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Warcraft III Expansion
Ultra Magnus writes "Looks like Blizzard is releasing an expansion pack to WC3. I've always been pleased with their expansions before, so I hope this lives up to expectations."
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Or am I off on the weekly schedule? Because I could swear this was the week we're upset over the DMCA server stuff.
Yessir I want Starcraft 2! Just think aboout it! 3D all terrain and characters, gonna rock ass but I think Vivaldi or whatever will stop production of Starcraft 2 because of it's non expectant sales that will probably plumet with Blizzard's stock market and their 1st quarter earnings.
Well, if this isn't late breaking news, I don't know what is!
Isn't online news supposed to be really fresh? This is a week old.
I'm as mimsy as the next borogove but your mome raths are completely outgrabe.
"The Frozen Throne"...
Now, that'll wake you up in the morning!
Blizzard promise that this extension to WC3 will allow the standards body to resolutely approve new web standards well within a year of their being suggested.
Oh, hang on...
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Warcraft3: The Iraqi invasion
word.
http://www.bnetd.org/
BG
Aren't we still hating Blizzard?
Yep, you'n'me both! As for everyone else, they made it one of the best-selling titles ever, so I think that was a pretty darned ineffective boycott...
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
That's Vivendi :) And Blizzard doesn't trade on the stock market, being a subsidiary of Vivendi. However, I do agree with what you say, that Starcraft 2 will probably never be, just because of the horrendous finances at Vivendi and the fact that they're focusing on Warcraft more now. Add to that the fact that they may be bought by Microsoft, and Starcraft 2 is very unlikely.
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Wanna know what I'm looking for?
A patch that allows a WarCraft III player go up against an Age Of Mythology player. Better yet, make some sort of a patchwork quilt where you've got Sims Online to the north, Command & Conquer to the south, EverQuest to the east, and WarCraft to the west.
THAT would be fun.
Bowie J. Poag
I'm not following here. Why would being acquired by Microsoft keep Blizzard from making Starcraft 2? In fact, I would think that would guarantee that Startcraft 2 would be made. Say what you will about Microsoft, but they're not stupid.
I would imagine Starcraft would run VERY slowly on an SNES.
That's N64, you insensitive clod!
Oh, right. Those guys actually have CPUs comparable to my ancient Macintosh Performa 6220CD which acted as my Starcraft box for ages. That's 75 mhz of crippled (the Performa line was aimed at consumers) processing power. Its certianly a testament to the black magics Blizzard writes their software in, as it runs on anything.
Bored with karma, be a fan/freak
If Blizzard is trying to do to Warcraft III, what BroodWar did yo Starcraft ... Good Luck. They are missing their time as Warcraft III did little to innovate unlike SC. For that reason, it may just be better to tap into the SC users and release something good, like a well designed SC2 :)
I found it interesting that some outfit called 'Swords and Sorcery Studios' has partnered with Blizzard to put out the Dungeons & Dragons WarCraft RPG too. I'm sure there's a couple of geeks who still get off on spinning 20 sided dice for kicks.
Story is here. NOTE: This is NOT a computer game, its the same D&D we all had a crack at/obsessed over in our teens. Although a video game version would be pretty cool to see in the future.
Xavodim.com
"I hate blizzard; screw WC3!
"Oooh, shiny."
In my defense, I dualboot OS X to play it and not winshit.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Well, I slowly came to the realization that I didn't like the game very much. It was just boring. I got the feeling that part of the reason that StarCraft was so fun was because you could be creative and play strategies that the developers hadn't intended. Unfortunately, they must have thought that was a bad thing, because in WC3, they capped the unit limit much lower and added the annoying concept of "upkeep". Now, every game is the same (you have like two or three strategy options), and if one of your team's partners is a bad player or just uncooperative, you're screwed.
I'll buy the expansion. I hope it turns my opinion of the game around. I really *want* to like WC3. If it's even half as good as SC, it should give me limitless hours of entertainment.
