StarcraftWire’s newest contributor 1ThorsHammer has written an article which really supplies us with some food for thought.  He’s created a brief write-up on the mechanics Blizzard has integrated into their farms over the years and the adaptation of farms from StarCraft to StarCraft II.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the article:

The Zerg were the only ones who had supply fulfill an additional role. In fact, it was surprising how much Zerg Overlords did in comparison with the other two races. Not only were they a mobile supply, they acted as detectors and transports. When one looks at the fact that Terran supply depots do absolutely nothing except for act as farms, the amount of stuff crammed into the Overlord becomes absolutely astounding.

Check out the entire article here.

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Today our sister site StarCraft2.net.pl (Starcraft 2 Poland) has posted the latest fansite Q&A. It covers varies questions. Check it out!

	Blizzard Quote: (Source)
	1. Dustin said on BlizzCast #8 that the Banshee is a very powerful air-ground unit vs. ground defenses. What are the chances of Banshees against ground units? For example is it equal 5 Banshees against 5 Stalkers or the Banshees have to run if they notice Stalkers.   Yes, the Banshee can be a very strong anti-ground air unit but it is definitely not unstoppable. For example, Marines and Thors can be great ground counter units for Terran and Hydralisks for Zerg are also good. And just like the example in the question, Stalkers with blink ability and High Templars with psionic storm can be counter Banshees as well. 2.Zerg can move and regenerate faster on creep. Terrans have medivac, the mechanical units can be fixed by SCV. Do you think that is a good idea for Protoss to regenerate shields faster when they are near pylons?   Protoss currently has the Shield Battery ability on the Obelisk, which recharges the shield of the target friendly unit or area. This is an active ability that drains energy from the Obelisk, but is a similar concept to the one suggested. 3. Do you have any plans for Infested Protoss? If yes, what sort/kind of unit will it be?   Based on the lore, the Protoss do not become infested. The combination of the two result in a hybrid race. 4. Question is about replays. Do you plan to create a feature to see what that player saw during the battle? It’s like if I was behind him while he was playing and I was watching his screen.   There are more advanced functions and options implemented in the current replay system. If you select a certain player in the replay, you can opt to see that player’s camera while he or she is controlling units, buildings, and spending resources. Additionally, you can select the options for all players’ Units, Army, Spending, Production, and APM status to view all statuses simultaneously in a replay. 5. What will happen when we double push a hotkey of a group of buildings? (4 lairs for example at one hotkey) Our screen will move to the first lair in a group? Or to set point of all or maybe to the point where everything crosses? (Point of gravity)   When you designate multiple units or structures as a group and the units or structures are spread out in different places, selecting the group by double pressing the hotkey, your screen will go directly to the place that you have the largest amount of consolidated units or structures first. If you have the same amount of units or structures on different positions of the map, your screen will go to the closest one to your current location. 6. What is the status of a nuke? Range, cast time, power etc. And sub-question: will the air be contaminated for some time (10-20 seconds) and affects the units after the blast?   You can arm a silo with a Nuke at the Ghost Academy and it will take 60 seconds. Upon completion, a Ghost can call down a nuclear strike at a target location dealing up to 300 (+200 structures) damage to enemies in a large radius. There will be a period between the casting of the Nuke until the Nuke actually hits its target, in which the Ghost must stay alive. There will be no contamination for the ground or the air after the blast. 7. Several SCVs can repair buildings together. So why can’t they work together to build a new one? Sub-question: Does SCV have an ability (or is it planned) ‘Patrol and repair?’   In order to keep the game balanced, SCVs aren’t able to build structures together. SCVs can repair the damaged structure or mechanical units together, while also costing more resources. However, the SCV does have an auto-casting repair ability, so when you give a command to a SCV to patrol while auto repairing is activated, the assigned SCV will repair the structures or mechanical units around it automatically and will continue their patrol. 8. Question about Protoss drop. We can see that Protoss players often do reaver drops. Now when we don’t have this unit, we can drop Dark Templars, because Colossus are too weak for killing drones/SCVs/Probes (it’s a conclusion after watching many battle videos.) Is there any alternative tactic of drops by Protoss, or this element of a Protoss game was excluded.   Colossus is as great of a worker killer as the Reaver in the original StarCraft. The Colossus has 2 attacks with 23 damage each and gives splash damage, so it can kill drones and probes with a single shot and SCVs with two shots. If the Protoss player is trying to harass the enemy’s economy by killing workers, dropping Colossi from the Warp Prism right next to their base is a possible option, while Dark Templars can also be very devastating as well.

