Chat channels, new leagues, and improved Protoss scouting are just some of the additions that are making Brad happy.
Blizzard has finally launched the latest StarCraft II patch onto the main game servers, updating the game to version 1.2 and bringing with it a host of bug fixes (for gameplay and the StarCraft map editor), feature additions, and a nice batch of balance adjustments. And, unlike the previous updates--which have mostly focused on Terran and Zerg adjustments--Patch 1.2 focuses on making meaningful improvements to the Protoss' means of scouting and detecting stealth units..
Between Brad, Norm and myself, the StarCraft players at Whiskey are definitely Pro-'Toss. But Protoss players aren't the only people who will benefit from the latest patch. For starters, StarCraft II’s latest update finally brings the game in line with its 1998 predecessor with the addition of player-created chat channels. Finally, you can join a large group of friends and tell them exactly how badly you’re going to kick their ass! Or you can join a public chat and get yelled at by random people. At least, I think that’s what happens. I prefer to lose games of StarCraft in 1v1 matches, thank you. But, if you are looking to chat it up with a big group of StarCraft players, you'll be able to integrate that chat into your games (just like the messaging from players on your friend's list).
== TEASER ==Beyond the chat channels, Blizzard has also introduced a brand new tier of difficulty to StarCraft II’s online leagues. The masters of the macro and the micro—those who have proven themselves to be the best players in the Diamond tier—can now advance to the Master League. As Blizzard explained on their StarCraft II community site, the Master League exclusively house the top 2% of StarCraft II players in each region. The competition for this league will be so fierce that, as Blizzard points out, being the top ranked player in your Diamond League division is no guarantee of earning a spot in the Masters. So, if you've got the chops and the drive to make for the Master League (and, eventually, the Grand Master League, made up of the 200 best players in the world), then good luck to you. You have my blessing, and, also, I'm afraid of you.
But let’s face it. You didn’t read this story—and certainly, I didn’t write it—to learn about chat rooms and new leagues and bug fixes to the map editor. You want to see the balance changes. You want to revel in (or complain about) those adjustments. In this regard, I can oblige. Here’s the full list of balance changes—and, in this case, Protoss buffs—that are currently live on the StarCraft II servers.
General Adjustments
Players can no longer block off ramps with two 2x2 buildings.
Repairing SCVs now assume the same threat priority as the unit they’re repairing.
SCV construction movement has been made more consistent.
Our own Brad Shoemaker could not have been more thrilled with these latest Protoss improvements. Between the reduced mineral and gas prices for Observers and the decreased build time for Phoenix units, the Protoss now have three effective ways to scout out the opponents base and adjust combat tactics accordingly. And the lower Observer costs will help the Protoss be much more effective against cloaked units (stupid Ghosts). And the Void Ray damage increase is just the icing on this army-improving cake.
So, Protoss players, now is the ideal time to gloat and put these new found buffs to good use. Enjoy these buffs while they last; if the previous patches (and 12 years of StarCraft I support) have taught us anything, it’s that Blizzard can easily introduce a new patch that completely negates this latest series of adjustments.
" @gizmo88: If you knew what you were talking about then you would know it wasn't an exaggeration. "
The great thing is about the internet, everyone is an expert! So I just defer to people like yourself. I for one respect your contribution to society. You're an inspiration to us all. "
An even better thing about the internet is, when you make a statement about something that you clearly have no knowledge of, someone will let you know how wrong you are. "
@Spectreman its actually really easy to get into diamond. I was plced in platinum and got to diamond with cloak banshee harass. Even in diamond I'm about 50-50.
@audiosnag: I see your point although I think that's a bit pedantic so I will go into more details for you. By incomplete I mean I don't think it is a complete three perspective story I have come to expect from games of this genre after playing C&C. It would be one thing if they never intended to release campaigns for the other factions, but they are going to. Therefore they are not done telling the story from all three perspectives. Their tri-perspective story is not complete. C&C3 did it all in one disc, they didn't so I'm going to wait. I don't know how to be clearer as to my intentions than that.
@sammo21: How can I have fully played it when I don't want to buy it at that price? You're not suggesting pirating it I hope.
@audiosnag: Exactly. The dude hasn't even answered the question of whether or not he has played the game, let alone beaten it as I suspect he has not. If he did he wouldn't be making these arguments.
When they are 1/3 the price? Good luck. When they are bundled together? Hope you are ready to wait several years. Then again, he is still carrying the C&C torch while calling SC2 incomplete. Go figure.
