Slashdot Log In
StarCraft II Beta Signups Open
Posted by
Soulskill
on Thu May 07, 2009 12:28 PM
from the time-to-zerg-the-servers dept.
from the time-to-zerg-the-servers dept.
motang writes "StarCraftWire reports that Blizzard has started taking beta sign-ups for StarCraft II. Quoting: 'Interested parties must simply visit their Battle.net profile page, choose to opt-in for the beta, and re-submit their current system specs by way of a small downloadable piece of software.' Blizzard's Chris Sigaty said in an interview, 'As with previous betas for our real-time strategy games, the StarCraft II beta test will be multiplayer only, and players will have access to all three races — terrans, protoss, and zerg — and all of their units. We'll include a selection of multiplayer maps, but they won't necessarily include all of the maps that will be in the final version of the game. We're making some great progress on the single-player campaign, but we don't plan to do a public beta since we want to keep the story under wraps until the game's out.'"
Related Stories
[+]
Interviews: Ask Blizzard About Starcraft2, Diablo III, WoW, or Battle.net 520 comments
Well, Blizzcon 2009 is about to get underway (look for the big news from the keynote in a few hours) and given how fast it sold out I'm sure there are still many rabid fans interested in what Blizzard might have to say that don't want to shell out the $40 for Pay-Per-View access. So, to that end we have interviews scheduled tomorrow with the teams from Starcraft2, Diablo III, World of Warcraft, and Battle.net. If there is anything you wish to know about the progress or juicy details from any of these teams please leave it in the comments below. We'll try to parse through for the best questions and get you answers during our interview slots tomorrow. The usual Slashdot interview rules apply.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
I signed up yesterday (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I signed up yesterday (Score:4, Informative)
You'll notice that this is an opt-in for future game betas. It's much more likely, knowing Blizzard, that you or anyone else will not get any notification for weeks at best.
I wouldn't worry about not getting a notice. It isn't SC2 specific. The title is misleading, but SC2 will be the next beta we see, so it "fits."
Parent
Back into the Internet Lexicon... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now there will be a new generation of geeks who will learn the power of the Zerg...
ZOMG ke ke ke ke ke... (Score:2)
never doubt the power of korean gamer alliterative laughter either
Re: (Score:2)
kind of but oversimplified (Score:2)
This impacted your economy significantly, since you're working from one hatchery instead of 2 in the early game, and didn't go fast gas.
There were other strats that were valid; 'ling massing vs zealots were pretty effective prior to the first forge upgrade, and were very synergistic with mutalisk follow-ups to finish off the 'toss player.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Back into the Internet Lexicon... (Score:5, Informative)
Your understanding of the game is poor.
Zerg do not have to win early. In fact if left alone, a zerg will expand twice as fast as the other races, culminating in wave after wave of hundreds of units. They may have weaker units, but their unit production is so much faster that it greatly affects their resource production. They also have much more nimble units and the ability to cross the map meaning they can hold these expansions with relatively small forces.
It is obvious you stopped playing 8 years ago, and the game has advanced so far you simply can't even conceive of it. I'm not saying that to insult you, but it is true. Neither you or your newbie friend would be able to win a single game in 20 against even the worst players on iccup.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Carriers are nearly worthless against zerg, they can be plagued and ensnared, they can be scourged, and hydras can be dark swarmed making them invulnerable for a considerable amount of time. They are expensive investments and while you are producing them your ground forces stand a good chance of being overwhelmed.
Honestly you sound like I would have a year ago. I suggest you make an account on iccup, patch up your broodwar (or download a non legit copy on iccup), use their anti hack launcher and proceed t
Not just Starcraft 2 (Score:5, Informative)
Need a Blizzard game signed up w/ your account (Score:5, Informative)
It should be noted that in order to sign up for the beta, you apparently need to have at least one Blizzard game CD-key signed up with your battle.net account. Otherwise you get this message:
You need to have at least one Blizzard Entertainment game attached to your account in order to set up your beta profile.
Re: (Score:2)
Just merge with your WoW account... are you saying you never played World of Warcraft?!
Re: (Score:2)
I have, but it says WoW account merging is US only.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for the tip. But alas, no; I'm in Europe.
Coming Soon!
The World of Warcraft account merge process is not yet available in your region.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
They've stated that the beta won't start until the EU region can merge their accounts properly. It's in TFA, iirc.
Re: (Score:2)
You will also have to download and run an application on your computer.
So no, you can't complete this beta sign up at work like I just tried to do.
Buggers.
