I’m a sad gamer – It’s all guns, armors, graphics and no story
I’m currently struggling to decide if I’ll get Starcraft 2. I really liked the first installment but it seems that I’m not in the majority when it comes to please players in these high-value productions. Heavy focus is put on everything multiplayer and I understand that for a game to last it’s probably the way to go. For me however multiplayer is mostly that feature I never touch.
What is interesting me is the story and then getting in the action surrounded by that context. For example I’m a big fan of everything CoD. I really couldn’t care less about graphic/engine upgrades as I’m there to play a shooter in the context of a story. In fact I guess I’m an easy player to please as you can get me to do very repeating things over and over as long you keep the story interesting and evolving. The problem? These stories are always so short …
It took me about 3 days of casual playing to get done with CoD Modern Warfare 2. I enjoyed shooting the bad guys over and over in similar situations because I thought the story was nice. When the story is over then I will never look at that game again and then I have to wait several months to get a new story … that will be wrapped in yet another engine upgrade I couldn’t care less about …
Another good example to explain what kind of gamer I am is Mass Effect 2. I bought all DLC involving new stories (and haven’t touch any of the DLCs about new guns and armors) but I’ve been a bit disappointed about them. Why? Because one of the most amazing thing in ME2 IMO is the interaction with the crew and there’s nothing new in the DLCs about that. You get a bit of dialog with NPCs specific to the mission but your crew is still in the same “sleepy state” it was when you completed the main story. The romances are not evolving, there’s no new interaction between crew members and your crew has nothing new to say when you take them to complete a mission. Since this is the kind of things I enjoy then the missions are less enjoyable as more generic. If I wanted to just shoot bad guys again in ME2 without caring about story I could just start a new campaign …
I know adding new dialogs means more work and probably a higher cost for the DLCs. I wouldn’t mind to pay $20 for a DLC but I guess not everyone thinks like me so I’m left with content that has way less value then the original campaign which is just making the whole thing less enjoyable.
Now Bioware is probably busy working on ME3 and I guess they are still working on a new engine or at least upgrading the existing one just to keep up with graphics offered by other games or maybe even features (apparently there will be coop play in ME3 … bah). Just keeping the exact same code and adding another 30-40 hours of story content would be enough for me to drop another $60 on ME3 in the hope of not having to wait too long to play. But I guess I’m not in the majority so all I can do is for Bioware to complete their new toys to please the spoiled gamers that always want better techs.
So that brings me to Starcraft 2. I’m not a huge fan of RTS (and surely not a fan at all of multiplayer RTS) but I like playing an RTS with a nice story. I guess they can at least match what they have done with Starcraft 1 so I’d be having fun. But will I complete all the campaign in the same time it took me to complete the story for CoD MW2? If so that’s just meh … Is the story just a weak reason for me to buy a multiplayer game that I will end up not playing anyway? Probably. Will I have to wait a year or more before getting another part of the story?
My dream game? Any kind of game with a good story (preferably something like ME2) but all DLC. Each month or maybe faster than that you get a bit of new content but that is really new content. Not just some weak new missions using old assets and no dialogs in it. With something of the quality of the ME2 engine I could buy that kind of DLC for years without ever feeling that the graphics could be better!
But it seems that’s not happening. We’re probably not enough of this type of gamer for a company to take that route which is a shame. I guess that it’s also probably not something an indie studio could do if we’re not enough gamers to keep the studio going. I guess we’ll keep seeing many more DLCs with just new guns and armors. The kind of DLC I don’t care about since I don’t have a new story to use these gadgets.
I guess that’s one more motivation for me to develop games. Do things a bit differently. Do things a bit more the way I’d like them to be within my capacities and resources.
about 1 month ago
Don’t buy Starcraft 2. Work on your game projects! (This completely unbiased opinion brought to you by Dave’s development partner.)
On a slightly more serious note, I’m with you. I actually really enjoyed the story of the original Starcraft. I was upset when they just kind of abandoned the storyline, though. So, strike one.
Then there’s the whole RealID fiasco. And, you have to log on even to play single-player without any benefits like what Steam gives you. Strike two.
Finally, they’re only packaging the Terran campaign in this first version, from what I understand. That means the Zerg and Protoss campaigns will come later. DLC? High priced expansions? Full games? Whatever, I’m not eager to keep paying for the little bits of story when it’s obvious Multiplayer is the big draw.
Strike three, count me out.
