Demon Child
Premium Member
Intro:
StarCraft 2 is perhaps the most anticipated game of all time for the PC. Fans of the original StarCraft have been waiting for a sequel to the best seller for several years and have been denied by Blizzard time and time again over the years. Yet the majority of these fans have remained patient and loyal, faithfully waiting for the day Blizzard will finally announce it, not discouraged from the fact that Blizzard decided to create three consecutive Warcraft products and the slap in the face when the company announced StarCraft: Ghost, a third person shooter available exclusively for consoles and excluded from the PC.
However, we must look at the concept of a StarCraft 2 through rational eyes. StarCraft is the most successful Real Time Strategy game of all time, played professionally on an international level. To create a StarCraft 2 makes complete sense financially, since it will immediately sell several million copies once released, thereby breaking the "fastest selling PC game ever" records set by its predecessors Diablo II and Warcraft III. However, Warcraft III is also a RTS game, and with the recent announcement of its expansion set, The Frozen Throne, it appears unlikely that Blizzard will announce or acknowledge a competing product anytime in the near future.
We must also contemplate on the mere idea of StarCraft 2, the game. The original StarCraft and its expansion, Brood War, set the standard for all RTS games to come. It was perfect in nearly every way in respect to gameplay, including perfect speed, balance, and replayability. Regarding singleplayer, the original storyline was perfectly crafted to complement an already outstanding multiplayer game, earning the game much praise for having one of the best fictional universes ever created. Considering these facts, StarCraft 2 will have immense pressure on it to match, let alone surpass the greatness of its predecessor. The idea of taking on a task of such large magnitude is certainly daunting, and perhaps this is why none of Blizzard's teams have stepped up to the challenge.
Website:
It is a fact that starcraft2.com is owned by Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment. The website's WHOIS information:
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America
DNS Admin
6080 Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90045
US
Phone: 310-431-4000
Email: vuipna-dns@vuinteractive.com
Common sense tells us that the fact that Blizzard owns the domain itself means nothing. It isn't uncommon for game developers to register multiple domains to protect their copyrighted titles in anticipation of a sequel, spin off, or general expansion. All this tells us is that Blizzard intends to "revisit the world of StarCraft" some time in the future, but of course we already know that.
FAQs:
From the StarCraft General FAQ and the Blizzard General FAQ:
Q: Will you be making StarCraft II?
A: We have not announced any current plans for StarCraft II. We are all very close to the worlds and characters we created in the original game and the expansion set and while we do intend to revisit that universe, we have no plans to do so at this time.
From the StarCraft: Ghost FAQ:
Q: Will there be a StarCraft II? When?
A: Although we have not made any announcements and do not have a development or release timeline, we do fully intend to revisit the world of StarCraft on PC at some point in the future.
Blizzard Interview Comments:
2/7/02
GameSpot spoke to a Blizzard representative about reports that Blizzard's Bill Roper had confirmed plans to create a sequel to StarCraft, the company's wildly successful sci-fi real-time strategy game. Roper has not confirmed plans for StarCraft 2, according to the representative, and Blizzard has not announced any plans for the game.
5/31/02
NBC GIGA TV in cooperation with pro-gaming.net taped an interview at E3 2002 with Blizzard Entertainment's very own Bill Roper:
GIGA: Now we have some gossip about StarCraft 2 . Now tell me just something about that. We just need to know.
Bill Roper: StarCraft 2...all rumor. Anything you've heard. We're not working on StarCraft 2. We love StarCraft. We wanna make more games in the StarCraft universe. I'm sure at some point we would obviously do another StarCraft game, but right now we're not working on StarCraft 2. But it's definitely...I'm sure when Warcraft III is done, it'll be on the list of things to talk about.
9/22/02
GameSpy had an exclusive interview with Blizzard VP Bill Roper about StarCraft: Ghost. One particular question will catch your attention, and that is regarding StarCraft 2:
GS: One the GameSpy message boards, as well as the Blizzard message boards, you’ve been getting strong reactions from PC gamers about Ghost. Many are screaming things like, "Why are you abandoning us?!?" What’s your response to this? Is there anything you want to say to PC gamers to try and assuage them?
