But most ppl who play online would spend the extra money and buy the expansion packs because they are actually enjoying both the single player and multiplayer aspects of the game...

Hmm, is it just me or is this volume thing really about monetising Battle.Net 2.0?

In a million years they couldn't charge a subscription fee for it, but if they release a 'volume' per year for a few years, then rinse repeat the process with Diablo II from say 2011, all of a sudden you're basically dropping over a hundred bucks a year to play on BNet!

Yeh you get a few units extra per year + some maps etc and SP content. But it does smell like a sub to me :P

Hmm, is it just me or is this volume thing really about monetising Battle.Net 2.0?

In a million years they couldn't charge a subscription fee for it, but if they release a 'volume' per year for a few years, then rinse repeat the process with Diablo II from say 2011, all of a sudden you're basically dropping over a hundred bucks a year to play on BNet!

Yeh you get a few units extra per year + some maps etc and SP content. But it does smell like a sub to me :P

looking at content with brood war, lord of destruction and frozen throne, i'd be willing to pay that. heck, frozen throne's single player content was worth the money alone.

Oh yeh glynd - but the content was released how often over the life of the game?

Blizzard have (pre WoW anyway!) never milked a game engine for more than a single expac from memory, with title releases once every year or two.

This has all changed - we'll see 2 titles (wow expac and sc2) ship this year likely, with Diablo III and the Zerg volume likely-ish in 2011. We've never seen Blizzrad talking about (and naming!) expansions for an unreleased game.

Hopefully they can retain the Blizzard mark of polish and fun while pushing out so much game :)

Oh yeh glynd - but the content was released how often over the life of the game?

Blizzard have (pre WoW anyway!) never milked a game engine for more than a single expac from memory, with title releases once every year or two.

This has all changed - we'll see 2 titles (wow expac and sc2) ship this year likely, with Diablo III and the Zerg volume likely-ish in 2011. We've never seen Blizzrad talking about (and naming!) expansions for an unreleased game.

Hopefully they can retain the Blizzard mark of polish and fun while pushing out so much game :)

true but blizzard generally release an expansion a year after the game anyway so business is usual imo. just happens that this time they've got 3 (technically 4) games in development at the same time.

but totally agree, hopefully blizzard stick to their guns.

Starcraft 2 is going for $53 at cdwow

Yeah, thats a good deal, so long as you don't mind waiting a month to get it.

Will we be able to buy it directly off Bnet? Guess the only problem is using precious gigamegs.

You'll be able to, just not right on launch. We don't know the timing of the digi-dl.

Stupid retail agreements. You should be able to buy a key, and DL the game from your ISP's local mirror. This isn't brain rocketry.

This isn't brain rocketry.

You're 100% right, as usual. It's called business.

Stupid retail agreements. You should be able to buy a key, and DL the game from your ISP's local mirror. This isn't brain rocketry

Another reason why i like HON

This isn't brain rocketry.

You're 100% right, as usual. It's called business.

Half-right, as usual.

Its stupid business.

PC game retail is dying. Digital property doesn't belong in shops.

hey tit have you pre-purchased yet? i have yet to decide if i will buy this game or not. $30 USD is a cheap investment for the hours spent though.

Hey Konstie, yes i pre-purchased ages ago, our whole clan plays so yes i belive its worth it, i find it funny the less i spend for games, more i play for some reason...

I'd wait till its listed on http://www.365games.co.uk and order it from there if you want it cheap. Far better service than CdWow, you'll actually have your game when you want it, instead of a month or two later.

yeh im jsut going to wait week after its release and buy it directly from Blizzard

http://www.zavvi.com/games/platforms/pc/starcraft-ii-2/10082581.html

Release Date: 27 July 2010

Availability: Pre-order now for delivery on 27 July 2010

Has it for $50. Ordered 4 or 5 ps3 games off this site recently and can't complain about the delivery time.

I think you're right hogfather, it does look a lot more like a subscription. It's a clever business model. Gamers wouldn't pay for online play (unless you own an X-Box... ha ha ha) so they move the fee elsewhere. It's like free sword polishing, but when you pick it up the next day, they charge you a storage fee. (Vikings usually killed weasals like that with newly polished swords, not that I get distracted by tangents)

I think what Blizzard is doing has a double benefit though.

1. It helps Blizzard pay for the battle.net service (or may be help justify upgrading it considering they already said that advertising covers the cost of running it)
2. It lets them squeeze more juice out of their IP. This way, instead of having to wait another 10 years for another taste of Starcraft flavour, it won't be such a long time between drinks...

Absolutely pharaoh - as long as it results in more quality Blizzard slaw I'm all for it.

The cynic in me fears they are going to water it all down though. The amount of game in development increased sharply following the Activision merger. The optimist in me thinks they have more capital to make more awesome; the pessimist smells an IW:EA dealio.

Starcraft Facebook selling you Ads for crap you dont want in your region.

Im not going to buy it if its going to be like that.
Ill play the regular.

so this is the game to restore my faith in rts....I really hope it was worth the wait

Its just Starcraft, the game itself hasn't really changed at all apart from a facelift. A couple of new units, but half the new units just serve the purpose of old units they've removed anyway.

Its still great, cos its Starcraft, but don't expect it to be anything more than what you remember.

I dunno, the basics of the game are quite similar.

But the actual tactics and counters are all totally different. It's a great mix of old and new imo.

I dunno, the basics of the game are quite similar.

But the actual tactics and counters are all totally different. It's a great mix of old and new imo.

The game plays a lot differently for sure. The engine changes are much more than a facelift - the map editor is very close to a game engine. We're going to see some amazing s*** out of it - for example, it apaprently support 1st person gameplay!

The core game itself is very definetly StarCraft. Buts its a fair bit more than just StarCraft in 3D imo. Its not really a few more units, there's been a rebuild of tech trees altogether - you couldn't stick a 3D engine on Brood War and add units to get SCII:

There is no unit in Brood War that can directly replace the Reaper, the Void Ray, the Banshee, the Viking, the Roach, the Colossus (many more). The do different roles - for example the the Banshee is the spiritual successor to the Wraith but has a different role - its no longer an air superiority fighter with some stealth ground attack, its a stealth bomber period. Vikings are different to Valkyries - there is no unit in BW that can transform to a ground unit at will.

Nothing in BW can attack while burrowed. Command Centre Upgrades. Chrono Boost. Watch Towers. Serg defense can move onthe creep. Overlords can grow the creep. Refundable Bunkers. Swap-out building addons. Warp gates. Unit counters are generally harder but also more finely defined making it easier to balance at the fne level (nor more concussive, explosive etc damage).

The AI is improved. The single-file pathing is mostly gone while leaving intact the StarCraft discipline of needing to keep your army together. Workers will now be attacked by melee units if they are in the way of ranged. Wall-ins are much stronger and more flexible (raise and lower supply depot).

The changelist is huge. But yeh, from a glance (and your first 10-20 games) it will be a romp through memory lane. This is a good thing, its just not StarCraft without rushes, quick expands, stimpack, hydras, speed lings, drops and supply line assaults :) It also means that a player can jump into their favourite SC race and know how to play decently from the get go (although you'll have to learn to counter some of the new rushes).

After another midnight run -- finishing with a satisfying 40 minutes replay review of an HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTE 2v2 game I played -- I can confirm that I am locked in. It took a while to get right into it. Its intimidating. Its exhausting. Its frustrating as hell. But how good is it when you when an epic GG?!

Yeh this video is awesome showing what you can do:



THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE A GAME. Make it open, extensible, and solid and people will fall over themselves to make 'DLC' for you!@#