StarCraft II Official! (Pictures)

[Lavarinth]

Well, I've come to the conclusion they banned the name "Aldaris."

[Marco]

Well, I've come to the conclusion they banned the name "Aldaris."

Eh, he isn't that important.  That storyline was pretty much concluded.  I don't think we'll be seeing much 'dark templar racism' in SC2.  Would be silly at this point.  Although a racist faction of Protoss could provide a 'rebel' Protoss faction, instead of the united Protoss we are used to.

[Legion]

Well, I've come to the conclusion they banned the name "Aldaris."

Eh, he isn't that important.  That storyline was pretty much concluded.  I don't think we'll be seeing much 'dark templar racism' in SC2.  Would be silly at this point.  Although a racist faction of Protoss could provide a 'rebel' Protoss faction, instead of the united Protoss we are used to.

Aldaris may not have been as important as the others, to me, he's the coolest Protoss character ever.

[Jadefang]

Well, I've come to the conclusion they banned the name "Aldaris."

Eh, he isn't that important.  That storyline was pretty much concluded.  I don't think we'll be seeing much 'dark templar racism' in SC2.  Would be silly at this point.  Although a racist faction of Protoss could provide a 'rebel' Protoss faction, instead of the united Protoss we are used to.

Aldaris may not have been as important as the others, to me, he's the coolest Protoss character ever.

Akkoord! I agree 100% with that statement!

[Meta]

Well, I've come to the conclusion they banned the name "Aldaris."

Eh, he isn't that important.  That storyline was pretty much concluded.  I don't think we'll be seeing much 'dark templar racism' in SC2.  Would be silly at this point.  Although a racist faction of Protoss could provide a 'rebel' Protoss faction, instead of the united Protoss we are used to.

Actually I remember Blizzard mentioning many times that Artanis is struggling to keep the Protoss factions united, so this might suggest that there's a lot of racism between them still. And Ulrezaj, the Enslavers II Dark Archon villain, is also supposed to be an important character in the Dark Templar Trilogy and maybe SC2 as well. So this might mean that the entire Protoss split theme is not over... yet.

[Marine]

Dustin Browder (Cavez) revealed a few more details about the Zerg Changeling at the Battle.net forums recently. This Overseer ability will be fun for some Zerg players, and keep rival players on their toes and into paranoid mode every now and then. If this Changeling is new to you ... you will know what I mean after reading below.

Cavez: Overseers can create a Changeling by spending energy. The Changeling is a small unstable Zerg creature with timed life. When he gets near an enemy structure or unit he will change shape into the correct basic unit type and color to match that player. So if you get near a Blue Barracks you become a Blue Marine. If you get near a Red Stalker you become a Red Zealot, etc.

Enemy players cannot control the Changeling. It's still owned and controled by the Zerg player who created it. It is very vulnerable and can be killed by a single hit from just about anything. The Changeling cannot fight. He is just a shapeshifter, when he looks like a Marine that gun in his hand isn't "real."

You can see that something is a Changeling by mousing over the unit, by trying (and failing) to drag select or by selecting the unit and seeing the name and portrait.

What it does for the game:
1) Gives the Zerg a fun way to scout (though really they already have plenty of scouting options).
2) Makes enemy players constantly fearful of all of their own units. Is THAT a Changeling?! What about THAT GUY!?

In live games it is pretty difficult to keep on top of the "Changeling Problem" if an enemy Zerg player is trying to sneak into your base. However when you do catch them it feels pretty good.

It's something we have been trying for a few weeks and we thought we would include it in the WWI build to see what people thought.

Groovy! ...

[Lavarinth]

That's dumb.. I don't see how that fits into the story either.

[WB]

neat idea but sounds useless.

Storywise, I can see it working since Zerg have killed so much and assimilated so much in the process.

[Maglok]

Changing based on being close to something is a strange limiter for zerg DNA to change though. I personally think this won't make retail.

[Zilla-]

It sounds like a fun idea for a custom map to toy around with but it doesn't really have a place in "legit" SC

[Marco]

So, its going to morph into either a marine, a zealot, or a (presumably) hydralisk?  Can't wait to see the animation on that.  Hope its just not a glow and then poof, instant change.

[Rocco]

That's probably getting scrapped.

[Lavarinth]

That's still most definitely by far the stupidest unit yet.

[Rocco]

I dislike the Zerg AtA unit the Corruptor, it's no fun when your main air assault unit cant even kill the target.

[Revan]

Almost as stupid as the Soul Hunter. Even if it gets into the retail Blizz won't make a morphing animation for each unit it can change into.