...just my 2 gil.
How is it two strikes in a row? They are a company with a business model designed to generate revenue; their games do so very successfully. So, we have: 1.) Create game. 2.) People love/buy game. 3.) Profit. Because you (personally) don't like the game, does not mean (for them, or anyone else) that the game is a failure, as is proven conclusively through sales. Obviously, since they've sold many, many copies.
Well, I'm dissapointed that the Burning Legion didn't somehow worm their way into the expansion as a playable race, buuuut... it's nice that there will be new clan features. That's something I've always wondered about - in all the FPS and RTS and RPGs and yada yada, why the heck are clans always an out-of-game feature? You'd think by now that game developers would have gotten wind of the fact that gamers like to group together. Why not give them options to solidify that in-game?
Cant belive that they could create another expansion to War3. The story was terrific. Many months have passed since Archimonde and the Burning Legion were defeated at the Battle of Mount Hyjal... The stalwart night elves, led by the Arch Druid, Furion Stormrage and the Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind, have vanished back into the shadows of Ashenvale Forest - intent to heal the ancient lands that were scarred by the Legion's vile corruption. The battle-weary orcish Horde, led by the idealistic Warchief, Thrall, has settled in the harsh, eastern hills of the Kalimdor Barrens. Finally able to claim a homeland of their own, the orcs work tirelessly to found and protect their new nation of Durotar. The human survivors of Lordaeron, under the command of the Sorceress, Jaina Proudmoore, have also settled along the eastern coast of the Barrens. The island citadel of Theramore was erected to safeguard the last, rag-tag remnants of the failing human Alliance. ...And Arthas, the newly crowned King of Lordaeron, has driven the undead Scourge to eradicate the last vestiges of resistance to his iron rule. His kingdom - the once proud bastion of human might and nobility - has become a plagued realm of death and sorrow. Now, driven by haunting visions of the Frozen Throne of Icecrown, Arthas plans to tighten his grip over the rest of the world.
* * * ...Still, one dark soul still remains at large...
For in some shadowed corner of the world, the wayward creature known as Illidan Stormrage plots... and awaits...
and the art was absolutely amazing . cant wait to play this new game . Blizzard says it comes out in summer 2003 .
but i seriously hope that Microsoft doesnt buy Vivendi games .If this happens , i wouldnt buy any game from blizzard
I used to work at War3.com a long time ago. The original race list was:
1. Humans
2. Orcs
3. Burning Legion
4. Undead
5. Night Elves
6. Trolls/Goblins However, as time went on, the list was cut down to simply Humans, Orcs, Burning Legion, and Undead... they then planned to release the name of the 5th race later and (no surprise) they were the Night Elves. After some more agonizing, they cut the Burning Legion, claiming there was no way they could balance a race that was supposed to be increadibly powerful.
Care to explain the Age of Empires franchise? Or the * Simulator games? (Flight Sim, Combat Flight Sim, Train Sim) Come to think of it, the only FPS game I can think of off hand from Microsoft is Halo. Mech Assault and the Mechwarrior games may count, though the former is third-person and the latter is more of a sim.
I don't see this as being a bad thing. Battle.net has had more than its share of problems, and the only reason I see for keeping it around would be for the already-existing games that use it. Starcraft 2 could and should use a different model. But I guess that's just my own opinion.
I'm not sure what you're using as the basis for your assumptions here, but I'm not sure it really jives with what MGS has done. Look at Halo -- Bungie was working on it for quite a long time, and probably would've been even longer had they not been acquired by Microsoft and given the hard and fast ship date of "by XBox launch". And as for it not being the same as if Blizzard made it, who do you think would do the development? If Microsoft buys out Vivendi's game division (still unconfirmed rumor), they would not just be buying the IP. They'd be buying the development studios themselves. In other words, Blizzard would still be making the game, it would just be published by someone else (Microsoft).