Click here to read the Polish version of this Q&A.

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Blizzard has kept some of the coolest StarCraft 2 art to themselves. They are humour posters, fake pictures and adverts. Well, it's not THAT many, but I managed to snag them all when I was at Blizzard HQ!

Below are a few examples, and you can find the rest in the StarCraft 2 Concept Art gallery, or after the break.



If you're interested in more pictures from Blizz HQ, I have uploaded a bunch in the Diii.net Blizzard's Offices gallery.

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Rrowland reports this:

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Graham McNeill will appear at the Games Workshop Cribbs Causeway in Bristol on Saturday the 18th of July. It may be a good chance to get your copy of StarCraft: I, Mengsk signed by the author.  He will be there from 1pm - 3pm.  You may contact the store on 0117 959 2520 for more details. Check out a google map here. Submit your photos to publish them on the front page. Let us know if you have planned to go in advance.

I met Graham McNeill in New York a month ago, and took some video of his signing during the Book Expo America. After the break, you can watch three videos of his signing there at the Javits Center. If you attended that signing, you might have shown up in the video.

Games Workshop - Cribbs Causeway
Location Avon
Town Cribbs Causeway - North Bristol

Street Address/Directions Unit 129
Upper Level
The Mall
Bristol
BS34 5UP

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The interview I had with Rob Pardo, and a few fansites is now up in video format! This is the interview where he talks about some of his own additions to SC2 (Colossus + Reaper cliff jumping idea etc) and the debated “No LAN” comment. Well worth 20 minutes of your life.

First time I talk is about 03:00, if you’re interested, and that nice shiny phone in the middle of the screen is mine!

Full transcription available after the break.

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StarCraft: Frontline Vol. 3 by Tokyopop is now on sale at a bookstore near you and online.  The most interesting of the four stories no doubt is War-Torn, as well as its artwork and style, by Hector Sevilla—which is the best I have seen in a while.

War-Torn deals with the son of Dominion senator Corbin Phash who is a telepath. He is doing his utmost to hide his son from the Dominion to rid him from the Ghost Program’s rigurous training.  This child telepath will appear in the upcoming StarCraft Ghost: Academy. View the preview images of each chapter here.

Description

Revel in the brutal, menacing and sublime world of StarCraft in this collection of world-expanding adventures….

In “War-Torn, “Senator Corbin Phash used his power and influence to hide his young son Colin’s psionic abilities from the Dominion, but their secret has finally been exposed!

In “Do No Harm,” the sadistic “Butcher of Korhal,” Dr. Burgess, gets his bloody hands on Muadun, a recently captured protoss high templar and goes dissecting for clues on how to mass-produce horrifying protoss-terran soldiers…

In “Last Call,” a lounge singer on the backwater mining post of Meteor Station finds herself at the center of diplomatic intrigue…

And in “Twilight Archon,” the griving head instructor of a protoss templar school discovers what she’ll have to sacrifice just to be whole again.

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Coverage: WarCraft III Cologne Finals 2009 >> Protoss Late Game Experience >> (pg1) (pg2) (pg3)



With the Battle Reports and gameplay videos we have seen so far, the one thing that has been missing is the end-game of each race. To this end, StarcraftWire sent off a troupe of brave gentlemen to the WarCraft III Regional Finals in Cologne (where they among other things had a chat with Xordiah) to find out more of this "end game" everyone talks about, but none have seen.

We will be served three highly delicious coverage articles from the event: one for each race. The first one is about Protoss end-game, and the author is hawks911. Here is a snip:

Later on I had the chance to build some Archons as well! They have a good range and look really wonderfully animated. This is one of the many units where the shield regeneration rate really counts, due to their strong shields. I did several exe-harassments with them and drew back before they died. After waiting one or two minutes, they are ready to attack again. Great harassment unit. Of course you have to look out for the Ghost with his EMP Missile dealing 100 damage to the Archon's shields...

