The beta ends

[IskatuMesk]

After several months of constantly degrading the performance of their shaders, doing next to nothing with balance and leaving many questionable aspects of the game untouched, Blizzard has closed the beta for Starcraft 2.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - this game is NOT ready for release by any means.

[Theia_Loki]

They closed the beta already? 
Damnit. That explains why I couldn't log into the beta.


Son.....of......a......b#$@&. Well, what a way to end it. Second phase wasn't even as good as the first (except for that Elite Operations map Ricky Bill and I played), but it was good while it lasted.

Now the hard decision: Do I really want to get SC2 now?

[IskatuMesk]

Unless you want the CE I recommend waiting two years to see if they fix the editor, battle.net 2.0, and the numerous other ridiculous rushed shit.

Also I believe the real question is: Do you really want chat channels?

I swear, Blizzard's PR is the worst I have ever seen.

Actually, belay that - Oblivion's and Bioware's is still worse. At least Blizzard is honest.

[Alevice]

Actually, belay that - Oblivion's and Bioware's is still worse. At least Blizzard is honest.

Either you mean Obsidian or Bethesda...

[IskatuMesk]

I'll leave that to the imagination.

[Whiplash!]

Theres some lingering balance issues on high level with terran. They are the most powerful race, but not by much. Just a few little things. Bnet wise its not ready for launch but I suppose blizzard will eventually get it all right.

[IskatuMesk]

I'd think zerg need the most work out of all the races. They're just so... bland.

[Mucky]

I was never fond of the new damage system... but I don't think it's the cause of balance issues. It's the unit designs themselves.

The problem with Zerg from day 1 is the fact that Hydralisks, the one ground unit capable of attacking air, is a tier 2 unit that costs 100/50 and 2 supply. I can live with 100 mineral cost, but 50 gas is a real shitsucker. Between Infestators, Mutalisks, and Roaches, Zerg already has major gas issues while trying to build an army that can survive late game. Two supply also hurts, especially now that Roaches also cost two supply. Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I think Brood Lords cost 4 supply, rather than 2 supply, which puts another dent in the Zerg's ability to mass. Corrupters aren't nearly as potent as Devourers were, and overall Zerg air is way weaker than it was in SC1.

I don't watch many high-level ZvT games, but the ones I've seen always end with the Zerg losing in the lategame stages. Even if the Zerg does an amazing job with microing Banelings/Infestators and such while not allowing Roaches to die needlessly, they simply have no answer to Terran's Marine/Marauder/Tank/Raven mass.

Not that I played very much in phase 2 (wow that was fast), but I played one game with Zerg and after that I stayed the fuck away from them.

[Master Jademus Sreg]

I found an article today that, while written in 2003, seemed eerily prescient in its insight into Blizzard's recent fuck-ups: A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy.

[IskatuMesk]

Yes, Mustaches cost their supply + that of the Corruptor.

[RazorclawX]

It's over already? I didn't play much, jack all.

I really hadn't thought much about buying SC2 at all, to be honest. I might... maybe play the campaign, and maybe I'll actually try to do something a little more serious with the editor... but I hate the editor. When making the transition from SC to War3 I was pleased and excited, and things had a certain logical progression to them, but going from War3 to SC2 is like seeing someone throw all that orderly stuff and put a whirlwind through it.

[Falchion]

As you and everyone else told, that's why there's expansions.  They'll obviously leave that for HotS.

[Theia_Loki]

I didn't play too much either. The most times I've won was 15 games, and that's only 3/7 of the total games I've played before the first wipe in phase 1.

On the other hand, I was considering other games to play if SC2 turned out to be not so good.

[Marco]

Zip zero here too.  Can't wait for SC2 though, single player campaign, making CR, and playing fun custom multiplayer maps / single player campaigns.  I don't really care too much about the balance of the game, as single player nor custom multiplayer maps rely on that aspect except as a general starting point.  Competitive play isn't really my forte.

[Lavarinth]

I played a few matches with friends against AI, honestly I had a blast. I'm looking forward to the release.