StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Released

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StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Released

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday March 12, 2013 @10:00AM from the now-with-more-zerg dept.

Today Blizzard launched its first expansion to StarCraft 2, titled Heart of the Swarm. When initially developing StarCraft 2, Blizzard made the decision to split the game into three parts, each with a campaign as long as the original StarCraft. The initial release in 2010, Wings of Liberty, centered on the story of the Terrans. The newly-released Heart of the Swarm is focused on the Zerg. The final release, Legacy of the Void, will dedicate its campaign to the Protoss (and does not have a projected release timeframe yet). In addition to the new campaign, new units have been introduced for multiplayer and new maps have been added, which ought to shake things up in the competitive landscape. Blizzard has also made long-awaited improvements to the social system, including support for groups and clans.

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Why am I at work? by neonv · 2013-03-12 10:03 · Score: 4, Funny

Here I am working, when I could be playing. Thanks Slashdot, now I'm going to have to kill my productivity and go home and kill some zerg!
1. Re:Why am I at work? by Tukz · 2013-03-12 10:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You got it all wrong, this campaign is played as zerg.
  Go home and kill some marines!
  
  --
  - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
2. Re:Why am I at work? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-03-12 10:21 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  No, he's right. He just gets scv rushed by the terrains every game. He didn't say the zerg weren't his.
3. Re:Why am I at work? by joeyadams · 2013-03-12 10:24 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Here I am working, when I could be playing. Thanks Slashdot, now I'm going to have to kill my ...
  Please get help. You have so much to live for.
  
  ... kill my productivity and go home and kill some zerg!
  Ohh, nevermind. Knock yourself out.
4. Re:Why am I at work? by UnknowingFool · 2013-03-12 10:39 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  In the first few missions, you play as Kerrigan trying to get back control of the swarm. So killing other Zerg is part of it.
  
  --
  Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
I just wish ... by jxander · 2013-03-12 10:05 · Score: 3, Insightful

I just wish blizz would split Starcraft into the two games it clearly is : Single- and Multi-player.
I thoroughly enough the campaign missions, the overarching story, and everything else associated with the single player mode, but have zero interest in multiplayer. I've got plenty of other PvP games. I'd wager that there are plenty of people in my camp, as well as people who never touch the campaign, instead favoring multiplayer.

--
This signature is false.
1. Re:I just wish ... by Tukz · 2013-03-12 10:09 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Don't play multiplayer then?
  I really don't see the issue here, the campaign is standalone singleplayer missions.
  
  --
  - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
2. Re:I just wish ... by PopeRatzo · 2013-03-12 10:31 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I just wish blizz would split Starcraft into the two games it clearly is : Single- and Multi-player.
  Or, they could just release the game people want.
  Remember Starcraft? The one that was such a big success? The one with local LAN games and dedicated servers?
  It made plenty money.
  But the days of companies giving customers what they want are gone forever. Now, you get what you get and STFU.
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
3. Re:I just wish ... by RogueyWon · 2013-03-12 11:28 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Not *exactly* the same thing, but...
  A huge number of WoW players wish that Blizzard would split WoW into two games... PvE and PvP.
  One of the biggest factors behind PvE players quitting the game is Blizzard's complete inability to stop tweaking and sometimes fundamentally redesigning classes. This is only very rarely driven by PvE or quality-of-game issues. More normally, it's because the changes were needed to correct a PvP imbalance. Having to relearn your class because some people you never talk to playing a version of the game you have no interest in have found an interesting way to exploit the game-rules is no fun. But it happens all the time.
  There's a real tension in Blizzard between the people who know how to make a fun game and the people who spend years worrying about multiplayer balance. They both have a role, but they both need to be kept completely separate.
4. Re:I just wish ... by Omestes · 2013-03-12 11:54 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Remember Starcraft? The one that was such a big success? The one with local LAN games and dedicated servers?
  Fun facts; SCII is a big success as well, at least in terms of amount of players and amount of profit made. Further, I remember Starcraft, I enjoyed it (not as much as TA, but still), and never once played it on a LAN. I did play on Battle.net, though, even with my friends in same city. So, really, Blizzard game me what I wanted. Sure, not you, but perhaps its time to realize that you're a minority, and companies have no reason whatsoever to cater to your wishes.
  LAN is irrelevant these days. There is no real reason for a majority of people to want it anymore. If it has a LAN feature, a miniscule fraction of people would use it, so why bother? Sure, I could lug my giant computer to a friends house, and futz with networks... or I could just hop into a game with them, over my more than adequate internet connection. Which would I rather do? The quick and easy one. I can still lug my computer to their house and play, by the way. LAN gives no real benefit over the internet these days. When the original Starcraft came out, my internet sucked, this isn't true for the majority of people (or at least people who can blow $60 on a game, and $600+ on a rig that can play it) anymore.
  Sure, I'd prefer it, more options and more features are always good. But in this day and age constant internet access is pretty much a given.
  
