Xel'Naga

Well that's possible. If I remember correctly they were very vauge about what happend and didn't explicitly say that they all died. It was just one of those things where you just assume that it happened.

I hope they work it in believeably. I hate it when things are blatently overwritten.

 

You know, they very well could be machines or energy beings...

Think about what Capthavic said, the Zerg didn't use any of their traits. Kind of bizarre I'd think since they were so well established as a galactic race. That doesn't make sense unless a) somehow the Zerg caused all the ships to explode so no bodies were found after they attacked or b) there wasn't any bodies to collect because nothing died in a biological sense.

What about if they are machines and energy? Imagine a mechanical Archon, a big machine guy with power flying off of him. Cool. lol

 

I think the Xel'Naga are a bunch of pussys.....They Left the protoss because the protoss started fighting with each other. The Xel'Naga say the power of the protoss and said hay if they get are Technoligy there gannna own the living shit out of us. So they ran away and made the zerg to protect them selfs......What do u guys think dose that sound true or what! The zerg didnt know what the Xel'Naga were thinking so they killed them. Thats what i think happened

 

No the Xel'Naga just viewed the protoss as a failure because they started fighting each other so they just left. Eventually they found the zerg which at that time were little more than parasitic larvae. The Xel'Naga made them stronger and eventually the zerg started assimilating other races into their gene pool, but this time the Xel'Naga were more cautious. They decided to create an Overmind to control the zerg and unfiy them so that they would not make the same mistake as the protss had and fight each other. The Overmind shared a psiconic link with the Xel'Naga and through this the race prospered. Eventually the zerg had assimilated every race on their home planet into their gene pool so the overmind started to wonder what its future would be. It decided that it didnt need the xel'Naga anymore so it closed its psiconic link with them. This suprised the Xel'Naga and they didnt know what was going on until the zerg attacked them. It caught the Xel'Naga totally off guard and the zerg killed most if not all of them. The OVermind learned of the protoss threw some Xel'Naga stuff much the same way it learned where Auir was through Zeratul and it decided that it should assimilate the protoss to complete what the Xel'Naga had started and become all powerful, only problem was it had no idea where Auir was so it just started off on a blind search. Eventually it came across the terran which were considered a weak race so the zerg didnt bother trying to assimilate them. This chnaged when the Overmind realized it pretty much had no chance of D\defeating the Protoss becuase their psiconic potenial was so much greater than its own. It was for this reason the overmind became intrested in the terrans because the terrans had some psiconic potenial. The protoss got really lucky when tassadar found one of the zergs deep space probes and when they put it next to one of those crystal things it reacted which is how they knew the zerg were also creatures created by the Xel'Naga, and thats pretty much everything that happened before Starcraft org involving the Xe'Naga.

 

i think blizzard should make it so the Xel,naga show up in sc2 but dont play a huge part, but mabey just show up

 

they could make then show up like the naga in tft, like u get some xel naga units in the campain to play with.

 

Maybe they will think that both protoss and zerg suck, and adopt terrans as their personal favourites.

 

well according to the only part of the live feed that worked for me, protoss campaign is going to involve the Xel'Naga. it even has Xel'Naga in the name of the campaign.

 

Yep it seems they are going to play a huge role in the single player game campaigns… I assume as the player methodically works through the universe collecting relics of the lost race only to find that the Xel'Naga haven’t all been destroyed. They  just moved out of known space.  So since the xel’nage played such an important role in the creation of the other two races I wonder if at the end of it all we find out that they created the terrans as well... As the balancing force in the universe?
So paraphrasing wikipedia Xel'Naga's primary intent was purity of form, and they traveled the galaxy, altering many species they encountered to enhance their purity of form. However, each time they were met by failure. Maybe after the first two failures they decided a single race alone could not achieve “purity of form” and instead set out to produce “purity of balance” in the universe as a whole.  With the creation of the terrans....Then sat back to watch.

 

i really hope that isnt the case, it would just be to corny, especially since all the terrans are rednecks

 

    Hey you noticed that too. The scv pilots all look like they're straight from the truckstop gutter. 
but on a different note....
    Have any of you played “Escape Velocity” also known as “EV”? It’s a fairly impressive shareware game of Mac gamers that goes back about 15 years, though there have been some more recent updates. It was from an upstart called Ambrosia that also made a number of other awesome titles. If anyone else has played the game or is willing to do some research on the topic you’ll know where I’m coming from on this one.  
Everyone who plays the game raves about how much fun it would be as a MMO universe.     
   Anyway the way Mr. Pardo described the single player campaigns in SC2 today at Blizzcon sounds so much like Blizzard is picking up the same story line of “Escape Velocity” only, with the Battle.Net already in place and WOW already up and running it would only be a very natural progression of the Stracraft Universe MMO after SC2.  Clearly they wouldn’t start any of that until after SC2 was finished and maybe after an expansion set was made. But the thought of an online universe with traders and mercenaries and pirates and zerg and weird alien technologies and artifacts to collect and missions by warring political factions and clans all sounds kinda fun.

