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Starcraft online

Started by shannow Dec 14, 2006 at 1:44 PM 9 replies 2.7k views

Original Post

Dec 14, 2006 at 1:44 PM

Hello there, I am a student of games design at Bolton University and one of my assignments for this semester has asked me to take part in some kind of discussion on an online community that relates to my course. So I would really appreciate it if some of you guys could leave me some feedback on this :) I was thinking today about the possibility of making a MMO of Starcraft, I expect I'm far from the first person to come up with such an idea but it baffles me why Blizzard have made no effort to do so. Personally I found Starcraft to be a much better game than Warcraft and would love to see an online rpg built around the universe. There are of course going to be complications, especially with making zerg units into classes. Particularly the lurker, so as a solution to this; the zerg could be PVE only so that they aren't actually a playable race and just have them AI controlled. Other than that, most of the terran and protoss units fit nicely into classes. Zealot - warrior type Dark templar - rogue Archon - could be redesigned slightly into a kind of priest/healer class Dark archon - some kind of darker caster Templar - mage Dragoon - master of ranged weapons Reaver - not really sure about this one but open to suggestions Marine - ranged fighter Firebat - close assault weapons ghost - rogue vulture - mounted class that relies on speed and use of mines to lure opponents goliath - mechanised character siege tank - not sure how viable this is The idea of the game-play could be either a war against the zerg where the protoss and terran have to work together to overcome them or have them pitted against each other as well. Bear in mind that this whole thing was thought up fairly quickly, just thinking out loud really. Please share your thoughts and ideas..

Scet

Dec 14, 2006 at 2:03 PM

Quote:
Original post by shannow
I was thinking today about the possibility of making a MMO of Starcraft, I expect I'm far from the first person to come up with such an idea but it baffles me why Blizzard have made no effort to do so.

How do you know their not, or at least planning on it? Considering that StarCraft is still extremely popular and the money Blizzard is making of WoW, it would be retarded not to make a StarCraft MMO.

Also if Blizzard got wind of this they would sue the pants off you. They've threatened people making StarCraft/WarCraft games before, and since an MMO has to have a large user base their going to know about it.

You could of course make a StarCraft-like game, just an MMO set in the future, but using the Protoss or Zerg is asking for trouble.

egwenejs

Dec 14, 2006 at 2:03 PM

My guess why there hasn't been a Starcraft 2 or Starcraft MMO is that it has do with the Korean market. Even though it's as old as it is, it still retails for more than $50 US (49,000 won) for the BattleChest (the orginal, the expansion and strategy guide). There's also professional Starcraft players here. These players have corporate sponsors, uniforms and all that jazz. There's at least 2 T.V. channels like G2 that show nothing but Starcraft tournaments from around the country. When I tell people around here that I play computer games, but that I don't play Starcraft, they are literally dumbfounded. With all this hype around here, I wouldn't expect Blizzard to do anything to disturb the mob and influx of cash. Also if you wanted to make this MMO yourself, I seriously doubt you get the license.

shannow

Dec 14, 2006 at 2:11 PM

Maybe I wasn't too clear on what I meant. Like I said, just thinking out loud, obviously I can't go ahead and make something like this. This is purely for the purposes of doing my coursework for uni, I doubt Blizzard can sue me for thinking about it as long as I were never to actually try to implement it ;)

Palidine

Dec 14, 2006 at 2:15 PM

My guess is that they would never release a Starcraft MMO while WoW is still hugely popular. People tend to play only one MMO at a time so they'd be stealing money from themselves to give to themselves: i.e. they'd actually lose money compared to the status quo because they'd have a similar market share but 2x the cost.

I predict that when you see WoW starting to lose market share to the "next big MMO" or when you see the userbase dipping off significantly a Starcraft MMO will be released.

-me

shannow

Dec 14, 2006 at 2:18 PM

Quote:
Original post by Palidine
My guess is that they would never release a Starcraft MMO while WoW is still hugely popular. People tend to play only one MMO at a time so they'd be stealing money from themselves to give to themselves: i.e. they'd actually lose money compared to the status quo because they'd have a similar market share but 2x the cost.