  --
  A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
5. Re:I just wish ... by Githaron · 2013-03-12 12:05 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I guess you have never been to a LAN party without internet.
6. Re:I just wish ... by yurtinus · 2013-03-12 12:08 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  While I think you're justified to have your gripes, in this case I feel it's a bit excessive. RTS games have had single player and multiplayer components almost since the very beginning. Granted, the multiplayer aspect has been far more significant lately, but I don't think it's been at a cost of a weaker single player. I kind of feel like your complaints are like griping about the passenger seat you had to buy in your car even though you'll never sit in it.
  
  HOTS is at least priced as an expansion rather than a "full price game," unlike CoD and the sports games.
  
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  +1 Disagree
7. Re:I just wish ... by geekoid · 2013-03-12 12:35 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  "LAN is irrelevant these days. "
  not really.
  For example. this weekend I will be renting a house at the coast for 4 days with 15 other gamers. we do it 4 times a year, or so.
  Internet connection at these rentals run the gambit from shit, to crap.
  The fact that you don't understand the difference between being online with someone and being in the same room is pretty damn sad.
  I would also add, when doing team play, being in the same room as your team is a hell of a lot easier to communicate then a headset. Not that it applies to many people.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
8. Re:I just wish ... by Omestes · 2013-03-12 13:11 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Not since the early 2000s, and even then it was there, but only in the form of dial-up. Later they were all in college, with a very decent university connection. Oddly, then we'd all play mostly online, but in the same set of rooms (two dorm rooms with a shared bathroom, one room for one team, the other for the other). Though this devolved into doing WoW crap together, but in the same vicinity.
  Generally if I'm somewhere without internet I've got better things to do than play games. And if internet isn't available I have board games and a well stocked cooler of beer.
  
  --
  A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
Nuclear Options? by DavidClarkeHR · 2013-03-12 10:09 · Score: 5, Funny

If we really want to deter North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, we need to preemptively deploy SC2.

--
- Nec Impar Pluribus, or so I'm told.
1. Re:Nuclear Options? by matrim99 · 2013-03-12 10:27 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  North Korea and South Korea are two different countries.
  
  --
  Right. No, your other right. No, the other other right.
2. Re:Nuclear Options? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-03-12 11:01 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  North Korea and South Korea are two different countries.
  No, wrong. As any red-blooded, God-fearing REAL American knows, the nation of "Foreign" simply has a lot of different names because they're jealous of us.
So far it's pretty good by DaemonDan · 2013-03-12 10:12 · Score: 4, Interesting

I started playing the campaign for Heart of the Swarm today, and am very pleased with it so far. The cinematic sequences are really well done, and it has a great storyline so far.

--
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1. Re:So far it's pretty good by Anonymous Coward · 2013-03-12 14:18 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  You're only allowed to bitch about it. Slashnerds are incapable of appreciation. It's a bizarre phenomenon.
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by ildon · 2013-03-12 10:19 · Score: 5, Informative

"AT RELEASE", SC2: Wings of Liberty had an offline "guest" mode that could play single player and custom maps, but could not play any multiplayer (no LAN support). It continues to behave in exactly this way.
Re:Who cares? by vawarayer · 2013-03-12 10:23 · Score: 4, Insightful

Keep in mind that some other dudes want you to pay a recurrent monthly fee for playing on their servers. All Blizzard titles provide free access to battle.net and a replayability that I have yet to find in other games. I have had played SC 1 for several years before SC 2 came out. I think I have good zerg-bang for my protoss-bucks.
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by Zalbik · 2013-03-12 10:39 · Score: 4, Informative

No...after more research, it was a bug, and it is mostly fixed. See here for details.
TL;DR:
Blizzard screwed up offline mode at one point.
Currently to go offline, you must have:
1) The game fully downloaded (makes sense)
2) Go online once after patching (they are working on fixing this).
So right now if you are a hermit in a cave with no online connectivity, but you happened to pick up the open wi-fi of a passing hiker and patch SC2, but then did not go online after the patch....then you are screwed.
Otherwise, yes, you can apparently play the campaign offline.
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by Zalbik · 2013-03-12 10:53 · Score: 3, Informative

Yep...I first saw that thread last year, but never went back to read the entire follow up.
It's definitely a bug, and mostly fixed at that.
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by Zalbik · 2013-03-12 11:08 · Score: 4, Funny

Sorry...I'll try to be more indecent in the future.
Re:Who cares? by vux984 · 2013-03-12 11:39 · Score: 4, Insightful

