StarCraft II Beta To Begin This Month

mrxak writes "It's official; Activision Blizzard's much-anticipated sequel to 12-year-old StarCraft is going to enter closed beta 'this month,' according to company President Mike Morhaime during an investor conference call. This comes in the wake of the SC2 beta forums showing up briefly on Battle.net. If you've got a Battle.net account, it's probably not too late to opt-in for upcoming Blizzard beta tests."

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[PitaBred]

I'm sure the game might be fun. But given that Blizzard has ripped out local LAN play (which is part of what made the original great), and made it into 3 $60 games instead of a single game with all 3 campaigns... fuck them. I am not a wallet, I am a customer. I used to be a Blizzard fan, and I may get this game eventually when it hits the bargain bins. PC games are losing ground to consoles because the fucking game manufacturers keep trying to turn the PC into a console.

Who cares?

[AdmiralXyz]

This is Slashdot. We should be griping about the DRM, or the removal of LAN play which is obviously intended to keep us as indentured servants to the corporate behemoth, not talking about trivial things like when the game is going to be released.

Re:Finally

[FTWinston]

Looking like DNF would be it having the scope of all those three parts, but being released as a single package rather than three, tbh.

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[darkvizier]

PC games are losing ground to consoles because the fucking game manufacturers keep trying to turn the PC into a console.

Turning PCs into consoles? That won't happen easily in the RTS genre because the controls are so different.

But in other genres, let me know when multiplayer PC games designed for use with a single PC and HDTV become common, and I'll agree with you. But right now, they appear to be limited to Serious Sam, Left 4 Dead, and EA Sports.

I think the GP was talking about DRM/anti-pirating measures, not the user controls. Essentially they're trying to turn computer games into the black box that console games are.

Failure of imagination

[tepples]

I imagine it would be difficult to make StarCraft 2 not be fun.

It wouldn't be too difficult to make StarCraft 2 not fun: just add digital restrictions management.

1. Require an Internet connection for single-player. This excludes players who game on a laptop with a laptop mouse and can't afford either A. 3.99 USD every time they want an hour of Wi-Fi or B. 1,439.76 USD plus tax for 24 months of mobile Internet access.
2. Require a broadband connection for multiplayer even when all players are on the same subnet. This excludes players who live outside major cities and have to use dial-up, satellite, 2G mobile, or low-end DSL, even if they share the connection so that all players can see Battle.net.
3. Require each player to buy a copy of the game. The first StarCraft had spawn installations, and a $50 game quickly becomes a $200 game when mom and dad have to buy a copy for each PC.

Re:Finally

[Conchobair]

This is actually a good thing. Blizzard has the habit of not releasing unfinished games and even cancelling games if they start to look like they will be bad (SC:Ghost, WC:Adventures). I would much rather wait for a full and complete game without content cut out to meet a release date like EA-Bioware does (KOTOR2).

You know when this game comes out its going to be polished and will kick ass and kill several Koreans in teh process.

Re:Failure of imagination

[FTWinston]

I agree that those things all suck, but: 1. I would be suprised if they don't cave in and allow offline single player eventually (its the MP they want to control, after all). This doesn't affect me personally, so doesn't make the game less fun for me.

2. If they end up allowing local LAN games to connect directly over the LAN after initial battlenet authentication, then this problem is mitigated substantially - a sub-par connection would suffice for this. If they don't, then that sucks, but this will rarely affect me personally, so doesn't make the game much less fun for me.

3. How many games these days (excluding indies) allow spawning? Also given that WC3 didn't, I suspect that anyone expecting SC2 to allow spawning was setting up unreasonable expectations. Also, Brood War didn't allow spawning, and I suspect almost no one plays starcraft without Brood War these days (or in the last several years), except perhaps ultra-casually.

Besides, no DRM will last forever with enough people with a vested interest in breaking it. There'll be a SC2 equivalent of hamachi SC1 before too long (complete with fake battlenet authentication server), in all probability.

