StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Message Board older than one year ago

During BlizzCon 2009, Blizzard revealed plans to put a shopping interface inside StarCraft 2, which would allow players to purchase user-created maps, with revenue shared between Blizzard and the creator. The game came out in July 2010, sans marketplace, and that feature is still missing.

During an interview with MTV Multiplayer, Blizzard's Frank Pearce asserted that the feature is still on the way. "But it's not necessarily something we have a specific timeline for," he said, "which is unfortunate because one of the things that we've found is, especially from our learnings from World of WarCraft, is that these audiences that play these games are very, very passionate and want to experience lots and lots of content. With the StarCraft 2 client and the StarCraft 2 map editor and the Battle.net platform, it creates an opportunity for the community to serve itself with content, if the mechanisms are there."

To be fair, if it did have a timeline, it would be a Blizzard timeline, and therefore could only be specific to the year. Approximately.

#blizzard StarCraft II could have been a prettier game, with massive Zerg Ultralisks and screen-filling Protoss Motherships. It could have been stuffed with new units like the Cybercat and Hercules transport ship. Blame designer Dustin Browder and eSports for making StarCraft II what it is: clear, simple, uncertain and a game that demands skillful players. More »

Grandmaster leagues, faster Battlecruisers, Bunkers that take longer to build and more resilient, yet less useful Infestors are just some of the many changes coming in the 1.3 patch for StarCraft 2, now live on the game’s test servers (thanks, Bigdownload!). The Grandmaster league (currently only available for 1v1 matches) is more than a little demanding, accepting as it does the top 200 players in each region, making it more exclusive than becoming, say, a real-life judge. Full patch notes after the jump. (more…)

Ryan Winzen's dream of using the StarCraft 2 mod tools to create his own full-fledged MMORPG wasn't crushed by Blizzard -- rather, it was only renamed. Winzen's "World of StarCraft" mod, which saw its video demos pulled from YouTube by Blizzard (citing copyright violations), is now known by a much less infringing title: "StarCraft Universe." (We just hope the Lego Universe folks don't take umbrage with the new moniker. Yeesh.)

It seems the modders that are working on StarCraft Universe with Winzen have also adopted a much more realistic set of goals to go along with the new name. For instance, they're adhering to the 12-player cap that's applied to all other player-made StarCraft 2 mods. We guess that makes it just a "MORPG," now -- though that also sounds like the name of some kind of exotic alien species. But hey, that's kind of appropriate too!

Speaking during an investor call today, Activision COO Thomas Tippl said that if we don't see any games from Blizzard this year, the publisher expects to see them next year. "Because Blizzard Entertainment has not yet confirmed the launch date for its next global release," Tippl told investors and press, "our outlook at this time does not include a new game from Blizzard in 2011." But don't worry, Blizzard fans, Activision's got a whip they're not afraid to crack: "Should we not release a major title from Blizzard this year, we would expect for planning purposes to launch a minimum of two Blizzard titles in 2012."

Presumably, those two titles would be Heart of the Swarm (the Zerg-based expansion for Starcraft 2) and the long-awaited Diablo 3. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime joined the call after Tippl spoke and promised that more information was coming about both. Blizzard's developers, he said, are hard at work on Heart of the Swarm, and we'll hear more "in the coming months."

Additionally, Morhaime said that he would talk about Diablo 3 "and the upcoming beta on the next call," in about three months. "Until we get to beta and have the community help us test the game," he later said, "we're not going to lock in a release date."

Blizzard is also working to get both World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Starcraft 2 out in China, but had "no specific updates to share at this time" about those releases, or the new MMO. Morhaime did mention both the upcoming BlizzCon and Blizzard's 20th anniversary this year, and closed by saying that "the games we have in the pipeline represent the best and widest slate of games we have ever produced."

Speaking during an investor call today, Activision COO Thomas Tippl said that if don't see output from Blizzard this year, the publisher expects to see it next year. "Because Blizzard Entertainment has not yet confirmed the launch date for its next global release," he told investors and press, "our outlook at this time does not include a new game from Blizzard in 2011." But don't worry, Blizzard fans, Activision's got a whip they're not afraid to crack: "Should we not release a major title from Blizzard this year, we would expect for planning purposes to launch a minimum of two Blizzard titles in 2012."