If the trend continues, there will be keys attached to the expansion. Brood War didn't have a key, and I imagine a lot of people didn't legally purchase theirs =P Heck, the game came out before my birthday, so my cousin burnt me a copy as a present. No CD Key, no hassle.
The Diablo II expansion had a key, and this probably kept people honest. Not many people would enjoy not being able to play with their RL friends, so people that knew eachother had to buy their own copies.
I personally don't mind the keys at all... if it makes Blizzard happy, good for them. They put out great games, and it's not like their collecting our personal information without our consent... anymore.
About time too!
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Some of the dedicated b.net players are dissapointed by this. The usual Blizzard fanboys are, as expected, frothing at their mouths. But this "expansion" is both ill-timed and a slap in the face to those of us that have been patiently waiting for Blizzard to fix Warcraft III multiplayer. Some of the new multiplayer features (like clan support) were hoped to be in the game originally. Many of the things they're adding are features that have been asked for since the public beta, and Bliz kept giving generic responses -- "We value the fans opinions..." -- leading us to believe they were planning on implementing them. They kept telling us they were working hard to improve b.net and planned many changes, but now we find out the changes are exclusively for the expansion!
And furthermore, the imbalances in Warcraft III are so blatantly obvious that it's sickening. The only redeeming factor is that each race has so many different imbalances it's usually possible to compete between races. But come tournament time, one or two main strategies (sometimes bordering on being bug exploits) appear.
What I'm getting at here is that I'm not excited; I'm dissapointed. Warcraft III to many still isn't finished. Map hackers (and other cheaters) run rampant on b.net, the ladder and scoring systems are in serious need of an overhaul, there has been no mention of Warcraft seasons or Blizzard-sanctioned tournament, and their attempt at "balancing" the game have become so bad that Warcraft III is nothing like what it was originally supposed to be, at least judging from the beta. (Need to kill high-ranking undead abominations? Mass frail spellcasters and rush them in headlong! No melee support needed!)
Blizzard led us all to believe that they were intent on fixing the broken multiplayer system. Now I find out that for $30 I can have the game I was originally promised. Way to go Blizzard.
--
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." -Voltaire
"Yes, that's what the market needs, another $60 video game. "
That might be a valid point if a.) WC3 costs $60 (it doesn't, it's $50 just like every other game out there) and b.) If Warcraft 3 was another run-of-the-mill game.
As for your liking it, your choice. But if games aren't successful in the market, you're going to have fewer companies like Blizzard trying to do something interesting. The fact that they released it when they felt they were ready alone is a behaviour we (as consumers) need to encourage. It's not a guaranteed winner because they take their time on it, but it beats rushing it out the door to make a trade-show deadline.
Somebody has made a custom map called "Bomb bin laden", so there might :)
;)
After all the most played WC3 games on BattleNet seems to be custom games (ie, people make maps which not like regular games, different rules, units etc)
I just checked BattleNet:
Number of Starcraft games being played: 10967
Number of Warcraft III games being played: 4925
Perhaps that should tell them something
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Didn't Starcraft look like an "ending" ending? *Spoilers* Tassadar crashed the Gantrithor, blew up the Overmind? Sounds comparatively final to me, but you know, I could be insane.
No, I think that there's always room for stories to continue. Firstly, "World of Warcraft" the MMORPG is continuing after WC3 anyway. Secondly, just because the Burning Legion is all hosed, that doesn't mean that a) The Undead (Arthas!), b) The Orcs (Thrall!) c) The Humans (Jaina!) or d) The Night Elves (Furion! Illidan!) are completely gone. There's lots of potential for each of these stories to continue.
Remember that sometimes the best stories are made not from world-beating threats, but from character interactions.
Building: Game Expansion
Requirements: Must be part of the Blizzard faction
Resources: 2000gp
The WC3 Expansion is upgrade from WC3. When it is completed, it brings about an increase in gold production, fan loyalty(like "Blizzard rocks"), and opposing commentary(ex: "This is unoriginial"). It also extends the life of WC3 for 4 to 6 months.