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[jellomizer]

When Star Craft was first released Most people had dialup Internet. LAN Parties popularity wasn't as much about people getting together Although it was a big benefit, But to Play without massive Lag... Today with most people having high speed internet Lag isn't an issue. So you can still have you "Lan" Party but you will need to connect to the Internet and back out... Really no big deal with wireless. But for the most case the need for LAN parties isn't really that big anymore.

Re:Who cares?

[L4t3r4lu5]

I'll sign up to the beta, play for 10 minutes, say "Where's the rest of the game? Where's the LAN play? What the hell is this DRM crap?" and not come back until it's sorted.

Re:PS3 and 360 are current-gen

[brkello]

*rolls eyes* Come on. You know what he meant. We obviously don't know the prices of next gen games. we both know, he is referring to the 360 and the PS3. There's no reason to be such a pedant all the time.

Re:Failure of imagination

[c.r.o.c.o]

I'll probably get modded down for writing this, but I'm more than certain that a short time after SC2 gets released there will be a pirated version that will circumvent all three of your points. When will companies learn that the only people affected by DRM are their paying customers and NOT those running pirated copies?

Re:SC2 = Star Control II

[ifrag]

Well, how about changing it to UQM for Star Control 2 (The Ur-Quan Masters). Isn't that what the open source port uses?

It's really too bad there has not been any real successor to Star Control 2 though, great game, and the dialogue is absolutely hilarious. I still use quotes from that game.

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[Vaphell]

wasn't modern warfare 2 90% consoles, 10% pcs? Consoles never had dedicated servers and such, console players didn't miss something they never knew
PC games _should_ be different, but i don't hold my breath given the cluelessness of an average pc gamer. LAN is oldschool for 99% and only old people in korea use it. They severely underestimate risks of being under the 'benevolent' company's absolute control and without deeper thought they give away fair use rights and ownership in a true meaning of the word in the name of convenience, social bullshit and such. They are more numerous than people who see risks of 'always connected experience' so companies can do whatever they want to grab more power, unwashed masses will pay 60 bucks for less either way (3 times).

Re:Looking Forward More to the Other SC2

[renrutal]

Oh god, a dozen years later, the conflict between Total Annihilation and StarCraft will be reborn.

Hell yeah!

Re:Failure of imagination

[Vaphell]

cracked single player will be available from day 1, or even earlier - nobody in his right mind would dispute that.

reportedly there will be an option to play single player without logging in, but your achievements and such worthless bullshit won't be saved (it's kept online). Installation process will require battle.net though, which is stupid beyond recognition. How hard is to scrap the offending code? 1hr of hacker's effort?

Re:Who cares?

[brkello]

That's fine. But here is my point. You have no clue how it will be implemented. It may just require you to authenticate and then all traffic will be routed locally. My Internet is out maybe 1 or 2 times a year and usually is just a router restart. If this is a big deal, then you can't buy any multi-player game.

But instead of ANYONE here waiting to see how anything is done, they complain and already get their excuses in line to pirate the game.

No one here is talking about how it is cool you can just enter in a key to the new battle.net for your games and can download them - Mac or PC. No one is talking about how excited they are to finally get the next part of the story. You guys all are crying about LAN play and being online.

There has to be others out there that are just excited to play the game. I already know all your ideologies. It is hammered in almost every single post in every single article. You hate DRM. I got it. Don't buy any game because they will all have DRM. This is reality. All consoles are a form of DRM. This is a reality. These games will all sell despite your ideologies.

No one on here can just be excited for a game release? Nope, too much to ask. You all have the childish mentality that it is cool to bash everything.

Honestly, I don't care about your heart-breaking story of being unable to play with people you love. You know why? Because it is all made up. The game isn't out, you have no idea if what you are saying is true, but instead of just de-clenching you have already gone in to outrage mode.