Presumably, those two titles will be Heart of the Swarm (the Zerg-based expansion for Starcraft 2) and the long-awaited Diablo 3. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime joined the call later on, and promised that more information was coming about both. Blizzard's developers, he said, are hard at work on Heart of the Swarm, and we'll hear more "in the coming months." Morhaime also said that he would talk about Diablo 3 "and the upcoming beta on the next call," in about three months. "Until we get to beta and have the community help us test the game," he later said, "we're not going to lock in a release date."

Blizzard is also working to get both World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Starcraft 2 out in China, but had "no specific updates to share at this time" about those releases, or the new MMO. Morhaime did mention both the upcoming BlizzCon and Blizzard's 20th anniversary this year, and closed by saying that "the games we have in the pipeline represent the best and widest slate of games we have ever produced."

Blizzard has updated the Public Test Region for StarCraft 2 and, along with a few bug fixes (they should call them Zerg fixes, get it?), there are some new ladder maps to play around with. Test server players also have access to the mods announced at BlizzCon last year, which include the StarJeweled minigame, Aiur Chef and the Blizzard DotA mod that players are looking forward to. Anyone can download and install the test server, and of course when testing is done, the new maps will all make their way out to the live servers as well.

#video This isn't the first time this pre-schooler's been exposed to StarCraft. The 4-year-old commentated on a StarCraft 2 match with "shooties" a few month back. But, now, she's playing. More »

Aiur CUISINE!

#mashups HaloCraft II: Arrays of Liberty is not a real video game. But the fantasy mash-up of Halo and StarCraft II does have a trailer. More »

You can now play those official StarCraft II riffs (read: mods) on Bejeweled, Iron Chef and Left 4 Dead. These are just the beta versions, though. Blizzard explains rules and how to access the mods on their blog. More »

Despite World of StarCraft mod creator Ryan Winzen having videos of his work removed from YouTube after Blizzard requested as much, the ingenious gentleman was offered a job by League of Legends developer Riot Games this past week. Pixelated Geek picked up on the back and forth in its own comment section between Winzen and a Riot Games employee identified as "epak", in which the Riot Games employee said, "Ryan, I'd like to speak with you about potentially working for Riotgames (League of Legends). You can contact me directly at [redacted] since I think you're awesome."

The interview offer was confirmed by Riot Games design director "Zileas" on the developer's forums, where he notes, "I shot him [Ryan] an email recently asking if he was interested in exploring an opportunity here. As to what comes of that, who knows -- that depends on the mutual fit and his own goals." Mr. Winzen, for his part, is ecstatic. " I've waited my whole life for something like this. I feel like I'm in a dream man ... been up for 36 hours straight with all this craziness going on ... How did this even happen?" If you'll excuse us ... we've just ... there's something in our eye.

Have you found competition in StarCraft 2's online multiplayer "Diamond League" to be unrewarding? Do you hang, effortlessly, from the very highest rungs of the tallest competition ladder? It's time for you to shed your burdensome chrysalis and ascend to your next challenge: the recently launched "Master League," which pits the top two percent of players from each region against one another for true StarCraft supremacy. If you're eligible for the new league, you won't have to do anything special to join; Blizzard automatically elevates top-two-percenters to the Master bracket.

Of course, the raw exclusivity of this new ladder will lose a bit of its luster when Blizzard launches the "Grandmaster League," which will only invite the top 200 players from each region to battle. There's no timetable for the release of this ladder, though we imagine it'll come well before the arrival of the Great-Grandmaster League, which forces the very best player on the planet to play against an evil clone of him or herself all day, every day, for twenty years. You get a T-shirt if you win that one, though, so it's totally worth it.

Blizzard has released a big update (version 1.20) for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, adding new chat channels, customizable hotkeys, a Master League tier and an "extreme" graphics option. More on balance changes and bug fixes at Battle.net. More »

#diy Adrienne Baginski's boyfriend loves StarCraft II. Adrienne Baginski loves him, so she made him the most adorable plush rendition of a Protoss Probe she possibly could for Christmas. Lucky bastard. More »

While most of us would consider StarCraft 2 to be a space-themed strategy title, very little of the game actually takes place in the outer parts of space -- you know, the parts where no one can hear you scream. A custom map by the name of Star Battle fixes that oversight, pitting two teams of six players against one another in a massive, DotA-esque encounter. Only, instead of controlling fantasy archetypes, you control gigantic spaceships, which we think we can all agree is way cooler.