If you're not one of the lucky people with an Friends & Family beta key, this is a good read to get an insight into StarCraft II:

Protoss Late Game Experience

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Several weeks back, Klear approached me with a very good idea: A world map displaying members! Easy enough, we thought, and tried some different solutions for a way to members to easily report their (approximate) positions on the world map.

In the end, we decided to use Google Maps, and Klear offered to keep the page up to date by manual updates. The result is brilliant!

Since our community is growing every day with users from all around the world, I came up with an idea to make a map showing the locations of our members. After a little research, I created a map on Google Maps where we can add location of anybody who will give us their location.

If you'd like to have your location show up on the map, head over to this thread and post it. Maybe you will find that there is a fellow StarcraftWire member living just around the corner! Please note that you are not required to share your exact address with us, just country and city will do. However, if you're comfortable with exact address, that is of course an option.

We are closing in on the 100th pin now. Klear gave you all info you need just here, but if you want to find it easy again, just go on the "Home" menu of the site and select "Member World Map".

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Our resident lore-and-all-things-obscure-guru Medievaldragon posted about a new registration by Blizzard on BlizzPlanet.com and WorldofWar.net. It seems kinda WoW-related, so might be nothing, but it's actually worth reposting here. Read MD's thoughts on it after the break. Is it the new MMO, the new game, or "just" a WoW expansion? Cataclysm is a name you should remember, regardless!

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There has been a number of posts here and there on the net about the "No LAN" issue, either reporting about the fact that there won't be one, about the fan petition, and Blizzard responding to these concerns.

It really boils down to two arguments for excluding LAN (after the break):

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Gaming site shacknews have come across with an exclusive Dustin Browder Interview.
Strongly influenced by the good, old Wing Commander series they implemented hireable mercenaries to use during subsequent missions.

	Blizzard Quote:
	... we’ve actually got some mercenaries you can hire, which is a new way to get some troops onto the field. And they’re one use per mission, but they regenerate after every mission.

said Browder in the interview.


This will bring even more depth to the singleplayer of StarCraft 2 and the replayability will be increased as some decissions are mutually exclusive.
Head over to the shacknews Interview with Dustin Browder for detailed information.

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StarCraft Legacy has a new fan made video up on their site. Our congratulations goes out to them for doing such an awesome job on this video. It's great to see other fans with such drive, passion, and most of all talent!

The video is called StarCraft: First Contact, and deals with the Protoss eradication of the Zerg threat on Chau Sara.



For more info visit the creator's site here.

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Every so often our presence is graced by a certain Blizzard RTS Community Manager, and today just happens to be one of those days. A few hours after replying to some of the community’s concerns regarding LAN, Karune takes the time to discuss some more basic game play questions the fans have. Topics include the Zerg Queen and Overseer as well as some Terran specific game play elements and the Dropship. As usual, questions are in white, with official responses in blue.

	Blizzard Quote: (Source)
	Someone said on another forum that the queen can heal. Is this true? How does call-down supplies work currently What buildings can be salvaged? Is the Banshee’s portrait female? Why was the depleted gas mechanic removed? 1) In the current build, for 100 energy, the Queen can heal a biological unit or building by 200 hit points. 2) For 50 energy, the Terran Orbital Command can increase a supply depot’s supply provided by +8 permanently. 3) Terran Add-Ons, Bunkers, Sensor Towers, and Missile Turrets can be salvaged for 100% of its cost. Salvage currently takes 5 seconds to complete. 4) Yes, the Banshee portrait is of a female pilot. 5) Vespene gas can still become depleted from geysers. Most geysers have 2500 gas each.

More after the break

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Coverage: WarCraft III Cologne Finals 2009 >>




The WarCraft Regional Finals in the Media Park of Cologne, Germany took place 26th to 28th of June. StarcraftWire staff members grrrrr and Hawks911 were sent out to collect all info they could about StarCraft II. The dynamic duo managed to grab some exclusive coverage for StarcraftWire.net, which they present in this WarCraft III Cologne Finals 2009 Coverage article.


