StarCraft: Legacy of the Void Closed Beta a must see!

[Orcnet]

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StarCraft II has once again gave us a blizzard of entertainment to enjoy with their next expansion pack of the Starcraft saga: Legacy of the Void. This science fiction-based real time strategy game will be introducing new speculations of the saga such as additional units and multi-player changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Protoss race (revealing the ongoing story arc of Zeratul and friends). It will span approximately 20 missions and will be priced as an expansion set as quoted from news. The campaign will focus on Artanis as its main character.

Blizzard plans to start invite-only beta testing, kicking on March 31 2015.

Please see the official video as to explain further more of the game:

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THE BETA IS NEAR! - see more of Blizzard's update of their work via on their website: Legacy of the Void Beta Preview [LINK]

As the upcoming game proposed to us, what can you expect in the upcoming multiplayer beta and how it will turn out? thanks for viewing!

 

[Kam]

It will be interesting to see if sales are significantly less than HotS.

 

[Heinvers]

Well, seems like it's time to reinstall SC2.

 

[Tya]

It will be interesting to see if sales are significantly less than HotS.

There's no reason for that to be the case. LotV is standalone. It will probably be somewhere higher than HotS but less than WoL.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Blizzard should just apply the WoW model to SC2 and make all previous expansions and the main game freely accessable when buying the latest expansion.

 

[Trakya]

Why do you need wow models anyway in starcraft 2? Better to make Warcraft IV. Armies of Azeroth project is kinda ok, but game mechanics cannot compare to the WarCraft III.

 

[sentrywiz]

Lurkers are back. Hopefully not as OP as back in the BW days.

 

[Alright]

> Why do you need wow models anyway in starcraft 2? Better to make Warcraft IV. Armies of Azeroth project is kinda ok, but game mechanics cannot compare to the WarCraft III.

I think he was saying that SC2 should follow what did WoW do with their expansions; merging all expansions (WoL + HotS + LotV) into one and be accessible when LotV is purchased.

But then that wouldn't matter since LotV will be standalone (no HotS or WoL required to play LotV), and arcade is essentially free... you're only buying them for their campaigns.

That being said, I'm excited for the beta

 

[Chaosy]

I doubt I will get a beta key, but I will buy this when it comes out. I decided that after watching Blizzcon actually. I just hope that a editor will be included.

 

[Traxamillion]

I wish they would just give up on Starcraft already and make Warcraft 4.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

I wish they would just give up on Starcraft already and make Warcraft 4.

We had that discussion for years. Blizzard obviously doesn't want another Warcraft game... the next project in the pipeline is a TF2-style shooter.

 

[Zombie]

We had that discussion for years. Blizzard obviously doesn't want another Warcraft game... the next project in the pipeline is a TF2-style shooter.

Blizzard kept saying there wouldn't be another SC game for 12 years.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Blizzard kept saying there wouldn't be another SC game for 12 years.

Fair enough. Maybe WC4 will be announced when the Warcraft Movie is released in 2016. Makes a lot of sense from a marketing point of view.

But let's not forget that the golden age of RTS games is almost over... I have my doubts that Blizzard will risk another genre gamble after the SC2 debacle. I mean, it's not like the game didn't sell... but compared to other Blizzard games, it was a failure.


I'm still waiting for the next Blizzard MMO, tho.

 

[Tya]

Blizzard kept saying there wouldn't be another SC game for 12 years.

They've never said that.

http://phillgonzo.deviantart.com/art/Protoss-Pass-2-357372617
Here's sc2 in 2006.

 

[OutsiderXE]

As I remember it they said the reason SC2 was delayed so much was because in the early stages the team was really small because most employees were working on WoW and its expansion(s).

Years ago they said, before a new project is started, they ask the developers what they would like to work on. I hope that is still true. If it is, I don't see any reason why all these RTS experts wouldn't want to work on WC4. Hell, If I was working on SC2 all these years I'm sure I would have bunch of ideas that would be cool for a fantasy scenario with RPG elements that I just couldn't work into SC2.
Many people say WC4 can't come as long as WoW lives but in my opinion it is exactly the opposite. People who are interested in the WC universe will dig into other WC stuff, even if they aren't that interested in the RTS genre.
The WC movie will also push them towards a new WC game.
I also don't see how the ongoing addition of Heroes content can keep an entire RTS team locked.

 

[Avex]

I doubt I will get a beta key, but I will buy this when it comes out. I decided that after watching Blizzcon actually. I just hope that a editor will be included.