" @sammo21: I don't troll. But after playing games like C&C and Warhammer the fact that I only get a campaign with one faction, regardless of how long it may be is not a complete game in my opinion. The fact that they are actually releasing the other campaigns in the future only reinforces the fact that they have been left out of a game that should have included them. "
Shush now. Stop all that silly business. "
Seriously just because it does not have all three races as playable is a linear train of thought... there are more missions, cinematic, choices, in one campaign than there are in the first one. Besides i would much rather have a deeper experience with main characters rather than jump from campaign to campaign every 8 missions. Your argument could be used for sc1 too, i can just say, sc1 was stupid because they released half of the campaign of each race and i feel like i'm playing half a game, and that brood war should have been included in the original. Therefore you are an idiot. "
I'm an idiot? That's unnecessarily hostile and frankly quite rude. I'm not making personal attacks against you because of your opinion. I think C&C3 and the most recent Red Alert were great because of seeing the same thing from multiple perspectives. I like the variety of using units from different factions and don't want to always play as the same one. It's fine if you don't care about that. It's fine if you want to have one race's campaign because you get more depth than 3 races with less depth but that's what I'd prefer. There's no need to insult me because you want something different out of the game than I do. I'll wait until it's all bundled into one campaign when the other two are released, or buy them when they are all 1/3 the price. I will buy it at that time but I see no need to buy it right now when it doesn't have what I want. That's all I was saying. "
That's all perfectly fine, everybody wants different things from a game. But to call SC2 incomplete is dumb.
" @sammo21: I don't troll. But after playing games like C&C and Warhammer the fact that I only get a campaign with one faction, regardless of how long it may be is not a complete game in my opinion. The fact that they are actually releasing the other campaigns in the future only reinforces the fact that they have been left out of a game that should have included them. "
Shush now. Stop all that silly business. "
Seriously just because it does not have all three races as playable is a linear train of thought... there are more missions, cinematic, choices, in one campaign than there are in the first one. Besides i would much rather have a deeper experience with main characters rather than jump from campaign to campaign every 8 missions. Your argument could be used for sc1 too, i can just say, sc1 was stupid because they released half of the campaign of each race and i feel like i'm playing half a game, and that brood war should have been included in the original. Therefore you are an idiot. "
I'm an idiot? That's unnecessarily hostile and frankly quite rude. I'm not making personal attacks against you because of your opinion. I think C&C3 and the most recent Red Alert were great because of seeing the same thing from multiple perspectives. I like the variety of using units from different factions and don't want to always play as the same one. It's fine if you don't care about that. It's fine if you want to have one race's campaign because you get more depth than 3 races with less depth but that's what I'd prefer. There's no need to insult me because you want something different out of the game than I do. I'll wait until it's all bundled into one campaign when the other two are released, or buy them when they are all 1/3 the price. I will buy it at that time but I see no need to buy it right now when it doesn't have what I want. That's all I was saying.
" I've basically stopped playing SC2. I've played my fair share of BW, but when I literally 4 gated my way to mid diamond on my friends account [he doesn't play mp and stopped playing sc2 after finishing the single player], I just can't take this game seriously. In some cases I would just out right tell my opponent I was 4 gating and they still couldn't stop me. Imo, the game is way too easy and lacks any kind of real depth. I'll probably come back for the expansions to check out the new mp units, but I doubt I'll be playing much more of this game. "
i don't play protoss but none of this seems to buff protoss to much just means they have more viable scouting which seems fair. The void ray changes are more troublesome but if they are slower moving then you should be able to out run them if you react fast enough so maybe it balances.
" Trolls gotta get outta bronze so they can make some informed flames rather than this laughable bullshit. Starcraft 2 is unmatched in competitive RTS, hell its closest competition is its 12 year old predecessor. "
I'm in Bronze league. And I agree, the game is quite competitive. But I still get my arse handed to me in Bronze so perhaps I should have stayed with the 50 placing matches.
I've basically stopped playing SC2. I've played my fair share of BW, but when I literally 4 gated my way to mid diamond on my friends account [he doesn't play mp and stopped playing sc2 after finishing the single player], I just can't take this game seriously. In some cases I would just out right tell my opponent I was 4 gating and they still couldn't stop me. Imo, the game is way too easy and lacks any kind of real depth.
I'll probably come back for the expansions to check out the new mp units, but I doubt I'll be playing much more of this game.
" @gizmo88: If you knew what you were talking about then you would know it wasn't an exaggeration. "
The great thing is about the internet, everyone is an expert! So I just defer to people like yourself. I for one respect your contribution to society. You're an inspiration to us all. "
An even better thing about the internet is, when you make a statement about something that you clearly have no knowledge of, someone will let you know how wrong you are.
I updated, but since I don't play online I haven't had a chance to test the changes just yet. I'll try a few games against the AI to see how some of the UI stuff works, but since I prefer Zerg I'm sad that some the 1.2 test changes for that race didn't make it through.
No biggie, it's not like I have a W/L record to consider :)
" @gizmo88: If you knew what you were talking about then you would know it wasn't an exaggeration. "
The great thing is about the internet, everyone is an expert! So I just defer to people like yourself. I for one respect your contribution to society. You're an inspiration to us all.
I love StarCraft 2 in campaign, but I get my ass handed to me in every mulitplayer game. That has made it no fun for me to play, I just end up wondering if I'm a moron.
Trolls gotta get outta bronze so they can make some informed flames rather than this laughable bullshit. Starcraft 2 is unmatched in competitive RTS, hell its closest competition is its 12 year old predecessor.
" Something about SC2 reeks of 1990, and not in a good way. Company of Heroes changed my opinion about RTS games. Lazy game design really stands out to me now. (ie Select all + attack is about as deep as the combat gets in SC) "
One of the most misinformed statements I've ever read. Learn to play more better.