First to be released is a brief discussion the boys had with Xordiah, Blizzard's European RTS-Community Manager. She talked about the internal Blizzard league, internal WAN tests, about the decision to exclude LAN in SC2, Single Player development status, internal beta release dates (again), and her favourite unit.

Grab the summary here:

• Smalltalk with Blizzard’s Xordiah

Also, if you are going to visit any similar future events, make sure to announce it on our Community Forum to arrange a meet-up!

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We broke the news on Monday that Blizzard's new RTS game, StarCraft II, will NOT support the option for local area networks (LAN). This continues to concern fans of the game and today Blizzard's community manager commented on the issue, possibly motivated by the 5000 people who signed a petition to keep LAN functionality. These are the first official Blue response in regards to the recently announced news.

Considering so little information is available outside of Blizzard in regards to the new Battle.net 2.0, only time will tell if it is truly up to the task of replacing LAN. This is a continuation of Karune's initial response. Karune responds as follows with questions in white and official responses in blue:

	Blizzard Quote: (Source)
	That's his point. Even if you do lug your "beast" around, he is saying that battle.net will clearly have better abilities than regular LAN. I for one have full faith in Blizzard, and though I do disagree with taking LAN out as a whole, I do feel that in the end whatever they provide as an alternative will not only suffice, but make things all the better. As mentioned by Rob Pardo in interviews, piracy is a serious problem and often times tie in closely with LAN. At the end of the day, we want the best for the community and fans that support our games, and having chunk of the community pirate the game actually hurts the community. 1) Pirated servers splinter the community instead of consolidating all players who love to play the game. Battle.net will bring players together in skirmishes, ladder play, custom games, and allow everyone the opportunity to share a common experience. 2) More people on Battle.net means more even more resources devoted to evolving this online platform to cater to further community building and new ways to enjoy the game online. World of Warcraft is a great example of a game that has evolved beyond anyone's imagination since their Day 1 and will continue to do so to better the player experience for as long as players support the title. The original StarCraft is an even better example of how 11 years later, players still love and play this title, and we will continue to support and evolve it with patches. We would not take out LAN if we did not feel we could offer players something better. If I were to buy StarCraft II or any other title, I know the money I spent would be going to supporting that title. Personally, I would be upset that others were freeloading while others are legitimately supporting a title that has great potential and goals of making this title have 'long legs.' If you like a song a lot, buy it, and that artist will only come out with more awesome songs for you. If you like a game, buy it, and we will promise to constantly work to make the player experience better at every corner we can. Support the causes you believe in (This is applicable to all things, not just gaming). Don't be a leech to society, innovation, and further awesome creations.

More after the break



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Joystiq recently interviewed StarCraft II developer Chris Sigaty about StarCraft II single player.  This interview revealed that the former voice actor behind Jim Raynor had returned, despise their decision to change its direction with a fresh voice actor, one that met Chris Metzen‘s original plan.  For those who think to have read wrong, I contacted Robert Clotworthy, who I interviewed twice in the past two years.  This is what he said this afternoon:

Robert: Yes, I can confirm that I’m working with Blizzard Entertainment to reprise my role as the voice of Jim Raynor in StarCraft II.  I’m looking forward to the release of the game and I hope that StarCraft players will enjoy going into battle with Jim and following his adventures throughout the galaxy.

Hurray for Robert, and hurray for the fans.  Jim Raynor is back !  Now we would be in bliss if Glynnis Talken returns as Kerrigan the Queen of Blades.  Hugs to Glynnis, if she is reading.

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The StarCraft: The Dark Templar, Twilight by Christie Golden is now on sale at a bookstore near you and online. I read this book 3 weeks earlier. It is awesome.

After the seeming defeat of the dark archon Ulrezaj on the protoss homeworld of Aiur, Jake and Rosemary become separated as they flee through the newly repaired warp gate. Rosemary finds herself with the other refugee protoss on Shakuras, while Jake is catapulted elsewhere. But Jake does not have long to live: their enemies are regrouping, and Zamara's essence must be separated from Jake's mind before time runs out.