"Warcraft 3 is less fighting your enemy, and more powering up on NPC monsters so you have no chance of losing when you run across your enemy."
Yeah it's definitely got a more of an RPG feel to it. That's one of the reasons I'm a Blizzard follower, they don't mind changing the formula. I was disappointed with some of the C&C sequals that came out. Westwood added some stuff to it, but it really didn't seem so different that expansion packs couldn't have covered it.
I might be over-stating WC3 a bit, I haven't played it a whole lot yet. (Figures I get it about the same time I get GTA 3...)
Yes, and considering how many people cheat when it is possible (CounterStrike) there would be widespread cheating in the manner described as well. That funny smell is his brain decomposing on the floor.
I think you misunderstood my point - I was saying that the kind of cheat he proposed was impossible, due to the fact that the game clients would get out of sync and disconnect!
The kind of cheats that are present in todays games can be classified in three categories:
1. Cheats that let the player know something his computer know. This means maphacks, wallhacks and resource viewers.
2. Cheats that let the computer aid the player unfairly. This means aimbots and other player-assisting bots.
3. Cheats that exploit bugs. Item duplicating and things like the farmbug in War3 falls into this category.
The kind of cheat he described doesn't fall into any of these categories, because it's impossible. Todays game protocols are built on the principle that as little information as possible should be sent over the wire (to save bandwith), and that most calculations are done locally at the client.
ANY cheat that tries to change these calculations would break the synchronization between the clients, and whereas other cheats are difficult to detect and act transparently, this one would stick out like a sore thumb and in most sensible games will lead to a disconnect.
And the argument about the complexity of game protocols is laughable. A few dedicated individuals would, given some time, reverse engineer any game protocol they find interesting - like the bnetd guys did.
Why doesn't Blizzard stop releasing "expansion packs" a short time after a game's release and start actually making with the goods initially. Consider this scenario:
:)
Blizzard releases a great game in the initial release. Maybe a couple of patches to deal with unit balances and stuff, but there shouldn't be any major flaws that need fixing. Then (and here's the tricky part), they actually get to work on the sequel right away! Who ever thought they could improve on all aspects of the game instead of just adding to the original?
Seriously, why would I want to pay basically the price of the original game over again for an expansion pack that generally adds little to things like graphics and the game's core functionality? Especially in games like Warcraft, where you're guaranteed a wealth of custom scenarios created by other players, great to keep interest in a game. If the company put the manpower into getting the next chapter in the game underway, they could avoid making us wait years and years for the next game in the series.
But of course this means they can't bank on everyone paying twice for the game + expansion pack. Since everybody buys them off the shelves the instant they get put there, nothing's gonna change.
On a note related specifically to War3, I was surprised at how little had really changed from War2 except for the graphics. Sure, they integrated the neat control features from Starcraft like easier unit grouping and such, and added heroes, but I don't think it justifies the amount of time the game's been in development. Blizzard is in the great position of being able to release any garbage they want and have it break sales records.
That was a game design decision, not an inability to program.
Given that it lags as it is now, I think not.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Did you know they had 4-lane roads originally in SimCity 4 before release (there were screenshots)? Also, notice you can't edit region sizes in-game? And so on and so on...obviously, EA is holding out for an expansion pack, like they overdid with The Sims. I am so sick of expansion packs, to be honest. They were neat and exciting in the 90s; for instance, the one put out for WarCraft II where you went to the Orc homeworld. But it's become too much of a routine now to use expansion packs as a way to IMPROVE the game as it should have been instead of simply adding on to it.
When I was skimming the front page a few minutes ago I saw the "WC3" there and thought "Wing Commander III? What's that doing getting mentioned on Slashdot, it's 9 years old!.... well, I guess it could be a re-post!" :)
Seriously though... am I crazy, or are there other people who still associate "WC3" with that space-combat sim that, at its release, needed just about all the computing power a then-new 486 could muster?