Slashdot Mirror
StarCraft II Cost $100 Million To Develop
UgLyPuNk writes with news of a report that Blizzard has spent over $100 million developing StarCraft II. Initial development on the game began in 2003, and it's due to be released on July 27th. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick "described StarCraft as one of the company’s seven 'pillars of opportunity' (where each pillar has the potential to deliver operating profit between $500 million and $1 billion over its life span)." The finalized system requirements for the game have been released, and players planning to buy the digitally distributed version can download it now, though it won't be playable until the 27th.
Most of that money will have gone into graphics and marketing.
No wonder large companies have to create a top 10 game in order to get their investment back!
If they would settle for 20% less impressive graphics, I bet they'd save more than 50% on the bills. And then they wouldn't have to be so scared about piracy, either.
'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' II Corinthians 5:7
They already lost me as a customer. That whole business with Real Names on their forums lead me to looking more into Real ID and...I just don't like it. I don't like their reaction. I don't like their words. They are not representing themselves as a company interested in protecting my interests, they don't care about my privacy. They care about my money.
So I'm not letting them get it.
Q: If I buy StarCraft II but don't buy any of the expansion sets, will I still be able to play online?
A: Yes. This will work similarly to Warcraft III and the original StarCraft, which maintained separate online gaming lobbies and ladders for expansion set players and players with the base Warcraft III or StarCraft.
Real answer: No. You'll be sitting in a near-empty lobby connected to a few servers running on decrepit old servers with the other couple of losers who can't afford to give us the money we so deserve.
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
Seriously $100 million is way out of line with this game. Now if the costs include new server farms for online play then maybe I can see this. The game is not showing $100 million in improvements. Don't get me wrong the 3D graphics are pretty from the screenshots posted online that I have seen. The tweaks and additions to the gameplay are nice from what I hear in previews reported online, but $100 million? Come on...seriously.
-Eric
I just did.
:(
:("
to billing@blizzard.com
bcc wowtech@blizzard.com,
macsupport@blizzard.com,
advertise@blizzard.com,
sitelicense@blizzard.com,
merchandiselicensing@blizzard.com
date Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 11:38 AM
subject No LAN support in sc2
Template for those that also want to send a mail: (Cleaning up any spelling errors would be appreciated )
--------
In reference to the article posted on slashdot.org
http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/07/18/1529218/StarCraft-II-Cost-100-Million-To-Develop?art_pos=12
In the community it is well known that blizzard won't support LAN gaming, without an internet connection.
I quote:
"Blizzard denies the rumors of a LAN-enabled "Professional Edition", but it sure sounds like that's the direction they're heading. On one hand Blizzard claims that "No LAN because Battle.net 2 is just so amazing we can't let anyone miss out!" and then on the other "Okay, LAN play is required but only high rollers get it, not the rest of you, you dirty pirates". Anyone who's played the beta knows how bad and lacking Battle.net 2 is. Yes, it's beta, but the final release is in less than 10 days. It's not like they're going to uncheck the "Battle.net sucks enabled" checkbox the day before.
I want to love Starcraft 2, but Blizzard-Activision is making it so hard
Yes, you do make it hard. Because if its true that you have to connect up to battle.net to play the game in multiplayer it just reeks of greed.
If I buy the game, my thoughts would be: "Some of this money would go to some cheep ass greedy bastard that is so cheap that he won't let me play the game with my friends offline."
The real reason is probably to thwart resellers.
You guys are so greedy, and cheap. It sucks to be honest.
Before you actually gave an option of a free copy. Like if I wanted to play with my friend the game would download to his computer, and we could play multilayer without him needing a copy.
Something like that would be cool! But you greedy ass gets in the way for that....
Baah.. I don't think I even will try to pirate the game. I'll just ignore you and choose one of the gazillion other ways to spend my time.
You greedy ass suck,
sign.
I’m simply stunned. Stunned by how seemingly grown-up people, who also seem to understand basic physics and computers, can parrot the distorted reality of a mafia-like group of criminal organizations, and talk about it, as if it would actually make sense. Oh, and actually protecting that bullshit trough denial. By means of moderating comments that state factual reality as “Troll”.
Maybe you all already believe the shit, because you heard it often enough.
But I call that not exactly mentally healthy. And when you want, go ahead, mail me, and ask me where I live. You can meet me face-to-face. And I’ll not only tell you in your stupid face that you are mentally ill, but also prove it scientifically, in a way that any professional psychotherapist will sign off on my statement.
It’s like being in the dark ages all over again, and being “modded Troll” for stating that the earth revolves around the sun and that earth is a sphere. But hey, what’s the number of “people” in the US believing that the sun revolves around the earth again? 60%? 80%?
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.