Jake knows he must survive long enough for Zamara to pass on her vital secret. But which faction -- Valerian, zerg, or the recovered and increasingly powerful Ulrezaj -- will find them first? His only hope rests with the powerful and legendary Zeratul, but as Jake is about to learn...even a dark templar can have a crisis of faith.

These are the key topics you will learn after reading this book: (Instead of straight spoiling, I reveal the plots to look forward to) Read them after the break!

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Since Blizzard announced that StarCraft II will ship without a LAN option, many fans were outraged and responded by starting a petition against this idea. On the main battle.net forums a fan talk about the reasons he think StarCraft is so popular:

	Blizzard Quote: (Source)
	I think the reasons starcraft has lasted so long as a game and community are because: 1) Well designed and fun to play game. 2) Free battle.net - Having a place where gamers can come together and play the game 24/7 helps to foster a bolster and lively community. 3) Continued support for the game even after 11 years, they still patch it when it needs a patch. 4) Pro-Starcraft gaming. This is a big deal to serious starcraft players or to anyone that enjoys competition. These games are fun to watch and makes casual players want to play the game. 5) Lan support. - Lan parties are fun. If you take away LAN support you will still have the 4 other pillars for a strong starcraft community. Plus if LAN support helps rid battle.net of hackers, cheaters and piracy because the network traffic is harder to decipher then all the better. That only strengthens the spirit of fair competition on battle.net. The first 4 pillars are ALL being made better. 1) Development time for StarCraft II have far exceeded the original StarCraft in both the standard of quality and duration, to ensure the highest in quality RTS experience we can possibly create. 2) Not only is it free to play online, Battle.net 2.0 is designed with the new generation of online community and eSports in mind. 3) As long as there are people playing our games, we will continue to support them, and we have continued with this tradition with our legacy titles like the original StarCraft. 4) StarCraft II was created with eSports as a cornerstone in design philosophy. StarCraft evolved into an eSport. 5) Map Editor will be better than any we have ever released. and: 6) ??? - will have to wait and see For me personally- I loved LAN parties, but the direction in which Battle.net is headed, I would always choose to play on Battle.net > 99% of the time and even if for whatever reason I did decide to lug my computer to a friend's house in this day of age (<1%), I would still be playing with them on Battle.net against others at their place.

It is good that Karune responds but he does avoid to answer the question we all want to know... We simply have to wait and see. Bob Colayco also sent a statement regarding LAN:

	Blizzard Quote: (Source)
	While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy.

I am a bit surprised that Blizzard is worried about piracy since their games are known to sell well and I don't think excluding LAN will stop piracy at all. Piracy will always be there but the true way to fight piracy is to create a high end quality product, like they did with StarCraft I, which still sells well, despite having LAN, and "pirate servers".




All Related Articles:

• Excluding LAN Needed for StarCraft II


• Karune Mini-Q&A on LAN


• Karune Responds To 'No LAN'


• Petition for StarCraft II Lan


• No LAN In StarCraft II Confirmed

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The news from yesterday about no LAN in StarCraft II has evoked some big responses from the community. IncGamers report on a petition to keep LAN with over 2500 signatures in just a day, and it appears community members of StarcraftWire are behind this petition. Are we to be honoured or scared of Blizzard's wrath?

Either way, here is a short snip of the article at IncGamers:

IncGamers contacted Christian Sørensen, the apparent creator of the petition, who revealed he isn't the original author. It's a collective effort from a small group of fans on the StarCraft community site StarcraftWire.net.

However, some StarCraft fans oppose the petition, citing concerns about piracy.

"I don't see a reason why it'll decrease or increase it," Sørensen said, "Pirates will always be there. [Excluding LAN mode] will only punish the people who are legit buyers."

Michael Frost, one of the fans signing the petition, said "no LAN will encourge B.net emulation, not stop it."

Sørensen and many others argue LAN is great for users with a poor internet connection and players who don't want to connect to the internet at all. Salie Hendricks, another fan signing the petition, gave a good example: "Africans only have LAN. You will lose out to piracy."

You can find the petition here.


All Related Articles:

• Excluding LAN Needed for StarCraft II
• Karune Mini-Q&A on LAN
• Karune Responds To 'No LAN'
• Petition for StarCraft II Lan
• No LAN In StarCraft II Confirmed

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