Have you played the Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty campaign? It is a full game all by itself. Starcraft 2: Wings of Libery + Starcraft 2: Heart of Swarm + Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void, = 3 Games.
No. I count one game and two fairly expensive expansion packs. They include a few extra units, some multiplayer tweaks, and a map pack.
Most triple-A companies would charge you $60 per game which comes out to $180 for the series. Assuming the final game is also $40, Blizzard is charging you $140.
How much koolaid did you drink?
Re:Who cares? by Omestes · 2013-03-12 11:59 · Score: 3, Insightful

So you'd have rather either waited an extra year or two, or accepted around 1/3 less content for the same price?
Pretty rational, if you ask me.
Don't get me wrong, Blizzard has been on my shit-list for a while now, and I probably won't be buying this expansion, but I really can't complain. Its a full length game, as big as the original, for less money. Back before this DLC bullshit that we accept now, games released giant $40 expansions, as opposed to miniscule $10 DLC. This was an accepted practice. And it is a practice I wish we could return to.

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A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
Mac OS X Lion/Moutain Lion required by ArcadeMan · 2013-03-12 12:25 · Score: 3

I paid for that game and now I can't play anymore. What the hell?

--
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by GigaplexNZ · 2013-03-12 14:10 · Score: 4, Informative

The guest mode disabled certain features that tracked your single player campaign progress. My internet went out during a particularly long mission, no notification popped up, it just silently went to guest mode, and I had to redo the mission. I didn't find the game anywhere near as fun as the original, and with no LAN I ended up just going back to SC:BW. I won't be wasting my money again this time round.
Re:Who cares? by mjwx · 2013-03-12 14:30 · Score: 4, Interesting

About the only thing that actually had to be done special is the voice work and any cinematics for the campaign.
Spoken by someone who's never had to do voice overs.

You have no idea how expensive and time consuming voice works and pre-rendered cinematic's are.

Also if you think the engine in HOTS is exactly the same as the engine that was released in WOL, you need your head examined. There's been continual patching. I've only played the first 5 levels of HOTS but you can spot a lot of work put into level design, they haven't simply slapped together some new maps with voiceovers. This isn't COD and EA for fucks sake, they actually put some work into it.

Frankly $40 for an expansion pack (yes, it's an expansion pack, like what we used to have in the Good Old Days(TM) before DLC) that has almost as much content as the original is a godsend when they charge $5 for a hat and $15 for a single map DLC.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by razorshark · 2013-03-12 14:47 · Score: 3, Interesting

How am I stealing anything? I haven't taken anything and left one less copy in anyone's inventory. I wouldn't have paid for it anyway - if it was impossible to pirate, I just wouldn't have played it. Either way no money would have changed hands.
Am I dishonest? ABSOLUTELY. Does it matter? Depends. I used to feel the same way about principles, but getting older I've learnt that sticking to being legal all the time ultimately fucks you over. Companies still treat the buying like shit with continually more aggressive always-on DRM and activation bullshit, so it's not like sticking to your principles is worth anything if you don't get anything out of it.
Also, the "pirated" edition doesn't have binary cracks per-se. Everyone uses the same technique as I do - offline cache files a license generator. The mandatory account is a new thing as part of the 2.0.4 update.
As for real change? Huh! Major corporations don't give a shit. I buy indie games, not AAA titles.
I'm not making excuses for piracy. I'm merely explaining why I do it. I don't care if it boils your blood - you can't physically do anything to stop me. But I will stop if it becomes impossible to pirate anymore - say if the majority of games are hosted on cloud servers and so cracks are impossible. But if that happens I'll probably just give up gaming entirely.

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Raenex is a dickhead
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by Ironhandx · 2013-03-12 17:14 · Score: 3, Interesting

no lan ability is honestly why I haven't bought Starcraft 2. We still play Starcraft 1 at LANs and for a more modern strategy game it usually falls to Sins of a Solar Empire... Starcraft II doesn't even enter into the list due to the connection requirements. My house connection can't handle the retarded protocols with 8 computers going at it even with a 75mbit connection just due to the latency increases. My internal LAN doesn't even bat an eyelash at it though.
Re:Hope the Auth Servers are Running! by Raenex · 2013-03-12 18:08 · Score: 3, Funny

I'm not trying to rationalize here.
Stop lying to yourself and everybody else. Somebody called you an asshole and you tried to justify yourself by claiming you didn't want to support Blizzard's business model.

Thing is (and you're free to not believe me) I'm not a habitual pirate.
So you aren't trying to rationalize by saying this?

I don't even really pirate that much since a lot of AAA games don't really interest me.
Ah, so you only pirate the AAA games you really like. Bravo?

Given that I really doubt Blizzard is going to go backrupt because of little ol' me.
Still not rationalizing? Isn't everybody entitled to that sentiment? Why should anybody pay, when somebody else can?

You can be legit most of the time and bend the rules on occasion. It's FINE not to be black and while all the time people.
Is what you are doing FINE? I thought you weren't rationalizing?