The map has proven to be the most popular custom gametype on the European Battle.net servers, and is now available on the U.S. servers as well. Check out the tutorial video posted after the jump to learn the rules the game before jumping into it -- a smart move, considering player death in Star Battle is permanent. (BUH BUH BUUHHHHH)

The Starcraft 2 demo is now -- finally -- available for PC and Mac. The sample includes the first three campaign missions and doesn't require a Battle.net account (so no online, sorry). It's perfect if you're still debating relinquishing all of your free time to the game. Link after the break!

#blizzard Five months after the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Blizzard has released the real-time strategy game's demo, a chance for those who didn't get caught up in StarCraft hype to try the game for free. More »

To celebrate the holidays, we're having twelve straight days of giveaways up through Christmas day. And while we say it's to celebrate, really ... we're simply getting rid of some of the larger packages around the ol' office.

Day six means we're halfway through (and you've got that much less time to prepare for the big day!) and we've got a PC gaming bundle including the massive Collector's Edition of StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty, a StarCraft 2 t-shirt (in L, XL, or 2XL), a Razer Abyssus mouse, and a Razer Vespula mousepad. It's pretty much everything you need - you provide the computer and enough liquor to wash away the pain of getting demolished in match after match online.

#gameface Minecraft creator Notch gives us a peek inside the offices of Mojang Specifications, where Jens Bergensten (left), Daniel Kaplan (middle), and visitor Martin Jonasson are hard at work watching the Starcraft 2 semifinal, as seen on The Word of Notch. More »

Like World of Warcraft before it, Blizzard revealed its "public test region" program for StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty, giving Zerg-rushers and Zealot-sneakers an early preview of patches yet to come. First up, patch 1.20 is available for PTR participants, giving players hands-on with Battle.net chat channels, editor improvements, and forthcoming balance tweaks (among many, many other things). There doesn't seem to be a limit to the number of SC2 players able to participate, though the FAQ stipulates "players must have an active StarCraft 2 North America game account created before November 11, 2010 -- the player's account must not be a guest pass account, suspended, or banned."

According to ShackNews, Blizzard's SC2 public test region program will "conduct public tests for most if not all future game patches." As for how long patch 1.20 will be available in preview? Like most things Blizzard, it won't be available publicly "until we feel the patch has been appropriately tested."

#screengrab Reader beepboy finds Kansas City's biggest Starcraft II fan. More »

Why I don't mind sucking so hard.

#film In movies, there's a simple rule: if you haven't hooked the audience by the time the film's ten minutes in, you've lost them. But how can this work for video games? More »

#starcraft There are lots of people out there who refuse to pay for video games. If you're wondering how many, let's take a look at illegal Starcraft II downloads, and you'll see they number in the millions. More »

#starcraft Starcraft in Korea falls somewhere between a national sport and a religion. So you'd think, then, that Starcraft II would have been a big hit there. Nope! More »

Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:
Everyone else is talking about the Supreme Court, but I'm going to hold off on any further commentary until we have an actual decision to analyze. Instead, I want to bring your attention back to a suit filed by Blizzard in California, Blizzard v. VanKuipers, Simpson, and John Does 1-10 (aka the GameThreat.net case). This case seems to be the sequel of sorts to the "Glider" case from the not too distant past (Blizzard v. MDY Industries). In short, that case was about a World of WarCraft "autopilot" program called Glider. Glider circumvented Warden (the WoW cheat protection software). The short version of the result from that case is that MDY Industries, the maker of Glider, was held liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement for putting out Glider, which violated WoW's End User License Agreement and Terms of Service. The opinion also upheld Blizzard's right to sue over issues that diminished the player experience.

That brings us to the GameThreat.net case. Some of this should sound pretty familiar. GameThreat.net put out a series of StarCraft 2 hacks and cheats, which worked in multiplayer. These programs were available very shortly after the launch of StarCraft 2, and that, of course, irritated Blizzard, which sent a cease and desist of some sort. While it may have initially appeared the two were in compliance, Blizzard discovered they have re-distributed their source code to others, who have continued to make it available. As a result, Blizzard is suing on basically the same premise as Glider<. As is often the case, the ideas here present a bit of a double-edged sword.