Re: (Score:2)
It probably looks at your hardware configuration, since they'll want a good varied mixture of testing hardware, so it would not be a good idea to run it on your work machine anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Just merge with your WoW account... are you saying you never played World of Warcraft?!
What is this...World of Warcraft...of which you speak? Is it popular? I hope it doesn't have gold farming that ruined my Legend of the Red Dragon experience. *hide*
Re:Need a Blizzard game signed up w/ your account (Score:4, Interesting)
On the plus side, that means if you create a separate b.net account for each cd-key (and oh boy do I have a lot of em) you increase your chances of getting into the beta.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Any reason you have a lot of em? And can I have some? :)
Re: (Score:2)
Heh...I really *should* give em away since I already have a beta SC2 key from Blizzcon last year :)
Why do I have so many?
WC2, WC2 battle chest (to get TCPIP multiplayer), WC3, Diablo2, D2 expansion, SC2, SC2 expansion. Most of those games are X2 keys because I got a copy for my wife (girlfriend at the time) to play with me a bit.
In addition, 6 WOW accounts between us (including ~4 expansion keys). This is due to dual-boxing and Recruit-a-Friend accounts, plus a botched RAF signup that they wouldn't refund
Re: (Score:2)
Wouldn't it be better to get your wife in on the beta with you? :)
Or are you just another typical slashdot user who claims to have a girlfriend/wife?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
She went to Blizzcon too, but I can't pretend she's as into the nerdy games as I am. Might sell her SC2 key on ebay to buy clothes/furniture ;)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Ah HA! So that's why you have so many CD Keys. You're from the future, no doubt a history student from the year 3045 coming back to play SC2 beta so you can compare and contrast it with the retail version. But I'm on to you!
Re: (Score:2)
Addendum: I'd much rather hear that they multiply beta chances by the number of games on your account, as I don't relish the idea of having 12 different battle.net accounts to keep track of.
Especially if they complete their plans to compete with Steam and offer buddy-list/chat functionality through battle.net accounts.
Starcraft II in beta... (Score:5, Funny)
Beta Codes (Score:2, Insightful)
Web site down _already_?! (Score:2)
Wow, I think thats the fastest slashdot'ing I have ever seen...
No Linux? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Yea, Blizzard is in for a big surprise if they think they'll ever be a successful company without officially supporting linux. /eyeroll
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
That said, there's no point complaining, so I'm hoping to get it working in Wine, or else I'll throw a spare hard drive in my desktop and install Windows.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
On the other hand, I've heard they try to make their games run fine under WINE.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
1. Every geek in the universe plays at least one Blizzard game and Linux geeks are no exception.
2. Blizzard games take so long to make they're technologically obsolete before they are released.
Are there riots in Korea ? (Score:5, Funny)
System Specs Error (Score:2)
Great service from Blizzard! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Starcraft 2 is going to be an excellent sequel because of the fact that they are not rushing it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Late (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps by you. I have played multi-player SC, but except for the fact that it was fun I can't remember anything else.
But I'll remember the story for a long time. Heck, my laptop's name is Tassadar!
Re:Late (Score:4, Insightful)
The reason Starcraft's multiplayer is so well renoun is because of the near perfect level of balance it had.
Which kept getting updated and updated and updated... every Blizzard game has "balancing fixes" with each update. Starcraft has had plenty of updates as well. Sure, it's nice they try to keep the game balanced over time, but after a while it's like "how are they changing the gameplay this time? what are they going to nerf?" Too many of one character (or too many victories from one class) to them means it's overpowered and needs adjustment, because it's not a 50/50 split.
Parent
Re:Late (Score:4, Interesting)
That's OK. Go is thousands of years old and they keep changing the komi.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, since Blizzard only has 3 IPs, or 2.5, if you wanna consider Starcraft an offshoot of Warcraft, Blizzard should care that I don't care. If there's going to be 10 years between installments, they need to bring something new to the table. The same 3 races with the same basic attributes are not something new. People will just find equivalents to the old units, and the game will feel much like the first, with prettier graphics. You know the first bit of excitement I had over SCII? The April Fool's Day
Re: (Score:2)
Have you played DIII and SC2? Do you know what the games will be like when they are released? No? Then stop making assumptions and shut up.
For the record, Blizzard games never brought any thing new to the table. They take established concepts and refine them until the game is fun and balanced. You contradict yourself by saying you were their core audience, and then bash their games which haven't even entered public beta yet.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Unless 3D realms just went belly up... oh wait...