 

hey im glad im not the only one who played it. I loved it too.

 

glad to hear it

zeratul talking to james raynor at the hyperion during the cutscene of the single player



"James Raynor"

"Zeratul!"
"I bring tidings of doom, the Xel'naga returns, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key"
"Key to what?"
"To the end of all things"


it seem that the xel naga play a very BIG role in the upcoming single player storyline in sc2

 

Sorry, this may be the longest post ever here... but hopefully it will make sense and be (somewhat) well reasoned.

It's been flying around that the Xel'Naga are going to be reintroduced into SC2, namely from the BroodWar Dark Origin Mission (which was awesome) and from what people have said about Zertul and Raynor from Blizzcon. I think reintroducing them is awesome, however, it has also been suggested that they would be a NPC race or some sort of super race. I think this is a terrible idea. Here's why:


1. WC3 sucked. Why? I blame the burning legion. Suddenly there was this "other" force from outside the player controlled realm of the game which was the ultimate evil that all the races needed to team up against. This is what would basically have to happen against an all powerful Xel'Naga. Interesting? Slightly.

What has always captivated me about the starcraft universe is that it has such an amazing story line with deep and reverberating characters. Why is this? It's a drama. It's like a really good Telenovela... on steroids (stimpacks?) and in the future. What makes drama good? High stakes. EVERY faction is trying to outmaneuver ever other faction to gain an advantage. If they don't get that advantage, they'll probably die. Blizzard has no problem killing off a major character to show how lethal making a mistake on this scale is. Fenix, Tassadar, Stukov? All major characters, all killed off. It made the game much better rather than worse.

Imagine an all powerful Xel'Naga force which makes all the players join forces and be friends! (yippie!) It would ruin the best dynamics in the game.

Furthermore, the intensity of this all out, no holds barred, race for survival both alienates us to and endears us to the characters. It makes them believable. Tassadar's sacrifice, Kerrigan killing old friends to take control or prevent her own death. The characters do wonderful, horrible, or extraordinary things for survival. They even reflect on what they've done. Tassadar reconsidered following the Conclave's orders to destroy infested terran worlds. Kerrigan said, "For the first time since my transformation, I grow weary of the slaughter". These characters have depth. If the Xel'Naga don't have to do the nitty gritty work, if the player doesn't see and experience them suffering in some way, they won't indentify with them and the overall game will suffer. Kerrigan is the "Queen B*tch of the Universe". Yeah, because she earned it. If the Xel'Naga want to take the title from her, I want to see them earn in with the same blood sweat and tears that she did. I want to see them be worthy of it.

2. The Xel'Naga could logically be a balanced race. According to the starcraft book, the Xel'Naga were all but wiped out by the Zerg (I believe it says the vast majority were destroyed). If suddenly, there incredibly powerful, or if Blizzard back tracks on that, I will be outraged. It's part of the mythos of the game and I think it's stupid to go back and say "No, actually, the Xel'Naga were scheming from the start and they wanted the Zerg to believe they have wiped them out." Lame. Stupid. Stop. That doesn't even make sense. What would make sense? The Xel'Naga were actually all but obliterated and the surviving members hid in deep space licking their wounds. All powerful? Hardly. The (at that point primitive) Zerg kicks their butts. Even the Protoss (who were practically in a relative stone age compared to now) managed to kill hundreds of them before they left Auir.

A Koprulu superpower? I think not. That would (again) be totally lame.

But how, you may ask, could they be introduced to the game? Easy. We actually know, or can infer, quite a bit about them. Let me explain.

First to settle a dispute I saw elsewhere, the Xel'Naga are not beings of energy. They were infested as well after the Zerg attack them and were used to create overlords (Note: while I remember this distinctly, I can't seem to find a source to verify this. It is, however, I am sure in the starcraft 1 book, in the section about the zerg. It's how the zerg find out about the protoss). Anyway, if they're beings of pure energy, they don't have DNA and can't be assimilated. Come up with another explanation if you want, but it won't be parsimonious.