There already is an editor..?

 

[Tya]

There's rumors that the LotV editor will be the same as the one used for Heroes of the Storm. Probably sounds pretty minor if you're not familiar with the starcraft editor, but if it's true, then it'd be a strong indication that Heroes of the Storm will either share an arcade with sc2, or be so similar that arcade maps can just be uploaded to both.

 

[TaShadan]

I wish they would just give up on Starcraft already and make Warcraft 4.

This. Most of the changes sound horrible. I wonder how they will turn out though

 

[Avex]

There's rumors that the LotV editor will be the same as the one used for Heroes of the Storm. Probably sounds pretty minor if you're not familiar with the starcraft editor, but if it's true, then it'd be a strong indication that Heroes of the Storm will either share an arcade with sc2, or be so similar that arcade maps can just be uploaded to both.

I'm often on TeamLiquid and the r/sc reddit, and I have yet to hear this rumor. Ingame as well, and no blue posts that I know of point to this.

 

[Traxamillion]

Even if Warcraft 4 was simply warcraft 3 with better battle.net integration and graphics on par with SC2 I would be happy. Sure a new story would be awesome and new units etc.. but a revamped WC3 would be plenty fine for me.

 

[LordDz]

Even if Warcraft 4 was simply warcraft 3 with better battle.net integration and graphics on par with SC2 I would be happy. Sure a new story would be awesome and new units etc.. but a revamped WC3 would be plenty fine for me.

Yes?

 

[Linaze]

With how the RTS market has completely imploded I think everyone would do best in forgetting about WCIV. It's not happening, at least not in the shape and form we'd like it to be made.

 

[Traxamillion]

Yes?

comes equipped with shitty SC2 interface.

 

[LordDz]

Whats wrong with the gui? It looks almost the same like the Warcraft 3 one.

 

[Kam]

With how the RTS market has completely imploded I think everyone would do best in forgetting about WCIV. It's not happening, at least not in the shape and form we'd like it to be made.

I would love to know what really caused this.

 

[BlinkBoy]

or these:

 

[Linaze]

I would love to know what really caused this.

Without having studied the subject all too much I'd say the answer is a combination of MOBAs, F2P, Korean Sc2 dominance and certainly other factors as well.

At this point I'd be happy if we even get a third SC core RTS. A fourth Warcraft one however; I dare not even hope for that.

 

[Avex]

or these:

Played one of these the other day.

Runs at like 27 fps when I normally get 200+ in Sc2.

Without having studied the subject all too much I'd say the answer is a combination of MOBAs, F2P, Korean Sc2 dominance and certainly other factors as well.

At this point I'd be happy if we even get a third SC core RTS. A fourth Warcraft one however; I dare not even hope for that.

SC2? No.

SC1? Yes. Koreans dominated SC1 for a long time and SC2 was fairly neglected for a decent amount of time when it came out from Korea. It wasn't until 2012 or so when Korea started to push out, and by then League of Legends was taking off as well as DotA2 and every other game.


Let's look at PC games around the dominance of RTS:

RTS games you had C&C, WarCraft, 2/3, StarCraft: Brood War, Age of Empires, Homeworld, etc.
Shooters were evolving, but you had CoD1, CoD2, Medal of Honor, Unreal Tourney, CounterStrike, Half Life. (Most of these were very slow paced games still)
RPGs, you had stuff like Morrowind coming into play, you had the Baldur's Gates, etc.

So look at all these games and how most PC games were relatively slow. Slow but very intense in requiring strategy and awareness.


Compare to games now, where you have fast paced shooters such as CoD, Titanfall, BFH, etc, with the MOBA genre one could argue is faster paced (and arguably simpler to play as you focus on a minimap and 5-10 champs).

Now look at games like Planetary Annihilation, StarCraft 2, really the only two RTS that can be claimed to be "alive" games. They're fast paced, but very complicated, strategical, with steep learning curves.

Why would I spend my time learning that when I could install CSGO and shoot someone in the face almost instantaneously?

One last thing would be microtransactions, proper microtransactions. What gives a player an incentive to keep playing? Jealousy and investments. In league of legends, dota, csgo, you can spend money to buy skins (still worth value after purchase in the latter two) and cosmetics that fit the game more to what you like to do.

In Planetary Annihilation, all units look the same, blocky and colored. You can get new Commander bots for the absurd price of some $15 despite you being a EA backer.

In StarCraft 2, there is 0 monetization or incentive to play the game past ladder.