My Thoughts on the Trilogy

Overall, I think the trilogy release concept for Starcraft II is a good idea for three reasons. Firstly, it gives campaigners a more in-depth experience. Second of all, it allows Blizzard to release the game sooner. And lastly, it forces Blizzard to update fundamental Battle.net mechanics at least twice.

Wings of Liberty is the first installment of Starcraft II, featuring an extensive Terran campaign and the core version of Battle.net 2.0. In this campaign, players take the role of Jim Raynor and fight their way to Arcturus Mengsk 'to exact revenge'. During the journey, players can interact with old friends and old enemies, including Zeratul and Kerrigan, in addition to new characters that are unique to Starcraft II. This trek across the Starcraft galaxy will include 26-30 missions as opposed to the 10 missions of the original Starcraft.

Instead of a typical RTS campaign that promotes one gameplay-style, Wings of Liberty will allow a lot of flexbility. As the player searches for Mengsk, he or she must complete missions that provide Raynor with money to continue onward - this money can be allocated to technology and unit upgrades of the player's choice. Thus instead of completing the campaign the same way as everyone else in the world, individuals can have totally unique single-player experiences. This factor also greatly increases the replay value of the campaign since during a second time around, the player could choose to focus on a completely different aspect of their army.

I think it's clear why the Terran campaign will provide a more in-depth experience to fans of the single player mode. It can be assumed that this depth will continue in the Protoss and Zerg campaigns (one of these will supposedly focus on diplomacy which just like the mercenary aspect of the Terran campaign, will allow for more flexibility and replay value). Many of you may be wondering how these massive campaigns could possibly be released sooner. The answer comes from Chris Sigaty. When he was originally asked about the logic behind the trilogy, Sigaty replied that Blizzard had quickly realized that the game was too big for one package. The development team agreed that it would take too long to do everything that they wanted to do within the same product. Thus the trilogy idea was hatched and for Sigaty, by defintion, it is the only way to release the game within a reasonable time frame.

One of the most important aspects of the trilogy plan is the updated Battle.net features. The Battle.net that will be released with Wings of Liberty will "come with a fully featured multiplayer game, with all three races playable on a newly renovated edition of Battle.net". This new edition of Battle.net will feature a new replay system, improved social interaction features, possible voice communication, and much more that has yet to be announced. All of this is fine and dandy but it is a given: it can be assumed that a new Blizzard RTS game would have a new Battle.net with new features. The main point of interest is the dynamic that the trilogy lends to the evolution of Battle.net. As the game progresses through the different versions, Blizzard will have the time and feedback to update the mechanics of the online system. This is unique to Starcraft II since the original Starcraft only had patches to improve usability or adjust game balance. I think this aspect, allowing for at least two major overhauls of Battle.net, will make a huge difference in the longevity of Starcraft II. Additionally, the expansions guarantee the introduction of new units and abilities that will change the flavor and the strategies of online play.

Overall I think it's important to realize the pros of the trilogy experience rather than dwelling on the cons. A more advanced and flexible campaign, a sooner-than-later release date, and continued improvements on Battle.net are definitely worth the 'fragmentation' of Starcraft II. Given the circumstances, as Chris Sigaty noted, this really is the best option.

http://communitystarcraft.com/blog/

 

I think its just a way for blizz to make more money. Though it will be cool to have a masive campain for all three races I think the reason they are releasing it like this is because blizz know we will buy it anyway.

 

speak for yourself =D

No way would I buy all 3. Only reason I'd buy a second one would be for the zerg campaign since they are by far my favorite race in sc. I'm going to get the terran one so I can play on b.net as soon as possible, even though I don't like terran.

However, I'm assuming that youtube will have plenty of dl'd clips of the game to see the story without having to buy all 3.

 

I feel it like some kind of symbiosis (probably spelled that last one wrong).
We get the game earlier and get more attention from blizzard into it, blizzard gets more money.
We cant deny they've always made great games, we shouldnt expect less for this one, Im really excited at seeing Wings of Liberty on shelves and kick some Mengsk ass D:


PD: Omg the map ed, I want to have it now

Mmm.. if you dont buy the 3 of em, you wont get all units and stuff.. so, your bnet experience would be halved.
Plus, I dont think they'r gonna be more than 50 USD each one.
50 USD in a year is not that much money

 

well, if i skip the zerg game and buy the protoss one, I'd get it all because protoss is the last one.

Plus, $50 can be a lot depending on what your current financial situation. For example, for a college student without a job and very limited finances from home, like me, $50 can be a lot to spend on a single game, let alone ~$100-150 to spend for all 3.

 

you guys forget the expansions are going to be a year apart right? that means you have ample time to ask your moms for the money.

 

Ask moms? Not all of us live with our parents or rely on their money.

Now, I'll probably have enough saved up to by my college stuff and video gear within the year gaps. But I just wanted to point out my above statement.

 

What a minute,

do you mean that these three games will not be released in the same time?
Is this a joke?

If this is the plan, then I don't think there will be any expansion, as:

The terran box will enable all the addicts to get the game as soon as possible,
The zerg box will enable the players who are really looking into playing a different type of RTS to play (as protoss and terran are basically the same style of management),
The protoss box will then I think bring the new units blabla, like some sort of expansion pack.

I think the zerg box will be released 4-6 months after the terran one, because if it is released too longer, the zergs fans will not buy the first box and probably not wait for the zerg one and switch to another game. The protoss box will then be released 10-18 months later, with plenty of new features, including the latest special effects, new multiplayer units for the three races etc, in order to revive the game popularity, when the sales will start to really go down.

My two cents.