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
I think we need to talk about your Wednesday sessions in DDO then …
I wasn’t believing what you wrote about having only the human campaign in the first version and a quick look at the wiki article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft_II:_Wings_of_Liberty) revealed that it is indeed what will happen …
I’m speechless … Zerg and Protoss will be 2 expansions. Now what I’d like to know is how much does this first version and other expansions cost… I’ve said I’d enjoy buying good DLCs for $20 but here that just looks like splitting content ahead for milking players …
I’ve been running the downloader for Starcraft 2 since this morning … you know just in case I make up my mind until Tuesday … But now I really feel I’ve wasted a lot of bandwidth …
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
Ok after searching a bit Wings of Liberty will cost $60 and of course we know nothing about the price of the expansions to come. We also know nothing of when they will come out …
From that Kotaku article: http://kotaku.com/5522076/starcraft-ii-wings-of-liberty-once-more-into-the-campaign
Since Browder believes that new StarCraft II players should spend a minimum of 20 hours playing through the game’s single-player side before diving into the deep end of online multiplayer
I don’t care about the “deep end of online multiplayer” … Care to sell me a version with no multiplayer support for less? … Looks like if I indeed decide to buy it that it won’t last much longer than my Mordern Warfare 2 experience …
Might as well finally pick Dragon Age then … though I’m sick of fantasy settings …
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
bah dragon age is to much like oblivion and I get what your saying about games i mean fps when u get down to it is all timing but on the multiplayer note I dont think they are charging more for that first off second off i think they just know they can charge that and LOTS of players will pay that much and you MIGHT pick it up later from the bargain bin, also I dont know what you did on the first star craft but online play is ok but playing people you know across from each other is about the most fun i have or ever will have on an rts no matter how good the story. Also I know what you are saying about story and i agree i personally dont play games unless they are either multiplayer or have a good story(puzzle games too on exceptions) like i said fps=timing, rts=rock paper scissors, rpg= same old same old
and dont get me started on racing and sports….
(Im tired on caffeine and benatril so if this doesn’t make sense im sorry ill try to edit tomorrow if it no make scene xp)
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
Over00 wrote:
I think we need to talk about your Wednesday sessions in DDO then …
Hey, that’s once per week. You expect me to believe that if you bought Starcraft 2 you’d only play once per week?
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
yeah I know people will buy it anyway and it kinda proves my point that I’m in the minority. Again I just don’t care about multiplayer. Playing an rts just for the sake of playing an rts with no context just doesn’t cut it for me. That’s just not what I’m looking for.
Sure I’ll be able to pick it up later once the price drops but right now, at that very moment I’d enjoy playing a game. Since I enjoyed Starcraft 1 I thought I might have found something nice in Starcraft 2.
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
I’ve heard from lots of places that SC2 (just Wings of Liberty) will be 30 missions long; the TOTAL number of missions in both SC1 and BW combined. And this is just for Terran. They certainly didn’t skimp on the quantity, but of course, quality is to be seen.
However, knowing Blizzard, it probably will at least be satisfactory.
If you enjoy the singleplayer for $60 (or other rare places where it might be on sale), then I’d say go for it.
@ Mr. Green (whoa, it’s Psychochild!)
“Then there’s the whole RealID fiasco. And, you have to log on even to play single-player without any benefits like what Steam gives you. Strike two.”
I don’t believe that’s entirely true. IIRC, it’s a one time verification on Battle.net (aka, not RealID) and then it’s completely offline to play single player. And I don’t know if comparing Battle.net to Steam is really valid. They’re pretty different in some significant ways…
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
Yeah it seems after further readings that the length might be something like 30-40 hours for a player like me (read here slow player) so worth the shot.
Went through ME2 in 40 hours so can’t really complain if it match it … But still … I can’t help but to notice that a big chunk of the game is just stuff I won’t ever touch.
Bah like Brian said it’s not like I don’t have a lot of stuff to keep me busy anyway.
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
I enjoy playing Starcraft with my friends. I’m the one that loses all the time because I suck at it. They always tell me I should solo the campains because they are good and fun and I would learn. So yeah the gameplay of SC is awesome, that rts is still a big hit. Me and my friends have talked about SC2 but none of us is planning to buy it. We will stick to our lan parties where we play SC together! Heck, there is one planned in less than a month
so far 6 players have confirmed!
Can SC2 rival the fun we have playing SC in a basement? Nah, not the way they intend to deploy the game and the expansions. Will it be a good solo game? Probably, if they kept the same good old gameplay!
Note: Dave, no pool party?
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
hmm, good timing for this post I guess: http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/215907/too-much-multiplayer/
To be fair it’s from the July issue of GamePro magazine which I wasn’t aware of.
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
Yeah, I think you guys got the wrong hype about it.
ManaTree hit most of what I was going to say, except one major counterpoint to one of Psychochild’s complaints: SCII stays right in line with the plot from SC, including all the double- and triple-crossing in BW. They even got a bunch of the original voice actors to reprise their roles. (Notably Raynor and Mengsk, though both of them got youth potions applied to their character designs.) Blizzard’s always been big on backstory/lore in their games, and I’m glad they did the same here.
Cheers guys, long time no see.
– Maple
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
when is said sc party? and if direct ip can we maybe say get in on that action?
(Quote)
about 1 month ago
Yeah, I felt the same thing when i readed bout SC2.
I one of those gamers who pays more attention to the plot and the ambientation than the graphics and that cool stuff like pressing the X button to do an awesome stunt or shit like that.
I love that kind of stuff too but at short term it leaves you nothing, who´s going to remember the power you had on IDK, TimeShifter when you pressed the X button? instead, who remembers -”Look! a three head monkey behind you!”
Yeah, sometimes I still play some Graphic Adventures
and I want to replay Loom sometime… that was a good game…
(Quote)