Ok, so they're biological. Next question. What kind of species are they? An interstellar nomadic species. It says so in the book. They are also very interested in Psionics and created the Khaydarin Crystals, so they're probably psionic as well. And they altered both the Protoss and the Zerg as well as other unnamed races throughout the galaxy.

Ok, so we have a nomadic biologically based, very intelligent, probably psionically active race, which has an extreme knowledge of physics and biology. Oh and they're also almost extinct. And they're going to be in StarCraft 2.

3. If they can be playable and balanced and it makes sense for us to see them. This is how I would propose that they act like. Please disagree if you want. This is where I get a little creative with everything.

4th New Distinct (and Balanced ) race, The Xel'Naga.
First difference: tech tree.

Terran can build everywhere, Protoss are limited to the psi field, Zerg are limited to the Creep. I propose a different base set up for the Xel'Naga.

1st: Their base is one of their nomadic ships, called Worldships in the starcraft book. These function as their bases. They're mobile (but slow as hell). And new "structures" are actually build as individually targetable additions to the worldship. It has enough slots to build one of every type of structure in the tech tree, but only one. To build additional copies of structures or to expand the worldship must "split the core" and form a second worldship (kind of like mitotic division) and the second worldship starts from scratch. While splitting the core, all research and production in the worldship (i.e. the base) will stop. Defensive structures are also in the tech tree, but remember only one of each unless you give up some other building on that particular worldship.

2. Mining is completely different. Instead of having a main, stationary base, the worldship can move. Therefore, I would propose that the Xel'Naga have satellite mining structures which "warp" the resources back to the worldship. These of course would be incredibly weak (low HP and no possible defensive structures unless the worldship was actually floating above it. All you have to defend it is a possible worldship and units. Allows for quick but vulnerable expansions. Also I would imagine Xel'Naga units being really expensive, but really powerful.

3. Wormholes. Instead of "Warping in" units like the Protoss, the Xel'Naga could have a series of connected wormholes, which would allow for rapid deployment of forces anywhere across the map. Kinda like a Nydus Canal, only I foresee one major difference, making it more balanced. Namely: anyone can use those wormholes, friend or foe. The Xel'Naga have the ablilty to shut down a wormhole, but it takes 2-5 seconds and possibly strands some Xel'Naga units away from the main forces and allows them to be slaughtered. OR if the player isn't paying attention/ doesn't act in time, a major enemy offensive could slip through the worm hole and right into your undefended main base (worldship). Not pleasant and it will keep both of the player on their toes. Unprecedented mobility? Yes, but with a huge potential cost.

4. Tier Structure. Very different. I imagine the Xel'Naga with 2 major types of units. 1st. Cheap, expendable failed experiments. They screwed up the Protoss and the Zerg, and there are mentions of other failed experiments, why not let them join the fray? These units would be cheap and massible (a zergish trait) but pretty easy to kill. Other option would be that the player using the Xel'Naga would be able to chose from a list of attributes and essentially create new units from scratch with variable costs depending on the hp/damage caused. An other choice would be that basic units could be changed while in the game. Or leveled up different tech trees. Kinda like the hydralisk/lurker or mutalisk/guardian/devourer only with much more options. Imagine a zergling that gets the ability to attack air. That sort of thing. This shows their mastery of biology. I think these should be mostly ground based

2nd tier: the Xel'Naga themselves. Very few left, but incredibly powerful. Few if any "medium" units. This is where I'd like to see a really powerful "mothership" like unit. Xel'Naga have wormholes, why not black holes? These units are really powerful, but incredibly expensive and take a long time to make (and if you're making something, you can't created a new base per the splitting the core rule). I think these units should be mostly air based.

Together, they make a potent combination (much like the zerg-protoss hybrid itself). But they require significant finesse to use well. A swarm of biologically crazy units with powerful air units pummeling obstacles to the ground unit flood; it seems unstoppable Problem? Catch them off balance and they can be wiped in short order and then just steal their wormhole and destory the base.

And as for the hybrids themselves. This would be my suggestion. Powerful? Yes. But how many of them could there really if they were just created. 1,000? 10,000? For the entire sector? Drops in the pond. There are MILLIONS of Zerglings. I would have them be almost the generals of the Xel'Naga ground forces. They would be incredibly expensive, and the Xel'Naga would hate losing any one of them (their perfect children remember?). They would be really powerful, like archons only organic, but with a lot of psionic powers. That shows their protoss self. Their zerg half? I was thinking an ability like "global blink" where their purity of essence let's them reach out to each other and one can home in on another and blink to wherever they are on the map. It would have a long cool down rate but say there's an army in trouble. There's one hybrid as general and it's doing some pretty bad-@$$ damage. Suddenly there are two. Better kill them both quick because in a moment there will be four. Then eight. Then you die. That'd just be pretty awesome.


