just so that people will have low pings when competing or is there something else I'm missing?