Hi I'm new here. I spent about 30 min. reading through the forums to see if the question I am about to ask has already been asked and if it has i apologize. Is there going to be a level / Icon system like Warcraft 3? Is the matchmaking system going to be the same was Warcraft 3? Or have they not even released this information? Thanks for any replies
Well, some things have been confirmed already. That both games will be "linked" together over battle.net, for example. And if they are going to use the same communication system and forums, then I guess that the level system might also be about the same. Just guessing, but I don't think that any official confirmation is needed to make an accurate prediction for this. :/
All we know is that it'll be something similar but improved. It might not be levels but something else. Still, it'll effectively do the same thing; keep players around their skill level.
"The game features automated matchmaking, similar to Warcraft III. Players are assigned a skill level after 5 to 10 games.[13] Teams will have a separate rating.[14]"
I know a lot of people like to think of warcraft and starcraft as completely separate, but to me it looks fairly clear that there is a overarching "Blizzard RTS template" that has been steadily built upon. With each blizzard RTS game, we've seen the basic template of their last game reused and added to. We're seeing some of this in SC2 as well. I expect the new battle.net will offer ladders and matchmaking and player levels and icons very similar to how it works in wc3... but with new improvements and additional features.
I disagree with the "Blizzard RTS template" just the Battle.net features are going to be similar and improved upon. Warcraft 3 was quite different than any other Blizzard RTS including Starcraft, Starcraft 2 and previous Warcraft games. Warcraft 3 focused heavily on heroes and their abilities as well focusing on armor and weapon types. You could say there were armor and weapon types in Starcraft but in Warcraft 3 they played a huge part in gameplay and to be successful you needed to know all the weapons and armor types strengths and weaknesses etc. It wasn't like Starcraft were any unit can do damage or be effective against anything. In Warcraft 3 it was more building up your hero and getting items etc and using their abilities while building specific units to counter what your enemy has. Countering your enemies units etc is in all RTSes but in Warcraft 3, well its hard to explain but it was much more complex and heavily focused on. What I like about Starcraft 2 is it is taking Blizzard back to their old RTS design with the refinement of the experience they gained over the years.
You've listed gameplay differences and specific differences in content (eg, heroes), but I'm referring more to the logic of the game and how it is presented... Specific content is not identical, but it's similar enough to be obviously a variation on the template. eg, consider the gui, it is something that has evolved from the side panel in wc1, to the less claustrophobic strip along the bottom edge in sc with a grid of buttons on the right, minimap on the left, and unit/unitgroup info in the middle. It's a strip that was improved in wc3, slightly improved in wc3 patches wrt the minimap options, and what is used sc2 has a similar level of functionality. The onscreen feedback: use of HP bars, and bars to indicate how full things are loaded, like transports or orc burrows or bunkers. The ability to use ALT to toggle that has been carried into SC2 from previous blizzard RTS games. The role of function keys and mouse buttons is similar across all games (with the exception of wc1). The appearance of critters in blizzard RTS games. The fact that WC3 introduced unit inventories, which are now supported in SC2, and will no doubt be a feature of single player. The similarity between creep and blight The three tier Main was used for Zerg and in all the warcraft races. P/T use a techtree with the same feel of depth. In fact, in early wc and in sc, the worker units had build 'basic' and 'advanced' structures buttons (same template). wc3 removed this necessity because it extended the button grid to 4x3 grid. sc2 is extending this again to 5x3 -- evolving the Blizzard RTS template. Blink in wc3 is called blink in sc2. The variety of upgrades and abilities has steadily improved: from the blacksmith armor and damage upgrades in the original game, which was duplicated with the engineering bay/forge in sc, while adding more specialized upgrades, eg, zealot legs and dragoon range. Then wc3 copied that by introducing things like the specialized ghoul frenzy and long rifles upgrades. sc2 upgrades follow this evolving template too. And that's just off the top of my head...
I agree to a point. I think SC1 was an expanded and improved WC 2 with 3 totally new races. But WC3 is WC2 2.0, cause it's just like WC2 where most of hte units from each of the races are the same with just a look change. Heck each of the 4 races bases are upgradable 2 times I think just liek WC2. To me I think of the WC line of games as X number of almost identical performing races, just different looks. But the SC line is 3 totally different races that look feel and play much differently to each other. I agree that the unit action buttons just are just improvements on the last game be it a SC or WC game that came before it. But I think that's on purpose for 2 reasons. Cause it just works so well and cause people familiar with old Blizz games will feel at home and the new people to SC2 will find it easy to learn. So to answer the original posters queston, I think there is a Blizz template for many WC/SC things. And they just modify/update the template for SC or WC when it needs to be. Would be a smart thing to do. Less time programing the games UI and it's the old saying what ain't brok don't need fixing. It worked in the past so well to version 2.0 of the old UI would work in SC2. And I think the icons for b.net rankings etc is a good idea I think they'll keep on using. With their template for it.