" I hate to be "that guy", but are Starcraft patches really "news"? "
It's news if you play the game but haven't been really active in it lately like me. "
Giantbomb doesn't follow the traditional format of what is news and what isn't, as long as the content is interesting to its users then they will actively cover those content.
Before there was even less news when Brad N. wasn't around and the Giantbomb crew posted random crap on the news section from time to time.
" @sammo21: I don't troll. But after playing games like C&C and Warhammer the fact that I only get a campaign with one faction, regardless of how long it may be is not a complete game in my opinion. The fact that they are actually releasing the other campaigns in the future only reinforces the fact that they have been left out of a game that should have included them. "
Shush now. Stop all that silly business. "
Seriously just because it does not have all three races as playable is a linear train of thought... there are more missions, cinematic, choices, in one campaign than there are in the first one. Besides i would much rather have a deeper experience with main characters rather than jump from campaign to campaign every 8 missions.
Your argument could be used for sc1 too, i can just say, sc1 was stupid because they released half of the campaign of each race and i feel like i'm playing half a game, and that brood war should have been included in the original.
" @sammo21: I don't troll. But after playing games like C&C and Warhammer the fact that I only get a campaign with one faction, regardless of how long it may be is not a complete game in my opinion. The fact that they are actually releasing the other campaigns in the future only reinforces the fact that they have been left out of a game that should have included them. "
@raiz265: Don't try and explain to the person who hasn't played through the campaign why its different...he doesn't care as long as he stirs shit up.
He fails to mention that the last several years of C&C have been failures, that Company of Heroes had 1 campaign...dawn of war had 1 campaign, Dawn of War 2 had 1 campaign, and so on and so on.
The campaign is JUST AS LONG, and longer, than the C&C crap he's referencing. Also, the single player has more variation and fun than they do as well. He;s just trolling, as the fact he hasn't even played the campaign proves this.
" @sammo21: I don't troll. But after playing games like C&C and Warhammer the fact that I only get a campaign with one faction, regardless of how long it may be is not a complete game in my opinion. The fact that they are actually releasing the other campaigns in the future only reinforces the fact that they have been left out of a game that should have included them. "
I don't get it... where's the difference between having a campaign of 20 hours split into 3 factions or 20 hours of one faction...
Also there actually are a bunch of Protoss missions.
And Dawn of War 2 also only has a 1 faction campaign... Actually the whole business model of the Dawn of War games is "AddOns".
" Something about SC2 reeks of 1990, and not in a good way. Company of Heroes changed my opinion about RTS games. Lazy game design really stands out to me now. (ie Select all + attack is about as deep as the combat gets in SC) "
You're thinking of Halo Wars "
ALL UNITS! LOCAL UNITS! ALL UNITS!
@gizmo88 You shouldn't speak about that which you know not.
" @sammo21: I don't troll. But after playing games like C&C and Warhammer the fact that I only get a campaign with one faction, regardless of how long it may be is not a complete game in my opinion. The fact that they are actually releasing the other campaigns in the future only reinforces the fact that they have been left out of a game that should have included them. "
That might be true if it weren't for the fact that they completely finished the story of one, and then went on to work on another story for over a year.
@knightlyknave: Funny that not one person who has actually played the SP campaign would agree with you, but then again we are only making a judgement on something we've actually played.
@sammo21: I don't troll. But after playing games like C&C and Warhammer the fact that I only get a campaign with one faction, regardless of how long it may be is not a complete game in my opinion. The fact that they are actually releasing the other campaigns in the future only reinforces the fact that they have been left out of a game that should have included them.
Chat rooms are kick ass. Just now, i was discussing 4 gate push with a bunch of random zerg channel dudes, and we all playied like 5-6 games demonstrating different tactics.
You gotta change that screenshot, it appears to be the lowest graphics settings. The new patch the article is about actually improved the graphics, so it's relevant.
It's very interesting to see how quickly and drastically the strategies are changing in the competitive scene, and yet the patches are small in numbers and changes. It's nice to see a strategy game that doesn't just throw together some gimmicks and call it strategy. SC2 appears to have an enormous amount of small strategic options available to the player at any time, rather than "your super-weapon is ready, click this button to win!" RTS games.
@knightlyknave: You're wrong, but you know that. The single player is very long and the multiplayer is more robust and filled than most of the games you speak of. You are either trolling, or you are going off of rumors from 2 years ago.
" Something about SC2 reeks of 1990, and not in a good way. Company of Heroes changed my opinion about RTS games. Lazy game design really stands out to me now. (ie Select all + attack is about as deep as the combat gets in SC) "
I'm still waiting for a price drop. $59.99 is too much to pay for a computer game when Steam offers things so much cheaper regularly. Especially considering it's 1/3 of a larger campaign series and I'd only play single player anyway.
It really goes without saying that sc2 gameplay was same old same old, but that is not what makes sc2 a good game to me.
It is the online aspects of sc2 that blow any other rts game out of the water and really put sc2 in a league of its own. Which is why people will be playing it 10 years from now just like they were sc1.
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