BR: We’ve definitely seen a lot of comments from PC gamers concerned that we’re abandoning PC gaming. I think that the important thing to remember is that even though we are a relatively small company, we do have enough teams to work on more than one product at a time. We were working on World of Warcraft at the same time we were working on Warcraft III. One of the reasons we wanted to do a joint development with Nihilistic is that we didn’t have enough people on our own to do a big console game. I guess the important thing to remember is that one project doesn’t necessarily impact another.
So the work on StarCraft: Ghost doesn’t impact the World of Warcraft team. It doesn’t impact what the Warcraft III team is doing next. It doesn’t preclude us from doing anything else in the StarCraft universe. We certainly don’t see StarCraft: Ghost as being something that replaced StarCraft II. It’s just as likely that StarCraft II will be released at the same time as Ghost. We had two Warcraft teams working at the same time. I think it’s a difficult thing to look at. We even see big assumptions based on our web site. We’ll pull something off and people will go, "Oh my God, they pulled material from the web site. Now the game is being delayed!"
10/4/02
GameSpot had conducted a video interview with Nihilistic designer Ray Gresko about the development of StarCraft: Ghost. According to Gresko, one of the main objectives of StarCraft: Ghost is to provide smooth continuity between StarCraft and StarCraft 2.
10/21/02
HomeLan Fed had an interview with Blizzard VP Bill Roper concerning StarCraft: Ghost. Although we don't learn anything exactly "new", there is an eye-catching question at the end of the interview:
HomeLAN - Finally, even though Blizzard and Nihilistic are working on StarCraft: Ghost, most people still would like to see Blizzard make StarCraft II. Can you give us any hints about that possibility?
Bill Roper - Unfortunately for fans of the series, we are still not working on StarCraft II. We know you want it, and you know we want to support the universe and our passionate community. It is something we talk about frequently and fondly and is at the top of the list of games to consider every time a team becomes available.
4/21/03
MacRadio had an audio interview with Blizzard VP Bill Roper concerning Blizzard in general. Here Roper answers the "number one question" Blizzard gets asked:
MacRadio - One of the questions that kept being asked again and again is if you're gonna do a StarCraft 2.
Bill Roper - That's probably the number one asked question of Blizzard. And a lot of times I even get asked the "when" because everybody just wants to run the possibility that we would never do it. And really for us to kind of fall into that same line of questioning is will there be a Diablo III or a Warcraft IV. People I think have a real affinity with the worlds we've built and a lot of the characters and past that, the gameplay. They want more of that. So, we definitely want to stay true to the world we've created. And for example, when we decided to do a console project we picked one of our worlds to put it within it by putting Ghost firmly in the StarCraft universe to expand and grow that universe and storyline there and kind of keep StarCraft alive in our minds and in our players' hands even though it's not StarCraft 2, it's not a real time strategy game on the PC. Certainly at some point, we'd have to sit down and look at that. But one thing I think that makes Blizzard a little unique is that we don't sit down and plan out the next thirty games over the next ten years that we're going to be making but we really work on a game, get it done, look to see if it's an original release if we're doing something like an expansion that would be appropriate or would be desired by the team working on it or more only by players and then either doing that or then be looking at what's the next big thing we do is how we're going to approach it. Is it gonna be set in the same universe, is it gonna be a different universe, will it be new? I think it's important to plan that it is very driven not only by the desires of our fans but also by a lot of the passions and the interest levels of the development teams...we would have never had the original StarCraft if the guys wouldn't have just...after Warcraft II would've said 'We want to break from fantasy and elves...we want to do some crazy thing in space' and that's where StarCraft came from and then when they finished StarCraft, everybody had this real fire to get back to the Warcraft universe. So, certainly we love StarCraft. I'm sure that that fire will once again have arrived and people will want to go back and be the Zerg or the Protoss and Terran facing off...so don't know when. Nothing we're working on but certainly it would be crazy to say that we would never do that.