So...... let me know what you think please And if you're an undercover blizzard employee, please put this in the game it would be so much better than just some crazy other force like the burning legion. Which P.S. sucked. Don't do that to starcraft 2. It has so much potential. And don't bring Tassadar or Fenix back. Yes they were awesome, but if you pull any more of that Medvih crap I'm not gonna buy another game from you. <---sike I totally would. I love you guys.

 

I really don't think the Xel would be reintroduced as an npc faction or a super race as blizzard did with wc3 and forced al three races to ally together and stand and fight would bethe largest piece of plot recycling ever and thus blizzard most likely won't do it. However you raise some good points and i really think you should repost it on the blizzard official forum as it might help more there than here.

 

Sadly, it doesn't make sense to me... considering you started it off with WC3 sucked. It's all purely based on your underlying presumption that Blizzard will do it incredible injustice. They made the universe, im sure they know where its going and how to get there. Not so much Blizzard, but you seem to have the whole storyline plotted out in your head or something, assuming that the Xel' Naga will do this and that, have not earned this and that... where is that coming from? Kerrigan didn't go through much, she's your typical hardened-killer-turned-intergalactic-tyrant... You assume too that the Xel' Naga were all powerful, yet all we know is that they were scientists and an experiment got out of hand. They didn't leave around giant space ships and guns they left temples and artifacts. To me that doesn't suggest a space-faring empire bent on anything else other than to fix their mistake. Not to mention, a Xel' Naga infested probably won't be anything like Zergling...

HOWEVER, I do like your idea of them as a race... it'd be IMBA multiplayer but it'd still be fun. The Worldship sounds awesome, its like in... That game.. forgot what it was called, you make cities and only few buildings are disconnected from the cities.. in that game they ended up rather large. And for a game like SC, where there are many units, the scaling if mostly quite off... so I wonder how this would look in-game, WITHOUT making it seem less overwhelming than it is. For their ability of wormholes vs. warp-ins... it seems like a downgrade if any race can use it... it'd be nice if the Xel' Naga can navigate it properly where as other races cant, so if they send in a mass of units they're guaranteed that most of their units will make it but not all. Then again, no other races have experience in traveling instant worm holes, so they could sustain damages. I guess its somewhat better than the warp-in because they can go back.. but still... it would suck having the enemy trace you back to your Worldship in full force. As for units... I think they could pass with Zerg-ish kind of units, except not identical, minor differences... afterall they're scientists, or perhaps making zerglings became taboo after they slaughtered most of their race? It'd be better in my opinion, if experiments were first tier, Hybrids were second or third tier, and Xel'Naga themselves third tier. I don't think they'd even go themselves personally, consideing they're race almsot died (unless they repopulated) and they must be incredibly powerful psionic beings... Aside from being psionic beings there should be a variation that shows of their technology, something with guns that can act as their siege tank.

Anyway... It's odd how Raynor questions the artifact and not the fact that the Xe' Naga... either he's not interested or he's had a previous experience with or conercning them? Did that happen in SC or BW?

 

@ string_me_along, i just checked the SC1 manual, overlords were from the behemoth-flyers called Gargantis Proximae, and nothing about the Xel'Naga is mentioned in the overlord description.

And its possible that only the Xel'Naga that came to koprulu were nearly wiped out, that doesnt mean their entire race. they could have been a large-scale science team that was to experiment with the races here. There could have been Xel' Naga fleets in other sectors, or even other galaxys. and the Xel'Naga got hurt so bad by the zerg because the overmind suprised them. he shut the psionic link with them, which got them confused, then assaulted. Suprise is a powerful ally.

And there is no 'may' be psionically active, the must be psionically active, or else how would they hold a link with the overmind?

 

just saw the video campaign, did zeratul just say the xel naga has return?

 

Yes, he certainly did. He also mentioned that the "artifacts" are the key to "the end of all things". Possibly could be a jumpstart necessary to awaken the hybrids.

 

AAAh hell. this is going to be soo bad-a**. The hybrids are ganna be so cool to fight, if we are able to fight them. also zeratul was hurt in the clip. how did that happen? ALSO how did he get on the ship??