Starcraft 2 is probably the most polished game I have ever seen. Everything in the game is deliberate and was designed with so much care and attention to detail that it is really staggering. The in game engine cinematics blow anything else I have seen real time out of the water. There is so much detail in the facial movement of the characters to the tiny scruffs on tychus's armor.  If you have the collectors edition watch the "making of" videos. It will really surprise you. (watch them after you beat the single player though, there are spoilers.)
 
Seriously, why cant more developers be like blizzard?

They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games.

One of my favorite quotes: "A game is never finished, you just run out of time and money."  
 
Blizzard, Rockstar and Valve may seem to have infinite amounts of those, but not everyone is so lucky. 

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

Because they don't take 12 years between sequels.

" @Cataphract1014 said:

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

But that is not true. Most all game developers get a huge amount of money from publishers.  "

" @Tahnit said:

" @Cataphract1014 said:

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

But that is not true. Most all game developers get a huge amount of money from publishers.  "

but they know they can't get their games to sell enough for that. Publishers don't want to take huge risks "

" @Cataphract1014 said:

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

But that is not true. Most all game developers get a huge amount of money from publishers.  "

#1. Some developers already do.  Just because you haven't played those games doesn't mean they don't exist.
#2. Not all developers can afford to, Blizzard Activision has shittons of money.
#3. Blizzard can also be assured of their return on investment because of their popularity, marketing budget, and popularity of current titles like WoW.

I agree, the lan, chat channels, clan system, map folder, custom game system, and hostable replays are all really polished!

Blizzard has control of their franchises. Even though they are partnered with Activision now, they still don't have something calling the shots and telling them when their game needs to be done and how much their budget is. I agree that Blizzard makes great games, but most studios don't have the creative freedom that they do.

" I agree, the lan, chat channels, clan system, map folder, custom game system, and hostable replays are all really polished! "

pff... yeah because developers don't know that already, it's like saying "hey, you know what? your food has to taste good" to a chef...
 
The thing is that most developers don't have 12 years to polish their games, the majority of games are ready in 3 to 4 years tops, and not because that's the maximum amount of time you need, it's because the developers are kept in a VERY tight leash by the damn publishers and it's army of suits.
 
It's a no brainer that the longer time and less pressure you have the more polished the final product will be, but it takes more then wishful thinking to get the kind of freedom blizzard haves.

" @Tahnit: stop trolling my post. im just pointing out some obvious flaws with the game, even though its a great game.  why? cause you are humping blizzards leg nonstop in yuor post, i wanted to correct you. "

Although I agree and that Blizzard makes some of the greatest, polished games, it's not realistic for most companies
Eventually most developers run out of resources or time, and have to put it out quickly

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

" @Tahnit said:

" @Cataphract1014 said:

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

But that is not true. Most all game developers get a huge amount of money from publishers.  "

Blizzard has its own money with no pressure from publishers.  If you get money from Activision or EA, they will want it in a reasonable amount of time.  No publisher would let a developer 6 or 7 years to make a game perfect. "

@Cataphract1014 said:

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

Has nothing to do with it, If games aren't finished, blizzard holds them back without any regrets. Quality over Quantity, its a simple idea and easy to follow. I for one have no problem with waiting aslong as when I play it, it feels like they took there time. If any gamer doesn't know by now of the amount of work that goes into these games, they should give up now.

" @Cataphract1014 said:

" They don't have a cashcow the size of WoW that can afford them the time to put so much polish into games. "

Has nothing to do with it, If games aren't finished, blizzard holds them back without any regrets. Quality over Quantity, its a simple idea and easy to follow. I for one have no problem with waiting aslong as when I play it, it feels like they took there time. If any gamer doesn't know by now of the amount of work that goes into these games, they should give up now. "

Starcraft 2 is a very standard, regular RTS game, that is polished to a very high degree.
 
They just have an infinite amount of money. Saying "Why don't people just make good games" is a silly question.