StarCraft 2 is perhaps the most anticipated game of all time for the PC. Fans of the original StarCraft have been waiting for a sequel to the best seller for several years and have been denied by Blizzard time and time again over the years. Yet the majority of these fans have remained patient and loyal, faithfully waiting for the day Blizzard will finally announce it, not discouraged from the fact that Blizzard decided to create three consecutive Warcraft products and the slap in the face when the company announced StarCraft: Ghost, a third person shooter available exclusively for consoles and excluded from the PC.
However, we must look at the concept of a StarCraft 2 through rational eyes. StarCraft is the most successful Real Time Strategy game of all time, played professionally on an international level. To create a StarCraft 2 makes complete sense financially, since it will immediately sell several million copies once released, thereby breaking the "fastest selling PC game ever" records set by its predecessors Diablo II and Warcraft III. However, Warcraft III is also a RTS game, and with the recent announcement of its expansion set, The Frozen Throne, it appears unlikely that Blizzard will announce or acknowledge a competing product anytime in the near future.
We must also contemplate on the mere idea of StarCraft 2, the game. The original StarCraft and its expansion, Brood War, set the standard for all RTS games to come. It was perfect in nearly every way in respect to gameplay, including perfect speed, balance, and replayability. Regarding singleplayer, the original storyline was perfectly crafted to complement an already outstanding multiplayer game, earning the game much praise for having one of the best fictional universes ever created. Considering these facts, StarCraft 2 will have immense pressure on it to match, let alone surpass the greatness of its predecessor. The idea of taking on a task of such large magnitude is certainly daunting, and perhaps this is why none of Blizzard's teams have stepped up to the challenge.
Website:
It is a fact that starcraft2.com is owned by Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment. The website's WHOIS information:
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing North America
DNS Admin
6080 Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90045
US
Phone: 310-431-4000
Email: vuipna-dns@vuinteractive.com
Common sense tells us that the fact that Blizzard owns the domain itself means nothing. It isn't uncommon for game developers to register multiple domains to protect their copyrighted titles in anticipation of a sequel, spin off, or general expansion. All this tells us is that Blizzard intends to "revisit the world of StarCraft" some time in the future, but of course we already know that.
FAQs:
From the StarCraft General FAQ and the Blizzard General FAQ:
Q: Will you be making StarCraft II?
A: We have not announced any current plans for StarCraft II. We are all very close to the worlds and characters we created in the original game and the expansion set and while we do intend to revisit that universe, we have no plans to do so at this time.
From the StarCraft: Ghost FAQ:
Q: Will there be a StarCraft II? When?
A: Although we have not made any announcements and do not have a development or release timeline, we do fully intend to revisit the world of StarCraft on PC at some point in the future.
Blizzard Interview Comments:
2/7/02
GameSpot spoke to a Blizzard representative about reports that Blizzard's Bill Roper had confirmed plans to create a sequel to StarCraft, the company's wildly successful sci-fi real-time strategy game. Roper has not confirmed plans for StarCraft 2, according to the representative, and Blizzard has not announced any plans for the game.
5/31/02
NBC GIGA TV in cooperation with pro-gaming.net taped an interview at E3 2002 with Blizzard Entertainment's very own Bill Roper:
GIGA: Now we have some gossip about StarCraft 2 . Now tell me just something about that. We just need to know.
Bill Roper: StarCraft 2...all rumor. Anything you've heard. We're not working on StarCraft 2. We love StarCraft. We wanna make more games in the StarCraft universe. I'm sure at some point we would obviously do another StarCraft game, but right now we're not working on StarCraft 2. But it's definitely...I'm sure when Warcraft III is done, it'll be on the list of things to talk about.
9/22/02
GameSpy had an exclusive interview with Blizzard VP Bill Roper about StarCraft: Ghost. One particular question will catch your attention, and that is regarding StarCraft 2:
GS: One the GameSpy message boards, as well as the Blizzard message boards, you’ve been getting strong reactions from PC gamers about Ghost. Many are screaming things like, "Why are you abandoning us?!?" What’s your response to this? Is there anything you want to say to PC gamers to try and assuage them?