I have been in this community for so many years. I loved Slashdot. But I think I have just outgrown it. You guys can't talk about an article. You can only karma whore by repeating the same ideology over and over again. I honestly challenge everyone here to just look at the comments modded up in every article. Pretty much every post modded up should be redundant. It has nothing to do with the article, and everything to do with "OMG DRM. OMG LAN. OMG BNETD." Yes, we all know all those things already. You will get modded up but you have contributed nothing.

And really, this isn't you...I am sure you are a nice person. I am just tired of the ideology, it doesn't have to be this way. Everything is spun Libertarian here and exaggerated so that it becomes worthless.

The frustrating thing is I know there are a lot of Slashdotters out there just like me. It is just we are the vocal minority. I feel like Slashdot has been stolen away by people who care more about shoving views down my throat than by technology.

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[brkello]

Saying someone is acting like an emo doesn't mean I am labeling them. That would be saying "You are an emo".

The game + expansions won't cost that much. The person has no idea how much they will cost, but we know they won't be that much. So they are getting angry over something non-existent.

I honestly don't care about being taken seriously anymore on here. I know my view point isn't the same as the vocal majority and I will be modded down for that. I should be more respectful, but quite frankly, I have lost pretty much all respect for the majority of people who post here. Obviously, there are still some awesome people way more smart than I am here, but they sure aren't the majority.

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[Omestes]

Add on top of that the "expansions" that will eventually be "required" if someone has all 3, EVERYONE has to have all 3, and you end up being nothing more than a wallet to Blizzard.

According to Blizzard; no. The first game will only contain one campaign, the human one I think, but will contain full multi-player, including all the units and races from the next two expansions. Thus, if you are only interested in multi-player you can completely ignore the two other campaigns.

I somewhat trust Blizzard on this issue for two reasons. the first is that Blizzard doesn't want to piss of the Korean Cult of Competitive Starcraft. The second is that I don't think that Blizzard has completely succumbed to Activision yet. Though I do worry about the rise of boneheaded "microtransactions", but so far they have kept them from conveying an advantage, or becoming necessary to compete.

As for the LAN issue... I really don't get the stink. How many multi-player PC games even have a LAN option for multi-player anymore? Really, how hard is it to just connect to a match making server, set up a private room, and play from there? Hell, everyone can still be in the same room. I think the whole (uh-oh, I'm gonna get a "troll" mod, oh dear!) LAN thing is nothing but a bunch of silly nostalgic niggling, the inclusion, or lack of LAN play does absolutely nothing to add to or hurt the quality of a game.

The lack of "spawn" copies does sort of piss me off though, but not nearly enough to preclude me from coughing up the cash for SCII, and allowing it to suck up a huge portion of my life. And like it.

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[brufleth]

Unlike spore I'd like it to not suck.

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[Nidi62]

Yeah, but with LAN parties, you can use *ahem* "borrowed" copies of the game. Basically, there is a fairly vocal minority that wants to be able to play the game without actually paying for it (this of course does not include the people who gladly pay for it and still play via LAN, and I am certainly not saying that everyone that plays LAN pirates). Of course, I'm sure I'll still get modded down for saying that (even with the disclaimer), but whatever.

Re:Bargain bins?

[Backward Z]

Bargain bins? For Blizzard games? Oh no-no-no-no-no, this does not happen.

Last year I wanted to pick up a copy of Warcraft III so I could play DotA with a friend of mine. The battle chest, mind you SEVEN YEARS after the game was initially released, was still $40. Amazon still lists it as $39.99 (-$5 discount).

Blizzard does not end up in the bargain bin.

Re:Finally

[HeronBlademaster]

I would much rather wait for a full and complete game without content cut out

Right, because leaving out two of the three campaigns isn't cutting content...

Personally, I don't consider "Let's release 1/3 of the game" to be a "full and complete game".

Re:This beta should be...fun?

[PitaBred]

It was explicitly allowed in the original StarCraft to spawn copies like that. The spawned copies couldn't play the single-player game or on Battle.net, but you could still play on the LAN.

Stop being a troll. It's advertising, not "borrowing". Getting your friends to play and want this awesome game so they can play online with you as well as on the LAN.