StarCraft II Official! (Pictures)

[wibod]

I hope they improve the Carrier attack command.  Whenever you pair Carriers vs. Battlecruisers, the Battlecruisers usually win because of the Interceptor focus fire.  Carriers usually waste so much of their firepower with the Interceptors having to refocus on a new target that is already dead from the first three interceptors.

There should be a attack command option where interceptors engage multiple targets or single targets.  That way if you have 4 Carriers assaulting a base, they're hitting multiple things instead of all of them hitting the nearest Marine.

Interceptor focus fire is pretty dangerous though, plus you could kite battle cruisers around with carriers if you know what you're doing.

[Meta]

Less SC1 theorycraft and more SC2 news, please. 

OFFICIAL NEWS
- No 4th race;
- Not going to be released this year;
- The new physics system is there mostly for immersion, not having a huge impact on gameplay.
- Significant amount of effort put in the Single Player mode(no spoilers yet, though).

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18925251/

We need news on the Reaver, though.

[IskatuMesk]

Considering how easy it was to abuse and smurf the wc3 matchmaking system I don't predict that to be really anything to get excited over.

I want to see how they plan to expand mod support, though.

[Xenon]

One thing that would change the gameplay up a bit would be to have units that could fire while moving (through a Move>Attack command).  I always thought at least battlecruisers and carriers should have had this advantage.

The Mothership appears to fire while moving for a while when it uses the giant laser, but this is probably because it started the volley before it started moving. It then stops firing its main weapon until it stops over the Barracks. The ability to fire while moving should be included for modding purposes, if nothing else (for uses like Battleships maps etc.).

[Freakohollik]

One of my main concerns is how much of the original SC team is left and still on for SC2. I want to think this is coming from the SC team and not the WC3 team. I'm sure there's overlap though.

When Blizzard says they trust their user created maps and mods and want to integrate them into Battle.net, I'm sure they're thinking "dota".

[Xenon]

A Battle.net feature I'd like to see would be a text filter for custom games, so that you could filter and only show, say, games that do NOT have dota in the title.

[IskatuMesk]

I should make a SC2 dota and capitalize on the likely demand of it, then use my newfound publicity to force blizzard to fix things like AI which they've squandered every single time in the past.

[AA7Dragoon]

IMDB.com has all video game titles and it's good to check on StarCraft 2 every once in awhile to see if they've posted the voice actors yet for the game.  There is no concrete information yet, however, there is a plot summary of the game:

http://imdb.com/title/tt1037854/plotsummary

The story follows the events happened in "StarCraft: Brood War". There is a new threat caused by an ex-terran Samir Duran. The remains of the Terran forces must gather and ally the Protoss against the infected Zerg army. Another plot line follows Jim Raynor, a marshal, who has to confront the Zerg queen - Kerrigan, with the help of the dark templar Zeratul. Yet, another hero from the past is about to revive for the second time.. The final battle of good and evil is about to take place... Written by Ed Baumas

I have no idea who Ed Baumas is, however, this plot summary reveals some important details if it's credible.

• Samir Duran plays a role in this "new threat" to be revealed.
• Terran Forces (possibly Raynor's) allied with Protoss to fight Kerrigan and Zerg Swarm.
• "Another plot line" all about Raynor & Zeratul vs. Kerrigan.

And the big one...
• Another "hero from the past is about to revive for the second time"

If Fenix coming back!?!?

[WB]

Seeing as hes the only one who was ever revived, i'd say fenix is returning indeed!

Awesome, I want a Fenix Immortal with dual cannon action!

[RazorclawX]

You should know better than to trust IMDB for anything.

[Freakohollik]

I'll be happy with SC2's story as long as Raynor acts like a cowboy. Haven't been disappointed so far.

As for the IMDB thing, I'd question the reliability of that. In everything I've heard about the game the story has been kept very hush-hush. If Blizzard can keep the whole game secret for so long, I'm sure they can keep the story secret too. Of course all of what it says there is reasonable and could happen.

[Marco]

I should make a SC2 dota and capitalize on the likely demand of it, then use my newfound publicity to force blizzard to fix things like AI which they've squandered every single time in the past.

I'm sure many other map makers are already planning to try to capitalize on that opportunity by becoming the key DOTA author.  Of course, if there isn't a hero leveling system and the ability system is entirely different, it may mean that people may actually have to be creative and not just copy what someone else has done.  I like DOTA as much as the next guy, but I also played many other WC3 and SC games.  The custom maps were always so much fun to play, I love seeing what other hobbyists come up with.

[IskatuMesk]

I remember when Zergling Blood and God's Land were the top ums maps of SC, back around 5-6 years ago, long before BGH became the norm. I was never much of a mapper, really. Always had bigger aim.

[WB]

I remember when the patch that allowed Replays came out, I had played an awesome game against one of my friends the week before...and I kinda wish I had a replay of it. :\

edit:

interview - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18925251/

But no fourth race?

No fourth race. We talked a lot about it. We ultimately decided we wanted to focus on the three races we had.

[Meta]

Less SC1 theorycraft and more SC2 news, please. 

OFFICIAL NEWS
- No 4th race;
- Not going to be released this year;
- The new physics system is there mostly for immersion, not having a huge impact on gameplay.
- Significant amount of effort put in the Single Player mode(no spoilers yet, though).

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18925251/

We need news on the Reaver, though.

Read the thread, guys.