I predict that when you see WoW starting to lose market share to the "next big MMO" or when you see the userbase dipping off significantly a Starcraft MMO will be released.

-me

I see what you mean, hmm I feel rather silly now. Love your sig btw

[Edited by - shannow on December 14, 2006 2:18:02 PM]

FadedPhoenix

Dec 15, 2006 at 10:03 AM

Well instead of starting to drop what classes should be what. Lets look at what an MMORPG is. Don't call it Just an MMO. Thats Massive multiplayer online, which is inclusive of more games than you might know. Counter strike has MMO aspects to it and could be considered an MMO since it is centered around online play. So lets break it down.

Something to consider in making starcraft MMORPG, is that a player gets to experience a life(avatar) in the starcraft universe. So you said it would be difficult to play a zerg because its a race thats makes specific unites for specific reasons. But one thing to remember is that the storyline can be crafted to work for you. Karrigan controlled controlled the zerg and was half human half zerg. So maybe playing zerg might be a pet race vs being a concentrated on a single player and abilities. It might be based on how many, which you control and how you control them. So lets not limit the implications of races and storyline. They are all maliable to a degree.

Also you left out that during the story line there was a race that was created by the tarrans thats a combination of zerg/human/toss DNA. Plus you have the ancient Xel'naga race.

And one thing to consider above all. Is balance is achievable through many methods. As long as the feel player and the universe is consistent.

[Edited by - FadedPhoenix on December 15, 2006 10:03:50 AM]

Iron Chef Carnage

Dec 18, 2006 at 6:03 PM

I'd play it, but I'm a drooling fanboy.

Kwizatz

Dec 18, 2006 at 7:20 PM

Quote:
Original post by Iron Chef Carnage
I'd play it, but I'm a drooling fanboy.

I wouldn't and I am a drooling fanboy as well, my reasoning is that Starcraft has too rich a storyline to just kill it and freeze it the way a MMOG does it.

9 months later I still stand by my prediction/analisys

Besides, I highly doubt they would let you launch a nuke as a Ghost or mindcontrol other players as a Dark Archon, or control a whole army of Zergs as a Celebrate, so there goes all the fun.

Eternal

Dec 20, 2006 at 7:06 AM

I really think vehicles should be vehicles and not character classes. I mean Marine vs Reaver PvP etc ? How would you balance that ?

OT: I'm pretty sure SC2 is in the works, I'd expect some kind of announcement from blizzard in 2007 ;)

Codman

Dec 20, 2006 at 8:27 AM

During the last two years I have been reviewing Blizzard's open positions.

Blizzard North (there is a different studio than HQ BLizzard, they are the creators of Diablo series) were looking for a Lead Game Designer with a triple A experience in RPG. Interview task was to write a short analysis on Diablo II and Dungeon Siege 2 (strenghts, weaknesses and possible improvements).

More recently they are looking for talented level designers familiar with Warcraft III map editor, for a Ladder System Designer with pro-gaming experience and very good math knowledge.

The famous StarCraft: Ghost was stopped. Tons of graphic and sound assets were already created. Let's drop them. In SC2 not recycle bin.

WoW is the golden chicken with many golden eggs. Its continous development and support costs incredible sums of money but it pays a lot in return. Do you know why former employes left? Blizzard's revenues were also used to cover black holes from other Vivendi Games (Vivendi is one of the media giants). Blizzard is not running out of money because of WoW development. Blizzard just got the funding for whatever the management want. We can expect some screenshots (and the games in first quarter of 2009) during the next year, screenshots from the next two incredible action-RPG and RTS. It could be the SC RPG.

Why 2009? ATM they are hiring level designers - add campaign, ladder and closed beta time. This will take at least one year.

For your task, I suggest you to moderate a discussion about how WarIII gameplay is an improvement over StarCraft gameplay and the pitfalls that made him unwelcome to an important number of StarCraft players. After you identify them rigurously you may step forward and try to find solutions.

Best regards,
Cod.

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