BR: We’ve definitely seen a lot of comments from PC gamers concerned that we’re abandoning PC gaming. I think that the important thing to remember is that even though we are a relatively small company, we do have enough teams to work on more than one product at a time. We were working on World of Warcraft at the same time we were working on Warcraft III. One of the reasons we wanted to do a joint development with Nihilistic is that we didn’t have enough people on our own to do a big console game. I guess the important thing to remember is that one project doesn’t necessarily impact another.
So the work on StarCraft: Ghost doesn’t impact the World of Warcraft team. It doesn’t impact what the Warcraft III team is doing next. It doesn’t preclude us from doing anything else in the StarCraft universe. We certainly don’t see StarCraft: Ghost as being something that replaced StarCraft II. It’s just as likely that StarCraft II will be released at the same time as Ghost. We had two Warcraft teams working at the same time. I think it’s a difficult thing to look at. We even see big assumptions based on our web site. We’ll pull something off and people will go, "Oh my God, they pulled material from the web site. Now the game is being delayed!"
10/4/02
GameSpot had conducted a video interview with Nihilistic designer Ray Gresko about the development of StarCraft: Ghost. According to Gresko, one of the main objectives of StarCraft: Ghost is to provide smooth continuity between StarCraft and StarCraft 2.
10/21/02
HomeLan Fed had an interview with Blizzard VP Bill Roper concerning StarCraft: Ghost. Although we don't learn anything exactly "new", there is an eye-catching question at the end of the interview:
HomeLAN - Finally, even though Blizzard and Nihilistic are working on StarCraft: Ghost, most people still would like to see Blizzard make StarCraft II. Can you give us any hints about that possibility?
Bill Roper - Unfortunately for fans of the series, we are still not working on StarCraft II. We know you want it, and you know we want to support the universe and our passionate community. It is something we talk about frequently and fondly and is at the top of the list of games to consider every time a team becomes available.
4/21/03
MacRadio had an audio interview with Blizzard VP Bill Roper concerning Blizzard in general. Here Roper answers the "number one question" Blizzard gets asked:
MacRadio - One of the questions that kept being asked again and again is if you're gonna do a StarCraft 2.
Bill Roper - That's probably the number one asked question of Blizzard. And a lot of times I even get asked the "when" because everybody just wants to run the possibility that we would never do it. And really for us to kind of fall into that same line of questioning is will there be a Diablo III or a Warcraft IV. People I think have a real affinity with the worlds we've built and a lot of the characters and past that, the gameplay. They want more of that. So, we definitely want to stay true to the world we've created. And for example, when we decided to do a console project we picked one of our worlds to put it within it by putting Ghost firmly in the StarCraft universe to expand and grow that universe and storyline there and kind of keep StarCraft alive in our minds and in our players' hands even though it's not StarCraft 2, it's not a real time strategy game on the PC. Certainly at some point, we'd have to sit down and look at that. But one thing I think that makes Blizzard a little unique is that we don't sit down and plan out the next thirty games over the next ten years that we're going to be making but we really work on a game, get it done, look to see if it's an original release if we're doing something like an expansion that would be appropriate or would be desired by the team working on it or more only by players and then either doing that or then be looking at what's the next big thing we do is how we're going to approach it. Is it gonna be set in the same universe, is it gonna be a different universe, will it be new? I think it's important to plan that it is very driven not only by the desires of our fans but also by a lot of the passions and the interest levels of the development teams...we would have never had the original StarCraft if the guys wouldn't have just...after Warcraft II would've said 'We want to break from fantasy and elves...we want to do some crazy thing in space' and that's where StarCraft came from and then when they finished StarCraft, everybody had this real fire to get back to the Warcraft universe. So, certainly we love StarCraft. I'm sure that that fire will once again have arrived and people will want to go back and be the Zerg or the Protoss and Terran facing off...so don't know when. Nothing we're working on but certainly it would be crazy to say that we would never do that.