If an expansion pack is planned in addition of that trilogy that is not one, will this mean we will have to buy 4 or 6 boxes if we want to have the full game experience?

 

The second and third in the trilogy are the expansions. It's just like having StarCraft1, BroodWar and EvenBroodierWar, only the racial campaigns are split across the three as opposed to every race being in every one of the three.

 

Oh,

Ok.

I like the idea then.

But,
just to confirm:
As long as the expansions will not be released, we will not have only the terrans as the only playable race in multiplayer games, we will also be able to play the zergs and tos since the beginning of Bnet SC2, right?

 

Great "blog"! I'm pretty sure I agreed with everthing

 

(MUST READ!)
here's the problem with the game getting released earlier:

People are desperate for SC2 being released, if it would be release then most likely only 1 of the 3 trilogies would come out first. Due to people's long awaited anticipation pretty much everyone would buy it, why is that a big deal? People would buy only 1 of the 3 trilogies, once the next one comes out people would have to buy another one (for sharing purposes), then the third one comes out they'd have to buy it too.

Now, compare that with all 3 trilogies being released at once

If all 3 were released at once, you'd have people buying campaigns and switching off with their friends once they've completed their trilogy (to save money on buying another trilogy).

Since I'm terrible at explaining, I'll show the math.
Say each trilogy were to sell for $1 (I like small numbers), and you have 100 people willing to buy SC2.
If Wings of Liberty (for example) was released first, it is likely that 100 people will buy it. If the second one comes out, say 50 people would buy it. Then third one, 25. That's $175 of sales total.
Now lets say if all three were released the same time. About 33 people would buy each 1 out of the 3 trilogies (33 buys terran, 33 buys protoss, 33 buys zerg) and switch off with their friends once they're done, that's only $99.

Of course, this is theoretical (lol I sound geeky) I won't be including pirated versions or any other types of illegal sharing.

 

^ ???

Either I didn't read that correctly, or I strongly disagree

 

Here's my 2 cents.. The Terran campaign comes out, we all buy it cause we can play the campaign which will be awesome, no doubt, and/or you can jump straight on the new battle.net and start playing multi-player with any race you want, as each race will be fully ready for multi-player action once the first (Terran) campaign is released.

Then up to maybe a year later (although not necessarily that long for sure), comes out the Zerg campaign, which will surely be awesome in it's own right. This might also include some updates to the units/game as well and possibly being as much as a year later for it's release, paying around another $50 for me is WORTH IT.

The bottom line is, this game is going to be HUGE, way bigger than SC/BW and will likely easily keep alot of people occupied at the very least as long as the original SC/BW, if not much longer! So it's overall cost will ultimately be completely justified by the amount of additional stuff you'll be able to do with both the single player and multi player game types, as well as with the new map editor!

For you college students that don't have a job and don't get much, if any, money from parents, figure something out... don't just write off this game because it's being released as a trilogy now and might end up costing a bit more then you're typical single video game... and don't write it off if you're a zerg or protoss fan because you'll have to wait longer for your campaign to be released, buy the terran campaign and start playing online right away with your preferred race, you'll be glad you did! And again to the college student with very little $$$, get a part time job where you can work as little as you might want (I've had so many jobs in my life doing so many different things, it's nothing to get a job at an ice cream parlor or somewhere small and EASY), put in a few hours a week and you'll only need a paycheck or two to be able to buy the game, then quit your job and persue becoming a pro SC2 gamer like me...

 

Wow... people here are in college...
I'm in high school, without a job (Gr. 9) and I can buy it.

*sigh*
Wondering how long it takes to get the whole thing.
At least it'll get released faster.

Can't wait for StarEdit 2 - It will have HERO LEVELS, hope it has better triggering and UNIT SELECTION - THE "CURRENT PLAYER" MODE ACTUALLY WORKS!
No more 20 hour long trigger-editing streak to get the levels, and the hero selections right. YAY!


Two words describe it all (well ten words) - GO BLIZZARD!

 

I think this whole trilogy thing is a great ideas AS LONG as they do not try to make you have to have all 3 required to play a full online game. Anyways lets hope .

 

That's what's happening? I don't understand what your point is. Do you know the release plan?

 

yea all races will be available with the terran box, just like starcraft, so pretty much its the exact same thing blizzard did with the original, they were pressured by the public so they decided to split up the work (with the original there was an organization called CWAL (Can't Wait Any Longer), pretty much just dedicated to wanting the game faster,

As far as blizzard wanting more money well, yes they will get more money doing it this way, but i doubt that's why they decided to go this way. Right now Blizzards most important thing is their reputation, they need to make everything PERFECT, otherwise they will get torched for it, making 3 games, original plus 2 expansions, gives the ample opportunity to fine tune the game perfectly, to our own and their own expectations.

One question though, you all say the new campaigns will have 26-30 mission while the original had 10, but the original had 30 total for each(10 for each race), as far as i see it, if each expansion will only focus on one race and one campaign, won't it be the same amount, if not less of missions. Just wondering if im just misunderstanding you guys.

 

EACH of the new campaigns will have 26-30 missions so the whole trilogy will have 78-90 missions as opposed to the 30 total of before. Three times as many. If that explains it...

 

Yeah, we'll get all races for multiplayer games, just like in StarCraft1, only the racial campaigns have been grouped up and split. Then when the Zerg and Protoss expansions come out, we'll get each race's campaign and expansion units for multiplayer, like the Lurker, Medic, etc, we got in BroodWar.

@ CommunitySC. Don't quote in excess. And don't quote the person right about you. A simple '^' or '@ killa_Robot' would suffice.